I had been exploring my own freelance business in content writing ‘on the side’ of what was my day-to- day job. I love to write, especially blogs and enjoy a mixture of lifestyle and business. This has, in turn, presented a lot of opportunities to ghostwrite and create content for other high-profile bloggers, businesses, and brands over the last decade.
Where did it all start?
I hadn’t heard of blogging until I was planning a trip to New York and I googled the city along with the search term “hints and tips” and up popped several blogs. This proved to be the best research I could have wished for as I was able to find places to eat that were reasonably priced and off the beaten track, I knew the best times to visit attractions with discount codes and I was able to find out the best way to travel from the airport to my hotel at half the price I would have paid had I not done any investigating.
This is now how I conduct all my fact-finding for holidays, home interiors, family days out, and all things work-related. I always visit a business website to see if they have a blog, for me, it makes the business more authentic and reputable.
Henn at Home Lifestyle Blog
From my love of reading blogs, I found my escapism in writing my blog, Henn at Home. The name was a combination of my surname and fact that the content I wanted to share was based around my home life. At first, my blog was just to keep in touch with my family while we were spread out all over the world. It was a way to keep everyone up-to-date with home and family life. Never did I expect it to take off the way that it did. With likes and shares, followers tagging others in posts I shared and an audience joining me on all of our adventures, I managed to build up a like-minded community who could relate to the topics I was blogging about and my writing style.
What happened next?
After a restaurant review went viral (well for me it was viral!) that I had posted on my blog, within the space of three hours I had over 5000 views. I couldn’t understand what had happened, then I realised that one of my followers worked for the business and sent the blog post to their head office who then in turn shared it with their large audience. The feedback was amazing. This caused a sequence of events to then take place.
Other businesses reached out to me to write blog posts for them as part of their content marketing strategy; this is known as ghostwriting whereby I write as I am part of the business. I did this from time to time over several years while I worked part-time elsewhere and I started networking with other bloggers in Northern Ireland which also generated opportunities to create written content.
Taking the leap
In October 2020 I was made redundant from my part-time job due to the effects of Covid-19. I knew this was going to happen because of the industry I worked in and I had already started to research moving into content writing in a more permanent role.
I had the time at home due to being furloughed and the digital resources readily available to me so now was the time to stop thinking and start ‘doing’. My advice to anyone who is thinking about starting their own business but having some doubts is to get online because at the minute there are fantastic resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs. From free webinars, short courses, and many CEOs offering top-level advice on startups, 2020 was the right time to research the business idea and take that creative leap.
What do I blog about and who for?
Family – I write from experience and there is plenty to keep me going with our daily adventures, days out, and stories from parenthood both serious and light-hearted. I like to show the real side of parenting.
Lifestyle – I like to write on a range of topics from travel to self-care, to my home style and my love of reading and, of course, I love a good discussion on the current trends of social media! The topic list is endless.
Content Creation – I love to share the ideas behind my blog, why I started, apps I recommend, and how I come up with my ideas.
Over the years I have written and created content for a number of different industries including
- Social Media Managers
- Yoga Instructors
- Hairdressers
- Health and Beauty
- Solicitors
- Parenting blogs
- Dentists
- Tourism
- Hospitality
- Finance
- Mental health
- Business Coaching
- Careers
- Retailing
- Online Courses
The list is ever growing and I am thankful for the wonderful opportunities. To follow along with my blog and lifestyle content you can connect with me on Instagram and follow along with my blog on WordPress.
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