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What I Wished I Knew When I Started Blogging ~ Amy from The Idea Room

As promised, another FABULOUS blogger here to share her insight to blogging in the beginning

Amy from The Idea Room has graciously taken time out from her FIVE children to write a little something for us {THANK YOU!!!!!!} You need to go over to her blog, The Idea Room, and read about her and see ALL of the AMAZING ideas she has!!!!

The beautiful AMY!!!!!

Amy and I met at the Creative Estates conference briefly. All be it brief, I could tell that she is a sweet gal who has so much to offer {you’ll see in just a moment}. I cannot wait till our paths cross again.

Here’s what Amy has to say…

I started blogging over at The Idea Room just over a couple of years ago. I had a family blog that I began adding some of my home and DIY projects too. Wanting to keep my family blog mainly about our family, I started The Idea Room. It was just a place to keep track of what I had been doing and making for myself and for my family. But a couple of months later one, of my projects was featured on Tip Junkie. My site stats jumped from around 100 page views a day to over 3.000. I was shocked and had no idea that there could be that many people out there interested in what I had to say or share. Thanks to being featured by others who have shared my ideas on their own blogs, my site has continued to grow.

I had no idea that there was this entire crafting/DIY blogging community out there. But I have loved getting to know so many great people through this amazing community. I began to teach myself the blogging and html basics and really enjoyed digging deeper into blogging. As I grew, I began to feel like I was becoming more disconnected with the readers who were commenting and interacting with me on my blog. I have worked hard at trying to balance this steady growth with trying to remain passionate and connected to my readers and my content. It has also been a big struggle to balance my blogging with motherhood. So I have made motherhood first and foremost and have given myself a set working schedule so blogging does not take me away from my family. If I am being 100% blogger, than I am not being 100% Mother and vice versa.

Balance is the key. I love my readers, but ultimately it comes down to being there for and WITH your family. I wish I had learned that lesson a bit earlier in my blogging career. I struggled with this issue for several months before realizing that having set hours and a schedule were mandatory for my family life. Now I don’t feel bad about not having a post. I also feel that it is important to have a passion for what you are doing. If you don’t have a passion for it and are willing to do it for free, your readers will be able to sense this. Opportunities will come to you if you are patient. And just because an opportunity comes along, doesn’t mean that it is a good fit for you and your blog. I have learned to become very picky about what I share on my blog as I feel responsible to my readers for being true and honest to myself and them.

And finally…Have fun! Love what you do and do what you love. Be yourself and try not to compare yourself to others. People identify with others when they recognize authenticity! Thanks for having me Tara!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the candid-ness of her post! Don’t you?

“Opportunities will come to you if you are patient” This is what I’ve been telling myself, too! Just being patient and not pushing things that aren’t supposed to happen right at this moment is hard concept to grasp and accept sometimes. However, having other life experiences where things have fallen in to place and having things happen when they’re SUPPOSED to is so wonderful. Pushing and not being patient will show through and then it’s not natural. I don’t usually throw God or religion in to my posts, but ultimately He does have a plan for you and will put you where you NEED to be and WHEN you need to be there. Can you attest to that? I can.