Hey Alison, what’s your blog name?
Where do you live?
Corona, California
Tell us more about you and your blog?
Bonjour! I am a Francophile at heart and am the writer behind the blog, Bonjour Alison. A blog dedicated to elevated plus size living. I started this blog because I didn’t see myself represented in the blogger community that I followed. I want to represent a plus size woman living a beautiful life, whether that’s traveling the world, tending to her wellness, wearing beautiful clothes, and so on. I also document my journey with body image and intuitive eating as a plus size woman.
How long have you been blogging for?
Just under a year!
What people don’t realize about blogging is…
How multi-faceted it is, from planning and strategy to writing and designing; marketing and SEO to social media and search engines.
Give us your best tip for maintaining a blog work/life balance?
Identify which 20% of your time produces 80% of your business results. For me, that’s focusing on keyword optimization and search engine platforms versus social media platforms.
We love a good plugin, what’s your favorite one and how has it helped your business?
Yoast SEO is my guiding light when I write my blog posts!
What skills and qualities do you think are necessary for a successful and professional influencer?
Perseverance, self leadership, and creativity.
What has blogging taught you that no other career or job has before?
Blogging has consistently reminded me of just how much I know. I have a newfound appreciation for my own strengths and the skills I’ve acquired throughout my corporate journey as well as my blogging journey.
If there’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Don’t compare your day 1 to someone else’s day 1000.
Give us the inside scoop, is there an app or tool that you swear by?
Canva is Queen!
We love to speak our goals into existence. What’s a current goal you’re working on?
My number one goal is consistency and producing quality, search-optimized content.
Celebrating the wins, even if they’re little ones, is important. What’s your most recent win with your blog?
Figuring out how to index my blog posts on Google Search Console so that they show up on Google! I didn’t realize Google hadn’t been consistently crawling my site.
What’s one thing in the industry that frustrates you that you wish you could change?
The idea that in order to be a successful blogger, you almost have to be a social media wunderkind.
How has your content evolved since you first started out? What would we see if we went back into the archives?
I think we all start out by trying to mimic what works for other people, trying to “sell” in every post, or make sure that every post is optimized for search. Over the past couple of months I’ve learned to lean into myself a bit more and write about what speaks to *me* — the content that I would like to see out there in the world. That’s what will make my blog stand on its own.
What’s been your favorite blogging memory to date?
The first time someone told me that they found one of my posts helpful — it was the best feeling!
Okay, we’re grabbing a Starbucks for a coffee date, what are you ordering?
Venti black iced tea, unsweetened, easy ice and a pumpkin loaf!
If you could meet with any blogger or influencer, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Meghan Donovan of Wit & Whimsy, I’d ask her to be my mentor!
