Carole King from Dear Designer's Blog

Interior design spotlight: Carole King, Dear Designer’s Blog

Carole King is behind Dear Designer’s Blog, which was recently ranked in the Top 10 Interior Design Blogs. From mastering the mood board to finding your own personal style, Carole helps readers bring their home to life. We spoke to Carole about her own personal style, her favourite room and the one thing PRs should know about her.

How has your blog changed over time?
When I first started blogging 9 years ago I was posting 7 days a week. I was still holding down a job at that time and the pressure was relentless. Consequently, the posts were short and covered all sorts of design aesthetics. These days I have a much more relaxed schedule, my posts are more in depth and I only post about things I absolutely love. I also include a lot more of my own photography now.

How would you describe your style?
Sometimes it takes someone else to sum up your style succinctly and this is what was said about me recently. “Her design philosophy mixes down-to-earth staples with high drama details to create interiors that are lush, luxurious, and liveable. Striking a balance between light and dark.” I love that.

What makes a great interior design blog?
Consistent posting. A genuine love of the subject and fantastic images!

What’s the split between your own creations/designs and featuring others’?
I probably feature others about 75% of the time. I wish I could renovate a room a week, but budget and time doesn’t allow that. Clients don’t always want their homes featured so that’s another restriction. I do try to put my own spin on posts though, by creating mood boards that are my own interpretation.

Dear Designer blog bedroomWhat’s your favourite room in the house and why?
In my own home my favourite room is the bedroom. It’s large, light and has a dedicated dressing area.

How do the seasons affect your content?
Obviously I write things that my readers want to read. So, if it’s cold outside I like to offer suggestions for warming up the home. But those posts are occasional. I don’t dwell too much on seasons because we can’t change our decor that often.

What’s your favourite household object/item?
The dishwasher. And the dyson. Anything that makes my life easier.

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
I genuinely do only work with companies that I love.

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve recently worked on?
I enjoy all the collaborations I work on. See above answer! I’m starting to get invites for travel stories too now, which is my other great love.

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
That would be great. And very helpful to others just starting out in the industry.

What other blogs do you read?
Loads! Too many to mention. But I’m obsessed with Scandinavian interiors so whenever I need a fix I head to My Scandinavian Home.

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Kate Williams Crafts on Sea

Chatting crafts with Crafts on Sea

Kate Williams is the face behind craft blog, Crafts on Sea, which was recently ranked in our Top 10 UK Craft Blogs. Crafts on Sea has hundreds of ideas for all seasons, from Halloween masks to Christmas gifts. We spoke to Kate about what makes the craft blogger community so great, her favourite campaigns to work on and why you shouldn’t pay her in paint!

How has your blog changed from when you first started?
It’s both more professional and more focused. When I started it was very much that I wanted to do some crafts myself, and use the blog as a way of encouraging myself to do more, but over the years it’s turned into a business as I started looking to what my readers wanted, rather than just myself.

In the early days I had photos in a national newspaper that I took on my dodgy old phone, whereas now doing a craft involves getting my rather large lighting kit and DSLR out!

What’s the craft blogger community like? 
Lovely. Almost every gain I’ve made with my blog has been due to someone else helping me out; explaining Facebook tips, helping with my photography or whatever. I tend to chat with the kid bloggers too – there’s a big international group who all chat and it’s fantastic to be a part of that.

Do you think crafts are more important in the digital age?
Well both my kids have a kindle that they love so I’d say yes – there’s lots of things like Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle crafts on my site which are a direct result of me trying to think of crafts my son would actually get excited about and want to do, so he wants to turn the TV off.

Having said that, my daughter loves Mister Maker and is always inspired by him so there’s definitely room for both. As a blogger I spend loads of time online, so acting like anything screen based is bad in front of my kids won’t really wash with them.

Do you have to be artistic to be good at crafts?
I don’t think I’m that artistic, I’m terrible at drawing and wasn’t even given the option of taking GCSE art (although as a dyslexic I was given the option of drawing my dissertation!) A bit of creativity and not being scared to make mistakes works well enough I think.

What’s the easiest craft you’ve made?
A paper plate hulk mask? Well actually my son made that one though, which made it even easier for me.

What’s the hardest?
Honestly there’s nothing difficult on my site that I can think of, my main issue is cleaning the paint off things!

What are the best PR/brand campaigns you’ve worked on?
I’ve loved working with The Big Shot on a couple of campaigns for children’s books. I’ve done crafts for Julia Donaldson, Emily Gravett and Sue Hendra’s books who I adore so it’s been a really fun challenge.

What shouldn’t PRs do?
Offer to pay you in kids paint.

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
To be honest bloggers talk to each other. There will always be people who are willing to do a sponsored post for £20 and if someone needs £20 then that’s totally their choice so I don’t think there needs to be set fees or anything. But if you fail to pay someone or treat them badly then it does get found out and talked about. In fairness I totally expect that the same thing happens amongst PR’s if they have issues with a blogger

What other blogs do you read?
Loads! I love Lulastic and the Hippy Shake and obsessively follow Glennon Doyle who used to write Momastery on Instagram and Facebook because she is all sorts of awesome.

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Maggy Woodley Red Ted Art

Getting crafty with Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art

Maggy Woodley is the creator of popular craft blog, Red Ted Art, which was recently ranked number one in the Top 10 UK Craft Blogs. Inspiring kids and adults to find their creative side, Red Ted Art has hundreds of craft ideas for any ability. We spoke to Maggy about the importance of crafts in a digital age, the hardest craft and what PRs should never do.

How has your blog changed from when you first started?
It is much slicker and “neater” than when I started out, but the underlying ethos remains the same: making crafting easy and accessible to all. Using every day materials and empowering parents and kids alike to ENJOY crafting!! But… over the years, I have become much better at photography and understanding what kind of crafts my readers would like to see!

What’s the craft blogger community like? 
I love it! It is a very supportive community and I am always working on collaborative projects with a variety of different bloggers.

Do you think crafts are more important in the digital age?
Absolutely! As kids become more digi-fied they spend less and less time in the “real world”. Crafting is a great way to hone those fine motor skills, develop your imagination and also an opportunity to make gorgeous things for friends and family. Homemade to me, is always more special than anything shop-bought!

Do you have to be artistic to be good at crafts?
No, absolutely not. I often say that I am “not arty” but “very crafty”. I would say it is a different skill set all together and that though they complement each other, you can be great at one and not the other.

What’s the easiest craft you’ve made?
The easiest… oh that is tricky… there are so many easy crafts on my website! I would have to send a poll out to my readers. But generally speaking – the Corner Bookmarks are super popular – as the materials are easy to come by and the designs are easy. Kids love to make them for their friends.

Crochet mermaid craftWhat’s the hardest?
The hardest are probably some of the crochet patterns I have on the site – they are all guest posts by expert crocheters. And though I don’t think the patterns are necessarily hard, you DO need to know how to crochet in order to make them! Having said that, the designs are so cute, you simply have to give them a go. Take a look at this adorable Mermaid!

What are the best PR/brand campaigns you’ve worked on?
Ooh again, I think that is a really hard one to single out. I do LOVE all the Movie related craft campaigns. Ie a new movie comes out and the PR challenges me to come up with a related craft. E.g. these Piggy Cupcakes for the SING movie are so easy and so cute!

What shouldn’t PRs do?
Assume that we work for free!! I know it is stating the obvious but so many PRs to try and get “freebies” out of us, or give us a free toy or DVD in return for a blog post. The problem is that it takes time and effort to create content and the PRs need to be mindful of the time it takes to create this!

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
That could be a great thing – especially to help provide guidelines around best practices (disclosure) and taxes etc.

What other blogs do you read?
Loads! I am mainly very closely familiar with all the crafty blogs out there, such as Hattifant, I Heart Crafty Things, Babble Dabble Doo and Hello Wonderful of course there are many more! But those are great!

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Rachel Newcombe Fresh Design Blog

Interior design with Rachel Newcombe of Fresh Design Blog

Rachel Newcombe is the creator of Fresh Design Blog, which was recently ranked in the Top 10 Interior Design Blogs. Sharing design ideas and how-to guides, Fresh Design Blog gives readers plenty of inspiration of how to bring a contemporary design style into their house . We spoke to Rachel about what makes a great interior design blog, the best campaigns and collaborations she’s worked on and whether it’s time for a blogging industry association.

How has your blog changed over time?
Fresh Design Blog has been running since 2009, so it has inevitably changed and evolved. When it first launched, I wrote short posts every day, but now I tend to publish two or three longer posts per week. The style of posts has changed slightly too, with a better balance of product ideas, décor and how to guides, and freelance journalist Sara Walker now helps by contributing two posts a month.

How would you describe your style?
All the content on the blog focuses on modern and contemporary interior design style.

What makes a great interior design blog?
A well-balanced combination of interesting and relevant content plus quality images. It’s not just about the blog these days either – social media and the different benefits from each channel, plus interaction with readers, definitely helps too.

What’s the split between your own creations/designs and featuring others’?
Fresh Design has always focused more on featuring designs and ideas from other companies, including well-established names and up-and-coming designers. But if I happen to have a project on the go, or am working on a collaboration, then it does of course feature my own creations and photography.

Fresh Design Blog gardenWhat’s your favourite room in the house and why?
Probably the living room, as it’s the part of the house where we tend to gather, socialise and relax. I love the fact that we’ve got a huge window, which lets lots of natural light in throughout the year, bringing the outside in, especially during the summer months as it leads onto the garden and outside dining.

How do the seasons affect your content?
The seasons have a big influence on content. I love discovering all the latest trends and new product lines throughout the year, as well as predictions for future trends. I tend to find that Q4 and Q1 each year are usually the busiest times on the blog, as that’s when people are most likely to be looking for home decorating ideas, Christmas décor and of course shopping for gifts. There have already been lots of recent hits on our previous Christmas content, both on the blog and via Pinterest. In the past, I avoided mentioning Christmas too soon, but seasonal posts are getting earlier in line with demand.

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
I get hundreds of emails every day, and am juggling other freelance writing work too, so can’t always reply immediately to everything. I tend to prioritise replying to the emails that are relevant and properly targeted.

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve recently worked on?
To be honest, I’ve been a bit more selective this year with the number of campaigns and collaborations I’ve worked on, to ensure they’re fully relevant to the blog. I like anything that’s a bit different and quirky. For example, I worked with Dr Beckmann’s Carpet Stain Remover earlier in the year highlighting the work of an artist who created art using the carpet cleaner, which was rather unusual! More recently I’ve discovered lots of tips and tricks for livening up and decorating skirting boards in contemporary ways, whilst collaborating with a skirting board company.

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
Given how much the industry has expanded, I think it could be a useful move.

What other blogs do you read?
Loads! When I first started, there weren’t that many UK interior design blogs, so I mostly read US blogs, but now I’m spoilt for choice. I enjoy reading the latest posts on other interior design blogs such as Swoonworthy (love Kimberley’s eclectic boho glam style), The Design Sheppard (Stacey writes great in-depth posts), Dear Designer’s Blog (Carole shares some amazing spaces), Making Spaces (Karen Knox is a talented interior designer and creates wonderful modern decor), The White Approach (where Karen shares her love of all things white in the home) and Love Chic Living (Jen comes up with some good design ideas for a family home).

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Jen Stanbrook

All things interiors with Love Chic Living’s Jen Stanbrook

Jen Stanbrook is the face behind Love Chic Living, which was recently ranked in the Top 10 Interior Design Blogs. Bringing her bright style to life on her blog, Jen encourages her readers to develop their own style and try new things. We spoke to Jen about how the seasons affect her content, her favourite room in the house and what PRs and brands should know about her.

How has your blog changed over time?
I can’t believe how much the blog has changed to be honest. My own home décor style has grown and developed enormously, and the blog has adapted and moved on as a result. As I’ve been blogging for over 6 years now, my skillset and writing has developed and improved helping me create content I’m really proud of. In an ever-changing, competitive arena, it’s important to keep those skills up to date and constantly build on them. There’s always something new to learn.

Love Chic Living living roomHow would you describe your style?
I’d say it’s quite contemporary, homely and bright. I love bold colour accents, strong designs and plenty of wow factor. I’m always keen to try new things and embrace new trends.

What makes a great interior design blog?
There are so many factors to take into consideration but personally, I love great, inspiring photography, coupled with ideas and tips on creating the look in my own home. I love to see how new trends will look in a ‘real’ home and that’s where great interior blogs really come into their own – they show people how to put looks together and what they’ll look like in a home like theirs.

What’s the split between your own creations/designs and featuring others’?
It’s a real mix I think of my own home and interior ideas plus tips and contributions from others.

What’s your favourite room in the house and why?
I must admit this changes, and is often the most recently decorated room! But for now, it has to be my kitchen. We gave it a makeover last year without buying new units and the change has been so dramatic. With a feature floor, dark grey and white cupboards, plus yellow accents, it’s been really popular on the blog and it’s the room I most love to spend time in.

How do the seasons affect your content?
I produce content relevant to the season, particularly the main change from summer to winter. Christmas is obviously very popular, as is the New Year period when everyone is tackling new DIY jobs and renovations begin.

What’s your favourite household object/item?
Hmmm that’s a tricky one but I have to say it’s my coffee machine right now! Working from home I can’t do without a great cup of coffee and I’ve got an industrial style coffee machine that makes a mean latte!

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
I like to think I’m professional to work with and deliver on time, often exceeding expectations.

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve recently worked on?
I’ve recently been an ambassador for Amara Living showcasing their new collection in my own home. The content and imagery was used across their social channels and marketing and I was really pleased with the way it all came together.

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
I certainly think some kind of regulation is needed yes. There are so many bloggers and ‘influencers’ around now, it’s so hard for PR companies to sift out those that are really worth working with. Plus, there’s so much bad press that it makes it more difficult for those of us that are honest, professional and reliable – it puts our livelihood in jeopardy, so yes, an association with regular monitoring would be welcome.

What other blogs do you read?
Oh there are so many! Of course all of the fabulous UK interior blogs listed in the Vuelio top 10 but I’m also a fan of fashion and lifestyle blogs that feed my obsession with design of all kinds!

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Craig Landale

First finalists announced for the Vuelio Blog Awards

We are delighted to reveal the first finalists for the Vuelio Blog Awards 2018! The first five categories are: Men’s Fashion, Women’s Fashion, Health & Fitness, London Lifestyle and Travel & Leisure.

The Vuelio Blog Awards are in their fourth year and are now firmly established as the most respected awards – coveted by bloggers throughout the UK. Taking place on 30 November, this year’s event will be even bigger and better – with the finest dining, death-defying acts for your entertainment, and the greatest awards ceremony on the planet.

Tickets for the Blog Awards are available online – click here to get yours.

Without further ado, here are the finalists for the first five categories for the Vuelio Blog Awards 2018:

Men’s Fashion

  • Ape to Gentleman
  • Carl Thompson
  • Clothes Make The Man
  • Grey Fox
  • Man For Himself
  • Permanent Style

Women’s Fashion

  • Fashion Foie Gras
  • Fashion Mumblr
  • Inthefrow
  • Lydia Elise Millen
  • Not Dressed As Lamb
  • Raindrops of Sapphire

Health & Fitness

  • Carly Rowena
  • Father Fitness
  • Fitness on Toast
  • Keep it SimpElle
  • The Runner Beans
  • Zanna Van Dijk

London Lifestyle

  • Heroine in Heels
  • Homegirl London
  • Liberty London Girl
  • London Unattached
  • Silverspoon London
  • Poppy Loves

Travel & Leisure

  • A Luxury Travel Blog
  • A Lady In London
  • Global Grasshopper
  • Hand Luggage Only
  • Two Monkeys Travel
  • Wish Wish Wish

Keep your eyes peeled for the next finalists coming soon! For more information about the Blog Awards, including ways to get involved, please email Rebecca Potts.

shouldn't have missed

Five Things: The Circle, CIPR, GDPR, Evan Davis & Cathay Paciic

This week’s Five Things covers a week of news (see what we did there?). We have a new social media warning, a new President-Elect, a new development in GDPR, a new presenter for Radio 4’s PM and a new job for the plane paint shop.

1. The Circle

The Circle

Is it another naff reality show or a comprehensive comment on modern society? Possibly both. The Circle sees a group of people isolated in their own flat within a block, only able to communicate through a social network called ‘The Circle’. While the personalities are loud, and some of the interface action quite annoying (the shouting at the ‘voice-recognition’ system, which is clearly an intern typing what’s being said, is quickly grating), there’s definitely an interesting point being made about social media and its role in modern life.

Not everyone is being themselves – for example, there is a gay man pretending to be straight, a man pretending to be a woman using his girlfriend’s pictures and an ad exec pretending to be an oncologist. All of it is being done in the name of being the most popular to win a prize, with regular star-ratings from the other Circle users (oh hi Black Mirror!). It’s hard to watch this without thinking about your own social media use, thinking you ‘know’ people online – and, inevitably, drawing parallels with the frequent ‘scandals’ hitting the influencer marketing industry. In an age of FAKE NEWS, ‘for the Gram’ and catfishing, The Circle may be just what everyone needs as a reminder that we really don’t know who’s behind the avatar.

And if you still doubt whether Channel 4 are using The Circle to troll social media every night for three weeks, check out the retweets of Ian Katz, director of programmes at Channel 4 (including some colourful language):

 

2. New CIPR President Elect

CIPR

The CIPR has named its President-Elect for 2019. Jenni Field, director of Redefining Communications and co-founder of The IC Crowd, will become President in 2020 when she takes over from 2018’s President-Elect Emma Leech.

Jenni has been a volunteer with the CIPR for several years and championed the work of volunteers in her candidate statement. She is going to use her tenure to find a way to further utilise volunteers in the organisation and grow membership. Find out more about her appointment and the CIPR’s 2019 Council here.

 

3. GDPR

GDPR Made simple

The first GDPR notice has been served by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). AggregateIQ (AIQ) – which has been linked to scandal hit Cambridge Analytica – has 30 days to cease processing ‘any personal data of UK or EU citizens obtained from UK political organisations or otherwise for the purposes of data analytics, political campaigning or any other advertising purposes’.

If AIQ fails to comply with this Enforcement Notice, or is unsuccessful in any appeal,

the ICO may serve a penalty notice requiring payment of any amount up to 20 million Euros or 4% of AIQ’s worldwide turnover.

It is the first time a GDPR notice has been served by the ICO, and while AIQ’s activities took place before GDPR came into force, it is still considered to be processing the data after the GDPR. All eyes are now on this story as it unfolds to see how GDPR will shape the future of data processing in the UK.

Vuelio helps its customers to comply with the GDPR – find out more about our extensive GDPR work here.  

 

4. Evan Davis

Evan Davis

Evan Davis has left Newsnight to become the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s PM programme. He was at Newsnight for four years and was previously a presenter on the Today programme as well as the BBC economics editor before that. On his appointment, Evan said: ‘Having survived several years of people saying “you’re not as good as Jeremy Paxman”, I now look forward to people saying “you’re not as good as Eddie Mair”.’

Eddie left the BBC earlier this year to join LBC, where he now presents his own afternoon show.

Evan takes up his new role later in the autumn; a Newsnight replacement is yet to be announced.

 

5. Cathay Paciic

Cathay Pacific

Sack the sub! Cathay Pacific were left with red faces after the livery on one of their planes missed out one of the 13 letters that makes up the company’s name. As any PR knows, you proof, proof and proof again. Then you get someone else to proof, then you proof again – because once it’s done, it’s done.

Cathay Paciic were good sports about the whole thing tweeting:

As was pointed out on Twitter, no Fs were given that day.

 

Did we miss something? Let us know on Twitter @Vuelio.

Bidding

Auction for Sky – sold to the highest bidder

The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers has announced that the takeover of Sky will now be settled by auction. Both Fox and Comcast have been attempting to take over the broadcaster for some time, with rival offers driving up the company’s value.

The Panel says all parties have agreed to the terms, which will see a maximum of three rounds of bidding between 5pm on 21 September and the evening of 22 September.

Sky’s share price jumped after the announcement.

The procedure, as laid out by the Panel, will see a first round where two bids are submitted and the lowest may then increase theirs. In the second round, the other bidder is allowed to increase their offer. If there is an increased bid in the second round, a final round will commence where both parties will be able to increase their bids.

Fox first announced it would purchase Sky in December 2016, with an initial offer of £10.75 per share. Throughout the bidding war that has commenced over the last two years, the bid has risen to £14.75 per share. The share price currently sits at £15.80 (at time of writing).

The BBC reports this latest development in the Sky takeover saga with the help of media analyst Alice Enders. Alice describes Sky as a jewel in the crown, thanks to its 23 million pay-TV subscribers. It is these customers that will be hit by the takeover though, Enders suggests whoever wins, it’s likely to lead to higher prices for customers so the winning bidder can recoup its costs.

Comcast is by far the biggest company in the competition with assets nearing $200bn, compared to Fox’s $52bn. Disney, which is going through the process of acquiring Fox, has assets valued at $96bn.

Antonia Ludden

Interior design with Antonia Ludden’s #tidylife

Antonia Ludden is the blogger behind #tidylife, which was recently named in the Top 10 Interior Design Blogs. Antonia provides her readers with practical advice on how to keep a clutter-free home without losing their personal style. We spoke to Antonia about her own personal style, how she works with PRs and why bloggers need their own association.

How has your blog changed over time?
Quite a lot, actually. When I started out in 2012 I was more focused on upcycling old furniture and finding good storage solutions for my kids’ toys – I even thought about selling storage boxes through the site (hence the blog’s name), but in the end didn’t pursue that. As time went by the blog evolved more into home design in general and, more recently, occasional lifestyle topics that appear to be popular with readers, such as health, fashion and beauty.

#tidylife How would you describe your style?
I like a variety of home interior styles, which is reflected in my own home – I’ve embraced both the ‘dark side’ with our moody front room that features industrial lighting, lots of wood and dark walls, but I also appreciate a fresh contemporary interior, which is how I would describe our light and bright family room. I’m also quite drawn to nature in the home, so you’ll often find me styling with plants and different textures.

What makes a great interior design blog?
I think one that delivers plenty of straightforward home improvement ideas and advice along with decorating tips and styling inspiration. I like quick fixes and fun ways to refresh a room, so I enjoy magazine type blogs that feature a mix of emerging trends, shopping guides, real homes etc.

What’s the split between your own creations/designs and featuring others’?
I’ve found it increasingly hard to feature my own home regularly, as blogging takes up so much time – all the ‘back end’ stuff and keeping on top of social media and pitching for work. When I’m busy creating content for brands, I’m not getting the time to do the projects in my own home that I’d like to feature on the blog! But this is my job and paying bills has to take priority over the DIY & decorating. Sadly, I don’t earn enough from my blog to pay for professional decorators!

What’s your favourite room in the house and why?
I think our front room is my favourite, due to the features it has – the exposed floorboards, the large angled bay window and the fireplace. However, I don’t get to spend much time in it as it is mainly used by my sons as their gaming space! I will reclaim it one day… fingers crossed.

How do the seasons affect your content?
I love a seasonal change! It’s a great opportunity to refresh the blog and its content. I’m likely to feature lots of cosy homeware items and warm metallics in autumn-winter and lots of plants in spring-summer!

#tidylife

What’s your favourite household object/item?
Probably my coffee machine as I’m such a coffee addict!

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
That I will go the extra mile to deliver what the brand or PR is looking for – I like to give added value and exceed expectations so that they’re happy they chose me to work with and might want to partner with me again in the future.

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve recently worked on?
I’ve loved working with BoConcept Manchester recently as we’ve established a nice, ongoing relationship. Because they’re local, I can call in and meet face to face, see their latest collections up close etc – with so much communication online these days, it’s nice to connect with people in real life and I think it can really enhance a collaboration.

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
Yes, I would like to see that happen as it is a fast-paced, ever-changing industry and working solo, as most of us are, we have to turn our hand to everything and become experts. Even those who have blogged for a long time could use the support and guidance of a professional bloggers association, I’m sure, so I think it could only be a good thing.

What other blogs do you read?
Although I don’t have loads of time to read other blogs regularly, I dip into quite a few when a feature catches my eye or if I’m looking for decorating or blogging advice, or design inspiration. I like to see what my blogging friends are writing about and the different projects they are up to in their own homes. Quite often I’ll stumble upon new blogs by scrolling through Pinterest. The first blog I ever read was IHeart Organizing and I still like to look at that from time to time when I need any home organisation or storage ideas as I’ll admit I’m not the most tidy person in the world!

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Victoria Magrath

Fashion Weeks with the Number 1 Fashion Blog – Inthefrow

Inthefrow is the number one fashion blog in the UK. Written by Victoria Magrath, the blog has twice been named Best Fashion Blog at the Vuelio Blog Awards and boasts a huge audience both at inthefrow.com and across social media, including 850K followers on Instagram and over 600K subscribers on YouTube. Victoria has also worked with huge number of international brands, whether it’s as the face of Hugo Boss Watches and Ted Baker or signing as a Beauty Ambassador with L’Oreal Paris.

With a recent site relaunch, engagement and book announcement – Victoria is at the top of her game and the excitement shows no sign of stopping. We caught up with the blogger in the front row, who told us how she works with brands during fashion weeks, the best campaigns she’s worked on and the bloggers that inspire her.

How has your blog changed over time?
When I first created Inthefrow it was simply a space to share my love and passion for fashion and beauty. Yes, there was imagery and a design layout but as time went on I started to develop a love for a more editorial style. Fast forward over five years and Inthefrow.com is my most favourite channel. It’s the platform that I own and that if Instagram, Twitter and Facebook all disappeared tomorrow, it’s the platform I would be glad I put so much love into. Each element is individually designed and brought to life to encompass a full brand experience and a much closer insight than ever before, into the things that make up my life in a magazine-esque platform.

When do you start and finish conversations with brands/PRs about fashion weeks?
In all honesty the conversations never really end. The relationships with PRs/brands are ongoing throughout the seasons but for the intimate details such as dressing and invites to the shows themselves, the conversations start weeks or usually days before, and lead right up to the day of the presentations.

How do Autumn fashion weeks affect your blog?
I’d say they impact my blog in two different ways. Firstly, and most importantly, when I arrive back from fashion weeks/month I feel a renewed sense of love for what I do. I adore fashion every day of the year but after fashion month, the inspiration to create, to style and to push boundaries is never more heightened. I feel invigorated and ready to celebrate this industry I’m proudly a part of on all my channels and signal the style transition into Fall.

Secondly, it takes a lot of self-discipline and organisation to continue with content as consistently, because I’m suddenly trying to multitask even more than usual. The three blog posts a week are now intertwined with international travel, multiple shows a day and still finding time to think ahead and shoot quality content for the blog. I definitely feel a lot more pressure to be consistent during fashion month than any other time of the year.

Victoria Magrath

Who is your favourite designer?
Oh this is such a hard question! Dior as you know is by far my favourite luxury brand, I covet almost every item they create and they have a huge piece of my fashion loving heart…

What are the main differences between men’s and women’s lifestyle blogs?
Oh another tough one. I guess apart from their audience being unique, I suppose their style and voice is also different to cater to the way their audience want to hear their messages.

What’s the written/video/picture split for your content?
I try not to weight my content in a particular way and I try, as hard as it may be, to spread my content evenly over all my platforms. I consistently try to create three blog posts per week, two (sometimes three) YouTube videos per week and four or five Instagrams too – as well as time spent on Twitter and Facebook. I find that although my largest following is over on Instagram where people like to consume bite size content in the shape of imagery and short videos, inthefrow.com has the largest engagement growth right now in terms of unique users and those readers are consuming long form content in the shape of lengthy lifestyle text and editorial imagery. All in all, I’d like to think it’s a pretty even split between imagery, video and written content in both consumption and creation.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
I like to be straight forward wherever possible. It’s great to get a friendly introductory email where you can discover a new agency, brand or designer but there’s nothing that stands out more to me, than someone who is professional and forthcoming with how they can see us working together and what the both of us can gain from partnering. That way as a team we can instantly work out if our brands are well suited and if working together successfully is a possibility for all parties. Efficiency is a big priority for me, and most, with everyone’s schedules being so hectic.

Victoria Magrath

What are the best campaigns you’ve collaborated on recently?
Another hard question because, as you know, I flat out refuse to take on any collaborations that don’t thoroughly excite me and make me proud to be a part of them, so I would have to say the best campaigns recently have been my Thomas Sabo ambassadorship that was just announced and my partnership with Bvlgari for their new luxury sunglasses collection. Both of them were an immediate yes for me because of how much I already adore each brand and how similar our visions were for each campaign. And I know it isn’t a collaboration but am I allowed to say my new book The New Fashion Rules? It’s been two years in the making and I can’t believe it’s finally here – a dream come true!

Do bloggers need their own industry association?
I think it massively helps, to meet people and to network and get your name out there. But I’m sure there are bloggers out there who are killing it without pressuring themselves to be stuck head first into the industry.

What other blogs do you read?
I don’t get nearly enough time to catch up on my favourite blogs, I wish I could set aside a couple of hours each week to really delve into what I’ve missed but in reality that will never happen as there’s always more work to be done. However, I always try to keep up with Chriselle for all things fashion, Estee for all things lifestyle and Carly for all things self love. All three keep me inspired and ready to take on the next big thing.

 

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Raindrops of Sapphire

Fashion interview with Raindrops Of Sapphire’s Lorna Burford

Lorna Burford is the fashion blogger extraordinaire behind Raindrops of Sapphire. Covering fashion tips, outfit posts and denim – of course denim! – Randrops of Sapphire was recently ranked in the Top 10 Women’s Fashion Blogs. We spoke to Lorna about  the evolution of her blogging style, working around fashion weeks and collaborating with PRs and brands.

Raindrops of SapphireHow has your blog changed over time?
It started out as just a place to share my loves and interests in fashion, as a hobby, then over time it grew into my full-time career and with a lot of hard work and effort, a place that I am really proud of. I’ve also been open and honest about health issues and everyone has been incredibly supportive, so I would say it’s changed greatly. It’s an extension of me and a community at the same time. I actually recently did a post looking back over the years to see how things have changed.

When do you start and finish conversations with brands/PRs about fashion weeks?
I would say the emails start rolling in for fashion week four to six weeks prior to it starting. There’s usually a lot of things to cover and time is needed if you have to plan ahead for the shows. After the shows are done, it’s probably a week or so until you receive the info/photos post show, and at that point it’s usually finished.

How do autumn fashion weeks affect your blog?
I don’t notice much of an increase or decrease in traffic, but I notice a lot more sales. Autumn fashion in general is huge and it’s the biggest season for spending money, plus it’s my favourite season, so it’s always a good time of year for clothes in general. The AW season shows are far better than SS!

Who is your favourite designer?
That’s a really tough question as I have different favourite designers for different areas of clothing. As jeans are a huge part of my life, Citizens of Humanity or FRAME take that lead. For bags it would be Celine or Mulberry. For shoes it’s Stuart Weitzman and Louboutin etc. My go to brand for most things though would most likely be Gucci as an allrounder!

What are the main differences between men’s and women’s lifestyle blogs?
I would say men’s are definitely more geared towards street and casual style, whereas women’s are a lot more fashion forward. I think women tend to take a lot more risks compared to men when it comes to trends. I think the blogging industry has to be around 90% women though, so there’s that as a difference too; the women have to stand out more to get noticed.

Raindrops of SapphireWhat one thing should PRs know about you?
I like to take pride in my work, so I’m incredibly picky about the content I put out. It has to fit with my voice/theme of my blog, and the photos have to be of a high standard too so we always shoot with a Nikon DSLR and I’m always using Light Room/Photoshop to edit my photos. I’m my own worst critic, but it means I only put out the content I am proud of. I’m always open to communication though, so never be afraid to email and get in touch. I don’t often attend events that are far away anymore due to my health, but I haven’t found that that hinders me or my blog in any way.

What are the best campaigns you’ve collaborated on recently?
Picking just one, this year would be House of Fraser, which was one of my best ones for 2018… so far.

Do bloggers need their own industry association?
I’m going to say 100% yes. As this industry is getting bigger and bigger, there’s not enough support and protection for bloggers regarding the work and collaborations that occur. Often there’s issues with people screwing you over, not paying, constantly chasing payments etc as it’s still a relatively new industry, so I think there needs to be something more for sure.

What other blogs do you read?
I have three that I checkout often: Cupcakes & Cashmere, Fashion Jackson, and Brooklyn Blonde.

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The Discerning Man

The Discerning Man: men’s lifestyle and working with brands

The Discerning Man is the men’s lifestyle blog written by Ed Lemont. Ed has huge experience of working with brands and PRs and recently spoke to us about best practice and how to get the most from collaborations. Ed also gave advice for new bloggers and revealed the secrets to his success.

You refer to The Discerning Man as both a lifestyle blog and online magazine – how do you see the split between the two or are they one and the same?
I initially created The Discerning Man anonymously because I always knew I wanted to create a collaborative platform. My plan, both then and now, is to work with other amazing food, fitness and travel bloggers to contribute and guest post in the niches they are passionate about and educated in. I was thinking in five or 10 years, if blogs ever crossed over to online magazines, then The Discerning Man would already be an established and recognised title to adapt to such a shift.

In terms of it being a blog, that’s where you get the ‘Ed Lemont’ part coming in and the crossover with Instagram, where I’m speaking directly with my audience. Essentially, I am The Discerning Man but I feel the whole blogging industry is about collaboration and I wanted to celebrate that, which is why it took a long time for me to put my name to the blog.

How has the blog changed from when you first started to today?
Initially, it was very much product-led and I started as a grooming blogger. But the blog wasn’t with my face or under my name, it was anonymous. Gradually I realised, after attending events, that as much as it’s your content people are interested in – it’s you too, which was kind of nice in a way. I did my first big feature back in 2016 where I underwent a hair transplant and was even commissioned by GQ to write this up for their grooming section. That’s when I really started to get to know my audience and the kind of guys following and interacting with me.

So now the blog has changed because it’s a little less product-based and a little more me.

Ed LemontHas this changed the way you work with brands and PRs?
Yes. What I like about the brands I collaborate with is they understand me and The Discerning Man and its audience. So, they know my audience is more aligned with my age, as it’s mainly built up from 25-40-year olds.

One of my clients is Just For Men, who do hair dye that covers greys. I love that because leading on from my hair transplant, anything to do with hair and hair insecurity continues that journey, so I can share my experience and educate people along the way. Even though I wrote my hair transplant posts and feature over two years ago, I still get emails and DMs daily as it’s the most searched-for hair transplant article ever!

What’s a typical collaboration?
I’m at the stage where I’m one of those blogs that has management, so everything goes through them and they run it past me. I went through a phase early on of working with brands because the work was there. Recently I’ve taken it back to what The Discerning Man was originally about – ‘to have good taste’.

I never want to work with brands that I feel don’t represent The Discerning Man and that audience. I have a filter now: is this right for my audience, am I going to be passionate about it and will I enjoy my time creating content for them? Anything to do with fee is the last consideration because I’m so keen on getting the right brand first.

As with your work with Just For Men, do you see a trend towards multi-content, long term collaborations, rather than one-offs?
Yes – I think the ambassador thing is really taking off. The Just For Men collaboration began at the start of the year, with a few projects taking place throughout 2018: we collaborated a few months ago on their moustache colouring launch; I created content with research about which area of the UK is the most well-groomed; I’ve just collaborated about their NFL sponsorship; and we’ll do the Gentleman’s Grooming Show in November.

The ambassador thing is working well – I’ve also been an ambassador for Primark in the past and have a long running relationship with ASOS.

And initial contact goes through your management?
It does. I’m with The Blogger Programme and they manage a bespoke email address that’s linked from my Instagram. Obviously because I’m listed in Vuelio – which is great – I also get some emails directly from PRs, which gives me a foot in the door and keeps those relationships going.

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What advice would you give someone that wants to work with you?
I think just having all of the information up front: what they want me to do for them, the type of content they want me to produce and if there’s an option for me to pitch some ideas for their campaign.

Travel is an area I would love to grow but you have to self-fund that or be lucky enough to be invited on press trips. I love any events-based opportunities because it gives me an opportunity to create content, probably more than if it’s a product-based campaign. For example, I’m going to the Seychelles with Hilton and I’m really excited because I get to produce a wide range of content when I’m there.

What advice would you give bloggers who have just started?
Try to attend as many events as possible but don’t bring a friend or another blogger because going alone makes you talk to people and brands. When I first started blogging, I didn’t get invited to any events so I went on Eventbrite found panel discussions with bloggers and chatted to them afterwards to get a few tips.

Create content for brands you’re interested in. If you’re passionate about a product you’ve bought, write a post about it, post it on Instagram and send the content to them. I’ve done this before – I included ASOS in a blog post about what to wear for Valentine’s day; I sent it to them just to let them know, and now I work with ASOS.

The Primark ambassador role happened because they invited me to a dinner launching the Harris Tweed range. It was such a beautiful dinner that I took photos on the night, wrote a blog post and I sent it to them. I created the blog post for free as a bit of a thank you, which clearly went a long way!

How do you use different social platforms and how do they work with your blog?
Obviously, Instagram is nearly everyone’s main platform. On Instagram I post a lot of outfit shots, which work well for me and get good engagement based on the community I’ve built up over the last couple of years. I use stories as a diary to tell the story of an event where I’ve taken pictures throughout. I also use the swipe-up link on my stories, so I’ll promote blog posts through that and any kind of links to demo the products.

Twitter is a sharing platform for me, so I share my blog posts and retweet any brands I’m working with. I’ve got a YouTube channel too but it’s mainly to host my branded video content and so I can also offer YouTube to brands as an added extra if we’ve collaborated on video content.

Do brands ask for just Instagram collaborations?
Yes – a lot of start-up or fashion brands see the value in the ‘click and shop’ Instagram element and some collaborations will ask for one Instagram post and one or two Stories. When I’m creating content on my blog, it’s very much about giving advice, which may not work as well on Instagram. When I go to the Seychelles, Hilton want a blog post about the hotels I’m staying in as opposed to just an Instagram post. The blog is the right place for anything to do with travel or advice and allows you to elaborate on your experiences without being restricted by a caption.

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Ed Lemont and The Discerning Gent is listed in the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other blogs, vlogs, outlets and opportunities.

The Design Sheppard

Talking top interiors with The Design Sheppard

The Design Sheppard is written by Stacey Sheppard and was recently ranked in the Top 10 UK Interior Design Blogs. Originally a personal scrapbook, The Design Sheppard has since grown into one of the most recognisable interior design blogs in the country. We caught up with Stacey, who told us how her blog has evolved over time, why she’s a writer not a designer and how she likes to collaborate with PR and brands.

How has your blog changed over time?
My blog has been through a couple of redesigns over time and each time I’ve rebranded it has taken on a more professional look. To start with, I was pretty clueless when it came to the visual side of creating a blog and I’ve learnt so much over the years.

The Design Sheppard started out purely as a kind of personal scrapbook where I would document all the design finds that I was discovering. I wasn’t really blogging for anyone other than myself and even today, if everyone stopped reading, I’d probably still keep writing as I see my blog as a place to record all the lessons that I am learning about interiors and all the tips and advice that I have picked up along my journey when it comes to home design. So that hasn’t really changed, despite the fact that I have amassed a rather large readership. But I always try to make sure that my readers can learn something from my posts.

One thing that has changed though is that my blog has now become a business. I resisted this for so long. Coming from a magazine background it always seemed a bit wrong to accept payment for what I considered to be editorial content. So, for the first five years I point-blank turned down every kind of brand collaboration that I was offered, and there were many!

I was really quite late to the monetisation game and I probably missed out on a lot of opportunities. But I wanted to wait until I had worked out how I could make this work for me in a way that I knew wouldn’t damage my integrity and break the trust of my readers. I’m now in a place where I feel more comfortable taking on brand collaborations and I have more confidence in my own decisions.

The Design SheppardHow would you describe your style?
I find this really hard to answer as I’m not really sure I have one distinctive style. When it comes to my own home I prefer a more contemporary look. I’m a big fan of industrial style interiors and I suppose that’s quite a masculine look. I like the minimalism of Scandinavian interiors but I am also starting to appreciate a more glamorous approach to interiors. My style tends to change depending on the room and what the function of that room is.

What makes a great interior design blog?
For me, my favourite interior design blogs are inspirational, aspirational, well written, easy to navigate and beautiful to look at. They are also full of the author’s personality. I like to feel like I am getting to know someone when I read their blog. I also think it’s important to share, whether that is knowledge, advice, tips, or resources. I like blogs where I feel like I’m learning something new.

What’s the split between your own creations/designs and featuring others’?
My blog is different to a lot of other interior design blogs today. As I mentioned, I came from a magazine background, so when I started The Design Sheppard, I wanted it to be like my own magazine. So, I solely featured the work of other people. And this was pretty standard back when I started in 2009. However, it became increasingly popular to feature your own home and makeover projects. I first started to share my own projects after we bought our flat. I felt quite uncomfortable doing this to begin with as I felt a lot of pressure from social media to have an amazing home. But I try not to compare myself to others and I have to constantly remind myself that I am a writer not an interior designer or stylist. I’d say the split is probably 20/80 today.

What’s your favourite room in the house and why?
My favourite room at home would have to be my living room. I love the colour of it, which is Moss Blanket by Dulux. This shade of green is very popular now and was in abundance at Maison & Objet this month, but we’ve lived with it since 2013 and I love it. I find it very calming and balancing. There are a lot of natural materials in our living room like wood, cork, leather and terracotta and it is packed full of plants. I’ve also used a lot of copper which contrasts really well against the green. This room is my happy place.

How do the seasons affect your content?
I’ve never really been a big one for seasonal content. I know it’s a great way to increase your traffic, but writing about Christmas months in advance just doesn’t fill me with joy. I only write about things that excite me and make me happy and I just don’t enjoy forcing myself to write content because it’s the right season.  Maybe this is a foolish decision, but at the end of the day I want to enjoy writing my blog.

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
I’m not an interior designer and I’m not a stylist. I’m a writer who is passionate about interior design. People constantly assume that I am a designer and I’m always having to point out that I’m not.

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve recently worked on?
I think it was probably one I worked on with Black & Blum for their #DesignForHealth campaign. I was helping to promote their BOX APPETIT range of stainless steel food storage containers. I was very apprehensive about doing this campaign as my styling and photography skills aren’t exactly to a professional standard and food photography is notoriously difficult. My husband gave me a hand and I was so proud of the results. I was also able to put it into the wider context of the environmental damage that is being done by single use plastics. This was definitely a great collaboration for me and the feedback I got on the post just confirmed that.

The Design Sheppard

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
Absolutely! Since the rise of “influencers”, the blogosphere has become extremely difficult to navigate. There are rules and regulations surrounding disclosure but these seem to be very open to interpretation. The language that bloggers use to describe their collaborations is pretty vague and confusing. It is extremely difficult for bloggers to make out what commercial relationships are in place on blogs, so it must be near on impossible for readers to tell what involvement the brands have in these posts. This lack of clarity is creating a lot of mistrust and negativity towards bloggers at the moment.

Having an industry association would go a long way to improving the influencer marketing industry for bloggers and would help to ensure ethical conduct, provide clear best practices and create greater transparency. This can only be a good thing, for bloggers, for readers and for brands.

What other blogs do you read?
I read a lot of blogs but some of my favorites are Dear Designer, Mad About The House, Swoon Worthy, Well I Guess This is Growing Up, Making Spaces, Seasons in Colour, Hello Pea Green, Boreal Abode, The Interior Editor, Style Squeeze, In Two Homes and so many others.

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Swoon Worthy

Interior Design spotlight: Kimberly Duran, Swoon Worthy

Kimberly Duran is the creator and author of Swoon Worthy, which has recently been ranked in the top 10 UK interior design blogs. With her love of bright colours, textures and animal print, Kimberly spoke to us about how she brings her style to her blog, her favourite room in her house and how she likes to work with PRs.

How has your blog changed over time?
I’ve been blogging since 2010 so both my blog and the landscape has changed dramatically – almost unrecognisably – over those eight years. In that time, the quality of my posts has certainly improved. I cringe at some of my early photography! There were also so many posts that where I was simply rambling about life with no real objective to why I was posting but, I suppose, it was a great way to get into it. I had time to find my writing voice, to understand who it was I was actually talking to. Over the years, my photography has come on leaps and bounds but also my design skills have really improved – years of practice definitely helped! I also know my audience much better now and so I try to have an objective every time I post – what are my readers getting out of this? Are they learning something new? Are they being inspired? Are they simply being entertained? I now consider my audience so much more in my content than what I did when I first started.

How would you describe your style?
I always describe my style as ‘Eclectic Boho Glam’! I am an unashamed maximalist who loves interiors with personality: I love to mix contemporary with vintage, glamorous gold luxe finishes, cheeky animal prints, touchable textural fabrics, bold pattern mixing and a touch of vintage and bohemian-style comfort.

What makes a great interior design blog?
My favourite blogs are ones where I not only leave feeling inspired and like I’ve learned something new but those where the personality of the writer really shines through. Most of my favourite blogs are those where I feel like I ‘know’ the person writing, where I can get a sense of who they are as a person and how they express themselves through interiors. It makes me far more invested in what I’m reading and ensures I’ll be back for more.

What’s the split between your own creations/designs and featuring others’?
It’s probably about a 90%/10% split. Almost everything I show is my own photography and my own spaces. It hasn’t always been like that, but I do think as a content creator, it’s important to share my own vision and my personal style to my readers as that’s what they come to my blog for.

Swoon worthy roomWhat’s your favourite room in the house and why?
At the moment, it’s my bedroom but that’s really because it’s the only room in the house we’ve actually been able to redesign so far! We moved into our home in March so it’s all a long and slow-going process. More spaces will be completed over time and my favourite room always tends to be the one I completed last so that answer will probably change! But for now, it’s fantastic to be able to settle down and wake up in a room that truly feels like a reflection of my tastes right now.

How do the seasons affect your content?
Over the year, my content tends to be about whatever it is that I or my readers are probably thinking about and a lot of that is weather or season-related! In the summer months, it might be entertaining at home, sprucing up the garden or travelling. Over the colder months, it’s all about creating a cosy and warm nest in your home and getting the most out of the space you have.

What’s your favourite household object/item? 
Oh, that’s a really hard one – it’s like choosing from my children! But I think it would have to be the vintage 1970’s Pierre Vandel brass and glass shelving unit that I have in my living room. I wanted one for years and a blogger friend had picked up one from Paris. She’d had it for years herself and I’d always admired it and when she was moving house and realised she no longer had the space for it, she gave it to me. I may have actually cried when she did that. It really means the world to me – it’s a beautiful piece and just represents how thoughtful and kind the community really is.

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
That I’m incredibly picky about who I work with – it really must be the right fit for my blog, my aesthetic and my readers for me to agree to a collaboration and that’s only because I want any collaboration to be a huge success across the board. And if it is the right fit, I’ll work my socks off to make sure everyone is happy!

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve recently worked on?
I worked with Made.com recently where they provided a desk and some accessories and then I and a few other bloggers styled up the spaces accordingly. We then photographed them and Made sent them to a psychologist to have them analysed! It was all about ‘what your desk says about you’. It was a light-hearted piece and lots of fun and it was great to see how different all our styles really were as well as a little scary how spot on the psychologist was about our personalities!

I also recently supported the #GoGreener campaign by Push Doctor where they were highlighting the benefits that nature has on our wellbeing. For that one, I took my readers houseplant shopping with me where I shared my tips on what to choose, how to pot plants and how to ensure they thrive. It was a monster of a post but so fun to create. I really enjoyed that one.

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
I think it would be an amazing idea. There are so many experienced and knowledgeable people out there that coming together can only be a good thing. Individually, we are all just trying to work things out on our own and learning from our mistakes. The power of community is an incredible one and I know how much I appreciate the blogger groups that I’m a part of. That kind of support is invaluable.

What other blogs do you read?
Oh, there are so many although my blog keeps me very busy so I don’t always get the chance to read as much as I’d like to! Some favourites include: Mad About The House because Kate is so knowledgeable and has such a great writing style, Making Spaces because I always learn something new from Karen, Dear Designer’s Blog because Carole finds the most gorgeous spaces to show off, Apartment Number 4 because Victoria is a such an inspiring entrepreneur, French for Pineapple for Bianca’s amazing style and energy and Forever Amber because she always makes me laugh.

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Cate St Hill profile

Interview with Interiors blogger Cate St Hill

Cate St Hill is a brand-new entry into the top 10 UK interior design blogs. Written by Cate, the blog shares the ethos ‘simple interior design for everyday living’. We spoke to Cate about what makes a great interior design blog, her favourite household item and the one thing PRs should know about her.

How has your blog changed over time?
It’s certainly become more focused and consistent in style. When I first started my blog in 2011 it felt a bit confused and all over the place – I just wrote about whatever took my fancy without thinking about a strategy or the overall bigger picture. I never had a plan, it was a hobby really and I didn’t think people would actually read it! Over the years I’ve learnt to do one thing and do it well. I think people like the reliability of coming to a site and knowing exactly what they’re getting. Now I have a set of brand values if you like, not necessarily written down or set in stone, just something I can refer to in my mind’s eye – with every new piece of work or post I have to think, will it fit with what I’m all about, is it relevant to what I do, will my readers find it engaging?

Cate St Hill KitchenHow would you describe your style?
Simple, down to earth, authentic and understated. I’m drawn to elegant, pared-back interiors, minimal design, neutral colour schemes and well-crafted objects.

What makes a great interior design blog?
A blog that really engages with it’s audience, it’s about knowing what they want but sometimes surprising them too with ideas or inspiration they didn’t know they needed. And creating unique content that a reader can’t get anywhere else. With each piece I try to think about how it will help the reader; beautiful imagery is great but if everyone’s posting the same images, where is the value? It’s also about giving advice, insider tips, a unique angle or insight only you know about.

What’s the split between your own creations/designs and featuring others’?
My blog is probably comprised of 60% my own imagery and 40% brand imagery (my Instagram is 100% my own work). I like to document my own renovations and makeover projects at home, but for example when I go to furniture fairs and exhibitions, the brand’s lifestyle images are so much more beautiful and bright than anything I could ever capture under artificial light at events. I try to only post the highest quality images. Last year I started my own interior design consultation company, advising people on their own redecoration projects and sourcing furniture, I haven’t shared those designs on the blog yet as a lot of them are still a work in progress and I’m sensitive to any clients need for privacy. But watch this space!

What’s your favourite room in the house and why?
The kitchen and living room – it’s really two rooms but because we knocked down the wall in-between them it feels like one big open space. There’s lots of natural light and I love that we can be cooking or entertaining and still have a connection to the dining table or sofa.

How do the seasons affect your content?
The design calendar certainly affects my content, picking up on new furniture launches or getting inspiration from design events such as London Design Festival or Milan Furniture Fair. I’m not one for trends, I do like to create spaces that adapt to the seasons so in winter you might find more content around retreating inside and getting cosy, while in summer there might be more travel posts and outdoor ideas.

What’s your favourite household object/item? 
Probably my Miele coffee machine! I work from home everyday so being able to make decent coffee is a must.

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
I don’t accept guest posts, the amount of emails I get asking! Otherwise, that my blog is now my full-time business and I’ve made the decision to no longer accept product as payment, unless it’s something I really want and need. To begin with receiving gifts was a bit of a novelty, but I soon felt that by accepting them, it didn’t fit with my ethos for simple, minimal living – there’s only so many pieces of furniture, cushions or candles you need. Now I’m very selective with who I work with and I’m more mindful of what I receive and how it is perceived. I don’t want people to think I have an unattainable lifestyle or think that you constantly need new things to make a house a meaningful home.

What are the best campaigns/collaborations you’ve recently worked on?
I really enjoyed working with Georg Jensen Damask recently; they took me to Paris to meet OLDER PARIS, a young design duo who they collaborated with on a new range of striped bedding. It was fascinating hearing the story behind the collection and getting a behind the scenes glimpse of how the design process works at their small, intimate atelier. A lot of brands seem to just churn out collection after collection for the sake of it, but this collaboration had real meaning and intention behind it – to create something simple and sustainable.

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
Yes, I think there should be some industry standards so bloggers, brands, the public and PR companies can have greater understanding of one another, even if it’s some advice to bloggers on how to price themselves or how to write a well-worded email to a brand. A lot of bloggers are winging it in a way as no where does it say, in explicit terms, this is how blogging should be done. A lot comes down to guessing work or chatting between ourselves. I think we could all be a bit more open and transparent in how we work and what we earn. It certainly frustrates me when I see people not disclosing ads or obviously buying likes and followers.

What other blogs do you read?
My Scandinavian Home, Hannah in the House, These Four Walls, Curate and Display, Jessica Rose Williams, Fashion Me Now, Brittany Bathgate, Buckets and Spades, Jordan Bunker.

Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database

At Startup Speed

International spotlight: At Startup Speed

At Startup Speed is a new blog, which was recently launched by Treeline in the US. Covering startup innovation and featuring a huge talent pool of writers, including Jake Knapp of Google, Cecilia Tham from Makers of Barcelona and Bart Oats – NFL Alumni President and three-time Super Bowl champion, At Startup Speed is living up to its name as it makes waves across the blogging scene.

We caught up with the blog to find out what makes it different, the current state of innovation and the future of At Startup Speed.

What’s the blog all about?
In a nutshell —innovation. The who, what, when, how, I guess even the why, of innovation.  We aim to create a dialogue on the people, ideas and methods for innovating, particularly in a corporate environment which often has the talent and tools to innovate, but nonetheless manages to have structures in place that make the creation of the next big thing rather difficult.

Ideas die tragic deaths in legacy organisations and they don’t have to. So, we try to bring all these issues to bare and, hopefully, At Startup Speed inspires people and organisations to dream big, execute quickly, and ship —getting those dreams to market where they can change the world.

What makes your blog unique?
There are a lot of places to go for tech news and see product proposals and releases, but there wasn’t a place that we at Treeline could find to have a dialog with innovators — so we made one. At Startup Speed currently has interviews, articles and graphics to mine the process of innovating and to talk about what’s working and what’s not among a range of people who are trying to change things. So, we might have a corporate innovation lead for a piece followed by a designer trying something completely new, then throw in a college professor who wants to flip the entire corporate hierarchy model on its head and after that give advice for running a good brainstorming meeting. We try to not let anyone get comfortable or create a pattern, so there’s an effort to keep alternating the material and the perspectives as best we can.

Also, the design. People love our design and the great artists we have been using to amplify the interviews and articles.

How do you select the people you work with, the contributors and guest posters?
We try to make it rather random and again explore the concept of innovation in a lot of ways.  We have a huge list that was developed of hundreds of innovation leaders and just interesting people. There are designers, professional athletes, authors, CEOs, union officials, professors – complete weirdos to be honest.  Its constantly being added to and every week or so we discuss internally at Treeline what an interesting topic or person might be to chat to or get an article from and we reach out.  We have been pleasantly surprised by how many have said yes, and also how many of the people we ping who have already read At Startup Speed.

How do you measure your audience and how important is this when planning content?
When it comes to audience, we look to the unique visitors, newsletter signups and additional feedback we receive. We really have been blowing away our initial projections. It’s funny because we were like, ‘If we can just get 500 readers a week that would be awesome because they would be the perfect 500 people deeply invested in innovation’. As it is, we have been toping 20k most weeks recently and its starting to just take on a life of its own.

To be honest we don’t adjust or even discuss how to make the content fit the audience. Like not even in the slightest bit. We plan our topics and who to approach purely by what we like. If we think it’s cool, we go for it. That’s the joy of not having to worry about advertisers or trying to be this huge media property that appeals to a massive audience.

We value the importance of having a strong POV which comes from the culture at Treeline and trusting in it. So, whether it be a topic or a design choice, we just follow our gut and trust that others will gravitate towards its authenticity.

How does the blog feed back into Treeline?
It would be disingenuous to say we don’t care how it feeds back, but in a way we don’t care. The ideas the blog raises were things we wanted to hear about and questions we wanted to ask of folks out there who were changing things and doing cool stuff. So, its biggest means of feeding back is it creates ideas for our team and certainly the greater community of readers. It also educates us on new techniques and things happening out there among innovators.

And, since our team has developed several of the pieces, it has also made us sometimes commit things to paper that were in our head and actually share them internally and externally.  The piece Carter did recently on focusing on one thing, for instance, is something we do already in the office, but it gave us time to ponder its effects, question if its working, discusssng among the team what impact it’s had and changes we might make.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that we have gotten clients from it. It’s certainly raised Treeline’s profile among a group of leading innovators and its certainly injected us into a lot of key discussions on technology and innovation.

How do you see the blog developing in the future?
We want to continue to push boundaries as far as topics go. We don’t want it to get stale. There is certainly a drive to creating more content, potentially growing into something that has unique pieces daily at some point. We also want to evolve the content beyond just copy and involve more audio, video, infographics and that sort of thing. Perhaps build a platform out for the community to dialogue more. Also creating real world moments like events and webcasts.  So, we hope to see it expand into a lot of new areas over the next year or so.

You cover innovation – what’s the next big world-changing technical innovation we should be aware of?
The more we look at innovation the less we realise we know. We are entering an age, or more precisely ‘we are in an age’, where the world around us will provide a whole other degree of context whether that be vast sensor networks, AR, assistants and bots, and other related technologies. Today we still experience the world through our phones, laptop screens and iPads, which is rather limiting. Society is on the cusp — for better or for worse — with being even more immersed in real-time information. Alexa, smart cities, digital assistance in cars and the workplace, etc. And this level of immersion creates a dialogue on what it all means for us as people to live this way. There is this ever-accelerating pace of change that is underway that eclipses our ability to ponder and reconcile the change before the next change occurs. So, perhaps the next innovation is ‘us’ not just our tools.

Do you accept new contributions or collaborations with brands/PRs?
We have been approached by a number of companies and PR reps as of late. And the quick answer is we absolutely are interested in hearing their ideas and adding it to the mix for consideration. We have already run a couple pieces after getting contacted and we certainly have more in the works. Getting pitched like that challenges our notions and keeps us nimble and again, avoiding staleness and stagnation. So innovators, PR folks and publicists, we welcome your ideas.

One caveat is, we aren’t interested in running a ‘commercial’. We are interested in the core notions of At Startup Speed, which are to create a place to talk about innovation and bring together a community that challenges assumptions, tinkers with new ideas and methods, and tries to change the unchangeable.

What blogs do you read, and do they inform your own content?
All of us on the team have our favorites and draw a great deal of inspiration and ideas from them. Personally I am a huge fan of FastCo’s Co.Design, Hackster.io, Mirador, Vox, Ars Technica, Splinter and BoingBoing  — which I have been following forever. Those and Twitter, LinkedIn and some of our shared channels on Treeline’s Slack really create an amazing churn of concepts and inspiration.

 

 

Influencer Marketing

Is your influencer marketing ethical?

Influencer marketing is bigger than ever, but more attention on the latest marketing craze means more scrutiny. Are you getting influencer marketing right? And why does it matter anyway?

Influencer marketing already attracts huge budgets – with some influencers able to charge thousands of pounds for a single post – but a recent study from the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) revealed that 65% of multinationals are looking to spend even more on influencers over the next 12 months. Although booming, the industry lacks dedicated regulation and instead relies on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to create new rules as it evolves.

This has led to unethical practices becoming rife, propagated by both sides of the collaboration. At Vuelio, several influencers have told us how some PRs insist that they do not disclose collaborations or incorrectly label links. Similarly, some influencers allegedly break the rules, whether by buying followers or mislabelling social posts in order to increase engagement.

The two highest-profile issues are undoubtedly the purchasing of fake followers and the lack of disclosure of paid-for collaborations, both presenting myriad issues for the PR industry.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently announced an investigation to determine whether celebrities and social-media stars are correctly disclosing their paid-for collaborations with PRs and brands – throwing the future of influencer marketing into question.

Disclosure
While it may seem advantageous for your content to fit seamlessly alongside an influencer’s organic posts, people know when they’re being sold to and can easily spot paid-for endorsements. Ads passed off as organic are therefore more likely to produce a negative backlash.

Even though people don’t like being tricked into consuming advertisements, they generally don’t mind being advertised to if it is clearly labelled, fits with the influencer’s typical editorial line and is of value to the reader. If your influencer marketing doesn’t tick all three of these boxes, then you need to rethink your campaign.

Should the CMA conclude influencer marketing is regularly breaking consumer law, it can take enforcement action and impose strict new rules.

You need to get out ahead of the investigation and ensure your disclosure practices are already ethically sound, so you’re not caught up in future regulation repercussions.

Faking it
If your influencers have bought fake followers, the results they return will either be lower than expected or completely fabricated. It would be the equivalent of a TV broadcaster paying people to tell the BARB that they watched certain programmes.

While headline stats – so many million people saw the post, liked and replied to it – may be worth reporting, if there are no tangible benefits to your social campaign it isn’t worth your time or money.

Scott Guthrie, former Ketchum digital director of influencer relations and now an influencer marketing consultant, has recently researched fraud and spoke to Vuelio about his findings. Not only did he discover that purchasing fake followers could be a crime, he also found that many stakeholders are not prepared to deal with the issue.

Guthrie highlights five signs of potential follower fraud, which you should incorporate into your vetting process:

  1. Sudden spikes in follower numbers
  2. Low-quality followers
  3. Low engagement rates
  4. Followers in surprising countries
  5. Bad ratio of content published to number of followers

At Vuelio, we measure the influence of every individual in our database to produce the Influencer Score. We use more than 40 data points to measure the quality of each influencer, which takes the hard work out of the process and allows our users to focus on building quality relationships with individuals.

And, as with all PR and communications, good relationships produce the best results. Lloyd and Yaya, the bloggers behind the Vuelio Blog Award-winning Hand Luggage Only, agree: “We always see collaborations as a two-way conversation – not just one party telling the other what to do or not do – which helps when working with brands.”

Leading lifestyle blogger Paula Holmes, of The LDN Diaries, added: “I love it when I can put my own spin on the collaboration to make it work better for both parties and create something great for our audiences.”

This article originally appeared in PRWeek.

Vuelio

The Blogger Ballot is OPEN

The Blogger Ballot for this year’s Vuelio Blog Awards is now OPEN

The Vuelio Blog Awards are back! Now in their fourth year, the Vuelio Blog Awards are the biggest celebration of bloggers in the UK (possibly the world!). Hundreds of bloggers come together for a night of fine food, top entertainment and partying till you can party no more! Taking place on 30 November at the Bloomsbury Big Top in London, top bloggers will win the industry’s most respected accolades across a wide range of categories and topics.

The Blogger Ballot is the only place for content creators, from bloggers and vloggers to Instagrammers and YouTubers, to enter for a chance to get free tickets to the most incredible night of the year.

Enter the Blogger Ballot here

There is always such a huge demand for complimentary tickets from bloggers and, unfortunately, we just don’t have room for everyone. The Blogger Ballot will be drawn randomly, but you have to be in it to win it.

AND, for the first time in 2018, we’re giving you the chance to bring a friend! We know bloggers want to come together, so you can now apply for a plus one ticket.

If you’re free on 30 November, between 7pm and midnight and are a content creator of the highest order, enter the Blogger Ballot today.

Good Luck!

Please note: the venue’s rules mean only over 18s can attend.

Just Do it

Nike, Kaepernick and reputation

Nike has launched a new campaign, celebrating 30 years of ‘Just do it’. While some of the stars in the campaign, such as Serena Williams, are unsurprising, the inclusion of Colin Kaepernick has sparked huge conversation, and in some cases backlash, online. The campaign asks a bigger question of all communications professionals: how much should you be pushing your business or clients to make political stands and talk about the issues that matter to the public?

Colin Kaepernick is famous for being the first NFL star to kneel during the national anthem, exercising his first amendment right to free speech to protest police brutality against African Americans. His protest angered many in the US, including President Trump, but other players followed suit and the issue continues to divide the nation.

As reported by the BBC, Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since last year and is suing the league, arguing that team owners have deliberately frozen him out because of his activism.

The Nike campaign has caused a backlash from some online, with the general protest against Nike’s advert being to burn or destroy Nike clothing owned by the protester:

Many others have pointed out that this form of protest is particularly illogical as it is actually protesting someone’s right to protest:

It’s also burning clothing you’ve already paid for and explicitly making Nike true to their campaign words; Nike believes in something – even if it means sacrificing everything (or some customers).

The Nike campaign arrives on the same day as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)’s new research tracking public attitudes towards business.

The Everyone’s business tracker: Public attitudes report reveals 92% of the public want businesses to speak out on key issues impacting society. The report suggests that in UK, an increased focus on gender pay reporting, GDPR and Brexit has encouraged businesses to speak more openly about the challenges they face.

The CIPR has welcomed the report, with President Sarah Hall linking the news to Nike’s Kaepernick campaign. She said: ‘There is a clear demand for business to operate with social purpose. Just today we’ve seen Nike launch an advertising campaign with the former NFL player and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick.

‘Public relations professionals have a key role to play in guiding these decisions and encouraging businesses to align their interests with their audiences. We have the opportunity to ensure clients and businesses operate ethically and responsibly with the beneficial outcomes that result in terms of reputation and brand loyalty.’

The research also warns of the impact of high profile failures, which has tarnished the broader reputation of business, with 56% of the public believing the reputation of business is good, down 9% since October. The report suggests the collapse of Carillion and the Cambridge Analytica scandal have had a negative impact on the reputation of business and highlight the need for firms to commit to corporate governance and fulfil their social responsibilities.

 

Ready to fulfil your social responsibility? Or perhaps you just want help managing your reputation? Either way, Vuelio has you covered. Find out more

BBC Radio 2

Chris Evans leaves Radio 2 for Virgin Radio

Chris Evans is leaving Radio 2 after 13 years with the station. The presenter of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show is rejoining Virgin Radio, the broadcaster he left in 2001.

Evans announced on his Monday morning show that he is to depart, with his last broadcast for Radio 2 set for December. However, the news was quickly followed by rumour and then confirmation that the star will be joining Virgin Radio.

The Radio 2 Breakfast Show is the most listened to radio show in the UK, with a weekly audience of over nine million. This compares with the Virgin Radio breakfast show’s 413,000 weekly listeners.

Evans is one of the BBC’s highest-paid stars, earning in excess of £1.6m a year, however the Mirror suggests the move will lead to a significant pay increase.

On leaving Radio 2, Evans said: ‘As Sir Terry said before me, there’s never a right time to leave something you love but there might be a wrong time if you hang on too long. I honestly think The Breakfast Show is currently as positive, useful, sunny and inclusive as it has ever been. In fine shape for its next custodian. Whoever that turns out to be, I wish them all the very best, they are in for an absolute blast.’

And on joining Virgin, he said: ‘In many ways Virgin Radio is my spiritual home. I see nothing but exciting and ground-breaking opportunities ahead. In a medium that is changing so quickly on a daily basis, the potential for growth is unprecedented. Our plan is: to give it all we’ve got, see where we can get to and have the most possible fun along the way. It makes me smile every time I think about it.’

His time at Radio 2 has been marked by many highs, not least a peak audience of 9.91m in 2014. Evans has raised millions of pounds for Children in Need with his annual CarFest events and other fundraising activities, and he launched the 500 Words children’s story-writing competition that, this year, received over 130,000 entries.

Lewis Carnie, head of Radio 2, said: ‘Over the past eight years on Breakfast, Chris has built an incredibly close relationship with the Radio 2 audience. I’d like to thank him, on behalf of them all, for becoming their friend via the airwaves. We look forward to launching a brand-new Radio 2 Breakfast Show early in the New Year.’

His first stint at Virgin Radio was tumultuous at times, with a 2001 Telegraph article quoting Evans as saying: ‘It looks like it’s all over – £600 million has come off the share price of the company and they have to blame someone and it looks like it’s me. I haven’t been sacked yet but it looks like it’s going to happen.’

Now Virgin is welcoming him back with open arms. Scott Taunton, CEO of Wireless, which owns Virgin Radio, said: ‘We are beyond thrilled that Chris has chosen to come back to Virgin Radio. He is the biggest name in radio and is synonymous with the brand. He has the most exciting Breakfast Show in the industry and has an energy that captivates audiences.’

Evans is not the first big name BBC Radio star to join a commercial station. Chris Moyles famously departed his Radio 1 Breakfast Show, which had a regular audience in excess of six million, and joined Radio X, where he has a weekly audience of 859,000.

All eyes will be on listening figures to see if Chris Evans has the star power to draw a significant audience or if his replacement at Radio 2 will be able to keep the audience.