Parent Blogger News

A Cuppa With Molly Forbes

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Blogger Interview: A cuppa with Molly ForbesIt’s always nice to sit down for a cuppa and a chat, doubly so today as we’re joined by the infectiously enthusiastic Molly Forbes. Won’t you join me while I pick her brains?

Hi Molly, why don’t you tell us a bit about your blogs

I blog at Mother’s Always Right and Roost. Mother’s Always Right is about my life as a mum with a strong emphasis on real life stories and opinions, interiors and travel. There’s a bit of everything in there! Roost is a collaborative interiors website and YouTube channel dedicated to stylish family living. It’s my newest baby and launched at the beginning of February. We have big plans for it this year!

What first inspired you to start blogging?

I started my blog when I was on maternity leave with my first daughter five years ago. It was an outlet for me to chat about all the things I was going through as a new mum that I couldn’t necessarily share with many of my friends who weren’t yet parents. I didn’t want to be a baby bore, yet I felt like there was so much I needed to say and get off my chest as I navigated this new role of motherhood. At the time I was on maternity leave from my job as a broadcast journalist for a radio station, so I hoped that the blog may become an online portfolio of sorts that I could use to pitch for writing work which I could do from home. I had no idea what I was letting myself in for though – blogging became about SO much more than the initial things I started it for!

What have been the high points of your blogging journey so far?

The biggest high point for blogging for me has been making some brilliant friends. No matter what the brand collaborations, travel opportunities and life-changing career changes it’s brought me, nothing can compare to the real life friends I now have through blogging. These are people I’ve shared holidays with, trips to the pub, New Year celebrations and much more. They’re people I’d never have known had I not started my little blog just over five years ago.

What do you find hard about being a blogger?

This answer will change depending on when you ask me! At the moment, my biggest challenge is time management. I have two young children, one is at school and the other is still at home with me (she’s 17 months old). Although my littlest goes to a childminder two mornings a week, and I have childcare help from my mum every other Wednesday, I still end up spending long evenings at my laptop. Something many brands (and people who don’t blog) often don’t understand or see is the hard work that goes on behind the scenes of a blog. The hours spent editing photos and videos, replying to emails, plugging posts on social media, replying to comments – not to mention the work that goes into actually creating content. It’s a labour of love, that’s for sure.

The other thing I find hard about being a blogger is that it can actually be a rather lonely existence. When you’re sitting at your laptop working in an office at home you don’t have anyone to bounce ideas with, like you do in an office environment at work. There are also times when it can feel a bit pointless – when you think no one’s reading or there’s just too much noise. In a regular job you’d have a bunch of colleagues to give you a kick up the backside and tell you to get on with it and buck up, but when you’re a blogger working at home in a potentially very competitive area, it can be easy to feel your confidence being sucked.

What are you excited about right now?

I’m REALLY excited about my new project Roost. I had the idea for it in the summer of 2015 and it took a good six months to get off the ground, working with a team of other dedicated bloggers and interiors experts. I’m SO pleased with how it’s been received so far, it makes all the hard work getting it started worth it. As well as a blogger, I’m a journalist specialising in interiors (I write for various lifestyle magazines), so it’s really great to be able to marry my “work hat” with my “blogger hat” in one fun project. We have a YouTube channel (Roost TV) which is proving great fun to work on, a curated shop where people can buy the products we recommend direct from our website, plus some very exciting spin-off projects planned for later in the year.

What is your top tip for a new blogger?

Do what you love – your passion will shine through and help you have an authentic online space you can be proud of. Write about what you’re passionate about – it’s far easier than faking enthusiasm you don’t really have! Work hard and don’t expect the rewards to come overnight. Jump in and engage with other bloggers – don’t be shy. Remain true to your own voice – it’s the one thing you have that no one else has. (Sorry, I know that’s more than one tip but I couldn’t help myself!)

Thanks for joining us Molly. Now quick, let’s finish off the biscuits before the kids see them!

Molly Forbes interviewMolly Forbes is a lifestyle journalist and blogger, living in South Devon with her husband and two young daughters. Molly’s been blogging for over five years at her family lifestyle blog Mother’s Always Right and has recently launched the collaborative interiors site and YouTube channel, Roost. As well as writing about interiors for various magazines, Molly also blogs for the UK’s largest parenting site BabyCentre. Molly loves hot cups of tea, cold glasses of wine and a bowl of posh salt and vinegar crisps.

You can find Molly on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or chatting about family interiors as @roostblog on Twitter and Instagram.

[If you missed last month’s cuppa with Becky Goddard-Hill where we chatted about her 5 (yes, five!) blogs and her new shop then you can find it here.]

Competition Time – March

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Blog competitions
Last month’s Competition Time was a hit so we’re back with another linky for March so if you run blog competitions then do share them here (and find some to join in with yourself). There’s no need to link back to PBN, show a badge or anything like that (although if you want to point people in this direction then that would be fab!). The only rules are that the comp must close during the month and you enter the details in the format ‘dd/mm – prize’ (for example ’12/03 – £25 John Lewis Voucher’) to make it easier for people to see what the end date is and what they can win.

So without further ado, here’s the linky for comps closing in March. Good Luck!


Brand Chat – The Co-operative

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Brand chat: The CoopWelcome to the first of a new monthly feature, Brand Chat, where we’ll be interviewing a range of brands and PRs who we think do a great job of working with bloggers, to find out what they’ve been up to and how they’re looking to collaborate at the moment. Today we’re chatting with Annette from the Co-op, a personal favourite to work with and not just because they’ve been known to send bloggers lots of sweets.

Great to have you here, Annette. Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about the Co-op?

The Co-op is a household name in the UK. Most people know us from our Food stores as we have one in every postcode area, but we also have Funeralcare, Insurance, Legal Services and, one that many people don’t know about, Co-op Electrical. We are local and diverse but one thing that resonates are our brand values, as we were recently voted the most ethical and responsible brand in the UK in a YouGov survey.

How have you been working with bloggers?

We work with bloggers and influencers to help share the great news and stories about our products and services. We do this by offering unique and exciting experiences giving them insight and access to parts of the Co-op customers don’t really see (sometimes we just send them our delicious food!). Our annual Christmas Blogger Event was the first of its kind in the northwest, and we’re building from there as bloggers form a crucial part of our ongoing engagement with online influencers.

Brand chat: the co-operative

What do you look for when choosing bloggers to work with?

This depends hugely on the objectives of our individual projects – we could be looking for a  a blogger with a very well established blog or an online influencer with an engaged social community of their own. We look for blogs that really strike a chord with their audience. However sometimes it’s the bloggers that choose us and we’re open to offers from bloggers looking to work with the Co-op on their own projects. The aim for all involved is to create something that is engaging and authentic.

What plans do you have for working with bloggers in 2016?

There are lots of campaigns coming up, across all of our business areas. Food and Electrical are the easy ones – everyone has to eat and have something to cook on, but we sometimes struggle to find quality blogs that deal with more serious issues like why it’s important to write a Will, the emotional and financial benefit of pre-planning a funeral, probate and how home insurance is calculated.

How should bloggers get in contact if they’d like to be involved?

In 2016, we’re starting to work more closely with the bloggers on our list. We sent an update to registered bloggers this month and this is something we’re looking to do on a more regular basis. Each update will even feature a blogger spotlight to highlight the great work we’re doing together. To sign up to the opt-in list visit  http://on.coop/1yHhNPF or if you’d like to pitch an idea for how we could collaborate then drop us a line via the form below.

Thanks Annette, we’ll look forward to seeing what your team have up their sleeves, oh and did we mention how much we love your bakewell tarts? #justsaying

Instagram Masterclass – Joy from Pink Oddy

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Instagram Masterclass with Joy from Pink OddyInstagram has become both a great channel for expanding your blog reach as well as a stand alone way to generate income. We’ve all seen those beautiful, highly stylised IG accounts, all tonal colour coordination and carefully sourced props, but can parent bloggers succeed on Instagram taking pictures of real life? Joy from Pink Oddy has proved you can with her pictures of daily life, her kids, nature and LOTS of Lego regularly getting hundreds of likes and lots of comments. To find out what we can learn from Joy’s approach, Parent Blogger News tracked down the lady herself and bribed her with biscuits to spill the beans. Here’s what Joy had to say:

Thanks for joining us, Joy. How did you get started on Instagram?

It was a while ago that I started using Instagram by just downloading the app and following a few bloggers. To be honest, I can’t even remember why now but was probably due to Annie Spratt if I recall correctly. I didn’t really start using it like I do now until much later on when I really started getting into LEGO photography. I just remember watching my first “popular” picture clock up to 118 likes before my eyes and it was such an amazing feeling (although now I realise that is hardly any likes at all!) but right from the beginning I knew it was all about community. I wrote this post on Instagram Tips back in 2014.

What do you enjoy most about IG?

I enjoy the social interaction. Other platforms just feel like link dumps now and IG feels like home, whether it is just sharing some happiness or a genuine question about improving my health and well-being. A community with people checking on one another to see that we are ok, and what we are up to. It feels like micro-blogging that people actually can fit into their very busy lives.

Do you see IG as a way to promote your blog or as a stand alone platform?

I guess I don’t see it as either, which in itself sounds rather random I guess. My blog and social media platforms are all intertwined. But no I don’t add pictures to promote my blog as a general rule (not unless it is something I am reviewing and have agreed to – like this one in advance of my yoga retreat with Mark Warner – and then I will state that on the picture). I occasionally promote my IG on my blog however, or add the IG feed into a post.

How have you gone about gaining followers?

I try to find people with similar interests, whether that is running, nature, or general well-being for example. I follow people, like their photos, join in with hashtags. I have tried some of the follow for follow groups on Facebook in the past very short term but they weren’t for me as the new followers didn’t really seem to be engaged with what my feed is about.

Which pictures do you find gain the most likes and do you specifically try to select shots that will be popular?

I guess that I do seem to have found myself being more drawn to nature shots and then getting more likes on them. Having said that though, I think it is about the community as my most popular shots are the ones that have a story attached about how I am feeling at that time (like this recent image) or something I have accomplished. I don’t try and select shots that will be popular as personally that is not for me, although I suppose I don’t put pictures up that I wouldn’t click like on myself if I saw them in my feed.

You get lots of comments on your pictures. How have you encouraged that interaction?

I think that is just because I am being natural. I do try and respond back like you would any friend. As I say for me it is about a like-minded community, so if someone has answered a question I asked on running, for instance, chances are they might have something else in their feed that I might like to comment on too.

If you had to pick just one, what would be your top tip for IG success?

Authenticity, be yourself. Ignore any advice that you have to do this or that because you would be surprised at the variety of people on Instagram all using it differently. You just have to find the ones you fit with.

Instagram Masterclass with Joy from Pink Oddy - Hear how Joy built a community around her IG accout.

Pinkoddy is a Gloucestershire blogger just living life: Trying to take care of her own health and well-being to ensure that she is in a better place to look after her husband and four sons. You can also find her on twitter, facebook, linkedin, youtube & pinterest.

Could you be a ChannelMum vlogger?

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ChannelMumAfter originally setting up as a YouTube channel a year ago and recruiting a small squad of vloggers, the newest network for parent bloggers, ChannelMum, has now announced an accompanying website and ramped up their efforts to sign up new vloggers.

Siobhan Freegard set up ChannelMum after selling Netmums three years ago. She is confident that vlogging has a big role to play in the future of blogging. She described the ChannelMum concept as ‘the next generation of parenting sites’.

Freegard says, “We know the way we consume information is changing. The rise of YouTube shows how much we’ve embraced video as people now want to ‘show not tell’. The powerful vlogging movement has revolutionised the way consumers get their information. Our own research at ChannelMum shows 60 per cent of mums want information direct from other mothers, not brands, websites or official sources. While online videos are now the most trusted format for millennial mums, with 35 per cent trusting it above any other media source.”

“What we’re doing at ChannelMum is giving busy new mums a quick, simple and easy resource. They can check out ‘how to’ videos on the go on their phones and get advice, tips and information direct from other mums. With over 100 Vloggers already part of the team, we have parents at every stage of the journey. They’ve been though – and are going through – almost every scenario you’ll ever need advice on.”

The ChannelMum website shows a stream of videos from all the vloggers currently signed up in chronological order as well having a listing of vloggers by name. Their YouTube channel shows a curated selection of vlogs under various subject headings from Family Recipes to Labour & Birth.

Ultimately, ChannelMum will also help vloggers monetise their channels by working with brands, much as the current blogging networks do for traditional bloggers. But Freegard advises brands looking to advertise on the platform to be “prepared to relinquish control because you can’t give mum vloggers a script but when you get it right it gives you really powerful advocacy”.

So if you’re interested in linking up your YouTube channel to the ChannelMum stream you can apply on the site (here). As long as your channel is over three months old and you vlog at least three times a month. If you’re new to vlogging you will also find some useful tips on how to plan, produce and promote your vlogs. If you’ve already signed up, we’d love to hear how you’ve got on so far. Do leave us a comment on your experiences with ChannelMum below.

For more blogging and vlogging tips check out the PBN Pinterest account . Don’t forget to subscribe to the PBN newsletter to stay up to date with all the news (plus you’ll be able to download our free pre- and post-publication checklist to make sure your making the most of each post).

Vlog & Blog Post Seasonal Topic Calendar

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Today – A free downloadable calendar of seasonal blog and vlog ideas. This will help you make the most of time sensitive search traffic.
A free downloadable calendar of seasonal blog and vlog ideas - 12 Months of content ideas to maximise your traffic.Planning your posts to match the topics that your readers are likely to be searching for is a great way to maximise your traffic. However it takes some organisation (and a bit of luck). We’ve produced a graphic listing a lot of the topics you can guarantee to be popular during different times of the year.

To make the most of your posts you’ll need to publish them before the actual event/season. This will coincide with when people will be searching for that content. Pinterest searches happen particularly early. Start scheduling your pins at least 6 weeks in advance to give them time to gain momentum and repins.

If you’d like to download a copy just click on the image below and you’ll get to a printable PDF version. Then you can refer to these blog and vlog ideas all year round.

Seasonal Blog Post Topic Calendar - 12 Months of content ideas to maximise your traffic.

Tailwind have also produced a great calendar of instagram hashtags to use throughout the year which you can find here. Thanks to Cerys for sharing that.

Do you have any seasonal topics that always bring you traffic? Do share them in the comments, we’d love to hear them. If you’re new to PBN then our Start Here page will point you to all our most popular content and help you find your way around.

Seasonal Blog Post Topic Calendar - 12 Months of content ideas to maximise your traffic. Seasonal Blog Post Topic Calendar - 12 Months of content ideas to maximise your traffic. Seasonal Blog Post Topic Calendar - 12 Months of content ideas to maximise your traffic.

Instagram announce easy account switching

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instagrm accountA collective cheers was heard across blogland this week when Instagram announced that they were finally rolling out the option to link more than one account together and be able to switch between them within the app. It’s increasingly common for users to have to manage more than one account, be it to keep blogging and personal images separate or because they are managing clients accounts, so you can be sure this will be a very popular feature.

If you’d like to link your accounts then all you need to do is go to the profile page of your account while logged in, select the ‘options’ cog in the top right corner and then scroll down to ‘add account’ near the bottom. Add the login details of your other accounts and you’ll be up and running. Too swap between accounts go to your profile and tap the account name at the top. You’ll then see a drop down box from which you can select the account you want to use.

Thanks Instagram!

We’d love to see you over on the PBN Instagram account so do pop by while you’re over there. You can also show us what blogging jobs you’re up to by joining in with our #MyDeskToday tag.

Getting started with TheseReads

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TheseReads intro

The parent blogger community is alight with talk of a new platform to help us publicise our posts and find great new content to read and share and we think it could make a big difference to your traffic. There’s currently quite a wait to have a TheseReads account approved, so popular has it turned out to be, so we’re super excited that JQ and his team are giving Parent Blogger News readers direct access to set up their accounts (via the link below) immediately rather than waiting for the approval process.

So what is TheseReads?

TheseReads is a community where you can read, save and share posts from your own and other sites. It’s a bit like crossing bloglovin with pinterest and then being able to share your favourite finds across your social networks. As is often the case with new platforms, early adopters will have a big advantage when it comes to getting noticed. Parent bloggers in America have been using TheseReads for quite a few months now and many have experienced a big upturn in traffic either directly from TheseReads or from the facebook and twitter shares generated by the platform.

How does it work?

Well, you’ll be relieved to hear it’s pretty simple. Once you sign up for an account you follow other people, blog feeds or topic based channels from which you can see a stream of content. When you see something you like you ‘clip’ it to add it to your own stream. You can also ‘like’ stuff or ‘send’ it to a friend. Your stream will become a collection of all the pieces you have clipped and if other people like your choices too they can follow you. Best of all there’s no confusing algorithm for the profile streams determining who sees what *glares pointedly in the direction of facebook and pinterest*. Everything is shown in chronological order, how refreshingly old school!

And for blogs?

As well as a personal account, bloggers can request ‘publisher’ status. This allows you to add a separate feed for your blog direct from your RSS feed. Once set up, it pulls every new post into its own stream which can be followed by people and your content can be clipped and added to individual streams across TheseReads.

Does it really generate as much traffic as we’re hearing?

Well Cerys from Rainy Day Mum told me:

At the end of January I read an article on And Next Comes L about TheseReads and as I was getting disillusioned with facebook I decided to apply for an invite and was accepted on the 2nd of February. I applied to be a publisher and was accepted within hours. Since then I have seen a steady flow of traffic to my site from TheseReads. So far I only have around 200 TheseReads followers but even though four of my posts have been shared on facebook pages with over 1 million followers this week I’ve seen more traffic from TheseReads. In terms of investment in time, I am spending a lot less time clipping than I do on scheduling for Facebook and I’m getting a higher return.

You can find Cerys over on TheseReads as well as her Rainy Day Mum feed.

Sounds good, how do I get started?

  1. You normally have to wait for approval but if you use our sign up link you should be able to sign in via facebook and set up your account straight away.
  2. Once you’re registered, have a look around and follow some other blogs, individuals or topic streams that interest you. You can find our profile here and the PBN blog feed here if you fancy taking a look.
  3. Go to your settings and make yourself a badge to add to your site to direct your readers to your TheseReads account. It’ll look like the one in my sidebar.
  4. Go to the ‘publisher’ section in your settings, enter the details of your blog’s RSS feed and then tick the box at the bottom asking to be verified as a publisher.
  5. Have fun clipping anything that takes your fancy for a day or so while TheseReads sets up your blog account.
  6. Once it’s up, your blog account will pull the content direct from your RSS feed so you don’t need to do anything except pop over there periodically when you want to clip some of your own posts into your profile stream.

Some things to consider:

  • Items that get a lot of clips and likes will end up in the category streams and reach an even larger audience so, like pinterest, think nice images and clear, descriptive titles.
  • Don’t just clip your own stuff, it’s a community after all!
  • You can attach a bookmarklet to your favourites bar so you can clip direct from a web page. You’ll find it under ‘add link’ (top right).
  • There’s an ios app too so you can clip on the go.
  • You can send your clips to twitter and facebook as you go to amplify your reach.

If you get stuck you can check out the TheseReads FAQ page and you can always drop them a line via the help section. JQ is super helpful!

We’ve really enjoyed using TheseReads so far and would love to connect with more users so if you do set up an account come and leave your link in the comments so we can pop over and take a look.

Who’s worth following?

The TheseReads community is growing very quickly with new feeds added daily so it won’t be hard to find interesting streams to follow, just check out the ‘related’ list on the right hand side of your feed, but if you’re a parenting blogger then we’d definitely recommend checking out:

  • The Parenting Sites category stream
  • The Parenting Tips category stream
  • Stay at Home Mompreneur
  • Cerys from Rainy Day Mum
  • Nicolette from Powerful Mothering
  • Buzzfeed Parents
  • and, of course, the PBN profile and blog feed

So get clipping everyone and don’t forget to come back and let us know how you get on and share your stream.

Tots100 profile changes

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blogging newsTots100 announced changes to the profile information they collect from each blogger so if you want to have the best chance of being selected for opportunities to work with their brand contacts you should definitely head over and make sure your profile is as complete as possible. You can now add you postcode and age as well as including a profile photo to give an impression of your blog to those brands looking to reach out.

Another new addition is the option to volunteer your content for use in Tots100 round up posts preemptively rather than waiting for the team to do a shout out for specific posts. This should increase your likelihood of being featured (with that always welcome backlink) but we’d suggest you also make sure you have an obvious search bar on your homepage to make it easier for the team to find relevant posts once they get to you, thus increasing your chances even further.

It’s also worth noting that the Tot100 post on the changes stated ‘recently refreshed profiles are highlighted to brands when they search our community’ so even when you don’t think anything has changed it is still worth popping over and freshening up you bio if you want to be seen.

Parent blogger News LogoIf you want to keep up to date with news as it happens you can follow Parent Blogger News on twitter or facebook. Be the first to know!

If blogging advice and tutorials is your thing then you should definitely check out the Parent Blogger News Pinterest account.

Conference Focus – Blog On

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Blog on blogging conferencelaura seaton blog onWith so many blogging conferences to choose from this year (check out our conference round up) we’re going to focus on one a month to find out a bit more about them. This month we’re starting with a chat with Laura Seaton, the brains behind Blog On. One of only a few blogging conferences held outside of London, Blog On will return to Manchester this year on 1st May.

Thanks for joining us Laura. Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about Blog On?

Blog On has been running since 2012 in Manchester and is aimed at bloggers from all genres. It has a very friendly atmosphere so is perfect for those starting out or for those who may feel lost or intimidated by the bigger events. Blog On always has lots of breaks to encourage networking as we understand that catching up with friends or making new ones is just as important as learning a new skill.

What inspired you to set it up?

I love blog conferences and try to go to as many as possible but I noticed lots of comments from people who either didn’t want to travel to London or who found the concept of being with so many people terrifying. There were also lots of bloggers in my local area of Manchester who wanted to see an event run up here so I accepted the challenge. One of the main focuses for Blog On has always been to get bloggers and brands to work well together so I always wanted to have a brand area where I could introduce the attendees to brands that I had worked with and who appreciated bloggers whilst at the same time showing bloggers how to work with brands in a professional manner. Blog On has grown way past that now and focuses on all the skills we need as bloggers, whether that is SEO, Pinterest, Vlogging, Photography or content marketing the list is endless and my biggest struggle every year is choosing which sessions to put on.

What have been your highlights from previous years?

The Blog On Goody bags have always been a highlight but the biggest achievement was trending on twitter the day Princess Charlotte was born last year. Having the Scummy Mummies perform the Keynote at BlogOnWin last October had to be the funniest thing I have ever seen at a conference and I am looking forward to welcoming them back to Manchester this year. My own personal highlight is how many companies now approach me to be involved in the event rather than me chasing them and this year we have some brilliant companies running some of the sessions including Pinterest and Channel Mum.

What can we expect from this year’s event?

Blog On this year will offer a larger variety of sessions to enable the attendees to have more choice on what they want to learn. It will also be the first year that we will have a Craft Den although we have played host to Black Sheep Wool previously we are taking this one step further this year. As usual we will have a gorgeous cake, lots of yummy food and some amazing brands to interact with as well as the best goody bags full of products from companies who would love to build relationships with bloggers.

Sounds good, hey? Tickets are £40 and I have it on good authority that there aren’t many left so, if you want to go, head over to the Blog On website before they’re all snapped up. 

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