Blogger Spotlight: Tom Briggs, Diary of the Dad

Tom Briggs might write the words, but the real stars of Diary of the Dad are his children Dylan, Xander and Amelie. Each week Tom provides updates on the latest stage of their respective journeys. In this Spotlight, Tom who was recently featured in our ranking for the top ten daddy blogs, chats to us about why he decided to quit his day job to blog full-time, why daddy bloggers are now being taken more seriously, and why more brands will be including blogger outreach as part of their digital strategies.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what made you start writing your blog? I’m a proud dad of three and I started Diary of the Dad in 2010 as a means of recording things I knew I’d otherwise forget about the early years of being a parent. I also wanted to write a book about being a new dad, so the secondary aim was to see whether people liked my material. It seems they did – and hopefully still do – but I doubt I’ll ever write the book now as I’m quite happy with the blog.

What’s new on Diary of the Dad? I suppose the big news is that I now consider myself a pro blogger! I quit my depressing office job last summer and the aim was to be a freelance copywriter and supplement that by making some extra money out of my blog. I’ve been making enough to support the family and well over 90% of it is from blogging. Since I started Diary of the Dad, I wanted to one day make a living out of it but never thought I’d actually get there.

Why should people read your blog? What makes it different, particularly from other ‘dad blogs?’ I’m not sure I have an obvious unique selling point other than the fact that it’s my voice, but dad blogs are fairly niche anyway as we’re massively outnumbered by the mums! But to try and sell myself a little, I like to think it’s funny and I’ve been a regular in Vuelio’s top ten dad blogs for the last few years so I guess people enjoy reading it.

How has the genre of daddy blogs changed since you started blogging? I think it reflects society’s views on dads really – we’re in the early stages of a shift in attitude towards fathers’ roles and, as a result, dad blogs are starting to be taken more seriously too. I remember when I started out, people often gave me a sympathetic smile as if it was a bit of a sad, geeky hobby but now they seem impressed.

How do you measure the success of your website? I try to steer away from cold, hard stats – even though they are, of course, important – and gauge people’s reactions to my content via blog post comments or on social media. Although a decent number of unique views every month and a low bounce rate are always welcome, nothing beats having people you don’t know relating to things you’ve written.

What has been your blogging highlight? It’s difficult to pick one as there have been so many. I’ve made some great friends, been to some amazing events and it has shaped my career too. Two particular events stand out though; last summer I was invited to the Copa Coca-Cola in Berlin. I met and interviewed three World Cup winners as well as kids from around the world who only had football as a common language – and they got on famously. The other one has to be taking the kids to the premiere of Clangers and meeting one of my heroes, Michael Palin.

How do you work with marketers and PRs? I work with PRs regularly on sponsored posts, reviews and gift guides and have a good relationship with them on the whole. The best ones are those who take time to read blogs before getting in touch and who are open to suggestion regarding content. Collaboration is key and those who recognise this are doing a great job.

How do you use social media to promote and share content? What are the challenges? Yes, I use all of the major social media platforms to share my posts. I don’t have nearly as much time to interact with people on social media as I used to and am sure I could be doing more if I had the chance – life with three kids is busy though, so I have to schedule a fair few updates and this is a shame as it removes the human element somewhat.

What can PRs do to work better with you? Take a couple of minutes to read a recent post and my ‘about me’ page before getting in touch. I get several emails every day but only end up working with a fraction of them as, a lot of the time, the pitch isn’t relevant to me or my blog. It’s a waste of time for all concerned. The ones who address me as “Dear Mummy Blogger” need to sort themselves out too!

What do you feel about sponsorship disclosure? I think it’s essential to disclose sponsored content – I have a healthy respect for ASA guidelines like that! – and decline any opportunities in which people ask me not to. Nobody likes being duped and I tend to think of non-disclosed content as dishonest.

List three best practices PRs need to follow for better blogger outreach? In no particular order, getting to know bloggers and their blogs better, paying on time and not responding to emails. I’ve addressed the first one already, but I spend so much time chasing payment for work I’ve done and following up with PRs who suddenly go silent and it is frustrating.

What blogging trends do you think we’ll see more of this year? Bloggers are being taken more seriously now so I think there will continue to be a rise in the number of brands who begin to include blogger outreach as part of their digital strategies. It reminds me a little of the initial reluctance that several organisations had to establishing themselves on social media. There was a lot of hesitation, but it gave way and there are now very few who aren’t using it. I think attitudes to working with bloggers are going the same way.