I’m celebrating thirteen years of blogging this month! I began writing Em for Marvelous when I was a senior in college, and I’ve kept it up through so many seasons – seasons in the life of our family, and seasons in the world of the internet. Even after all this time, writing here is one of the joys and delights of my life.

To celebrate, I wanted to answer some of the (many!) questions I’ve received over the years about blogging and writing. (So many that this will be a four-part series, whew!) My position is unique and I certainly don’t know everything about blogging, but I’m more than willing to share what I do know. After all, it’s kind of what we do here :) Whether you’re interested in starting a blog, want to pursue a career in content, or are simply a curious EFM reader, I hope you’ll enjoy this mini series!

Up first: questions and answers about the practical side of blogging!

Photo by Ally & Bobby – considering making it my new sidebar headshot! I think the current one is from 2011 (!!!!).

How do you get started? Domain names, hosting… I don’t know what I don’t know!

Let’s start with the question I’m least qualified to answer, ha! I started my blog a long time ago, and so much has changed since then. Today, my blog is hosted on Bluehost (I just checked and I have the “Plus Hosting” plan). My domain name was also purchased from Bluehost and renews through them each year. My site is a custom WordPress site and was designed and built by Curious & Co. For ongoing troubleshooting and maintenance I work with Parker Web (they are fantastic!).

My biggest encouragement, especially if you are simply wanting to blog as a hobby, is just to start. Don’t invest in a fancy site, don’t tell all your friends, don’t even wait for the perfect name or content schedule or niche to start; just start to see if you even like the discipline of writing and sharing regularly with the world. Great things can grow from a free Blogger blog and a logo you make yourself :)

If you used a site template or have a great recommendation for an inexpensive, semi-custom site design, please share in the comments!

How long does it take you to write a “typical” post? It can take me days!

Me, too! The shortest posts take two hours: one hour to get the initial draft out, the second to refine and edit it, add links, add photos, add tags and categories, and all the other details. Some posts take 4-10 hours over several days; a typical “meatier” post takes about 3-5 hours.

Do you have a program for photo collages? How do you make them?

I make my photo collages in Adobe Illustrator. I’m grateful to have access to it through work – it’s an expensive program! If you don’t have access to Adobe, I believe you can make collages in Canva.

Do you write your blogposts in your WordPress backend or in a separate Google Doc, then transfer it? In a nuts-and-bolts sense, what is your writing method?

I write them in the WordPress backend*! Which is kind of maddening, as I feel like the WordPress people are always changing what it looks like back there, ha.

Depending on the complexity of the post and how time-sensitive the topic is, I’ll start the writing process anywhere from two days to two weeks before the date I want to post. I open up a new post and begin writing – day one can look like a fully-fleshed-out first draft, or just a few ideas jotted down. On a second day, I’ll read through what I’ve written, adding to it and tweaking sentences for clarity, simplicity, tone, impact, etc. I never post something the same day I write it – I always sit on it for at least a day, and coming back to it with fresh eyes helps me catch errors and get to the heart of what I really want to say. This process continues until the text of the post is finished.

Then, I’ll add any links, both external (to products, websites, etc.) and internal (to other posts on my blog, for context or resources). Next I’ll create a graphic (in Illustrator – like for Marvelous Money) or edit and upload photos. Every post has at least one photo or graphic, and some have dozens (trip recaps, for example!).

After doing a final copy edit to find any lingering errors, I’ll add tags (short words or phrases that describe the content of the post and help with SEO) and categories (broad buckets for my frequent topics, like marriage or goals – you can click on them in the sidebar!). Finally, I’ll make sure the post is scheduled. I almost always set my posts to go live in the 5am hour, for my early birds. You can be assured that I am NOT awake pressing publish at 5:23 am :)

*The exception to this is if I have ideas for a post but am not necessarily planning to publish it in the short term. Instead of creating a draft in WordPress, I’ll jot my notes in a TextEdit file and save them on my computer.

When/how do you find time to write?

With many competing priorities, it’s tough! That being said, we make time for the things that matter to us, and writing here matters very much to me (more on that in part three!).

When I’m not on maternity leave, my posts are written in the evenings after the kids are in bed, or during quiet hour on the weekends. Currently, lights out is at 8:30, and then I do 30 minutes to an hour of showering, cleaning the kitchen, making lunches, and prepping dinner for the next day. Since we try to head to bed at 11 or 11:30, that leaves me at most two and a half hours for blogging on a given night – and some days, some of those hours are spent on boring life things, relaxing/socializing, or working on some sort of project. My time for writing varies with the season and what’s going on in our family and at work, but I’d say I generally touch a blog post 3-4 nights a week.

One key to making time is to streamline, eliminate, and automate those “boring life things” as much as possible so I have more space for the things that fuel me, like writing – more about that here. And of course, I find that the more excited I am about a post topic, the more likely I am to dive in, ignore distractions, and create something worthwhile. Luckily for me, I never need to write about things that don’t excite me :)

I think you once posted that you make enough from the blog to basically pay to keep the blog running. Has that changed for you?

In 2020, I made $1,531 from affiliate links – $697 from Amazon and $834 from rewardStyle. I spent $1,148 to keep the blog up and running – for example, $156 to Bluehost for hosting and my domain, $150 for my annual survey (to Survey Monkey and a gift certificate for the winner), $632 to Parker Web for technical fixes like restyling my comment section after a WordPress update, and $12 to Akismet for comment spam protection.

While I reeeeeeally love writing here, I’d rather not pay for the privilege (ha!), so I’m glad I’m able to cover my costs through affiliate programs!

How do you get affiliate links? Do companies reach out to you or vice versa?

A quick overview on affiliate links. As an affiliate, I use a special link that’s keyed to my account when linking to some products. When you click on the link and purchase something within a window of time (the length of the window depends on the program), the company gives me a very small percentage of the purchase price (how small depends on the program, too). You don’t pay anything extra; the company is just rewarding me for sending customers their way.

Interestingly, for most programs, I earn based on what you purchase after clicking on my link, even if you don’t purchase what I linked to! For example, let’s say you clicked on the link for a book I’m reviewing in my monthly goals post to read more about it. You don’t end up purchasing the book, but a few hours later, you return to Amazon and buy a hair dryer you’ve been eyeing. As long as you haven’t clicked on anyone else’s affiliate link between then and now, I will earn money based on your hair dryer purchase.

I’m a member of two main affiliate programs: Amazon and rewardStyle (now LTK). Though they function very similarly, they’re also different!

AMAZON: My understanding is that pretty much any reputable site can be an Amazon affiliate, and since many of us naturally shop for so much at Amazon, it’s a great catch-all option to be able to link to! To become an affiliate, you apply on their site. Their link window is 24 hours (SO SHORT!) and their commission rates vary from 1-10% based on the category. Very serious affiliates will constantly monitor the commission rates and vary their posting strategy as Amazon shifts them, which they do often, but I just link to the items I want regardless of what they’re worth that day!

LTK: Honestly, I highly doubt I would be approved as an LTK affiliate if I applied today, ha! They are very much focused on bigger fashion and home design bloggers, and heavily push their Like to Know It social extension, which I don’t use. However, I’m SO glad to be an LTK affiliate, because they’re the gold standard in this arena and work with so many of the big retailers: Target, Anthropologie, Nordstrom, Minted, etc. The link window is typically much longer through LTK and commission rates vary from retailer to retailer. You can apply to become an LTK affiliate here.

Aside from affiliate links, some blogs monetize through receiving in-kind product or creating sponsored content. In general, the closest I come to this is through partnering with Minted for our Christmas cards every year. They reached out to me many years ago, and we’ve been going strong ever since. Y’all know I love me some Minted!!

Do you feel that affiliate links are necessary to your blogging success? Do you think people who write blogs should try to monetize their sites?

Aside from the fact that I’d rather not pay to write here, I could easily write this blog without using affiliate links. And in this season of life, I’ve turned down many options over the years to write sponsored posts because the pressure of performing for a retailer is just not worth what they’re offering (sometimes just free product, sometimes up to $250 or so). It is MUCH more valuable to me to have a community that trusts me and loves participating here than it is to have a few more incremental dollars. Truly, the fact that I have readers who have been around for years and join the conversation is worth way more than the few dollars I do make!

Whether or not to monetize a site is a personal choice, but I have found so much joy, freedom, and community in writing just for the love of it rather than making it a business. I think that’s one key to my longevity.

Do you do keyword research? Your blog seems more day-in-the-life (which I love!) versus SEO-keyword oriented, so I am wondering if you consider keywords or not. If so, which program(s) do you use to research and track your success?

As I mentioned, EFM is not my job, so I get the luxury of not worrying too much about SEO. However, I also love community, and for that I need people to find my blog! SEO can help with that, so I do pay a little bit of attention to it when I want to and in the way I want to.

Though I would never write about a topic just for SEO purposes, I optimize the posts I choose to write in certain ways: by choosing a title that’s search-engine friendly, by repeating key words from the title in my posts, by using headers (like the coral questions in this post) and tags, by renaming my photos to be search-friendly, and by back-linking as much as possible. One thing that is NOT search-engine friendly: my sentence structure is much too long and complicated, ha!

At work, we use Semrush to research and track keywords, but I’m not passionate enough about ranking to research or track when I’m off duty – I just go by instinct :)

Finally, every few months I check into Google Analytics to take a look at my traffic and see what’s going on. It’s fascinating to see and learn from which posts are performing the best and analyze why that might be!

This is the driest post in the series, but I still hope it was interesting! And if not interesting, helpful :) Part two, coming soon, will be all about content. Anything that surprised you in today’s post? Please share in the comments!

Part Two: Content
Part Three: Grab Bag
Part Four: How to Be a More Relational Writer

Affiliate links are used in this post!

After a pregnancy-and-injury-and-newborn phase where we didn’t get out and about as much as we would have liked, our whole family is excited for fall! In a twist on our usual fun list, I asked June and Shep what they’d like to make time for this season yesterday after school. They are now actually old enough to remember things from last fall, and it was fun to hear their priorities. I combined their answers with John’s and mine, and printed out this list for our fridge. Here’s to a beautiful season ahead, and happy first day of fall, friends!

— Enjoy our annual mountain trip (Black Mountain this year!)
— Make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
— Biscuits, hot dogs, and the ferris wheel at the State Fair
— Play at the Museum of Life & Science
— Walk to our neighborhood food truck festival
— Go on a Halloween neighborhood scavenger hunt using this sweet printable
— Celebrate Thanksgiving
— Make pumpkin pie with June (it’s in her baking book and she’s been asking for MONTHS)
— Pick pumpkins at the patch and go on the tractor
— Decorate our front porch and house
— Hike somewhere with beautiful leaves
— Add candy googly eyes to things during the month
— Make a chocolate chip Dutch baby (I’ve never made one before, but they look fun!)
— Pack a picnic and eat lunch outside
— Camp with friends
— Make apple cider scones for our teachers
— Host the pumpkins and soup party (maybe modified? we shall see!)
— Pick apples
— Have a sidewalk bakery
— Dress our mantel for fall (I bought these vase fillers to make a garland!)
— Roast s’mores in our fire pit
— Dress up and trick-or-treat as a family

I’d love to hear what you’re looking forward to this fall! I didn’t even add any savory foods I’m looking forward to making/eating to this list, but there are many :)

Affiliate links are used in this post!

For years, I’ve eaten a Nature Valley granola bar for breakfast, often in the car on the way to work. Also for years, I’ve listened to people expound on their love for their morning smoothie with only polite interest. “You get in an early serving of veggies!” they’d say. “You stay full so long!” they’d say. “Mmmhmm,” I’d say.

And then my younger sister visited in early August, and we got to talking about her daily eating routines. She’s a minor health nut and starts her day with – you guessed it! – a smoothie. For some reason, her enthusiasm shifted something for me and I’ve had a smoothie for breakfast almost every day since. A few other factors helped:

— I realized I wasn’t eating as many fruit and veggie servings as I wanted to throughout the day. I can’t taste the big handful of spinach in my smoothie, but knowing it’s there makes me feel like I’m a gosh darn health food superhero, ha!

— Breastfeeding = I’ll always take a chance for more liquids.

— The protein powder really does help me stay fuller, longer.

— John’s been on the smoothie train for awhile, and for his birthday, I got him a new blender*. It’s AMAZING and is way better at its job than our old hand-me-down one. Smoothie making is now a pleasure :)

My current favorite smoothie recipe:

— A ripe banana
— A big handful of spinach
— A spoonful of chunky peanut butter
— Half a scoop of chocolate protein powder (Kim recommended this one, which apparently includes two different kinds of proteins and keeps you full longer)
— A spoonful of chia seeds (I get mine from Publix)
— About 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries (also from Publix, I eyeball the amount)
— About 1.5 cups of whole milk

Once blended, I pour it into one of these cups**, pop it into the cup holder in Annie’s stroller, and set off with June for the walk to school. And friends, as cooler fall weather sets in, I truly feel I am living my best life.

I’d love to hear: are you a smoothie person? I find they tend to be a bit evangelistic, ha! What do you eat for breakfast?

*Father of the Bride vibes, anyone?
**On my first smoothie walk, I poured it into one of our regular glass cups and nearly dropped and shattered it on the pavement multiple times. Learned my lesson :)

I thought I’d share a bit about our inaugural back-to-school dinner, for those who might be interested! Many others have hosted these before me: Merrick has shared some details, Stephanie’s are legendary, and ours was inspired by the Clarkson’s Family Day, too.

I would not classify our 2021 dinner as legendary – it was quite simple and low-key. I anticipate it will be a family tradition for many years to come, though, so there’s plenty of time to build on what we’ve started! While our decorations were fun (June declared them “fancy!” when she saw the candles lit), our kids are still VERY young and were mostly not interested in our introduction of the family scripture theme, ha. Banking on that part coming with time!

So why have a back-to-school dinner?

First, I’ll take any chance to make some everyday magic. And a fresh school year is certainly something to celebrate!

Some years, a special dinner may be needed to bolster a kiddo who feels nervous or reluctant (definitely not the case for us this year – June was PUMPED).

But mostly, I think a well-timed dinner like this helps to ground our kids in our family culture, family values, and family unit before they’re sent back out into the absorbing and sometimes cold world of school. It’s one more opportunity to remind them they’re loved, they’re liked, they’re valuable, and they’re capable.

Our back-to-school dinner decorations:

Table decorations may just seem like fluff, but as I so passionately argued for years in the wedding space, the setting sets the tone: it tells the attendees this is an out-of-the-ordinary night. It tells them they’re worthy of some fun and fanfare. And it makes the evening more memorable by being unusual.

This year, I set the table with our gray gingham tablecloth (bought many years ago and still going strong!) and everyday placemats. June contributed the place cards, we sprinkled some sequins and star confetti, and I added tea lights in mini mason jars we had on hand. The piece de resistance was the centerpiece: flowers from our yard in a pencil-wrapped vase.

To make the vase, I bought a mega pack of pencils and stuck them onto a simple glass vase with double-sided tape, then tied on the satin bow. Pro tip: I was worried the tape wouldn’t come off the vase, but if you dab it with water, it peels right off!

What we ate at our back-to-school dinner:

I was prepared to cook a family favorite, but the kids requested our beloved Chinese takeout, so that’s what we did! We had build-your-own ice cream sundaes for dessert (Neopolitan ice cream, peanuts, hot fudge, caramel sauce, sprinkles, whipped cream, cherries) and June talked for days leading up to it about how she was going to make her OWN without any HELP, ha. These little bowls were perfect and we’ve been using them daily for after-school snacks, too.

What we did at our back-to-school dinner:

Mostly, we just chatted and enjoyed each other’s company! Such as it is with a five year old, a three year old, and an infant :) We also introduced our scripture theme for the year (Matthew 22:37-39). I feel like I fumbled through this as I do explaining many things about faith, but reminded myself it’s the effort that counts – hopefully that encourages you if you feel this way, too!

The goal is that we would all memorize these verses and be more likely to bring them up in conversation and teaching moments throughout the year. To help with this, I printed out a copy for each of the kids and let them paint simple wooden frames to display them in their rooms. This turned out to be very popular, and they did such a good job! As for memorization, we’re just planning to recite the verses together before bed for as long as it takes! :)

Other than that, John and I told them about some of our memories from kindergarten, and we talked again through how the next day would unfold.

In future years, I would love to include more words of affirmation between parents and kids and between siblings – either in written notes or just going around the table and encouraging each other in a specific way! I also think a back-to-school/first day outfit fashion show and/or dressing up would be fun additions.

And that’s it! Aside from the little bit of decoration prep (my love language), it was really very simple, but a lovely evening to mark a big milestone. I’m looking forward to seeing how this tradition evolves in the years to come! If you have any back-to-school dinner or first day of school traditions, I’d love to hear.

Affiliate links are used in this post!