Behind the Scenes Blog Tour

A sneak peak into what happens behind the scenes at Her Heartland Soul.

Are you looking for my Weekend Snapshots post? It will be back next week. Today I’m enjoying hosting Josh’s parents for the week and celebrating Josh’s 30th Birthday! I’m officially married to an old man. 😉

Who nominated me?

Last Monday, I was nominated by Hannah from Clean Eating Veggie Girl to participate in the series, Behind the Scenes Blog Tour. Hannah is one of my closest friends, fellow FitFluential Ambassador, and fabulous cook. We met last year when both of us were new to Omaha. She is constantly opening my eyes to delicious new ways to eat vegetables, and loves to show people that healthy food tastes good, too! Her conversational approach to blogging is very engaging and welcoming and her photos are absolutely stunning. If you haven’t checked her blog out yet, you need to!

Behind the Scenes Blog Tour: Her Heartland Soul

What am I working on?

Oh man, I think a better question is what am I not working on right now. I have so much I’m trying to put in place behind the scenes. I’m trying to get better at photography. I want to start introducing video in my posts. I want to start a weekly Her Heartland Soul linkup. I’m working to refine my outfit posts. I want to add a favorites post category to my sidebar. I need to totally revamp my Pinterest boards. I want to talk more about different books and cookbooks I love and am inspired by. I want to be more engaging. I want to grow my readership. I want to create Her Heartland Soul branded material. I don’t think I’m ever really not working on my blog. It’s my passion, and what I absolutely love to do. Josh and I always joke that we don’t know what I’d do if the Internet ceased to exist. I would be so bored.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

To be honest, I’m not sure my blog really falls into one particular genre. It’s a little bit of food, fitness, travel, and fashion. I love this because I get to talk about all the things I love and that make me me. It’s hard to compare me to fitness, food, or fashion bloggers, because I don’t blog exclusively about that. Her Heartland Soul is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get when you visit my blog. I am trying to get into a weekly routine though, with a weekend recap post on Monday, a mix of food, fitness, fashion and travel posts during the week, and then a Friday Favorites post to end the week. While I love the freedom I have with my blogging subjects, I think readers like consistency. If anything, I think my blog might be at a slight disadvantage because I don’t fall into one specific niche.  But at the same time I don’t want to fall into any one specific niche. I’m not a super amazing chef, or an incredibly fit person, or a fashionista. I’m a regular girl who’s trying to live a life I love and blog about it along the way. What are your thoughts on this?

Why do I write/create what I do?

I write because I crave connection. I love starting conversations. I love creating a fun little space on the Internet where I get to share my ideas and life with the world. My blog is a creative outlet for me. Creating it was by far one of the best things I’ve ever done.

In terms of why I talk about the topics that I do, that’s simple: it’s because I love them! I grew up eating incredibly unhealthy, crap food. I love showcasing good food and talking about the benefits of nutritious foods with my readers. I want to share what I had to learn the hard way. I blog about travel because it is my favorite thing in the world to do. It’s how I learn and grow and create memories I’ll always treasure. I blog about fashion because I believe a good outfit can do wonders for your self-confidence. I’m striving to express myself through my outfits and make more of an effort with the way I look. I blog about fitness because I want to be around for a long time and I know a healthy body is the key to that. It may not come easy to me, and I may not always enjoy it, but being active is essential for my longterm happiness.

I write to give an honest voice to an everyday girl living her life. We’re all different and have different hopes and dreams, but I think we all have universal commonalities that tie us together. I like to discover those through my blog.

I write to share stories and to also document my story. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gone back to read an old post to relive a memory. I feel like my blog is a piece of my brain hanging out on the Internet.

How does my writing/creative process work?

On the weekend I tend to brainstorm a bunch of posts for the week. I write them in my Day Designer, assigning each post a specific day. I would be lost without this planner. I make notes if posts are sponsored, how much they are paying, and when the posts are due by. I note when I need to cook, photograph, and test various products for posts. I tend to do that stuff right after I get home from work. The more awake I am for this stage and the more light out it is, the better my posts will turn out. Then at night I sit down on the couch and compile my photos and notes from earlier in the day into blog posts. Writing, photo editing, and post creation usually takes me from 10pm-midnight. Blogging means giving up on some sleep, but it is so worth it because I love doing it so much.

Step into my office. Or rather, my living room. My desk is my couch. This is where I edit my content, write my posts, and schedule my social media shares. We’re looking to turn our second bedroom into an office where I can do my blog work. This will hopefully cut down on the times I accidentally fall asleep while working on a post. 😉

The next stops on the blog tour

It’s now my turn to nominate three bloggers to give a behind the scenes blog tour of their own. They are:

Blonde Ponytail – Jess is one of my favorite fitness bloggers. She is also a good friend and incredible person. If all coaches and trainers were like her, the world would have so many more healthy bodies. This is a selfish nomination so I can see what she’s up to now that she’s no longer in Omaha. 🙁

Franish – If I could raid one girl’s closet it would be Fran’s. That probably sounds creepy to her because she really doesn’t know much about me, but since I started reading fashion blogs a few months ago she has become one of my favorites. I would love to learn more about her outfit documenting process.

Fitting It All In – I love Clare’s blog, and how she takes a similar approach to documenting all aspects of her life on her blog instead of one specific niche. She is good at getting into deep and big topics in a way that I would love to be able to do. I always look forward to her weekly reads and would love to learn more about how she compiles them.

And don’t forget, I’ll be answering blog questions this week instead of my traditional posts while Josh’s parents are in town. If you have a question you want to ask me (about anything and everything!) either leave a comment or submit it via this anonymous survey:

Tomorrow I’m answering why I joined a dating website in college and how I met Josh. 😀

Questions of the Day: Do you have a question you want me to answer in a post this week? Are you a fan of planning things out via computer calendars or paper calendars?