The Blog Lowdown – Wry Mummy

Today on The Blog Lowdown, I’m delighted to be hosting Jess from Wry Mummy….

Please Introduce yourself:
Hi, I’m Jess from Wry Mummy. I’m mum to three boys, aged 6, 4 and 1, and master of none.

When did you start blogging?
I started Wry Mummy at midnight one September night last year – I’d been meaning to do it for a while and I suddenly decided to just go for it. My first post Cleaning Up Chunks – A Mother’s Glory came to me when I was sluicing baby sick off the sheets at 2am thinking dark thoughts about my husband snuggling with the ailing infant upstairs. My only consolation was that the sick bug would be seeping into his pores as he dozed away in the glory role.

Tell us a little about your blog
My blog is a humorous take on the joys, fears and general grind of motherhood. If something amuses me, I hope I can make another mum’s lips twitch too. Some of what I write is serious, but it’s always with a wry touch. How else can you respond when a child wees on your foot in public or squeezes a smoothie down your bra?

Who designed your blog?
A fantastic designer called Shaun from Seventy Creative.

Which of your posts have been the most popular? Are there certain types that get more interest?
My top three posts are:
The Shouting Bra, and Other Mummy Essentials – you can’t command respect naked, not even from your kids.
I Hope I’ll Smile At Children In The Supermarket Aisle – not look at them as if I’d never seen something so vile. A poem to remind my future self to be kind to mums with young kids.
How To Get A Piece of Lego Out Of Your Kid’s Nose – a funny story containing the only piece of actual advice you’ll find on my blog.

My posts are very diverse and I’m always surprised by which ones do well. An intriguing title always helps, I’d say, judging by the three above.

How do you promote your blog posts, and which methods do you find to be most successful?
I tweet a new post out a couple of times and post it on my personal and Wry Mummy Facebook page, plus to a couple of local parents Facebook networks. I am on Blogger so when I publish it automatically publishes to my Google+ circles, which is an easy win. I recently started putting my posts on Pinterest too. I also join linkys where appropriate (see below). I find it is quite random which method works! It all depends who is checking their social media when you post, and whether they choose to read / share your post.

Which linkys do you most enjoy joining in with/reading?
I nearly always join in with #ShareWithMe on Wednesdays, run by the lovely Jenny at Let’s Talk Mommy, and the inspirational Victoria’s #PoCoLo at Verily Victoria Vocalises on Fridays. These suit me well as they are for posts on any theme. The fab Vicki at Honest Mum has recently launched #BrilliantBlogPosts on a Thursday so I usually link up there too. I write the occasional poem, so I link those to Victoria’s Prose4Thought on Thursdays. I don’t put many of my own photos on my blog, but if I have one, I link up to What’s The Story at PODcast. I really like #TheThemeGame and #WordOfTheWeek at our lovely host, Jocelyn’s, blog, The Reading Residence, and join up if I have a relevant post. I don’t tend to write posts specifically for linkys but I like to read other people’s contributions.

When are your busiest days on the blog, and why? (if you know why!)
My busiest days are when I publish a post. I don’t have a set day for publishing so that can be any weekday. I only post once or twice a week; very occasionally I write three pieces. I don’t do much over the weekend as I’m usually trekking from one kid’s birthday party to the next!

Can you name 3 things that blogging has brought you?
Joy in the act of writing.
Validation.
Pals. I love how blogging brings you in contact with so many lovely, interesting people.

My top five tips:5 tips for successful blogging
1. Write because you want to.
2. Join blogging networks, e.g. Mumsnet, BritMums, Netmums, TOTS100, Parent Bloggers Network, Bloggers Network, Love All Blogs. You get access to other great blogs, and if they choose to feature your post, it gets great exposure.
3. Don’t worry too much about statistics. If you enjoyed writing your post and you’re proud of it, any additional reader is a bonus.
4. Read as many posts as you can and comment where possible. Reply to other people’s comments on your blog. And don’t use Captcha – it is notoriously offputting to potential commentators.
5. Be realistic about how much time you can / want to devote to your blog. It could take up every minute of your day but kids grow up fast.

My Social Media Links:
You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

Thanks very much, Jess. I can see why those titles would gain some attention! Great posts, and thanks for those tips and another anti-CAPTCHA message – turn it off!

If you’ve any questions for Jess, feel free to comment on this post, and she’ll pop by and check in. Next week, we will be hearing from Donna from Redhead Babyled so be sure to pop by for that next Tuesday morning. You can catch up the previous posts from other bloggers here, if you’ve missed them.

If you’d like to feature on The Blog Lowdown, just email me at [email protected] to get involved.

To ensure you don’t miss any blogger posts, you can now sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll always include The Blog Lowdown round up in those.

Other posts you might like:

My 20 Top Tips for Bloggers

A Blogger’s Guide to Pinterest

10 Tips to Get your Blogging Mojo Back

Follow on Bloglovin

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6 thoughts on “The Blog Lowdown – Wry Mummy”

  1. I love Jess and her blog as much as I hate Captcha! The post about the Lego is the first one I ever read from Jess, and I have to say I was hooked straight away! When I read Jess’ hilarious posts, I am always laughing quite a lot, sometimes snorting, other times choking on my brekkie… Mel

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