11 Dec, 2014
Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Publishing/writing/career stuff|The business of blogging
Watch out! I’m feeling introspective today! I was in a meeting last week, sort of a consulting thing. There were five of us around the table. We were talking about blogging, and reaching blog readers, when one of the people in the meeting turned to me and asked: “Why do you think people read YOUR blog?” […]
12 Jun, 2014
Posted by: andrea tomkins In: The business of blogging
Blogging, as it intersects with social media, is something I’m asked about quite often when I’m at conferences or giving a talk. Do new bloggers and small businesses have to be on Twitter? Facebook? Google+? If so, how should those channels differ? I wanted to take a moment and briefly explain how I do it […]
10 May, 2014
Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Publishing/writing/career stuff|The business of blogging
Tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of the Fishbowl. Well, sort of. The blog is actually older than that, but when I started to try to figure out the actual date this was the earliest entry I could find at the time. Below is a screenshot of the original, because those old files are a mess of hand-rolled […]
26 Dec, 2013
Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Publishing/writing/career stuff|The business of blogging
I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions any more. Mostly because I think we set ourselves up for failure when we make big promises to ourselves without taking into consideration all those little things that need to be solved first. For example, if your goal is to lose 20lbs in 2014, wouldn’t it be better […]
I will work for free. Sometimes. And here’s why I think you should too. Last week I was invited to a special speaking engagement. Arlene Dickinson and Sir Terence Matthews were scheduled to speak at the Ottawa Convention Centre (the proceeds went to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa). It was a great morning. Both […]
My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (23) and Sarah (21). During the day I work as a writer at The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.
If you'd like to contact me, please use this form. If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here. Thank you for visiting!
