Hi Savannah! What’s the name of your blog?
Where are you from?
Panama City Beach, FL.
Tell us a little bit more about you and your blog, What Savvy Said.
I’m a wellness and lifestyle blogger focused on empowering women to live their happiest and healthiest lives mentally & physically.
Give us your best tip to staying on top of the blog/work/life balance?
Understanding that asking for help is okay.
Fill in the blank. What people don’t realize about blogging is….
It’s far more time consuming than anyone realizes. And it requires you to wear ALL the hats.
What are three things you wish you knew about blogging before you started?
- SEO – What it is, that it matters & how it works.
- That instagram is great but it isn’t everything.
- Just because no one is doing what you want doesn’t mean it isn’t needed.
What skills and qualities do you think are necessary for a successful and professional blogger?
Constant curiosity and humility. The blogging world has foundations but everything is constantly changing. So if you don’t want to learn or aren’t willing to admit you don’t know something, it’s going to be a major struggle.
What has blogging taught you/given you that no other career or job has before?
For me, storytelling is at the foundation of ALL of my content creation. And I think blogging helps really connect experiences with people that need a friend going through it too. Even if it’s someone you might not see in your everyday life, just knowing you’re not alone in it is amazing.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting out in the blog world?
It’s okay to change your mind. What you think you want to do might be completely different and that’s okay.
Have you had to pivot your business due to COVID? How so and what has that looked like? Any advice?
Definitely. It’s given me time to really learn what I do and don’t want out of blogging. As well as the ways I want to make money. It’s also reinforced the need to diversify how I build my business.
What topic do you most enjoy writing about?
Wellness, lifestyle, food and travel.
What is a current blogging goal you are working on?
Getting to 100k views per month.
What does a typical work day for you look like?
To be honest, I’m terrible at this. More so because I’ve spent the first several years as a blogger also helping as a caretaker for my family. So my flow has been very weird. But having a morning routine is essential for me. Working out, time without my phone, eating a solid breakfast and journaling all tend to ground my day. And then from there, things go as needed. I hate having a super structured routine which means I try to stay ahead of my content so that I can really dig into whatever headspace I’m in for the day.
What is one thing in the blogging industry that frustrates you that you wish you could change?
Pitching. I hate it. One of my other top goals for the year is to bring on management because I loathe pitching. I also genuinely hate how much crap advice is out there. The blogs all about how to blog but they don’t really dig into the other side of it. Drives be bonkers!
How has your content changed since you first started blogging?
It’s gotten more niche but it’s also not. I didn’t really understand content buckets when I started. I just did it because I’d always wanted to blog. But once I really understood what I needed to do to make content that not only helped people but reached people, it changed what/how I create.
What do you have on for background noise when working? Music, TV, a podcast, silence?
It depends on what I’m doing. I can’t write with talking or music. Sometimes I’ll play a movie I’ve seen on mute. Other times it’s pink noise. But for the rest of it, I’ll do music or tv. I always keep it positive though.
What’s your favorite blogging memory or highlight?
My father passed away from suicide several years ago. I wrote several person posts around it more as a way to process my own feelings. But a few months after I published one of them, someone who lost their parent in the same way commented. She was going through it and none of her friends knew what to say. It felt like being able to hug someone through the computer if that makes sense. I’m a big believer that we go through things for a reason. And even if she’s the only person who ever reads it, I’m so grateful that post exists and was there when she needed a friend.
