Good morning and welcome back to our Wise Words Wednesday feature. Today we have the fab Ness taking to the hotseat to share her thoughts on the world of blogging and everything that comes with it.
Make sure once you’ve had a read of the interview you head over to her site JibberJabberUK. As well as her great posts she has a recipe for a rather yummy looking chocolate and vanilla marble bundt cake!
Tell us a little bit about you & your blog:
I’m Ness and I write the blog JibberJabberUK. My strapline is ‘The life of Ness living in the city with the hills.’ I live in Sheffield with my husband and two children. I took the JibberJabber part of the name from a scene in The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon asks Penny if she knows where the phrase jibber jabber comes from and she replies, “Oh you’re about to jibber jabber about jibber jabber!” I think that sums up the blog pretty much!
What inspired you to start blogging?
I was a stay at home mum for several years and I really needed a creative outlet. At first I made cards which I really enjoyed but after a while I found I had more cards than occasions! I saw that other people had blogs and wondered how to go about setting one up myself. I have a degree in journalism so I have always been a writer and I majored in photography as part of my degree. I started a blog with just random writings on some of my favourite subjects such as cycling, tennis, football and of course cake! I just wrote when something came to mind rather than having any structure or worrying if anybody actually read it.
At the start of 2013 I decided to get serious and launch JibberJabberUK with an aim to make money from it. At first it was just recipes I was making my family as I had to put a meal on the table every night. I soon realised that I wanted to expand the topics I was writing about so in came posts about travel and gardening. As I take stacks of photographs everywhere I go I decided to introduce the weekly Sunday Snap linky. After that I drew on my experience as an independent financial advisor and so the Friday Finance linky was born.
What has been your highlight of blogging?
You can sit at home and write about anything you want but I’ve been to places and met some fabulous people that has only been possible as a blogger. A couple of years ago I got to take part in the elderflower harvest at Belvoir Fruit Farms and see how they make the cordials and presses. It’s an amazing company and a day I will never forget.
Is there anything you have learnt about blogging which you wish you knew when you started out?
It’s not that hard to set up a blog. I always thought it was really complex and expensive to do but then I found I was able to it all myself and for free! If I had known that before I would have started blogging years before I did.
Bloggers sometimes get a lot of stick however many work really hard and are reaping the rewards, what has been the most rewarding part of blogging for you?
Actually getting paid to write and take photographs. It’s something I love to do and I feel now I come full circle. It does mean I end up working just about every evening to keep on top on things though. It’s not an easy living but that’s my choice.
What would be your 1 tip you would give all new bloggers starting out?
Plan your first 10 blog posts. You may think that you have a great idea or theme for a blog but then find there’s very little mileage in it. If you’re going to set up a blog make sure it is about something that you can write regular and fresh content for.
Who do you find inspiring to read/watch in the blogging world?
I think the blogging world is really supportive with each other. I’ve learnt so much from the blogging groups I’m in. No matter what your query is there is always someone able to help out. If I can offer my advice to someone else I always try to.
Lastly – do you have any big plans/dreams for your blog in the next 12 months?
I really want to up my page views. I think it’s getting harder to do because there are so blogs now plus so much other online content. I’ve tried writing about a few other topics in the last year as well so I wouldn’t mind diversifying my content a bit more.
Thank you to Ness for taking part in this and if you have enjoyed it, why not head over to see what other bloggers have shared so far in our Wise Words Wednesday feature.
