The Blogger Recognition Award

I have been nominated to take part in this blogger tag award by the lovely Jenny from Accidental Hipster Mum which has been created to get to know a little bit more about the blogger in hand and to pass on our own nominations so our friends can join in too.

The Rules

Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Write a post to show your award.
Give a brief story of how your blog started.
Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

How My Blog Began

I didn’t actually set out to be a blogger. I had written my book and just as I was about to self-publish it I began to research the best ways to market it and get my name known… blogging was one of the main ways. So off I went and set-up a free WordPress site not having one clue about what blogging entailed and I started to write about my journey, parenting, giving top tips and DIY.

As I wrote more blogs I discovered a real passion for not only writing but also reaching out to others. When I published my story about my Mum’s death from Cancer I started to receive messages from people who had felt the same and that they really felt like I had described what they had experienced or what they were going through. From that moment I began to realise how blogging can help other people.

I very nearly gave up last August but then I ‘met’ some blogging friends via Facebook and I was introduced to such a supportive community. I had no idea the blogging world was so big and I have loved finding so many new blogs to read, people to chat to and groups to gain advice from. I have since moved over to being self-hosted and now have complete control over my website.

Blogging has now opened up a new career path for me and I am earning money via freelance work and I am starting to get work for my site too. It’s amazing how one little hobby can develop into so much.

Advice to Newbies

After starting out on free WordPress, using a rubbish domain and calling my site Emma’s Thoughts I definitely look back and cringe. I didn’t do enough research into my options and if I did it all again I would have set up as self-hosted from the start. I had a lot to learn and I spent the first year getting to grips with everything but moving it over, changing my name and domain, changing links and so on has been a painful process. So my first piece of advice would be to look at what other bloggers do and make a decision about the best path for your own site.

My second piece of advice is a must. Do NOT try to imitate anyone else. It can be very easy to look at the big bloggers across facebook who have thousands of followers but they are big for a reason. They have broken the mould, they have their own clear voice and their personalities shine through. You can look to them for tips but when it comes to your own blog you just need to be yourself. When your own personality comes across in your writing it will be more engaging for your reader and will just flow for you. If you try to force your writing style to emulate that of another blogger, you will end up hating blogging and that is just setting yourself up to fail. Enjoy having your own voice being heard and even though you may not become an overnight sensation just feel happy that you are putting yourself out there. As soon as you get that first response thanking you for talking about a topic it will all feel worthwhile…. numbers are not everything!

Now to make my nominations:

Unlikely Dad

Just Average Jen

Hacking Parenthood

Kaiden Laverty

Mama Mei

The Coastal Mummy

Mayflower Blogs

Awaybies Kids

Do go and check out their blogs too.