Interview with Aisling

Let’s introduce and welcome Aisling to the Shades of Tatiana Interview Series! Today we are going to chat about the lifestyle of a full-time writer & creator. If you want to connect with someone who is creative and very knowledgeable about nutrition and the anti-diet culture. Then, get reading.

So, without further ado, let’s meet Aisling!

Aisling, pronounced Ash-ling, is a 23-year old writer from Ireland. She's been blogging since she was 14, but set up her current blog, thisdreamsalive, in 2015 and stuck with it. Having graduated with a BA in Journalism and New Media, she's now studying nutrition so she can launch her health, wellness, vegan, and anti-diet culture website, Prickly Pineapples, with authority. Her goal is to become self-employed as a full-time writer and creator.

Let’s Get Started!

1. How you first got involved in writing & creating content?
I’ve been writing my whole life, as a child, I loved writing songs and stories. I started blogging when I was 14! I joined My Chemical Romances website because they’re my favorite band, and it was sort of like a social media platform. I started writing blog posts, which were basically angsty teenage rants about my life at the time and loved it. I stayed there until I was 17, but in the meantime had set up and deleted blogs on pretty much every platform like Tumblr, Blogspot, and Blogger. I made thisdreamsalive in 2015 when I started college and kept it up. In October I bit the bullet and went self-hosted with it.

2. How has your education background impacted your writing journey?
I studied Journalism & New Media in college. In the first year, we had a social media module where everyone had to set up a blog and write one post a week as well as sharing it on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I already had thisdreamsalive setup, so I got to use a hobby as part of my education which was handy! My degree helped refine my writing style, especially when it came to feature writing which is fairly similar to blogging.
We had a media law module too, so I know I’m very familiar with what’s copyrighted content and what constitutes with defamation. Defamation laws here in Ireland are much stricter than in other countries so it’s taught me to be cautious and balanced in my blogging, as I am in my journalistic work. However, overall, the likes of SEO, the benefits of Pinterest, and learning what a DA was something I had to teach myself.

My degree is great if you want to work in a local newspaper but as someone who’d rather get into professional blogging and freelancing, it was more of a foot in the door than anything.

3. I want to congratulate you because I saw that you are launching a self-hosted website in January! What is the meaning behind the name Prickly Pineapples? What inspired it?
I’ve always been a very health-conscious person and wrote about it a lot in college but felt like so many influencers heavily promote and endorse diet culture which has a negative effect on their audience if they’re not being ethical about it (like photoshopping “results” of products/diets they’re promoting). I wanted to create a space that promoted self-love, called out diet-culture BS, and real genuine health! I used to scroll through blogs and social media and picked up so many unhealthy tips and tricks that fueled my eating disorder. I never want someone to come onto my website and learn something that can fuel eating disorder behavior, I want them to see it and choose recovery.

I started a nutrition course in September so I could launch Prickly Pineapples from a knowledgeable and responsible place. It’s also going to have vegan recipes and tips too because when I first changed my lifestyle, I had no idea what to eat! I’ve even learned during my nutrition course things a lot of people don’t consider when going vegan like complete and incomplete proteins or factors than inhibit iron absorption, and how to better get all the right nutrients on a vegan diet.
I chose the name Prickly Pineapples because pineapples are sweet on the inside but strong on the outside and I felt it was a good analogy for the ideal reader of the website.

4. Can you discuss a little more about the content on Prickly Pineapples?
I’m going to be posting interviews on the website with influencers about all things health and mental health, so expect interviews with vegans, people recovered from eating disorders, mental health advocates, disability advocates, plus-sized influencers etc. I’m also going to be sharing recipes for my favorite foods and drinks, diet culture call outs, and content to do with health like the benefits of certain kinds of herbal teas, or foods that ease PMS. I don’t want to encourage the notion of your body needing to look a certain way or needing to diet, so it’s going to be about living a balanced life and coming to love yourself. Life’s too short not to eat chocolate!

5. In what ways is the Prickly Pineapples website going to be different from thisdreamsalive?
Prickly Pineapples has a clear niche of health, veganism, anti-diet culture, etc., whereas thisdreamsalive is very much a personal blog. I started thisdreamsalive reviewing books I read, and sharing what was on my bucket list. I later started sharing my opinions on things and started reviewing a few movies too. Over the past year, a big focus has been on blog posts about eco-friendly living because I have a platform where I can inform people of the climate crisis and what to do to live a greener life. It has so many different subjects on it, that I felt like Prickly Pineapples content deserved its own space.
6. What are your opinions on having a self-hosted website versus a free platform?
I originally started blogging as a hobby, so all I needed was a free platform. It was only when I started taking blogging more seriously in 2018 that I realized that a lot of bloggers actually make money blogging and some even blog full-time. Blogs hosted by platforms, such as, wordpress.com blogs can’t really make a lot of money or make money often. You don’t get a DA on those blogs which are important for brand deals, you can’t monetize them, and you can’t even really change your theme much. Whereas with self-hosted blogs you have more freedom to monetize, tweak the layout, and start building a DA. It looks more professional to have your own .com too.

If you want to blog for fun then a free-platform has everything you need, but if you’re considering it to be a side-hustle or career path, then I’d recommend going self-hosted.
Going self-hosted is a risk because you’ve to pay for the hosting costs as well as the domain, which can be expensive. I waited until I felt confident that I could make it work, before going self-hosted. It’s still early days in my self-hosted journey, but my DA’s been rising pretty steadily so I hope all my hard work will start paying off soon.

7. What do you find most challenging about blogging about your topics?
It’s hard to get people to read thisdreamslive because it doesn’t have a specific niche. I feel like the blogs that do well are the ones than answer a question, whereas thisdreamsalive is just about the things I like. That said, I wouldn’t change thisdreamsalive for more views. I think Prickly Pineapples will have an easier time getting views and readers because of the niche.
8. Tell me about some of the people you’ve met while working on your website?
I’ve met so many other lovely bloggers on Twitter. The blogging community is so nice and supportive.
9. How would (someone) describe your writing style?
I would say it’s conversational but refined. My course stripped it of any “fluff” because a journalistic style of writing is very to the point so that influenced all of my writing. At first, I was a bit saddened by that because I feel like my creative writing used to be more vibrant, so I make sure to keep it colorful and descriptive, but the fact that I don’t beat around the bush is a good thing. People don’t have the attention span to sift through big blocks of text, they want shorter snippets of information that answers their questions.
10. What networking do you feel helps your writing business?
Twitter is great for getting engagement and meeting other bloggers for collaborations and guest posts, whereas Pinterest is where most of the views are. I think both are really important. I started off an Instagram and Facebook page for Prickly Pineapples too to see if they help a bit. It’s very difficult to grow organically, but it’s much better to persevere at that than to buy followers because they don’t engage - it’s so obvious when someone’s bought followers and comments.
11. How do you keep coming up with material/content for your blog/website? Many people struggle with coming up with different articles/posts and they only have one website.
I think keeping a notebook and writing down a list of post ideas helps, or writing an idea down in my phone when inspiration hits. Writing posts in bulk is great too because it’s easier to keep a schedule so there's always something going up. For thisdreamsalive I can write about a book or movie I read/saw, flick through my bucket list and write a post about it, and sometimes if something goes viral on social media I write a response to it.

For example, when Kim Kardashian promoted appetite-suppressing lollipops I knew I had to write something about it! I came up with a big list of ideas for Prickly Pineapples months in advance and scheduled a few posts before the launch. Sometimes coming up with an idea is a case of asking yourself what do you like to read.

12. What would you prioritize? Content? SEO? Traffic? Readers?
I’d say content because if you don’t have good content then there’s no point having a perfect SEO strategy because people will click off the website straight away if the content is poor. Without strong content, you’re never going to get traffic or loyal readers so it should come first.

Fun Questions

13. What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?
I like playing music, but I’ve been too busy for it lately. I used to be in bands and miss it, but I’ve every intention of investing myself back into music one day. I also like reading, and creative writing.
14. What mantra do you live by?
Have hope - I think hope is one of the strongest feelings and can get you through pretty much everything! I even got the word Hope tattooed on my wrist.

15. What’s the best thing a writer can give to his/her readers?
Providing high-quality engaging content and being authentic. As a writer you should want people to stay & read what you’ve wrote and come back for more.
16. A lot of people are interested in writing or blogging for the money earning potential. What are some tips for people interesting in making money from creating content? What are some realistic expectations in regard to what can be made?
You’re not going to make a lot of money straight away. When it comes to blogging, it takes a while to get your DA high enough to get sponsored posts and time to get your views up to a level of being accepted into the likes of Google AdSense. You only make a small percentage of sales from affiliate links, so you need a large following to make decent money from them. Most bloggers have affiliate links, ads, and sponsored posts, and the more established bloggers also sell their own products like e-books and courses.
As a freelancer, it’s very difficult to find stable work at decent rates. A lot of people want to underpay writers, and even more don’t want to pay at all! Unfortunately, it’s a case of working hard at the start to earn a living as and you grow and get more experience, you get more money for the same amount of work so you can cut your workload down a bit eventually if you want.
It’s empowered me to be more assertive by negotiating better rates, and declining offers from people who want to exploit me or don’t respect me. I’m lucky to be in the position to be able to say no because I work in retail, so I have an income already. I only graduated in August so I’m still at the beginning. I’m still working my part-time job for the next few months so I can save up money for emergencies when I quit and write full time because it’s very rare to actually be paid on time! I’ll be able to make more and take on more jobs when I leave my job because right now, I don’t even have the time to take on a lot of writing jobs. It’s also giving me a few months to get my both website’s DA’s up enough to get regular sponsored posts.
I’d recommend having savings and continuing to work part-time (or full-time) until writing ventures start making enough regular money before jumping into writing full-time. It’s a difficult industry to make it in, but worth it. I want to make my dream life a reality, but I’m being sensible about it.

17. Name some of the bloggers or writers whom you look up to and why?
I love Emily from Brighter Craft. She’s doing so well and is kind enough to always share her wisdom with other bloggers. I recently bought her Pinterest course and can’t wait to sit down and implement it, because she is the Pinterest queen! I also really like Jenny in Neverland for the same reasons, because she’s always sharing tips and advice on how she’s able to blog full-time.
18. If someone was interested in creating content, what would be a few things you would suggest?
I would say only create content if it’s something you love and enjoy doing. As much as I’d love to make a living from writing and blogging, this journey began as a hobby. If you’re hearts not in the right place, people can tell. We’re also in a space now where people have very little tolerance for inauthentic influencers, so you’re not going to be ethical people will call you out.
I’d recommend learning about SEO, domain authority, and how to promote on every platform as each work in their own ways. You also need to be up to date on laws that apply for bloggers, such as what content is free to use (ie. stock images) and how to properly disclose ads.

Thanks for joining us this week on Shades of Tatiana. Make sure to visit Aisling on her blog, where you can connect and see more of her fascinating work.

Connect With Aisling

• Website: Prickly Pineapples

• Instagram: @pricklypineapples.ie

• Twitter: @ppineapplesie

• Website: thisdreamsalive

• Twitter: @thisdreamsalive