mark sanders and monty dogge

Pet Blogger Spotlight: Mark Sanders, Adventures of Monty Dogge

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Joining the ranks of famous and talented dogs like Lassie, Hooch and K9, Monty Dogge trades in quality blogging and children’s books – but he couldn’t do it without his human (and owner of opposable thumbs/a faster typing rate) Mark Sanders.

We talk to Mark about his work with Monty on the Adventures of Monty Dogge and why he thinks the pet blogging community is so supportive.

How did you get started with blogging about pets?
It was a total accident, to be honest. When Monty was a puppy he was so naughty I started a Facebook page ‘Life according to Monty Dogge’ and began writing silly stories about his exploits through his eyes. It took off and I soon had followers all over the world and we got invited to blog from Crufts. The Facebook followers suggested I should write a book and up to now Monty and the gang have featured in five children’s books.

What’s your favourite thing to post about – reviews, things to do, etc.?
I really prefer to post about things that are really helpful to other pet owners. Cookie ruptured her cruciate ligament last December and I did a blog about the whole process from diagnosis to the operation and subsequent recovery. I featured products that helped such as a harness and snuffle mat to ease the boredom. I also wrote about the insurance company and how they were to deal with. It was something positive that came out of a horrible experience and will hopefully help others.

What are the best things about the pet blogging community that other blogging sectors might not have?
I’m not sure about other blogging sectors but the pet blogging community is really supportive. I think it comes from people blogging about living breathing family members rather than a hobby or pastime.

What are your thoughts on pets/animals becoming celebrities through blogging and featuring on social media?
I actually hate pets and animals becoming celebrities just by being dressed up and pictures posted daily. I think it’s the horrible side of social media where a dog can be followed by 30,000 people just by wearing silly clothes. If there is content, then why not? Pets and animals have been celebrities for years, just think of Lassie as an example.

Is there something you would never feature/write about on your blog?
There are actually many things. I have to think it is ethical and actually something our readers would find interesting or useful. It has taken a long time to build the following we have and I won’t just throw product after product at them.

Do you think it’s necessary to have pets of your own to blog about pets/animals?
Not sure it’s necessary but I’m sure it helps. I think somebody who has experience of pets/animals could still write an excellent blog.

Very important question here – which are really better, cats or dogs?
If I were a politician I’d say that each pet has their own strengths and weaknesses and each bring something special to the owner pet relationship… but I’m not, so it’s dogs.

How do you work with PRs and brands – are review products and new launches useful?
Again, going back to a previous answer it’s all down to the product for me and I prefer to build a long-term relationship. I very rarely do food reviews as it means changing the dog’s diet and I’m not really prepared to do that unless it’s a superior product. Monty is perfect for brand ambassador roles and that’s something I’m always keen on.

For PRs looking to work with you and your blog, how would you prefer they approach you?
I really dislike fishing emails that don’t actually contain any sort of proposal and those usually just get overlooked, to be honest. I’d much prefer an email that lays out their vision/ideas for the relationship.

What other blogs do you read (whether pet-related or not)?
I am a big follower of the Paw Post who has become a good social media friend. I tend to read book review blogs such as Whispering Stories, Mrs Cooke’s Books and anything with conservation content that takes my fancy.

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Dr Stephanie Hare CIPR 2019

Integration, responsibility and cake: 7 lessons from the CIPR National Conference

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This year’s CIPR National Conference ‘Preparing for the Digital Future’ focused on getting attendees ready for the challenges the industry will face over the next few years. Big issues highlighted at the conference that are already impacting PR and comms included mental health issues within the workplace, irresponsible use of data and CEOs resistant to necessary change.

What can we do to get ready for what’s coming, and what’s already here?

Check out the main takeaways from the speakers this year and where they believe time, energy and resources should be spent (the first is definitely the most doable…).

1. ‘Cake always wins’
Katie Lawson, head of fundraising and communications at Tiny Tickers
Lack of budget and goodwill came up in questions to speakers a lot during the conference – naturally, not every team or corporation is going to have both. During the CIPR Not-for-profit Group Session ‘Digital communications on a shoestring’, Katie Lawson from charity Tiny Tickers talked about balancing the goodwill of her audience with a lack of funds. Want attention on social media? Office cake is the answer. Katie’s advice: take photos of any cake that shows up in the office and post on Twitter – this also goes for dogs.

2. ‘Spending money on content that isn’t engaging is money down the drain… what you’re doing is boring more people’
Helen Reynolds, communications and social media trainer at Comms Creatives
And on the subject of what works on social, Helen ‘The old lady of social media’ Reynolds also had advice during the panel on working with tiny budgets. Everyone wants more money for what they’re planning, but for Helen ‘the work is what’s important’. As discussed during this talk (which also featured thoughts from Leanne Manchester from The Wildlife Trust), no amount of budget is going to make content that’s lacklustre more interesting – it’ll just be much more expensive.

3. ‘Focus on the human aspect of work – if we’re not more open and transparent, I think we’re going to be forced to’
Peter Cheese, CIPD
‘So, I’m the HR guy’ is how Peter Cheese started his talk ‘Rebuilding trust from the inside out’. Peter made the point that companies are part of communities and society, and therefore important stakeholders to be considered. Moves to sustainability within offices (the increasing popularity of recycling initiatives and paperless working) and the adoption of workplace charities shows that a greater focus on the human side of big business is already happening. But it can’t merely be lip service. Like the RSC dropping BP as a sponsor, genuine steps must be taken for the wider community to see legitimate considerations for the future. Full accountability for bigger brands and high-profile people (Amazon was mentioned a lot during the conference, as well as a certain US president) might not be the reality yet, but it’s coming and is worth planning for now. Communities demand, and deserve, better from the corporations that serve and sell to them.

4. ‘Reputation management needs to be holistic and integrated. It’s vital and necessary to speak out on the big issues of the day’
Tony Langham (CEO, Lansons)
In ‘Reputation on the line’, Tony Langham highlighted a growing area of the PR and comms industry being within organisations. Employee engagement is where PR is heading, and employees need to be able to trust their companies and those higher-up on the food chain. And this is possible even when it’s not necessarily deserved; according to Tony: ‘People will forgive anyone if they like them’. So, be trustworthy to your employees, if you have them. Or if you can’t quite do that, be likeable.

5. ‘If you don’t take a stand on technology ethics, you’re still taking a stand. There is no neutrality in this space’
Dr Stephanie Hare, researcher and broadcaster
During one of the most passionate talks of the day, Dr Stephanie Hare (in Ethics of Our New Technologies) urged those in the audience to take forward a greater understanding of how to use their influence and skillset. Particularly when it comes to GDPR. For her, ‘the way that we are treating data isn’t working’ and the technology we use isn’t without discrimination or potential harm. Having penned an op-ed on the subject for The Observer the weekend prior, and citing the recent controversy with Apple Pay’s gender discrimination during her talk, Dr Stephanie made the case that ‘building better tech is about building a better world – you’ll have a better PR story if you get on the right side of history’.

6. ‘The same way that companies can track us, we can track them and what they’re doing – corporate digital responsibility needs to be applied in-house’
Dr Lawrence Ampofo, Digital Mindfulness
Also advocating for greater responsibility in the tech space, Dr Lawrence Ampofo argued for greater human interaction in the development of technologies and services, as well as with customers. Technology, services and products need to have the ‘friction’ of humanity alongside the benefits of AI (also a big topic during the conference, unsurprisingly). What humans can bring that AI can’t (yet) is responsibility to employees and clients – that’s only going to get more important, going by how many times it was talked about by the speakers and in audience questions.

7. ‘Get your boss involved in decisions to be part-owner of solutions. Ask ‘what do you think?’ Take them on the journey’
Joanna Blackburn, Government Digital Service
Moving away from pure profit considerations and towards a more mindful approach for the wider community we serve and the colleagues we work with has to come with CEO approval. What do you do when you don’t make all the big decisions at your company, and have a particularly resistant person in charge? Bring them on the journey with you, said Joanna Blackburn when talking through her successes with bringing about change at the Government Digital Service. And for those holding the power in organisations, her warning was that job titles don’t guarantee respect anymore and that workplaces are filled with intelligent people quick with questions for those in charge.

To be ready for the future of PR – wherever you are in your company hierarchy, or whatever your budget – the lessons from this year’s CIPR National Conference speakers was to be open, ethical and considerate. But also, to help get that started, bring more cake into the workplace. Also, dogs.

Video content

5 steps to stronger video content marketing

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This is a guest post by Chris Shields, CCO and Co-founder, Binumi Pro.

From Fake News to Fyre Festival, a growing culture of scepticism has meant PR professionals are under pressure to change the way they create and distribute content. With online video expected to make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022, it is the most effective medium to reach audiences – yet over a quarter of PR and in-house agencies are struggling to make it work.

A recent study from The Pulse Business and PRCA, in partnership with video platform Binumi Pro, showed that 26% of PR agency bosses and in-house comms leaders are aware of the value of video, but have yet to find a way to make it work to their advantage.

Common pain points like high agency fees and a lack of understanding mean that, although 65% of agencies regularly include video in their marcomms activity, they are often disappointed with the results.

With that in mind, we have identified five key elements that will ensure your video content is strong enough to succeed.

1. Be authentic
Consumer trust is at an all time low. Research from Ipsos Connect showed that almost 70% of consumers distrust advertising, while 42% are sceptical of brands. The key to authenticity is letting your story be told by others. And who are the truest ambassadors of your brand? Your employees.

More often than not, these are the people that understand the connection between your message and your audience, and embody your values and ideals in a way that is relatable. Empowering your employees to define a narrative that is open and honest gives consumers a reason to believe in what you have to say.

2. Speak the language
Talk to your audience in a way they understand — and we don’t mean by scraping Urban Dictionary for slang. Identify their concerns, wants and needs, and the topics that spark conversation. When you speak to your audience on an emotional personal level, your message will resonate.

3. Snackable content
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text. As 45% of consumers stop watching after 45 seconds, keeping video short and sweet is a must.

‘Bitesize’ content between 15-35 seconds is easily digestible, making for a higher view rate, and a more engaged audience. To ensure your video can land its message with or without sound, include responsive subtitles and hard coded text.

4. Stand out creatively
Differentiate yourself from the sea of sameness. With video, visuals are everything; the first three seconds of any video are the most important to capture the attention of your audience.

By employing eye catching visuals, dynamic text and effects, you create a ‘thumbstopper’ moment that elicits active engagement. Don’t underestimate the importance of a great thumbnail image either — autoplay isn’t a given.

5. Be nimble
The 24-hour news cycle means that timing is more important than ever, but the costs associated with using video production companies are still prohibitive for many, and the timeliness means they often miss out on what they set out to achieve.

Be smart about your approach to video content production and streamline your process for faster turnaround. Utilise user and employee generated content, create branded templates and frames, and develop a repository of clips to dip into as and when needed to captialise on trending stories and moments.

If you invest in the process, not just the product, you will find that video can become a high-performing element of any successful content marketing strategy.

 

Binumi Pro offers businesses a scalable way to take control of their video communications – at a fraction of the cost of traditional video production. Their unique offering enables your employees to shoot high-quality video content from a smartphone, edited to professional standard by their in-house team. The cloud-based platform offer comprehensive levels of client administration, and integrations for centralised corporate control to ensure Brand compliance.

Local News journalism

What, how and when to pitch journalists by industry

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A guest post written by Laura Crimmons, Founder of the Silverthorn Agency

BuzzStream, one of a range of PR tools, has conducted research analysing over 200,000 articles to uncover trends in when, how and what journalists are writing about to help PRs in securing coverage.

Five verticals were chosen for the study (Tech, Travel, Health, Entertainment and Personal Finance) with 20 publishers then analysed within each vertical taking the most recent 1,000 articles from each as well as the most shared 1,000 articles.

The research is broken down by each vertical with articles analysed to answer questions such as:

• What topics, companies and people are journalists writing about most frequently?
• What assets and formats, e.g. video, research, experts or photography, are covered most frequently within each vertical?
• Which publishers are most frequently linked to and most frequently link out?
• How many articles are journalists having to write each day and how does this vary by vertical and/or publication?
• Is there a ‘best day to pitch’ for each publication and/or vertical?

Alongside the quantitative analysis, the report also features supporting commentary from various journalists and PRs to add perspectives to the data.

BuzzStream chief growth officer Stephen Panico said of the motivations for commissioning the study: ‘We’ve known for a long time that the best performing teams get outstanding results by tailoring their pitches and content to the journalists they want coverage from. However, it’s always been frustrating for people who hear this advice because it’s always seemed to be more of an art than a science, something that a team either has or they don’t. We wanted to go beyond anecdotal evidence and platitudes and figure out exactly what the data actually says about what works and what doesn’t – based on what’s actually getting published. Admittedly, you can’t remove all of the personal skill from outreach, but this study will give much more clarity on what journalists in a given publication or vertical actually want.’

In addition to the detailed vertical analysis, the research also looked at any interesting comparisons across the verticals including which tend to attract the most social shares. As the table below shows, Entertainment articles generate 13X more shares on average than Personal Finance:

Cross vertical social shares overal

The study also shows the publishers within each vertical that have the most shared and engaged with articles:

Median social shares across vertical

The whitepaper is available to download for free here from BuzzStream.

Pitch to the right journalists at the right time with the Vuelio Media Database and get their requests directly with the Journalist Enquiry Service.

jonathan gutteridge

Personal Finance Blogger Spotlight: Jonathan Gutteridge, The Money Shed

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Want to save money? You don’t have to ‘just be super thrifty’ or compromise the life you’re living, according to Jonathan Gutteridge. Through The Money Shed, valuable ideas for making money from home and paying off debts can be found on the blog, the forum, the newsletter and shared across social.

We talk guilty pleasure purchases with Jonathan and how to cut down on what you don’t need to be able to afford what you do (do fancy holidays count as a ‘need’?).

How did you get started with blogging about personal finance?
I sort of fell into it. My background was in earning money from home and I had spent years doing the likes of focus groups, mystery shopping and flipping on eBay. Anything and everything really! From that I then created The Money Shed to give others the chance to talk about their experiences with earning money on the side and it all sort of grew from there.

What’s your favourite thing to post about on your blog?
Money-making content. Without a doubt. So many people have changed their families’ lives by using the advice on the site to find new ways to make money from home that they didn’t even think was possible. People have had holidays, new cars, paid off debts – all sorts! All of which has been done without them having to compromise the lives they are living financially like they would if they went down the ‘just be super thrifty’ route.

How do you deal with people getting in touch with you directly for advice on their money issues?
Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming as I am very much a one-man band. The Money Shed is more than just a blog. It’s a forum with thousands of UK users and over 155,000 posts! It’s a newsletter that goes out to thousands of people and a blog with regular new content appearing each week. Not to mention all the social media promotion as well, so a lot of people will contact me from all angles wanting help or advice! If the question is about earning money from home then I’m easily able to help. If it’s about something a bit more serious like investments then I tend to point them towards other money bloggers who cover that topic.

What would you say is the most common area where people overspend/can cut down on their spending?
The first thing that seems to go is where they shop. You will see people drop Tesco or Asda and instead shop at Aldi. Which people don’t tend to talk about is that this can create a bit of a false economy as your local Aldi store doesn’t have the range of products that your major supermarkets do so you, in fact, end up doing two separate shops a week to get everything covered.

As someone who advises people on being savvier with their money, is there a guilty pleasure you struggle not to spend too much on yourself?
Holidays. When you are self-employed, giving yourself time off is ten times harder than if you were in regular employment because of the guilt associated with taking time off. Because of this, when I do go away I like to stay in nice places or fly in upper class so that it is a million miles away from my day-to-day life.

Top deal you’ve found recently?
I’ve recently got an Apple TV 4K box and so have been buying a LOT of 4K films and it’s amazing just how cheap the digital versions are compared to the physical ones. I’ve been buying a lot via TopCashBack on the iTunes stores! Not all deals are as good as they appear online, though. I was recently led down the garden path via a VERY popular HotUKDeals posting about £50 Dysons from Sainsbury’s which never materialised!

Do you have any advice for families who may struggle during the upcoming festive season?
Earn as much as you can online! Christmas is just the hardest time to save money with everything going on. I would say instead of trying to cut corners, look at ways you can increase your income in ways you may not even have known about!

How do you work with PRs and brands?
Week in, week out. You have to in this game; bloggers have bills to pay just like everyone else! I think what a lot of brands enjoy about The Money Shed is the fact that it is FAR more than just a blog and with the HUGE forum attached to the site they are able to tap into that community as well when they work with us!

What other blogs do you read (whether finance-related or not)?
I have friends whose blogs I enjoy reading. Sometimes for content, more often for the tone as some of the ‘money blogger’ stuff can be so super-dooper serious all the time it ends up quite dry. But the likes of Katykicker.com and Lottyearns.co.uk know how to write good content that is engaging, funny and relatable!

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janes patisserie

Baking Blogger Spotlight: Jane Dunn, Jane’s Patisserie

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Jane Dunn started Jane’s Patisserie after discovering a love for creating sweet treats at cookery school back in 2014. Now blogging new recipes every week, Jane likes to provide ideas for skilled bakers as well as beginners, especially if they’re millionaire’s shortbread-themed.

Bakery blogging is a passion for Jane, but there’s also lots of hard work that goes into making it a success – PRs please note: bloggers like to be paid for their work, and not in baked goods…

How did you get started with baking and blogging about it?
In 2014 I decided to go to cookery school instead of university as I wanted to learn all things about food. I loved all areas of what I learned, but I excelled so much more in the patisserie section so decided to start a blog on all things sweet!

What’s your favourite type of post or regular content?
I post one or two new recipes on my blog every week and they’re always something I love. My most popular bakes are cheesecakes, and anything millionaire’s shortbread-themed!

Are there particular bakes you don’t like attempting/writing about, and why?
I tend to try and focus on bakes that anyone can do of any skill level – they’re bakes that kids can get involved with, or someone who is skilled but fancies something delicious! It means I struggle to write about anything that is more serious patisserie work, that would be in a high-end bakery for example! I find videos are easier for those as you can show what to do!

Savoury or sweet?
I work with sweet, but I secretly MUCH prefer savoury. I love a bit of savoury pastry.

We have to ask about the Great British Bake Off – did you watch it? Who did you think was going to win?
YES, I watch Bake Off! I have since the beginning, and utterly love it! I thought Steph would win as she got star baker four times, but any of the finalists were worthy winners!

Have you noticed baking becoming a more popular/mainstream hobby as the popularity of the show has grown?
I would definitely say it’s grown as a hobby! So many people say they watch the show when they bake my recipes, and whenever I post about GBBO on social media it always gets a response! The rise of baking equipment in shops shows it, too!

With television shows, YouTube tutorials, and recipe books being a great source of learning for new bakers, what are the plus points for baking blogs as a medium?
I believe blogs are great, because there’s a more personal side to it. Some people just want to have the recipe and get on with it which is where books are so good, but a large percentage of my readers love to read about the recipe, before they bake it, from my perspective!

Do you have a particular recipe book (or books) that you frequently rely on?
I love any of Mary Berry’s books, or Nigella’s. They’re classics that you can always rely on!

How do you work with PRs and brands – are review products and new launches useful?
I work with PRs in all different sorts of ways – I love using brand’s products in my bakes that I truly love and believe in! I don’t often do product reviews anymore, but it’s something I will still happily do!

For PRs looking to work with you, do you have any advice for how they should approach you?
I think PRs need to respect that no matter how big or small a blog is, the person you are contacting needs to be paid for their time. It’s a shame that some don’t understand how much time and work goes into a post, but others can really get it and are a dream to work with! It’s always best for the PR to look into what you do on your blog first, to know if it’s the right area for you!

What other blogs do you read (whether in your sector or outside of it)?
I love to read blogs, but there are so, so many! Lifestyle, food or home decor!

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CIPR AiinPR

AIinPR: The PR industry is not ready for AI

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Public relations needs to get ready for artificial intelligence or risk being left behind according to #AIinPR, the CIPR’s panel on the impact AI will have on the profession.

Its 12-month global research project looked at close to 200 global publications on AI in the industry to date and found that PR is behind in understanding and usage.

‘Public relations is significantly behind the curve,’ said AIinPR panel member and PR academic Anne Gregory. ‘Other professions have already done major work on the shape of their future workforce, reviewing education and training, looking at their future role in organisations and society and at the ethics of AI. We need to get cracking, and get on with some serious work in all these areas.’

To help with this gap between PR and professions already upskilling in AI, machine learning and data, the AIinPR panel is putting together an AI Literature Repository where Government Reports, think tank findings, books and academic literature will be available for those looking to learn.

That this is an area the PR industry needs to catch up with quickly was clear throughout yesterday’s CIPR National Conference: Preparing for the Digital Future. Speakers including Tony Langham, Dr Stephanie Hare and Dr Lawrence Ampofo spoke passionately about the need for those in PR to understand our responsibilities with how the data we use is gathered and the emerging technologies at our disposal. For Government Digital Service’s Joanna Blackburn in her talk ‘Helping government meet the accelerated pace of users’ digital expectations’, the rate of change even within office environments is too slow, with technology advances far outpacing the rate of adoption.

AIinPR panel Chair Kerry Sheehan (taking over from Stephen Waddington’s work with CIPR on AI over the last two years) said the research on the understanding of AI in PR has made for stark reading. She said: ‘If, as a profession, we do not educate ourselves on AI and machine learning we really will risk getting left behind.

‘As the ones who provide a strategic management function driving business, profiles, profits and purpose; and, more importantly, the ones who should be best placing and promoting AI to aid the public’s adoption of good AI to realise its benefits, we have a vital role to play – we need to take this seriously. We are determined to encourage our profession, across the globe, to really own the AI agenda.’

Communicators interested in AI are encouraged to contribute to the AlinPR panel by adding academic materials to the Google document. The final repository of information, as well as the AIinPR 2020 plan, will launch on 16 January at The Turing Institute. If you’re ready to get ahead of the curve now, more information AIinPR can be found at cipr.co.uk/ai.

Becky Excell Featured Image

Baking Blogger Spotlight: Becky Excell

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Becky Excell (Yes, like the spreadsheet but with an extra L) is a London-based blogger focusing on gluten-free food and travel. After being diagnosed with gluten-related health issues in 2013, Becky thought she’d never be able to enjoy good food again – fast-forward to now, and Becky’s blog is filled with free-from recipes for the meals she loves.

Reuniting readers with food they’ve missed is just part of what Becky enjoys about blogging – read on for some of her favourite bites and the benefits of baking with a blog instead of a cookery book.

How did you get started with baking and blogging about it?
I know this should probably be a little more positive-sounding, but it all started out of a place of pure frustration! When I was first told I had to go gluten-free, I basically had to kiss goodbye (not literally, I wasn’t even allowed to do that!) to all the food I loved.

It was a really tough time where I actually became completely fed up with food because I could never eat it 95% of the time. So instead of being constantly frustrated with food, I decided to get my apron on and recreate all the things I missed. And not surprisingly, most of those things were cakes!

And though it came as a surprise to me at the time (when it probably shouldn’t have) it turned out that tonnes of people missed eating all the same things I did too. So I started sharing the same recipes on my blog and social media and here we are six years later!

What’s your favourite type of post or regular content?
My favourite types of posts are recipes which are incredibly easy, without a mountain of hard-to-obtain ingredients and simple instructions.

That’s what I’ve been aiming for these days in all my recipes, though it’s not always possible! I really want all my posts to be accessible to complete beginners right up to expert bakers and cooks.

My gluten free chocolate orange cake is a great example of that, I think – there’s about ten ingredients and just ten steps to making it. I don’t want to put people off trying one of my recipes before they’ve even attempted it!

Are there particular bakes you don’t like attempting/writing about, and why?
To me, when I think of baking, I always think of cakes. But when I think about it, bread is a massive part of baking too.
But if you search on my blog… you will find zero recipes for bread! And it’s certainly not because I don’t like bread – it’s because gluten-free bread is such a tricky thing to master.

Gluten is such an integral part of bread and I’ve found it so hard to get the same results in gluten-free bread. Like I said, I love to recreate recipes for things I miss eating, but the bread I’ve created in the past just doesn’t taste like the fluffy, cotton-wool-like bread that I truly miss.

It’s not surprising that some of the best gluten-free bread brands out there are run by people with science-y backgrounds. It really is a science, but I hope to master it one day!

Savoury or sweet?
It’s gotta be sweet! Even though I eat savoury food 90% of the time, there’s something special about that little sweet treat that I always look forward to!

Naturally, we have to ask about the Great British Bake Off – did you watch it? Who did you think was going to win this season?
Yes! I’ve been a religious viewer for years as most people have been, but they sometimes lose my attention to Instagram during some of the odd bakes I’ve never heard of!

I wanted Henry to win purely because he used to call everyone ‘darling’ and his ties, of course!

Have you noticed baking becoming a more popular/mainstream hobby as the popularity of the show has grown?
Oh, definitely – I was at The Cake & Bake Show recently and it was absolutely heaving! I think that’s when I realised just how much your average person truly adores baking.

With television shows, YouTube tutorials and recipe books being a great source of learning for new bakers, what are the plus points for baking blogs as a medium?
I might be biased, but blogs are the best way to consume a recipe in my mind – preferably a combo of YouTube and blogs, ideally.

I always used to get frustrated with old recipe books where a recipe would have zero photos – how on Earth am I supposed to know what I’m making?! Best case scenario, you’d get one photo and a single page of the book (or less) dedicated to each recipe.

But on a blog, you can dedicate an incredibly comprehensive post to a single recipe, filled with ten photos and an instructional recipe video to boot. It goes without saying that all of that makes such a massive difference when you’re making something you’ve never attempted before!

Are there any recipe books you frequently rely on, though?
Saying all that, I do rely on an extremely old recipe book with very few photos for some very simple recipes!!
It’s not gluten-free, but it’s the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book from 1978 which my mum always had in the kitchen. It’s basically a bible of great British cooking and baking which never ages!

How do you work with PRs and brands – are review products and new launches useful?
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing brands in 2019, like AEG, Tefal, Old El Paso and Olivia Burton most recently. These have involved so many different things, from Instagram posts to recipe videos and recipe creation.

I’m happy to accept review products, though I can’t guarantee that I’ll post about everything I receive!

For PRs looking to work with you, do you have any advice for how they should approach you?
Just drop me an email and say hello! I’m always full of ideas, but I’m also happy to be a part of any campaign that allows me to be creative and post something my audience would love.

I always appreciate flexibility in terms of the recipe/end product, which I’ll create and post on my blog/feed for a sponsored campaign. I like to think that I know what my audience likes and craves most and I always aim to keep that as a priority in every single post that I do.

What other blogs do you read (whether in your sector or outside of it)?
I love reading Debs’ blog Bang On Style where she documents the trials and tribulations of online dating. She’s really real, open and honest in everything that she writes and I’d recommend it to anyone!

I love reading blogs from people that are just being really honest about their lives. I’m always looking for more to check out, so if you know of any… let me know!

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ICCO logo

ICCO World PR Report reveals optimism in the public relations market

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PR agency bosses are optimistic about the growth of public relations in 2020 and beyond, according to findings from the International Communications Consultancy Organisation’s World PR Report published in partnership with Opinium.

The overview of the worldwide PR landscape uncovered profitability alongside optimism – on a 10-point scale, overall optimism about the growth of the public relations market hit 7 among surveyed PR leaders (as high as 7.7 in North America). Expectations for profit in 2020 scored 6.7 across all regions surveyed, with confidence in increased profits particularly high in Latin America (7.3) and Eastern Europe (7).

Drilling down further to see where market growth is being triggered and where potential challenges may be, the World PR Report also found that:

  • Increases in investment from Asia Pacific consultancies is expected for the influencer marketing space
  • Creativity skills will be most important for Western European leaders in PR
  • The most popular B2B social media platform for Middle East and Africa is LinkedIn (followed by Twitter and Facebook)
  • Retaining talent is a big industry challenge for agency heads, who cite high salaries as a difficulty for recruiting outside of the industry

ICCO chief executive Francis Ingham said: ‘The global PR industry faces the future in fine shape. However, we must not take our position of strength for granted. At every level of the industry and in every region of the world, we have a talent problem. We simply do not attract and retain enough of it.

‘That is because we do not pay enough. And we do not pay enough because we charge too little. At the heart of this is our failure to adequately measure the effect of our work. The global fall in AVE usage is a welcome sign of our progress on this issue. Along with AMEC, ICCO will continue to champion professional standards on measurement so that our industry can continue its growth with renewed confidence in its value to business and society’.

Will the future be filled with virtual influencers?

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When locking in an influencer for your next project, someone with 1.7m followers on Instagram who’s guaranteed not to embarrass or drop your brand could be hard to find – if you’re looking among humanity, that is. The world of virtual influence is where you should be looking, according to the Virtual Influencer Agency’s Dudley Nevill-Spencer who held a session on the opportunities in the sector at this year’s Influencer Marketing Show.

In the virtual space, you can find Lil Miquela (she of the 1.7m followers) or Cade Harper (93K followers). They won’t push back on the artistic direction you’re going for in the campaign you’ve teamed up on, or openly criticise your brand if a collaboration goes wrong.

Virtual influencers could be a good choice for some brands, and they’re also unavoidable. Even if you’re not posting on their timelines on social media yet, you will have communicated with a virtual avatar or NLP (Natural Language Processing) while online shopping or looking for help online. Vuelio’s own virtual Licia is very helpful, for example (but she does have a real-life Licia counterpart).

Virtual help Licia

And there’s a science behind why they work so well, aside from never needing sleep, sustenance or HR intervention – our brains are hardwired to trust things with faces. Or, as the Wikipedia entry for the phenomenon of Pareidolia, puts it ‘cognitive processes are activated by the ‘face-like’ object, which alert the observer to the emotional state of the subject even before the conscious mind begins to process the information’. We have no choice to feel a bond, even for those of us who would never comment on a Cade Harper post to tell him that yes, friendship is so important.

Even when we know for certain that what we’re communicating with isn’t human, but a programme designed to elicit a set reaction, we trust them. And in some cases, more than our fellow humans. Research undertaken by DARPA, and mentioned during Nevill-Spencer’s talk, involving virtual therapists for soldiers showed that the robo-counsellors did better than their human colleagues during sessions, because patients felt no judgement while sharing with them and seeking advice.

Lil Miquela, as an influencer, will reply to her followers’ comments without any sense of judgement. Her recommendations and collaborations can elicit a similar reaction as a human influencer from her followers with no worry. What she, and her fellow virtual celebrities, can’t avoid, however, are the bad choices of those who plan out and license her career – Miquela’s controversial advert for Calvin Klein with Bella Hadid being a prime example. Not all collaborations will be good ideas for them and their creator/owners, or the brands they’re collaborating with.

Other uses of the technology are seen as worse than adverts with supermodels – deepfake technology use in elections could be particularly sinister. And if the uncanny valley smooth skin and designed-by-community personalities of the most popular virtual personalities muffle your automatic trust response at the moment (or trigger thoughts of Skynet, Black Mirror and Ultron), consider the possibilities these types of influencers have and are already demonstrating today. Nevill-Spencer believes that NLP tools can increase influencer/brand engagements from 2% (around where they sit currently) to over 15% in the future.

Paired with personality traits that inspire loyalty, virtual influencers look set to become part of the influence landscape. But they’re not real people, with real emotions, opinions or creativity – they can only respond within the limits of their creator’s coding so far. So while a future of virtual personalities to help and offer advice may be on the way, their real-life human versions are still worth building relationships with now and in the future.

Find the right (human) influencers for your campaign with the Vuelio Media Database.

Video

Over a quarter of PR agencies still haven’t found a way to make video work

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Despite its value as a marcomms tool, 26% of PR agency bosses admit that they are yet to find a way to make video work in their communications. This is according to research undertaken by The Pulse Business and PRCA in partnership with video editing platform Binumi Pro.

Outside of the 64% of agencies that do use video regularly for comms, the reasons for those that don’t vary. For Chelgate CEO Liam Herbert, video can be a disappointing experience due to a ‘lack of understanding internally, poor briefing and application of the finished product’. In fact, a big cause of dissatisfaction in agencies was cost – with 38% that have recently used video production companies finding it more expensive than they would have wanted.

Cost is a factor global CEO and co-founder of M&C Saatchi Public Relations Molly Aldridge also considers: ‘I still think production houses are expensive. We have an in-house producer that creates them but we do outsource on occasion and those costs seem to rack up and quickly’. Yet it’s still a worthwhile investment for her work – ‘film is a super powerful way to convey creative platforms and ideas and we create a lot of videos to deliver client ideas and then as part of the media outreach to engage customers too’.

For those already utilising video, it’s a vital part of the comms tool box; ‘an important and persuasive part of our comms mix’ for managing director Elin de Zoete at PLMR; and ‘used frequently and will be used even more’ by Milk and Honey founder Kirsty Leighton’s agency.

‘PR and communications leaders on every side of the industry recognise that video is a hugely important element of their comms arsenal,’ Bimuni Pro CCO and co-founder Christopher Bo Shields commented. ‘The costs associated with using video production companies are still prohibitive for many, and the lack of speed means that videos often miss out on what they set out to achieve. Professional-standard video needs to be democratised out of the hands of video production companies and into the hands of the people that are actually using it.’

A breakfast roundtable discussion of this research into how video is being used in marcomms will be held by Binumi Pro and the PRCA in January 2020.

Vuelio Canvas

How to make stunning coverage reports with Canvas

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You’ve planned and executed a successful campaign and need to report on the results to showcase the incredible coverage your team achieved.

You could spend hours pulling the coverage together in a PowerPoint or PDF. Or you could make a stunning visual presentation, that’s both interactive and easily shareable, in just minutes.

With Vuelio Canvas, full coverage reports are made by simply pasting in URLs of online coverage, uploading hard copies of coverage or resources, or using highlights to emphasise key metrics and quotes.

See an example we created following our recent acquisition of Pulsar – which took just seven minutes to make.

How do you make a Canvas?
Bookmark links to your coverage as these appear in your monitoring alerts, which will save you time when it comes to building your Canvas.

To add a tile:

  1. 1. Click ‘Add new tile’
  2. 2. Select ‘External Source’
  3. 3. Name your tile
  4. 4. Paste the URL into the ‘source’ box
  5. 5. Hit Save…
  6. 6. …and Voila! You’ve made your first tile in less than 30 seconds (proof is in the video below!)
  7. 7. Repeat the process with all the rest of your awesome coverage and then share with your team, the board and your clients with a single link.

Ready to make your own Canvas? Find out how, here.

Eleanor Segall Feature 2019

Mental Health Blogger Spotlight: Eleanor Segall, Be Ur Own Light

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Eleanor Segall started Be Ur Own Light in March 2016 to raise awareness and combat the stigma of anxiety and bipolar disorders. Now also regularly featuring pieces from guest bloggers with the same aims, Eleanor’s blog continues to provide a space for advice and support and has even led to the publication of her book Bring me to Light.

In our spotlight with Eleanor, we talk about how awareness of mental health issues is steadily growing and where work still needs to be done.

How do you describe what you do to other people?
I tell people that I have been running a mental health blog for the past three, almost four, years about my journey with bipolar disorder to break the stigma. I also have guest bloggers who write on any mental health-related topic, to provide as much information as possible on mental illness but also things like life trauma and stress. The blogs often give tips to help people. My blog helped me get into freelance journalism and write my book Bring me to Light (out this month with Trigger Publishing), so I am very grateful to it!

How much of a community is there around mental health bloggers?
I mainly mix in the Twitter mental health community, of which many people are bloggers, and we all talk a lot over there. On WordPress, I do have regular blog followers and they leave comments and we interact. The community is small but growing.

What’s the best thing about being a professional blogger (if you consider yourself to be one)?
I blog part-time but have been doing it for a number of years now – I consider myself a writer, in general.

The best thing is guest bloggers sending pitches or being invited to interesting mental health events. I also like that my blog can help other people struggling with their own mental illness.

What does the future of blogging look like?
I think there will always be a space for blogging – even as vlogging on Youtube and Instagram are taking off. It is hard to predict the future – but we could have more platforms rivalling WordPress.

It seems like mental health is attracting more attention in society recently, why do you think that is?
I believe there has been a sustained campaign by individuals, writers, campaigners, vloggers, bloggers, etc. to actively talk about it. The Royal family and celebrities talking about it has also really helped. We need to keep talking about it as well as putting more funding into services.

Are businesses/employers doing enough to support the mental health of their staff?
In a word – no. The law still doesn’t protect people with long-term mental illness, particularly during probation, and there is still a big stigma about sickness leave which has to change.

What’s the best mental health initiative you’ve seen?
There are so many. Jonny Benjamin MBE’s Find Mike campaign to find the man who saved him from suicide was pivotal and inspirational. The work of charities too such as Rethink Mental Illness, Time To Change and Mind is so important, including World Mental Health Day. Lastly, Hope Virgo’s Dump The Scales campaign for anorexia is so important and inspiring.

How do you work with PRs and brands?
I work with brands I believe in that match the outlook of the blog – Happiful Magazine, for example. PRs often send me press releases and sometimes I will review mental health books or self-care boxes. If you want to work with me, please email [email protected].

What advice do you have for PRs looking to get in touch?
I am a mental health blogger, so please send me something relevant to this that I can include on the blog. I am also a 31-year-old woman, so anything around beauty or wellness is also good.

What other blogs do you read?
I love Anneli Roberts’ blog www.pigletish.com, Fiona Thomas at fionalikestoblog.com and Cara’s Corner by Cara Lisette. There are too many to list, but if it’s about mental health, I tend to read it! I recently found a great blog on bipolar on Twitter the other day and need to find it again!

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Online Influence Awards 2019

Lights, camera, action! The Online Influence Awards 2019

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There’s just two weeks to go until the Online Influence Awards 2019. Celebrating the hottest talent from the world of influencer marketing, the Online Influence Awards will have top guests, critically-acclaimed host Jen Brister, fine food and entertainment into the very early hours.

The most influential night of the year is at The Bloomsbury Ballroom on Friday 22 November. We’re currently finalising a number of surprises for our guests, which this year will include the all-important photo booth from London-based Showtime Photo Booth. This special GIF photo booth is perfect for influencers as it will allow our superstar guests to create their very own GIFs live, which can then be easily shared across social media.

Unlike the traditional photo booth there’s no limit to the number of photos, or in this case, GIFs, you can create plus as soon as it’s made, you can get it sent directly to you through Twitter. Good news for our groups of guests, unlike traditional booths, this is not contained in a small room, so you can grab your whole table and all your friends, and make a GIF memory of the evening (dad bloggers, that means you).

Congratulations again to all our finalists, the Online Influence Awards is a night where we celebrate the best in blogging, vlogging, podcasting and Instagramming alongside agencies and brands who have collaborated with influencers to set the agenda and lead the conversation.

It’s not possible without the continued support from both influencers and brands, and the excellence they display in their work. We’re proud to work with and recognise the finest names in the industry.

The final available tickets are available for the awards here. If you’re not able to attend you can still keep up with all the excitement of the evening on social media by following our hashtag #OIAwards19.

Alfie's Diary

Pet Blogger Spotlight: Rosemary Kind, Alfie’s Diary

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‘Dogs and cats are not like cans of beans. You don’t just take them off the shelf in the supermarket,’ says Rosemary Kind of her love of animals and blogging about them. Alfie’s Diary – written from the point of view of her canine collaborator Alfie – chronicles the adventures of her pets as well as their care. For Rosemary, the pet blogging community are a pretty good bunch, only slightly bonkers, here to help with getting the word out on how to care properly for the animal pals in your life.

We talk famous alpacas and keeping things authentic – also important: there are pictures of puppers being good boys on location with Rosemary (very important).

How did you get started with blogging about pets?
It all began as a way to discipline myself to write every day.

I’d left a ‘real’ job to become a full-time writer and was suddenly adrift from all the corporate structure, goals, to do lists, etc. It would have been all too easy to say I was a writer while achieving very little indeed. If I started a blog then not only would I write every day, but as we’d recently moved to live in Belgium for a short period, I could use it to keep the family posted on what we were up to.

The arrival of Alfie, as a ten-week-old puppy, into our lives gave me a fun way to approach things. Watching him looking at the world and reacting to all the new things around him just led to the obvious (to me) conclusion that I should be writing about the world through the eyes of my dog.

What’s your favourite thing to post about?
Definitely travelling. Wilma, my youngest dog, is my sidekick these days and travels almost everywhere with me. We also get to go to some pretty cool places, so get some good photo opportunities.

Alfie's Diary travel

 

What are the best things about the pet blogging community that other blogging sectors might not have?
From the bloggers I’ve talked to, we all care passionately about our animals. We’re probably all slightly bonkers too, but in a good way. It’s easy to like people who put the needs of their pets first; in my book, they are generally a pretty good bunch.

What are your thoughts on pets/animals becoming celebrities through blogging and featuring on social media?
I’ve stopped being surprised by who becomes famous and why. If it’s possible for humans to become famous just for being famous, then any cat or dog with that inclination should just go for it. One of my absolutely favourite Instagram accounts is Alfie the Alpaca in Adelaide – he seems none the worse for it and has a pretty good life compared to the average alpaca. It’s great to see owners combining their pet’s celebrity with including excellent advice on the animals. When it’s clear that the animal’s needs come first, that’s a good thing.

Is there something you would never feature/write about on your blog?
We won’t feature products we haven’t actually tested. If we recommend something to our readers it has to be because we’ve tried it and think it’s worth telling them about. It also has to be relevant to our blog.

Do you think it’s necessary to have pets of your own in order to blog about pets/animals?
I’ve written a crime novel with a number of murders, but I’ve not actually killed anyone. No, I don’t think having a pet would be necessary. I think you have to understand what you are writing about and if it’s issue-related you need to care about the issue, otherwise you come over as inauthentic. I suspect if you approached this from a ‘professional’ point of view, without an interest, then that would come over to the reader. Dogs and cats are not like cans of beans. You don’t just take them off the shelf in the supermarket. They are sentient beings and I think being on their wavelength makes a big difference in writing about them. I’m odd in a way as I write from their point of view. I can’t do that and be distant from how they think. It wouldn’t make a convincing read.

Very important question here – which are really better, cats or dogs?
Not better, just different. Cats suit some people’s lifestyles better and years ago I did have cats. Now, I’d go crazy if I didn’t have a dog. We have readers who have cats and I wouldn’t want to upset them. Having said that, we have a dog who thinks she’s a cat. I have never seen such a condescending look in a dog’s eyes as Shadow can give if she’s not happy about something. She makes me laugh.

Alfie's Diary At The Polling Station

How do you work with PRs and brands – are review products and new launches useful?
Review products which are relevant are always welcome. I won’t change the food my dogs are on for the sake of a review, but I can gauge their reaction to it using it as a treat. Other things we happily test, as long as we can see it. I won’t take on a review that is obvious won’t add any value for readers.

We don’t just carry press releases which come in, unless there is a relevant angle. Too many press releases are adverts dressed up as news but without a newsworthy element.

We do like some of the infographics that come in, but again here question data and rule some out as being contrived. At the end of the day, we are interested in anything that will be of genuine interest to our readers.

For PRs looking to work with you and your blog, how would you prefer they approach you?
Always by email. Please bear in mind we can receive a lot of enquiries, so if we have not replied in five minutes that doesn’t mean it will be considered helpful to send us a follow up email. I have dogs to walk and other books to write as well.

What other blogs do you read?
I dip into blogs rather than reading them religiously. They are a great source of information on a whole range of subjects, not just pets but every area of life. There are very few answers that you can’t find on the internet these days.

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A Question of Ethics

Keeping the influencer industry responsible

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Despite growing pains and continuing flux, the influencer industry continues to expand into mainstream culture and creep its way further into marketing and PR budgets. According to a Markets and Markets report cited in the #FuturePRoof guide We’re All Influencers Now, the international influencer marketing sector is predicted to grow 30% by 2024 – that’s £4.5 billion to £18.4 billion.

Big money means big responsibility for an industry still catching up with the accountability that comes with success, and ethics and regulation is what many speakers at this year’s Influencer Marketing Show were advocating for.

Speakers across the breadth of agency, creator, brand and tech brought up the issue of how to keep the industry accountable and ethical. For influencer marketing guru Scott Guthrie, influencers themselves have a moral obligation, as well as a legal requirement, to do the right thing by their audience.

Some obviously poor choices from those making a living from social media were highlighted by Scott – the hijacking of California wildfire hashtags by some Instagram influencers being one particularly unfortunate example. That influencers should make more ethical choices was also urged by artist and activist Alice Skinner. Fully aware of the responsibility she has to the young girls who make up a large portion of her following, she works to stay true to them as well as her own values: ‘It’s hard, but I want to be able to live with myself. I’m learning not to work with brands that don’t align with what I make, that don’t align with my beliefs and ethics’.

Working with those brands that align with their values doesn’t just help influencers avoid a guilty conscience, it also helps with keeping that authentic voice necessary for holding on to an engaged following.

During the panel with Alice Skinner on re-defining influence, fellow creator Rob Eades mentioned the dwindling effectiveness of product review posts, an early mainstay of the industry that don’t work as well in a post-sponcon world. In Rob’s experience, ‘people see through that stuff now’. After missteps like the Kardashians using their influence to advertise weight-loss teas, followers are smarter and are less likely to engage with inauthentic brand alignment or unethical promotions (which the slimming tea controversy most definitely was).

But what of the brands and agencies that work with influencers? Industry professionals certainly don’t escape the blame. Being an ethical industry extends to finding influencers and high-profile voices that match with what’s being promoted – actress and vocal feminist Maisie Williams working with The Body Shop on its #ForeverAgainstAnimalTesting campaign being a good example of a natural fit. A bad example was Mystery Brand working with Jake Paul, whose young audience shouldn’t, ideally, be visiting gambling websites.

Agencies have a responsibility to choose the right influencers, and that includes making sure their choices and reach are diverse. Stephanie Yeboah (interviewed in Vuelio’s Women of Colour series), on noticing brands choosing to only work with white influencers, spoke up about it on Twitter and wrote a Metro piece that got a lot of attention in the industry. ‘Brands are actually trying’, said creator Adanna David during the panel with Alice and Rob, but they need to go beyond tokenism, ‘Sometimes I have been a token. But maybe it’s a sign that things are changing’.

Where individual sense and conscience checking won’t do it, future regulations on the influencer industry will. For Gary Csiszar, CEO and Founder of Post for Rent, speaking during a panel on creators and branded content at IMS, the future is going to bring restrictions: ‘Regulation will be more strict on influencer marketing – that’s what I’ve started to experience in different countries.’ It’s unavoidable, and bound to bring positive change, but self-regulation for individuals and companies working in the sphere is a good foundation. Asking: is this authentic? Is this ethical? Is this inclusive?

And not promoting gambling sites and slimming teas to children – that’s a given.

For more on ethics in influence and influencer marketing governance in public relations, sign up for our upcoming webinar ‘We’re all influencers now with Stephen Waddington, Sarah Waddington and Andrew Terry. The guide from FuturePRoof can be read here.

Psychreg

Mental Health Blogger Spotlight: Dennis Relojo-Howell, Psychreg

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Dennis Relojo-Howell – AKA The World’s First Blog Psychologist – covers mental health, psychology and wellbeing over on his blog Psychreg. Starting as a directory of people interested in psychology back in 2014 (Psychreg being a portmanteau of  ‘psychologists’ and ‘registry’), the blog now provides resources for those who need them, as well as mental health-related stories and articles.

Dennis shares his thoughts on the growing awareness around mental health issues as well as the advantages of being a part of the blogging community when you happen to be an introvert.

How do you describe what you do to other people?
I’m a freelancer, a content creator – which is a millennial job. I work from home running the mental health website Psychreg. I also organise mental health events. Another aspect of my work is that I get invited to deliver lectures on mental health in different countries.

How much of a community is there around mental health bloggers?
As mental health is being pushed into the spotlight, I would imagine the community to be as vibrant as that of other sectors (such as marketing and politics). For instance, there are now events and awards dedicated solely for those within the mental health field. There is also a wide audience for mental health.

What’s the best thing about being a professional blogger (if you consider yourself to be one!)?
I consider myself to be a professional blogger because this is my full-time job. Prior to taking this role, I worked for a PR agency in London, and before that as a university lecturer (I taught psychology and sociology). One of the best things about being a blogger is I get to attend some free events and I also occasionally receive gifts. I am also a bit of an introvert so I love working on my own, at my own pace and style. I’m also honoured to have been dubbed the world’s first blog psychologist by a number of publications.

What does the future of blogging look like?
Promising. More and more people are now looking for independently-produced content – be it podcasts, videos, or blogs. Also, there’s a thriving community of bloggers who keep on thinking of fresh content to offer to their audience, so the blogging landscape will definitely continue to be more dynamic.

It seems like mental health is attracting more attention in society recently, why do you think that is?
I feel that this is because our attitude as a society has evolved. Although more needs to be done, we have already made significant progress in that there are now more people who can comfortably talk about their mental health issues. It also helps that there are high-profile celebrities and personalities who champion mental health.

Are businesses/employers doing enough to support the mental health of their staff?
I would say so. There are now programmes in place in some companies which are aimed to support staff in relation to their mental health and well-being. This is of course still a luxury, because you cannot expect all companies up and down the county to have such a programme.

What’s the best mental health initiative you’ve seen?
I would say the Neurodiversity Celebration Week. It was launched by the teenager Siena Castelon, an award-winning autism advocate. Her passion and commitment in raising awareness about autism is remarkable.

How do you work with PRs and brands?
I harness the power of social media to look for potential brands to collaborate with. For PR agencies, I still don’t know how it started but I receive press releases from different agencies on a daily basis. I publish most of these press releases on my blog.

What advice do you have for PRs looking to get in touch?
Feel free to send an email to blog creators. They are always on the hunt for content, so it is a win-win situation for bloggers and for your clients. I welcome content relating to mental health and well-being from PR agencies. You can find my contact details on my website.

What other blogs do you read?
For mental health blogs – I don’t read my competitors’ blogs! Aside from mental health, I am also interested in politics and social issues, so I regularly read spiked, Unherd, and Quillette.

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Mike's Open Journal

Mental Health Blogger Spotlight: Mike Douglas, Mike’s Open Journal

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Mike’s Open Journal originally started as an outlet for blogger Mike Douglas to write about his own experiences with mental health. It now features an archive of content on lifestyle, health, fitness, dating, and relationships alongside the useful information on mental wellness.

Mike tells us more about how blogging has helped him with his own mental health journey, how it’s attracting more attention in society, and some examples for how workplaces can support the mental health of their staff.

How do you describe what you do to other people?
I started to write about my experiences with mental health illness because I was in a particularly bad place with my mental health and needed a healthy outlet. At that time, I could not see a way out of the darkness or how I could continue.

Writing/blogging (and subsequently, podcasting) provided me with an opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings – something I have always struggled with. Though, as a dyslexic male, that may not be a surprise. Fortunately, I am now in a much better place and am delighted to be able to share my experience with mental health (illness and wellness) through the blog and share conversations with guests via the podcast.

Blogging has grown so much in the last five years or so. There is such a huge range of blogs you can follow. Just last year I discovered pet bloggers through Vuelio, so there is definitely something for everyone.

It is a great way to share your experience/thoughts with other people without the limitation of geography or transport.

How much of a community is there around mental health bloggers?
My experience is that there is an ever-growing number of us and creating your own community is increasingly easy to do. For the most part, mental health bloggers are very supportive and are great at signposting to information and relevant material.

Like in any community, there are times when people disagree, there are cliques and closed groups. However, this is true of any ‘real life’ community and isn’t something exclusive to us or blogging in general. I have found the mental health blogging community to be particularly accepting in that we all have our own views and experiences and there is often a very positive non-judgmental environment.

Linked to community, I am so very proud to mention the Mental Health Blog Awards which I founded in 2017. We have held two events focused on providing recognition, sharing resources/supportive tools and growing our own networks. The third annual event will be held in July 2020.

What’s the best thing about being a professional blogger (if you consider yourself to be one!)?
I do not consider myself a ‘professional blogger’, I think because of how I started. Blogging was a coping strategy for me and has grown into being a tool to share, connect, educate (others and myself) and signpost.

Last year I tried to keep to a weekly schedule, this year I have reverted back to posting when I want or need to. That works much more for me. Part of being a blogger is working out what schedule you want to keep to and if that is realistic and worthwhile.

The best thing for me is hearing from people who have found acceptance, recognition, or the confidence to seek support after reading one of my posts. It is a privilege to be able to support other people by sharing my story.

What does the future of blogging look like?
I believe blogging will continue to grow. We have already seen the platforms used expand and evolve. Business websites regularly have a ‘see our blog’ section, there are Instagram posts with captions longer than some ‘traditional blog’ posts.

That’s all before we talk about the expanding topics, subjects and fandoms.

It seems like mental health is attracting more attention in society recently, why do you think that is?
National campaigns like #TimeToTalk, #GetBritainTalking, World Mental Health Day and World Suicide Prevention Day (there are many more) have raised the public profile of mental health. There is now much more awareness of mental health, illnesses, symptoms and how people can be affected. Slowly people are also becoming aware of the support available.

Campaigns like Heads Together have seemingly provided people with permission to talk about mental health, which is great. It is however important to remember there are still many people who are unaware of how mental ill-health can affect someone and how to support them. Or that mental health is not just about illness, it is also about wellness. So we still need to be prompting these discussions and campaigning for better education (and services).

Are businesses/employers doing enough to support the mental health of their staff?
It depends where you work. Great examples I have seen include:
• Having a Mental Health First Aider
• Having signposting material to a local service – local Mind, Samaritans, wellbeing group(s)
• Including MH as part of staff inductions and training
• Providing opportunities for staff to suggest/feedback on staff wellbeing
• Having a WAP (Wellness Action Plan)
• Making sure staff actually take their lunch break
• Encouraging all staff to listen, support, signpost – you do not need to be an expert

What’s the best mental health initiative you’ve seen?
I am slightly biased as I now work at a mental health charity and have been part of the team developing our Ambassadors project, so I think that’s pretty awesome (easthantsmind.org).

Some of the other initiatives I think are great include #DumpTheScales, #AskTwice, #ItAffectsMe and #StopSuicide.

Each of the initiatives has a focus and clear message. They have also worked hard to make their campaigns relevant to everyone.

How do you work with PRs and brands? What advice do you have for PRs looking to get in touch?
Working with brands is something that often affects mental health bloggers less as many just want to share their story/experience. For me, I enjoy bringing mental health/wellbeing to new settings/environments. Some of the brands I have collaborated with were very much with that wellbeing approach in mind. Some examples would be: Go Ape, The Body Shop, Boston Tea Party and local Pride events.

Not every opportunity is relevant to me or to my audience. So it is important to remember and keep in mind the purpose of your blog and what you and/or a brand are bringing to a post. For example, The Body Shop collaboration was a great way for me to talk about relaxation and self-care. I didn’t cover other aspects of their stock because that is not an area I have particular knowledge or interest in. It’s identifying what works for your/your blog/the brand.

I have a brief media kit available on the website where you can find out a bit more about me. You can also drop me an email at [email protected].

What other blogs do you read?
In the last month I’ve been reading posts from vickyflipfloptravels.com, irunoffroad.wordpress.com, and lifeoflily.co.uk.

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TwitterForBrands

Getting ready for launch – #TwitterForBrands

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Gone are the days of launching your business, redesign, or new products purely in paper or in a TV spot. Brands have to launch on Twitter to take off, according to the platform’s director of business marketing Carlos Cantu, speaking on #TwitterForBrands at #MarTechFest 2019.  

Cantu came with the statistics to back up the importance of Twitter – citing that three in four people say that their Twitter community are the first people they look to for advice when wanting to learn more about a topic. And the immediacy of the response this social media channel can give isn’t the only advantage. Audience research has also shown that a 31% increase in memory encoding occurs when content is discovered in Twitter versus other online platforms, making it particularly sticky. Launch leaders (brands who are particularly good at this kind of thing) know the importance of using the platform to make things stick – another stat shared during the session was that launch leaders are 2.4 times more likely to use social listening (like Pulsar, which recently joined the Access Intelligence Group) as a guide for their strategies.

So how can the rest of us tap into Twitter as a tool when working on a launch? Research, timing, relevance, and reinforcement is key, advised Cantu. Start with finding the right audience for your product and message, and make sure to connect with what’s already happening. Coming into a conversation halfway is as weird online as in life, so tap into what’s going on in the space you’re entering. Pick the right time (the window for a successful launch has shortened, along with our attention spans) and be ready to adjust your strategy and collateral with all the real-time data at your disposal. And for better brand awareness? Cultural relevance. When Thea Lauryn Chippendale was mocked for her ASOS outfit on Tinder and went viral on Twitter, ASOS smartly invited her to model for the website.

Not every effort on Twitter is going to go viral, but reinforcement will keep the momentum going for your launch. Cantu’s advice was to go big on the reveal (another number to remember – 40% of launch budget was spent by the launch leaders on launch day and the days leading up to it), and then keep the conversation going with good creative that will resonate. Concise and clear copy, good visuals, and clear branding works when you don’t have a Tinder match nightmare to help tell your story.

In summary, it’s tweeting strategic and creative content that can get brands better results for their launches. With only 15% of brands interviewed in a recent Bain & Company study meeting their KPIs for social, there’s ample opportunity to make more use of Twitter as a launching pad. Did we mention we launched our new look this week, by the way?

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ICCO reveals 2019 Global Awards shortlist

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The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) has unveiled a shortlist of world-leading agencies, in-house teams, and professionals for its 2019 Global Awards.

The Global Awards celebrate outstanding of PR practice from across the world. This year, entries for the 27 awards came from more than 30 countries and were judged by an international panel of experts spanning four continents.

Hosted by broadcaster and journalist, Ayesha Hazarika MBE, the prestigious awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, 3 December, at The Savoy, London, uniting PR professionals from a diverse range of cultures and countries for a night of networking and celebration.

Chair of Judges, Loretta Ahmed, CEO, Grayling Middle East: “Once again we’ve had a stellar set of entries into this year’s ICCO awards. Work from so many countries around the world showed the judges time and again the power of storytelling done well in many different contexts. Winning agencies are to be commended on the dedication to stand-out creativity and flawless execution, with campaign measurement in particular improving year on year.  In many categories the winners secured their award by a fraction of a point, proving the quality of all agencies shortlisted. So, to every agency that was shortlisted and made it to the screens of judges around the world we commend you!”

Best of luck so everyone shortlisted and we look forward to hearing who the winners are in December.

Find the full 2019 shortlist here.