A Q&A with Woman Tribune Founder Holly Ord

We recently had the chance to chat with Holly Ord, a blogger, social-media junkie, freelance writer, web designer, stepmom and founder /editor-in-chief of the popular woman-focused blog, WomanTribune.com. We asked Holly five questions about her website, her audience and her life.

1. You seem to be very busy with a number of blogging projects.  What specifically drew you to starting Woman Tribune?
I've blogged in one capacity or another over the past 11 years. Around the time I started Woman Tribune, I was writing a daily blog on feminism and politics, which I still write today (just not nearly as often as I used to) and I started feeling really stifled by its very narrow focus. It's definitely a niche blog that acquired a dedicated and like-minded audience, so I wasn't exactly free to write about which bath and body products I really love or about technology or interior decorating, all of which interest me greatly.

I created Woman Tribune with the help of a friend. Almost instantly, it began drawing a really great following and now it's in its third year and has done well, which I couldn't have predicted when the idea of creating it first struck me.

2. Is there a particular audience you write for and relate to, or is Woman Tribune meant to be all encompassing?
The only real focus I ever meant Woman Tribune to have was for it to appeal to women, which is apparent in its name. I never meant for it to have any other distinct focus or to appeal to just one type of person or age group, other than that it's full of information that interests and affects women.

Everyone is multifaceted and has an incredible variety of interests: That's what makes people interesting. I never wanted Woman Tribune to fir perfectly into a dedicated niche. I have experience with niche blogs and, regardless of how passionate you are about your topic, if you really love blogging for the sake of blogging (which I always have), you're bound to feel stifled at some point, which is why I created Woman Tribune in the first place.

3. Money and personal finance come up often as a topic on Woman Tribune. What's the best advice you can give a woman looking to create a more frugal lifestyle?
Use coupons and stay updated on which deals and sales are being offered in the stores you shop at the most! Before I started Woman Tribune, I didn't know much about clipping coupons or searching for coupon codes and discounts, and I didn't know just how much money you can save if you use them frequently.

Through partnering with other websites over the years, specifically websites like Coupon Sherpa -- which highlight specific deals while also giving you the ability to search keywords on what you know you'll need -- I've really learned a ton and have saved money just by staying up to date on which deals are available. There was a time, specifically before the great financial crisis, when a lot of people would be almost embarrassed to whip out their coupons at the grocery checkout. I think being frugal is really in style now, which is abundantly apparent with new reality shows like TLC's "Extreme Couponing."

4.  Do you have any tips for other women interested in breaking into the blogging world?
One of the biggest tips I could offer is to be true to yourself and not be afraid to get a little personal. Very few people are interested in reading a straightforward press release or a list of information about a particular subject. Blogging allows you to share information others may find beneficial, but it is also about connecting with other people, forming bonds and being relatable to the people who read what you have to say.

5. Any future plans for the site or elsewhere that you care to share?
I'd love to add more consistent writers to Woman Tribune; I think that's pretty much all that is missing. It would be amazing to have a well-rounded and diverse group of women blogging on Woman Tribune about their interests and passions. Other than that, Woman Tribune will continue to do what we've been doing for the past three years--providing very reliable, important and interesting information on a whole host of different topics.

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