Aloha Sprinklerinos,
With any luck you read THIS post from last week and fully understand what is going on here. If not, in a nutshell, every Monday you are given a topic to freely ask whatever you like about and I will answer the next week. Hopefully the topics provided will be of interest to both of us and we'll both learn something new. Plus, it's a great opportunity to be totally nosey.
Working From Home as a Blogger and Vlogger
Are you partnered with adsense on youtube? if not, who are you partnered with?
Yes I am partnered on YouTube. I partnered myself by filling out the eform attached to all channels (or at least this was the system when I did it in 2011) and waited to be verified via email. Good times.
So, My question for you is have you or do you ever find yourself struggling to find things to write about and post? Or does it come naturally for you?
Not anymore. In the early days I often had writers block and so left my blog to dwindle (naughty Louise) but nowadays I have systems and methods to always stay on top of things. More on those later!
How do you organise your time and stop yourself from becoming lazy?
I don't have a set routine as such because each day is quite different as I juggle Darcy, blogging, filming and trips to London. I'm a very driven person and constantly set myself little goals and know that if I don't meet them I'll feel cross at myself. I do have lazy days (like last Thursday) but they make me really grumpy and so usually they're just not worth it to me.
How do you keep yourself from getting distracted?
I don't. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Bloglovin' and Pinterest are the bains of my life. Way too much of my time has been frittered on them!
Could you tell us about how adsense on blogger and youtube works and what you have to do for it because of the taxes and stuff?
I'm not going to comment on taxes because everyone's are different and they range from country to country. But yanno, pay them! Adsense on blogger (which I don't currently use) works by putting ads on your site and if people click on them you earn a percentage of a penny or something like that. YouTube is exactly the same.
What was your "aha!" moment? Was there a day when you realized that there was something amazing that you could do to take your blog to the next level?
Sadly not. I always knew I wanted to really work hard on it and so I never let myself enjoy a success (whatever it may be) too much or dwell on it. Maybe I'll have my 'aha' moment this year!
With blogging, do you always have the majority of the posts planned ahead of you so that you know every single day (or that days you're blogging) what's being posted and when?
Hmmm. Since February I went all out in my blogging efforts and planned everything meticulously. I was about 2 weeks ahead of time and rather than feeling great, I felt really stressed and constrained by it. I'm a lot more relaxed now. I kind of know what I want to do this week but I'll take it day by day. For example, you are reading this on Monday and I'm writing it Friday afternoon (or 17.42 to be exact). As yet I have no idea what you're going to read for the rest of the week. Hopefully something good!
Does it get boring?
No, never.
I was wondering what's the best thing about blogging/vlogging and working from home (despite getting to spend heaps of time with the fam)?
Naturally the best this IS that I get to have my Daughter at home with me and watch her develop in her tiny years. Aside from that I would say the freedom to plan my day however I like and not have to answer to an arsehole boss like in my previous jobs haha.
Does it get hard working from home? Considering you're at home, and not around other work colleagues and therefore, it may get pretty lonely must be quite a challenge?
I don't often feel lonely but when I do, I REALLY feel it, which isn't fun. In those moments I turn to Skype or phoning a friend or arranging to do something. If all else fails I have a good cry to Zoe or Matt. I'm usually really comfortable in my own company and suit being a little hermit. I do like it when Matt is home though. Hugs on tap.
Do you ever feel like you're missing out on something that the 'outside the home work world' gets?
Yes. I miss out on work socials and Christmas parties which always makes me a little sad. Matt's job is never a 'bring your partner' kind of thing (goodness knows why- the stingy lot!), so I'm secretly jealous of office parties and such. However, thinking back, I always slightly resented having to spend evenings with people I was forced to spend 8 hours a day with anyway. I also half miss getting dressed up for work.
Do you ever get scared of the idea of essentially working for yourself?
No, I get excited by it.
My biggest problem is that I plan to have a full days blogging - taking pictures writing posts etc - and nothing turns out right! The lighting is bad, my post formatting wont work or I just cannot think of anything and everything in my book of blog ideas just doesn't seem very good! How do you overcome this sort of thing?
Years and years of practise and I'm still not there. I used to do days like that too but would find them really overwhelming and then give up tackling them. Break it up and do one or two posts worth of work at a time. Good luck!
How do you edit your photos with such cute fonts? I've always thought your pics were charming and very Sprinkleofglitteresque.
Thank you. I use a website called picmonkey but have recently invested in photoshop so will see how I get on with that.
Do you get distracted easily?
*Flicks through ASOS for 20 minutes*. Yes.
So I was wondering how you decide your time up between Darcy and blogging? Like me, do you do as much as you can while Darcy is sleeping or do you manage to work around her throughout the day?
Darcy is my daily priority. I do work around her because she is quite happy entertaining herself with toys, puzzles, books and crayons but I try to do most of it when she sleeps.
How do you actually make money from youtube? And is it enough to feed the family. I am really curious.
'Enough to feed a family' is a really subjective concept. It is also quite a personal one. What I will say is that with mine and Matt's income together, we are well fed and happy. You make money from YouTube through their adsense programme which Google will explain far better than me!
My question has to do with your blog writing process. I am afraid that I'll run out of ideas after just a few posts! What are some of the things that help you draw inspiration?
Over time I have found and honed in on the things I enjoy to write about. You will note that everything is usually in the same genre and you are unlikely to find something different. For example, you are not likely to find a post about exercise but you likely to see something on family life or beauty products. Once you know what area you want to 'specialise in', you can focus on ideas around that. Every time you have an idea, WRITE IT DOWN! Jot it in a notebook or on your phone or on the back of a napkin but make sure you do! Everywhere you go and everything you do, think, 'Is this something I could blog about?'.
What is your biggest challenge on being a blogger-mom?
Balancing being on my laptop and spending time with baby.
How can I get more people to follow my blog and to read what I post?
I do want to answer this but I don't think today is the right topic. Maybe ask again if we do a 'Blogging help' week.
I am starting to blog (and vlog) myself and sadly I am at a loss as to how I should organize my ideas and thoughts. So I'm wondering how you keep all of your "glitter" organized?
Simple answer- notebook app. It's a lifesaver haha. Also, keep a diary for all your deadlines and events. I'm currently REALLY behind on doing that and my brain feels very fuddled for September.
Do people respect the fact that you work from home? Do they ever consider you to "not have a real job" because you work from home?
This is a bit of a negative one. I don't think people do fully respect the fact that I work from home. It has taken a lot of my family (except Matt who has been great from day one) to even half understand what I do. My Dad is now 100% onboard but it's still pretty frustrating to explain this to other people. I suppose that since blogging and vlogging are relatively new things still, it's hard for people to grasp. I live in hope!
I'm wondering if you always think about your work and sometimes feel stressed because of it? Because if you have an office etc. then you ususally think about your work AT your work and when you come home you focus on your personal life. Now everything is happening all at once, and how is that?
I think about Sprinkle of Glitter ALL the time. Sometimes I have to actively force myself to shut off from it otherwise I have those weeks like I did this summer where I just burn out and no blog posts get written. The problem is that I love it all so much that I WANT to think about it and work on it all the time! :)
What was university like? Are student loans scary?
Again, a good question well worth answering but this isn't the right topic. Sorry!
Do you sometimes wish you had a different job?
No way hose! There is literally nothing I would swap this with.
When do you usually wake up if it's one of your work days?
I no longer have an alarm clock. I have a toddler. It's worse because the snooze button is obsolete. I get up about 7.30 each day. On Saturdays Matt will usually get Darcy up and I sleeeeeeeep.
How long does it take you to edit a vlog?
Far too long because I'm easily distracted.
When you began blogging were you working another job that blogging has replaced? Would you be working outside of the home if you weren't blogging or has blogging happily filled that place?
Good question! Yes is the answer to both. I worked full time in an office (which I hated) for a year when I started all of this and only left due to maternity leave. During my pregnant boredom I went crazy learning everything I could about blogging and vlogging because I realised I loved pouring my time into it and that it would help pay my bills a little bit when the new baby came. If this hadn't have worked, yes, my plan was to put the baby in daycare and return to the office of doom and misery. Thank goodness for you guys!!
How do you stop your self from fridge/cupboard raiding? Having been home for 4 months for the summer, I have struggled!
Errrr I don't? There is a reason I'm not skinny. I eat ALL the foods ALL the time!
I was wondering this question- "what advertisng company do you use- i.e. google adschoices, glam media etc etc?"
I use Glam Media on my blog and Ad Sense on my YouTube channel.
Don't you miss preparing yourself in the morning, choosing your makeup your outfits and everything?
Yes definitely. I used to really enjoy that element of office life so it is sad I now live in 'comfies' but I do have a lot of swish London days and evening events to compensate so it's not too bad.
in the long run, do you ever get the feeling you're 'stuck' at home and how should one prevent that?
Sometimes but very, very rarely. If I do, I just go out. Haha. Problem solved!
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WOAH that was a lot of answers! I hope you managed to read down to the bottom! if you did, pat yourself on the back!
I have really enjoyed going through all of those and look forward to next week. If you would like to leave a question for Monday Insights #3, the topic is....drumroll please.....
RELATIONSHIPS WITH BOYS
This is your chance to ask me anything you like (within the boundaries of good taste) about my own experiences or my thoughts on the above topic. I think this is going to get veeerrrryy interesting!
Looking forward to reading the comments!
Toodlepip!
xx
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