Blogger Spotlight: Kellie Kearney, My Little Babog

Mother of four Kellie Kearney established her parenting, lifestyle and travel blog, My Little Babog to provide honest parenting tales, including all of the successes and fails. Kellie updates her followers with easy to make recipes for parents to try with their kids, what it’s like to have two toddlers, and simple parenting hacks that everyone can use. In this spotlight, mummy blogger Kellie Kearney, who recently appeared on our top ten Irish blogs chats to us about what inspired her to create My Little Babog , what makes it different to her competitors and her experience of working with brands.

What inspired you to create your blog? I’m not sure really. I wanted a little outlet off my private Facebook page to express myself freely, to share cute photos of my kids without clogging up my newsfeeds and to try something new. I never in a million years thought it would be where it is today.

What is your unique selling point? What makes your blog different to your competitors? My blog thrives on my honesty. If I’m not bribing my kids with a custard cream I’m hiding in a wardrobe eating a bag of Malteasers just to catch a minute’s peace, until they find me that is. I suppose my blog is relatable. I write exactly how I speak, I like to keep some Irish mammy humour within my pieces and most of all I have a real connection with my audience.

How do you maintain the balance between connection with your audience and creating copy for brands? When I’m working with brands, I tend to stick to honest examples of how I use their products/services in my day to day family life. My audience is used to me sharing the good, bad and ugly with my four small babogs, so as not to alienate them, everything has to fit organically. This can make it so that I am choosier about what brands to work with, as I portray an honest opinion of the products and not to make my audience feel like they’re just reading an advertisement.

Where do you see blogging leading you in the future? What is your ultimate goal? As a teen, I always dreamt of being a journalist and well I never got the points in my Leaving Cert to pursue those dreams. In recent months, I have I have been looking into returning to college and I’d love to do Marketing or Social Media Management. I already look after a handful of small business accounts so I suppose I’m on the right road. And of course, the blogging dream is to write a book. Maybe one day I will get that opportunity.

What has been the most exciting campaign you have worked on to date? What made it stand out from the others? My most exciting campaign to date hasn’t even commenced yet. Martinhal Family Hotels & Resorts have invited me over to their Luxury Family Brand Event in Portugal at the end of the month. The guys at Martinhal didn’t only invite myself but they went that extra mile and actually read my blog and knew I was exclusively breastfeeding my youngest and invited her along too. We head off in a just over a week and I’m so excited. My partner is now thinking of setting up a rival blog in hope he can come next time.

Do you have any PR horror stories? I’ve no horror stories, thankfully! Is there any advice that you would like to give to any PRs or marketers who would like to work with you?

My only words of advice to PR’s or marketers would be to ask not be so formal. It terrifies me when PR’s throw around big words and essay type campaigns. Keep it simple and keep it personal. And one of my blogging bugbears is being asked not to disclose sponsorships or campaigns that I’m working on. I’ll forever stay true to myself and my readers and no amount of money will make me chose otherwise.

Are there any trends that you predict will happen during this year, in regards to technology and blogging? Video. Video. Video. I think SnapChat will die down in the next year and Facebook Live and Instastories are going to be Huge!

How much planning, research and preparation do you need to execute your content marketing plan? I plan and prep all my content. For example, I know a huge percentage of my audience are more active around 9 pm, they are parents, mostly mothers and fit into the 25-34 bracket.

How do you define the success of your blog? How do I define the success of my blog? Well, I suppose winning Best Parenting Blog in the Maternity & Infant awards last year was absolutely awesome. My award sits proudly in my sitting room and I still squeal every time I look at it. And of course, my returning audience, without those guys my blog would be nothing and I’m very thankful of those who follow our journey and share the ups and downs of parenting with us.