Q & A with Miscellaneous Mum

Karen from Miscellaneous Adventures of an Aussie Mum kindly agreed to a Q&A with me on all things 'bloggy.'

According to her twitter profile Karen is an:

"author, publisher, flagrant book whore, semi-reformed misanthrope and certified pinball wizard."

According to me, she is a blogger that has reached dizzying heights including 'top of the pops' when it comes to blogging popularity.

I am pleased to present a Q&A with Karen Andrews and I hope you might get some helpful tips as it did me.

This is what she had to say:

What would your advice be to somebody hoping to make an impressive dent in the Blogopshere?

If by dent you mean attracting lots of traffic and generally 'being seen' I would first do some background reading as to how the blogosphere 'works'.

Learning about SEO (or at least what it is), how to get Google to love you, how to craft a post, how to start-up with social medias, how to use your blogging software properly

Then I would simply say, write well and write often, or at least semi-often.

Network.

Read other blogs that are in your niche (or decide if you want to be a niche blog).

What is the most powerful way to attract readers?

Write something that either informs, entertains, inspires or provokes a personal response ("Oh, I feel like that too!")

What do you think are the most important considerations when building a personal brand?

Perhaps the most important thing is at the start.

So think about what name you give your blog, then follow that line.

Can it be registered as its own custom domain name?

If you don't get first choice, can you get second?

Then once you have it, then when you comment on blogs use it.

I sign in comments "Karen (miscmum)" but that's also because there are a lot of Karen's out there!

Basically the more you put yourself out there, the more it'll become known.

The Blogosphere is choc-a-bloc with mama blogs, what are your secrets to standing out?

Well, honestly, I think it helps to take a nice photo.

I know this because I am a wannabe, frustrated photographer with a plain old point-and-shoot camera and I aesthetically appreciate blogs which display nice photos (this isn't restricted to mum blogs!)

So when I post up a photo, I think to myself a) Is this a nice one or b) in what way does this serve the post?

I've seen blogs where fuzzy, out of focus, shots are whacked up and I wonder why have they done that?

It seems pointless.

If you're telling a story just be as true and authentic as you can be.

Readers can spot a fake from miles away.

What do you know about blogging now that you wish someone had of told you when you started?

That people's definition of 'success' varies and not to get sucked in to all the 'best of' lists and 'top whatever' lists there are.

They serve their purpose, don't get me wrong, and they're lovely to be on, but focusing on that side alone can be distracting.

Great advice - thank-you Karen.

Did you find this helpful? What bloggy wisdom do you have?