I am excited and truly honored to be receiving my first nomination for a blogging award. I want to give a huge “Thank You!” to Romina with her blog Mini Mummi Blogger for nominating my blog for the “Bloggers Recognition Award.”

What is the Blogger Recognition Award?

The Blogger Recognition Award is given to bloggers by bloggers to show appreciation for the hard work and dedication put into their blog. This is an amazing award to be presented with, because from my experience starting a new blog is, “No walk in the park.”
It requires tons of energy, time, patience and a wide variety of skills–some of which you might have to learn. So, receiving this award is a great honor and each blogger who receives it should be proud of what they have accomplished, but should also remember this isn’t the finish line, just a milestone. There is always more growth and knowledge to obtain. Take this award wear it with pride and keep building your blog.

What is Mini Mummi Blogger and who is Romina?

Romina is a first-time mommy to a beautiful little boy (he really is beautiful; he’s got cheeks that are perfect for aunties and grandmas to pinch). As a new mom, she found it difficult to apply conflicting parenting advice from books, friends, family, strangers, midwives, and other baby experts. So she soon realized- she would have to be the one to decide what was best for her and her baby.
She is currently on maternity leave and is looking to put her writing/publishing experience to good use. She firmly believes that every mom knows what’s best for her own baby, and hopes that she can help other moms to navigate through the wealth of often conflicting information out there about pregnancy and motherhood. She created her blog, Mini Mummi Blogger, in the hopes of helping new and not-so-new moms become confident in their mothering abilities, and know that it’s okay to ask for help or decide which advice is suitable for her and her baby.

My Blog’s Story

I’m E. L. Lane, and I’m a first-time mom to a vibrant and tenacious three-year-old girl whom I affectionately refer to as Leia (because she’s my little princess). I have a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, which was difficult to get, but, honestly, I find being a mother and blogger at the same time to be one of the most challenging undertakings in my life.
I’ve always had a passion for writing and decided to try out blogging after becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom. I hadn’t written for years before starting to blog, and I need to write like I need oxygen to breathe.
I don’t have a specific direction/niche for my blog at the moment, but I’ve written about: blogging; vlogging; and places, experiences, and restaurants I’ve enjoyed. 
I strive to post consistently and provide helpful content for you, my beloved readers, to enjoy.  
I can’t say that I know exactly what I’ll be writing about in the future, but I am growing and learning new things every day, and absolutely loving every minute of my blogging journey. Thank you so much for coming along with me on this wild ride.  
My favorite part about blogging is hearing from my readers, and I’m constantly looking for personal ways to connect with you.

My Advice to New Bloggers

Here are my best tips for new bloggers:
 

1. Pick a social media platform, and dominate it.

Create a Facebook page, an Instagram feed, a Twitter feed, and any other social media platform you think may be useful. But make sure to spend lots of time learning the ins-and-outs of one specific social media platform. Like, comment, and share other people’s content to make connections with readers or other bloggers in your niche. If you try to create a strong presence on all of the social media platforms, you may spread yourself too thin and end up quitting social media altogether. It is much more likely that you will gain more popularity, faster if you stick to one social media platform. I’m of the mindset that it is best to do one thing very well than to do ten things half-heartedly.  

2. Create a publishing calendar.

If you have a bunch of topics you’d like to write about, make sure to make out a list, then refer to that list at the end of each month to create a calendar of topics for the coming month. Many bloggers post weekly, so just pick a topic each week, and make sure to publish consistently. Readers like knowing when their favorite bloggers are likely to post something new and will look forward to reading their stuff on that schedule.

3. Only write about topics you’re passionate about.

Make sure that what you do, you do with gusto! If you choose a niche too soon, you may find that after three blog posts, you’re done saying what you wanted to say on the topic, and then you’re stuck with a domain name like smellycheesesilove.com. Give yourself time to explore what you like to write about, and choose a niche only when it is abundantly clear that you have lots to say on that specific topic.

My nominations are:

  1. Jessica from What’s Happening with Jessica?
  2. Dayana from My Eklektik Mama
  3. Amanda from Russney Party of Five
  4. Nicky from Hype Girls
  5. Kristy from Momming with Muscles… and Coffee
  6. Angela from Mom’s Coffee is Cold
  7. Kayla from Virtuous Mama
  8. Monet from The Traveling Child
  9. Jessie from Momma Messie
  10. Cristal from In the Life of Cristal
  11. Jamie from Still Jamie Blog
  12. Ashley from A Vodka Kind of Mom
  13. Tiffany from Happy Mom Brain
  14. Shawna from MISHMASH MOMMY
  15. Jessica from Accepting My Motherly Title
I wish continued success to all. Keep up the great work and keep growing your blog!

Rules for accepting this reward:

• Take the time to thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog
• Write a post to show your award
• Give a brief story how your blog started
• Give pieces of advice to new bloggers
• Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to
• Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them, provide the link to the post you created
Happy blogging!
XOXO,


E. L. Lane