Welcome to the 7th episode of bloggers chit chat series 1.
With me today is Sahar Ahmed, stay at home mommy of a 4 year old little princess. She was a working woman prior to her marriage but when she became a mom, her priorities in life took a shift towards raising her daughter and giving her full attention.
She runs a blog on Instagram after her own name as “saharfaheemkhan” and a YouTube channel as well. Continue reading to know about her and her blog.
Questions
1. Where are you from, which city you live in and since when are you residing in KSA?
I am from Karachi, Pakistan and I am living in Rabigh, KSA since last 5 years. It is a small city located 170KM away from Jeddah.
2. When and why you started blogging?
Before moving to KSA, I was working in a bank in Karachi. After moving to KSA, it became quiet difficult for me to work full time when I also had an infant to look after. My daughter became my top most priority so working outside from my home was not in the cards. As she grew older, I started looking ways to keep myself busy and productive and that’s when blogging came in. I started from Instagram and launched a YouTube channel as well. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking here
3. What do you blog about specifically?
At first, the reason was to just share my thoughts about parenting, food, travelling, lifestyle as I was experimenting at that time. But now I found my niche and it’s a food blog now.
4. What do you like about living in KSA and/or anything you dislike?
I like everything about living here; I am near to MAKKAH and MADINA, can travel anytime whenever my husband got an off without any fear of being robbed or of any other street crime. Its a beautiful and peaceful country to live in.
The only thing I dislike about living here is that we cannot sponsor a visit visa for my siblings living in Pakistan. According to the law here, we can only sponsor a visit visa for our parents or parents-in-law.
5. Is there anything you miss the most about your home town?
Oh yes, so many things. My family, family events, my country’s food ,shopping with sisters, friends gatherings etc.
6. Are there any specific bloggers you enjoy following and wait for their updates/posts/stories? What’s special about them?
Yes, there is one who really inspired me throughout my journey. I really enjoy following Saima from asupertiredmom. She shares very relatable and relevant stuff, , just on point and informative stuff. She is the one who encouraged me to start my blog.
Then along the way I found Nousheen from Drwifediaries, her stories really appeal me. And she is just like a friend to me.
7. Tell 3 weird/funny things about yourself that no one or very few people know.
I am a extremely talkative person. (as my hubby always say)
I am veryyyyy emotional.
Everyone thinks that I am strong but I don’t consider myself a strong person
8. Share with us your happiest life moment.
First, When I performed Umrah with my hubby which was like a dream come true and secondly, when Allah blessed me with a daughter. Alhamdulillah for everything.
9. Other than blogging, what do you like to do in your free time?
I do not get much time to do stuff other than looking after my daughter and spending time with her. But I love to go for shopping and outings.
10. How do you manage time to run your blog efficiently?
HA HA It is a BIG TASK! I am still struggling to manage time because my husband works in rotations. So, between looking after my daughter, household chores, and then husband coming in at different times, it’s difficult to give sufficient time to blog. But still I try to do my best because I love what I do.
11. What strategy do you think worked well for you to get more traffic to your blog?
I think a good picture with a good caption and proper hashtags has helped me to generate traffic. Also, I try to be regular on stories and choose post timings which I know is the best and peak time for my followers to engage. Collaborations with fellow bloggers helps too.
12. What do you think is more important – gaining more followers or focusing on creating interesting and relevant content? Why?
I think both goes hand in hand. If you write a good and meaningful captions, it invite people to engage on your posts and on the other side, a good number of followers may give you confidence as well to work harder for your blog.
13. Have you faced any challenges in your blogging journey so far? If yes, did you manage to overcome it?
Yes, but the basic ones which mostly all newbies face; because I really did not know the ABC of blogging when I started this platform. Nothing about how hashtag works, what people like to see or read, how to take good pictures etc. I still struggle to come up with a content that would really be of interest to my followers.
14. What do you find the most frustrating aspect of blogging?
To increase my followers count who are real, interested and organic.
15. If someone is interested to start a blog, what tips you would like to share?
- If you have a skill, do not hesitate to showcase it;
- Try to learn from other fellow bloggers;
- Try to up your photography game each time you take a photo;
- Always chose appropriate hashtags; and
- Just do your best.
Rapid Fire Round!
Summers or Winters
Winters
Vegetables or Meat
Vegetables
Water or Cold Drink
Cold Drink always
Chinese or Italian
Chinese
Homemade food or Dine out
Dine out
Weekend or Weekday
Weekend
Sweet or Savory
Savory
Movies or Soap Serials
Soap Serials
Tea or Coffee
Tea is my love
Texting or Talking
Talking. I love to talk
Dawn or Dusk
Dawn. Meaning of my name
IPhone or Android
Android
I hope you enjoyed reading her interview. Don’t forget to check her Facebook, and Instagram for some Desi and delectable recipes. 🙂
Next Episode: 24th Sept, 2020
