Hey friends!
I’ve just spent the weekend at the farm in Nebraska with Dave’s family for Christmas fun, so I have a treat for you! Sarah just sent me a Blogging 101 post and I decided to take the opportunity to post it and spend time playing with my cutie pie of a nephew instead of my planned post!
This actually works out because I left all of my recipes I was going to post back in the twin cities. Again. Doh.
Sarah, me and Katie at Blend Retreat 2013.
Enjoy the wise words from my dear friend, Sarah! 🙂
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Hey, y’all! My name is Sarah, otherwise known as Miss Smart, and I blog from The Smart Kitchen, a blog about healthy eating, vegan-with-benefits cooking, restaurant dining, grocery shopping, traveling, and random musings about life and food, depending on where I have been and what I have been doing in my life. A former elementary school teacher, I am now engaged to Adam Richman a PhD student at the University of Alabama (Roll Tide?) studying Health Education and Promotion, and loving every minute.
I’m excited to share some thoughts on blogging with all of Amanda’s readers!
How long have you been blogging? Did you have any blogs previous to your current one?
I’ve been blogging for four years in March! I have not had another blog, although it has been redesigned twice (once by me, and once professionally)
What do you blog about? How did you find your “niche?”
I’ve always described my blog as “my life in food,” which I think gives me free reign over, well, anything. I find myself put into the Healthy Living Blog category generally, but I don’t know that I have a particular ‘niche.’ Strange, crazy, random, tangential, fun, grammatically correct…all could potentially describe me and my blog.
Where do you go for inspiration? Do you blog when inspired or do you blog daily?
I used to blog daily, but after two years I scaled back to five times a week. Nowadays I average three posts a week, and I tend to just blog when I feel like I have something to say. Inspiration comes from great restaurant meals, travel, fun recipes I created, or just a need to share an excessive amount of photos of my food I’ve accumulated!
What is your ultimate goal as a blogger or for your blog?
I honestly don’t know what my ultimate goal is anymore! I think we all start wanting to make connections, and perhaps scoring some free products, but lately I’ve been asking myself, “What is the purpose of all this?” With my PhD program taking up a lot of the energy I used to channel into my blog, I’ve decided to give myself until the end of the school year and reevaluate my goals for The Smart Kitchen.
Which leads me to…
Do you plan on continuing your blog for years to come or do you have other projects in mind?
Earning my PhD is a pretty big project. 🙂 As it is in Health Education and Promotion, it actually could fall clearly in line with my blog, should I choose to make The Smart Kitchen more informational and less personal and…silly? I just mentioned that I’m going to keep on keeping on until the end of the semester and see what happens.
How do you make sure you create unique content? Do you feel pressure to fit into a certain blogging mold?
I have gone through a strange cycle of refusing to fit into the “healthy living” mold, getting totally caught up IN that mold, and then having to extract myself from worrying about what others are doing, receiving, accomplishing, etc. It’s hard not to compare yourself to others….
Do you have any advice to give to a new blogger? What is one thing you wish you had learned early on?
….but that is the one piece of advice I would give to ANY blogger, not just new ones. You cannot begin blogging thinking that it will ever be anything but a personal journal, and perhaps a way to connect with other likeminded individuals. You may never be ‘popular’ or ‘well known,’ but starting with that as your goal will probably set you up for a lot of pressure, and frustration for something that should be FUN.
Also, the best compliment you can ever get about your blog is, “You are EXACTLY how I thought you would be in ‘real life’!” Don’t try to be someone you aren’t. It’s hard for you, and sad for everyone else when they meet you.
How has the blogging community impacted you personally?
I have made some of my best ‘real life’ friends through blogging and blogger meet-ups and retreats. Regardless of how long I continue blogging, those friendships will be the best part of this adventure.
I’ve also been able to teach cooking classes at Whole Foods because of my blog—which truly brought joy to my life–as well as meet some amazing food industry professionals, and work with some fabulous companies.
What do your friends and family think of your blog?
They understand it is important to me, but I’m not sure they really ‘get’ it. My mom and sister love being test subjects for recipes! Most people are used to me taking pictures of everything by now. [Of course, with the rise of Instagram it’s not really that odd anymore.]
How do you work on growing your readership? How do you grow your social media?
I’ve actually LOST a ton of readers as I’ve started to focus more on school.
Instagram is still a great platform for me—and one I actually prefer most of the time! The writing of the blog is the easy part—it’s the reading and commenting on others blogs, responding to tweets, posting on facebook, and all of that other stuff that takes so much time. I’ve definitely let it fall by the wayside.
How do you balance your blog and your life? Do you feel like blogging/networking gets in the way of other things you want to do?
As I alluded to above, my life (personal and professional) is winning any ‘balance’ I’ve tried to maintain. Sometimes living is a bit more enticing than spending even MORE hours reading on a computer screen. I don’t think that blogging gets in the way of anything else…anymore. I used to stay home and not spend time with friends because I ‘had to’ get a blog post up or write a product review or read other blogs. I lost myself in it, and that wasn’t healthy. I now look at my blog as a creative outlet and public journal, which makes for less pressure and more ease in writing. I’ve had to get over the reduction of comments and readership and instead focus on hopefully brightening at least one person’s day—even if it is just my mom. 🙂
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The whole blog balancing thing is such a challenge for me! I go through phases when I write post after post, comment on other blogs, social media the crap out of everything and then times when I have no motivations and take a whole week off. It’s okay though! The key is to keep blogging FUN! Why write when you don’t enjoy it?? 🙂
Tell me…..
How do you keep blogging fun?
What is your favorite blog to read and why?
Have you ever met a blogger you love in person? Were you surprised by their personality?
Linking up to:
Marvelous in my Monday with Katie at Healthy Diva Life
You two are completely like what I thought you’d be like in person!
That is the best thing ever to hear, Julie!! <3
Oh I love this idea 🙂
I have a long list of favorite blogs for all different reasons. Some make my laugh, some make me think, and some educate me. If they can do all three, they are at the top of my list!
I agree! I definitely go to different blogs for different things, but some of them are just over the top awesome!
If you feel inclined to write a Blogging 101 post for me, let me know! I’d love to have you on the blog! 🙂
I think its important to blog what you like! If you don’t want to post a christmas recipe, don’t do it. If all you want to do is tell people what you ate, go ahead and share! There is plenty of room for all of us, there’s no need to add expectations and more to your to-do list.
I so agree with this, Katie! I have a hard time with feeling the pressure to write posts to fit the seasons, holidays, whatever, but I just have to get over it!
Neat post! Sadly, I haven’t met any bloggers in real life, YET! I know I will someday! 🙂
This was great!! Awesome tips. Especially the one about not trying to be someone you’re not!