Blogger Spotlight: Fiona Kay, Time2Gossip

Fiona Kay is the author of Time2Gossip, the leading lifestyle blog in London for latest celebrity style & fashion trends and beauty. Since launching in 2013, Time2Gossip has become a hub of lifestyle content from simple recipes, latest beauty launches, hints of fashion and destination pieces from across the globe. In this spotlight, Fiona chats to us about how she got into blogging, growing her YouTube channel, and why she loves building a relationship with brands.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what made you start writing your blog? I am a chartered marketer living in London and started my blog because I was bored of writing about technology I knew nothing about in an old PR job. Time2Gossip (T2G) was born in, I think 2013 and despite the cheesy name, it has become a hub of lifestyle content from simple recipes, latest beauty launches, hints of fashion and destination pieces from across the globe.

What’s new on your blog? Well, my new YouTube is up and running which I have been integrating with a number of my blog posts. Last month I reached 40k hits on a video which was a big OMG moment – it had nothing to do with the celebrity featuring. Honest. On content summer has hit my blog in a big way with ideas for summer scents, fashion buys and there is lots of travel and home décor content in the pipeline.

Why should people read your blog? What makes it different? T2G is a little bit of everything from beauty, travel to even lifestyle hacks and it’s not always flash and pretty pictures. If you follow me on Snapchat: Time2Gossip this is behind the scenes and never glam I am usually in my PJs snapping away. I usually always look for the best deals and offers but with a cheeky designer splurge thrown in, appealing to a wide range of audiences.

How do you measure the success of your website? On a personal level success is creating dialogue (tweets or emails) with my readers on how a post has impacted them I also always ask brands to give me honest feedback which helps my relationships and the overall blog tone. I recently wrote about the Hayo’u Method and it was quite a personal post which I don’t usually do and the feedback I got from people feeling the same was just great. There are a lot of bloggers out there so it is sometimes hard to think am I on the right track. I also look at good old Google Analytics.

What has been your blogging highlight? Well, this year is the first time I started incorporating travel content into my content and so far I have travelled to a number of incredible places with a few more in the pipeline. My favourite was a trip to Guatemala & Belize – just incredible. I am also up for Beauty Instagrammer of the year – if I win that would be a blogging highlight.

How do you work with marketers and PRs? The ways are endless – I love collaborating on ideas from scratch. I work on blog posts, social media and now YouTube which I only launched last March. I love building a relationship with brands who I work with nearly every month but building new relationships is equally important.

How do you use social media to promote and share content? What are the challenges? I love it but god I can’t keep up! I tried out my first Instagram story the other day and it did better than my actual posts and the story was really rubbish….so that’s a winner but no, one person has time for everything and that’s the challenge what should each avenue be used for e.g. Instgaram Stories / Snapchat and which ones should you focus on. Like I said before I launched YouTube last year and it’s been great but I am yet to bother with G+. I use all the channels to promote my blog posts and YouTube videos to find new readers, build engagement with my readers.

What can PRs do to work better with you? I mentioned before that I have brands that I work with on an ongoing basis and then there are others that contact me twice a year and never try to build a relationship just send a press release. Also, I am a really busy person and cannot reply to every press release so best to email me with your how you see my blog fitting with your brand. With campaigns it’s always best to provide a brief with key messaging, #’ budget, the process become so much quicker.

List three best practices PRs need to follow for better blogger outreach? 

– Read my blog / social media channels before making contact
– When we are in contact, keep in contact even if it’s just to say Hi!
– Create a campaign brief with all the nitty gritty details it will really help develop great content.