Blogger Behind the Blog {Janine’s Little World}

Here’s this week’s instalment of Blogger Behind the Blog where I interview a blogger all about their reasons for blogging and what it means to them. This week I’m joined by Janine from Janine’s Little World.

Here’s Janine with more about her blogging life:

Where did your blog name come from?

My blog was originally meant to be for my every day life. I wasn’t even self hosted at the time and didn’t even think of sharing content with everyone. This was simply an online diary for me. As I blogged about day to day life, that’s where Janine’s Little World came from.

When did you start your blog and why?

I started blogging way before I had kids. I think it might have been 2010. I don’t really count  that though. I picked up blogging properly in March 2014. I have been following an Australian Blogger called FatMumSlim for years. She inspired me to start again. It’s funny, I came across US and Australian blogger first before I moved over to UK and Ireland bloggers.

What did you do before you blogged?

I had a busy two years raising my first born but also working full-time in an IT company where I am still working nowadays. I enjoy my job and wouldn’t ever give it up. It’s something to do other than parenting.

What was your first post?

My first post was actually introducing Matthew to everyone. If I read back on it, it’s so badly written but I suppose everyone started off somewhere.

What inspires you to blog?

I love reading other people’s blogs and it’s amazing how you can make friends out of it. You won’t remember the things you did 20 years ago. That’s the reason why I want to have a place to record all this.

What post has had the best response, which post are you most proud of and which post did you enjoy writing the most?

It’s hard to choose but one of the best responsive posts I published is  A DIY Halloween Photo Session.

The post I am most proud of… that’s a really hard one to choose. It has to be 10 baby-tastic things to do while on Maternity Leave. I chose that because it made it onto mykidstime.com.

I most enjoyed the blogging Christmas challenge back in 2014.  It was on for 12 days up until Christmas and you had to post about your childhood memories, beauty products. I really enjoyed that.

Have any of your posts not had the response that you expected?

To be honest, my blog is still only building up. I suppose it depends on the content I am writing. If it wasn’t for the Facebook groups where you can promote your blog posts, I wouldn’t get any traffic really. But then again, you need to make an effort to promote everything. This is what I have a lack of. I need to sit down and spend maybe half an hour promoting everything every so often.

Where do you see your blog in a year’s time?

I set myself blog goals every year and this year I have reached nearly all of them. In a years time all I want really is to have higher page views and more readers. I love working with famous brands so hopefully I am able to increase this in the next year, too.

What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Connecting with other bloggers and finding out about new products.

…and your least favourite?

Bloggers Block. I seem to get that an awful lot. Probably because my day to day life is always the same.

What’s the best blog post you have ever read?

There way too many blogs I read daily. It’s hard to pin point which blog post was the best I ever read. I tend to find Kerry’s blog Oh So Amelia very helpful with food suggestion posts, or posts on how to make money through your blog.

What blog do you love to read and why?

As I said above I am reading a lot of blogs but there are three I read daily.

Oh So Amelia for the reason above. Every post she publishes seems to be very helpful. Bump To Baby is another one. I love Alex’s journey that she records of her, her boys and her husband. It’s kind of similar to us. I also love watching her YouTube channel. Another one I like reading is What the Redhead said. You might know her. The reviews make me want to buy the products and I have bought products in the past based on the reviews Donna has published.

Do you do anything differently now to when you started blogging?

At the start of my blogging journey I used a lot of smiley faces. I don’t use these anymore because I heard they are bad for SEO and stuff like that. Also I am trying to keep the words to a minimum of three hundred.

Is blogging what you expected it to be?

I love spending time on my laptop. Blogging is the perfect hobby for me. It’s nice to sit down each night and write a post. It’s kind of relaxing after a busy day.

What’s been your favourite blog collaboration to date?

I love working with Orchard Toys. Prior to getting the opportunity to work with them, I never even owned a game from them. I don’t know why but it is the perfect learning experience for my four year old.

Are there any brands you would love to work with, why?

There are so many brands I would love to work with. Just to give you an idea, these are my top brands I would love to work closely together: Little Tikes, because we love the brand. We have so many ride ons and toys. Their products are so robust. Disney is another one which is never going to happen because they are such a big brand. I would love to collaborate with any kind of big toy brands to be honest.

Have you had any blogging fails so far?

I launched two linkies last year. One was for Halloween and one for Christmas. I didn’t get many interactions. Maybe three people linked up and that was it. It can happen. Not a big deal. Try again I suppose.

What is your biggest blogging hope, dream or ambition?

Make a small income out of it and feature in a magazine one day.

What do you do when you’re not blogging?

I work full-time five days a week, eight hours a day. That keeps me busy enough. Apart from minding the kids you will probably find me on my laptop or my phone browsing several websites to purchase stuff I don’t need or claim I need. I am online shopping obsessed. My fiance can confirm this.

and lastly, tell us all a random fact about yourself

I bite my nails. It’s a really bad habit but it’s like trying to give up smoking.

Now that you know all about Janine from Janine’s Little World, make sure you go and read her blog. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – thanks so much Janine for being involved!