Blog Update - 9 Months In

Today's post is just a "what's up with me" post.

My blogging and social media world is going pretty well right now.  I feel like I have some "regular" readers (besides my family), my Twitter following is growing well (almost 1000 followers!), and I'm getting some more likes on my Facebook page.  This is all very exciting for me.

I've had lots of interest in my book review side of this "business."  So much, in fact, that I'm starting to feel a little pressure there.  And right now I'm reading a book that I'm having trouble with.  I can't get into this book and I really don't want to have to write a negative review.  I'm so not a negative person!  I can only hope that setting aside some time this afternoon to really give this book my full attention will help me enjoy it better...

And on the topic of book reviews, I've been approached by a website which wants to list me as a "reviewer resource" for his authors.  I was asked how much I charge for a review, so I had to come up with something appropriate.  I was actually glad to give a dollar figure as this is getting quite time consuming.  Once (if?) this gets up and running I'm going to have to start paying attention to this blogging stuff as an income source. (Which is what I was hoping would happen from the get-go!)

Something else of interest (I hope!) that happened to me in relation to my blog: My dance teacher asked me if I'd blog for them!  I said "Get me the details!" so now I'm waiting to hear what exactly they want.  I also sent an email to ask if I'm volunteering this service (which is likely, and totally fine with me) or if I could blog in trade for some free dance classes.  The blog will be either at the Kingston School of Dance website or the Tett Centre's website - or maybe both.  Stay tuned to find out how this plays out!

I've joined an influencer website and I'm finally seeing the potential as far as being able to review items.  I've gotten a few email links to follow and answer some questions about whether they'd like me try out items (sent to me at no charge) and then review them.  Similar to what I'm doing with the book reviews.  The last email I got sent me to a questionnaire about hair dye and whether I'd be willing to try out some hair colour and review it.  I said sure!  My hair colour from October could use some sprucing up.  I may have to join up with Instragram to share my photos of such experiments, but I'll deal with that later if I have to.

If anyone reading this is interested in helping me get further along with doing reviews or anything else that fits my "niche" my email is iamjess@gmail.com and I'm open to collaborating with or for any brands, other bloggers or similar.  I like to think I'm pretty friendly and flexible, and I try to check that email at least twice a day so I can stay on top of all my blog-related things!

Thanks for reading today's update.  I want this blog to stay as transparent as possible.  If there's anything you'd like to know about what I do (or don't do) please leave a comment or send an email.  And if you have a line on another influencer site or brand or anything I can join up with to further my blog "business" you can leave that in a comment as well.

Until next time!
~Jess

I'm A Book Reviewer Now - Do I Have Time For It?

I feel like I've gotten myself into a bit of a conundrum.  I don't know if you, my faithful readers, remember a post I created a few months ago about "What's my brand?" (you can click and it'll take you to the post), but I basically said I didn't want to pick a brand because I just post about whatever I feel like.  And then I went on about how much other stuff goes on in the blogging world.

Well since then I haven't done anything about a "Brand" and I've continued to post whatever I want whenever I want.  So I stuck to my guns there.

But what I did do was express more of an interest in reading and doing book reviews.  I even put my name in a database of sorts so people can contact me to read their book.  All well intentioned, but now I have 6 books coming my way (in the mail, I don't like e-reading) and I hope they are all pretty good because I often find it hard to stumble through a book I'm not really into.

Luckily I made a claim that I sometimes am a slow reader (relative to pre-kids and husband) and they can't really pressure me to get things read super quickly.  In fact everyone that has approached me has actually stated in their emails that as long as I do read them and create some sort of review there really isn't a timeline attached.  I'm very grateful that people can be quite understanding.

I love the idea of getting new books (for free!) and especially that some of them are not available to purchase yet, and some the authors will sign their books for me as keepsakes.  And I like the flexibility of reading on my own time and creating a review without so much pressure.  But I'm going to have to start scheduling and replying to these people with something like "I have 6 books ahead of yours, I would love to read yours too but it will be a month before I can even start it."

Here's an oxymoron for ya: I don't want my blogging to be a business, but I would still like to make money and/or get these free things to review.  All I mean by that is I can't take away from my family time with blog-related stuff (especially if there's no payment involved!)  If this interest in my reviewing continues I will eventually have to say no.  Or at least "Not right now."

Today I am excited knowing that 6 books (4 are a set) are on their way to me.  Although I do have about 20 books already in my house that I've borrowed or been given to read, that just makes me feel like I'll have to instate "Mom's Reading Time" in which I get 30 minutes uninterrupted.  Ya, right - like that will happen!

If you're reading this and you have a book you'd like to send (or a product to review), drop me a line at iamjess@gmail.com and I will reply.  I may tell you I need 30 days before I can even look at it, but we can be candid with each other, right?  I'm always grateful for people who give me these opportunities!

~Jess

What Is My Brand? - How A Modern Mom Blogs

I started blogging because I like to write.  I'm not creative enough to compose a story, but writing about everyday things is easy for me.  I used to use LiveJournal (back in my University days...) and I had a little community there of friends, mostly from the Wide Mouth Mason fan sites, and I loved it!

Now that I have kids, and a husband, and I juggle work and home lives I thought I could easily write a blog.  I was right on that.  Subject matter abounds, whether anyone wants to read about it or not.

Turns out there are a TON of things I didn't know about blogging:

• I didn't realize you could make money from blogging.
• I didn't know you needed a "Brand"
• I didn't know you had to be on every form of social media
• I didn't know you could get stuff for free if you wanted to write about it
• I didn't know you needed more followers than God to qualify for some "sponsored posts"
• And I definitely didn't know it would totally take over my life at some points

I've read more about blogging in the past 6 months that I have read about anything since I was at school.  Sadly, I still don't "get" most of it.

I've joined Twitter - that's going okay except I've followed so many people now there's no way I can keep up with (or even focus on) all the tweets.  I have not gotten onto Pinterest or Instagram - I can barely keep up with Twitter and Facebook. (aside: I love that the spellcheck does not know either the word Pinterest or Instagram.  Makes me think the world has not gone as digital as I've thought!)

And this "Brand" business - what is that even?  I mean I get it, if you're an author, or a crafter, or a parenting magazine.  But why do I, the average mom blogger, need a "Brand"?  My brand is just me writing about stuff that I do, or my kids do, that's interesting - or maybe some drama that's happened in our lives that I want to share.  I see so many posts and sites about having a "brand."  Do I need one?  Does it help define me in some way?  I don't really get it.

I would so love to make money from my blog.  I do not have nearly enough readers to allow me to qualify for anything really interesting - and I refuse to belong to every possible social site just for promotion's sake.  I also can't fill my blog with ads - I want people to read my material, not navigate around ads!

I have done a book review, where I got the book for free.  That was cool because I love reading.  I'm getting another book (this time a children's book) for free and I will write a review for that as well.  I've applied for a few other things to review, but it doesn't usually work out since I don't have a lot of "unique pageviews" for my blog.  Some sites and companies want you to have over 1500 unique pageviews - say what?  That's unattainable for me right now.

I was super excited to see my ballet teacher share my last post about my adult ballet lessons.  Sure, my hubby sent the link to him to read, but still - someone new reading (and sharing!) my stuff!  Excitement!

I'm trying very hard to not be bogged down by all the "shoulds" of blogging.  I want to share my events, thoughts, feelings, milestones, and interesting tidbits with people who appreciate them.  If I get free stuff, or make $2 that's just a bonus.  I don't want to obsess about "unique pageviews" or Twitter followers, or whether I qualify for any specific reviews, sponsored posts, or anything else.

Friends, I hope you appreciate my candour - I will always be sure to tell you if my posts are sponsored in any way.  And let me know if there's anything you'd like me to post about.  Or if there's posts you didn't care for and don't want to see more about.  A blog is only as good as it's readers!