It’s Sunday night, so it can only mean it’s time to get The Blog Lowdown….
Please introduce yourself:
Hi everyone! I’m Jenny, I blog at Let’s Talk Mommy I am an American living in the UK, mother of two under two, wife to a Brit, blogging about all our crazy parenting and life adventures together.
1. When did you start blogging?
I started blogging fully in September 2013 and went self-hosted the end of November 2013. (still new and still learning)
2. Tell us a little about your blog.
My blog is a parenting and lifestyle blog. I talk mostly about my two pride and joys of what we get up to but I also blog about home decor, fashion, music, cooking, and photography. There are so many things I want to be involved with and learn at my age that I am trying to fit it all in and raise a family. It’s my space to unwind and share all of it with all of you.
3. Who designed your blog?
I used a theme from wordpress that was free called Sugar & Spice. Then my buttons, page dividers, and sidebar titles were made by a friend called Miss Audrey Sue in America. I made my header using PicMonkey and have tweaked the css coding in Sugar & Spice to get it to look like it does today.
4. Which of your posts have been the most popular?
I run a weekly linky called Share With Me which has received a great response from my readers and fellow bloggers.
5. Are there certain types that get more interest?
Next to my linky, my most popular posts have been my review & giveaways. It helps bring new people to your blog to have a look around who might not necessarily look for a parenting blog to read.
6. How do you promote your blog posts, and which methods do you find to be most successful?
I link all my post through my Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest and Bloglovin. I find that Twitter seems to drive the most traffic to my blog.
Another way I promote my posts is linking with blog hops. I link up every post to a linky of some sort. There is a linky for every subject you can think of, so why not join others talking about the same thing. I try to branch out and join various linkys but there are a few I am loyal too each week.
Also, the best way to get people to notice you and your blog is to give blog love to them first. I comment and read hundreds of blogs every week. I have now started noticing all those that I have been reading and commenting on are now coming to my blog and giving me the blog love in return. It’s a supportive community, so show support!
7. Which linkys do you most enjoy joining in with/reading?
As I said above I have so many favorites, and so many I link up with it is hard to narrow it down. Here are a few… besides my own that I love joining in. 😉
Butwhymummywhy – Love the little things
Iheartsnapping – Living Arrows
Vevivos – PoCoLo, SoFoLo, Prose4Thought
ReadingResidence – Learning Photography
ActuallyMummy – Wots So Funee
Podcastdove – What’s the Story?
Mummydaddyandme- Ordinary Moments
8. When are your busiest days on the blog, and why?
Wednesdays are busiest because that’s the first day my linky opens for the week. Fridays, I actually have no idea why but it seems I get the most traffic on a Friday. I probably am on Twitter and Facebook more on a Friday when Mr. P is home so it helps drive people my way. Possibly because it’s the start of the weekend and people are catching up with their blog reading. I am not sure.
9. Can you name 3 things that blogging has brought you?
Since I live so far away from family and friends I was really homesick and lonely before I started blogging. Ever since I started, it has brought me online friends, supportive other ex-pats, and a sense of purpose that I didn’t have before. It also has been a great challenge building something from nothing and being proud of myself for it. I am my own worse critic and even after writing my first novel, “When Love & Culture Collide” I still didn’t believe anyone would read my blog, but slowly it has built my confidence up and I am so passionate about writing again. I could name a 100 things that blogging has brought me over the last seven months, even in that short of time, it has been a huge, positive impact on my life.
My Top 5 Tips On How To Increase Your Blog Following:
1. Join in numerous blog hops.
2. Engage with other bloggers across your social media networks, especially on Twitter and Facebook.
3. Join blogging groups/communities on Facebook. It’s a great way to share your post and introduce your blog to new readers.
4. Give other blogs as much love as you can, most will love you back.
5. Mention older posts in newer posts so people stick around and click other posts on your blog. Keep them reading!
Bonus tip: Don’t be afraid to ask at the bottom of each post for your readers to subscribe to your blog, share your post and come back to read more! We won’t get what we don’t ask for!
If you would like to get to know more about me and my blog come join me below! If you like what you see, subscribe to my blog via email on my sidebar! (see how I used my own advice? lol ).
You can find me here:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Google+ | Bloglovin
Thanks Jenny! Lovely to hear how much positivity blogging has brought to you, and how successful your linky is becoming – I do enjoy #ShareWithMe. And those 5 tips are great, particularly number 5, which can often get overlooked.
Jenny will be popping by all week, so if you’ve questions for her, just pop them in the comments, and do join me next Sunday evening, when we’ll be hearing from Karen at Let Kids Be Kids. You can catch up with the previous lowdowns here.
If you’d like to feature on The Blog Lowdown, just drop me an email at [email protected]. It’s booked up for several weeks now, but if you’d like to pop your name down, it’d be lovely to hear from you.
I love both of your blogs (Jocelyn and Jenny) and always join up with #sharewithme. I think these tips are great and I do all of them except that last one. I do find it is quite hard work on the socialising part as I get hardly any visitors if I am in work and not on twitter most of the day. So nice to read of how blogging has helped you it must be a lonely at first moving to a different country!
Thank you, and couldn’t agree more – fab tips!
Thanks for the tips, I started mine in Jan 2013 but only this year have I started blogging seriously and I am really enjoying it! Your tips are really helpful. Thank you
They are great tips, thanks, Jenny! And lovely that you’re enjoying it so much – it gets addictive, doesn’t it?!
What a great idea for a series, I love reading about other blogs. Jenny’s is one of my favourites. :0)
Thanks very much. I love it, too, and I do really enjoy Jenny’s. Let me know if you’d like to feature, and I’ll book you in 🙂
Great post. What are blogging groups / communities on Facebook? I have never heard of them. Any suggestions? Gosh I am such a newbie. x Mel
Fantastic Tips Jenny!!! I could really do with joining some more Facebook Groups, im slowly getting there. I started my Blog Full time in October 2013, I thought you had been doing it a lot longer 🙂 x