Blazing Minds

Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned before each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions, so let’s get on with it…

Q: Please tell my readers a little something about yourself?
A: My name is Heather Kephart. I just moved to the Dallas, Texas area a month ago. I am a native Californian and have lived all over the state – North Monterey County, Placerville, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Folsom, San Francisco, Palm Springs. There’s more, but I’d only just embarrass myself by revealing the amount of times I’ve moved of my own volition.

Q: Hi Heather, so tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?
A: My blog Happymaking is the product of evolution. I started just over a year ago at Howtobeawoman.net, focusing on what I needed to learn in order to be a “real” woman, rather than an extended adolescent. I got myself a Twitter account and started to learn about branding, so I thought – well heck, I’m going about this all wrong. I changed my name on Twitter from womanintraining (never really worked for me, people seemed to assume I was in recruiting) to RetroHeather, purchased the domain of the same name, and promptly suffered a crisis of identity. Who was RetroHeather? What did she care about? I hadn’t the slightest clue. I accidentally deleted that blog (twice!) while trying to figure out Filezilla, so I moved over from WordPress self-hosted to Blogger where I felt reasonably sure that it wasn’t possible for me to delete my blog (again!).

That blog name was Happymaking, a play on words. It was initially supposed to be a crochet blog, and I was supposed to be happy making crocheted hats. I couldn’t stand writing about crochet all the time, and eventually a little bit of “me” seeped into that blog. Before I knew it I was writing about my life, my dreams, and my personal observations. During that time I realized that I had an interest not in simply blogging, but in writing as well. I became interested in the placement of words and their effect on me and my readers. So (sigh, I know) I immediately started a writing blog called Textual Medium at heatherkephart.com. Eventually I dropped the Blogger version of Happymaking, exported it to heatherkephart.com, changed the title of that blog to Happymaking and called it a day. Are you as exhausted as I am? Barring a complete mental breakdown, I am there to stay.

Q: Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?
A: The actual blogging, not so much. The blogging and social media “scene”, yes. I tend to be an all or nothing kind of person. Moderation remains an elusive, unattainable goal. I promise myself I’m only going to comment on five blogs today, then turn off my computer and take the kids for a walk. However, after I’ve commented on five blogs I find myself feeling guilty about the blogs I didn’t comment on. After all, don’t they deserve my attention as well? Of course they do. And what about my Twitter friends? And friends and family on Facebook? Don’t they deserve my attention? Next thing I know, the day is gone and there are bags under my eyes and I’m wondering how I let it happen again.

I’m currently working out a way to keep on blogging without having it be so all-consuming. I need to focus more on my family and on learning to write, and networking and learning from those in the writing community, so that I may learn from them. And then I need to turn my computer off. After all, what is one to write about if one is always on the computer? I’m simply going to have to get over my all-or-nothing and guilt issues, and do what is right for me and my family.

Q: Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?
A: I’d say most of my traffic comes from my friends and family on Facebook, and from my Power50 seo group. Most of my posts are of a personal nature, so I don’t get a whole lot of organic traffic.

Q: Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?
A: I love Facebook. I find it to be more personal than Twitter. I recently sucked up my reservations and created a Facebook Fan Page, and most of my friends responded in a supportive manner. Nobody threw rotten tomatoes at me! (Yet!) At this point, I recommend a combination of a Facebook personal page and a Facebook fan page for blog promtion and social networking. Also, the Networked Blogs application on Facebook. There are so many fabulous bloggers who use the application. It’s not hard to find like-minded individuals that way.

I am also a member of Twitter Moms and Mom Blogger’s Club. I find them useful and entertaining, but I simply don’t have the time to utilize them as I should.

Q: If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?
A: Stay in one spot! Pick your web address and stay there. Don’t keep hopping all over the web. It’s awful for your seo, and it makes you look like a goofball. Also, figure out what kind of blogger you want to be. If you want to make money at it, you will have to create a niche blog, or a series of niche blogs, and stay very focused within. If you are not interested in making money from your blog, then you have more leeway.

Write with authenticity. Be yourself. Don’t give away too much, but do share bits of yourself. Comment on other blogs of interest to you, and try to develop relationships that way. Get yourself a Gravatar and a Twitter account. Join Facebook and Networked Blogs. Comment on other blogs, and check out other blogs’ sidebars for widgets or clubs that might be of use to you. Don’t be afraid to try things. Like me, you will certainly make some missteps, but you will learn as you go. And most of all, have fun with it!

Thanks Heather.

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Enjoyed what you’ve read, then check out Heather on Happymaking and follow her on Twitter.

If you are interested in an [intlink id="536" type="category"]interview on Blazing Minds[/intlink] then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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