How did you being blogging?
Ultimately, I blog as the result of tragedy. You can really get a good look into who I am and why I blog with my post, Rising From the Ashes- Two Years and Counting. The post is about my experience in the corporate world- overworked, underpaid and literally selling my soul for a meager paycheck.
I spent an entire summer at home with my children. I started blogging here and there just trying to figure out where I fit in. I had already been a member of various product testing groups and had done surveys and the like for years so the natural move was for a frugal blog. That evolved over time into more of a family life blog where I started talking more about my life, my home, my family; the things we did, the foods we cooked, the products we liked.
What are your three favorite blog posts?
I recently shared a very personal and meaningful post, To Sing or Not to Sing? The #IEP Question of the Year #SpEd. It’s one of the most emotional pieces that I’ve written aside from another favorite which a
lso happens to be about my daughter; Letter From My 12Yr Old- Dear Mr. President.
My favorite non-personal post is a recipe that I recently shared, Cro
cka Cola Pot Roast #SlowCooker #Recipe. I love this post because it features one of my new favor
ite recipes, it looks great and it highlights my love for CrockPots.
What are you up to when not blogging?
Every once in awhile, when I’m not working I enjoy spending as much time with my family as I can. In the summer we do a lot of swimming, beach days or hanging out in the backyard pool. We enjoy exploring nature, trips to historical sites and landmarks, and when things are really going well we might go to a Bruins game! I also spend a lot of time redecorating and remodeling my century plus old home.I work, a lot. I work from home the majority of the week but I do get out to teach office technology courses at a small community college one or two evenings per week.
What are your tips for balancing family life and blogging?
I do commit to making Saturdays unplugged days. I would definitely recommend choosing at least one day where you put the blog, the work and anything else aside, including the smartphones and just live life with your family.
I also think that it is important to designate “work hours.” And the last piece of advice I have is to take advantage of two great tools, an editorial calendar and scheduling apps. Decide what topics you will cover regularly and categorize. Then using scheduled posts or tools like Hootsuite, schedule out days, weeks even a month in advance of blog posts, tweets and Facebook updates.
Why and how do you use Sverve?
I found Sverve through another blogger. And, I instantly fell in love. It’s a great platform for building a community or network of bloggers. I enjoy supporting other bloggers and am grateful when they support me. Sverve is also one of my favorite brand/blogger connection platforms because it supports its bloggers regularly. For example, Sverve regularly tweets the tips we share in the community. This is awesome to me and I don’t have that experience with any other platform.
Sverve also makes it so easy to connect with brands. Some of my best blog campaigns have come from connections that I made through Sverve. It’s easy to apply and I like that Sverve automatically updates most of the social media stats brands care about. I check in daily for great tips and new campaigns and also try to share my posts on a regular basis.
Please take a moment and leave Erica a comment! Remember to check out her blog, Buteau Full Chaos.
Thank you so much Danielle and the Sverve team for sharing my story! I’m so honored to be involved with Sverve every day but today I’m especially humbled and grateful!! xoxo
Erica at ButeauFull Chaos recently posted…6 Seconds Could Win You $6,000 in Wendy’s #6SecondsFlat Sweepstakes