Interview with a Mummy - Blogger #2

1. What is your blog url? 

www.hanplans.co.uk

2. What was the inspiration behind your name? 

It used to be Hannah Says - except i wasn’t saying very much… I love planning and journaling so Han Plans seemed to work. I love knitting and crochet so some how that fits in there too. I squish parenting in I guess on the angle of organising everyone! 

3. What made you decide to start blogging? 

Blogging started way back when I was a student. I wanted to learn how to build websites and Chris (my then boyfriend, now husband) was teaching me and pointed me in the direction of blogging - it would give the opportunity to start learning while doing something productive with it. It’s had a couple of incarnations but here I am nearly a decade later still blogging. 

4. Is blogging a job or a hobby to you? 

I guess it’s a hobby but because I do social media management for my job (around being a full time mum), it’s become a sort of portfolio so now it is part of my job

5. Do you think there is any stigma to being a parent blogger? 

Hell yeah! i think you say you’re a Mummy Blogger or Parent Blogger and everyone has this stereotype that comes to mind. Whether it’s “all the freebies” you get or the “perfect” parenting ideas that can come across sometimes. I try to keep it real and write about how things are for us because I know that we don’t have a “usual” family set up (17yo foster son and 2yo bio son - we’re both in our early 30s - do the maths there!)

6. What is your favourite post you have written? (Please link) 

The posts I wrote when I was at BBC Radio 2 for Children in Need back in 2010 were kind of cool - although the photos are dodgy and the posts are rough round the edges (http://hanplans.co.uk/tag/children-in-need/). However I think the ones I wrote when we went to the Lake District have more importance because they mark when Our Sidekick came to live with us and we became foster carers (http://hanplans.co.uk/tag/lakes2011/)

7. What is your favourite post you have read? (Please link) 

I’m sorry to be kind of boring but I’m not actually sure. I used to frequently read a blog called Yes and Yes (I’m not sure why I stopped reading it so might have to fix this). Anyway, each month she has a series called Network of Nice (http://www.yesandyes.org/category/network-of-nice) and the idea is that you post either something you need or can offer and then people get in touch depending on whether they need what you’re offering or can help you with your need.

8. Have you ever had any rude comments from family members or friends about your blog? If so, what? 

Actually I’m really fortunate that most of my family have been supportive about my blog or have kept their rude comments to themselves. My Granddad is the funniest - he joined FB and then would read my timeline and blog as a way of keeping up with what was going on with us between visits. He would often print off the latest pictures of Jaxon and they’d be blu-tacked round his dining room! 

9. Have you ever had any rude comments from a stranger if you've ever mentioned your blog? If so, what? 

Before I left my full time job to be a Mum, I had been to networking things in London and when I explained that blogging was a hobby at that point and not a job, I would get some really snotty remarks - most of the time I just shook them off because I knew that in our situation risking my pay cheque on a whim of sorts wasn’t going to work, unless I could earn enough to pay the bills outright, leaving my job wasn’t an option at that time. 

10. Have you ever had any nice comments from a strangers you've ever mentioned you blog? If so, what? 

We had been out to dinner at a restaurant and the service was terrible which was unlike how this restaurant normally is. I tried to respond on their FB page but I managed to hit the character limit, so instead I wrote the post on my blog and then posted the link to the FB page. It ended up being passed to the Regional Manager of the chain, who apologized profusely and offered us a free meal to the same value as our “disaster” meal. We accepted this and went back for dinner. Well while we were there it turned out the staff had got an earful and they’d either been primed with a rough idea of when we were coming in or knew to be on their best behavior. Anyway, I think I commented that the it was this freebie from the regional manager, so our waiter went and got the duty manager who then was our waiter for the rest of the meal. She commented how the manager had made them read my “review” then she’d also been reading other posts too and really enjoyed it. Not only that they’d just brought out dough balls with chocolate spread instead of the garlic spread - I made some comment about wanting to try it but I really wanted a different dessert - well the manager brought out two dough balls and the chocolate spread on a spread plate as well as the dessert I’d actually ordered. 

11. Do you have any advice to give others starting out? 

As tempting as it is, don’t compare yourself too much. It’s easy to look at big bloggers who have made a name for themselves and get downhearted that your stats don’t match theirs and things like that. 

12. Any final words of wisdom? 

Just write, write whether your audience is just your Mum (or in my case Grandad!) or whether you haven audience of hundreds or thousands. If you want to write then do it. 

13. Please link your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter 

Facebook: facebook.com/hanplans

Instagram: instagram.com/hannahjplans

Twitter: www.twitter.com/hanplans