The Blogger’s Corner series is an interview series featuring advice and experience from bloggers whose blogs are older than six months.
If you would like to take part, you can find all of the details here.
This week, we have the lovely Michelle from Rockin’ Random Mom.
1 Introduce yourself
My name is Michelle and I am a mom of two boys.
I’m an avid coffee drinker and music is my first love. I love hiking, yoga, and Tai Chi. I am a gamer and old school horror movie lover.
I write supernatural fiction and I’m working on two books.
2 Tell us a little bit about your blog
It’s called Rockin’ Random Mom.
I’ve been blogging for two years now and I write about various topics on mental health, autism, ADHD, music, parenting, and writing.
I also focus on mental and emotional healing through self-reflection and mindfulness.
3 What can your readers learn from your blog?
They will learn my different strategies I have used in overcoming PTSD and how they may be able to apply some of those strategies to their own lives.
They will see my perspective on parenting children with Autism and ADHD but they will also see many motivational and inspiring quotes as well as some light-hearted posts like reviews and random thoughts that occasionally pop up.
4 What’s your favourite thing about blogging?
Oh man. Writing is my therapy as well as my way of reaching out to people who may need some inspiration and motivation.
5 And your least favourite thing about blogging?
Marketing. I abhor it which is why I’m no good at it. I’m not a very good salesman, haha.
6 Tell us one random fact about you
Oh boy! Uh, let’s see… When I was 21 I visited my mom at the bar where she worked. They had a band playing and my mom convinced them to let me sing a song with them.
I had to drink three shots of vodka straight just to get up there, ya know, because of stage fright. I sang, Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain. I got a lot of compliments but I haven’t been on stage since.
7 If you could only blog about one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
While I would love to say my kids that’s actually not true. I would blog about mental illness and try, through my writing, to help sufferers work through their illness by finding their own strategies to live a happier and healthier life.
As for why? Easy. Because I know what it’s like to be in the darkest place in your head and feel so trapped and so helpless that you think you are a freak and that happiness is just a fairy tale. No one should ever feel like happiness is beyond their reach.
8 What was the hardest part of starting your blog and why?
Coming up with a name. I suck at coming up with names. I have two fictional stories that I still haven’t named yet and character names sometimes take me a long time. coming up with my blog name was no different.
9 If you could give new bloggers one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to ask other bloggers for help and advice. I’m not the type to ask anyone for help. The first time I reached out I felt like an idiot but she responded quickly and was very helpful with her advice.
Since then, I have reached out to several others, including my friend Debbie here and the help has been so generous and so amazing.
You’ll find a great community of bloggers here ready and willing to help you. You only need ask.
10 Is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known in the beginning?
Oh yeah. When a brand wants you to review their product: DON’T DO IT FOR FREE.
Even as a new blogger you are allowed to ask for payment.
11 Do you have any long term goals for your blog?
I would love to turn my blog into a business eventually. As I said though, marketing is not my strong suit and making it a full time business is risky so I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row first before I jump into the deep end.
12 Who’s your blogging hero?
Oh now see, this is a tough one because I have three.
Debbie here is my hero because she is a fellow author of fiction and every time I think my writing sucks either asking for advice or reading one of her posts, encourages me so much.
Becky over at Cuddle Fairy is my hero because of her positivity and she is really good with the marketing stuff.
And last is Trista at Domesticated Momster. She hasn’t written in several months but she tells it like it is. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Awesome.
13 What’s your favourite social media network and why?
That’s a toss up between Twitter and Stumble Upon. They are basically the driving force behind my page views and I like how easy and fast they are to use.
14 Anything else you want to share with us?
For new bloggers: There will be times when you will want to quit. You will get discouraged with the social media and not getting enough followers or views.
Don’t give up.
Take a break for a bit but don’t give it up completely because even if you don’t become a famous blogger or get rich off your blog, your content is so worth it.
15 Where can we find you? (blog link and links to any social media)
My blog:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Instagram:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA8BM8TZK6ZQd1jQaMcxD5w
Stumble Upon:
Google+:
Thank you for sharing.
I love it Debbie! Thank you so much for having me here!
Anytime! Great to have you 🙂