I’ve always had the idea in my head that you have to be down in London to make anything of yourself in the blogging world. I’m sure a few of you (read: a lot of you!) will probably feel exactly the same way. With major companies mainly all based down south it’s normally very difficult for us Northerners to get a look in when it comes to opportunities and events. But, over the last year I have noticed a massive change. The offerings are becoming plenty for us online blog warriors up here and we are starting to make some noise and it’s not going unnoticed. Blogging from the North just got a whole lot more exciting…
Like many other Bloggers, I work full time and use this space as a creative outlet away from my day to day job. It’s somewhere I started writing word vomit (yup, still do!) when I was on my day off from my previous job. I worked weekends so became a bit of a loner as everyone I knew worked Monday to Friday. It made me feel connected with the outside world, somehow. Then I got engaged to my (now) wonderful husband and following that, my Grandad turned very ill during our very intense Wedding planning. My blog kind of fell by the wayside. I was so consumed with life that it wasn’t a priority anymore. Then once the wedding was over and luckily my Grandad left hospital after many months I was kinda at a loss what to do with my time because suddenly it wasn’t filled with making bed side chatter with family at the hospital or deciding what material I wanted for the hand made bunting or what the main course should be for the Wedding breakfast. That’s when my blog became my life line.
In the July 2014, about a month after we got married, I came across a blog event that was being run in Leeds by some fellow Bloggers, Blog Yorkshire. More of us existed and this excited me to the very core! I booked the tickets and kept ticking off the days till the event. I had never done anything like that before. I was nervous, what if no-one liked me? What if people poo-pooed my blog and I wasn’t good enough to be there. Suffice to say, the day arrived and I turned up at the venue like a little bag of nerves and graciously met the organisers and other Bloggers that were there, intro’s over & I was making new friends. There was no malice or turned up noses, we all had common ground and our passions all related to writing words on the world wide web, be it Fashion, Beauty or Lifestyle related topics. I’m so thankful for that event because I have made so many wonderful friends and continue to see a lot of them at other events and socially, too.
That’s where it all started. That bloggers-ran event started a bit of a wave within Leeds. Not just for those who wrote their feelings and views online, but also the brands too. They started to realise that there was a whole army of us up here, waiting and wanting to work with them and shout about things and their products too. We are quite a force to be reckoned with us Yorkshire Bloggers. Fun, witty and accessible. I pride myself on being just that, my outfits never cost a fortune you see here on the blog & when travelling I take a more budget friendly approach (with a few little luxuries thrown in too!) I wanna be that person you can have an amazingly fun night with, laughing and joking away but also the one you could turn to if you ever needed a little cry or a chat about something personal. I like to think that my #LOLZ show in my posts and in person too.
Recently I have started working with a local photographer called Matt McCormick. A great guy. Just a really genuine, nice and very talented guy. When taking blog photos I’ve always had to balance my camera on a tripod or get my husband to reluctantly take photos for me. And whilst I’ve made do for a very long time I felt my blog just needed upping to that next level (if, and I say if loosely, that my blog would ever go anywhere than just a hobby.) It’s people like Matt who are giving me confidence in myself but also helping me take my Blog up that extra notch too. We’ve been crying out for someone like that up here. To give you a bit of an insight, I was contacted by seven brands between the Tuesday my post with Matt’s photos went live to the Friday of the same week – so I saw a huge difference. I worked with him again this weekend just gone too and couldn’t wait to share these posts with you. He’s tapped in to a hugely influential group of people up here & it’s so nice to see a creative working with Northern Bloggers. We are so used to just seeing mainly the LDN crew working with pro-photographers on their posts. So, I really hope you are enjoying his work with me and the many bloggers he’s going to be working with in the future, too.
I know I’m never going to be a pro at this, heck, my writing isn’t perfect & I’m not always going to be able to do photo shoots with Matt, ‘cos you know, full time job & all that but I hope that along with many other Northern Bloggers we are making waves in the Blogosphere and proving that rightly so you can blog up North!
Do you feel like Northern Bloggers are being recognized more? Or do you feel that you don’t have the opportunities up here? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below.
Bee xxx
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