Featured Blogger- Riayn

When did you start your blog?
I started Rainbow of Chaos in December 2008 and I started Spud On The Run in January 2009. However, before these two blogs I have been blogging in various places since 2001.

Why did you start blogging?
I initially starting blogging to improve my writing skills and kept at it because I found I really enjoyed it.

Describe your blog in 20 words or less
Rainbow of Chaos – The life of a thirtysomething geek girl & Spud On The Run – A former couch potato’s journey into the world of fitness & weight loss.

What are your 5 must have tools for blogging? At the moment I am blogging over at Wordpress.com which being a hosted blogging platform doesn’t allow you to have any plugins or amazing tools like the self-hosted version of Wordpress. So for me, Google and Photobucket are my two most used tools – Google for searching for information and pictures as well as the Google Alerts function which I love and Photobucket to host all my image files.

What is your favourite part of being a blogger?
My favourite part is meeting so many interesting people and sharing in their lives. I am constantly fascinated and amazed by the people I meet in the blogosphere.

What is the biggest thing you have learnt since starting your blog?
If you want people to come, you have to advertise, simply building a blog doesn’t guarantee traffic. You have to get out there and promote it.

If you could start again, what would you do differently?
Promoting my blogs is something I am still really bad at and if I were to start over again, I would promote my blogs better. Also, I would get a self-hosted blog right from the start rather than procrastinate about it like I am still doing now.

What has been your blog’s biggest achievement?
With Spud On The Run it has been getting together a great little support group for myself during my weight loss journey and now that support group is cheering me on with all my fitness challenges. It has provided me with so much motivation not to give up, even though I may have really wanted to.

What advice would do you have for new chick bloggers?
Just blog. Don’t worry about getting the perfect set up or even finding your niche, just get in there and do it. So many people don’t blog because they haven’t got the right set up or are not sure if their topic is strong enough for a blog. You learn so much by just getting out there and blogging – and you can always start a new blog if your current one doesn’t work out.

Do you (or do you plan to) make any income from your blog?
I would love to make some money from my blog, but at the moment, I am not self-hosted nor do I have the traffic levels. In time, I hope to get there.

What future goals do you have for your blog?
Just to keep blogging and keep growing my readership.

Who are your 5 favourite chick bloggers and why?

Magneto Bold Too – Kelley always finds the humorous side of life even in situations where you wouldn’t think there was one.
Dancing With Frogs – Frogdancer always writes an entertaining post.
Byers Get Diesel – Melissa just inspires me to keep improving my fitness and amazes me with her ability.
Cranky Fitness – For the simple fact that she never takes herself or the fitness world too seriously.
Cake Wrecks – The cakes Jen features on her blog have to be seen to be believed and her blog never fails to make me laugh.

Filed Under: Featured Blogger