Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts

Saturday, 26 July 2025

How to Maximise Your Hopes of Landing Brand Deals as an Influencer

 

Image Credit: Pixabay

{This is a collaborative post}

Influencer marketing is a very attractive career path, not least because it opens the door to several revenue streams. While you can generate money directly from content or by sales directly to your audience, brand partnerships are a vital feature.

Landing brand deals can provide a significant cash injection, and potentially commissions, with recurring payments. So, it’ll boost your earnings while also creating stability. The process of securing those deals may feel daunting, but the four steps below will lead you to success.

 

Produce Better Content

If you want to land brand partnerships, you must put yourself in the company’s shoes. They only want to be associated with reliable content creators and influencers. With this in mind, a focus on creating quality content should be the first item on your checklist. 

Staying organised with a content calendar allows you to build a solid schedule. As well as posting more consistently, it’ll boost your storytelling over extended periods. You will also find that the added clarity can translate to increased motivation.

Consistent quality may encourage brands to approach you. Even when it doesn’t, you’ll be able to approach them with greater confidence and a proven track record.

 

Network

If you want to land brand deals, you need to gain visibility. As an influencer and digital creator, you already have opportunities to get noticed online. However, a willingness to go the extra mile and form positive relationships is what will stand you out from the crowd.

Attending networking events and trade shows that connect you to the types of brands you want to land is vital. As well as building a rapport, you can start to brainstorm some ideas. Use an online printer to create some marketing materials for yourself too. You’ll be far more memorable.

It is also possible to network with brands via an influencer agency. Create a multi-faceted attack, and you should see positive outcomes.

 

Create A Niche

Brands are more than happy to work with micro influencers. Nevertheless, many companies like to work with influencers who have a defined audience. After all, this is a potential new customer base for the business, achieved simply through association with the creator.

Impressive numbers can make brands take note. In truth, though, businesses want to know that the consumers are actually likely to make a purchase. Carving out a niche for your blog or content is a very useful move. Not least when backed with data analytics to highlight your place.

 

When you know who your audience is, finding the right brands to promote is easy. Crucially, the companies themselves will need less convincing.

 

Know Your Worth

Finally, when approaching brands for the first time, it is tempting to take every offer. Sadly, this can pose several issues. Brands feel that you cannot give them your full attention. Your personal brand messaging can become confused. And audiences become unresponsive.

It is better to work with a small number of brands. However, a limited volume of deals means that you must look to optimise each one. Calculating how much to charge as an influencer is vital. Of course, though, some partnerships may add value to your career in other ways.

Crucially, you must always research the brands you work with too. Associating with the wrong ones could severely harm your image and future earning potential. 

Sunday, 28 November 2021

5 Tips for Running a Successful Lifestyle Blog

 

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

{This is a collaborative post}

Do you want to share your passion with the world? Blogging is one of the best ways to do just that. I've been blogging since 2008, so that is thirteen years now and the blogosphere has changed beyond recognition. One thing that has stayed the same is the opportunities to get out there and have your say. You can make a difference.

The internet is populated by millions of different blogs covering a range of topics, and over two-thirds of internet users are blog readers. This means that while you aren’t without competition, the scope of your potential audience is vast. 

Although you might blog, or be considering blogging, as a hobby to pass the time, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t turn your passion into a profit-making project. If you’re not sure where to start, then check out these five fantastic tips for starting up your own blog.

 

1)     Choose Your Platform

 

Choosing a platform is not a decision that should be rushed. It’s important that you find the platform that’s right for you before you begin, as changing it later isn’t always easy.

Wordpress is one of the most popular choices for bloggers around the world, with millions of posts being published every day. This valuable blogging resource allows its users to have complete control over every aspect of their little corner of the internet. However, if your technical skills are not so hot then you may struggle at times if you want a highly stylised site. You, can, of course, always engage a blog designer to help you. That's what I do with my Wordpress site. 

Blogger is a very easy blogging platform to get to know and you have the power of Google behind it, but it is less customisable than Wordpress, or something that Squarespace. Also, many loggers worry about the day when Google could just pull the plug on it and your blog would be lost. I also have a couple of Bloggers blogs and it still remains my favourite platform to use.  

Tuesday, 6 October 2020

Changes to Make Your Website Perform Better

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

{This is a collaborative post}

Let’s start from the beginning. How long has your website been around for? In this day and age, if it's over five years then you probably need to start thinking about a redesign. Or maybe you just had a redesign, but your results are as good as you expected?

With technological diversity and online trend patterns changing constantly, responsive web design is the key to open the door to your audience online and to encourage and retain new visitors.

You may have heard Digital Marketing Agencies refer to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before, but what is it all about? Well, SEO means editing your site with the objective of delivering a great user experience which equates to your website ranking high in the search results of Google. But the key question is, of course, how do you deliver that kind of experience?

Creating SEO Friendly Content

Nowadays, it is not just enough to take time writing great content, you also need to add in time to decide which words are the key to people finding your article in the future. Then do some keyword research and once you start writing you'll actually keep your article more on topic.

Keyword research entails taking one word and exploring how it is used online. You’ll want to pick a keyword that is relevant to the product or service you’re offering/ writing about and then ensure the main keyword along with some variations are mentioned throughout your written text.

Monday, 25 May 2020

Creating Perfect Pins with Custom Fonts in Canva Pro

Making pins header

{This is a collaborative post}

Never did I think I'd be writing a post about how you can create stylish graphics and pins to drive traffic to your website, but what I've discovered in the last couple of weeks is that using custom fonts is super easy and it doesn't have to be expensive.

Font Bundles offer loads of free fonts for you to easily download and use, whether that is just in your word processing or publishing package, or in a design one. I'm not a clever designer type, I don't have Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. I'm just a regular blogger trying to do her best without these kinds of skills and until recently I thought that excluded me from using custom fonts but how wrong I was, because you can import them into Canva Pro, and that is really accessible and not expensive.

It is definitely worth checking out Font Bundles as they have loads of free fonts, as well as a premium one free for the week, each week. Then, of course, there are thousands of others that you can purchase if they suit your needs better and once you've downloaded them, they are yours forever! Why not look at some of the different ones, like tattoo font, seasonal fonts, script fonts and graffiti.

Friday, 8 November 2019

Thinking of Starting your own Blog? Check out my Top Tips for Success

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

{Collaboratve post}

Have you ever thought about starting your very own blog? It’s hard work…but incredibly rewarding. You might not want your blog to be found and read by others, you might prefer it to be a private online diary, or maybe you have an opinion that you’re desperate to share, or you have some advice that you know others will find helpful. No matter what your motivation for starting a blog is, it’s a wonderful creative outlet that is ideal for personal growth and for building your confidence!

Starting a blog is a great idea, but have you wondered what you might need to make it a success? 

Check out my 4 top tips for blogging success below.

You need the right tools

Of course you’re going to need a laptop and access to the internet but having a good set of writing tools at your disposal will also help you through the blogging process. For example, if you’re referencing someone else’s work or maybe a newspaper article then help with citations and referencing will be a huge help. Scribbr provides apa citation guidelines and advice on their website. Investing in proofreading software, as well as a programme that will help you with spelling, grammar and clarity will also prove useful. It will also help you improve your work.

Find your niche

You don’t always have to have a niche to make your blog enjoyable, however, having one will help you to gather a bit of a following and build on your blog subscribers. If you offer information on a range of different topics then some readers might dip in and out of your work rather than returning week after week for a new insight on one specific topic that interests them. If you have a unique perspective of a particular topic or varying degrees of experiences and advice from it all, then, by all means, go for it! Parenting, minimal lifestyles, health and fitness, eco-living, veganism, sport, travel – all are popular niches. Try to find yours!

Thursday, 14 February 2019

Blogging Reasons to be Cheerful #R2BC

hands on a laptop
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

Thursday has rolled around again and that means it is time for me to share my Reasons to be Cheerful. This week I have chosen to share based on blogging reasons, I quite like to mix things up and have a theme or do a different style to keep these #R2BC posts interesting.

Blogging is a very funny animal. I've been doing it a long time now, in fact some would refer to me as an early innovator and this does make me laugh as I've never been a forerunner or innovator in anything. 

Blogging Anniversary
On 10th February 2019, I had my 11 years of blogging anniversary, isn't that mental? I only started sharing so my friend and mum could see some pictures of the kids and then my comments led other readers back to me. I didn't even mean to do it!

But blog I have, many of my old posts have now gone back into draft now, as frankly they were just appalling, but there are also still some pretty abysmal ones lives on the blog from the early days, but I figure they are all part of the journey and show just how far my writing and skills have come.

However, despite all those old posts being back in draft, on 2nd February 2019 I published my 2000th live post on this blog.

Successful Blog Posts
There are some crackers, I still marvel at the fact that a post I wrote back in 2011 to publicise Chris from Thinly Spread travelling to New York to attend the UN General Assembly on behalf of Save the Children, has over 100,000 views on it. I think back then was when the parent bogging community was it its best, it was far smaller, we all knew of each other and the support was immense, withing 48 hours Hello It's Gemma and I had encouraged 164 other bloggers to write and publicise an article to support Chris and Save the Children. 

Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Being a Finalist in the #BiBs2018 and Impostor Syndrome



Blogging awards, they are funny old things. On the one hand I love them, they are a public acknowledgement for a job well done, for working hard, for engaging your readers. Then on the other I loathe them, they can be a popularity contest, with those who shout the loudest winning.

My love:hate relationship with blogging awards has been going on since 2011 when I was a finalist in the family life category of the MAD blog awards. I’d only seriously been blogging for around a year and I was so made up that my readers would nominate me and then vote for me. I honestly thought I’d win, not from a vanity point of view, thinking I was the best but I was just swept away with the glamour and accolade of it.

I didn’t win, Jane at Northern Mum did and it was well deserved as she has an awesome comic voice that I could never hope to emulate. I remember dusting my pride off and thinking ‘oh well, there’s always next year’ and for a few years I continued to be nominated and then a finalist in both the MADs and the BIBs. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride is the phrase that comes to mind.


Left to right: Penny, Clare, Gemma, me, Michelle and Anya

Saturday, 30 September 2017

Designed to be Different - What I Learnt at BritMums Live Today #BML17

Big Ben London and the River Thames

That I'm different
and it's OK to be different.

That my fashion sense isn't like anyone else's and that may be because I'm lacking in style
and I'm OK with that.

That I should have had a Diet Coke rather than wine last night
because I'm a Lightweight.

That flat lays will never be me, I just don't have that eye
but I have other talents.

That I don't have to conform
and I love the freedom that allows me.

That no-one else can do me as well as I can
so I need to embrace who I am and celebrate it.

That factors like DA, page views, sponsored post rates and TOTs scores don't define me
because I'm way more than a number.

That letting your blog and social presence change and evolve as you do is good
because being authentically you will always be more important than being liked.


That very few people know who I am nowadays
and I'm happy being under the radar.

Friday, 30 June 2017

What's Going on with Photobucket? Info for Bloggers

So, like me you might be fuming at Photobucket right now. What are they playing at? Or maybe this is the first you are hearing of there being a problem, let me explain.

Photobucket have changed their T&C's as of 20th June 2017 without any notice
It is one thing to charge for a service, I think we all get that but quite another to literally overnight and without any notice to change your terms and conditions so that bloggers who have hosted images on the site for free for a decade are now being asked to pay $39.99 per month or $399 per year. Come on Photobucket, I had 14 photos on there that were hot-linked onto my blog and I'd have happily paid you a couple of quid a month but what you are asking for is ludicrous. It's not like I'm hosting thousands of photos or taking masses of bandwidth.

Yes Photobucket, I get that you are a business and you have obviously realised that the business model you were following is not working for you any longer. Fine, send your customers an email and give them a chance to pay or host elsewhere but no you decided to hold us to ransom and completely muck our blogs up. It is so unethical it is unbelievable. I truly think you have shot yourself in the foot, as everyone I know is leaving you now.

Thursday morning I started to get messages to ask if I had been hacked as this is what my blog looked like but no it was just Photobucket turning each one of my tiny subject header images into massive ugly black images, seven deep. You had to scroll for an age before you could find any content at all.


The Solution
Was I going to pay the Photobucket ransom?  Hell no. If they can't ask for a reasonable rate I'll just go elsewhere.

I went into Photobucket and downloaded the images that I needed. This is very easy but boy do the adverts drive you a bit bonkers as you try to navigate the pages. Just look through your library and then click on the image to open it. If it is one you have hosted elsewhere it will show with that awful black image but when you download it (bottom right corner), it will be your regular photo with your original image name.


Once you have all your images back you are then free to host them somewhere else. I now know that I can get the source code for linking from a draft post within either Blogger or WordPress.

So paste your image into a draft post (I called mine Image Hosting so I'll always remember what it is and not delete it) and then within the text tab (on WP) or the HTML tab (on blogger) you'll see the image code.

Once your image is there, the code will look similar to this and you just need the URL that comes after SRC="


You can then replace wherever you have the Photobucket image code with your new code and Bobs your uncle, no more ugly Photobucket black dial images anymore.

Linky Badges

As a Linky Host - If your linky badge is now broken, you'll need to create new code to use on your blog and ideally go into your old posts and change the code to the new badge (or just remove the old one) as at the moment that broken badge will be showing all across the blogs of anyone who joined in and took your linky badge, but sadly there isn't anything you can do to help this except apologise.


Joining in with someone else's Linky - If you've joined in with a linky and the badge is now broken and ugly on your blog post, I'd advise contacting the linky host and asking them if they will be continuing to use Photobucket by paying the fee. If they are the image will reappear and all will be fine. If not, you'll need to delete the badge as it will remain the ugly black image forevermore.

Whats the deal if you already had a paid account with Photobucket?
I don't know is the honest answer. There used to be the option to have a paid account for $2.99 a month and this made your viewing ad free and gave you additional bandwidth. It appears at the moment that anyone who was lucky enough to have subscribed to this before the T&C changes on 20th June 2017 are still get linking and 3rd party hosting rights. Will they change this? Your guess is as good as mine but if I was a customer I certainly wouldn't be trusting them after this stunt. My guess is that you'll get to your next renewal date and be presented with new terms but my only basis for that guess if their utterly abysmal behaviour in the last week or so.

Contacting Photobucket
They seem to be keeping pretty quiet on their public pages but they are answering DM's on Twitter and emails too. You only have to search Photobucket on twitter to see why they are keeping quiet, there are hundreds, or even thousands of very unhappy, departing customers!

Their email is support@photobucket.com and you can find them on Twitter or Facebook.

Closing Your Account
I am just about to do this. You go to Settings > Account and scroll down for > Delete my account and this will delete all your images permanently so make sure you have downloaded anything you want first.

I truly hope Photobucket haven't caused you as much faff and heartache as they have done me! Mich x

Why not pin this for later?

photobucket, 3rd party hosting, holding images ransom, easy fix, tutorial


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Thursday, 6 October 2016

Good News - I've Been Keeping a Secret!

Hey all,

I think some of you know already but many of you probably don't.

I've been keeping a bit of a secret since the beginning of this year.

You might of seen me mention at the time that some nasty comments on my practically retired review blog shook me right up and I even considered throwing the towel in and blogging no longer but I couldn't do it. For many reasons, first I felt God prod me to keep on, second it is my outlet, it's how I'm creative and clear my head and third I wasn't giving in to one horrid person who thought indecent comments were appropriate.

So what I had to do was create myself a new space, a space where I felt safer and that meant a new blog. Back in January the fabulous Stacey Corrin designed me a new blog using a blog title that had been going round my head for years and I have endeavoured to create a place that is true to me and it is probably what I'd call my faith blog.

I give you my new blog - Progress not Perfection



Tuesday, 13 September 2016

Blogging: Not Always Easy but it can Change Your Life!

In Ethiopia with BritMums Jen Howze, supermodel Maya Haile and Cherry Friedmeyer, Director of Women at Risk

Having been blogging since 2008 it is now easy to see that the same things come up time and time again. Every 18 months or so you get a few bitchy people who are jealous of the opportunities that other bloggers have been offered and they start to stir up ill feeling. You see posts, tweets and general ill feeling towards a few, often the very successful few and sometimes the most vulnerable. It is so depressing.

The accusations of cliques (or more recently tribes) begin to flow and many bloggers start to question why they are doing it. 'Who needs this kind of controversy and animosity?', 'I only started my blog as a memory trove for my family' and 'thats it, I'm out of here' are the kind of statements you see shared. Sadly I've seen dozens of really decent bloggers stop writing and sharing because others have targeted them.

Yet here I am eight years on and the nasty trolls didn't manage to scare me away. I've had two particularly bad blogging times when I easily could have thrown the towel in, but no, I'm still here. I'm not sure what has made me so resilient, maybe it is my faith or maybe it is because I believe I am doing important work.

Tuesday, 19 July 2016

Giving Myself Permission...


I've lost my blogging way at the moment. If I'm honest it's been gone for some time and I've been trying to persevere and keep on going but I'm really not sure what I'm up to. My mojo for it has gone, perhaps it is just on holiday or maybe it is a boat that has sailed its final voyage. I don't know right now but I do know I'm out of love with blogging and it just feels like a chore. Not good, right?

The off feelings started late last year with a scary trolling episode that really sent me off kilter and my love for blogging has not returned since. It's evident as I've not accepted any paid work yet this financial year (and I now realise we are a quarter of the way into the year) and I even missed BritMums Live in June, which is my go-to blogging event each year.

I've also realised this guilt I feel when I'm not writing is not helping anyone. It's is just a millstone round my neck dragging me down. I don't feel completely ready to give it all up yet, it has been way too big a part of my life for the last eight years and I think God's hand is in this and He will use my writing somehow but for now it is time for a bit of a break.

Thursday, 21 April 2016

Coming Full Circle - I'm Back! #R2BC


Good morning friends. It feels real good to be sharing this post today. I feel like I have a zest for blogging and sharing again, not just for the sake of it you understand, but when I have something I want to say.  And I can say for sure that each Thursday at 7am will be one of those sharing times for the foreseeable future.

Why?  Because Reasons to be Cheerful is coming home again for a while. I started the #R2BC linky back in early 2011 as a project that I would dedicate a year to. Each week (on a Friday back then, I had forgotten that) I would share three simple things that I was grateful for, those that were making me cheerful and I would encourage others to do the same. Of course back then #R2BC was one of only about 20 regular parenting blogging linkies around and it was very popular with 80-100 people linking up each week but many things have changed and now #R2BC is a small but loved community.

I absolutely love every one of the bloggers who still link up to this weekly feature. So many of them were around in 2011 when I started this and have probably shared as many of maybe even more times than I have on the subject of gratitude (I currently have 208 posts on Mummy from the Heart with this tag).We all know that acknowledging your blessings makes an amazing difference in everyday life.

Back in the day a linky wasn't started to make you popular or to help your blog rise through the rankings. It was started because you found a community of bloggers who shared a passion with you. The passion of the #R2BC community is that we know the power of positive thinking and gratitude.

Stupidly I lost sight of this passion. After running #R2BC every week for three years I started to get weary and felt really lost after my life-changing move to East Sussex, so I decided to put down #R2BC and make some changes. The super Becky at Lakes Single Mum and Jo at Ojo's World picked up the baton and carried #R2BC on and it has now been running for over five years, which is pretty good going.

So how some #R2BC has come home, you might be wondering? Well, you may have read that I lost my joy in December due to some crap on my blog but a blogging break, time with God and some perspective has done wonders and I'm feeling good again. My first thought for a post was of course to do an #R2BC one and that is what has bought me back here as Becky explained she is hosting alone right now as Jo is having a break. So we are going to take turns, a month on and a month off to host #R2BC and you'll have me back in May and guess what?  I am so excited, it is like returning to a very old and loved friend.

Here is what I said about #R2BC when I launched it -
Do you know what I believe are two of the fundamental keys to happiness? One, is to choose to be happy and the other is to want what you already have! Endless seeking of things, money, status, time or anything else will never fulfil you! This is where the gratitude comes in.... 
So do you fancy joining us?  I can't promise you 100 comments (or even 10) if you join in but I can guarantee that you will find a community of bloggers who genuinely care about each other and that by counting your blessings, or ticking off your reasons to be cheerful - however you want to phrase it - you WILL feel better. There are dozens of people who will testify that joining in with #R2BC helped them during a tough time. I know it lifted some from depression, got others through a painful break-up, helped after miscarriage and for me it found me some superb friends.

Have a blessed week, Mich xx

Becky is the host this week, so hop over and join in....

R2BC at Mummy from the Heart
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Wednesday, 23 March 2016

I May be Some Time..

I'm going to be taking some time away from blogging (yes I know, again). I've explained the reasons over on my other blog Progress Not Perfection, so you can nip over and read if you like but basically it all feels a bit wrong at the moment.

After a nasty episode last December, which I actually haven't mentioned over here as yet, but you can read about it in a piece I wrote for the World Moms Blog in January, I feel I need to have this break and allow it to take its natural course and just be as long as it feels right.

I've been blogging far less over the last couple of months anyway and enjoying just having time to relax and be with my family more but I thought I'd be a bit more purposeful for this next chunk of time and plan some activities that I want to do -


So don't miss me too much. I'm still around and you can email or tweet me and I'll be happy to stay in touch or pray for you.

Be blessed, Mich x
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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!Follow on Bloglovin

Sunday, 13 March 2016

Get Out of Self and into Him


I’m in a funny old place right now. There is nothing particularly wrong but if I’m honest I’m discontent, something is off-balance. It’s not that I’m wanting anything materially but there are a few areas that feel off-kilter.  The word that is coming to mind is that I am discombobulated and that is really strange as I could not even have told you what it meant but having looked it up, it is perfect –

Discombobulate – to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate (ie: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.)

That does feel just right for where I am at the moment.  Since I received some horrifying comments on my review blog a few months ago I’ve been all over the place. I realise I’ve lost my joy and I don’t have any kind of vision of where my blogging is going or even if it should be going anywhere.  I’m tempted to chuck it all in but as with everything I need to seek where God is in all this and do His will, not mine.

So I figure I need a break.  Yep, another break, all I seem to do nowadays is have blogging breaks but it feels right and necessary so it is what I’ll do.

I’m going to be focusing my time in a few areas –

  • Taking the focus off myself and putting it onto God and His agenda for me by spending more quiet time in the prayer centre
  • Eating well and exercising to ensure that I lose some weight but not making it my be-all and end-all.
  • Reading the 5 Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and then putting into action some of what I have learnt to ensure that my kids are feeling love in the way that speaks to them most
  • Digging out my copy of Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O’Martian and reading a small chunk each night as I need to reconnect with my husbandfollow and what better way to do it than via my Heavenly Father. (As a Christian we often speak of marriage being like a three-legged stool, one leg is the wife, another the husband and the third God and the stool only balances when we all rely on each other and carry the weight evenly.

So there we go, my four big focuses for the months ahead. I’ve no idea how long this break will take. I’m just going to be led by God and not feel obliged to either stay away or to blog.

Psalm 37:39-40
But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.

Take care of yourselves, leave me a comment or send me an email if you’d like some prayer and I’d be really happy to oblige.

Be blessed, Mich xx

Saturday, 16 January 2016

Know your Worth Bloggers.... Pfft

Success on Blackboard from Shutterstock

'Know your worth bloggers' is a phrase I see or hear again and again. On Facebook, in blog posts or spoken about at conferences and let me say from the start I agree you are worth a lot.

But I do resent the blog police telling you what your worth is. Who's business is it if you decide to accept a sponsored post for a payment of £25 or a review for a 75p tin of beans?

When it comes to taking on work, you have to make the decisions, how much money will you accept? What is the lowest value product you will accept? Will you work for goodwill or an owed favour? Whatever you decide is OK, is just that - OK for you.

Personally I've now been blogging for eight years, I have a large readership and a good social media reach. I therefore make the decision that I do not undertake sponsored posts for less than £125 and it is extremely rare for me to review low-value products.

However spin the clock back to 2010 and I'd of happily reviewed some toddler snacks worth about a fiver and I know for sure that all the low value reviews I undertook gave me valuable experience of crafting a good review and developing a strong relationship with PR agencies and brands. Some of my fabulous early opportunities came about because I put in the hard work to nurture a relationship and to learn my trade.

As a new blogger in this completely saturated market, you cannot expect to arrive and be offered the chance to review a holiday and £200 vacuum without having put in some serious work to develop your blog and following first. So yes, please do know your worth but do not allow others to define it for you and make you feel bad.

If you are not being offered £100 for a sponsored post as you do not yet have the reach and domain authority to warrant that then agree a price that you feel is fair and you are happy with and don't listen to any other blogger who tells you that you are letting the side down and devaluing us all. It's just not true,

For years I've been offered £25 posts and been turning them down, there are always dozens of other bloggers willing to take them and that is OK. I've made the decision to say no and know that better opportunities will come up for me, My personal decision is that I'd rather do 2 posts at £150 a piece each month than 12 at £25 to make the same money. You decision might be totally different and I respect your choice to make that decision.

I'm a live and let live kind of woman and I think life would be a lot easier if more of us were but I'm always open to (polite) debate so do share your opinion if you think I'm talking nonsense.

Mich x
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Tuesday, 3 November 2015

I'm a Good Enough Blogger, Are You?


I'll just go ahead and answer that question straight away, no point in leaving you hanging.

Are you a good enough blogger? Of course you are. We all are.

Who is it up to anyway? Who gets to decide what is OK and what is not with YOUR blog? This is your space after all, only you can say. You are the judge and in this case you are the jury and YOU get the final say.

Now I know some of you reading this might be arguing with me in your head or even shouting at your screen. "No Michelle, it is not all about me. There are so many people judging me - my readers, my family, other bloggers - the top bloggers even (*Yawn*), PR's, Companies etc etc. I have to perform, I have to do well, I have to work on my blog 24 hours a day, I must never take a day off, I have to grind myself into the ground, I have to be active on every social media networks, even those ones no-one has even heard of yet. I want to be a success. So. I. Must. Work. Super. Hard!

Well I think you are wrong, you don't need to satisfy anyone else in particular to be good enough. Let me explain.

Monday, 27 July 2015

Dear So and So - A Relaxing Summer


Mich,

Do you know what summer is for? It is for enjoying, for making the most of. For spending time with those you love, for making memories.

Let me give you a few ideas of things you can get up to whilst you are breaking the norms this summer -
  • sit on the bench outside your door on an evening and enjoy a cool glass of rose
  • wiggle your toes in the sand when you visit the beach
  • read a book in the park whilst the kids all play
  • enjoy three flavours of ice cream in one cone (that's right, push the boat out - all three together!)
  • enjoy a moonlit stroll with dh on the seafront
  • play tennis (badly) at the park with the kids
  • make some cards so you have a stock for future birthdays
  • make progress with your tapestry
  • bake with the kids
  • spend time with friends and make an effort to be sociable!

Tuesday, 30 June 2015

Dear So and So - A Bloggy One


Dear PR person,

I know it is your job and I am sure you are very lovely so I don't want to be unkind to you, but do you realise that because I've been blogging such a long time now I get about 50 emails a day asking me to tweet, post, share etc and I just cannot do them all? In fact I don't even want to do them all even if I had infinite time as my readership would be bored to tears!

I'm a busy woman with three kids, a husband and three voluntary jobs, as well as my campaigning and paid writing work. I have no spare capacity to read all your press releases and then to promote your products for free. I won't be rude to you but at the moment I'm struggling to respond to every email, so please do not chase me 2 or 3 days after your email if you've not heard from me.  Just know that I can't do it right now but leave me on your mailing list and next time I might be able to help.

Thanks a lot,

Michelle (not Mummy from the Heart as so many people love to address me! grr)
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Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Dear So and So - Britmums Live 2015


Dear Clare,

Thanks for being my roomie yet again but sorry the Travelodge was so hot that you didn't get any sleep and I got very little. We really must try to be more classy next year and stay somewhere else! Anyway I had a fab time with you, particularly on the Friday when we both had a little too much booze and enjoyed dinner with some epic ladies, even if that Jessup really was quite rude to me and Stef revealed things to the whole restaurant that she might have regretted the next morning.

It was good to know that throughout the conference I could easily find you in your comfy courtyard chair crocheting a granny square.

Love you bloggy bestie, Mich xx

PS - I love this picture of us, it is probably my favourite picture of me in years 
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