{"id":109488,"date":"2017-11-02T11:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T11:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=109488"},"modified":"2019-09-10T15:30:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T14:30:17","slug":"blogger-spotlight-zen-terrelonge-dadult-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/blogger-spotlight-zen-terrelonge-dadult-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogger Spotlight: Zen Terrelonge, DADult Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zen Terrelonge<\/a> is the founder of DADult Life<\/a>, a new parenting blog started by Zen during his partner\u2019s pregnancy. With baby Roma now just over five months old, we caught up with Zen to talk all things proud parent, joining a crowded parenting blogging industry and working with PRs. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What inspired you to create your blog?<\/strong><\/span>
\nFinding out I was going to be a father filled me with such incredible pride and passion that I wanted to scream the news from the rooftops \u2013 I couldn\u2019t for 12 weeks, of course.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I contented myself by writing about what was happening behind-the-scenes and finally decided I\u2019d make it a regular thing, leapt two feet in and had a website launched.<\/p>\n

My close mates aren\u2019t dads yet, so, being something of a lone wolf in that regard, I wanted to share my thoughts throughout pregnancy, birth and fatherhood to reflect on the serious and the funny. And if anyone takes something away from what I\u2019ve written, then even better.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a journalist by trade, so writing is something I do on a daily basis, but with parenthood and my family, they make me feel so strongly and deeply that writing is even more of a pleasure than I would have thought possible.
\n\"ZenWhat is the most challenging part of being a blogger?<\/strong><\/span>
\nI suppose the biggest challenge is giving people a reason to listen or to sit up and pay attention. There are a lot of blogs in operation, so getting heard in the noise of the online world can be tricky.<\/p>\n

Launching a blog in such a popular space almost feels like being the new kid in a school. It can be quite cliquey and you just hope someone wants to be your mate instead of flushing your head down the loo or writing about you in their Burn Book \u2013 the blogging equivalent of which I guess would be indirect tweets.<\/p>\n

How have you\u00a0built up your audience?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I\u2019ve been as engaged as possible. Whether it\u2019s on Facebook, Instagram or comments on the site, I\u2019ll make sure I react to what people are saying and attempt to foster conversation.<\/p>\n

And as I mentioned, given that writing is my profession, I pride myself on the content I\u2019m pushing out, so I won\u2019t rush anything or put out a blog that\u2019s been written with a half-arsed approach.<\/p>\n

Since starting your blog, what have you learned about the industry?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I\u2019ve learnt that there is a genuine community of parents who love to talk and share. As someone who doesn\u2019t know lots of young parents, it\u2019s been a brilliant way to connect with others going through the same things I am, as well as learning from others further ahead in the parenting journey or offering my experiences to those just starting theirs.<\/p>\n\t

\t\t

\nStruggling to reach influencers? <\/strong>Try the Vuelio Media Database and get access to 11,000 UK Bloggers in parenting, travel, lifestyle & more.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Get in touch<\/span><\/a><\/div>\t<\/div>\n

Is there any advice that you would like to share with any PRs or aspiring bloggers?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>To PRs: please spare a moment and take the time to recognise who you\u2019ve approached \u2013 make sure what you\u2019ve sent is relevant and addressed to the right person. Respond to all emails if they\u2019re genuine because everyone starts somewhere, and look beyond high follower numbers \u2013\u00a0what is the content itself really like?<\/p>\n

To aspiring bloggers: You\u2019re not alone \u2013 come and say hello! I don\u2019t have snacks, but I have memes and hug emojis to provide.<\/p>\n

How do you like to be approached by PRs?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m flexible; email is great because it spells everything out in front of you and it\u2019s fast, and phone calls are also welcome \u2013 but if you call someone and don\u2019t get an answer, leave a voicemail!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve become friends with some PRs over time, and ones I\u2019m pally with will just send a message via WhatsApp for guaranteed delivery and convenience.<\/p>\n

Do you consider social media an important tool in directing traffic toward your blog?<\/strong><\/span>
\nCertainly. You can showcase your personality via social media in terms of what you\u2019re about with posts, whether that\u2019s through pictures, statuses, videos and even captions, so doing so should support redirection to the meatier stuff on the blog, which ultimately has the richest content of all.<\/p>\n

What are your plans for DADultLife in 2017\/18?<\/strong><\/span>
\nI\u2019m embracing fatherhood as much as possible, so naturally that\u2019s going to result in some interesting scenarios. In just under three months since Roma has arrived, I\u2019ve been blasted by a poozooka, invented the prambrella, as well as taken her to the cinema and a festival \u2013 not locations you\u2019d normally associate with a newborn.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m having an incredible amount of fun while also gaining knowledge with parenting, which I hope comes across with my work \u2013\u00a0I plan to continue that, meeting other amazing dads and mums along the way.<\/p>\n

What kinds of PRs or campaigns are you interested in working with\/on in the future?<\/strong><\/span>
\nI can openly say my knowledge of baby and parenting brands is still a work in progress. I\u2019ve tried a few gadgets and gizmos and whosits and whatsits, as well as various nappy brands, but I\u2019m by no means an expert.<\/p>\n

If any PRs want to educate me on the wares of their clients, then I\u2019ll be only too happy to listen to what they have to say \u2013 I\u2019m one of the good guys.<\/p>\n

Just as long as it doesn\u2019t involve me using ten brands of teeth whitener like a reality TV star, I\u2019m open to suggestion and available to talk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zen Terrelonge and his blog DADult life are just two entries on the Vuelio Influencer Database<\/a>, which is the UK\u2019s leading influencer database available to the PR and communications industries.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zen Terrelonge is the founder of DADult Life, a new parenting blog started by Zen during his partner\u2019s pregnancy. With baby Roma now just over five months old, we caught up with Zen to talk all things proud parent, joining a crowded parenting blogging industry and working with PRs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":109500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7272,4038,6980],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109488"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124317,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109488\/revisions\/124317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}