BLOGCONF BRISTOL 21ST FEBRUARY

Hi everyone!

Today's post is all about the series of events I help organise, BlogConf. We do a series of BlogConf events around the UK and this time we took BlogConf to Bristol! The next one is on May 9th in Glasgow, so if you're around that area, pop along as we'd love you to join!

The whole ethos for BlogConf is to put on something which people want. It's pretty simple. We love seeing bloggers meet other bloggers for the first time & also catch up with bloggers they met at our last event. We always aim to make it a super relaxed, informal kind of event where people are happy to raise a hand and ask a question to one of our speakers without feeling intimidated! There is no judgement at BlogConf! The main goal is for bloggers to leave BlogConf feeling like they've gained invaluable information, advice, motivation, inspiration and not to forget new friends which they've got something great in common with!

So, onto the actual day. Myself, Emma and Kristy left Swansea around 7am and got to Racks Bar & Kitchen (in Clifton) around 8.45! We started setting up which went super quick and at around 9.30am our first guests arrived! Every single person who came through the door was so lovely and chatty - which is what we love! I'm quite shy at times so it brings me out of my shell a bit to go and talk to guests; which is great for me!

The day began with Emma (the main organiser of BlogConf!) giving a little welcome talk (which was lovely & super helpful!) and an insight into her background of running her own online boutique for the past 7 years and also about Adlet, where I also work, which is all about monetising your blog - so do check Adlet out if you fancy monetising your blog (it's super quick, easy, no hassle, no sign up fee, no contract - I have a post all about Adlet here!)

After Emma's warm and welcoming talk, we had a great session from Joe Stutter who runs Webpal, a website design and online marketing business. Joe was great and so helpful and informative. His talk was valid for all types of bloggers, whether you knew about the importance of blog design and SEO or not, Joe gave great tips about how you can improve your blog design and online presence in order to boost your SEO and website traffic. Questions were asked from the audience and Joe did a wonderful job in answering!

After Joe, we were lucky enough to have Lottie Storey, who talked to us about taking a huge step where she quit her job to pursue a career she was most passionate about. Lottie also creates features for Mollie Makes, an amazing craft magazine. This is where Lara Watson comes in. Lara is the editor of Mollie Makes and spoke to us all about how you would go about contacting a brand you'd like to work with! Both Lottie and Lara shared their views on working with magazines and told us all about how to approach magazines if you want to contribute. They advised us to learn how to pitch ourselves and really sell ourselves to whoever we're contacting because they and everyone else (brands) get hundreds of emails a day from bloggers wanting to work with them. 

We then had some scrummy lunch which was delicious! This also allowed us to network and make friends! 

Next up, we have photographer, Danny T! Unfortunately I missed parts of his talk as myself and Kristy were in the back room putting the finishing touches on the goody bags! And we were jealous, I might add - at both the goody bags and the fact that everyone was listening to an amazing photographer talk about how we can all improve our blog photos. Even though I missed parts, I could hear the whole thing, and I learnt so much just by listening so I know everyone would have really benefited from Danny's talk! At one point, I could see Danny picking members of the audience to come and pose for a photo so he could show us all in real time how to adjust the settings to make it look amazing! If anyone is on the hunt for a wedding photographer and you live in Bristol, definitely check out his work because it's truly wonderful.

We also had a superb panel session held by Gemma from Hello It's Gemma blog and Mel from Trunki. This session was fantastic because it felt more like a discussion between Gemma and Mel as well as the attendees. It was amazing to see guests raise their hand to ask questions and put their experience forward which is exactly what we want. We love when bloggers actually get involved because everyone can learn from what that blogger did right or maybe did wrong once or twice! It's all about the learning (not always the bass!).

We were so lucky to arrange Will Guyatt who is the Communications Manager at Instagram to come in and talk to us all about how Instagram works for bloggers and which way we can all use Instagram to benefit us the most. Will explained to have specific hashtags rather than a whole lot of unnecessary ones in order for people to see it. Rather than hashtagging #London for example, think of something more specific as your post might get lost in the thousands of photos uploaded every minute with the #London hashtag! 

Now nearing the end of the day, we had Olivia from Just Olivia TV who told us all about getting into the world of YouTube. This is fascinating to me as it's something I would love to do but always thought I would never have the actual confidence to. In fact, Olivia even spoke about confidence and how everyone who puts a YouTube video out there is just a normal person at the end of the day - no one is above anyone else, we all have opinions and we have the right to share them! Olivia also spoke about how you do not need a huge budget to make YouTube videos. She even spoke about making thumbnails for her videos using Paint which I find so refreshing as usually everyone advises Photoshop or something similar!

Last of all we had the creator of the amazing blog Pale Girl Blogs, Sophie. I love this blog name, as being a pale girl myself, I automatically feel we have a lot in common! Sophie talked about her blogging experience and how she changed blog names a couple of times until she found the name that suited her best. This just proves that re-branding your blog doesn't have to be that horror story you assume and imagine it to be, it can actually be super successful, as Sophie proves! Sophie also talked about where and who she gets her blog inspiration from. After the event, I had the chance to chat with Sophie which was really lovely as she's so nice and down to earth! 

I love being one third of the BlogConf team. It's so rewarding to see everything come together and know it all paid off. I loved being able to catch up with bloggers like Rosa, who I made friends with when she came to our last event in Swansea! Myself and Rosa now keep in touch regularly so it's lovely to know that you'll make friends for life because of attending an event like BlogConf! 

We even put some (if I don't mind saying so myself) amazing goody bags together with products and vouchers sent from some awesome brands such as Lush, Mollie Makes, Salcura, Kettle Chips, Bounce Energy Balls, Benefit, Instagram, Your Tea, Ji Ji Kiki and more!

The next BlogConf event will take place in Glasgow on May 9th, but we're heading all around the UK this year! There's a mailing list on the website where you can be contacted prior to when the early bird tickets go on sale!

If you're a little hesitant about attending your first BlogConf event because you're planning on coming alone, please don't hesitate to contact me and I'll be happy to reassure you and give you many examples of how the majority of our attendees come alone and leave making a heap of friends who they share something in common with. You can either get me on Twitter, email or my BlogConf email which is Chloe@blogconf.com. Also, being a blogger myself, I'd be happy to chat with you before the event and obviously at the event if you're still unsure about coming yourself - sometimes it's safety in numbers but I assure you with BlogConf, it can be just as safe and rewarding coming alone! As well as these contact details, you can also contact us on hello@blogconf.com! 

Here are a few reviews from our Twitter hashtag #BlogConf!

If you'd like to see some more photos from BlogConf Bristol, check this out!

Thank you for reading and hope to see you at a future event!

Get in touch! 

Twitter: @ChloesConcept / @TBWYCampaign 

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com / TakeBackWhatsYours@gmail.com

Tumblr Ask: http://ChloesConcept.tumblr.com/ask

Instagram : @ChloesConcept

DIABETES EVENT

Hi everyone!

This week (the 17th) marks my 10 year anniversary of being diabetic type 1. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Upon thinking about this day, the night before the 17th, an idea sparked and everything fell into place immediately.

I am so incredibly excited to organise an event for diabetics. I've been toying with this idea for awhile now but all of a sudden, it all hit me and I couldn't stop planning in my head for hours (even whilst I tried falling asleep!)

Everything will be revealed in a little while as much planning must go into it first. I have so many ideas which are a bit different and hopefully more beneficial than current events which are put on as I never find them that helpful and they don't always answer the things you want to know! I would like to get a rough idea of how many people might be interested in attending? 

If you could let me know by either comment, tweet or email (all details will be below!) then that would be fantastic and I can begin turning this into a reality (rather than scribbles on scraps of paper all around my room!)

Thanks so much and look forward to hearing from you!

Get in touch! 

Twitter: @ChloesConcept / @TBWYCampaign 

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com / TakeBackWhatsYours@gmail.com

Tumblr Ask: http://ChloesConcept.tumblr.com/ask

Instagram : @ChloesConcept

WILL OF IRON CHALLENGE - WILLOW FOUNDATION

Today's post is a little different. As you know, I love to get involved and help spread the word about charities in order to raise awareness and support for the cause. Today's charity is the Willow Foundation.

Willow is the only national charity set up for people aged between 16-40 who are seriously ill to create unforgettable and uplifting Special Days. These Special Days allow for them and their families to enjoy a day together, reconnecting whilst participating in an activity of their choice. This foundation is amazing and I urge you all to carry on reading to find out about how you can get involved.

Here's the challenge... Will of Iron.

After a roaring success in 2014, Willow is challenging you to join hundreds of people across the country in 2015 to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in one week. Are you up for the challenge?

You can take part at the gym or outdoors, solo or as part of a team. Your team can be as little as two people or as many as you like, there's no limit. You and your teammates can each pick a discipline (cycling, swimming or running) or choose all three and divide the distance.  

Do as much or as little as you like and still call yourself a triathlete! All you need to do is complete the distance over seven consecutive days.

Don't think about it, just get involved and sign up!

CURRENT PERFUME FAVOURITES

Hey everyone! 

Today is a super quick post about two perfumes I've been loving recently! Hope they give you some ideas if you're on the hunt for a new beautiful scent!

I'm a huge fan of perfumes and my favourite is a coconut scent, however I also love scents which are different to what you'd normally test and these two perfumes fit the bill. 

This Midnight Fantasy by Britney Spears is quite the classic affordable perfume. I struggle to find anyone who doesn't have at least one perfume from her what seems, never ending range. My ultimate number 1 Britney Spears perfume is Curious. It's one of the first perfumes I owned when I was about 11 or 12 and it has such a distinctive scent, it's just always going to be one of my favourites. But, we're talking about Midnight Fantasy. This one I've tried many times before in the shops but never went ahead and purchased it. I always loved it when I'd test it so I don't know why I didn't buy it before, I think it might have felt like I was going against Curious! This one has a stronger scent but nothing overpowering at all, it's very distinctive and wonderful. My mum and cousin usually say "You're wearing Midnight Fantasy aren't you?" when I wear it so it's definitely distinguishable! This one is very affordable and you can often purchase it for a deal around £12-15 in places like Boots, Superdrug and Savers. 

This one is, as you can see Balenciaga Paris. This one is more on the expensive side and makes a great Christmas present which is what I had for Christmas just gone. This perfume has such a soft, subtle scent. When I tried it, I immediately described it as a powdery scent, which is strange but I hope that makes sense? I don't use this one every day because I wouldn't be able to afford another one just on whim as it comes in at £67 for the 50ml. You can get different sizes obviously which then range in price. If your birthday is coming up or if you are thinking about what perfumes you may want for Christmas 2015 (yes it feels like a long way away but it will soon come around!) then try this one because I know you're going to love it as much as I do!

CALLING ALL BLOGGERS

Before you go, I'm running a campaign called 'Take Back What's Yours' - if you follow me on Twitter, you probably have seen me mention it. I tag you to take part in this campaign and here's how you can get involved! I really appreciate everyone who is involved in my #TakeBackWhatsYours campaign. You can get involved in this if you're a blogger OR even if you don't have a blog and you just enjoy reading them - in this case, all you need is an Instagram account and a Twitter account! Please check out the link I've put above because all of the information is included! My aim is to get every blogger and blog reader taking part in this campaign and to join the movement! Feel free to send me an email or tweet if you have any questions! All links are below! 

Get in touch! 

Twitter: @ChloesConcept / @TBWYCampaign 

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com / TakeBackWhatsYours@gmail.com

Tumblr Ask: http://ChloesConcept.tumblr.com/ask

Instagram : @ChloesConcept

HOW TO: USE ADLET TO ADVERTISE ON YOUR BLOG

Hi everyone! 

If you haven't heard of Adlet yet, where have you been? Adlet is an amazing blog advertising site which makes the process of setting up ads and selling them on your blog, an absolute breeze! Adlet launched last May and has grown rapidly in the blogging world ever since! It's completely free; no set up fee, no contract, no anything. You might as well give it a try because you've got absolutely nothing to lose.

This post shows you all about how you can sign up and exactly what to do in order to set up selling ads on your blog. It literally takes about ten minutes... at most. You don't have to wait for it to be verified or anything, just ten minutes and you could be selling your first ad. 

 

1. First, of course, sign up! If you're a brand, you change your account type to Advertiser rather than Publisher, but bloggers, don't worry about that - just choose Publisher :) 

2. Okay, so here's your Dashboard. First of all, set up your blog profile. 

3. Now that you've clicked on that (Set Up Blog Profile), you'll see this screen below. Pretty simple, fill out your details - you're going to want to put as much information about your blog in the Full Description part as this is what brands are going to see so make it eye catching and impressive!

4. Now you've done all of that, click on create an ad space. 

5. In this post, I'm going to be concentrating on Image Ads. 

6. Okay, so now you're going to want to name the ads you sell. As you can see, an example would be Top Dog. You can have anything; Gold, Silver and Bronze... One, Two and Three... anything - be as creative as you can be! As you can also see, there is a drop down menu on many options below, so you can have your choice on the size and positioning of the ads you'll be selling! 

In the description, you might want to put what this ad space will provide for the brands. For example, possibly Twitter mentions, a featured post... you get the idea!

7. Now here's a technical looking part, but it really isn't! When you save your ad spaces, click Install Ad Shop on the Dashboard.

 All you have to do is take the top code (Code A) which I've blurred so you don't get confused about your own code (not all codes are the same obviously!) and copy and paste that code into your desired sponsor/advertising page on your blog. To do this, you'll have to go into the HTML version (on Blogger, it's just next to the undo/redo button!

Now, take Code B and copy and paste that into the Layout part of your blog where you want the ad space to be displayed. For example, if you've chosen to have it in the right hand side bar, add a new HTML/Java Script widget and copy and paste the link into there and save.

There you go, all done and dusted and now you can get selling ad spaces straight away. I told you it was easy!

Hope this helps! If you have any questions, leave a comment, tweet or email me! The links are all below! 

CALLING ALL BLOGGERS

Before you go, I'm running a campaign called 'Take Back What's Yours' - if you follow me on Twitter, you probably have seen me mention it. I tag you to take part in this campaign and here's how you can get involved! I really appreciate everyone who is involved in my #TakeBackWhatsYours campaign. You can get involved in this if you're a blogger OR even if you don't have a blog and you just enjoy reading them - in this case, all you need is an Instagram account and a Twitter account! Please check out the link I've put above because all of the information is included!

Get in touch! 

Twitter: @ChloesConcept / @TBWYCampaign 

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com / TakeBackWhatsYours@gmail.com

Tumblr Ask: http://ChloesConcept.tumblr.com/ask

Instagram : @ChloesConcept

GARNIER SKINCARE ROUTINE - SIMPLE & SO, SO QUICK.

Hi everyone! 

Today's post is a skincare routine you can totally stick to. I am the world's worst for skincare. It's so, so important to take care of your skin but I completely and utterly neglect mine...well, I did until recently.

I find that I get super lazy when it comes to taking care of my skin because a) I believe I don't have time for it (even though I do), b) there are so many products out there - I don't know which ones to pick, c) the products I eventually buy, never work because I have sensitive skin and even sensitive skin products just don't do the trick and finally d) I always feel the moisturisers leave my skin feeling too sticky/greasy.

Let me make this super simple, easy and quick for you. If what I have just said sounds familiar to you, fret not because I've got a three fantastic products (disclaimer - not sponsored or supplied by the brand or anyone else) which are working amazingly for me.

This may sounds obvious but I'm just going their uses. At first, I thought, which comes first!? Here's how I do it...

Use the Garnier Skin Naturals Softening Cleansing Lotion For Face & Eyes to remove your makeup. I love this stuff because it's for face AND eyes so you don't have to use two different products. I like to use this on a cotton pad and be gentle - the skin on your face is delicate - especially around your eyes, so don't use a rough material. 

Once you've removed it all, go ahead and wash your face with your regular face wash/soap (Garnier also do a face wash which I'm eager to try!).

After you've patted your face dry (keeping it gentle, remembering your skin is delicate!) you'll want to grab the Garnier Softening Toner and apply this to another cotton pad and gently swipe this around your face - removing all of the excess makeup on your face (it's still important to do this even if you don't wear makeup - it will get rid of all the excess oils and grease your skin builds up throughout the day).

Then leave your face to dry for a few seconds and go ahead and apply your Garnier Skin Naturals Moisture Match Goodbye Dry Ultra-Hydrating Rich Cream. I like to apply moisturiser a couple of hours before bed as it gives it time to dry and wont get all sticky on your pillow! 

I think this is my favourite moisturiser ever because it feels more like a balm when you rub it in, rather than too liquidy or greasy on your skin!

I've noticed my skin is so much softer, fresher and genuinely healthier looking since using these products and just really thinking about how bad I've treated my skin for so long. Remember, the skin on your face, if healthy, prolongs your makeup and lets it sit better so keep that in mind too!

There we are, a really basic, easy skincare post! I'm not one for fuss so I hope this helps. Don't forget to drink plenty of water and eat plenty of fruit as well as taking vitamins to help keep your skin looking good and feeling great!

Now that I've overcome the first hurdle of doing these basic steps, I'm sure I'll be trying and testing other products to add into my daily routine - however I don't like overloading my skin with products so the less I can get away with, the better! I'll keep you posted on anything I find which works!

Hope this was helpful or at least slightly helpful!

Thanks for reading!

CALLING ALL BLOGGERS

Before you go, I'm running a campaign called 'Take Back What's Yours' - if you follow me on Twitter, you probably have seen me mention it. I tag you to take part in this campaign and here's how you can get involved! I really appreciate everyone who has got involved in my #TakeBackWhatsYours campaign. You can get involved in this if you're a blogger OR even if you don't have a blog and you just enjoy reading them - in this case, all you need is an Instagram account and a Twitter account! Please check out the link I've put above because all of the information is included!

Get in touch! 

Twitter: @ChloesConcept / @TBWYCampaign 

Email: ChloesConcept@gmail.com / TakeBackWhatsYours@gmail.com

Tumblr Ask: http://ChloesConcept.tumblr.com/ask

Instagram : @ChloesConcept