Archive for: Press and Bloggers

Harriet Shearsmith is the award-winning mummy blogger behind Toby & Roo. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 UK Mummy Blogs, Harriet writes about family life with ‘crazy boys’ Reuben and Tobias and ‘dictator-like’ daughter Edith. With Mother’s Day on Sunday (don’t forget!), we caught up with Harriet to find out how to celebrate in the best way, advice for new mums and the importance of communication in collaborations.

How has your blog changed in the last year?
I feel that my focus has moved away from my blog and more into Instagram and social media content. I have cut back the amount I’m writing and trying to focus more on the style of content really resonating with me and my readership.

How does social media feed into your blog – are any channels more important?
Instagram is absolutely the most important channel for me, and the most important aspect of my career really. I think that my focus has moved across to it as a platform and I love that. I’m a very visual person so it works well for me.

What’s the perfect Mother’s Day?
Ohhhh breakfast in bed, snuggles on the sofa and maybe a cinema trip or something? Definitely a relaxed one! If they could all make sure the house is spotless then that would be EPIC!

What’s the best thing about being a mum?
Just having the honour of watching them develop into little people. All of mine are so different and I love that – it just goes to prove they are their own little people! It’s such a pleasure to see them change and I adore being a mum to these three beauties, even when it’s exhausting and overwhelming.

What advice would you give new mothers?
Don’t expect perfection! It isn’t going to happen – you will make mistakes and you should absolutely forgive yourself for it. I think taking each day as it comes it so important.

The UK Bloggers Survey revealed Parenting as a supersector – how do you feel parenting fits in to the broader blogosphere?
I think it’s incredibly important and a vital part of blogging that I hope never disappears! It’s not easy being a parent and there are a lot of times at 3am when I just felt so alone. I think from a mental health perspective, it’s so important to share our experiences, as a society we lack the community or ‘village’ that our parents perhaps had, so to be able to connect around these really busy lives we lead is massively important.

The Survey also revealed that bloggers post less frequently – is this your experience?
Absolutely! When I first started blogging I posted one to two times a day, every weekday. Short, snappy little posts, and then over time I would change to one a day and eventually I have whittled it down to much longer posts three times a week. To see how my blog has evolved is really interesting to me and while I don’t think that blogging is ever ‘dying out’ I do think it’s evolving and taking a slight back seat to social.

Do you accept PR press releases?
I do! I don’t mind press releases at all, sometimes you find something really interesting.

How do you choose which PRs and brands to work with?
PRs are usually taken care of by my team at Kameleon, however brands are all down to me. I have some things that just don’t fit with me or my ideals and therefore I won’t work with them. I’m not a fan of diet products so I avoid them like the plague, despite being asked on an almost daily basis if I would like to try one shake, or herbal treatment, or another. I feel like a brand has to fit with me, and if I am unsure of the brand I will Google them to try and work out if there is anything I think makes us incompatible.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
I’ve worked on so many amazing collabs that I truly have LOVED so it would be really hard to list just one! I think for me, anything that gives me a clear idea of the client expectations but a license to be creative is perfect. I love the flexibility to go back to a client and say that this would work better for my audience if we did this, or can I do XYZ to instead of ABC. It’s that communication!

What other blogs do you read?
I’ve come away from reading a lot of blogs lately and I tend to focus more on social media and engaging with people on there. I do LOVE Emily Leary from A Mummy Too – her recipes are amazing. I will be eagerly looking for recommendations!

Clare Minall writes Mudpie Fridays to share what she and her sons, Monkey and Kipper, get up to as she balances work, motherhood and all the adventures of life. Recently ranked in the Top 10 Mummy Blogs, Clare told us about how social media works with her blog, the joys of being a mother, posting on a daily basis and working with brands and PRs on magical experiences.

How has your blog changed in the last year?
I am saying no a lot more! Last year my blog really came of age. Up until this point I would say yes to pretty much any type of work. I was amazed that people would give us the opportunity to review items and pay me for editorial content. What I didn’t appreciate was just how much time it takes to create a blog post, get just the right photo, edit the photos and then promote it via social media.

The penny dropped I was working hour upon hour writing content but sometimes my heart wasn’t in it. As much as it was valuable SEO it taught me the sort of content I enjoyed creating and the sort that I didn’t. I think it shows in my writing which hopefully means I do a better job for the brand, my readers enjoy it more and I am a lot more relaxed.

How does social media feed into your blog – are any channels more important?
I tend to favour Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Everything I write will get shared across all these channels. Depending on the content I will also create a pin, but I only tend to do this for evergreen posts. Pinterest creates the biggest referral stream to my blog outside of Google and other search engines. Currently it’s probably my most underutilised channel, which is something I plan to address this year. It’s hard to keep all the social media channels spinning, each has its only personality, so I think it’s natural to favour one over another.

What’s the perfect Mother’s Day?
Hopefully this years! Anything which gives me the opportunity to spend time with my little family without distractions. A chance to reconnect without time pressure, or a to do list getting in the way. So much so that this year we are going off the grid. I think it will force us all to stay off electronics. I am surprised by just how much I am looking forward to it. Although my eldest needs some convincing.

What’s the best thing about being a mum?
It’s so hard to choose! I think seeing the world through the boy’s eyes. Constantly juggling, running from one thing to another as an adult, it’s easy to miss the magic in every day. Yet taking the time to spend with the boys and see their joy in simple things reminds me of where my priorities should lie. They help keep me on the straight and narrow.

What advice would you give new mothers?
A wise person once said to me that you have to listen to your gut and trust your instinct. You will come across a lot of people offering advice. Some of this advice will relate to experience based on knowing a few things about lots of babies. But you as a mother will know a lot of things about your baby. So trust it. It’s something I have followed with both boys even though they were very different babies and even more different as children. Believing I know what is right for my child and trusting it makes me a lot more relaxed as a parent.

The UK Bloggers Survey revealed Parenting as a supersector – how do you feel parenting fits in to the broader blogosphere?
I discovered blogs when I was first pregnant trying to navigate one of life’s biggest changes, so I am not surprised that parenting is now considered a supersector. Parenting can link with pretty much every blog out there. A beauty blogger could still be a mum. A travel blogger could focus on family travel. A food blogger could produce ‘free from recipes’ because their little ones have allergies. Many bloggers in other sectors could well be parents themselves. I would find it hard now that I am a parent for it not to shape my thinking or my writing, since it’s so integral to everything I do.

The Survey also revealed that bloggers post less frequently – is this your experience?
I tend to try to schedule a daily post. There are weeks when this is not possible as I may have specific social media campaigns. I am not sure if frequency is that important but its more about consistency. I try to write certain types of posts on certain days or times of the month so that people know what to expect. There are also posts that I write purely for me. Mudpie Fridays originally started as an online diary as I tried to navigate secondary infertility. Not that I realised that’s what it was then. But recording our adventures as a family of three helped and then when I finally managed to hang on to a baby the weekly diary kept me sane.

Do you accept PR press releases?
I do, but as I mentioned previously it needs to be in keeping with my brand, my values and my families preferences. This way it’s more likely to be received well by my audience. If it doesn’t tick the box, then it’s likely the brand would get a better response with someone else anyway. I would also want to build my own narrative around the release in my voice, which is what my readers expect.

How do you choose which PRs and brands to work with?
PR wise it’s a relationship game, I have been very fortunate to work with some lovely PRs over the last few years. Brand wise I pick based on whether it’s a brand I would choose to buy outside of the blog. If it’s an experience or event would I choose to take the boys there if I wasn’t being paid or offered something based on a review? If the answer’s no, then if I worked with them the post is unlikely to flow properly and it would be obvious to my readers.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
We have been so fortunate over the last few years and had some amazing experiences. Anything family travel orientated or that gives my family the opportunity to try something new scores highly. While we were reviewing a resort complex in Crete last October we were invited on a Cretan Cookery Course. The people that ran it were so hospitable and made such an effort with the boys. I can still remember Monkey’s face as he mixed the pork with all the vegetables, his sleeves rolled up, a huge grin on his face, chatting away. Once the food was prepared and cooked, we all sat down and ate together. Over the table we shared travel stories with the other guests, before being treated to some traditional music as the evening drew in.

In November last year, Monkey and I were invited to Finland by the Levi Tourist board. It was a once in a life time experience that saw us stay in a glass igloo underneath the stars and chase auroras. Those memories will stay with us both for a lifetime and its simply not something we would be able to afford to do without having Mudpie Friday.

What other blogs do you read?
Lots! I read more blogs than I do books, magazines and newspapers so it’s very hard to choose some favourites. However if I had to choose then the ones I read my frequently are Laura at Dear Bear & Beany, Becky at Cuddle Fairy and Donna at What the Redhead Said. They all have children similar in age to my boys, so I can really relate to their parenting journeys.