Blogger Behind the Blog {Kiddieholidays}

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 Jo from Kiddieholidays.

Here’s Jo with more about why she blogs:

Where did your blog name come from?

My site is about holidays and days out for babies and toddlers, so I wanted a blog name which referred to that.  I chose kiddieholidays because I thought that in some way that reflected all of that.  I did a bit of research beforehand and noticed there were a few blogs/websites out there with the word ‘Tots’ in the name so I stayed away from that, and tried to choose something different.  The only issue I have with it now, is that people think that the site is about holidays and days out for kids of all ages whereas I actually only focus on babies and toddlers.

When did you start your blog and why?

It is something I had been thinking about for a long time.  I work part time in the travel industry so have a good knowledge of that, but I soon realised that travelling with babies and toddlers is a whole different ball game to travelling as a couple or with older children.  I wanted to create something which would be an information resource for new parents helping them decide where to go on holiday with their little one/s.

What did you do before you blogged?

Well, I work part time in marketing in the travel industry and have done for almost 6 years now. I love my job, and running the blog helps me learn new skills which I can apply to my job and vice versa.  It also helps me be a bit more creative as I am in charge of what I do.  Plus, I am a bit of a dreamer so I’m always thinking about new things to write about.  The main challenge is fitting everything in though – my two children are still young so I want to make the most of them rather than spending all my time on my blog.

What inspires you to blog?

Going to new places and thinking about what people would like to read about them.  I live in Yorkshire, so am passionate about telling other families why it is so good, and why they should come here on holiday!

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

Any post I write about Cornwall is always popular – I think because it is a really popular place to go on holiday with babies and toddlers.  I also got a good response from my post about Legoland with babies and toddlers too.

I liked writing my Mini Guide to Pembrokeshire with Babies and Toddlers as that was a place we really loved and I wanted to tell other people about.

Oh and of course I love writing anything about Yorkshire!!

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

Yes a few of my posts about the Lake District didn’t do as well as I had hoped. I need to go back and re look at them and see what I can change.

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

I think I am only just beginning to find my ‘voice’ and understand who I am writing for now.  I have been writing the blog for a couple of years, but it has taken me this long to get things straight in my head about what I am doing!  In a years time, I hope to have a lot more relevant content on my site. I think I am guilty of spending too much time on things that don’t matter or don’t bring much traffic in for me such as social media. I want to focus more of my time into writing good content and things like social media will fit into this.

I also want to ‘sort’ Pinterest, and get that working harder for me.

What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Writing about places to go and things to do there for babies and toddlers

…and your least favourite

Social media.  It takes up too much time and there are too many channels you are ‘meant’ to be all over.  My blog is just a hobby for me so  I don’t have time to dedicate to all channels so I made a conscious decision to just do Twitter, FB and Pinterest. I’m quite a private person so I don’t want to plaster photos and videos of me and my family over Snapchat, IG etc.  Plus. I want to enjoy the moment when I’m out with my family rather than being on my phone the whole time.

What blog do you love to read and why?

I love anything by Monica from The Travel Hack, On The Luce and Emily Luxton Travels.  I also love the guys from the Y Travel Blog – they rock!

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

I used to accept any opportunity that was going but now I am a lot more selective about what I do.  I value my time more, and recognise that if I only have limited time to work on the blog (which I do) then I need to working on the things that will give me and my readers the most value.

Also, I used to spend a lot of time running and promoting competitions which would give a lot of benefit to the brand, and of course the winner, but not a lot to me! I don’t do as many competitions anymore.

Is blogging what you expected it to be?

It’s a lot more hard work that I expected! I’m not frightened of hard work but you are expected to be good at everything – writing, design, marketing, PR, photography and social media.  I’m only human – I can’t do it all!!

What’s been your favourite blog collaboration to date?

Oooh, that’s tricky.  I love working with Visit Pembrokeshire promoting that beautiful part of the world and also Whitecliff Holiday Park in the Isle of Wight too.  The Isle of Wight is amazing – it felt like we were abroad.

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

I would love to visit the Isle of Scilly next year and Scotland.  We are big fans of holidays in the UK, and these are 2 areas I would love to explore (you can’t get places much further away from each other in the UK though!)

Have you had any blogging fails so far?

Not fails as such – more of concentrating on the wrong thing, comparing myself to other bloggers too much and working for free for people a bit too much!

What is your biggest blogging hope, dream or ambition?

That my website keeps growing – in terms of visitor numbers and that I help more families go on holiday with their little ones.

What do you do when you’re not blogging?

I’m pretty boring actually. I love going out with my family, being outdoors and sport.  I hate shopping,

and lastly, tell us all a random fact about yourself

I help out with my local Cubs group.  Oh and did I mention I lived in Yorkshire?!

Now that you know all about Jo from Kiddieholidays, make sure you go and read her blog. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook – thanks so much Jo for being involved!