Using gcc compile flags

I am trying to understand how to properly setup gcc to find stuff in my environmental variables.

Currently I compiled some code, SDL and I added it to my .bashrc and sourced that .bashrc as well.

Here's a simple hello program.

#include "SDL.h"
#include "SDL_ttf.h"
#include "SDL_image.h"
#include "SDL_mixer.h"
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>

SDL_Window* window;
SDL_GLContext* main_context;

int main(int argc, char** argv) {
    printf("hello world %d  %c \n", argc, argv[0][argc]);


    if (SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_EVERYTHING) != 0) {
        SDL_Log("sdl failed to core_engine_init, %s", SDL_GetError());
        SDL_Quit();
        return -1;
    }

    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION, 3);
    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_MINOR_VERSION, 2);
    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_PROFILE_MASK,
                        SDL_GL_CONTEXT_PROFILE_CORE);
    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_DOUBLEBUFFER, 1);
    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_DEPTH_SIZE, 24);

    window = SDL_CreateWindow(
        "title", SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED, SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED, 300, 300,
        SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL | SDL_WINDOW_SHOWN | SDL_WINDOW_RESIZABLE);


    if (NULL == window) {
        SDL_Log("SDL Failed to create window, %s", SDL_GetError());
        SDL_Quit();
        return -1;
    }

    main_context = SDL_GL_CreateContext(window);
    if (NULL == main_context) {
        SDL_Log("SDL failed to create main context, %s", SDL_GetError());
        SDL_Quit();
        return -1;
    }

    return 0;
}

Trying to compile this with gcc -o main main.c I get these errors:

blubee$ gcc -o main main.c
/tmp/cc5hRcaO.o: In function `main':
main.c:(.text+0x3e): undefined reference to `SDL_Init'
main.c:(.text+0x47): undefined reference to `SDL_GetError'
main.c:(.text+0x59): undefined reference to `SDL_Log'
main.c:(.text+0x5e): undefined reference to `SDL_Quit'
main.c:(.text+0x77): undefined reference to `SDL_GL_SetAttribute'
main.c:(.text+0x86): undefined reference to `SDL_GL_SetAttribute'
main.c:(.text+0x95): undefined reference to `SDL_GL_SetAttribute'
main.c:(.text+0xa4): undefined reference to `SDL_GL_SetAttribute'
main.c:(.text+0xb3): undefined reference to `SDL_GL_SetAttribute'
main.c:(.text+0xd8): undefined reference to `SDL_CreateWindow'
main.c:(.text+0xf0): undefined reference to `SDL_GetError'
main.c:(.text+0x102): undefined reference to `SDL_Log'
main.c:(.text+0x107): undefined reference to `SDL_Quit'
main.c:(.text+0x11d): undefined reference to `SDL_GL_CreateContext'
main.c:(.text+0x135): undefined reference to `SDL_GetError'
main.c:(.text+0x147): undefined reference to `SDL_Log'
main.c:(.text+0x14c): undefined reference to `SDL_Quit'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

adding the SDL2 linker flag this returns an error still:

blubee$ gcc -lSDL2 -o main main.c
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lSDL2
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

this command compiles everything fine though

blubee$ gcc -I/opt/SDL2/include/SDL2 main.c -o main -L/opt/SDL2/lib -l
SDL2

the thing is that I've added these paths to my .bashrc although I might have done it incorrectly. Here is my bashrc

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/SDL2/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/SDL_IMAGE/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/SDL_TTF/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/SDL_MIXER/lib

export LD_RUN_PATH=$LD_RUN_PATH:/opt/SDL2/lib
export LD_RUN_PATH=$LD_RUN_PATH:/opt/SDL_IMAGE/lib
export LD_RUN_PATH=$LD_RUN_PATH:/opt/SDL_TTF/lib
export LD_RUN_PATH=$LD_RUN_PATH:/opt/SDL_MIXER/lib

export C_INCLUDE_PATH=$C_INCLUDE_PATH:/opt/SDL2/include/SDL2
export C_INCLUDE_PATH=$C_INCLUDE_PATH:/opt/SDL_IMAGE/include/SDL2
export C_INCLUDE_PATH=$C_INCLUDE_PATH:/opt/SDL_TTF/include/SDL2
export C_INCLUDE_PATH=$C_INCLUDE_PATH:/opt/SDL_MIXER/include/SDL2

echoing these environmental variables show that they are there and should be working but it's not.

What am I doing wrong with this setup?