Meet Tea & Cake

1)  What is your blog about?  What is your niche, if you have one?

It’s a lifestyle blog that covers travel, health, music, recipes, home and money-saving tips, interviews and reviews, along with some modern-day issues. It’s based on all the things that I enjoy or feel will help others. 

 

2)  Why did you start blogging?

It was threefold really. 

Initially, I decided to start a blog after getting some terrific feedback from a road trip diary that I’d written during a holiday in the USA. I figured that as I’d spent so much time researching it, I’d share what I learnt in the hope that it would help someone else.

I rely on reviews when making my own purchases or bookings so always leave good feedback if I’ve been happy with something. I thought that a blog would be another way to give something back to those whose products and services I’ve enjoyed.

And lastly, I have openly spoken to people about my life with mental illness, offering other sufferers self-help tips to aid recovery. I decided to write a series about mental health and add that to the blog so that I could offer advice all in one place. Obviously, I still talk to people about it in person but it’s handy for them to be able to reread bits and read it in small sections when they are able to as well. 

3)  What do you love about blogging?  What do you not like about blogging?

I love writing and I’m just bursting with ideas. I have a list of about 50 things that I’d like to write about at some point and the list continues to grow.

I don’t like the time it takes to prepare photos, do SEO, promote on social media and share in relevant groups and pages. I’d rather be using that time to write more. 

4)  What is your biggest obstacle/fear about blogging?

The biggest obstacle is that I’m only on a free WordPress site at the moment which doesn’t give me the options of plug-ins and applying for sponsored posts. When I started, I didn’t know half the things that I know now, and like I say I only set it up as a hobby and to share topics that would help people. I presumed I’d be able to add a domain name to it at a later date, something I found I can’t do now without spending a lot of money. I may do it at some point but at the moment I am concentrating on improving lots of my old posts taking on board everything that I have learnt about blogging in the last 6 months. 

5)  What type of audience do you hope to attract with your blog?

Because I write about a variety of subjects I think there is something there for everyone. All of my posts are available on my email subscription service which offers just a teaser email in the morning. People can then choose to click if it interests them or delete if it doesn’t. I hope that I will attract genuine followers who read and enjoy my posts. 

6)  What apps, software or plugins are your favourites for blogging/social media?

I use a mixture of photoshop (yes I’m old school) Desyner, and Fotosizer for photos. No apps. I’m a bit late to the party and have only just installed Whatsapp so there’s no immediate chance of me progressing any further on the app front 😉. And sadly no plug-ins because of the aforementioned free WordPress site not having that option. My first add-on would be Yoast without a doubt. I have my blog set to auto post to Facebook and Twitter when my posts go live in the morning, and I then schedule Facebook posts to share to my pages throughout the day on Facebook’s own scheduling function.  I reshare on Twitter later in the day manually. 

7)  What do you hope your followers take away from your blog?

As the name of my blog suggests, a little bit of something for their soul, whether it’s to sooth them or to lift them and raise a smile. I hope that people find something to help themselves or give them ideas to help others. And of course, there’s always cake involved, so I hope that they’ll make some of my recipes, especially the old family ones that have been handed down through generations.

8)  Name your top 5 travel destinations on your bucket list and why?

In the UK, Cornwall – I’ve never been there, only having got as far as Devon in that direction. I’ve been assured they have the best beaches in the UK.

The New Forest – I’ve driven through but never walked or stayed there. It’s so beautiful and to see wild horses roaming is just amazing.

Monument Valley in Arizona/Utah, USA – A wonder of the natural world. We’ve been to the rocks in Sedona and this is just a step further. This is actually part of the plan for our next trip Stateside.

New York – I’m not generally one for cities, much preferring my entertainment from the natural environment, but it’s got to be done. We’d incorporate it on a trip to Canada to see Niagara Falls I think. My friend went and took the train between the two and it’s something I quite fancy.

Florida coast – We’ve done Orlando for Disney, but never ventured to the beach areas on the east coast, only the west so I would like to compare it. 

9)  Do you have a passion project that you want to pursue now or in the future when you have time?

Yes, I want to see if I can make a career from my writing and am starting to take steps in that direction. In the last two decades, I’ve had my writing featured in many books and magazines, and my photos used on CDs and in other publications. I also run several web pages for bands and gig guides. I think it’s about time I started to utilize those skills and do more of what I really love. 

10)  What do you wish you had known before you started blogging?

Haha, everything that I know now and am likely to keep learning in the next 6 months or more. It’s a permanent learning curve though isn’t it and things are always changing with technology and social media. I wish I’d known how much I was going to love doing it, and that I’d want to do it as more than a hobby. I would have set myself up properly from the start. 

Please include 1 – 3 sentences about you, your blog, etc.

I’m a busy, married, mum of two grown-up children, with a varied working background in education, admin, retail, hair and home care. My passions include music, travel, writing, reading, upcycling and spending time with friends and family.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by! You can find me at:

Blog:                 https://teaandcakeforthesoul.wordpress.com/

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/teaandcakesoul

Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/teaandcakeforthesoul/

YouTube:        https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCydCwVi0LvLL_GvRe55th8w