By now you are well on your way to setting up your family blog. Sure, it will take time to tweak it and get it to look, feel, and sound just like you want it to, but you might have even made your first post. Kudos if that is the case!
If you are still on the fence about starting a blog, I understand. One of the biggest reasons holding most parents back from starting a blog is finding the time to write and maintain their site. I get this. We are all busy parents with diapers to change, tears to wipe, sticky fingers to clean, and toys to pick up. But trust me, there is time to blog in all that chaos!
Allow me to introduce you to The Daily Post at WordPress.com, where you will find abundant tips, inspiration, and information about the blogging scene. Just about the time I sat down to write this piece for MFB, the post I am about to share popped up in my reader and said exactly what I wanted to say about finding time to blog.
Nicola Baird shares 5 Tips for Super-Busy Bloggers – Especially Mums and Dads. She’s British so she’s a Mum ;)
With no further ado here are her tips and a link to the full article on her blog if you are interested in reading more.
Jot down ideas in a notebook. To avoid forgetting post gems, and to spark ideas about what to photograph, carry a notebook everywhere. I dodge writer’s block by ear-wigging conversations (easy on public transport or at the shops), working out a solution to a problem that makes me angry, or sharing my feelings about the hot parenting news topic (e.g., tiger mums, education, alcohol).
Post lists. Ever wonder why so many blog posts offer the top 3, 5, or 7 ways to do something? Perhaps it’s because most time-starved parents get interrupted before reaching #10! Luckily, readers love lists (well, I do).
Establish once-a-week themes. If photos are your thing, try offering a regular Silent Sunday where you just post a great photo, no need for a caption. Confident cooks could run a Foodie Tuesday with your take on a seasonal recipe, or a food diary of what your child ate (or rejected) that day. Mummy bloggers love posts about thrifty and time-saving tips, such as making and sourcing Christmas gifts, Diwali decorations, or Thanksgiving dinner. Linking to other blogs diarying the same festive countdown can grow your blog’s followers and may make you blogger friends.
Keep it positive, please. Only moan if it’s funny. Every rule can be broken, so it’s OK to post a raw moan of despair occasionally – but ideally less than one a month. On the other hand, we could get sick of your faultless family, so write about your mistakes, too. For instance if you’d left your eight-year-old daughter behind in a pub as British PM David Cameron did. Mistakes are the posts readers empathize with…or get outraged about. They make the comments flow.
Be super flexible. Some people manage to run babies and children on schedules – but most of us don’t. If you want to post or add tags, but your child is awake and cannot be distracted by food or Angry Birds, re-schedule.
All helpful and appropriate tips. After a year of blogging I can attest to this wisdom. I keep a notebook near my computer and take it with me if we are on a trip or doing something special so I can jot down any ideas that come to mind for my blog.
I also post lists on my blog. I just started a weekly column-type post called List of seven on Sunday. It’s so much easier and more interesting to post a list of snippets instead of one long story. Blogs are not meant to be novels and most people don’t read all the way to the end if you get too long-winded. Lists are great to keep the flow quick and easy to read. Inserting graphics and pictures will break up the text, making it even easier to read.
For parent bloggers, writing about parental blunders is half the fun. Don’t be afraid to disclose your child had a huge melt down at the park and then you locked your keys in the car. You want your readers to be able to relate to you, and while we love hearing about the seamless adventures in your life, the mishaps are share-worthy, too.
Flexibility is definitely key. I try to keep three or four drafts in my dashboard that I can start/stop working on when I find time. And my weekly list is always ongoing, which is a constant as well as the type of post that allows for interruptions. Don’t fret if it takes you a few days or weeks to finalize a post. Just keep on writing and publishing and in no time you will have a collection of posts to treasure for years to come.
If you are still on the fence about starting a blog, I understand. One of the biggest reasons holding most parents back from starting a blog is finding the time to write and maintain their site. I get this. We are all busy parents with diapers to change, tears to wipe, sticky fingers to clean, and toys to pick up. But trust me, there is time to blog in all that chaos!
Allow me to introduce you to The Daily Post at WordPress.com, where you will find abundant tips, inspiration, and information about the blogging scene. Just about the time I sat down to write this piece for MFB, the post I am about to share popped up in my reader and said exactly what I wanted to say about finding time to blog.
Nicola Baird shares 5 Tips for Super-Busy Bloggers – Especially Mums and Dads. She’s British so she’s a Mum ;)
With no further ado here are her tips and a link to the full article on her blog if you are interested in reading more.
Jot down ideas in a notebook. To avoid forgetting post gems, and to spark ideas about what to photograph, carry a notebook everywhere. I dodge writer’s block by ear-wigging conversations (easy on public transport or at the shops), working out a solution to a problem that makes me angry, or sharing my feelings about the hot parenting news topic (e.g., tiger mums, education, alcohol).
Post lists. Ever wonder why so many blog posts offer the top 3, 5, or 7 ways to do something? Perhaps it’s because most time-starved parents get interrupted before reaching #10! Luckily, readers love lists (well, I do).
Establish once-a-week themes. If photos are your thing, try offering a regular Silent Sunday where you just post a great photo, no need for a caption. Confident cooks could run a Foodie Tuesday with your take on a seasonal recipe, or a food diary of what your child ate (or rejected) that day. Mummy bloggers love posts about thrifty and time-saving tips, such as making and sourcing Christmas gifts, Diwali decorations, or Thanksgiving dinner. Linking to other blogs diarying the same festive countdown can grow your blog’s followers and may make you blogger friends.
Keep it positive, please. Only moan if it’s funny. Every rule can be broken, so it’s OK to post a raw moan of despair occasionally – but ideally less than one a month. On the other hand, we could get sick of your faultless family, so write about your mistakes, too. For instance if you’d left your eight-year-old daughter behind in a pub as British PM David Cameron did. Mistakes are the posts readers empathize with…or get outraged about. They make the comments flow.
Be super flexible. Some people manage to run babies and children on schedules – but most of us don’t. If you want to post or add tags, but your child is awake and cannot be distracted by food or Angry Birds, re-schedule.
All helpful and appropriate tips. After a year of blogging I can attest to this wisdom. I keep a notebook near my computer and take it with me if we are on a trip or doing something special so I can jot down any ideas that come to mind for my blog.
I also post lists on my blog. I just started a weekly column-type post called List of seven on Sunday. It’s so much easier and more interesting to post a list of snippets instead of one long story. Blogs are not meant to be novels and most people don’t read all the way to the end if you get too long-winded. Lists are great to keep the flow quick and easy to read. Inserting graphics and pictures will break up the text, making it even easier to read.
For parent bloggers, writing about parental blunders is half the fun. Don’t be afraid to disclose your child had a huge melt down at the park and then you locked your keys in the car. You want your readers to be able to relate to you, and while we love hearing about the seamless adventures in your life, the mishaps are share-worthy, too.
Flexibility is definitely key. I try to keep three or four drafts in my dashboard that I can start/stop working on when I find time. And my weekly list is always ongoing, which is a constant as well as the type of post that allows for interruptions. Don’t fret if it takes you a few days or weeks to finalize a post. Just keep on writing and publishing and in no time you will have a collection of posts to treasure for years to come.
