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Introduce your readers to the real humans behind your blog
In my case, I’m completely open about my marriage and how that has shaped me. So much so that when I first started blogging, my husband made me promise not to reveal our identity. As a result, I would change names, locations and other details that could easily identify us. Almost a year ago, I started blogging under a pseudonym.
I have always been fascinated by the human ability to create stories and share them along with photos of their lives to reach out to generations different from ours. People of all ages flock to online blogs for information about their lifestyles, jobs, relationships and so on. A blog is increasingly becoming a window into the self. There’s no question that blogs allow readers to know you better than they could otherwise while also trusting you more.
But I think the biggest advantage of blogs is it creates a direct connection between you and your readers. When a reader meets you in person, there’s always the chance you could be someone else entirely. But on a blog, no one can possibly misunderstand everything because there’s no mistaking who you are.
I believe people can’t wait for that intimate moment when they meet their favorite bloggers in real life — and vice versa.
I’ll be more than happy to meet the real humans behind my blog at BlogHer and I’m sure everyone will be too.
-Marie Poulin, mariepoulin.com, @mariepoulin and author of Tweet Marketing: How To Use Twitter To Grow Your Business

Share a little bit about who you are and what led you to start blogging
into the process, I figured that I have nothing to hide. After all, this isn’t my master’s thesis. It was just an outlet for me to share my thoughts in a way that I couldn’t do on my Facebook page or in person with friends. So one day I told Brad about my idea for a blog and he thought it was a great idea. I still can’t believe that he’s now one of my biggest supporters, but he is. Love him for that! I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy to start a blog and write about something that is so close to you. But I had the support of friends and family. Some even volunteered to help me become into the process, I figured that I have nothing to hide. After all, this isn’t my master’s thesis. It was just an outlet for me to share my thoughts in a way that I couldn’t do on my Facebook page or in person with friends. So one day I told Brad about my idea for a blog and he thought it was a great idea. I still can’t believe that he’s now one of my biggest supporters, but he is. Love him for that!

Highlight some of your favorite posts and why you enjoyed writing them
A post about what it feels like to be a working mom for the first time. I was an at-home stay-at-home mom for the first 7 years of my kids’ lives and I didn’t have any idea what it would be like to be back in the workplace after such a long hiatus. Of course, I still feel some anxiety about work but overall, I really enjoy my job and the opportunity I have to share my experiences with readers. This is my first post, so if you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
“Highlighting”: Okay let’s get this straight, I am not crazy or stoned. I am not off my rocker or out of it. I did not pick up the post highlighting tool and go to town on this post; in fact, I finished it a week ago but intended to finish it on Monday night after surgery but then got truck-sized rabies took hold of me. Hopefully, it all makes sense to you, too.
Now that the reader is friendlier with me than my dog at home, I have decided to start a new post series called “Highlight some of your favorite posts and why you enjoyed writing them.” It is my hope that I can give each of you and idea on how useful other people find this blog and how nice it is to be able to encourage one another.
And hey, I just want to know that the blog is useful to you, too.

Let your readers know how they can get in touch with you if they have any questions or want to chat
If a reader has a question or wants to chat or ask for advice, I do try to keep in touch with people. I love hearing from other moms who blog and get inspired by what they read (and by the fact that they’ll never know it was Brad who helped me decide to start blogging). The more I blog, the more interactions I get which is kind of cool! I also provide a blog calendar so that people can sign up to get weekly emails from me. The more I get the more I blog and the way that I think is a wonderful thing. The only other interesting way–the only one that really makes me want to blog more–is if readers email me with questions, comments or suggestions for blog posts. (For example, some readers email with suggestions for recipes or ideas for things to write about.)

Thank your readers for their support and invite them to stick around for more great content in the future
Thanks for reading this today! Please know that I really appreciate you and look forward to sharing more recipes and stories with you in the future. Remember, if you ever have a question, just drop me an email or post a comment on my page. You never know when I’ll have an answer for you!
Thanks again,
Elisabeth and the creative team here in the kitchen
So, with this out of the way, let’s take a look at our main objective. I am going to introduce a few different (and some new) techniques in this column that you can use to simplify creating dishes that taste better and are healthier. So, without further ado:
To start off with, let’s talk about one of my favorite things that I like to call “the simple sauce”. Before I begin, let me clarify that I am not affiliated with the name and do not actually have a “simple sauce”…yet. But, I will tell you that the term is my attempt at inspiring you to rethink your go-to sauces and approaches to creating them.
So, what exactly is this “simple sauce?”
