Welcome to today’s Wise Words Wednesday feature, with the fab Kim from Northumberland Mam.
As well as sharing her yummy weekly meal plans, her blog is full of great posts about her life with her 2 daughters, reviews and her weekly photo round up.
Over to Kim:
Tell us a little bit about you & your blog:
I’m Kim and I am a stay at home mam from Northumberland, hence the name Northumberland Mam. I live up here with my fella Stu and my two girls Becky who’s 15 & Ellie who’s 10. I have blogged daily for coming up 5 years and I write about family life with some posts about foodie things, crafts, heart defects, school things and much more….Blogging is my hobby. A very time consuming one.
What inspired you to start blogging?
Before I was a blogger I was a comper. I still enter competitions but not as many now….I would enter a competition on a blog and another post would take my interest then I would come back and read more….I realised people blogged about their every day lives and recorded special memories. I started following more and more of these blogs and enjoyed reading. In time I realised I wanted to do this too, record our lives. It really wasn’t because bloggers were sent things to review and giveaway. I didn’t even know this was a thing. I thought bloggers paid for the items they gave away themselves. lol
What has been your highlight of blogging?
The things I am sent to review is a real highlight….Even now after all these years of blogging I still can’t believe people get in touch with me to review their products. There are many things I wouldn’t have been able to afford or new things that I’ve never heard of that we have been sent and have been able to enjoy. My girls have been sent things and had so much fun trying new things out. The days out have been amazing too.
Is there anything you have learnt about blogging which you wish you knew when you started out?
When I look back there is so many things I wished I had known. I was so naive. I thought you had to be invited to a linky to join in with it. I sat there for months wondering how to get this imaginary invite. Doh! I wish I had known about the blogging groups on Facebook earlier. They are such a wonderful help. I would have loved to have known to make my photos larger than they were when I started blogging and how to edit them to make them brighter. Oh and I wrote many blog posts in the early days for companies for free because I didn’t know bloggers could be paid to write them. See so naive!
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?
The friends I have made. I have met a lot of people online through blogging and even though I haven’t met them in person I would class them as friends. The only reason I haven’t met these people in person is because I am so shy and hate traveling….I live way up in the North East & all the blogging meet ups are way further down the country.
What would be your 1 tip you would give all new bloggers starting out?
Just do it. Go for it….You don’t need to be self hosted or anything fancy. A free blogspot or wordpress account will work until you find your feet…I am still on the free Blogger address and I think I am doing OK after all of these years. All you need is something which connects to the internet to publish you blog posts and a phone/camera to take photos! I don’t have a fancy camera. I just use the one on my phone…..
Who do you find inspiring to read/watch in the blogging world?
There is so many bloggers which inspire me but Louise from Little Hearts Big Love who is a fellow heart parent….Angela from The Inspiration Edit who deals with many health problems & is still there for advice and Sarah from Mum of three world who I’ve followed for years really come to mind. I love watching Brummy Mummy of 2 on YouTube. My girls have said in the past they want her to be their mam. Eesh!
Lastly – do you have any big plans/dreams for your blog in the next 12 months?
No, no big plans at all which is very boring. I might make a new header for my blog and social media accounts and I was thinking about changing the colour scheme too. I will probably do that over Christmas when there is less people to see me mess my blog up. hehehe That is as big as it gets.
You can find Kim on her social media here.
Twitter – https://twitter.com/NorthumMam
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/kimmer2111/
Thank you for taking time to answer our questions Kim! If you have enjoyed this post, you can find more on our Wise Words Wednesday here.
