Category Archives: Blogging

Spotted: Style Me Vintage Weddings

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I have been excited about writing today’s post for what feels like months and this weekend I finally got my hands on a copy of Style Me Vintage: Weddings. I don’t normally write about weddings these days, but this wasn’t hard to make an exception for as it was written by my friend and fellow blogger, Annabel Beeforth of Love My Dress, a wedding blog with ‘a focus on vintage, retro, glamorous, chic and elegant content.’

Way back when I was a wedding blogger (at Rock My Wedding,) I had 2 big goals. 1. I wanted to be featured in Grazia magazine (just because it was my favourite magazine,) and 2. I wanted to write a book. I’ve always taken great pleasure in blogging as an industry and being a part of it as it advances and develops, particularly in the UK, so although it wasn’t me who eventually wrote that book, it gives me no end of pleasure that it’s my friend Annabel who takes that prize and deservedly so.

Annabel is one of the hardest working wedding bloggers out there. Anybody who thinks full time professional blogging is a cushy job really doesn’t know enough about what’s involved. Sure there are perks and glitzy industry events, but nine times out of ten you arrive knackered after the usual slog of prepping blog posts and the part of the job that really takes over, the administration behind the scenes of answering emails and actually running a blog as a business. To add writing a book to that is a massive workload so my hat really goes off to Annabel for pulling it off.

The book, as the title suggests, focuses on vintage wedding style, breaking it down by decade and this is where Annabel really shows off the incredible knowledge she has developed as an expert in vintage style. There are real vintage style weddings and inspirational styled images. Each chapter also has sections on perfecting every aspect of your look for an authentic take on vintage inspired, with beauty, fashion, stationery and decor touches to complete the look.

And what a job Annabel has done. I love a good coffee table book – for me they have to be beautiful to hold and beautifully illustrated. Annabel ensured that when she enlisted Joanna Brown who has captured the images which really are of the highest quality and completely breathtaking in places. Special mention goes to Michelle Kelly, (my colleague at Dream Find Do,) and founder of Pocketful of Dreams, who styled the images to ‘create distinct decor elements that would bring each era to life’ with her impeccable eye and managed to make vintage very very modern. Zoe Lem takes credit for the fashion picks and styling.

For me the triumph of this book is in its genuine display of knowledge, collection of real historical references and then the incredibly thoughtful respresentation of those eras presented in the inspiration images.

You can find Style Me Vintage: Weddings on Amazon – if you need to buy a gift for a bride to be that you know, if she likes vintage style then I guarantee she’ll love it. :)

Well Done Annabel!

Love,
Rebecca
xo

Dream Find Do comes to London…

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Some of you may remember me announcing a new project a while back – the new blogging workshop that I launched with Michelle, Dream. Find. Do. Well, this weekend sees us teach our first workshop in Manchester and I’m just a little bit excited. So excited in fact that we decided to announce another date, in London this time.


Image credit: The lovely illustration you see above is by Argentinian graphic designer Hola Mimi, you can see more of her work here.

So, if you’re a blogger, thinking of starting a blog, or blog for your business, you might be interested in heading over to Dream. Find. Do. and reading all about the next workshop. You can also take advantage of an early bird deal we have on for bookings made before October 5th and this time around we are allowing attendees to book a single day as well as the full weekend workshop.

Come and join us!

Love,
Rebecca
xo

PS, Blogger or not, today I’m actually being interviewed on Dream. Find. Do. and you can read about my blogging journey, what inspires me and how I made Florence Finds happen by clicking on through.

Socialista Sista’

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Already in the three years that I have been involved in blogging, I’ve noticed a real change in how people use social media. Of course, I already had a Facebook account when I joined the blogging revolution, but I had no idea what a business page was and Twitter was a whole new ball game.


Engaging in conversation and status updates about the new iPhone5 release with readers on my Facebook (right) and Twitter (left) pages yesterday evening

I’ve never been what I would call a Facebook addict but I did tend to check every couple of days and face-stalk peoples holiday pictures, didn’t we all? In sharp contrast, yesterday I uploaded the pictures from a friends wedding and despite me having been to several other weddings and on a few holidays, never mind general ‘life’ it had been over 6 months since I last did the same.

Now my life has been taken over by Twitter. Facebook just isnt the same when it comes to sharing and keeping up to date with news, media oulets like magazines and following celebrity or style icons. All that and it takes care of the majority of my social media exposure for Florence Finds and lets me keep in touch with my ‘blog friends’. Are my everyday friends there though? No. A few of them admit to having an account and who knows if they check it or not, but there’s a really tentative air of fear about them when they discuss it. I remember it. Like I felt before I finally succumbed to Facebook.

From a business or blog point of view, there used to be a very clear demarcation… Facebook was to capture Brides (in my wedding blogging days) and Twitter was for industry. Now, my Facebook followers (all 436 of you) are dwarved by my 1,573 twitter followers. What is interesting however is that they are largely made up of readers rather than industry types. Has there been a shift? I’d say it’s seismic.

I do still see people however who cling to Facebook and use it far more than Twitter, even amongst people who I know have and use both forms of social media. And then there’s the way Instagram seamlessly integrates with both – maybe that’s where all my Facebook albums went, trampled by the instant gratification of boastful over-sharing when you’re somewhere fun/drool-worthy/envy-inducing.

So, today I’d like to hear about your social media strategy, (spoken with a hint of irony.) Do you still use Facebook? Have you joined Twitter yet? And if not, why not? I’m fascinated to hear your thoughts and how you use social media…

Love
Rebecca
xo

Photography basics: The Fuji x100 Part 2

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So, last time I wrote about the x100, I talked about how in love with it I was already, but also how I had revealed a few little frustrations as I used it. Since then, I have been out with a few friends who are DSLR owners who also couldn’t get to grips with it. Is it a bad camera? Absolutely not. Put a DSLR on auto and usd a nice little 50mm lens to blur out your backgrounds and in the right light, anybody can take a decent picture. No really, anybody. The Fuji x100 however really doesn’t cater for the lover of the Auto function and honestly, I had been getting a little lazy. It’s really made me pull my finger out and remember what my camera functions are and how to use them.

Last week, I spent the afternoon with Laura and Peter Lawson (Remember Laura wrote this great piece on Digital camera’s for Florence Finds?) and tried to get to grips with the basic settings I needed to know to use the x100. So today, I thought I would share some of my new pearls of photography wisdom with you all in case you too are grappling with the settings on your camera. I did say that I was going to look at depth of field and exposure in my next post and hopefully you will see how all of these things come together.

There are three main settings you need to get to know to get started with your camera. Aperture, ISO and shutter speed.

1. Aperture
When you press the button on a camera, to take the photo, the camera opens up the shutters in it’s lens (you can see these through the lens if you look carefully on an SLR,) and captures the image. The amount the shutters open is what is called the aperture.


Using a big aperture to create depth of field and blur out the background in this shot showing off my glitter fizz nails (Chanel Orange Fizz and Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air)

Confusingly a large aperture actually has a smaller number, for example a 1.8 is much larger than a 5.6. You will also see the aperture referred to as ‘f-stops’ Each f-stop on a lens either halves or doubles the size of the aperture, depending on whether you are moving up or down.

The key thing to aperture is that what it does is let light in. Therefore, if you are in dark conditions you are always going to want to choose a big aperture, (a small f-stop,) to get the most light into your camera and prevent the shot being dark. It also impacts on the depth of field but I’ll leave that for now.

2. ISO
When cameras used film (and when I started playing with my Dads SLR,) ISO denoted how sensitive the film was to light. You therefore chose your film according to the conditions. However in digital photography, choosing your ISO changes how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light.


This shot was taken when I had some friends over for dinner. It was warm so we were eating outside and the light was low. The shutter speed was already as slow as I could get it without causing blurring from camera shake, so I put the ISO up. That made the first image too bright and I turned it down to 200 for the correct exposure.

What that means is that when it’s bright and light (outside on a bright day for example,) your sensor doesnt need to be as, well, sensitive to pick up the image. 1-200 would be fine here. On the other hand in a dark room you might have to bump up the ISO to capture the details.

3. Shutter speed
This one is exactly what it says on the tin. To capture the image as I said in point one, the shutters in your lens open and close in speed that equates to fractions of a second. The ‘shutter speed’ is how long the shutter remains open for. In turn, that controls how long your camera’s sensor is exposed to the image you are taking. The bigger the number 1/250, 1/1000 etc (or you might see these just as the larger number,) the faster the speed.


This shot was taken out one night with friends in low light outside, hence the high ISO. However initially I chose a slow shutter speed to let the most light in and it bleached the shot out with too much light. I could have turned the ISO down, but instead increased the shutter speed.

There are a few key points you need to grasp that relate to this.

  • Leave the shutter open for longer and you will capture movement. For example those street scenes with the car lights streaking across the picture have used a long shutter speed or when you see pictures of waterfalls with the water blurred. There are situations where you might want to see movement in your photograph.
  • For a long shutter speed you need a tripod. The human hand struggles to keep a camera still at a speed slower than 1/125 or 1/60 and that causes ‘camera shake’ or blurring to you and me.
  • On the whole and for blogging purposes you’re more than likely however to want to freeze the shot and capture everything crisply, so will want to choose a higher shutter speed.
  • Shutter speed interacts with ISO because of course when the shutter is open longer (for example) it lets more light in. So you might lower your ISO. On the other hand, speed up the shutter speed and you’ll have to increase your ISO to compensate.

Understanding the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture is the hardest part of photography for me and I guess it only comes with practice.


Just a pretty shot of my dressing table.

So what did I take away from my lesson with the Lawsons? For me personally and the way I use a camera or the situations I use it for, there is an easy way! Laura and Pete taught me that of the 3 factors above, really only one is negotiable. I like nice blurred out backgrounds, so 9 out of 10 times I’m going to choose a large aperture, on the Fuji x100, a 2 or 2.8. The ISO isn’t really negotiable, the lighting and situation again dictate what you need to use. Most days in good light it’s going to be a low ISO of 1-200 or I might bump it up in lower light situations. That just leaves me to play with the shutter speed and get the exposure right by increasing or decreasing it as I go. It’s not how a pro-photographer shoots of course, but I think it’s great advice to get started with!

So, have you learnt anything today? I’m no pro but these are just the tips that have been helping me get better shots so far. I’ll keep you posted!

Love,
Rebecca
xo

~ With thanks to Talk PR for arranging my Press review of the Fujifilm FinePix X100

Photography for Bloggers: The Fuji x100 Part 1

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This afternoon I thought it might be fun to share a journey with you all that I’m taking right now. I’m working on Florence Finds, Dream. Find. Do. and my day job, but I’ve also decided that I need to get better with my camera. Since this article, I’ve been making so much more effort to take my Canon 40D out. One of the great (intentionally great) things about Florence Finds is that it really forces me to do things that I don’t normally make time for. I have had to practice my photography and editing skills to make my posts look their best. Add to that the best part of 2 years that I spent editing down the selections of wedding photos that I had to put together for real wedding posts, and I like to think I’ve developed an eye for decent photography. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying I’m any great shakes myself, but knowing what you want to achieve and recognising when you have achieved it are just as important, right?!

One of the things I have also wanted to do is find a new camera and that is a tall order when you start out with a camera like the 40D. I’ve seen wedding photographers start out with the same camera body that I use and I don’t even scratch the surface of it’s capabilities, so although it frustrates me with my own lack of knowledge, I’d be equally frustrated to lose the functionality it has. My biggest bug bear is that it’s waaaaay too big to be handy for a blogger. I need my camera on me nearly all the time, particularly as literally any aspect of my life can become blog-able. Often when I least expect it. So I wanted something as good but smaller. After all, although the ‘blog camera’ my camera is also really our family camera too, and I wanted something Pete was equally comfortable with. I fell in love when I met Laura and Pete Lawson and saw their new baby – the Fuji Finepix x100, so I was thrilled when Talk PR agreed to loan me one to review for Florence Finds. All the photos in this series are going to document my discoveries with this camera.

For comparison, the Canon 40D has now been replaced with the 60D which retails at almost £1000 with kit lens or you can pick up a second hand body and kit lens like mine for around £400, wheras the x100 is £645 on Amazon.

Todays shots are literally, fresh out of the box. It felt like such a luxury to take the camera last weekend and sat on the front step of my house while Pete was washing the car and start taking a few pictures whilst reading the manual. These notes are just how I have found the camera and things I learned a long the way, and this weeks certainly hold no revelations, but I hope I’ll have a few tips that I pick up along the way that might be useful to some of you reading. Please also note, this is written strictly from the perspective of a blogger and the way I use a camera for that purpose. I’m no pro!

Objective 1: Detail shots
My first concern was the focus as I wanted to see just how specific I could be about the point of focus, probably because my usual camera seems to have a bit of a problem with that right now. I often take shots of things very close up, like nails, jewellery and food so wanted to test that out.

One of the things that comes across most in the x100 reviews is that although a great camera, it’s not the easiest to use. I spent a considerable time on my front step trying to get it set up so I could just focus on anything, never mind something close up. Shot after shot came out blurry and that’s when I turned to the manual and hit reset, so I could start with fresh settings. Once I fathomed them, I was pretty pleased with the results!


As a blogger, all of the photos that I take are important, and honestly, I’m guilty sometimes of getting frustrated and settling for images I’m not that happy with, but the ones I’m most critical of are the shots taken for my What to Wear Posts. My husband Pete usually takes these shots but I set the camera up by practicing on him in the same spot first (so the light is the same,) and then direct him to take the shots of the items I want to highlight in the post. However natural these shots look on any fashion bloggers site – they’re nothing but!

The point of the shot above was to share the new earrings I had found and even in Petes’ hands the camera did a great job! Good fashion shots are the difference I feel between ending up with a cringe-fest or a professional looking blog post, so this is a big must-do for me. The easier it makes things for Pete the happier I am – heated discussions about what is the correct setting, do not for happy outfit shots make!

I should also add that although taken in good natural light, the images here are all straight out of the camera, no editing and the colours are perfectly true to life.

Next week, I’m going to start looking at changing the depth of field manually and playing with exposure… wish me luck!

Love,
Rebecca
xo

PS I’d love to hear if any of you have any great tips for improving photography skills, perhaps books you have read, or courses?

~ With thanks to Talk PR for arranging my Press review of the Fujifilm FinePix X100

Dream. Find. Do. We have lift-off…

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After months of work and more late nights than I can recount, the day is finally here. Dream. Find. Do. is launching. Today!

This project has been such an investment of time, but not only that, the realisation of a personal dream of mine. There is too much fear and competition in the blogging world, not enough support and collaboration. For years I have wanted to share the skills I have gained with people who need them and, heads up! We’ll be doing exactly that on the new Dream. Find. Do. blog, every single week.

However what I am the most excited about is also the main focus of today’s launch. Head on over to the Dream. Find. Do. site and you can find full details about the blogging workshop we are launching today and how you can be a part of it.

This isn’t a celebrity experience. I want every single person attending the course to leave feeling it was money well spent, armed with new skills, new friends and new ideas. You’ll feel inspired and be able to take that inspiration and turn it into something real. We are excited to meet every single one of you and help you benefit from our collective experience. And we don’t take that responsibility lightly.

Go on, take a peek, you know you want to…

Dream. Find. Do. – it’s the new black.

Love,
Rebecca
xo

Dream. Find. Do.

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This afternoon, I’m literally too excited. I shall be watching the blog from behind a proverbial cushion to see what the reaction is. Today I’m unveiling a new venture.

I have always been passionate about sharing knowledge amongst bloggers. Techie tips, new finds, fun stuff. Sharing skill sets and information is key when the majority of blogs are run single handedly. It can be a lonely old world out there and incredibly frustrating when you’re trying to not only run a blog but also to equip yourself with the skills to take it to the next level. I was lucky enough to already be in possession of some of those skills when I started Florence Finds and Ian helped me put the finishing touches to the design and functionality I wanted for the site. Since then, I’ve made little tweaks, added new bits and pieces and massively extended my grasp of photoshop. And I think the blog looks better for it!

I couldn’t have done a lot of this without Michelle‘s help. I’ve said before she is one of the few people in the blogging community who knows what it truly is to collaborate – who gives information freely and expects nothing in return, without a hint of suspicion as to your motives. So many people offer help then hold back, whether through fear of their ideas being plagiarised or being judged, I don’t know, but Michelle has become a trusted friend whose creativity and style I admire and opinion I respect as a blogger and business woman.

Although Florence Finds is a solo venture, my preference has always been for team work and I suppose it was only natural that I would become part of a team again. It hasn’t been easy to trust a new partnership but I’m a firm believer that two heads are better than one, especially when it comes to this particular venture. And so it’s with great pleasure that we announce the launch of our new project, Dream. Find. Do. A Blogging Masterclass.

Those of you who are fellow bloggers, or perhaps small business owners, may have enjoyed our series so far on blogging tips – we called it Blogging Laid Bare, and don’t worry there’s plenty more where that came from. However, there’s only so much you can learn online before you come up against obstacles and need somebody who has done it before. In one brainstorming session discussing various ideas, Michelle and I both said how great it would be to start sharing all the tips and tricks we have learned the hard way, self taught whilst developing our own blogs. And so the idea for Dream. Find. Do. was formed.

We wanted to create a supportive environment for bloggers and people who use blogs for business to learn real key practical skills to grow and develop a blog. We want to teach this to people face to face in interactive workshops that are fun and friendly but leave you armed with a whole raft of new skills to take away for your own blog. It’s an incredible networking opportunity too and we hope attendees will leave with a contact book full of new friends and potential collaborators. You might be an experienced blogger, just thinking about getting started or wanting to add a blog to your business. Everybody is welcome.

In 2 short weeks we’ll be revealing more about Dream. Find. Do. If you’re interested already then head on over to our holding site and add your name to the email sign up list. Those of you who sign up will be amongst the first to receive updates and will gain exclusive access to the site ahead of the official launch.

We’d love you to spread the word, tweet about us mentioning @DreamFindDo and #DfD, ‘Like’ the Dream Find Do Facebook page, or blog about the workshop.

We’re excited! Are you?!

Love,
Rebecca
xo

Blogging Laid Bare #6: Staying inspired

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Before I started blogging I used to read interviews with creative ‘types’ with interest and wonder how they came up with new ideas constantly. The most often spoken line has to be ‘I find inspiration all around me,‘ and it often left me thinking, but ‘Where?’

Three years down the line and thousands of posts later, I truly understand what they mean and find ideas for blog posts, colour, style and living in everything I do. However as every blogger knows sometimes it just doesn’t happen and you’re sat staring at the computer screen with a deadline approaching and nothing springing to mind. Here are my tips for breaking through bloggers block and keeping your content as strong as ever.

1. First and foremost, get away from your desk. Blogging is addictive and it’s easy to plug away in front of the screen but I find my biggest inspiration comes when I’m out and actually living my life. I wander the shops for fashion trends, flick through magazines for design tips and broader themes like current styles and colour palettes.


An inspirational Office space, taken from my post ‘Naked Ambition‘

2. Read other blogs. This is a tricky one and can be a huge timewaster. Not a tip for when you’re on a deadline as it’s easy to get lost blog-hopping. This is like an online version of tip 1, as the things you see online may inspire you. Spot a ‘What I Wore’ style floral jacket? Round them up from the high street. Is there a holiday (like Mother’s Day) coming up that you forgot and can blog about? Read something that got you fired up? Talk about it. Reading on blogs you wouldn’t normally is often an eye opener and gets you thinking too.


The Florence Finds Manchester Afternoon Tea

3. Meet other bloggers. Arrange a tweet up of local bloggers or people you converse with on twitter. Think about if you can collaborate or guest post for each other. Meeting other people who are as passionate about their ideas as you are is bound to be inspiring – just look at Michelle and I!

4. Plan ahead. I tend to find I’ll think of tons of things to write about at once, so write them down before you forget. You might find when you come back to the list that you don’t want to write about it any more or it’s not right for some reason, but the type and style of posts might transfer to a different subject and you can use the idea as a starting point.


What to Wear posts, all taken on my recent holiday in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

5. Work in bulk. Sometimes you might have an occasion that gives you lots of creative opportunities or a period of free time. Make the most of them. For example, on holiday I naturally pay more attention to what I’m wearing and might take photos of my outfits every day then store them up to use in weeks to come. If you’re planning a party, think about photographing each dish and spreading them out, or if you’re going to a networking event, how about covering it in sections for multiple posts? Just make sure there’s enough variety and different themes so it doesn’t get repetitive.

I’d love to hear how you stay inspired, whether you’re a non-blogger planning a home renovation project or a small business owner with creative muscle to flex. What inspires you and how do you keep your ideas fresh?

Love,
Rebecca
xo

Other blog posts in the ‘Blogging Laid Bare‘ series:

Blogging Laid Bare #5: Photoshop tutorials – What’s in the Tool Box?

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For the last couple of months, the Blogging Laid Bare series has covered several different topics that bloggers may find useful, whether you’re just starting out or want to make your existing blog a bit snazzier, slicker or generally all round fabulous. In the past I have done a Photoshop templates tutorial for bloggers wanting to present their pictures in a smarter way or for use in mood boards, but if that left you a bit scared faced with tackling photoshop, then this week’s post is especially for you, or anyone who isn’t sure they’re using photoshop software correctly.

Continuing the collaboration, this week’s Blogging Laid Bare post is over at Pocketful of Dreams where Michelle has put together a basic (although I’d argue it’s pretty flipping comprehensive – well done Michelle!) guide to Photoshop tools, and what they do.

Just click the image to go straight to the post on Pocketful of Dreams.

Other blog posts in the ‘Blogging Laid Bare‘ series:

I hope you find is useful and as always, let us know if there’s something else you would like to see covered, we’ve got a lot up our sleeves for this series ;)

Love,
Rebecca
xo

PS Come back at 2pm for this afternoon’s post as usual!

Blogging Laid Bare #4: Twitter Tips

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In today’s blogging tips I thought it was time we touched on social media and more specifically, Twitter. These tips are primarily aimed at bloggers (or business owners) who want to use Twitter to grow their brand so apologies to my readers who are non-bloggers, though you might find this interesting from a marketing perspective.

I started getting interested in social media for businesses way back in my previous blog role and was an avid reader of Liene Stevens (of Splendid Communications.) I started reading her blog ‘Think Splendid‘ which opened my eyes to not only the possibilities in social media but also the more serious considerations like ethics and regulations, (although these differ in the UK to American laws.) I’m no expert but I’ve broken down my tips today into 2 parts, the first are perhaps more obvious, the second are hard won tricks I picked up from hours of internet research and testing.

First things first though…

  1. Followers. The magic word, everyone wants more followers. We worry when followers aren’t growing, we’re envious of those with more followers than us, but why? I’d encourage any business on Twitter to think about why you want followers. Your followers constitute an extension of your blog community and therefore just like your readers, you want followers who are actively listening to what you are saying and engaged in your content. Otherwise, despite your thousands of twitter followers they won’t click through to your blog links and provide the other thing you’re looking for…
  2. To build traffic. Twitter is a powerful tool to drive traffic to your blog or business. If you have the kind of following described in my last point they will be genuinely excited about your content. The twitter buzz they generate with mentions and retweets gains you extra exposure and new visitors to your site.
  3. To Network. Not just for traffic and kudos, Twitter is great for making new friends and meeting like minded people. No matter how influential a twitter user might be, you can always tweet someone you admire and start a conversation, and at a local or industry contemporaries level it can help introduce you to supportive, knowledgable people you might collaborate with someday or meet at a tweet up!

  • Be positive. Fact, nobody wants to hear you tweet a drip feed of mundane minutiae and gripes unless you happen to be a budding comedian and can put a humorous spin on things. Everyone has a down day but focus on the positives and try to keep moans off twitter. It creates a negative vibe that doesn’t promote interaction.
  • Be gracious. New followers? Say hi! Thank them for following you and see what they’re all about, they may be people you can team up with, guest post for or just chat with. Are people talking to you or about you? Again, thank them. It keeps the lines of communication open and makes you new friends whilst their replies expose you again to their followers.
  • Be persistent. A good general rule of thumb is to tweet each post you write three times. Phrase things differently so you don’t sound like a broken record. For example, say I wrote a post about summer hairstyles, the first tweet might be a basic link and posts title, the second saying something like ‘Is it time for a make-over? Inspiration for beach worthy tresses on @florencefinds this afternoon…’ and the third, ‘Surf style waves or slicked back style, how do you like your holiday hair?’
  • Be varied. Yes, Twitter is for getting your content out there but don’t exclusively promote your own content. Social media is often a way of seeing more of the person behind the blog so include links you have found and enjoyed and content that will interest your readers, perhaps sales you have been alerted to if you write a shopping based site, a great book or a film you’ve just seen. Don’t forget to ask questions – your followers will love to help you out and if you’re out and about doing something interesting, give sneaky peeks behind the scenes of your latest project.
  • Be true (to yourself). Follow people you’re interested in conversing with (i.e. friends and acquaintances,) or interested in hearing about (your favourite shops, bloggers, politician or celebrity would fit in to this category.) Don’t follow lots of random people in the hope they will follow you back. It clogs up your feed and is distracting, aside from often being unproductive (see point 1 above.)

Now for some of the tools I have used to help get that little bit more out of Twitter. You might want better stats on your tweets, to be able to schedule your tweets, or find out more about your followers and who is unfollowing you… read on!

  • Some people say that it’s a thoroughly depressing exercise to watch who is unfollowing you. I say, the more information you have about who is engaging (or disengaging) with your social media streams, the more you can learn from it. I signed up to Qwitter and Twunfollow although I’d recommend choosing one as they largely do the same thing. 270,000 twitter users use the site which sends a weekly email detailing the twitter users who have unfollowed you, including how many followers they have and when they started following you. That makes it easy to see those people who unfollow you because you haven’t followed back and if you’re losing valuable followers who should enjoy your content. It’s also easy to identify the reason for a mass exodus, perhaps a thoughtless tweet or unpopular post. Overall, use it to your advantage and remember, if they’re not interested in what you’re saying, they aren’t the right followers for you.
  • Because I combine Florence Finds with my day job, I can’t devote much time to tweeting nine to five.  I know many of my readers are in the same boat.  One of the first things I looked for was an auto tweeting service. I use Twitterfeed to auto post my new blog posts to Facebook and a WordPress plugin called Twitter Tools for Twitter. Both are easy to use with customisable pre- and suffixes for your links and makes sure your social media followers never miss a post.
  • If you want to take it to the next level, you can use something like TweetDeck to schedule your tweets throughout the day, particularly useful if you’re going to be away from your laptop all day or too busy to tweet from your mobile and want to keep the conversation going.
  • For specific stats, services like Bit.ly provide not only a link shortening service, but a tracking service for each link you share (it integrates with your Twitter and Facebook etc.) giving you hour by hour stats on how many people click your individual links and where they came from.

I hope this has been useful for you readers and please do wade in on the comments if you have anything to add or will be trying out any of the tools I have mentioned. Follow Florence on Twitter @FlorenceFinds and @_RebeccaNorris.

Love,
Rebecca
xo

Other blog posts in the ‘Blogging Laid Bare‘ series:

PS. Did you know Twitter recently changed its Trademark and content display policy. This won’t affect most users, but Twitter buttons (on blogs for example) should now show the Twitter bird instead of the previously well used ‘t’.