Mad about the house

Blogger Spotlight: Kate Watson-Smyth, Mad About The House

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Kate Watson-Smyth writes Mad About The House, which was recently first in the Top 10 Interior Design Blogs. Winner of both Best Interior Design Blog and Best UK Blog at the Vuelio Blog Awards 2016, Kate helps to inject personality and life into your home with her expert advice. We spoke to Kate about finding inspiration in the loo, nosing about in other people’s houses and working with brands.

How would you describe your blog?
It’s an interiors blog dedicated to helping people find their style and learn not just about new things to buy but also how to decorate their homes. I want people to be brave with their interior design choices and feel confident in what they like and not paralysed by choice or the sums of money involved. But, also, to have fun with their interiors. It’s like dressing yourself but on a bigger scale.

Why did you start your blog?
I have been a journalist for 25 years, over 15 of them writing about interiors. As newspapers have struggled with falling revenues and circulation, I had to find a new way to write. Interiors has always been my passion.

What’s your favourite thing to blog about?
I love finding out about things and discovering new talents and objects. It’s hard to pick a single thing as I am as happy nosing about in other people’s houses as finding a new cushion cover or wallpaper.

How do you manage your photography?
I write a lot about beautiful things to buy and companies are now investing increasingly in great photography so there is a wealth of sources right there which you can credit and link to the store. Using images from Pinterest is tricky if you can’t find the photographer so I try always to feature designers who I can contact.

What’s your favourite interior?
That probably changes every day of the week, but I do love a Devol kitchen.

What or who are your biggest inspirations?
I love looking around hotels for examples of clever design – they often have to fit a lot into a small space so it can be really helpful to see how they have done it. Restaurant loos are another great place to look – often great and bold use of colour and wallpaper in there. Instagram of course as there can be such a great mix of professional and personal.

What makes your blog successful?
Surely that’s not for me to say? There’s a lot of content there now and I have tried to include a lot of useful information such as how to plan a kitchen, what you should know when you are buying a sofa as well as beautiful things to buy for your home. I try to keep it chatty and varied but also full of proper information.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I like them to get my name right – the emails addressed to Mad tend not to get opened! There are so many blogs now that I really appreciate when a PR has taken the time to read the blog and work out if I really am the right person for their idea. These days I think it’s much more about focused collaboration and I tend not to work on huge campaigns that everyone is doing if at all possible.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
Don’t ring me up. Email is better.

What other blogs do you read?
As a judge for the Vuelio awards this year I have been reading a lot of blogs. I do read around my sector – in particular French for Pineapple and the Rockett St George blog but I also love fashion and lifestyle blog the-edited.com and the fashion blog doesmybumlook40.blogspot.co.uk. Gold is a Neutral is a newcomer that’s good too.

Kate Watson-Smyth is joined by thousands of bloggers, influencers, journalists, editors and media outlets in the Vuelio Influencer Database. Learn more.

UK – 27 September 2017

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Today’s Media Updates covers moves and changes at UK titles including BBC Asian Network, Reuters, FASHION BEANS and Farmers Weekly.  

News & Politics

  • Arif Ansari has been appointed head of news at BBC Asian Network. Arif was previously the political editor at BBC North West Tonight and presenter of Sunday Politics NW.
  • David Brooke has been appointed EMEA middle market loans reporter at Reuters. David was previously a reporter at Private Debt Investor.

Lifestyle

  • Will Grice has been appointed online editor at elitetraveler. Will has previously worked at THE IDLE MAN and GQ.
  • Luke Sampson has been appointed associate editor at FASHION BEANS. Luke was previously menswear editor at Reiss.

Business

  • Oli Hill has been appointed community editor at Farmers Weekly. Oli was previously a senior arable reporter at the title.

The Vuelio Media Database lists thousands of journalists, bloggers, publications and media outlets. Learn more about our database.

Slummy Single Mummy

From Bedrooms to Boardrooms

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This morning, Vuelio hosted a webinar to discuss the results of the UK Bloggers Survey 2017. We were joined by top parenting blogger and trailblazer Jo Middleton, who writes the award-winning blog Slummy Single Mummy.

Jo started her blog in 2009, as a means to promote her freelance writing and journalism. It was about a year later (after she was sent a questionable freebie hand cream) that Jo considered the commercial aspects of blogging and started to believe it could become her main source of income.

Professional bloggers are on the rise; the survey revealed that 12% of bloggers now rely on it as their main source of income, that’s up from 8% in 2016. Jo has seen an increase in those that set out to become professional – where her rise was gradual, they’re focused on making money from the outset.

Jo believes this has upped everyone’s game, as in a professional industry only excellence will stand out.

Part of that professionalism comes from collaborations and brand partnerships, though the foundation of these relationships is not always straightforward. The survey revealed that 37% of bloggers get sent more than six pitches a week, while Jo receives in excess of 100. Though most of these are not successful, the number (and therefore success rate) does change throughout the year, with Jo more likely to take time over a pitch in a quieter month, like August.

And when it comes to successful pitches? Jo relies on both her own opinion of a brand as well as the opinions of her readers. Jo pointed out that lots of brands who work with influencers are attempting to re-establish people’s perceptions and so providing a creative way to impress bloggers is a great place to start.

She explained how Iceland approached her for a collaboration and while she wouldn’t normally have shopped at Iceland – considering it a place of kebab pizzas – her opinion has changed dramatically with each Iceland interaction and she can comfortably share her revised opinion of the supermarket to her readers. She also highlighted Iceland as a good brand to work with due to their desire for statistics and continued collaboration after posts have been published. Some brands request a post and then move on, making Jo feel like a tick box exercise.

When it comes to collaborating, disclosure is hugely important – especially as a whopping 13% of bloggers still flout advertising laws in their belief that not all collaborations need disclosure. To Jo this is ridiculous, she always makes her collaborations clear on posts and doesn’t think there’s any downside. Her readers know she’s a professional blogger and labelling something as paid-for doesn’t change her opinion.

She also commented on the rise in PRs requiring disclosure. In the last year she’s worked with more brands pushing disclosure from the very beginning of the relationship. There’s hopes this will trickle down into the blogosphere and change the statistics for 2018.

Did you miss this morning’s webinar? You can get a recording sent to you online, click here for more information. And if you’d like to talk more about the Bloggers Survey, comment below or tweet us @Vuelio. You can also reach the amazing Jo on Twitter @mummyblogger.

BBC

Laura Kuenssberg given bodyguard at Labour conference

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Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s political editor, has been assigned security detail at the Labour Party conference after sustained online abuse.

The BBC’s first female political editor has endured online abuse consistently since she was thrust into the spotlight. Aggressive, threatening and abusive messages are commonplace for Kuenssberg and all high profile female journalists online.

Kuenssberg is typically accused of impartiality over political stories by both sides of the political spectrum, often if a story about a leader or party is ‘negative’. Online trolls seem to have confused a political journalist doing their job, and holding politicians to account, with ‘taking sides’.

The fact Kuenssberg has had to resort to protection in order to be safe at work has angered many in politics and the media, though the truth is that this is nothing new for female personalities in the public eye, who have always received abuse online.

In the Guardian, Diane Abbott – no stranger to online abuse herself – has condemned abusive party ‘supporters’. She said: ‘It is wrong. Laura is doing a job, I may not always like how she does the job every time, but it is her job and why – just because she is a woman journalist – does she get that level of abuse. It’s wrong.’

John McDonnell has also attacked the trolls, saying it was ‘unacceptable’ and that any abusive activists would be ‘disciplined’. Though as reported in the Telegraph, McDonnell has also been accused of making light of the abuse by saying ‘I’ve said to Laura today, if you identify people, they will be disciplined by this party… John McDonnell will sort them.’

James Kirkup, writing in the Spectator, has suggested the fact a journalist is not safe to do her job without security detail is a blow against democracy in this country. Comparing the situation to a less democratically-free nation, he writes: ‘Britain would – and does – chide ‘developing’ nations in Africa, Asia and South America for failing to safeguard the free media and ensure journalists’ ability to report the words and deeds of people in power’.

The list of those publicly outraged is bountiful, but so too is the group who claim Kuenssberg has made the story up or is doing it just for attention. The bodyguard can’t stop the online abuse and so once again attention turns to the social media networks that host it but are struggling to make any sort of impact against abuse while maintaining ‘free speech’.

Women in Journalism’ s recent report highlighted the fact that one of the major reasons female journalists were missing from front page bylines was because there were so few in senior political editor positions.

But this goes further, Laura Kuenssberg’s bodyguard is not just an indication that women are struggling in journalism but an indication that women are struggling in society.

UK – 26 September 2017

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Today’s Media Updates covers moves and changes at UK titles including BBC Essex, Huff Post and loveFood.  

News & Politics

  • Charlotte Rose has been appointed political reporter at BBC Essex. Charlotte was previously a political reporter at BBC Radio Sheffield.
  • Eve Hartley has left her role as multimedia editor at Huff Post UK to go freelance. She will be based in South America from October 2017.

Lifestyle

  • Karlina Valeiko has been appointed editorial assistant across loveFOOD and loveEXPLORING. Karlina previously interned at these titles.

Business

  • Molly Dyson has been appointed digital editor at Buying Business Travel. Molly was previously editor at PA Life.

The Vuelio Media Database lists thousands of journalists, bloggers, publications and media outlets. Learn more about our database.

Blogger Spotlight: Antonia Ludden, #tidylife

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Antonia Ludden is the Top 10 Interior Design Blogger behind #tidylife. Antonia was inspired to create her blog back in 2012 after following US bloggers and their DIY, home organising and décor blogs. We spoke to Antonia about transforming rooms, being inspired by bloggers and working with PRs.

How would you describe your blog?
#tidylife is the place to discover all the latest UK home interior design trends and ideas, lush homeware and lifestyle inspiration.

Why did you start your blog?
Five or six years ago, I began searching for home improvement inspiration online and was finding lots of blogs from the USA but not many equivalent UK blogs. So, I thought I would give it a try myself.

What’s your favourite thing to blog about?
I love to style products and there’s also something exciting about revealing a finished project; I love a good ‘before and after’ when a room has been transformed and think readers enjoy that sort of thing too.

How do you manage your photography?
I get reasonable pictures with my Nikon – set to auto mostly, but would like to develop my photography skills. I am considering working with a photographer in the future to produce some magazine-worthy shots.

What’s your favourite interior?
I like dark moody interiors as well as light, bright modern spaces.

What or who are your biggest inspirations?
Fellow bloggers and Instagrammers mainly.

What makes your blog successful?
Perhaps because it has been going a while, I’ve been blogging consistently since 2012.  I also like to share achievable interiors and design inspiration on a budget, plus I am adding more lifestyle content at the weekends for something different.

How do you like to work with PRs?
It makes things so much easier when a PR is clear about their expectations. Getting a brief sent through with deadlines, social media hashtags to use etc. is really helpful.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
I am flexible and open to creative ideas!

What other blogs do you read?
The first blog I discovered was IHeart Organizing and I still like to look in on it from time to time. I enjoy reading the blogs of people who have become friends through blogging and am starting to dip into more beauty and fashion blogs as well as the home interior ones.

Antonia Ludden is just one entry in the market-leading Vuelio influencer database, which has thousands of bloggers, influencers, journalists, editors and media outlets. Find out how to reach them all here.

uber

Can Uber triumph in London?

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Transport for London last week announced it will not renew Uber’s private hire operator licence after its current licence expires on 30 September. While there will be a stay of execution to allow for the ride-sharing app to appeal, TfL is sticking to its guns and the end of Uber in London looks inevitable.

But is it?

While Uber is often under attack in the media, the service is hugely popular among its 3.5 million London users for a multitude of reasons, from price to feeling safe at night.

And for a company that reportedly spends £250,000 a month on PR and lobbying, Uber has unsurprisingly come out all guns blazing. A petition, started by Uber itself, has already attracted over 700,000 signatures and became Change.org’s fastest growing petition of 2017.

In the petition, Uber has attacked TfL and London Mayor Sadiq Khan: ‘By wanting to ban our app from the capital, Transport for London and their chairman the Mayor have given in to a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice.

‘This ban shows the world that London is far from being open and is closed to innovative companies, who bring choice to consumers and work opportunities to those who need them.’

By attacking Khan’s own claim that post-Brexit London is open, both to people and business, Uber is suggesting that this comes across as an anti-innovative move that inconveniences the people of the city. Khan hit back, telling the petitioning customers to direct their anger at Uber as they have been found at fault: ‘It would be wrong for TfL to licence Uber if there was any way this could pose a threat to Londoners’ safety or security.’

But now the situation is escalating. The Financial Times has reported that TfL is under fire with suggestions it is responsible for two of the four reasons it gave when revoking Uber’s licence.

The two reasons in question are:

  • Its approach to how medical certificates are obtained.
  • Its approach to how Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are obtained.

The vetting and safety checks of Uber drivers are apparently carried out by TfL. James Farrar, an Uber driver and trade body representative told the FT: ‘To me this reeks. It’s a bogus charge from TfL. Uber will be able to remedy this in court immediately because DBS and medical certification are prerequisites for drivers getting their licences from TfL.’

And this licence ban affects so much more – what about UberEats, the food delivery service? Or the other towns and cities in the UK that Uber still operates in?

For the former, UberEats is safe – the licence renewal is about private hire operators so the delivery service is exempt. But as for the rest of the UK, it’s unclear how they’ll operate around London. Can they still visit airports? Possibly. Will they stop at the M25 and make passengers walk? Seems unlikely.

So, have we seen the last of Uber in London? Perhaps not – the tech giant has many resources to hand but most importantly, and perhaps this something that’s been underestimated, an army of supporters in the capital who rely on the ride-sharing service. Sure, there are other apps available, but people don’t like change; they like what they know and what they know will work.

Uber may have a bad reputation at head office in the US, and it may come out on the wrong side of black cabs struggling in the capital, but the service has focused on excellent customer service at a one-to-one level and is now wielding this significant reputation to fight its case.

Sometimes reputation isn’t top down, it’s down up – take care of the day-to-day customers and they’ll take care of you.

UK – 25 September 2017

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Media-Updates-New-Featured

Today’s Media Updates covers moves and changes at UK titles including Peter Hunt’s BBC departure, Time Inc UK’s sale and moves at Daily Mail and The Times.  

News & Politics

  • Time Inc UK has been put up for sale by its American owner Time Inc. The Publisher produces Instyle, Horse & Hound, Marie Claire, NME, Wallpaper* to name just some of its 50 titles.
  • Peter Hunt has announced he is the leave his role as royal correspondent at the BBC. He is taking up a new role as director of communications and engagement at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Lifestyle

  • Natasha Wynarczyk has been appointed assistant editor at the Daily Mail‘s Good Health section.
  • Ed Potton has now been appointed deputy film critic at The Times. He will also continue to be rock & pop editor.

Business

  • Yvette Murrell has been appointed features writer at Kitchens, Bedrooms & Bathrooms. Yvette was previously editorial assistant at the title.

The Vuelio Media Database lists thousands of journalists, bloggers, publications and media outlets. Learn more about our database.

Podcast slide

Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 22 September 2017

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The #VuelioVoice podcast covering the major trending stories from the worlds of media, marketing and PR this week.

Listen to Akeshia Clarke and Jake O’Neill discuss five things you shouldn’t have missed.

This week the stories include:

1. Women on front pages – a new report from Women in Journalism has revealed that just a meager 25% of front page stories contain female bylines. We explore why female journalists aren’t getting the coverage they deserve.

2. A tale of two bookies – Paddy Power has this week fallen foul of ASA’s advertising rules while Betfair has announced a new celebrity endorsement with Rio Ferdinand in its Defender to Contender project. We discuss the opposing marketing strategies.

3. Heidi Klum’s designer clothing – Heidi Klum has launched a new range of clothing with Lidl. We explore how the supermarket is appealing to a luxury-loving audience while maintaining its low prices.

4. Ryan Air in the news – Ryan Air’s pilots are all taking their holiday at the same time due to a planning ‘mess up’. The airline’s CEO has made some controversial comments but also defended the company’s relationship with its pilots.

5. Morrisons focuses on staff – another supermarket story as Morrisons has refocused its advertising on the staff it has in store and the fresh, on-site goods they’re creating. We look at how the company, like Lidl, is repositioning itself after positive results.

Think we’ve missed something? Get in touch on Twitter @Vuelio or use the hashtag #VuelioVoice.

 

targeted advertising

Facebook ads target real-world visits

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Facebook has improved its location targeting to let advertisers focus on real-life customers and visitors to their real-life stores.

If users allow Facebook to track their location, the social network can let advertisers target people that visit their physical locations, their competitors’ locations or even friends of people that visit them.

The service is so precise it can also allow you to exclude people who have already visited if, for example, you had a special ‘new customer’ promotion.

As reported in Ad Age, Gabriel Francis, product manager of offline sales at Facebook, said: ‘This allows businesses to close the loop on their advertisements.

‘Twenty years ago, during the advent of online advertising, we saw that people didn’t just want to understand the impact of their digital ads on individual purchases. They also wanted to use that information so they could optimize their ads in order to find their best customers and find the optimal conversion rate and then use that information to improve their advertisements so they could be really efficient with their ad spend.’

Facebook now thinks it has met this need by mimicking digital tracking. After customers search for particular items on certain sites, Google ads allows these products to follow those customers around the web.

The biggest issue for Facebook with its new store location targeting will be proving its worth, as is the case with all new advertising innovations. The social network will somehow have to link physical (or digital) purchases back to the targeted ads based on location. As the companies that try the new service are likely to use it as part of a suite of offerings, this ROI will be particularly tricky.

What is clear is that ‘bespoke’ experiences online are still being seen as the ultimate end goal – and targeted advertising will only get smarter.

Anyone remember Minority Report?

UK – 22 September 2017

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Today’s Media Updates covers moves and changes at UK titles including Mark Di Stefano’s BuzzFeed appointment, AgriLand and Woman’s Own.  

News & Politics

  • Mark Di Stefano has been appointed media and politics reporter at BuzzFeed UK. Mark was previously political editor at BuzzFeed Australia.

Business

  • Rachel Martin has been appointed Northern correspondent at AgriLand. Rachel was previously a news and business reporter at the Belfast Telegraph.

Lifestyle

  • Esme Clemo has been appointed home & craft editor across Time Inc titles Woman, Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Own, Now, Chat and Pick Me Up. Esme previously had this role at just Woman’s Weekly.

The Vuelio Media Database lists thousands of journalists, bloggers, publications and media outlets. Find out more about our services.

beauty prods

Beauty Shortlist Awards now in seventh year

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The seventh annual Beauty Shortlist Awards will take place in London on Friday, 2 March 2018. Run by the Beauty Shortlist team, including top blogger and editor Fiona Klonarides, the Beauty Shortlist Awards are widely respected in the beauty industry for their independent accolades.

The awards are also open to submissions from international beauty, health and men’s grooming brands, for the second year in a row.

The Judging panels this year are spread across three continents – taking in London, New York and Australia. The Panels include:

London

  • Red carpet, cruelty-free humane society ambassador Justine Jenkins, who has been the make-up artist for Fearne Cotton and Eleanor Tomlinson
  • Health coach and yoga and beauty expert Amber Macintosh (Dandelion Wellbeing)
  • Contributing beauty editor and freelance beauty/lifestyle writer Helen Wilson-Beevers (Marie Claire, Stylenest, Cosmopolitan)

New York

  • TV fashion stylist and on-air presenter Dawn Del Russo (Access Hollywood, E!, Cosmopolitan, Vogue Italy)
  • Her sister, makeup artist Denise Del Russo
  • Beauty + Content founder and beauty photographer Amy Schneider

Australia

  • Holly Spierings, creator of award-winning makeup brand Eye of Horus Cosmetics
  • Eco-luxe skincare blogger Arjun Sudhir

There will be 20 judges in total, who over six months will test every entered product thoroughly and evaluate it for efficacy, texture, scent, packaging, and numerous other factors. There are 179 open categories – find out more about the categories here.

The closing date for all entries is Friday 17 November.

The Beauty Shortlist is just of thousands of blogs that appear on the Vuelio Influencer Database. Want to know more? 

Carl Thompson blogger

Blogger Spotlight: Carl Thompson

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Carl Thompson is a Top 10 Men’s Lifestyle Blogger with his eponymous blog. Created to document his personal style and promote his menswear label Carl Thompson covers grooming tips, cocktails and travel. We caught up with Carl to talk about FSTGLFFC, modern man, the iPhone changing marketing and how he likes to work with brands.

How would you describe your blog?
The blog is really an evolution from my menswear label ‘Hawkins & Shepherd’ that I launched back in August 2013. I like to think the site is a reflection of my personal interests. I often describe it as an amalgamation of fashion, style, travel, grooming, lifestyle, fitness & food content. Which is a bit of a mouthful but unfortunately FSTGLFFC is a rather rubbish and convoluted acronym.

Why did you start your blog?
To begin with I was looking to drive more traffic to my menswear label, but it soon became apparent that the blog was developing into something separate and deserved its own platform. I wanted to talk about things other than fashion such as travel, cars etc. and Carl Thompson the blog became an extension of Carl Thompson the person. I’m really proud of the way the blog looks now.

What are the latest trends in men’s lifestyle we should be aware of?
I actually get this a lot, and it may sound funny but I’ve never been one to follow trends. I once heard David Gandy speak about the same thing in an interview, that trends are so fast and disposable that if you try and keep abreast of them all it will send you slowly round the bend. Also, lifestyle is a huge encompassing word; interior design is lifestyle, fashion is lifestyle, whisky is lifestyle. I suppose if I was to pick out any trends I know that male skincare and male grooming is getting spoken about a lot. Men are even getting into making their own moisturiser which was unheard of 5-10 years ago.

Male grooming is nothing new, it’s been around since Ancient Egypt and the Early Crusades, but it’s certainly proliferated with the likes of social media making it the zeitgeist of men’s lifestyle.

How does the modern man compare to men of the past?
It really depends on how you’d like to pigeon-hole the modern man. Certainly, our views on masculinity have changed, say from the 60s. If you think that Sean Connery was a body builder back in his day. His physique more than his thespian skills landed him the role of James Bond. Compare a 60s’ Sean Connery to a modern day Daniel Craig. A nice juxtaposition on Ursula Andress coming out of the water in Dr No was to have Daniel Craig coming out the water in his trunks in Casino Royale.

My point is, how we compare modern men to men of the past is heavily dependent on how we view not only masculinity, but varying degrees of masculinity. I mentioned David Gandy earlier who is the embodiment of elegant or refined masculinity then on the other end of the scale you have Connor McGregor, who many see as rugged masculinity. It’s an interesting question, one that has many facets though.

What’s going to be the next big trend in men’s lifestyle?
It might sound obvious but we’ve recently seen the introduction of the iPhone 8, which has integrated facial recognition technology. This will mean that people will likely be making more payments with confidence on the phone rather than on a desktop or tablet. I’ll be interested to see how men’s lifestyle reacts, how brands will move over to this technology sector where everything will be dictated by your mobile phone. I hope I don’t sound like a conspiracist; I have nothing against Apple. But they’re very clever, they don’t do a lot of advertising because the media goes nuts over them anyway and they’re very  determined, like Facebook, to have you do everything through their platform, whether that’s buying that new sectional leather sofa or downloading the latest style app. I think brands will be more mindful than ever on how they market themselves online.

Carl Thompson with his french bulldogWhat one thing could you not live without?
Ha, my Apple 8. Only kidding. My phone is king in my life but I’m also nuts about my coffee maker. I once heard that Beethoven counted out his coffee beans, I’m not that anal but I recently upgraded my coffee machine to a KRUPS Espresso Automatic Series. I’ve successfully climbed the ranks to reach ‘Coffee Snob’ status through years of purchasing substandard freeze dried crap, pre-ground coffee beans in cafeterias and capsule coffee machines. It also costs a king’s ransom so I’d be very sorry to see it go.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I’m lucky enough to know a lot of people within the PR world. I like to try and think from their perspective what do they want from me. The answer is numbers. They like to see a return on their investment for their client whether its stats, exposure or some really decent imagery.

It’s a real treat for me when my blog receives certain accolades. It’s not just a badge of honour that looks good on the site or in the email signature, it’s great for the PR companies too as they get to show it to their clients. It means they’re picking the right influencers to promote or endorse their brand.

What’s one of your favourite collaborations?
I’m going to mention the one I did with HomeSense. Most probably because it’s fresh in my mind, but it was also a lot of fun as I got to include my beloved French Bulldog Charlie. It was fun to play around with as it centred on a home interior theme, but themed for dogs. Charlie had a good time, he got some new toys and I just remember that being a fun day and they’re a good brand to work with.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
I get to the point on the email. I’ve been told I’m a lot nicer in person than I am in email threads, but when you have an inbox like mine you don’t always have time to fluff around with niceties and holiday chat etc. I like to be clear, concise and I think everyone benefits from that.

What other blogs do you read?
This should be the time when I list all the cool blogs and mention other great bloggers doing amazing work. Truth is, I only read a handful of blogs. I like the obvious ones like the Mr Porter Journal, I keep an eye on Fashion Insight for product launches and PR updates. For photography & editorial inspiration my first stop would be Toni Tran at fashitects.com, Ali Gordon at aligordon.net for his style & creativity, then there’s a guy I follow who runs a site called Human Research, he likes to run his mouth and on occasions and can be controversial but I like that.

 

Carl Thompson appears on the market-leading Vuelio influencer database along side thousands of other bloggers, influencers, journalists, editors and media outlets. Learn more about Vuelio’s solutions. 

Graph

PR pros on the rise, journalists in decline

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The latest report from the Office of National Statistics on employment by occupation shows the number of journalists has declined year-on-year by nearly 11,000 across both employed and self-employed journalists, editors and professional bloggers working full and part time.

For PR professionals, the number has risen by just over 5,000, again across both employed and self-employed full and part time staff.

The number of journalists in the UK between April and June 2017 was 72,908. That breaks down further into 52,723 employed by organisations with an 80/20 split between full and part time staff; and 20,185 self-employed with a 60/40 split between full and part time.

For PRs, they are still behind the number of journalists by some margin with just 54,301 in 2017. There is also a much higher proportion of PR professionals in employment with 48,447 employed by an organisation as opposed to just 4,968 self-employed. Of those employed, there’s an 80/20 split between full and part-time staff. The same breakdown is unavailable for those that are self-employed.

Year-on-year the biggest decline is to the self-employed sector – for both journalists and PRs. Journalists shed 14,000 self-employed and PR lost 4,000 self-employed professionals. Both actually rose in terms of those employed by an organisation suggesting the trends aren’t so stark; journalism just had more self-employed to shed.

Across every industry in the country though, this trend doesn’t continue as the self-employed workforce marginally increased in number (as did the total workforce overall).

The report also reveals the male and female split:

Journalists PR Professionals
Male 39,051 17,968
Male % 54 33
Female 33,857 36,333
Female % 46 67

As this shows, the journalism industry is much more closely balanced when it comes to gender, which makes the recent WIJ report on the lack of women on front page bylines even more concerning.

The PR industry is much more female-heavy, a trend which has actually become more pronounced since 2016 – as male staff numbers have declined and female staff numbers have increased. It is unclear why men are leaving the profession and whether the industry can do more to encourage a balance.

What do you think about gender divide in our industries? Let us know in the comments below.

Want to know how to contact all the journalists, editors and bloggers working in the UK? Check out our Media Database. 

UK – 21 September 2017

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Today’s Media Updates covers moves and changes at UK titles including Marina O’Loughlin’s appointment at The Sunday Times, changes at the Daily Mail and news from Style, Fabulous and Image.  

News & Politics

  • Sara Smyth has been appointed personal finance correspondent at the Daily Mail. Sara was previously investigations reporter at the title.
  • News UK has relaunched the digital offering for two magazine supplements, The Sunday Times’ Style and The Sun on Sunday’s Fabulous.

Business

  • Nathalie Marquez Courtney has been appointed business and technology editor at Image Magazine.

Lifestyle

  • Marina O’Loughlin has been appointed restaurant critic at The Sunday Times, taking over from the late AA Gill. Marina was previously a critic for the Guardian and the Metro.

The Vuelio Media Database lists thousands of journalists, bloggers, publications and media outlets. Get access to the database.

interior design blogger

Blogger Spotlight: Jen Stanbrook, Love Chic Living

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Jen Stanbrook is the Top 10 Interior Design Blogger behind Love Chic Living. Jen posts advice on how to easily transform a room, improve your living space with the help of interior design trends, or add a bit of colour. Love Chic Living is a finalist in this year’s Vuelio Blog Awards. We caught up with Jen to talk about room makeovers, working with PRs and having integrity.

How would you describe your blog?
Love Chic Living is a home and interiors blog showcasing inspirational yet achievable design for a family home. It’s evolved a lot over the last five years, responding to my readers and my own tastes too. As my skills as a blogger have developed I’ve been able to feature more diverse and interesting posts, reacting to the market and readers’ demands.

Why did you start your blog?
I started the blog as a platform for my love of home and interiors. I’d always wanted an interiors shop but a young family meant that was a little out of my reach at the time, so writing a blog about all my ideas was the next best thing. And I’m still here almost six years later doing exactly the same thing.

What’s your favourite thing to blog about?
My favourite blogging topic has to be room makeovers. They’re the most popular with readers too. They’re hard work and don’t necessarily come around very often but when they do, they make a very satisfying blog post. Brands are also now much more creative in the way they like to collaborate, and I love the way there’s always something new and fresh to work on for me and my readers.

How do you manage your photography?
It’s taken me a long time to get better at photography, but I’ve done a few courses and slowly improved my camera, lenses and setup. There’s always room for improvement of course, and I’m constantly learning how to get the best shot that shows the setting or products off to their best advantage.

What’s your favourite interior?
I’m really pleased with my recent living room makeover. Like other bloggers and stylists I’ve embraced the dark wall and tried it out in my own home. I wanted to show people how it could work and what it looks like in an ordinary home. I think readers really respond to that, I know I do.

What makes your blog successful?
Good question! Honesty, integrity and keeping it real. I hope I achieve those aspects in most of the posts I create, whilst also giving a little bit of me too. After that, it’s just relentless hard work, staying relevant and developing ideas, skills and features to keep things fresh. It’s exceptionally competitive so it’s important to do your own thing, and focus on the things you love rather than watching what others are doing.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I love working with PRs and brands on a long term basis. I like clear, honest information from PRs, creative campaigns and realistic budgets and timescales. I’m professional and straightforward to deal with and enjoy those qualities in PRs and the projects they run. I have a lot of contacts that come back to me multiple times for further projects, which is incredibly satisfying.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
My inbox is never ending! I endeavour to reply to emails quickly but it’s not always possible so don’t chase me 24 hours after your first email if you’ve not heard back from me. I read all of them, and answer most. Eventually.

What other blogs do you read?
I read all the fabulous interior blogs I can of course, including more established and newer, up and coming. I also read a few lifestyle and beauty blogs. I’d read more if I had more time!

Jen, Love Chic Living and thousands of other bloggers, influencers and journalists feature on the market-leading Vuelio Influencer Database. Find out how you can reach them all here. 

Women In Journalism

Men still dominate newspaper front pages

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Male journalists are still in the majority when it comes to national newspaper front pages. A study by Women in Journalism (WIJ) has found that just 25% of front page stories were written by women in June-July 2017, a measly 2% more than the average in 2012.

The Daily Mirror had the lowest count with just 10% of front page bylines featuring women while the Guardian led the way though still had an underwhelming 43%.

Some papers have actually slipped backwards from 2012, with the Express falling furthest having 50% female bylines in 2012 but just 16% in 2017. Other papers to go backwards include the Daily Mirror (down 11%) and the Sun (down 3%).

WIJ said: ‘It has long been argued that time and increasing numbers of women in the media and public life will fix our long-established ‘women problem’; that as more women reach the top of the profession, the male lens will vanish. But as the campaigners for more women on FTSE 100 boards have discovered, the pace of change is glacial; on current progress it will take 100 years to reach parity between men and women in business. Our new research suggests the same is true of journalism.’

The Guardian’s lead, among five papers to improve, could be because it is the only paper with female political editors (it has two that job share) and politics is so often the source of a paper’s lead story.

WIJ also suggests the replacement of Alan Rusbridger with Katharine Viner has had an impact on women being more visible, arguing culture change can come from the top. It does, however, counter this with the fact the number of female bylines increased (though marginally from 8% to 15%) under George Osborne’s editorship compared to Sarah Sands’.

Another explanation WIJ has for a dearth of front page female bylines is that most news desks, with the exception of the Times, Sunday times and Metro, are run by men who assign the stories in the first place. Though how news stories are assigned and the reasons why, is probably worth further exploration before using this as sound reasoning.

What is clear is that female journalists are underrepresented on news front pages, and by extension the biggest stories. More needs to be done to ensure women are being fairly represented in the media.

Access the full report here.

Find out how to reach all the front page journalists and top outlets in the UK on the Vuelio Media Database. 

UK – 20 September 2017

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Media-Updates-New-Featured

Today’s Media Updates covers moves and changes at news titles including the Guardian, Hello! and Stuff magazine.  

News & Politics

  • Harriet Gibsone has been appointed deputy editor at the The Guide, the Guardian’s weekend supplement. Harriet was previously music news editor at the Guardian.

Business

  • Claire McCormack has been appointed news editor at AgriLand. Claire was previously rural affairs correspondent at the Irish Independent and Farming Independent.

Lifestyle

  • Gila Polak has been promoted to executive head of fashion and beauty at HELLO! and HELLO! Fashion Monthly.
  • Matt Tate has been appointed Hot Stuff editor at Stuff magazine.

The Vuelio Media Database lists thousands of journalists, bloggers, publications and media outlets.  Learn more.

Photo of makeup

Is Instagram stealing bloggers?

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Instagram continues to grow at a rapid rate, with an estimated monthly user base of over 700 million people. But is the social network causing a decline in traditional bloggers? Or is it just another hosting platform?

The Vuelio Bloggers Survey reveals that year-on-year there’s been an 11% decline in fashion and beauty blogs and a 2% decline in food and drink. These numbers are significant, especially when we consider lifestyle (up 3%), parenting (up 13%) and even travel (up 3%) have all risen.

The number of bloggers using Instagram has also risen – up 5% to 79% overall. While Facebook has also risen by 6%, the other major platforms (Twitter, Pinterest and – dare I say it – Google+) have all declined.

The gender split in social media preference also points to Instagram’s effect on the ‘declining’ blog topics. Both fashion and beauty, and food and drink are dominated by female bloggers – and Instagram is the preferred social network of female users, with 14% compared to just 10% male users.

Years after NYMag claimed ‘Instagram captions are the new blogging’, the platform is scooping up a new wave of influencers who don’t need  to spend any time or effort on setting up blog, managing a website or buying hosting. All they need to do is create an account and go – allowing them to focus on creating content, which is what blogging is all about.

And the rewards can be huge, with an estimated $50K dollars for a sponsored post if you have 1M-3M followers, it can become a genuine source of significant income. It is also relatively low maintenance, though better photography and more engaging captions will inevitably lead to more success.

So should all bloggers join the Instagram revolution?
No. Of course not. Blogging is, at its root, about personal expression. If Instagram works for influencers who enjoy the easy set-up and prefer the strong visual focus, then that’s great. Though there is still an audience for longer form text and custom sites with custom content. It’s about finding what works for you.

Is Instagram wooing you away from your blog? Let us know in the comments below!

No matter where influencers work, Vuelio has you covered. Find out more about our Influencer Database.

Rio Ferdinand boxer

Defender to Contender or marketing stunt?

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Betfair has announced former footballer Rio Ferdinand is to become a professional boxer. The ‘Defender to Contender’ project is backed by the betting company and currently making national headlines.

Betfair has gathered boxing experts to train Rio Ferdinand so he can attain his British Boxing Board of Control licence and become a belt-winning fighter.

While there’s a clear history of sportspeople switching specialisms (Andrew Flintoff to boxing and Chris Hoy to motor racing), Betfair has a track record in this field, previously helping Victoria Pendleton become a professional jockey in the ‘Switching Saddles’ campaign.

This latest campaign is a marketing stunt – the coverage Betfair has received this morning is phenomenal because Rio manages to transcend traditional media boundaries – but it is also a genuine story with real consequences. It’s a stunt for Betfair, but for Rio – this is real.

At 38, having had a long and physically demanding career, most people wouldn’t choose to be punched in the face to advertise a company. Rio Ferdinand is serious about qualifying for his British Boxing Board of Control licence before going on to train and compete for a belt.

Rio said: ‘When Betfair approached me about the Defender to Contender challenge, the chance to prove myself in a new sport was a real draw.

‘Boxing is an amazing sport for the mind and the body. I have always had a passion for it and this challenge is the perfect opportunity to show people what’s possible. It’s a challenge I’m not taking lightly – clearly not everyone can become a professional boxer – but with the team of experts Betfair are putting together and the drive I have to succeed, anything is possible.’

That makes this the perfect marketing stunt.

Betfair has found a celebrity endorsement without it being a straight up paid-for promotion and they have an ongoing stream of advert-worthy content as Rio is tracked through his new-found career.

Win or lose, Betfair has successfully aligned itself with sports, sportspeople and professionalism – showing it can gather world class experts to turn a footballer into a ‘contender’.

And as a bookmakers, it is also securing future events to bet on.

Check out Rio Ferdinand’s Contender to Defender launch video below: