Blogger Spotlight: Nell Heshram, Pigeon Pair and Me

It’s a good thing mum “Nell” created alter egos for her husband “D” and two pigeons “Gwen” and “Austin” to avoid embarrassment as they get older, as The Pigeon Pair and Me is quickly becoming one of the most popular family outings and travel blogs. Penned by journalist “Nell”, also the editor of BritMums Arts and Culture, The Pigeon Pair and Me features family day trip ideas, attraction reviews, as well as capturing each eventful moment with lots of engaging images. In this spotlight Nell chats to us about why she doesn’t measure the success of her blog through stats, making alliances with PRs, and what will be big in her blogosphere in the coming months.

Why should people read your blog? What makes it different? My blog the Pigeon Pair and Me started with a focus on family arts and culture. Over the years it’s evolved into a family travel blog; but it’s kept the arts at its heart. So, as well as sharing stories, pictures and videos from the places we stay and the countries we visit, we always make sure to include write-ups of trips to family-friendly museums, galleries and shows. If you want to know what the cultured kids are into right now, check out our top picks!

How do you measure the success of your website? Stats aren’t everything. If a close ‘IRL’ friend says a blog post of mine made them smile, it makes my day. And I love it when the Pigeon Pair and Me gets a visit, retweet or share from one of the highly talented travel bloggers whose opinions and writing I have a great deal of respect for.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog? Read, read, read other blogs. And make sure you comment, share, and make friends at the same time. Take notes on the blogs you like, see what works and what doesn’t, and build a blogging style based on your own personality. Stay true to yourself, and like-minded people will be drawn to your blog.

How do you work with marketers and PRs? I’m pleased to have made some good friends and alliances with marketers and PRs over the years. It’s good to get to know the person behind the patter! I like to work out what we both expect from a campaign before we set off. In a pitch, I’m usually quite specific about what I can offer a brand or agency, even down to (for instance) a specific number of tweets or Instagram posts for each day of a trip.

How do you use social media to promote and share content? What are the challenges? I share other people’s content even more than I share my own. I want my social media presence to be about passing on travel tips and inspiration to all my followers – and my own content is only a tiny piece of the story. The biggest challenge is keeping up with all the new social media, and adapting to changes. Video’s huge now, and at first I thought I wouldn’t enjoy making films of our trips. But it turns out that I love film’s potential for storytelling.

What can PRs do in working better with you? I find it useful to get under the skin of PRs. What kinds of messages are you hoping to put out there? I’ll always put my own slant on a story, but it’s helpful to know what the PRs hope to achieve too. That way it’s easier to find some common ground.

What has been your blogging highlight? My best-ever experience has to be the Day-long London Museum Dash I did to raise money for Comic Relief, back in March. I was thrilled that fellow bloggers Penny Alexander and Swazi Rodgers decided to join me in visiting as many of London’s 300+ museums as we could in one day. Together we took in 26 museums, walked over 30km, and managed to raise over £1,400 for families in need. The day was hard work, but there was tons of laughter, camaraderie and a phenomenal amount of support from the online community.

What will be big in your blogosphere in the coming months? We’re off on a three-week trip to France in a few days’ time, working with the Brittany Tourist Board, Eurocamp and Siblu, to unearth highlights for families in the Vendee, Dordogne and Brittany regions. For 2017, I’m working on the details of a winter trip to Norway. And, from early October onwards the Pigeon Pair and Me will be hosting more content on family arts and culture around the world, broadening out from our home town of London. So watch this space, family travel culture vultures!