There are plenty of stay-at-home mommy bloggers, but not quite as many stay-at-home daddy bloggers. Mike Smith watches his four kids as a SAHD, but had always resisted the idea of blogging. It just didn’t strike him as appealing. That is until he had a long talk with a friend who became a successful blogger. He decided to give it a try about a year ago and has since developed a great blog called Sunshine Dad.
Get to know more about Smith’s blogging adventure by reading the following Q&A:
A: My favorite posts are posts that can get people to laugh. Most of my posts are about the daily antics and adventures I have while being a stay at home dad to 4 young kids.
A: Just over 1 year.
A: I once wrote a rather tongue in cheek post about how breast pumping was better than breast feeding and I had women coming out of the wood-works to tell me how stupid I was. I don’t even know who they were or how they came across my site but they turned out in droves. It was one of my most viewed posts of all time. I learned a good leson about how a little controversy is good for views, but I also learned I wanted to stay positive and not just push people’s buttons for the sake of getting views.
A: Several friends suggested I start a blog but I never thought it was something I would like. Then after a long conversation with a friend who has a successful fashion blog I decided to give it a try.
A: I love when I write a post and I get people to respond back that they can relate to what I was saying and they dealt with the same issues in their life.
A: Understand why you are starting a blog. If you are just writing for yourself or for your family to keep in touch, then you can basically do whatever you want.
If you are writing in hopes of gaining readers and making a little extra income, then you are going to have to be very deliberate about what you do. You are going to have to treat it as a job and set a posting schedule and keep yourself accountable. You aren’t going to “accidentally” make it as a blogger.
Also, understand there are millions of other people with blogs. You must be adding something of value to the internet if you expect people to follow you.
A: One of my earliest posts was about all the scary things that can happen while you are trying to get a child dressed or change their diaper and I had a great time thinking back on all those crazy situations.
A: Making yourself stand out among the millions of other blogs out there. You have to put in a ton of time and work and sometimes you feel like no one is even paying any attention to you. It’s hard sometimes to keep motivating yourself when you’re not seeing any rewards yet.
A: I don’t necessarily have one or two individual blogs I look up to but I admire anyone who has gotten their blog to the point where they are supporting their family from it.
A: Blogging takes up way more time than you would ever anticipate but it’s a lot of fun and connects you with people all over the world.
