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 Berni from Rose Tinted Ramblings.
1 Introduce yourself
Hi, I’m Berni from Rose Tinted Ramblings. I’m a mum, step-mum, new grandmum, artist, B&B owner, gardener, teacher, member of the Monster Raving Loony Party, part of a community that organises wacky events, carer, cafe worker, organiser, advocate and blogger. I want a bit of it all.
2 Tell us a little bit about your blog
My blog is as eclectic as me. It’s a salvation and it’s the place where I talk about anything and everything. Usually with a rose tinted glint but occasionally a rant or a shout for help.
How I’m prone to suffering from anxiety and panic attacks.
My struggles with saying ‘no’.
My love of being a mum.
How I completely revamped my life by chucking it all in and moving it to Mid Wales with my hubby and son in tow.
Basically you will read about the less than ordinary life that we lead and the thoughts and opportunities it generates.
3 What can your readers learn from your blog?
Learn? I guess that there is no such thing as ‘normal’.
My view on life is that we are all unique and everything presents an opportunity, we just have to open our eyes and see. Everything is connected. We are a community and it works best when we work together. I hope my zest for life and the pursuit of extraordinary within the ordinary helps demonstrate that.
4 What’s your favourite thing about blogging?
I love the release I get from getting my thoughts out of my head and onto the screen. Occasionally they never reach the ‘publish’ button, but they’re out there. I love the interactions that a post can generate and the conversations they can start. And sometimes the doors they open presenting me with new opportunities
5 And your least favourite thing about blogging?
I’ve been blogging a while now but only very recently thought about making it any more than an online diary. I want to move to the next level without changing my ethos of openness and honesty.
I am finding it really hard to decide how and where to start with working with brands and generating a little bit of income from my blog. I guess I dislike my indecision and procrastination about taking the leap and contacting a brand (so if you want to offer me any tips I’d be most grateful).
The other reason I don’t move forward is the tech… it’s scary.
6 Tell us one random fact about you
I think I’m pretty random as it is. …but here’s one…. I have an alter ego, Lady Lily the Pink (she even has her own Facebook Page), oh and I drive a magenta pink 1968 Hillman Husky with a pink fur roof…. the car came first everything else pink in my life followed. I guess that’s two things, but who’s counting #rulesaretheretobebroken
7 If you could only blog about one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
It would be about our life in Llanwrtyd Wells (LW) because that would encompass so much – my B&B, Cerdyn Villa, which made the whole move here possible; the being a Loony; because LW was the spiritual home of Monster Raving loony Party founder, Screaming Lord Sutch, (it’s also where he played his last ever gig before he died); its where we raised our son; it’s where all the other weird stuff happens like the World Bog Snorkelling which I help organise and commentate for, and likewise the man v horse marathon and the Real Ale Wobble…. It’s also the place where I became a real artist.
8 What was the hardest part of starting your blog and why?
Starting the blog was easy. I went in with no expectations other than getting stuff off my chest. Growing it into something that justifies the amount of time I give to it, is another thing entirely
9 If you could give new bloggers one piece of advice, what would it be?
Let it evolve. Talk to as many other bloggers as possible. All the help we need is out there so keep asking questions.
10 Is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known in the beginning?
No. I’m glad I didn’t know it could be a way of earning money because I don’t think I would have enjoyed it so much. There are things I wish I knew now. However, I am finding them out. Slowly.
11 Do you have any long term goals for your blog?
I want my blog to stay as loose and real as it already is but encompass an earning opportunity. When people read it, whether it’s just me chatting about life or me writing something sponsored. I want it to have the same ‘straight from the heart, through the fingers to the page’ feel as it does now.
I’m working towards making that possible
I’d also love to meet up with some of the fabulous sounding people I talk to out there. Perhaps I should organise a meet up at my B&B 😉
12 Who’s your blogging hero?
As an artist the first artist blogger I followed and still do is Janet Weight with her lovely watercolours, hummingbirds and gentle prose.
Then there’s the mummy bloggers: Lucy of What My Fridge Says because she’s edgy and hilarious; Dawn of Rhyming With Wine for her zest and poetry; Jo, Slummy Single Mum, again for her humour but also she has teens.
For comedic value and the first blogger I really had any banter with, Steve McSteveFace…(I don’t know his real surname) he makes me laugh. His blog is random and eclectic. As he says himself “I’M JUST A GUY, WRITING STUFF ON A BLOG – HOPING PEOPLE WILL READ IT”. Well me too.
There are so many more I could list, including some fantastic dad bloggers, and obviously you, Debbie.
13 What’s your favourite social media network and why?
It used to be Facebook. But since I found Twitter I think that’s become my social media of choice. It’s not bogged down with advertising, it doesn’t sort your shit out and tell you what you want to read, you get to do that . It’s just easier to navigate from a blogger perspective.
I’m a bit slow at grasping social media… I have both Pinterest and Instagram accounts but haven’t really embraced them yet.
14 Anything else you want to share with us?
So much. That’s why I write.
Seriously though, I want to share my gratitude to those of you who have read me, commented on me, re-tweeted me, shared me, and/or follow me; those bloggers who’ve inspired me (I will have told you in a comment somewhere I’m sure); those bloggers I’m yet to discover; and in particular Hayley of Mission Mindfulness, who gave me my first guest post opportunity and you Debbie for giving me my second.
15 Where can we find you? (blog link and links to any social media)
My blog, Twitter, Facebook and my B&B Facebook page.
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