Blogger Behind the Blog {Lizzie Somerset}

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 Lizzie from Lizzie Somerset.

Here’s Lizzie with more about her blogging life:

Where did your blog name come from?  

My blog name is Lizzie Somerset.  My name is Lizzie and I’m from Somerset, I’m ashamed to say that’s about as much thought as I gave it but it’s served me well.

When did you start your blog and why?  

I started by blog in August 2013, I’d had my second child a few months earlier and I was suffering with my second bout of PND.  I read a blog and the woman seemed so happy, I realised I could write one too so I went to WordPress and just started with literally no clue what I was doing or what I was getting myself in to!

What did you do before you blogged?

I was a stay at home mum who had lost her way.

What was your first post? 

It was a post about a sweet baby jacket I’d bought for my baby, even in the very early days I was supporting small business and shouting about where I’d got it from in the hope it would inspire others.

What inspires you to blog? 

When I see the impact it has in the world.  So many people think bloggers aren’t real journalists, and of course we’re not, however we are still information givers and so many bloggers have changed the world with their honest and vulnerable posts, and that inspires me more than anything.

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

To be honest my most read post is a review on an ear thermometer. The posts I’m most proud of are the ones where I write about the debilitating affects of perfectionism, I really do hope they’ve helped at least one person.  The post I enjoyed writing the most were my Feast & Ferret posts (recipe and shopping posts).

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

All of them, I’ve never had a massively big readership which is disappointing but I’ve realised that I’m a blogger, even if only a few people read my posts, it doesn’t diminish that truth.  I will blog whether 1 or 1,000,000 people read them.

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

Hopefully with a few more readers!

What is your favourite thing about blogging? 

The community and the possibilities are endless.

…and your least favourite? 

The crushing disappointment when you work so hard on something and nobody seems to be interested! That doesn’t get any easier over time.

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

The best blog post I’ve ever read that’s such a hard question as there have been so many! Probably something by Capture by Lucy or Honest Mum.

What blog do you love to read and why? 

I love Honest Mum because Vicki is a mate and I find her posts really honest.  I also love Amy Treasure for food lusting, YouBabyMeMummy for blogging help, Capture by Lucy for dreamy style inspo, the list goes on and on.

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

I wouldn’t worry about the ‘rules’ of blogging.  That you have to post so many times a week, you have to have an email list, you have to do this or that to be successful.  I follow my own rules now, what suits me and my family might not suit the next blogger at all, and what’s important to me is that I enjoy it.  I’m so thankful to have been successful in other ways.  I may not have a tribe of my own or a massive readership, but I am a well respected blogger in the community (I hope) and a BritMums Round-Up Editor.  Success comes in lots of different ways and I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved from those early days to now, I’ve learnt so much about myself and what I can achieve when I push outside my comfort zone.

Is blogging what you expected it to be? 

Not at all!

What’s been your favourite blog collaboration to date? 

Wyke Farms without hesitation, it was a dream come true to create a recipe with such a revered Somerset brand.

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

I would love to collaborate with Glastonbury Festival.

Have you had any blogging fails so far? 

So many! My biggest one was cocking up a potential collaboration with John Lewis.

What is your biggest blogging hope, dream or ambition? 

To do a piece to camera at the Glastonbury Festival with Coldplay on stage in the background, Fearn Cotton style.

What do you do when you’re not blogging? 

Work my socks off on my other projects @loveforsomerset on Instagram and a course I’m writing for the women in my church.

and lastly, tell us all a random fact about yourself.  

I am so short, 4 ft 11 in.  People think I must be taller from my profile pic!

Now that you know all about Lizzie from Lizzie Somerset, make sure you go and read her blog. Make sure you follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too. Thanks so much Lizzie for being involved!