Bonjour, Blogger! : Aimee

Name: Aimee
Age: 26
Location: Surrey
Blog URL: www.aimeemarie.com

What is your blog about?
It sounds like such a cliche, but a little bit of everything! I sometimes wish I had a niche, but I just like the freedom of writing about whatever I fancy, whether it be my life as a wedding photographer, motherhood or reviewing a product that I’ve enjoyed. I pigeon-hole my blog under the ‘lifestyle’ umbrella, because it covers most aspects of my life!

Is this your first blog?
No, I’ve been blogging on and off since my teens, on different platforms and under different names. This is the only one I’ve really stuck at though and told anyone in my ‘offline’ life about.

When did you start your current blog?
I purchased my domain way back in 2005. I can’t believe it’s been that long! For a while, it was just my photography portfolio and so my blogging updates consisted of new collections and projects I was undertaking. I started to blog about some other bits, similar to the things I write about these days, but there were months when I went without writing anything at all. In April 2011, I decided to start afresh and made all my previous posts private, as I’m a bit of a perfectionist and hated the massive gaps and inconsistency. It seemed like a good time to do it, as I was just about to start a new chapter in my life, by getting married and starting a family!

What made you do it?
I really wish I could remember. Back in the day, it was all about chatrooms and I think it was probably a group of people on there that introduced me to LiveJournal. I can remember the whole “camgirl” phenomenon being really big too and lots of girls using their websites like diaries, all those years ago. I guess I was slightly influenced by the idea of an online diary and blogging on my own domain seemed like a natural step to take from LJ, as a lot of my peers did it too. Some of the friends I made on there are still my blogging pals and even ‘real life’ friends now, too!

What was your first blog post about?
One of my first proper posts that wasn’t “here’s a bunch of photos I took” was about the things I was loving lately (Christmas, fancy dress, cookies) and the things I wasn’t loving (Daylights Saving, pedestrians, Westlife.) Some things never change! Riveting stuff, eh?

What do you think is the most useful tool to you as a blogger?
For people like me who use a lot of photos in their posts, Flickr is invaluable for hosting photos. I also love searching for photos under Creative Commons which you can then use in blog posts (with full credit of course!) if you don’t have a suitable photo of your own.

Do people in your “real life” know about your blog?
This time last year, I probably would’ve said no, but these days a lot of my family and friends do know about it. I kept it hush-hush for years because I don’t think people really understood it, but blogging has exploded in recent years and so it’s more acceptable to write about your life online. I think I probably thought that people would be astounded and it’d become some kind of gossip, but actually, people— in the nicest way— don’t really care! I don’t really talk about it in ‘real life’ too much, but it’s there if people want to find it, as it’s linked to on my Facebook page for my photography as well as my personal page and the like. More and more of my offline friends are becoming involved in different social networks like Twitter too, and a few of my friends have discovered it through there and I know they read it now, which is nice!

What has been the one thing (blog post, project, etc) you’ve been really proud of?
Given the fact that I’ve been blogging for so long, you’d think I might’ve been involved in more projects and things, and it’d be nothing special when I get emails with different proposals but I’m still genuinely really thankful for every single one, big or small. I was really humbled this year when I was shortlisted for a BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Award (http://www.britmums.com/awards/) in the Photography category. It’s lovely to be recognised!

Where do you see your blog in a year?
I genuinely don’t know. I’d like to have grown my readership, but who knows! Right now blogging is a just a hobby, even if it is a big one, that consumes a lot of my time. A year seems like such a short amount of time these days!

What do you wish you knew when starting your blog?
I wish I’d known that blogging was going to explode in the way it has! I also wish I’d known the importance of being consistent and looking at statistics.

What do you wish you know about now?
I’ve nailed how I want my blog to look and what I want it to say, but now I probably need to do some more work around SEO and getting my blog out there a bit more!

How do you keep motivated to post?
I have a diary which I use to plan out posts for the next few weeks, so when I have some time (usually when my son’s napping!) I can schedule posts in advance. I think it helps that I write about anything and everything, so I’m not ruled by the constraints of writing about one subject. I find inspiration in most things!

Anything else you’d like to add?
I’ve met some really great, inspiring people through blogging; THAT is what it’s all about!