Interview with Martine from “Dainty Mom | Prettifying WAHM-hood with facts, finds and fun”
“Dainty Mom | Prettifying WAHM-hood with facts, finds and fun”
I blog because:
1) I love writing. I love that I can work from home and write for a living, that I can interact with people online, that I can work from my living room or bed just as easily as I can from a coffee shop. My blog is my haven away from work.
2) I can showcase my skills as a writer. My blog is like my online portfolio, too!
I started my first blog in 2001, and it was updated sporadically until I retired it in 2004. I didn’t actively blog again until March 2010, when Dainty Mom was born. Incidentally, it was also a few months after my first son was born. I began Dainty Mom shortly after I went back to work after maternity leave.
My blog topics reflect the things I’m passionate about:
- Blogging tips and recommended blogs
- Green living and being enviro-chic
- Marriage and parenting tips & musings
- Recipes, nutrition tips)
- Good finds for the home, family, and the mom
- Homemaking tips
- “Me” Time (Everything about pampering ourselves as moms)
- Events and happenings around town for moms
- Work at Home tips, leads and advice
I have so many favorite blogs!
Dooce
The Pioneer Woman
Motherlode
Parent Hacks
Mighty Girl
Blogging is not easy. I’m still learning a lot, but I would advise newbies to really focus on three key aspects if they want to continue blogging:
1. Write what you know: Aim to be an expert in the things that you are passionate about and gifted with.
2. Write often: Keep your ideas flowing!
3. Write with a purpose: It’s easier to keep a blog running if you have some kind of mission or objective behind it. It helps to include this in your About Me portion so that you can keep going back to it if you feel you’re running out of ideas.
I appreciate it when people comment on my blogs! I love interacting with people online and offline.
Yes! My dad is a popular finance and investments blogger while my younger brother has an up and coming blog with a refreshing take on Christian life. They are the biggest supporters of my blog, aside from my husband, of course!
I blog when I’m inspired, or during the wee hours of the morning when I have the house all to myself!
I read blogs everyday, mostly when I’ve put my son to sleep! I write anywhere from two to four entries in a week.
The first blog I ever read was Maganda.org, a blog by an American-Filipina web designer. It was purely html-created, and existed even before Blogger or WordPress were the order of the day. I learned much from reading this blog, everything I know, in fact, about HTML (which isn’t a lot, lol)!
Three things truly inspire me to write:
1) My family;
2) Working from home as a writer;
3) Redefining motherhood as a beautiful and empowering vocation.
I am all about empowering these facets of my life, and that’s why I write about them on my site.
Daintymom.com has only been up for just under a year and a half, but I have made so many friends online because of it. In fact, it has given my a platform to showcase my skills as a writer, and so it has also been instrumental in providing me with sideline jobs to support our family income.
My inspirations include 5 Minutes for Mom, The Pioneer Woman, Mighty Girl, Simple Mom, Blissfully Domestic, and other blogs that challenge women like me to establish their own brand of motherhood. I hope to be able to rise up and be an influential blogger in my own circle in the Philippines!
