Welcome back to the latest edition of our Wise Words Wednesday, where every week we invite a blogger to take part in a series of questions about blogging.
This week we are please to hand over the page to Olly from Savvy Dad. A site that is dedicated to money and parenting, combining both of them to help you live the life you want with a little less financial stress.
Tell us a little bit about you & your blog:
Savvy Dad evolved from three of my passions; – money saving, parenting and teaching. I strive to combine the three to make everyday just that little bit easier, simpler and more affordable for families. Allowing them to make the most of what can be a very hectic family life.
What inspired you to start blogging?
I actually started a money saving page for families back in late 2013, originally called “Savvy Saver UK”. I set it up to help raise funds for trips to GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital) which we needed when our first son was born. I wanted to help share savings we made with other families too. Thankfully after just over a year with GOSH, our son was discharged from their heart arrhythmia clinic. I wanted to carry on the page to help others and I occasionally fundraise for not only GOSH, but also Unicef, Comic Relief and Children in Need.
The next logical step was to make the move from social media to a fully-fledged blog. Savvydad.co.uk was launched in late 2016 and has already been shortlisted asr a finalist in “New Blog of the Year” category of the SHOMO awards in London. I wanted to make the move to a blog to allow my tips, tricks and advice to be available to others on a more permanent basis – social media is great, if you blink you miss it.
What has been your highlight of blogging?
It’s become more than just a hobby, I make a modest income, network with some fab people, and generally feel motivated to keep thinking of new ideas to write about daily due to the amazing messages I get in my inbox.
Is there anything you have learnt about blogging which you wish you knew when you started out?
I wish I’d research hosting companies more. I started with a cheap package recommended via another blogger – they weren’t to me. They were slow and unable to answer even simple tech questions. I moved to GoDaddy hosting early 2017 and so far haven’t looked back.
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?
Starting to generate a second income has been really useful to me, I’ve carried it on to allow my wife and I to eventually cut down our usual employment hours to spend more time with the children. So for me it’s been about starting to achieve a better work-life balance.
What would be your 1 tip you would give all new bloggers starting out?
Be polite and friendly, making the most of all networking opportunities. PRs and SEO’s talk to each other so often a contact earned via a good relationship really goes along way towards getting new work and opportunities for your blog.
Who do you find inspiring to read/watch in the blogging world?
For me this has to be the fab Emma Mumford. I believe once she was a reader of my social media page before rocketing to blogging stardom through hard work and a positive attitude. Emma is truly inspiring as a blogger and role model and also possesses true humility alongside her success. She is a definition of the term “influencer” which gets flung around so easily these days.
Lastly – do you have any big plans/dreams for your blog in the next 12 months?
I really want to try and move the engagement from the social media onto the blog slowly. 16,000 readers are slowly starting to appreciate the site I’m trying to build and more and more companies are looking to communicate with my audience. My main aim is for my blog to organically rate highly on Google for more and more articles. I’m also likely to take on a VA to help run the site.
Thank you Olly for taking the time and answering our hot seat questions this week!
