Blogger’s Corner with Heather from Shank You Very Much

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 Heather from Shank You Very Much.

1 Introduce yourself

I am a person filled with sarcasm and it makes its appearance at the most inopportune times. I’ve been likened to a Seinfeld character, which is unsurprising since that show literally shaped my childhood. Every Thursday through the late 80s and early 90s, you knew where to find me.

I am the Mommybeast to an English Bulldog named Lola. She follows me around the house so closely that I can feel her paws hit the back of my legs as I walk. Which usually ends with one of us tripping and hitting the ground…

2 Tell us a little bit about your blog

I am all about humour. I write about funny things that happen to Lola. I also like to blurt out the random musings that flow around my brain all day. My newest series, Ask Lola, features reader questions that are answered by a dog.

3 What can your readers learn from your blog?

Let go of everything and laugh like you are a child. We all get a limited amount of time on Earth and spending it laughing sounds a lot better than the alternatives. Also, frowning people make me nervous.

4 What’s your favourite thing about blogging?

Interacting with my readers. Nothing is better than getting a comment or tweet. I love interacting so much that I run a weekly poll series for people to ponder the ridiculous.

5 And your least favourite thing about blogging?

The competition. I love to promote my favourite people, who feature great writing and stories. I really dislike when people tell me I need to alter my blog to fit into a niche if I ever want to win an award.

6 Tell us one random fact about you

I have a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Charcot-Marie Tooth. It greatly increases my ability to fall in spectacular fashion.

7 If you could only blog about one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

My blog series titled Things That Keep Me Awake at Night. I want to say Lola but the human lifespan means I wouldn’t have blog material after she is gone. My brain will be with me until the end and night time brings out an extra dose of weirdness.

8 What was the hardest part of starting your blog and why?

Layout. My blog layout is the same one from the very beginning but it took me years to figure out font colours and sizes. Let’s not even pretend I’m an expert on images, though my skills are so much better than they used to be.

9 If you could give new bloggers one piece of advice, what would it be?

Just keep writing. Write absolute garbage and then save it for another day. I’ve pulled out stuff shelved for over a year and was able to make it funny and ready to post.

10 Is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known in the beginning?

Analytics are a joke. Just don’t look at them. I recently check mine after a year hiatus of paying them attention and was SHOCKED. My reach has grown to over 185,000 people a month. You know what though? It doesn’t make me write any differently. So ignore the numbers and trying to chase them, let your writing draw in readers.

11 Do you have any long-term goals for your blog?

I’m publishing a book (hopefully in the next few months) and I’d love to continue my blog to meet my readers.

12 Who’s your blogging hero?

Dawn at Rhyming with Wine. I actually have two. Heather from Word to Your Mother. Both of these ladies kill me with their humour.

13 What’s your favourite social media network and why?

Twitter. I love the easy access to readers and people I admire.

14 Anything else you want to share with us?

I run a store on Zazzle that sells my funny blog sayings and humour. Just when I think no one is looking, someone buys an item and I become giddy. There is celebratory cheese to be eaten.

15 Where can we find you? (blog link and links to any social media)

Blog https://shank-you-very-much.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ShankYouHeather/

Twitter https://twitter.com/HeatherKeet

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shankyouheather/ and https://www.instagram.com/shankyoudesigns/

Zazzle store