How to be a productive blogger || Featuring Stacy from Style My Party

I've become more and more amazed at how much bloggers cram into one day. Alongside sourcing ideas, photographing, writing, researching and scheduling posts, most of my favourite bloggers have families to take care of, full time jobs, relationships to nourish, weddings to plan, and errands to run. Heck, some of you even run your own online shops too. And it doesn't stop there. Keeping up a consistent online presence takes up a lot of time and creative juice. I don't see where you get time to breathe.

That's why I started this feature, to learn about how to make best use of time by chatting with some bloggers that never fail to fascinate me. I've heard some brilliant tips and tricks in previous posts, how bloggers juggle their time effortlessly, and still produce killer content :) (check out my few last interviews with The Lovecats Inc, Hello Terri Lowe and Miss Jojangles)

For the fourth in the series I'm excited to introduce the wonderful Stacy McDermott from Style My Party 

Style My Party is an online inspiration-stop/party shop for anyone looking to throw an epic party, be it for a small 'tea & scones' affairs with friends, or a full on children's birthday bash. Stacy not only makes, promotes and sells some of the cutest table decoration, she also produces free printables for the more crafty, hands on party bloggers amongst us, and features lots of inspiring recipes and DIY party ideas on her blog too.

I couldn't wait to hear more about how she juggles her time. Take it away Stacy! 

Tell me a bit about you! When & how did you come to start Style My Party and what do you do aside from blogging?

Initially I worked in the clothing industry as a designer/buyer, but after having my children the lifestyle was too hectic so I became freelance and home based. Style My Party is still in it's early stages, it evolved mainly from my experience throwing parties for my own children at home. I really enjoyed the process of dreaming up a theme, creating it, and seeing how much fun was had. After being told number of times that I should turn it into a business I thought I would have a go. I started designing and making party products, opened an online shop, and when I discovered I could add posts I started trying my hand at blogging.


What are the main themes of your blog/site?

The main theme for my blog is parties and my shop sells hand crafted decorations, so I write about all aspects of entertaining with craft projects too. I also invite guest bloggers who inspire me and I feel will inspire my readers.


How do you plan posts and keep them so consistent?

I don't plan as I'd say I'm more spontaneous, I'm much happier this way and I feel I am also at my most creative. I tend to find that I'm inspired by a theme then find myself writing a few posts over a few weeks based around that subject, I feel this helps my post content and layout look consistent.


Do you ever feel writers block, and if so what kinda stuff do you do to be more inspired?

I haven't yet had writers block, in fact I seem to have too many ideas at the moment, I think that's because my blog has an obvious subject and it's still in the early stages. One thing I have discovered though is that parties are great fun, but it's impossible to be in that zone constantly, so I make sure I take regular time away from it for me to keep refreshed and inspired.


What kind of tools, apps or calendar's do you use to help keep a good level of content?

I use Google Analytics on a daily basis to keep an eye on the activity on my blog, I can see what posts and subjects are of most interest and how many visitors I am getting.


What's your single piece of advice for balancing a blog, job and social/family life?

One thing I have discovered is that blogging is addictive and can be totally absorbing. Initially my everyday life was hijacked by my urge to write or finish a post and my family actually expressed they were missing me, so now I'm very strict with myself and fit my writing around my family and social life.


Do you have any tips for any bloggers to promote their posts time-efficiently?

I'm still a novice so I have lots to learn myself on this subject, but as someone who also enjoys reading blogs, informative and interesting content with good photography is key to keep people interested. Visuals are powerful, so create a Pinterest board with photographs linking to your posts, this will promote your blog and drive readers to your blog without you having to invest too much time. Twitter is a good way to connect with others but can also be time consuming, have a few key tweets and retweet a few times a day.

Thanks Stacy!

Make sure you pay a visit to Stacy's site, especially if you're looking for cute props for blog photos or get togethers with friends, you'll be clicking around for ages.

Follow me for more in the series, and hey! why don't we get social...