BY TRACY CHATTERS
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
Natomas mom Nichole Beaudry found herself at home caring for a new baby and a two-year-old and feeling disconnected from the rest of the world.
After regularly reading several mommy blog, Beaudry decided to jump in with both feet and start her own blog, writing about her perspective on parenting, one small memorable moment at a time. A former English professor who taught both composition and Shakespeare, writing came naturally to Beaudry.
Shortly after starting In These Small Moments in April 2010, Beaudry attended Bloggy Boot Camp – a short, one-day conference. The conference helped connect Beaudry to the blogging community and encouraged her to keep writing. Last summer, she attended the BlogHer Conference in San Diego to learn more about how to grow her blog and network with other bloggers like herself.
“I was fortunate to attend BlogHer where I finally had the opportunity to meet so many of the friends I’ve made online through blogging,” she said. “It was a wonderful experience to be with such a large group that sees the value in blogging the way that I do.”
In These Small Moments revolves around the small moments of life – the tiniest details. The blog is full of wisdom and whimsy found in everyday life with children. Beaudry openly shares her parenting triumphs and her moments of weakness, her struggles with infertility and her moments of joy. Her honesty and focus on the small moments gives her a plethora of topics and choices every day that moms can easily relate to.
But that doesn’t mean blogging is without struggle.
Coming up with new ideas can be tricky, since regular readers come to expect certain types of posts. While it is important to keep things fresh, Beaudry also says it’s a blogger’s responsibility not to throw readers too many curve balls. Conferences, networking with other bloggers and revisiting favorite posts can help with inspiration and help keep the writer’s style on track.
“The toughest part about being a blogger is to remember to put down the camera and stop thinking of every life experience as a blogging opportunity,” said Beaudry. “As with all things in life, there has to be balance.”
Beaudry encourages new bloggers to do research, find a niche and have clear expectations about what they want out of the experience before getting started.
“Making changes down the road can be tricky once a blogger has built a readership,” she said. “If you know where you hope to ultimately go with your blog, you’ll save yourself so much effort if you get it right from the start.”
Beaudry’s In These Small Moments has proven successful and several of her articles have been syndicated on the BlogHer site. Blogging has led to regular writing gigs for Beaudry at All Parenting as well as SheKnows.
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| PHOTOS COURTESY YULIVA OF SHE SUGGESTS |
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