Welcome back to my fortnightly blogger series, where I interview today's top bloggers and ask those burning questions you would love to know the answer to. Hopefully these bloggers can help unlock some insights that will help us all grow our blogs and develop to a place we would all love to be.
Today's interview is with with Susanne from
Ghostwriter Mummy. Susanne has been writing her parenting blog for five years and in that time has shared her very personal stories of birth trauma, Hyperemesis Gravidarum and IUGR. Susanne also supports a number of charities including the Lullaby Trust and the Maternity Matters Academy and has raised thousands for these causes close to her heart. By sharing her story, Susanne has helped numerous others in their own journeys and was this year nominated for Outstanding Contribution in the Mum and Dad Blogger Awards.
Your blog really seems to have taken off in the last year or so, what do you attribute this to?
When I started writing about my pregnancy with Elsie, I realised that I hadn't been writing much of what really mattered to me. I found writing about the HG, IUGR and hopes for her birth so cathartic, and without realising it I was going back to basics. So I think the only thing I did was write from the heart (I know that sounds corny) and I stopped worrying about stats etc. I wrote for me and it was nice to remember what that felt like.
You run your own business as well as blogging, how do you find the time to fit it in?
Haha. I get up early, and I actually work a lot from my phone whilst feeding Elsie. I type onto the pages app on my phone which syncs to my Mac, then I edit it when I get chance and add photos etc. I always proof read and probably leave it a day before I publish as there's always something I can change at the last minute. I'm not as prolific as other bloggers, but I do take my time over each post. I have no set schedule so they go up when I have a window of time.
What is your best advice for managing your time as a blogger?
Close all the tabs while you're working. I close Facebook, Twitter and my emails so that I can concentrate on one thing at a time. I set a timer on my phone too - so if I decide to spend thirty minutes on my blog, I spend only thirty minutes. It can always wait.
You support lots of different charities, how do you choose who to support when your time is so precious?
I support charities that support me, and charities that are close to my heart. Namely The Lullaby Trust, the Birth Trauma Association and MAMA Academy. All charities who have helped myself and others over the years, and I feel an affinity to them all. You cannot support every charity, no matter how much you would like to.
If you were to give advice to bloggers who are wanting to work with charities themselves but not sure in what way they can help, what would you say?
Approach them and ask if they would consider working with you on their next campaign. Write about them and their work and tag them in tweets. Support them and be vocal about it. They will appreciate the support and they will probably bite your hand off to work with you!
