Blogger Spotlight: Susan Mann, Once Upon a Time

Susan is a working mother of two “little princes”, aged 6 and 8, and a two-year-old “princess” – and Once Upon A Time is the story of their life in a “fairytale town” in Scotland. Since beginning to blog in January 2010 she has attended several conferences and been nominated for several awards and is now a key figure in the Parent Blogging community. In this spotlight Susan, who recently featured on our parenting blog ranking, chats to us about why people should read her blog, how she measures the success of her blog, and how she likes to work with PRs. 

Why should people read your blog? I write about different aspects of our daily life, from the funny things my children say, the highs and lows of parenting and how I try and mainly fail the work, life and kids balance. I’m honest and try to bring light-heartedness to my writing.

What makes your blog different? There are a lot of different parenting blogs out there that are great for parenting information, tips, crafts and so many yummy recipes. I’ve blogged for over 7 years and with three children I’ve blogged many different stories about them and our experiences as a family. From the triumphs at school to the lows of postnatal depression, plus everything in-between and lots of pretty pictures of our country of Scotland. 

How do you measure the success of your website? I love reading people’s comments or getting advice or answers for the questions I’ve raised. Success for me is when someone contacts you via social media or email or even in person and says they have read your blog and it helped them know they aren’t the only ones to go through something or my advice has helped. Or just that they’ve laughed at the funny things my children or I have said and it’s brightened their day. This to me means the world. 

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog? My advice would be to blog for yourself. Don’t blog because you think you’ll get items or for money. Blog about what you love and what you do. To write about something you aren’t sure about or not passionate about comes across in your writing. It is hard to keep up. Remember this is your little space and write about what you want. Always be yourself, blog for yourself and don’t try to be anyone else, you are the best you. I still write for myself and forget at times people read it.

How do you work with marketers and PR’s? I work in many different ways with marketers and PR’s from product reviews, to trips and writing about things I can feel passionate about. I love the opportunities that blogging has opened up for me and my family. We have made so many wonderful memories that are recorded on my blog.

How do you use social media to promote and share content? What are the challenges? I love twitter and I am in fact a twitteraholic. I also love Instagram and can get lost for hours looking at people’s photos. I tend to schedule blog tweets, but only a maximum of five in twenty four hours. I like to tweet about various things and do the same on my other social media channels. The challenges is that there is never enough time between work, kids, life and blog to do everything you’d like to do.

What can PRs do in working better with you? Use a personal approach and appreciate the work bloggers put into their posts. If I can’t do things, because I have a lot on at present, it’s nothing personal and keep in touch. We have a lot on our plates and juggle best we can. Also that we like to feel passionate about what we blog about, it’s about making memories.

What was your blogging highlight? One of my favourite was when I got to stay overnight at Alnwick castle and have high tea with the duchess. This was a magical experience. And just this weekend we stayed at Cameron House Lodges, while I took over their Instagram account. The place is stunning. I have loved every minute of blogging.

What will be big in your blogosphere in the coming months? Honestly? I’m not sure. That’s the fab thing about blogging is you never know what’s around the corner.

What does the Vuelio Blog Ranking mean to you and how does it affect your blog? I love blogging and writing is my passion. I never set out to win or be the best, I enjoy blogging and the friends and community I have met in parent blogging has been incredible. However, the Vuelio blog ranking gives recognition that I am doing well, that burning the candle at both ends is worth it. I get a lot of visitors and new visitors find me via the Vuelio ranking which is excellent. The best part is that people searching for the top ranking in Parenting blogs they will come across this list.