Q & A With Kludgy Mom

A new guest post series from some of my favourite bloggers talking about blogging and their life.  This week we have Gigi from Kludgy Mom:

******

1. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because we had some financial difficulties and I lost a whole slew of local friends in the process – we couldn’t keep up with the neighborhood lifestyle, and it became very lonely. I was also forced to cook more at home and I thought blogging would be a good way for me to keep track of my learning how to cook and the recipes I was making. From there, my blog evolved a few times and grew into what is now KludgyMom.

2. What have you learned about life through blogging?

What have I learned from blogging? Blogging is just a microcosm of real life. Most people are great, some, not so great. Like any other job, blogging is hard, but worth it if you keep to it and reap the rewards. Blogging is a great way to connect but you have to put yourself out there.

3. What have you been most surprised about about blogging?

I have been surprised by how many permutations my group of bloggy friends has made. As people start to land freelance work or head in different directions, and the time one spends on twitter varies, you gravitate away from certain people and toward others. Those lead to more and different relationships as well. I’m also surprised by how once a blogger hits the big time, they seem to be everywhere. The same people are speaking at conferences, featured on aggregator sites, interviewed by whoever getting the big sponsorship deals. It felt initially like there was room for everyone at the top, but I’m not so sure of that now.

4. Any tips/tricks insider info for those interested in starting their own blog?

My insider tip would be to spend time really researching blogging and thinking through what it is you want to do at the beginning, before you get too far down the road. I ended up changing my blog name, twitter handle, etc. so many times because  I didn’t plan ahead and it was frustrating. I wish I had put more thought into advance planning. Read, read, read – everything you can – about blogging.

Gigi Ross writes KludgyMom, a blog that combines a humorous take on parenting and pop culture with tech content that makes bloggers’ and moms’ lives easier. Gigi is a mom of two living in Austin, TX. She is the queen of yelling “STOP THAT!” and of liberally defining what constitutes a proper child’s meal.