Blogging Interview Post swap with Steff

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Hi guys! I’m back with another blogger post swap and this time the questions are from the lovely Amber from The Unpredicted Page. I’d just like to say thanks to Amber for doing this blog post swap with me! If you haven’t read one of the other Blogger Interview posts, we sent each other a few questions related to blogging and then we post each others’ answers! So grab yourself a cuppa, or something else you fancy and enjoy!

What is something you wish you knew before you started blogging?

Although I originally started my blog as a hobby and a bit of a brain-dumping space, I think I’d like to have known how much work goes into the whole thing! If you’re keeping it a hobby then you probably won’t want to put as much time and effort in. But, admittedly, I’ve been sucked in and I want to make my blog successful! This means I’ve got loads to work on now, but I’m determined to make it work!

There’s SEO, day-to-day maintenance, promotion on all of my social media accounts, planning content in advance, scheduling my Instagram posts each month. On top of that, there’s always something to learn so I’ll be taking online courses to keep on top of things! Whether they’re free or paid, I’ll be taking as many as I can fit in and afford to better my skills. If you’ve got a course or ebook you think would help me on my journey, let me know in the comments and I’ll check it out!

I’ve also started displaying ads for Amazon Associates on my blog which is another thing to add to the maintenance list – feel free to use my links to make your next purchase!

What is one of your blogging goals for the year?

My biggest goal for this year is to be more organised with my posts and social media. I scheduled an entire months’ worth of Instagram posts for May using an app called Later. It’s helped so much and although it took me a while to do, it’s definitely something I’ll try and keep up. I’ve managed to do the same for June and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted knowing I don’t need to quickly think up something to post! While I’m shielded, I’m trying to use my time wisely and be more active both on my blog and social media. Since doing that I’ve definitely noticed better stats on them all.

The overall plan is to have things in a better place ready for when I go back to work full-time. Whether I’ll be able to keep up with everything then is another matter but I’m hoping I can set myself up to be in a better place. Alongside scheduling my Insta posts every month, and getting in the habit of using Buffer to schedule tweets, it should put me in a good stance. I am SO bad at using Buffer because I never remember to use it. But it really helps with my blog views so I need to get my bum in gear! I think when I start working from home I’ll be able to manage it as I won’t be commuting etc. But time will tell I guess!

What is your favourite part about the blogging community?

I think, hands down, this has to be the support and togetherness that you get from other bloggers. From day one when I started promoting my blog on Twitter, everyone was so kind and helped me out when I needed it! If you’ve got a question, it’ll get answered. If you’ve got a problem, someone will help you sort it out. if you want to have a moan, someone will listen. I love the fact that technically, we’re all competition to each other but it never feels that way!

Speaking of competition, that’s another thing I love about blogging. We’re all vying for collabs, to become an affiliate, to sell our courses or ebooks, or whatever. But we all big each other up and promote each others’ work instead of trying to get to the front of the queue! We all have unique blogs due to differences in our writing styles, etc. So the fact that helps us big each other up is a massive positive thing for me, and plenty of others too, I’m sure!

What blogging tools can you not live without? And which is your favourite one?

Obviously there are lots of apps and tools that help loads with blogging. But my blog wouldn’t look nearly as good as it does without Canva! I’m absolutely shocking when it comes to being creative so this app is an absolute godsend for me! I use it for all of my graphics across all of my social media accounts as well as my blog. I love how easy it is to use, and there are so many templates to choose from too. The templates are also really easy to adapt to your personal style. On top of that, I’ve only ever used the free version of Canva, which makes it even better! Everyone loves a freebie right?!

What is your favourite blog post that you have written and why?

I think my most successful and popular post is My Blog Plan… you guys loved it! And there are some suckers for a spreadsheet out there too lol! Nice to know I’m not the only one lol! This was one of my first posts containing blogging advice and tips so getting such a great response gave me the confidence to write similar ones. I enjoy writing content like this as I know it’s helpful to others. Not that I’m any kind of expert on blogging, but it’s good to share your experiences! And we all have to start somewhere!

Well, there you go! I hope you enjoyed reading my answers to Amber’s questions in this blogger post swap! If you’d like to do a post swap with me for a similar post, let me know!

Until next time, Steff xx

About the author

• Blog: Steff’s Journey
• Twitter: @steffs_journey
• Instgram: @steffs_journey
• Pinterest: Steff’s Journey

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