Blogger Behind the Blog {Newcastle Family Life}

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 Lindsay from Newcastle Family Life.

Here’s Lindsay with more about her blog life:

Where did your blog name come from?

I really struggled finding a name for my blog as all the ones I wanted were taking, after messing around online looking for a name I finally came up with Newcastle Family Life. As obviously I live in Newcastle and my blog is all about my family life. I wish I had of thought about my name a bit more though as I hate my blog name and cringe whenever I have to say it to anyone.

When did you start your blog and why?

I started in March 2014, so just over two years ago now. I started when I was pregnant with baby number three, who is now a two year old little boy! I wanted to record my pregnancy as I had not with my previous two pregnancies, I thought that it would be nice to look back on someday. I also wanted to record my daughters’ childhood, the days out we had. Somewhere to record family memories, I honestly had no idea what I was doing and how many bloggers there were.

What did you do before you blogged?

I honestly don’t know as blogging takes up all of my free time! I worked full time and then I had my second daughter, I started blogging when she was around 9 months old and I was 4 months pregnant so most of my time had been taking up with being pregnant, looking after my baby and older daughter and keeping the house clean. My house is certainly not as clean as it used to be since I started blogging.

What was your first post?

It was all about why I was starting a blog, I don’t think anyone has actually even read it if I am honest. All my posts after that were about my pregnancy.

What inspires you to blog?

Being a parent blogger most of my inspiration comes from my children and being a mum. I have so many ideas for posts from days out we have been on, to things we have been up to. I never seem to find the time to write the posts though.

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

When it comes to views, old slimming world recipe posts have had a huge response thanks to Pinterest, the photos are shockingly bad though so I have no idea how they have done so well. But with comments and sharing the post that had the best response was a bit of a personal one I wrote about why we donated my mums organs when she died. I was so unsure of writing this post, I almost did not publish it. I am glad I did as it was featured on Mumsnet and had such a positive response. Organ donation is such a difficult subject to talk about and you hardly ever hear about the family who donated a loved one’s organs, I truly believe that if you are prepared to accept an organ then you should be prepared to donate if the worst was to happen.

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

Not really as I think I am quiet shy when it comes to my blog, I am really bad at self promotion and rarely promote my posts. I am always amazed when a post does well as I never expect any of them to do well if I am honest. I think I forget that actual real life people read my blog.

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

Hopefully still ticking along as it is now. I am not at all ambitious and I am very laid back about blogging, I do hope that I am more organised though and that I get to the point where I am happy with my blog and its content, I am never happy with my content as I worry I have too much brand work and not enough personal posts. I would love to be more confident about my blog and to start being proud of it, at the moment I never tell people about it and I am too scared to approach PR companies as I don’t feel like my blog is good enough yet.

What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Without a doubt it has to be the amazing people that I have met through blogging. I have met people who I would now class as real life friends.

…and your least favourite?

Probably that I seem to have a never ending to do list.

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

Oh I don’t know, I read so many blogs, I honestly can’t think of one off the top of my head. Probably one of Beth’s from Twinderelmo as she often writes posts that either make me laugh out loud or cry.

What blog do you love to read and why?

Oh I have so many favourites, I am not sure if I can pick just one! I love your blog obviously and everyone’s favourite Mummy Daddy Me. I also really like Life According To Mrs Shilts, Emma is just so lovely and I love reading about her adventures with her little boy and she is such a slimming inspiration too.

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

So many things, my first year’s worth of posts were shockingly bad! The main mistake I made was that I hardly used photos in my posts and if I did they were tiny and not very good quality. I am starting to try and create better blog photos these days.

Is blogging what you expected it to be?

No it is nothing at all like I expected it to be. I had no idea about social media before I started blogging, or that there were so many bloggers. I knew nothing about working with brands or sponsored posts or anything at all like that. I was a total novice and had no idea what on earth I was doing, I still don’t half the time If I’m honest.

What’s been your favourite blog collaboration to date?

Oh this is a hard one, I have worked with some really lovely brands over the last year. I would probably pick Ox Pasture Hall hotel as we were invited for an overnight stay and it was so nice to have an excuse to go away with the other half without feeling guilty about leaving the kids with grandma. I fell in love with the hotel and would love to get married there, its just a shame it’s so far from home.

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

More day out attraction type brands. I am cutting down on the amount of product reviews that I do as I just find them so time consuming. I want to start featuring more days out on my blog, we love going on days out as a family and I want to start featuring more of are adventures on my blog. I am planning on featuring a local place we have visited each week on my blog soon.

Have you had any blogging fails so far?

Oh god I have so many! My blog looked truly awful when I first started for the first six months, like shockingly bad with a free blogger theme. I was also really late at making blogging friends and joining Facebook blogging groups etc, I wish I had of joined and made friends a lot earlier then I did.

What is your biggest blogging hope, dream or ambition?

To get to the end of my giant to do list would be good! No in all seriousness I would love to still be blogging and enjoying it in years to come,  hopefully just a bit better organised and a bit more confident in my blog. I also hope that I can continue to keep making money from my blog so that I am able to stay at home with my children for a few more years. I worked full time and missed out on so much of my eldest daughters childhood and I don’t want to do the same with my little two, I want to be there for parents evenings and school pick up and drops offs instead of having to pay a childminder to do all those jobs for me.

What do you do when you’re not blogging?

I never seem to get any free time anymore, I am always either with the children or doing housework  or blogging. I do love going on monthly date nights with the other half, we normally go out for a nice meal somewhere. I also love catching up with friends and just being out and about, I hate being stuck at home. I used to love lazy days at home but since giving up work and being a stay at home mum I take any opportunity I can to get out doing stuff.

and lastly, tell us all a random fact about yourself

I am hyper mobile (double jointed) but did not realise until a physio told me when I was 28, I always just thought everyone was as bendy as me. I can dislocate my fingers out of joint just by moving them.

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