Interview with April J. Harris on... Blogging for Your Business as an Entrepreneur

Taken from interview number three of the second series of ‘Women in Business’ interviews, featured exclusively in The Collective – A Community for Women in Business.  April J. Harris on… Blogging for Your Business as an Entrepreneur.  Interviewed by Vicki Messenger.

“Good evening everyone in The Collective, Vicki Messenger here. Welcome to this week's Webinar Wednesday and our third in this Women in Business series, when I'm going to be speaking to April J. Harris on: Blogging for Your Business.

 April is a writer, housewife, mother, traveller, recipe developer and award-winning lifestyle blogger based in the south of England.  Through her website, www.apriljharris.com, she inspires, encourages and empowers modern women and their families through lifestyle advice, travel stories, and delicious recipes that anyone can make.

 April launched her first website in 2002 and she's since built her community to over 30,000 unique visitors per month. Incredible.  She's worked with big brands such as Hello Fresh, Lean Greens, expedia.com, John Lewis and Rachel's yogurt, and she also uses her experience and expertise to coach entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them use blogging to promote their businesses, create communities and increase sales. And that's what we're going to be discussing tonight.

April believes that feminism is about having choices, whether you're a housewife or CEO, and that every woman deserves the right to pursue her passion, harness her own personal style, express her creativity and realize just how amazing they are here.”

Vicki: Thank you April. Thank you so much for being here.

April: It's lovely to be here. Thank you so much, Vicki.

V: Okay, so would you mind kicking us off April perhaps by telling us what led you to start your blog?

A: I started my blog after I had my son 28 years ago and I wanted to go back to work. But when we looked at the numbers, it wasn't working out. It made much more sense economically for me to stay home. And once I did stay home, I started to really enjoy it. I found it a really stimulating creative atmosphere. It was really fun. I got to try all different things and I really enjoyed making a home and spending time and having the privilege of spending time with my son. 

The trouble was that none of my friends, well, some of my friends got it, but most of my friends didn't get it. And a lot of our colleagues absolutely did not get it at all. And whenever I went to social events, people would be like, oh, you're wasting your time. And this is, is such a waste of your education.

And I was like, well, no, it's not; this is really actually very fulfilling. So I started to write a series of essays. I wasn't really sure what to do with them, but luckily we were just coming into the era of the internet and websites. And so I launched a website called the 21st Century Housewife, which was just a series of static essays.

Once I got that running and it got a bit of attention, I was lucky enough to be in the United States and there was a blogging conference. I didn't really know what it was, but I went along just to see. And I suddenly realised that actually what I was doing could really translate well to that. And the rest is history.

V: Amazing.   And what were the topics of your initial blogs and essays?

A: It was just to support other housewives who stay at home and such like myself. So I talked about things like, you're not just a housewife, you're not just a mum, and how you could feel fulfilled and how you still needed to keep your own aspects of your personality. That was really important.

 I talked about keeping a home, but not in the sense of housework, but in the sense of creatively keeping a home and making it a place that you really felt comfortable. I talked about relationships between women and supporting each other, regardless of what our careers were, whether we were housewives, or whether we were working, and how that if we worked together and collaborated we could actually be a real force for good, as opposed to working against each other and, and sort of feeling insecure and criticizing someone else because what they were doing was different. So it was all about being a positive force for good and trying to get women to work together because I think we all bring something to the table and there's no wrong way of doing it.

V: I agree, it's great to collaborate and work together.  And what happened to those naysayers? Did they switch their opinion, or did you kind of leave them behind and start gravitating towards people who were on the same page as you?

A: I think it's been interesting to see how women still write to me and will say, “Oh my goodness, I'm still experiencing this kind of prejudice. I'm still experiencing this sort of negativity”, and trying to get them to realise that we have to be secure in ourselves and secure in our choices. And it's still very much a concern. You know, we're all worried about what everyone else is doing, but I think that we all have a niche. We all have a place. And it's lovely now, I think, because of the Internet and because we have so many more options. If you are a stay-at-home mum, if you are a housewife, you can also have a career that doesn't necessarily take you away from home. Though housewives don't “just” stay at home either.

And that's something that I've always worked on as well. I think that traveling is really the best education you can give your family. Unfortunately, it's not really possible at this time, but in the future [it will be]. That's one of the things I'm really passionate about.

V: I couldn't agree more. As I was starting my business and still continuing my day job and juggling the two, I felt like going to work in the corporate role that I had was a breeze in comparison to being at home with my eldest little boy. You know, it was a bit of a holiday in comparison, so I completely agree with you there. And I love that impetus of travel through education.

 So, what would you say have been the particular secrets behind your success? Taking your blog from, as you say, static essays to now 30 thousand unique visitors per month, how have you created that?

A: I think at the heart of it all is that sense of community. I really feel passionately that we're all connected and we can benefit each other in many, many ways. And one of the things that I've really loved the most is the fact that some of the women who joined me early on are still readers. So I still have a rapidly evolving audience. There are lots of new people and that's wonderful, but I also have people who've been with me from the beginning or who joined 10 years ago, and you're following people at all stages in their lives. And it's lovely to be able to bring lots of different experiences to the table. And obviously, I can [relate], having had a son who’s now 28, and gone through that stage of family life. And then in the emptiness, we can all help each other. And I think for me, the best success is the community I've created. And the fact that people keep coming back; we don't just get new readers, but people keep coming back over the years, not just, you know, day to day.

V: And how do you go about nurturing that community?

A: I started out with one of the techniques that bloggers used years ago to connect, which was by linking with other blogs, and they had what they call “link parties”. I still have one of the longest-running link parties. So any of the women who follow me who have blogs as well have a space every week that they can come and share their content and people can interact with it. It helps them boost their reach and expand the people that they're talking to as well. So that was one of the things that helped, but also I reply to virtually every comment I get, and I answer emails.

It's really important to me to care about your readers. You have to care about your customers and that makes all the difference.

V: Definitely. I completely agree - it's that personal touch, isn't it? And that's really interesting what you said about, did you call them “blogging parties”?

A: They were originally called “link parties”, basically it is linking to [other bloggers]. So the one that I run is called Heart and Soul, and that's very specific to bloggers. It sits in the blog quite nicely, but equally, it's also a resource for people who visit because there are so many amazing pieces of content linked to that. So it's not just what I can offer. It's very much an aside, but it's also a part of what created the community to start with.

V: Yes, I love that. And it's delivering huge value to everybody involved, to your community, to your fellow bloggers who are coming on board, and it's, again, going back to that essence of supporting each other rather than being in competition with each other, and then incredible things happen and everybody wins, don't they? So, that's really, really lovely.

A: Absolutely. You can't cover everything, you can't be an expert in everything. So it's nice to be able to curate content that also helps your readers in addition to just creating it. It's important to be able to curate as well.

V: And how would you say blogging specifically has empowered your business, because I know this is what, in essence, you want to help people do. What is it specifically about blogging that that has given you that empowerment?

A: I think the first thing you need to consider is that what I do in essence is blogging as a business. And one of the things that you know, that we'll talk about tonight, is blogging for your business. But as a business owner, I think it brings sort of a sense of community and unity to the atmosphere. It gives you a voice and it gives you a way of connecting with other people and sharing equally. You don't want to be too… It's not a soapbox, but it is a way of sharing the best of what you have to offer in a really nice way. The other thing is that when it gets noticed by the press, this also gives you a way of reaching out that way as well. I mean, I've had journalists get in touch about articles I have written and [they have] carried on and written articles from there. So that then gives you exposure as well. So it opens up all sorts of doors.

V: And going back to the point you made about not getting on your soapbox, it actually segues nicely to a question I wanted to ask you, which is: How does somebody establish their voice? Maybe they are new to blogging for their business in the context of this conversation. Maybe their blog or business is going a bit stale and they're looking to relaunch; how does somebody own their writing “voice” and carve out their own kind of niche in that sense? What advice would you give there?

A: You definitely have to come back to your core values. You have to really know what those are and you have to stick to them. You have to be true to your brand and you have to stay consistent with that.

Not everybody is going to read every single blog post you write, but if somebody did you really want them to see a consistent ethos, I think it's also really important to decide how much you're going to share, and you do need to keep it so that you're sharing the best of what you do, and be very, very careful not to be too reactive.

 You want to write about things that are going to benefit your audience and benefit your customers without being too political or too opinionated. It's great to know your own mind, and it's great to share, but you need to be diplomatic.

V: I suppose it's remembering who you're writing for, as much as it's a pleasure [to write for yourself].  I'm sure if you use blogging for your business as one of your chosen marketing strategies, you're going to enjoy writing at least to a degree. However, I think it's always keeping the reader in mind, isn't it really, more than yourself? You know, it's not about your story so much, as it is about how it lands with the person who's reading it?

A: This is absolutely true. And I think one of the most important things is to be able to take your story and find out how it can benefit your readers and your customers. How can you solve their problems through your experience or through your products? And it's about people looking for solutions to their problems. They're looking for answers. And really what you want to do in a comforting friendly way, is provide those answers. And that's a really great way to help your readers become customers.

V: That's lovely. It's that delicate balance, isn't it? And, in a way, demonstrating that you’re in a fairly aspirational position [to the audience], but just a few steps ahead, perhaps.  That you've got something that you can give, that you can help people with.  As you say, that would benefit them, because you've been through it or trained in it; whatever angle you're coming from individually.

A: Absolutely. You want to inspire, you want people to aspire to things. If you have a product, in some cases, you can help them along that journey with that product. If you have a service in other ways, you can help them along that journey with that.  It's about helping people too. It really about enhancing their experience. And I think as business owners, that is what we all want to do, you know? Yes, you want to sell, but you also want to enhance people's experience. That's why most people that got into business [did so] to make other people's lives better in some way.

V: Yes. And so if somebody is going to be blogging for their business and they need to share, they need to give some value, they need to provide some information. How much should they give, how much should they share? And is there any really beneficial format or specific way that really lands with readers that accelerates connection?

A: I guess I think it's an interesting juxtaposition because you do need to write for your reader, you need to write for your customer.  Equally, you also need to be concerned about the fact that you do need that content to index. So you do need to worry about search engine optimization, or you need to worry about how you write and how you target things. You need to make sure that every blog post has a focus.  If you're answering a need, or if you are solving a problem for someone. So if you were a stylist, for example, and you wanted to write about spring fashion, you'd want to make sure that you had those keywords, “spring fashion”.

 But equally, you want to meet your audience where they are. So you want to make sure that you're being inclusive and you're being true to your brand while still wording those things in such a way that you're using keywords, you are structuring your blog posts so that you can be seen by Google.

 Also, I think you do need to decide.  I mean, I love writing. I'm a writer. It's what I do. But not everybody loves to write and some people don't write well. And in that case, sometimes there's a need to use a copywriter, but you need to make sure that you work with someone who really gets your voice and that you're still really involved. You don't just want to be churning out content that isn't really “you”, you want to make sure that you've got something that really works. So I tend to recommend blogging more to people who love writing, but there's no reason why you can't blog if you don't.

V: Yes. That's a really, really good distinction, isn't it?  I mean, there are many ways to market your business.  Going back to your point about SEO, I went through a basic exercise myself where I just literally brainstormed [all relevant keywords] to my particular market. You know, it's really about knowing your ideal customer, and this is something that I talk a lot about in The Collective. And, as you say, knowing your values.  

What else would you suggest somebody does to keep their authentic voice but yet get noticed on Google?  Is there anything else, any other activities that they should be doing?

A: Well, definitely, I mean, keywords are important, but equally Google wants your content to be relevant. They want it to be helpful. They want it to be fresh. So if you're providing that kind of relevant, helpful, fresh content. Your keywords are really important, but it's more important that you have those three factors. You want to share useful information, that your audience is going to find helpful. You want to avoid being salesy, but there's nothing wrong with selling. You've got to do it in such a way that you are making your customer feel engaged, but you're not selling to them every single blog post incessantly.

 So I think that if you can get the balance right, and you get your reader to feel like you're solving their problems, that's going to help a lot. You want to mention the keywords three or four times in each post, but you don't want to be sticking them in just for the sake of it, because Google is going to notice that and your reader's going to notice that as well. It's going to really stick out for them. You don't want it to sound odd or, or stilted. So I think keeping your authentic voice is important.

 It is also really important to have a call to action, but you want that to be in the guise of something really helpful, not just buy, buy, buy but, you know, here's how I can solve your problem. Do you want to feel better? Do you want to feel more focused? That sort of thing; I think it's really important. I mean, there are lots and lots of things and tips to help you with things like that.

V: So where would you say blogging can fit into somebody's overall funnel, strategy, or journey [that they take their customers through]. From where the customer discovers them and then comes into their world.  Can you give some examples of some calls to action and where they go from here? How does it work? Where does it fit into the overall cycle of your business?

A: I think first of all, one of the things that you have to look at is that not every business will benefit from a blog, most businesses will, but not every single one.  You want to know where your audience is, you want to know whether they're all on Facebook and they're not going to look at a blog, then you need to focus on Facebook.  

That said, if you've got something on Google, you're going to get picked up. If you've got something that's indexing well on Google, you're going to pick up other audiences. I think it's about working it in so that it's helpful, but that it doesn't turn into busywork. It's got to be something that's focused and targeted. So you don't want to set out and say, “I'm going to do two blog posts a week” if that's not going to benefit your business.

Now for me, obviously I'm putting up more content because of what I do. But for someone who's blogging for their business, I'd say that if you want to blog once or twice a month, that would be absolutely fine. But to be consistent.  To not sort of put one blog post out there and then suddenly there's this huge, great gap when people are like, where did she go or not to turn it all the content at once? And then people are like, oh, well that was a lot, but now it's gone.

I think about starting with planning. And if you have an existing blog there's nothing wrong with putting the brakes on and going, okay, I'm going to just take a breath and I'm going to produce four blog posts. And we're going to do those over a period of eight weeks, for example, and just get that out so that it's going in a consistent way. You need to plan, you need to have an idea of where you're going to go. You need to plan your blog posts around your product launches or things that you're going to do. If you've got a job that is for example, seasonal in the sense that perhaps your customers are doing things in September or in January, like the fresh start thing that you get as a life coach or a fitness coach, then you want to really focus your content around that while still producing consistent, steady, helpful content throughout. So there's definitely a lot of planning that needs to be done and it needs to be really targeted.

 Again, don't make it be something that you're using as busywork, because that's not beneficial to you or your customer.

V: That's great. I'm going to put my hand up and say that I fall into the category of the slightly erratic blogger. What I have found works for me is that, if I'm working on a particular theme in my business or with clients, or in The Collective [Vicki’s Facebook community] then I tend to use those themes and put those into blogs. And I might use my notes from my weekly Facebook lives and take that topic and produce a blog post out of it.

 So there are ways, aren't there, for people who are tight for time, which so many of us are, can make it a bit of an efficient process, right? If you plan your content and you can repurpose things, can't you?

A: Absolutely. And I think that is the thing.  This is one thing I always go on about - your content is your content. So, potentially, if you've been doing this for a while, something that you wrote about maybe two years ago might be relevant again. And there's no reason why you can't bring that forward or change it a bit and repurpose it.  I think as well, it's important to have a focus.

 And I think what you suggested is a really good idea if you are doing themes. And I often do that as well; I'll have kind of a mini-theme for the month and my newsletter, my blog, my social media posts, they're all going to be around that theme. And that's helpful for you in terms of organisation, and it's helpful for your reader and your customer because it helps them feel like they're following a journey, following a path. So yes, absolutely.

That is one way of doing it and it's really useful, but I really urge people to remember that you can absolutely go back and reuse your content, rejig it a little, bring it forward, freshen it up.  If things have changed a little, your readers don't always remember everything you've written. It would be nice to think that they do, but they don't. So bringing it forward, doesn't hurt it. It doesn't hurt to remind people of things.

V: And where should people house their blog?

A: I recommend that your blog is on your website, because then it's easier to do internal links to your offer page or to pages where they can find out more about what you do because that's one of the things that's also really important with Google - to have good internal and good external links on your blog.

So Google wants people to stay on your blog for as long as possible. If people just go to your blog and bounce away, you get what they call a high bounce rate and a high bounce rate doesn't make you rank high in Google. It's not something they like, they frown upon it and they don't necessarily share your content as much as you'd like.

So ideally, when you write a blog post, you're going to embed two or three links to content on your own website, including something that goes along with your call for action, and also potentially to your offer page or somewhere where they sign up for your newsletter. You want to get them to do something really. Every blog post should have at least one link that goes to an external source that supports what you're talking about but isn't exactly the same keyword.

So for example, if you were writing about fall fashion colours, you might want to go and go to a newspaper article from a reputable news newspaper that talks about fall fashion, but not necessarily in the sense of colours, so that you're getting somebody to back up your views and Google like that. That sort of, “Oooh they're starting a conversation”, they're getting people moving around.  Make sure that the window opens up in a new window. Don't have your blog disappear in it, go to that window because otherwise, people will go, “Oh wow, that's really interesting… What was I looking at again?”.  Whereas if your window is still open, they'd be like, oh yeah, I was looking at that. Because you don't want to lose your customer by sending [them elsewhere].

V: Great advice, thank you. I didn't actually know about that.

A: Yes, the external piece thing. I work on WordPress, but most blogging packages have a little tick box that you can put when you embed the link that says open in a new window.

V: Amazing. April, how do you stay inspired? I mean, there's a phrase at the moment along the lines of “multi passioned”.  You've got so many interests and it's so wonderful, but how do you stay inspired and continually come up with ideas for your blog?

A: I agree. I am definitely a multi-passionate entrepreneur and that can be a challenge because obviously focus is important, but I would say that, you know, for me, I think the inspiration is just in, I'm really lucky in the sense that I've got a lot of very interesting people around me. I belong to a lot of really interesting networking groups. I learn a lot. I think you have to be really open.

It is difficult at the moment because obviously, we're just getting back to going out again and doing things, but it is about being open to ideas, listening to your readers, to your customers, listening to their questions - what are they asking you about? And sort of pursuing that. And I'm finding the answers, being curious and, you know, and not being afraid to ask questions. I think we have to be open to these new experiences and, and just kind of, you know, get out there and try different things.  Keep your horizons open and that will always provide inspiration.

V: When do you come up with your best ideas?

A: My best ideas... I think if I'm quiet and I just spend some time just sitting down quietly, you know, with a cup of tea.  Maybe I'm reading a book, you know, a non-fiction book, and it might inspire me just being quiet. I think we need to allow ourselves that time and space to just be, which can be challenging with kids. But if you can give yourself even five minutes and just having that piece of paper there, that if something comes to you great.  Just sit down.  Don't think I'm going to remember that, because I promise you, you won't.

V: I completely agree. I have running notes pages in my phone and will quickly stick any of my ideas [as they come up] in there, and I also have little journals in my bags and by my bedside. (VW: Some of my best work is done in the shower when my mind can wander!)

A: Yes. And go back and look at things, look at notes that you've written ages ago. And also, don't hesitate to write something. If you really feel, you know, if you are doing your own writing and you really feel inspired, write a blog, post, write an article, write anything, get it down, have it there. You don't have to use it immediately.

There's that temptation like, oh gosh, I've got to put that on the blog right now. You don't let it sit and find a place where it really “goes in” organically. And you'll end up with having a bank of content that you can rely on as opposed to going, oh, I've got to write something.  It's just so much easier.

V: Yes, that's lovely.

A: Yes. And then it's not a chore. I mean, this is, it does come down to the bit [that we discussed], do you like to write, and for someone who doesn't like to write that that probably is kind of a pain point, but, if you are someone who is going to be writing your own, even social media posts, this works as well. Don't feel you have to use it straight away. I mean often an idea if you write it down and let it sit, you come back to it with something fresh. And suddenly it goes from being a really good social media post to something absolutely brilliant. Something that gets really lots of interaction.

V: And it's worth monitoring that, isn't it, and seeing what gets the most engagement and just paying attention to your audience, I guess.

A: Absolutely. And if you do have a blog it's well worth, (and I have a web designer who does these things for me), having Google Analytics installed on your dashboard so that you can look and see exactly what your customers are looking at.  Exactly what blog posts they're being attracted to, exactly what pattern they're following, how are they getting to your offer page, and what works most effectively.

And by reviewing your analytics, you can get a lot of insight into how to move forward with these kinds of promotions. And even, you know, in terms of your website, whether you're looking at your blog independently as well, it just gives you a much more targeted look at what your customer journey is because we need to know how our customers are getting to our offer page.

V: Yes, definitely because you can make assumptions, but then sometimes the stats can kind of surprise you.

A: Yes. And as well as the statistics, if have a customer that you feel like you've got a really good resonance with, ask them, what journey did they take?  And was it easy, and did they feel confident and comfortable with it?  And use that information and always be open and curious. It makes all the difference.

V: I think that's a top tip for life in general. Just go into everything with an open mind and curiosity.

A: Yeah, 100%.

V: I know we were going to be weaving in your top tips.  Is there anything that we haven't covered in terms of the key things that you think people should know when blogging for their business?

A: I think one of the main ones that I would really like to come back to, I mean, I have woven quite a few in, but one of the main ones for me is photographs and every blog post should have at least one really good photograph.  Your readers want to see pictures. I mean it's like when you're looking at a cookbook, you don't want to just see a recipe. You want to see how it looks, or at least I do.

So you need a picture on each blog post and don't just use stock images. The good ones get used so often. You really, really want to have people want to see you. You're the face of your brand. So definitely use good photographs. It’s well worth having professional photographs taken for your blog. Really, really important to do that. If you can't, don't use photographs that are badly lit or fuzzy.  There's nothing wrong with taking your own photographs if budget is a question, but as soon as you can afford to do a brand shoot, I highly recommend it. It just gives you that extra edge and you can use these photographs again and again in different contexts. So, absolutely, photographs are key. People want pictures as well as words.

And I think I talked about SEO. I mean, that's one of the reasons I do the blog, and for your business coaching, because when you start doing a deep dive, there are so many things that can enhance your experience. But, if I taught surface tips, they would absolutely be those ones about the call to action, about fresh, relevant content, and also about keeping the internal and external links working to keep people on your blog and going to your offer page. You don't want them to leave until they've bought something or are getting far enough along in the customer journey that they're going to come back.

V: Like taking another step with you.

A: Exactly. I mean, don't panic if they don't do something the first time they visit, but you really want to know that they're going to come back. You want to keep them interested.

V: As you have mentioned it a couple of times now, can you define what you mean by “fresh content” Because it's so noisy out there online, isn't it? And that can be really overwhelming and really distracting. So how does someone stay fresh? You know, where does one start with that?

A: I think you need to keep an eye on trends in your business and in your niche, but equally you need to be careful when you're reading because it's very easy to get swept up in what everybody else is writing. You need to make sure you bring your own personality to the table and your own take on it. You always need to focus on what your business does that's different and that will help you to be fresh equally. It's important not to, just because everyone's writing about one particular thing in your niche, don't just necessarily write about that. Think about other ways of looking at it and maybe write about something that's complementary to it, but not the same.

Just try and keep an attitude of openness to things. And, by all means, you know, ask your readers questions. Get that conversation going and utilize your networking contacts to bring new aspects to what you're doing. Ask people who you know, that maybe are not in your niche but would complement it, to perhaps do a guest post and bring their take on things. And you can do that in the sense of, if they do a guest post on your blog, then they're going to put a link to their site on there that opens in a new window. And I would expect them to then say to you, well actually, could you do a guest post for me so I can give you that opportunity to access my customers as well. And I think that that can be a really good way of keeping that content fresh. Because it's not just all you.

V: Yes, top tip! I definitely need to start taking that further myself. And again, it's all about championing each other.

A: Yes, absolutely. I mean, you do want to keep your own voice on there. You do want to write the majority of your blog posts yourself or have them coming from you, but absolutely getting guest posts in there, getting other people in your niche and people that are doing things that are very complementary to yours, because we all have ways of collaborating, even if we're in the same field. It's interesting how you can do that as well.

V: Yes. I completely agree because no two people are the same.

A: Exactly.

V: So April, if you were to do everything again and start all over again, would you do anything differently?

A: I think I might've started to monetize the blog earlier, but I think that part of that was the timing and where we were in the UK versus where they were in North America.  Aside from that, I don't think I would have changed much actually, because it's been such an amazing journey and I think everything has happened at exactly the right time. I think like all women, I think we all have that imposter syndrome that creeps in from time to time.

And I think that if there's anything, I would change those few times that I doubted myself, I would go back and go, no, just go for it. Because most of the time when I finally got around to doing that thing, it was absolutely the right thing to do. So really believe in yourself.

V: Great message.  It’s all about taking a little risk, isn't it really? Because the payoff is so good in the end, and the learning [you receive].

A: Exactly, exactly. I think so. And, knowing that, if you do choose to start a blog for your business and it doesn't turn out to be the right thing, if you've already got a website it's not a great big deal and you can switch those pages to more static pages that work for you, if it flies and it makes a big difference and it's bringing you lots of custom, you can equally expand that and you can blog a little more often. You can make it work for you.

V: And what would you say has been the number one thing that you've learned so far in business?

A: Number one thing I've learned is to absolutely trust my gut because you always know when you should be doing something and when you shouldn't and when you hear that little voice guide, this isn't really right for you, and you go ahead and do it anyway, you just know that you shouldn't have always listened to yourself.  Equally, have the courage to realize that sometimes that little voice whispering “yes” is pushing you out of your comfort zone for a reason. And you really need to listen to it as well.

V: Yes, I love that. I've spoken before about this because it's about the voices, but it's also about the feelings - you can tap into the messages that your body has given you. And sometimes when things feel terrifying, that's actually [a feeling] of excitement and we confuse the two.  The brain can't really differentiate. So it's about telling yourself what the feeling actually is and going for it. That's my compass.

A: Absolutely. I mean, I've had some amazing experiences through blogging. I've had the opportunity to meet some incredible people. At one of the blogging conferences I went to, we actually had a live stream with Barack Obama.  There were 5,000 of us in the room, but it was incredible. I have met some very interesting people and I've just had so many wonderful experiences. And I think if, if I hadn't sort of that first time when I thought, oh, well, I go to that conference well or not. If I hadn't actually had the gumption to do that, none of this would have happened. And it would still probably have just kind of faded into the background. And it's just literally been life-changing so absolutely follow your gut, know that it's okay to say no from time to time, but equally, always listen to that really strong “yes” voice a hundred percent.

V: April, what a place to wrap up our chat.  I just love that. How beautiful, and thank you so much for all of your expertise and your tips and the knowledge that you have shared this evening, it’s really, really kind of you, thank you.

Vicki Messenger is a Women’s Business Coach, empowering aspiring, early-stage and pivoting female founders of purpose-driven businesses to create extraordinary lives through businesses that they love.  You can find more of Vicki’s articles and lots of great complimentary resources at www.vickimessenger.com. If you would like access to more exclusive expert interviews like this one, you can join her community, The Collective, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thecollectiveforwomeninbusiness/ .

April J Harris is an award-winning lifestyle blogger who launched her first website in 2002. Since then, she has built her traffic to over 30,000 visitors per month and has worked on media campaigns with brands such as Expedia and John Lewis. You can find her blog and details of her Blogging for Your Business Coaching at www.apriljharris.com