Reflecting on Blogging

I had been waiting for the photos to come from the Vancouver Top Mom Blogger Event before blogging about it and I now have them.  I really just took this whole process of being nominated and then making it to second place as a learning experience.  I love, love, looooove seeing how things work behind the scenes. It was cool to learn about what other moms do with their blogs in regards to their purpose, inspiration, and focus.  I'm thankful to Vancouvermom.ca for including me this year!

I appreciate having so many people read this blog.  It started as a way to document my kids lives and morphed into a way to also connect with others.  I enjoy looking back one or two years to see what my kids were doing.  I love hearing from someone saying what restaurant they would recommend for me or what park they went to after I recommended it to them.  I enjoy learning from others and sharing what I learn as well.

{Photo by Images By Bethany.  These are the Top 30 Mom Bloggers of 2014)

On the spectrum of blogging, it ranges from journaling to marketing/business.  I do have a blog for business (GC Photography) but this one is just personal.  I never thought to try to make any money from it.  When I noticed that I consistenly had  200-400 page views per day, I thought that I would try having google ads and see what happened.  Really, you don't make much money at all, but it's better than nothing!

Throughout this process I've also learned a whole lot more about social media and especially twitter.  If you want a successful blog, I think you need to be pretty twitter saavy.  I am not, but I'm learning.

Now the question is: What do I do now?  Do I try to increase the numbers of readers?  Do I do giveaways? Do I do reviews? Do I stay the same? What do I want my blog to be? How much time and energy do I want to invest?  I've been reflecting on this a lot and I don't really have an answer.

My current plan is to continue doing what I'm doing.  I have always reviewed restaurants we've gone to, hotels we've stayed at, cities we've visited, and family activities we've done.  Since the Vancouver Mom Blog Event, I've had some opportunities but nothing that felt like `me'.  Tomorrow, Kai and I are attending BC Blueberries Cooking Camp which is totally up our alley.  Blueberries + cooking + time with my Kai Bear? Perfect.

If I could do anything, and dream BIG, I would love to be a travel and food blogger.  Travel with my family and blog about it.  Eat awesome meals and share.  I know this likely won't happen though because I don't currently have hours to invest into my blog more than I already do.  And you know, that's okay.  I'm very content with where I am and what I'm doing.   I love that there is no pressure with my blog as it's not my job, it's my hobby.

It has been very interesting learning about the blogging world and I'm thankful to be part of it.  There won't really be any changes right now but I'm always open to possibilities.  Thank you for reading and commenting and caring.  I know I have so many great people in my life and it's pretty awesome.

Love, Louise