Since I’m still trying to formulate my Healthy Living Summit recaps (here’s the jumble of my feelings or an un-recap of the weekend if you will as well as what I ate in Minneapolis here), and since I’m unexpectedly heading back to Omaha this weekend (!!!), I’m delighted that I have on of my best friends to share with you on the blog!
I had the pleasure of having out with Katie this past weekend at HLS13 and I am so grateful to have this lovely lady in my life. She is the kind of gal that will drive you back from a healthy living summit and not make fun of you too much for ending up in the wrong state on the way back to your own home!! (Yes, that happened. We actually ended up in the wrong state. I’ve only lived here three months to be fair!) Now I get to share her with you on the blog today!
For more from my Blogging 101 Series:
Advice from Alex Tries It Out
Tips from the Chimes
Hi everyone! I’m Katie and I blog over at Talk Less, Say More.
I’ve been blogging for a couple years now and while I’m still learning new things everyday, I was excited when Amanda asked me to share my experience and some advice for her Blogging 101 series.
What do you blog about? How did you find your niche?
When I first started writing my blog, I was looking for a place to get my thoughts out and share the journey through my twenties. As I grew, so did my blog as I transitioned to more healthy-living and fitness posts and easy, healthy recipes. My friends often call me a music snob and after years of working in music, I also love sharing the music I’m loving at the time!
What is your ultimate goal as a blogger?
To share my journey! While I blog for me, I do hope my story is able to reach someone and motivate them to live a healthier, more active lifestyle or work harder to follow their dreams. But at the end of the day, it’s my space to share my journey and offer a place to look back at these crazy and exciting years.
How has the blogging community impacted you personally?
The blogging community constantly pushes me to be a better blogger. They challenge me to push my comfort zone, try new things, and reach new heights. But they’re also some of my biggest supporters. After attending the Healthy Living Summit in 2011, Blend Retreat in 2012 and 2013, I have made some great friendships. It’s nice to know I can get away for a weekend with girls who share the same interests and passions, there’s never a lack of conversation. Plus, it means I have friends all over the country to go visit or who can come visit me! 😉
What blogging platform do you use and have you ever used any others?
When I first started blogging I used Blogger which was super easy to use but after a few months, I decided I wanted more from my blog and made the switch to WordPress. I love the creative flexibility (layout, design, ads) that WordPress (dot ORG) allows so I can make my blog my own. Now, if I only knew a bit more about web design I could have it look exactly the way I want it to! 😉
How do you select the companies you work with?
This is a careful balancing act for me as I often stop reading blogs that I feel bring about too many sponsored posts or feel forced in order for them to work with a company. I try to keep to companies that I already use their products or who share my vision of healthy or fit into the content of my blog. With that said, I also limit the number of sponsored/review posts I do so as to keep a very natural feel to my blog.
Do you have any advice to give a new blogger?
Find what works for you and stick with that. Don’t expect that what works for one person is also going to work for you. This is true when it comes to the topics you write about, frequency of posts, ads/sponsored posts, layout/design. Basically every aspect of writing a blog. It takes trial and error to find your rhythm and what works for you, so if you’re patient and ultimately love blogging, then you’ll find what works best for you.
What is one thing you would NOT do when starting a blog?
You don’t want to start for any reason other than doing it for yourself. If you start writing hoping that it will become a full-time job or something like that, you will be quickly disappointed. You have to do it for you, for your love of writing and your desire to share you journey/life/experiences with others. If money comes with it, then all the better for you but you can’t make that an expectation.
Thanks Amanda for letting me share my tips and hopefully I’ll see you all in my corner of the internet sometime! 🙂
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I totally agree with Katie that you have to blog because you love it! Readers can tell when you aren’t interested in what you are writing about!!
Questions:
Do you blog? Pick one of the questions from above and answer it in the comments!
What is one thing that makes you come back to a blog regularly?
Hi! I found this through the #HLS13 twitter feed. To answer the question at the end of the post: You know, it’s kinda weird…I enjoy reading healthy living and weight loss blogs as they’re the most relatable for me (well, weight loss blogs moreso at this stage of the game, as I don’t really feel I’ve reached the point where I live a mostly healthy lifestyle yet)…buuuut what makes me want to read more from a blog is when they have posts like these! Perhaps it’s because I’m still a baby blogger, but when I see blog posts written specifically for other bloggers, I just gobble that stuff up.
Aside from “meta” blogging, though, I’ve found that my favorite blogs to read fall into two (not mutually exclusive) categories. Those that have a lot of helpful tips, recipes, and/or creative ways of viewing things, and those that are fellow baby bloggers. I think there’s a certain feeling of being lost in the crowd, if you will, when it comes to bigger blogs. I enjoy interacting with people in smaller settings in real life, so maybe that’s translating into virtual reality as well? I dunno.
It’s interesting that you say you like smaller blogs because for most of us, we reach for the goal of being a bigger blog or having more comments or more readers than we do now. I also feel the same way about huge blogs…you do get lost in the crowd. Sometimes it feels like your comment doesn’t mean much or it has to be super witty or eye catching for the blog writer to even notice it.
So maybe us smaller blogs should just be thankful we have the time to respond to the comments we get. 🙂 Thank you for that perspective!
Hi! I found this through the #HLS13 twitter feed. To answer the question at the end of the post: You know, it’s kinda weird…I enjoy reading healthy living and weight loss blogs as they’re the most relatable for me (well, weight loss blogs moreso at this stage of the game, as I don’t really feel I’ve reached the point where I live a mostly healthy lifestyle yet)…buuuut what makes me want to read more from a blog is when they have posts like these! Perhaps it’s because I’m still a baby blogger, but when I see blog posts written specifically for other bloggers, I just gobble that stuff up.
Aside from “meta” blogging, though, I’ve found that my favorite blogs to read fall into two (not mutually exclusive) categories. Those that have a lot of helpful tips, recipes, and/or creative ways of viewing things, and those that are fellow baby bloggers. I think there’s a certain feeling of being lost in the crowd, if you will, when it comes to bigger blogs. I enjoy interacting with people in smaller settings in real life, so maybe that’s translating into virtual reality as well? I dunno.
It’s interesting that you say you like smaller blogs because for most of us, we reach for the goal of being a bigger blog or having more comments or more readers than we do now. I also feel the same way about huge blogs…you do get lost in the crowd. Sometimes it feels like your comment doesn’t mean much or it has to be super witty or eye catching for the blog writer to even notice it.
So maybe us smaller blogs should just be thankful we have the time to respond to the comments we get. 🙂 Thank you for that perspective!
Love it! Thanks for letting me take over your corner of the interwebs, friend! 🙂
Any time! Thanks for hosting for a day! <3
Love it! Thanks for letting me take over your corner of the interwebs, friend! 🙂
I didn’t even get to meet her at Blends! Hopefully next year I can meet more of the ladies! 🙂
I know I feel like I didn’t meet a lot of people too! Next year! 🙂
Definitely NEXT year!!! 🙂
Great insight, Katie! I couldn’t agree more with the comment about staying true to yourself! One thing that keeps me coming back to a blog is how relatable the blogger is…and honestly, that can only be done if they are honest about their writing and stay genuine!
love you lady!!
Great insight, Katie! I couldn’t agree more with the comment about staying true to yourself! One thing that keeps me coming back to a blog is how relatable the blogger is…and honestly, that can only be done if they are honest about their writing and stay genuine!
love you lady!!
Definitely NEXT year!!! 🙂