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My name is Jen Chillingsworth. I’m a freelance writer, blogger and photographer based in West Yorkshire. I’m married to my best friend and mum to an almost thirteen year old. I’m 42 years old, originally from Glasgow and moved to Yorkshire in 1996. I’ve previously worked in bookselling, arts management and been a market gardener.
I’ve been blogging for six years and started off when my son was in the early stages of Primary school. I began writing about interiors and lovely finds I’d discovered online. It was my creative outlet to escape the daily grind of parenthood and work. It has evolved as it now reflects my current interests and inspirations: Adventures in the North Seasonal Eating Simple Living
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The more times you change your style or content, the more you risk losing your readers’ trust and the more likely they are to unfollow.
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Create a set of guidelines for your content, colour schemes, fonts, graphics, photographs etc.
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Change your blog template or host if you are not happy with it and it doesn’t fit your ‘brand’. Make it userfriendly.
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Make sure every page and post has consistent formatting, colours, and layout.
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Go through and check your photos for quality and clarity. Get rid of any photos that aren’t in focus. If your images aren’t clear and well-lit, you may want to consider re-taking some as well.
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Be consistent. Use your voice.
• Take inspiration from your favourite blogs. Don’t copy or imitate - re-imagine. • Join in with other bloggers projects – eg #urbanjunglebloggers #stylingtheseasons – share your post on your blog • Run a hashtag on social media that connects others to join in with a project – eg #myyorkshiredays • Create a series of posts – set a goal for a weekly/monthly post - #abakefortheweekend • Go back to your old posts. Which were really popular ones or generated a lot of interest/comments?
• Collaborate with other bloggers/local businesses/events •
! Get in touch with new contacts.
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You want people to TRUST your brand, so be authentic and only do it if it fits. You’ll lose readers in the long run if you don’t.
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Tailor the brief to complement your brand. Make it your own.
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Think about longevity. That post has to stay up on your blog. Other PR companies will be looking at those posts too. If they see a good response from your readers, it works well in your favour.
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The difference between a good sponsored post and an okay one is a good post can bring you more work and better prospects in the long run.
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It can help you engage with readers more.
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Create a media kit that positively shows your brand and how you can use it to work with others.
Reasons to collaborate: • You gain exposure – guest posts/hashtag projects/new audience
• You can gain knowledge/learn new skills – and that works both ways • You feel inspired – increased motivation/new ideas
• Challenging yourself – makes you aim higher • Friendship – community spirit/loyalty/encouragement/connections
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Blog posts. Tie images in to your brand concept. Think about how your images will sit next to one another in your gallery. Use relevant hashtags. Comment and Like other IG users feeds. Respond to comments. Don’t send lots of images one after the other, stagger the timing.
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Blog posts. Sharing of other bloggers posts/concepts. Behind the scenes photography/content. Questions. Announcements. Videos (first thing readers see in their timeline). Content from other social media sources. Respond to comments/questions/messages.
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Blog posts. Quotes of the day. Announcements. Content from other social media sources. Bloglovin’ for easy sharing of archived posts. Scheduling posts/content from other social media. Respond and thank users for retweets etc.
Blog posts. Instagram images. Keep your boards tidy/edit the cover image to reflect your style/brand. Follow the Pinterest blog team and find out what’s trending/how to get featured etc. Share your Pins on other social media outlets and tag @PinterestUK. Credit the image source. Set up secret boards for inspiration/blog ideas.
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Create a newsletter and aim to send one out once a month. www.mailchimp.com has an easy platform to use and organise your mailing list for you. Provide new content as well as what’s happening on your blog.
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www.skillshare.com is a brilliant resource for all kinds of creative classes. Food photography, SEO, vlogging, graphic design etc
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www.creativemarket.com is great for fonts, themes, photo presets etc
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www.picmonkey.com is a free photo editing site for building collages, adding text to images and cropping, straightening etc
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Use a link shortening site or app to add to social media posts. I use www.bitly.com
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If you are not a confident photographer, use stock images. www.unsplash.com is a great place to get free, fantastic photos.