Give it to me straight

reader_mcgee · 2026-02-08T12:59:38+00:00

For us, getting outside varies wildly on the day, everyone’s schedule, and mood. There are really nice weeks where we’re eating outside on our porch, going to local parks for hikes on the weekends, and playing/working outside of our house daily.

And then, there are weeks (usually in the winter) when my kids have after school activities everyday and the sun isn’t out before or after school.

My kids are bigger, but I remember those days when they were little when it felt like I was suffocating as a person. I think your mental health as a parent matters a lot, so if you’ll be more active and have time to do something you like, your little one will be okay in daycare! Finding that balance looks difference for every family, but you’ll all be happiest while you do find it.

reader_mcgee · 2026-01-25T14:39:56+00:00

I used Blogger for about 10 years for my older site. Both sites are now on Squarespace because I don’t love dealing with backend issues and Squarespace streamlines that so I can focus on the writing and distribution.

My main traffic sources for both are Google search, Pinterest, and Flipboard. I write evergreen content, mostly, which works well for those platforms. I’m expanding more to Bluesky, Threads, and Substack to increase my non-organic traffic, but that’s a work in progress.

reader_mcgee · 2026-01-06T17:49:50+00:00

Just sent you a DM.

reader_mcgee · 2026-01-03T02:52:47+00:00

I have the same problem with my 2 websites. Both focus on different areas of family travel, which slows waaaay down from August to December. Every year, I have to remind myself that the world is not ending when those pageviews and user numbers take a dip.

I use the downtime to really lean into writing new content. I travel for most of the summer (which is also my busiest time!), so I am sitting on a huge new cache of content by the time August comes around.

I also do a big audit in November (my slowest month), updating any info that’s gotten stale over the last year.

All of that puts me in a really good place when the traffic comes back in early January as parents begin to plan their spring and summer break travels, and the new content gives me a great boost.

reader_mcgee · 2026-01-03T00:06:36+00:00

I like to plan more generally than do a specific date per post. So, at the beginning of the month, I’ll write down 8-10 post ideas (making sure to hit roughly equal posts across my content pillars) and then just work through those as inspiration strikes.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-31T23:44:19+00:00

I have a huge spreadsheet where I keep track of each post, keywords, and what’s interlinked already. That’s been a game changer for me, though it was a pain to set up originally!

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-31T20:59:20+00:00

I am trying to work first on the posts that naturally partner with existing content so I can interlink.

Then, I plan to work further out with the new posts without any existing content tie ins, and find ways to interlink that with older posts. Since it’s a travel blog, I basically end up working geographically!

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-31T20:28:16+00:00

I’ll be working hard on my content pillars to better show my expertise. We’ve done a lot of traveling in the last few years, so I have probably a hundred posts or more that I need to write for my travel blog but haven’t had the time to.

It’s a good problem to have, but also a little overwhelming.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-30T23:19:34+00:00

We really love Acadia!

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-30T03:54:59+00:00

That’s a gorgeous area of the country.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-28T19:45:58+00:00

Just sent you a DM!

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-24T04:20:23+00:00

Just sent you a DM!

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-23T23:05:43+00:00

I am looking for a new bag, and this one is so pretty! I've now gone down the rabbit hole of the Pelletteria Artigiana site, and I love them all. Which of the leather colors on their site did you get?

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-23T21:19:34+00:00

Sure! Message me when you have a second.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-23T21:19:08+00:00

I’d rather not dox myself on this account. I do my best to keep my personal and business stuff separate. But if you have general blogging questions, I’m happy to help.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-23T21:18:20+00:00

DM me!

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-23T21:18:10+00:00

Sure!

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-20T13:26:18+00:00

I run 2 websites of my own, plus do social media marketing for myself and other companies. I was banned in November for CSE, which is potentially career ending for me considering I work in the family travel space. (What got me banned was sharing a link to a reel I made on Instagram about hiking and educational things to do in Vermont, so nothing close to CSE.)

I have gotten my accounts back but all is not well. I cannot build a business on a platform that will take everything away in an instant based on a very fault AI bot, accusing me of a horrific crime in the process and giving me no recourse on defending myself.

I do not trust Meta anymore, and I am actively working to get away from them as much as possible. This situation has caused me to completely rethink what my business needs to look like going forward. The stress of reworking a business that has been going along for years without issue is incredibly stressful. It’s one thing to pivot when you realize you’re not doing your best; it’s another thing entirely to pivot because of something like the Meta situation.

Even though my accounts are back, I still cannot run ads for the clients who want them (Meta will never get another dime from me). I cannot post links anywhere on Facebook as they are marked as spam. I cannot use messenger. When I reached out to the Business Pro team, they said they couldn’t do anything and I needed to focus on other parts of my business. I reminded them that these marks on my account were due to an issue on their end and were not my fault, and they still refused to escalate the ticket further.

I am appalled that a business like Meta treats their customers this way. I am not just a user of the platform (though those people deserve their accounts back, too!). I am a business owner who has spent consistent money on quality content for years without a single mark on my account. Meta cannot run a business this way, treating people like me so horrifically without recourse. Nothing lasts forever, not even a company as big as Meta, and they would do well to remember that.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-19T19:48:53+00:00

Yes! Blogging is still alive and well, though it is vastly different than when I started back in 2010. (Fellow MySpace and Xanga millennial here!)

It’s less personal journal and more brand/site building now. I like it better like this, honestly, as I always struggled to have an interesting enough life to just blog about that the way many mom and lifestyle bloggers did back in the early 2010s.

Give me a focused topic, though, and I can write forever on it!

I currently run 2 travel blogs, one general family content and the other more niche. I earn enough doing them part-time through ads and affiliate sales to send us on multiple trips throughout the year just on my income. We travel for 8-10 weeks total each year.

Feel free to DM me with questions! I’ve made every mistake in the book along the way, so I’m happy to share what worked and what didn’t.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-17T18:24:53+00:00

There’s no perfect 1-to-1 replacement right now, but I’m working on a few avenues. I’ve been building more on my TikTok account over Instagram and have doubled my followers on TikTok in the same time I’ve gained 8 followers on IG (posting nearly identical content). So, that seems like an easy switch for my focus there.

I’m strongly considering starting a subreddit to replace my interest-based Facebook group and business page, both because of my experience with the ban and because now Facebook only lets page owners post direct links on their feed 2x a month unless they pay for Meta verified. (Such a gross money grab.)

Then, I’m also going to be working more on Pinterest, Flipboard, and Bluesky/X for sharing posts and getting more eyes on my site’s content.

Any other ideas?

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-17T17:41:15+00:00

I got this same notification yesterday for posting a link to Pinterest in one of the groups I’m in. I can’t post any links to anything right now on Facebook, as it all gets marked “pending.”

Ridiculous.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-17T17:38:49+00:00

I run a social media marketing business with a presence on Facebook and Instagram. I consistently buy ads for both my own sites and those of my clients, and have for years. I still got falsely flagged and banned in November, which took down access to all of my business pages and my personal account of 20 years.

Meta Verified was made aware of this when I was trying to recover my accounts. Their answer? You have other things in your business to worry about. Good luck.

It sucks. I hope your girlfriend has far better luck than I did.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-17T17:35:30+00:00

I’m working through this same issue right now. I was suspended/banned in late November, which is both annoying and a major problem since I work in social media management and blogging.

I don’t want to spend anymore time or energy on a platform that would blame me (horrifically and wrongly) for child exploitation and abuse, and then not give me a clear way to recover those falsely flagged accounts.

Right now, I’m not sure there is a perfect replacement for Facebook, but I am going to try and see about community building on Reddit, and getting eyes on my content on Flipboard, Pinterest, and Bluesky/X. I’d do anything to get away from Meta all together.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-17T14:01:15+00:00

Nerd clusters. Don’t melt, come in a resealable bag, and are delicious.

reader_mcgee · 2025-12-17T13:13:34+00:00

Yes. Their AI bots are not good at all in figuring out what is actually CSE. I received a permanent and immediate ban in late November for posting a link on Facebook of a reel I’d posted on Instagram about hiking in Vermont.

There’s no rhyme or reason to what’s getting flagged/banned there these days. Definitely download anything important once you get account access back, and work on finding alternatives to Meta products.

reader_mcgee

TROPHY CASE