Today I’m in the Bloglight

I am excited to be in the HomeTalk Bloglight today!  I want to give those of you that are new over hear, from HomeTalk, a big warm welcome!  Make yourself at home, and feel free to ask me anything!  While you’re here I’d like to tell you a little about me.

How did you first get into blogging?

Years and years ago, way back before the world really knew about blogging, I started a blog.  It was just a family blog, nothing exciting.  I’ve always loved to help my friends out by answering their cleaning and organizing questions so on that little blog I started a series called Ask Anna, where my friends could email me their questions and I’d answer them.  My blogging didn’t last long because it was in the days before Facebook {I know, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time without Facebook} and I ran out of questions to answer.  I also got pregnant and was working full time so life was a little too busy to blog about my life.

Then 2 years ago, Thanksgiving 2010, my friend Emily did a Gratitude Challenge on her blog. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her posts and it got me thinking that maybe I should start blogging again.  After much encouragement from her I decided to start up my family blog again.
 
Then a couple weeks later my best friend Heather told me that I should bring back Ask Anna.  I told Heather that I’d give it a try and see if anyone was interested this time around.  The very first post I wrote on my new Ask Anna Blog was posted on Sunday, January 9th, and it was a Recipe of the Week.  I had one comment and it was from my friend Bethany.  Then I got a call from Amy of Increasingly Domestic.  We go to the same church so she happily gave me all her blogging tips.  Without Amy’s help it would have taken me ages to figure out how to do link parties, make my posts look good, etc.  But with her help I was able to jump right in and get noticed!  And the rest is history…

How did you decide on the name of your blog?

The name of my blog was easy for me to choose because I wanted it to be a place where people could come and ask me anything.  And they do, and I love it!

Is blogging something you do on the side, or is it a full-time job for you? What did/do you do for a living?

Blogging definitely started as a hobby for me.  I was staying at home with my daughter when I started blogging and then it slowly became my job.  When I started making a little money it became a great way for me to “justify” all my house projects to my husband.  House projects are never in the budget so I figured if I paid for them then I could paint and redecorate as many rooms as I wanted.

What was the first project you ever posted?

The first cleaning tip I ever posted was how to clean carpet stains. 

It’s a funny story, as well as a great tip.  The first organizing post I ever wrote was Teaching Kids to be Organized. 

I got a great response from this post and it was even published in the Homeschool Handbook.  After that I started getting questions from my readers and the posts kind of just took off!

Which project has brought you the most traffic to-date? 

For a long time my number one post was How to Clean your Washing Machine.

This year there was another post that snuck into first place and then took off.  That post is the all famous How to get rid of that “boy bathroom smell”. 

I seriously had no idea that this post was going to go viral like it did!  I have a daughter so I didn’t realize how big of a problem this was for most moms! 

Other top favorites are How to Clean your Dyson,

My video tutorial on How to Paint a Perfect Line,

And the parties I throw are always a BIG hit too!  The Mad Men theme party was the most recent party I did, for my 31st birthday.

Because my parties have always been such a huge hit among my friends and readers, I’m currently writing a 31 day series on how to plan a fabulous and stress free party.  I’d love for you to join us!

What do your friends and family think about your blog? Do they read all of your updates?

My friends and family are all very supportive of me blogging, however I honestly don’t know how many of them really even know about what I do.  I think they all know I blog but I’m not sure they all know what a blog is!  My mom and mother-in-law are both very supportive and shamelessly plug me whenever they can.  It’s super encouraging but also a little embarrassing since I’m more of a behind the scenes kind of girl.  My friends are supportive but I don’t think most of them actually read my blog.  My absolute favorite though is when my friends and family members ask me “Ask Anna” questions because I love helping people solve their problems.  I will sometimes get random picture texts asking me how to clean or organize something, in fact I just got a picture from a friend today saying, “help!”. 

My husband is super supportive.  Even though he hates that I’m always asking him to help me with projects, I know he loves that I love what I do.  He has been super encouraging, motivating and even though he doesn’t always read my posts, he is always interested in what I’m doing and asks me about it on a daily basis.

How has keeping a blog changed you?

I think blogging has helped me to come alive.  As I mentioned before, I have always loved to help people solve their problems but back before Facebook, Pinterest, etc. it was much harder to do.  I would always offer to help people but they would never take me up on it and it was super frustrating!  With my blog I can answer questions, give tips, etc. and then people from all over the world, not just my friends, can get my help when they need it.  I love that my blog is a resource for so many people and that people look to me to help them solve their tough questions!  Even though blogging can consume a lot of my time, and there are days when I feel burnt out, I really really love what I do and I feel like it has helped me to become an even better version of myself.  Helping people makes me come alive, so the fact that I get to do that everyday, is very awesome and totally fulfilling!

Do you stick to a strict posting schedule? How do you keep track of when and how often to post?

You would think, since I write about organizing, that I would be an organized blogger… I’m not.  I struggle with balancing answering reader’s questions but also writing about projects I’m working on, etc.  I think readers get board reading too much of the same thing all the time so I really try to mix it up.  I post 5 days of the week (Mon-Fri) and that’s about as “strict” as I get, I know I have to fill those days and each week it looks a little different.

What are your top 5 favorite home&garden/DIY websites or blogs that you would suggest to those of us looking for new inspiration?

Oh wow, how do I pick just 5?!  There are so many great blogs out there but if I HAVE to pick five these would be them:

1.  Thistlewood Farm — Not only does Karianne have incredible design style & ideas but she is also one of the sweetest & funniest people I’ve ever met! 

2. The 36th Avenue — Everything Desiree creates is gorgeous!  She is a beautiful, sweet person but she is also one of the most creative people I know!  Her creativity never ceases to amaze me!

3. Lil’ Luna — I love Kristyn’s blog for so many reasons.  She is also incredibly creative but my favorite posts are all of the delicious recipes she comes up with.  I seriously think I’ve gained weight since I started following her! She is also one of the sweetest bloggers I know and she has really helped me along in my blogging journey.

4. The Nester – I love this blog because I wish I could design like her!  Her crazy, whimsical style is something I aspire to be able to do.  She is always thinking outside the box and I’ve had so many “ah ha” moments reading her posts.  Thanks to the Nester I feel like I’ve been able to branch out a little on my style and I’ve tried hard to get rid of the “perfectionist” in my style.  I am always so inspired after reading her posts.

5. Liz Marie Blog — If you want to see beautiful furniture makeovers, this is the blog to follow!  Every piece Liz makes over is gorgeous! I’ve emailed her before and told her I wish she lived closer because I have some pieces I’d like her to paint!  Even though we live on opposite sides of the country she is always so helpful and awesome to answer my painting questions.  Because of her I was inspired to make over the back splash in my kitchen and I’ve started working with chalk paint (something I’m terrified of). 

I promise, you will love all of these blogs!

What are your favorite kinds of posts to write?

My favorite posts to write are the reader question posts.  I have learned so much in the last year and half, from researching and finding solutions for my readers.  I’m always excited to learn more and be able to help my readers in the process!

What advice could you give to other bloggers that you wish you had known before you started blogging?

I think there are 2 very important things to remember when you start blogging:

#1 Have no expectations.  If you start blogging with the expectation that you’ll “make it big” or make tons of money, then you will be disappointed.  I’ve learned that things never go as planned so it’s better if you are just along for the ride, rather than putting a bunch of pressure on yourself. 

Now I’m not saying don’t have goals because goals are important.  A couple of my goals are to write an eBook andhave a monthly column in a magazine.  Those things are always floating around in the back of my mind but in my day to day blogging I’m not putting the pressure on myself to have to do them.  I am perfectly happy where I’m at so anything else is just gravy. {wink}

#2 Blog because you love it.  This kind of goes along with the first one but I think blogging because you love something will make you more successful.  If you’re blogging because you want to make money or make it big, you won’t have the same passion and readers can sense that.  I honestly blog because I love to help people.  Sure my blog isn’t  as big and successful as many of my blogging friends, but that doesn’t matter.  Of course I want my blog to grow but I don’t want my blogging to be about that.  I always want my blogging to be because I love what I’m writing about and I love helping my readers. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me and I look forward to “seeing” you around!  If you have a few more minutes I’d love to share some of my favorite posts/projects with you.

Upcycled Piano Bench

 How to {fake} a Clean Bathroom

 My Living Room Transformation

 How to Update a Brick Fireplace

 How to Keep Vents Clean