This month I thought I’d spice things up a bit by telling you about other people rather than just my own adventures, trials and tribulations. I’ll get them to talk a bit about themselves and what they do, I messaged a few of my friends who have their own businesses, blogs and other projects as I thought it’s be fun to introduce you to some of the amazing people I am lucky to have in my life.
So, first up is one of my uni friends who I have been picking the brains of since I started this blog as she has been running hers for a few years now which I really think you’ll love, she is recently engaged and looking at buying a house so as well amongst the fashion and travel posts there’s also some inspiration for weddings and mortgages/moving, but I’ll let Natalie tell you a bit more about her…
Who are you?
My name is Natalie Redman. I work full-time and live in London. I’ve been living in the city for almost four years now and originally from Stoke-on-Trent.
What is it you do?
I’m a blogger and soon to be vlogger.
When did you start?
I started around four years ago when I graduated from university.
What were your reasons to/what motivated or inspired you to start?
At first, it was merely a platform for me to tell my friends and family what I was up to after graduating. After a while, I started to produce more content which in turn enabled me to work with brands and it sort of snow balled from there. Once it started making me money, I became fully invested in it and now treat blogging as a full-time job. I’m effectively a freelance writer now and I’ve nearly doubled my income each month which is incredible. I hope one day to do it full-time.
What advice would you give for others who are hoping to do the same?
My advice would be to take it seriously from the very beginning. Do you research and read other people’s blogs on what makes good content. It’s important to raise your online presence as much as possible so invest in a good theme design for your blog, try and find a niche if possible and use social media platforms to promote your content.
What first steps would you recommend?
The first steps for me were creating content daily so that my readers would know when to expect blog posts. Promote them like crazy on your social media and reach out to brands you love to see if they’d work with you. I started with Bloggers Required but there’s now many platforms and websites aimed at connecting bloggers with brands. Also contact PR companies who do influencer and blogger outreach to be put on their database for future work.
How did you come up with the name?
The name UpYourVlog is often met with a huh? It actually was brainstormed by myself when I and some of my friends wanted to create a YouTube channel. There was an advert on TV at the time called Up Your Viva, which was so random and funny. I then thought, oh UpYourVlog sounds good. We never ended up making the YouTube channel though which is a shame.
What are your favourite things to do when you’re not working?
When I’m not working full-time Monday-Friday and working all hours on my blog in the evenings and weekends, I just want to chill out. Binge watching Netflix, reading books and playing on The Sims 4 is my way of relaxing from work.
If you want to have a look at Natalie’s blog posts and read a bit more about her, here are her links:
Blog – https://www.upyourvlog.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/upyourvlog/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/UpYourVlog
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.co.uk/upyourvlog/pins/
Next weeks guest writer is also a blogger but very new to the bubble and is more accustomed to music and acting, find out more next week,
Until next time, TTFN
As usual feel free to like, comment, share, subscribe, follow my other social medias and message me if you want to collaborate.
1st comment!
anyway, I was just here to say that that’s so cool
Glad you like the post. Natalie is an inspiration, she has so much self motivation and she’s just a genuine, down to earth lady who I am lucky to know as a friend.