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 (anonymous) blogger from Gaa Gaa Land.
1 Introduce yourself
Hi! I am a stay at home Mum of two and a writer. I have been blogging for just over 6 months and I’m one of those mysterious bloggers who doesn’t share their name or anything personal. Apart from the most private details of my life of course. Hence the anonymity.
As my little boy has now gone to school and little girl has gone to preschool, I had to give up my part time job in London and professional career to be able to do the school run.
I basically spend my life going from home, to school, back home, to school again… you get the gist.
And in-between the 15 drop off/ pick ups a week, I write. Usually nonsense. Mostly funny stuff.
I’m in my late thirties (eek) and live in the south east of England with my husband and my 3 and 4 year old. I love writing, Game of Thrones and cheese.
2 Tell us a little bit about your blog
Gaa Gaa Land is a collection of musings that centres around my new life as a stay at home Mum. I reluctantly gave up my part time job and weirdly, I miss it.
I miss the camaraderie of working as a team. I miss looking around shops on Oxford St in my lunch hour. And I miss adult conversation.
So I’ve given some of my posts a ‘work life’ twist, making my children my two new little bosses and sharing my stay at home Mum application (covering letter) and detailed accounts of my probationary review and first day on the job.
3 What can your readers learn from your blog?
I also write about anything funny and relevant for parents. Things like apps to help kids to brush their teeth and airlines to avoid when flying with toddlers.
I wouldn’t say my blog is a learning resource, it’s just a bit of light relief for parents who need it. Which is pretty much all parents.
This job is literally the hardest thing an adult can do. Aside from rocket science and finding a Pointless Answer, of course.
4 What’s your favourite thing about blogging?
It’s great to get real feedback from people you will literally never meet. Good and bad.
One of the reasons I am anonymous is to engage a completely new audience and not rely on friends and family to bolster me with biased opinions.
I love that I can write about literally anything. I make my posts relevant to my audience, but as parenting covers all demographics pretty much anything goes.
Blogging is helping me to discover my writing style, to test what works and what doesn’t and to engage in all kinds of formats. For example, past posts include a screenplay (Ikea Amnesia), an open letter to playground parents and a stay at home Mum CV.
I love mixing it up and playing with genres and language.
5 And your least favourite thing about blogging?
I am my own worst critic, and I feel I am ONLY as good as my last post. It’s incredibly deflating when you write something you’re proud of and it doesn’t get any traction. But that’s the beauty of blogging, learning to pick yourself up and just keep writing.
6 Tell us one random fact about you.
I’ve been to 10 Downing Street twice (for a previous job). I met two prime ministers, got pretty drunk on the free prosecco and danced down the stairs. It wasn’t my finest hour.
7 If you could only blog about one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Music. My life as a parent will change, I will change, but music will always be a constant in my life.
8 What was the hardest part of starting your blog and why?
Learning about social media and how to engage an audience. It’s super tough.
You have to be bold and put yourself out there, and wait for people to react (or not).
Writing is 20% of blogging, the rest is integrating yourself into communities and sharing the right post at the right time.
9 If you could give new bloggers one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t get too bogged down with numbers of visitors. Not at the start.
Write, get some content out there and test what works. Keep taking time to assess where you are and where you want to be.
I’m not a blogger who advertises as my eventual goal is to write a book and I don’t want to enter the world of product reviews etc. But that might change, who knows?
Take it week by week and enjoy it.
10 Is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known in the beginning?
Don’t join loads of ‘blog booster’ social media groups. They might bolster your numbers (likes etc), but they’re not authentic.
I try and remain true to my audience and I’m growing my numbers slowly, as I didn’t agree with the ‘like for like’ ethos of those type of groups. I’ve now left them all as I didn’t participate in the threads and found them disheartening.
11 Do you have any long term goals for your blog?
I would love to use posts to form the basis of a book. I’m not sure how that will shape up, but that’s my goal for the future.
12 Who’s your blogging hero?
I was inspired by Hurrah for Gin and the Unmumsy Mum to start writing about parenting, but my blogging hero is now ‘I know I need to stop talking.’
I laugh my arse off at every post and I love her self deprecating humour and the way in which she deals with unnecessary negativity (trolls).
13 What’s your favourite social media network and why?
Facebook, because I’m old and still getting my head around the others.
14 Anything else you want to share with us?
I’ve told my close friends, the ones who know it’s me writing online, that when I make money with my writing we’re all going to Japan for a holiday. I’m aiming high.
15 Where can we find you? (blog link and links to any social media)
Blog – www.gaagaaland.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/gaagaaland/
Twitter –
Instagram –
Thanks and peace out. 😉
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