In the Bloglight at Hometalk

I love posting new projects on Hometalk!  Wait…you haven’t heard of Hometalk? “Hometalk is the largest online home & garden knowledge hub. It’s fueled by the firsthand experience & advice of hundreds of thousands of home enthusiasts & professionals.” Whether you need inspiration for decor or answers to those tough how to questions, Hometalk has it!

{You can find my profile for Hometalk HERE}

I am SUPER excited and honored to be chosen for Hometalk’s Bloglight this week! As part of being in the Bloglight, I will be answering some blogging questions that I am sure you have been dying to know 🙂

How did you first get into blogging?

I have been a blog reader for many years and I loved the idea of having a way to share my love of home decorating, painting and DIY projects.  It took me a while to actually buy my domain name and just do it! Finally I went for it and today is the 1 year anniversary of my very first post!

How did you decide on the name of your blog?

Naming my blog wasn’t easy.  I thought of lots of names but nothing felt right.  Once I thought of what I wanted my blog to represent, it just came to me and I immediately loved it.

Is blogging something you do on the side, or is it a full-time job for you?

This makes me laugh because I spend a lot of time doing things necessary to grow a blog. Sometimes its hard to differentiate looking at Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter for fun or for my blog.  I will say that it takes WAY more hours to make a blog run than you would ever think, especially if you are wanting to make money.  So I think it’s safe to say, I’m currently working for peanuts! If you want to see what I do all day you can follow me on Social media…

What was the first project you ever posted?

The first project I posted was a Valentine’s Day post.  If I could do it over again…I would! Mostly because the pics aren’t great and I would really do the mantel differently.  But I’m ok with it because no one starts out doing it perfectly and as long as I’m growing as a blogger that is what counts.

What do your friends and family think about your blog? Do they read all of your updates?

Some do read my blog, some don’t. I honestly feel weird talking about it in person with people. It’s really hard to put yourself out there like that even when you know everyone will not like everything you do, as they shouldn’t.  We all have different styles and taste.  I will say, I am usually surprised when people I know in real life mention a post to me.  I’ve actually had my neighbor (a man) ask me about something I posted on my blog!

What is your most popular project on Hometalk to-date?

My painted kitchen cabinets had been my most popular post up until 2 weeks ago when my T-shirt Art Project was shared on the Hometalk Facebook page.  Then it shot through the roof…THANK YOU Hometalk! You can see all of my Hometalk posts HERE.

Do you stick to a strict posting schedule? How do you keep track of when and how often to post?

I don’t stick to a strict posting schedule, I post as I go.  I try to keep some things consistent about times and days I post.  As far as projects, I blog about what is going on At Home with The Barkers in real time for the most part.  I will post some projects at later dates if I think they will do better during other times.  I like to take Sunday evening to look at the week ahead and pencil in on my calendar what I’d like to do.  This even worked well for me last October when I blogged for 31 straight days about  Bringing this Home to Order.

What advice could you give to other bloggers that you wish you had known before you started blogging? 

The best advice I can give is to take advice from many bloggers BUT keep in mind what works for some may not work for you.  I follow many bloggers who have been blogging for years and they have some great advice but there are times when this advice doesn’t work the same for a new blogger.  Technology and social media are game changers and they seem to like to start new games OFTEN!

If you are curious about anything else that I may not have answered, feel free to just ask!