Blogger Spotlight: Paula Holmes, The LDN Diaries

Authored by 30-something couple Paula Holmes and Danny Denhard, The LDN Diaries is one of our top-ranking London lifestyle blogs. The LDN Diaries caters to those who want to discover the best of what London has to offer ranging from the latest beauty and fashion trends to recommendations on where to eat out. In this spotlight, Paula Holmes chats to us about how vlogging is different from blogging, the benefits of using SnapChat, and why cross-promotion across channels is important.

What is new on LDN Diaries? I’ve just had a re-design of the site, with a new logo and a clean and clear look. It really reflects the changes the blog has had recently and highlights the newer aspects such as the London events guide ‘What’s On’.

You also have a vlog, how does this differ from your blog, do you get a lot of PR in relation to you vlog? The blog is lifestyle so it covers fashion, beauty, food, travel and many more topics. Whereas on YouTube I would say it’s primarily beauty. I’ve now made each video less than 5 minutes long so they are easy and accessible for everyone to watch. I like to focus on product reviews and new releases, so I tend to get quite a lot of PR interest.

How do you measure the success of your blog? Two ways; the first being stats from Google Analytics and social, the second being from the positive comments I receive and the brands that look to work with me or I have worked with.

What’s your favourite blog and why? At the moment, I am loving reading In The Frow. I really enjoyed Victoria’s coverage of London Fashion Week and her travel posts are amazing inspiration. She was one of the first YouTubers I ever watched and that inspired me to start my own YouTube channel.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog? Be dedicated and enjoy what you do. Your blog won’t be an overnight success and so you need to be focused in what you’re doing and at the same time enjoy it, if you don’t enjoy it then don’t do it. It will come through in your writing and if you don’t enjoy it then no one else will either.

How do you work with marketers and PRs? I work with PR’s and marketers on a daily basis, it’s always fun to work on a new campaign and I like to be able to give my own input. At the moment, I’m looking to work on campaigns, sponsored posts, social promotions and being a brand ambassador.

How do you use social media to promote/share content? What are the challenges? I promote all my posts and videos on social media across all the channels I use. So Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus and Pinterest. I also have started using Snapchat more, it seems to be really successful and although brands can’t track it, it gives my readers a behind the scenes look at what I’m getting up to. I think cross-promotion across channels is important in case someone who follows you on one channel isn’t on another. Keeping social media constantly updated can be a challenge, so I look to use scheduling tools to make sure I’m constantly posting and sharing my content.

What can PRs do in working better with you? I would say communication is key. Sometimes I may be working on a campaign and not hear from them for weeks. I need to know what is going on so I can plan from my end as I also have numerous events and schedules to keep to, so knowing deadlines and information upfront is really helpful. I understand sometimes things are last minute due to clients but as much notice as possible is one thing I think could be improved to make a campaign run smoother.

Finally, what does the Vuelio Blog Rankings mean to you and for your blog? I’m so happy to be included in the Vuelio rankings amongst some other really great bloggers. It has definitely helped the blog be introduced into more PR and marketers who are looking to work with a lifestyle blogger.