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This week we’re chatting it up with Anne Younger from Forever A Younger, which has been online since April 15th 2009.

Anne is a 30 year old mom from Wisconsin who started over again. After being a single mom of 2 for 7 years, she met and fell in love with Alex, got pregnant, got married and welcomed her 3rd child into their life. She is currently a happily married; full time stay at home mom, student, Twitter addict and emerging blogger.

1. How did you come to have your “mommy blog”? Was it planned that way or did it just accidentally sort of happen?

After becoming addicting to reading other mommy blogs all the time, I figured why not give it a shot! So it was and wasn’t planned but I am pleased with the results thus far!

2. Do you work outside the home or work from home? What are you currently working on?

I have not worked outside the home since losing my job in September 2006. After long discussions with my then fiancé, we decided it would be better for the kids and also for our family financially if I were to remain at home. When we learned we were expecting our youngest child, it was a no brainer when we looked at how much money we would save on daycare costs.

I am currently working on getting my AA in Information Technology and Web Design and am also working on completing my eBook.

3. Do you accept advertising and sponsorship on this blog? Why or why not?

I do accept both advertising and sponsorship on my blogs. For me, I view my blog as a job and I am the President and CEO of the company. I am however very picky about what I will advertise on my blogs and what products I review.

4. Do you have a blog publishing schedule or do you just spontaneously blog as the mood strikes you?

For the most part, I attempt to blog daily at Forever A Younger and From Our Table to Yours. My Mommy Reviews gets updated every time I have a new product to review which has been frequently lately.

5. Do you consider your blog a business venture or just a mommy outlet for getting thoughts out of your head? Is it both?

I consider all of my blogs to be both a business venture and an outlet for me to get things off my chest. I have been known to fly off the handle in regards to many things in my personal life on Forever A Younger and I never hold back.

6. How do you feel about paid blogging and its impact on the mommy blogger community?

I haven’t really been affected by the impact that paid blogging has had on the mommy blogger community. Personally, I am all for making a little extra cash here and there to help support my family and if I can do it by blogging (which is something I love) then I’ll do it.

7. Do you talk about your family in any depth of detail on your blog?

So far, there is not much about my family that I haven’t shared. When I began telling the Tales of My Shady Past, I prepared myself mentally and emotionally to share secrets in regards to myself and to my family.
Do they know about it and do they read your blog?

Everyone in my family is aware of my blogs and I know that my mother and my sister are both regular readers.

8. Do you use real names and include pictures of your children on your blog? What brought you to that decision?

I do not use anyone’s real name other than my own. Each person in my story has their own little nickname and story to go with it. I do use real photos of everyone including my children but I do place my web address across each photo so that it cannot be used by an unauthorized parties.

I decided to use nicknames for everyone because I found it easier to talk about my past if I didn’t point fingers and name names. As for my family members, it just started that way.

9. What really inspires you to blog? Honestly, what really inspires me to blog is my everyday life.

10. Has a comment on your blog ever made you cry? Not that I have read to date.

11. Do you read and comment on other mommy blogs frequently? Do those bloggers visit your blog and comment as well?

I read over 50 different mommy blogs daily (if they have been updated). I leave comments if I have something to add to what they said or if I want to compliment them for the courage it took to share a story or where I stand on certain viewpoints. There are quite a few mommy blogs that I read that I do see stopping by my blog every now and then.

12. Name one thing about your lifestyle that blogging has changed or impacted?

Blogging has changed the way I make purchases. I am not at a point that before I purchase something for myself or my family, I am searching through mommy blogs to see what they thought of it and really look into things before just running out and buying the next hot item.

13. Has blogging led to other things online for you? (Such as business ventures, job offers, additional blogs etc….)

So far blogging has not led me to any real business ventures other than product reviews, which I love doing, but I am hoping that somewhere down the road (after I graduate) that it will lead me to other places.

14. What mommy blogger myth or misconception annoys you the most? What do you want to say to those people, even if you bite your tongue?

I absolutely hate that people think that when we accept a free product for review that our opinion is swayed and that we have to say we actually like the product. I am brutally honest when I do a review. If I don’t like something, I will definitely let you know. I would love to tell those people that if they don’t think what I said is what I honestly thought then they can stop reading my blog.

15. Have you been contacted by media or PR reps because of your blog? No, this is something I have not encountered as of yet.

Is that something you’re interested in and enjoy, or not so much? I would enjoy it, especially since I dedicated my blog to Breast Cancer awareness for the entire month of October.

16. Were the technical aspects of getting started a hurdle for you?

For the most part, I was able to figure things out. Whenever things got difficult I would contact Lisa Martin, from My Thoughts Ideas and Ramblings, for assistance and she was always great about helping me out.

17. What blogging platform do you use and why did you choose that platform? (WordPress, Typepad, Blogger, etc…)

I use WordPress and chose that platform since I found it to be more user friendly and it has so many options for add-ons.

18. What three things do you *need* to have for your blog? (Plugins, tools, etc…)

Plugins, plugins, plugins! I have 3 that I have to run on each of my blogs and they are WordPress Thread Comment, Sociable and Akismet.

19. What is your favorite thing about blogging?

My favorite thing about blogging is getting to make new friends and listen to their stories.

20. What advice do you have for someone that wants to break into blogging and has never done anything online before?

Network, network, network. I can’t say it enough. Make friends on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, message boards etc. The people you meet online will be the ones that are there to help you along the way. I found this to be the most valuable lesson I’ve learned and the most priceless tool I use.

Anne is also currently in the process of writing a completely uncensored eBook based on The Tales of My Shady Past series she has been running on her blog since July that has found a very strong following. Anne is not afraid to air her dirty laundry for the entire world to see and hopes that some of her experiences and tales will help others to step outside the box.

A big thanks goes out to Anne for taking the time out to do this interview. I actually came across Anne when we were both interviewed over at Murray Newland’s blog earlier this year, and I’ve been reading her ever since. You can always read more about Anne at her blog, Forever A Younger, and you can follow her on Twitter @anne54304

Happy Blogging!

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