Diary of a Semi-Health Nut

ramblings + recipes of a semi-healthy nut

Blogging 101: Tips from The Chimes

by

I cannot tell you how amazing the blogging community is. A little over a year ago, I didn’t even know some of my current best friends. One of these best friends includes Calee, whom I met at Blend Retreat last year (although we really only started talking after).

Calee is helping me discuss more Blogging 101 topics today!

Here are the other posts if you missed them: 

I get so many great blogging ideas from Calee whether it’s from her sending me and e-mail like “uh Amanda change this asap” or just visiting her blog and getting inspired. Enjoy and learn from this lovely gal!
———-

Howdy, semi-health-nutlings! I’m Calee (Cal-E, not Cay-lee) from life +
running and a good friend of Amanda’s. 

Amanda and I met through
blogging, and she’s recently moved to the same neighborhood as my
boyfriend’s parents (and boyfriend — for the time being). I’m a
graphic designer, former (and hopefully future) runner, craftster, and
geek whose been blogging for a few years now.
blend retreat 2013 photo booth (post from calee about blogging tips)

How long have you been blogging?

decided to run the 2008 Des Moines Marathon and wanted to have
something to track my progress. My blog morphed into a craft blog in
2009 when I had an overuse injury from running. In 2010 and 2011 it
became more food- and recipe-focused. And in 2012 my blog returned to
being fitness and health focused. Now there is really not a general
focus other than whatever is on my mind, but typically all topics have
to do with well-being.

Did you have any blogs previous to your current one?

My blog has kind of an interesting history. It was previously hosted on
wordpress.com at www.runningchimes.wordpress.com. The original title
was “Running + Life: a whole lot of running and a little bit of life.”
It morphed into “chimesblog” in 2009 when I was upset that I couldn’t
run and I didn’t really have a focus (tagline was: “where there is no
cohesive theme”). My blog remained “chimesblog” until 2012 when I
decided that it was time to give my blog a real name, so I changed it
to a flipped version of the original title because now I blog mostly
about life. My blog is technically hosted at blog.chimesdesign.com but
I have lifeplusrunning.com redirecting it. Confusing, but it’s a
product of me not wanting to pay for more webspace and/or deal with
moving stuff around.

How has the blogging community impacted you personally?

In 2011 and 2012 I started commenting on others’ blogs and began
hearing back from other bloggers. I ended up going to the Blend Retreat in 2012 
(and again in 2013) and met a ton of other bloggers that
are similar to me personality-wise, and some of those ladies have
become close friends (Hi, Amanda!). It was a breath of fresh air to
meet up with people who have a lot of the same goals and issues as I
do.

How do you get a discussion going on your blog?

You don’t “get” a discussion going on your blog. You can’t force it.
I’ve posted some really great posts that I thought would elicit
discussion, but all I got was silence. What I can say is if you aren’t
afraid to blog about controversial topics that you care about, you
will likely get a discussion going. But you can’t be afraid of
negative comments because they will likely happen, and nothing kills a
discussion faster than no response to negative or critical comments.

On social media?

I don’t really use social media to boost my blog. I use it for myself.
I like twitter the most for discussions. I put people in lists (like
Blend 2013 attendees, people I know IRL, runners, etc.) so I can
follow based on what people might be tweeting about. I don’t
participate in planned live-tweeting because it annoys me when others
in my feed do that. I typically mute hashtags when I see one of those
conversations happening.I realize I probably sound like the old lady
yelling, “GET OFF MY LAWN”, but oh well. That’s not why I’m on
twitter. It’s my outlet to complain about things, see what people I
know IRL are up to, and to be stupid.

Do you respond to each comment?

I typically respond to every comment that has more than “thanks for
sharing” or “nice post”. My response is either on the blog or via
e-mail, text, or phone call if it’s something I don’t feel like
sharing on the blog, or if I’m lazy and responding from my phone and
want to get an answer to the person fast.

Is there a limit on the number of sponsored/giveaway posts you
will do each week/month?

I don’t have a set limit but I also know that if I do a ton of
giveaway and sponsored posts that people will quit reading. And as
much as I hate to admit it, I like readers because I do enjoy the
discussion. People want to read something that is written by a real
person. If you do a bunch of sponsored/giveaway posts it takes away
from your realness. I typically do one or two at the very most each
month unless there is something special going on (like if I’m on
vacation or if it’s my blog’s birthday).

Do you use an ad agency? Which one and why?

Yes. I use Glam Media. I decided to try to monetize my blog sometime
last year and I applied to Glam and BlogHer and a few others. Glam
accepted me so I’ve been using them. I didn’t like the idea of
advertising on my blog because I thought it took away from my realness
like having a bunch of sponsored posts does, but I saw that most other
blogs have advertising, so I thought I’d try it. So far nobody’s been
all “um, ew, you have ads on your blog?” And it’s nice because I end
up making an extra chunk of change each month just for having ad
views. They also offer up ways to make bigger sums of cash by doing
sponsored posts on other social media outlets, which is nice because
it helps keep my blog’s overall tone mine.

Do you have any advice to give to a new blogger? What is one
thing you wish you had learned early on?

  • Be yourself. Write about things that interest you
    and that you enjoy writing about.
  • Don’t worry about gaining readers. Readers may
    come and go, but this is your outlet and it isn’t going to be as fun
    if you cater to what you think your readers want (or what they ask
    for).
  • Set boundaries (for yourself and readers). What
    does an acceptable comment look like? How do you handle negative
    feedback? How many hours do you want to spend per week (or day) on
    things related to your blog? Do your social media channels need to be
    related to the blog? Are you using the blog for business? These are
    questions you need to ask yourself.
  • Stay true to yourself and stick to those boundaries you
    set.    Yes I’m saying this twice because it’s easy to get caught
    up with gaining popularity. It seems cool to have a ton of readers,
    but really, it’s just more work for you.
  • Remember: it’s just a hobby, not a job.

———-
I do hope she comes and visits me in the twin cities more often now that her BF is here! 🙂

In response to that last bullet–sometimes I spend enough time on my blogging I wish it was my job haha! Can anyone relate??

*~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~*

Are you a blogger? Answer one (or as many as you want) of the questions from above!


I love making new friends!  Feel free to comment below, or connect with me via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or e-mail: semihealthnut AT yahoo DOT com.  You can also follow posts via e-mail , Bloglovin, Networked Blogs, or my blog feed. Thank you so much for reading and God bless! 🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jeez … did I center this whole post when I sent you the HTML? *facepalm*

    I wish blogging was my job sometimes too!

  2. Jeez … did I center this whole post when I sent you the HTML? *facepalm*

    I wish blogging was my job sometimes too!