Blogger Spotlight: Karine Kong, Bodie and Fou

The Bodie and Fou blog was established in 2007 by French born Karine Candice Köng to share her passions, which include wellbeing, healthy living, style, white interiors and other inspirations for the home. Throughout her blog, Karine uses a conversational tone which speaks to her readers and presents them with delectable photography and inspiration to motivate them to embark on a journey to refresh their home. In this spotlight Karine chats to us about working with marketers on sponsored posts, the challenges of creating content for different platforms, and why bloggers are far more savvy than most PRs expect?

Why should people read your blog? What makes it different? It’s a really tricky question because a blog is not just about the visual content. There is also a human connection. As a blog reader myself, when I read and love a blog, it’s because we share the same design aesthetics but we also have other interests in things like fashion, surfing or well-being. So while I may write about a house that readers may have seen on another blog, my approach will be very different from another Blogger.

How do you measure the success of your website? I keep an eye on Google Analytics to make sure I do the right thing. For instance, I recently noticed that not pinning for a few months while on holidays, had a negative impact on my GA so now I make sure I have a more balanced approach to cater for all networks. For Instagram as long as it grows month on month, I don’t worry so much about the followers I’ve lost because you can’t please everyone and I don’t want my work to be driven by stats.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog? Work out if you want it to become a job or a hobby first. If you want this to become a job, focus on producing the best work you can do and then share it. Eventually hard work will pay off and readers will find you. Don’t focus on what other bloggers do, keep an eye on it but don’t compare yourself to others. Let your personality and passion shine instead.

How do you work with marketers and PRs? I mostly work with marketers on sponsored posts. I work with PR agencies less and less, unless it’s for a travel post.

How do you use social media to promote and share content? What are the challenges? I share all my blog posts on all my social media accounts because it’s not always the same demographic. The challenges are time and content and I try to deliver the content in different shape and tone depending on the platform.

What can PRs do in working better with you? Understand how professional Bloggers work and work out a way to work together that is mutually beneficial. Sending a press release to a professional Blogger hoping for some coverage is pointless. A lot of Pro Bloggers have degrees in business and marketing and know what they are doing so it’s best to build a relationship with a few and work out which Bloggers are best to pass on your brand’s message.

What has been your blogging highlight? Being flown out to San-Francisco by Airbnb to attend a 30min conference in their Head Office and spending a few days in town all expenses paid.

What will be big in your blogosphere in the coming months? Who knows?