A Blog About Blogging

You guys are always asking me about blogging in general, so today I am doing a post on the subject and my experience with it. I first started blogging when my friend from home Jessica approached me about helping with the content on her blog, Champagne and Shimmer. I started blogging with her and really liked it. Not long after that, I agreed to shoot season two of Hockey Wives. They encouraged me to take this opportunity and brand myself; they suggested starting a blog with my name on it. I especially liked the idea because it would give me a place to have a voice about the episodes that were being aired. So from there, ByAngela was created, and I made a public Instagram to promote my blog.

*I get comments a lot about how all my photos are professionally done and not "real." That is because my public Instagram is a professional tool to support my brand and my blog. When it is indeed 100% a peek into my real life at the end of the day I look at is a business and want to present it as one. So a lot of the photos you see on my feed are a bit staged you could say, but I do use Instagram stories to share more of the raw unedited side to our lives.

Favorite thing to blog about?

Family and wellness are what I am most passionate about.

What is one thing I should know if I want to start a blog?

It takes so much time and work! Before I started blogging, I thought it looked so easy, but it is very time consuming and there is so much stuff to learn!

How do you stay motivated and stick to a schedule?

It is really hard, especially working from home with so many distractions. I just keep pushin.

Do you consider your blog a business?

Yes, which is kind of crazy.

How much money does it cost?

There are so many different options. I am sure you can get a blog up and running for free maybe on Blogger or a site like that. For me, I think I pay close to $200 a year for my webpage and then another fee for my domain name. Then, of course, you could add on a professional photographer and stuff like that if that is the direction you want to go. Last year I invested a good amount money to have a professional design my website.

Do you have an editor?

No, but I should! Right now I just write all my blogs in Grammarly (I think its a few bucks a month) which can catch some of the bigger typos and what not but still could use another set of eyes on my content before posting.

Home much time per week do I spend on the blog?

This varies a lot, depending on what is going on with our life. My priority is the kids, and assisting in Carey's career, and then whatever I have left, I put into the blog. So anywhere from 20 hours a week to 40+ hours.

Do you do all yourself?

Right now, I am running the blog myself, but actually, hope to hire someone this winter, which is super exciting for me!!

I do have an agent that helps negotiates deals and keeps me on track for my required content.

How much money can you make with blogging?

Oh geez, I think the possibilities are endless! For me, I didn't get approached much for paid work until I hit around 50K followers on Instagram. Once I got over 100K followers, that is when the real offers started coming in, and I think around that level anywhere from $30K-$100K is normal. So I have to believe the bloggers with million-plus followers are gotta be making the big bucks, but no one really comes out and talks about how much they are making.

It is so hard to say, though, because it is not the same for everyone.

How do you know what you are going to post?

Each month I try to sit down with my content calendar, which is just a printed piece of paper with the month on it haha. But I look at what holidays or events are coming up and kind of start there. I also go off of what people are asking me or what you guys want to see.

What other websites/apps do I use?

I use square space for my website, which uses WordPress for the blogging component.

I use Lightroom on my computer and on iPhone to edit the photos I take.

I use Planoly to schedule posts, and then I like Unfold to make my Instagram stories look a little more professional.

How do you take the leap and do a first blog post?

OMG, I was so nervous for my first post and felt soooo stupid posting, but you just got to do anyway. It is like ripping off a bandaid once you do it once it's really not that bad and each post after that gets more comfortable.

What's your most popular posts?

My birth story post has had the most views.

Do you ever endorse items you don't like?

NEVER! Just ask my agent, lol he can probably tell you down to the dollar how much money we have passed up because I didn't want to endorse a product I wasn't 100% behind.

Who takes my pictures? It seems like you always have a photographer around.

I try to keep the majority of my photos on my page professionally shot. In Montreal, I work with Mari Photographe, and in Kelowna, I have worked with different photographers through the years. Most recently, I worked with Tyson Clark and Rachelle Beatty

I like to have a designated shoot day once every two weeks. I use my content calendar to determine what kind of photos I need. But a lot of time sponsored content will need to be shot sooner so sometimes it works out that we are shooting once a week for the blog.

Do you reach out to vendors or they to you?

Both. In the beginning, I was too shy and waited for people to reach out to me. But now if there is a brand or product I love, then I won't hesitate to slide into their DM's.

Why do you work when Carey already makes good money, are you that money hungry?

This question pops up every now and then, and it drives me nuts. First off I think it is pretty sexist. If a woman was the breadwinner in a family, would people automatically assume the man should have no desire to work?

Anyway, I never wanted to be a stay at home mom. I always dreamed of having a career, but due to our lifestyle (and who I married and where we lived), I didn't have a lot of options. I pride myself in being able to make the best of any situation, so if being a stay at home mom was the cards I was delt I would be happy with that and make the best of it. But when I started blogging, it grew like crazy, and I was able to see potential in that, and I ran with it. Having something of my own again felt amazing, even if it was not the career I dreamt of, it was something of my own that I could throw myself in to. Yes, we do not need the money which is great and why I get to be so picky about what brands I work with and is why my content is so genuine. At the end of the day, when you are growing a brand or a business money is a part of that and in a lot of ways how you determine the success of that business. I will never be apologetic for not being content being a housewife and making my own money no matter the opinions of others.

Much Love,