Speedy Spotlight: Big Fashionista

Big Fashionista will be featured in this week’s Media Updates. Author Kellie Hill spoke to Cision about not fitting into a neat box, clowns and Twitter.

Why should people read your blog?
I try to be current, and I try to bring some humour to subjects that aren’t always humorous. Anyone can blog, it is easy, don’t let anyone tell you anything different. What is difficult is finding your voice, your niche, and building on that. I’ve been blogging for nearly five years now and I am in a position where people value and respect my opinions. My tagline is, ‘Just saying what you’re thinking’ and I make sure that I bring those values into each post that I write.

What makes your blog different?
Luckily for me, I don’t fit into a neat box. There are fabulous bloggers out there that can be easily classified, you have beauty bloggers, fashion bloggers and all sorts of different blogs available. I bring a little bit of everything to my site. I enjoy writing opinion pieces the most, who wouldn’t enjoy a chance to write down what they are thinking on a certain subject? I welcome debate as well, opinions that differ from mine are always welcome on my site.

What’s your favourite blog and why?
An important part of being a blogger is realising that it is all well and good writing a blog but it helps to be a reader of blogs too. I have two favourite blogs at the moment: The Agoraphobic Fashionista –  Sera is a great mix of fashion, beauty and lifestyle; and Trying My Patients – a gritty, sometimes traumatic blog based on the experiences of a paramedic. Both sites, although extremely different, are well worth reading.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog?
Write stuff down, press publish, write a bit more, congratulations, you are a blogger. Go you. 

How does a good PR work with you?
Because my site is so varied and I am quite opinionated, it takes a PR who has faith in their products to come to me and ask if I would like to get involved, either for a review purpose or just publicity for their client. The PRs that I do deal with have complete faith in their products and are usually confident that I will have too. I think PRs have a difficult job as it is, they don’t need me to make it any more difficult so I try to be as honest, open and pleasant as I can be. If something isn’t going to fit on my blog, I would rather be up front about it.

What do PRs do that’s bad?
Thats a difficult one, it is like saying, what do people do that’s bad. Everyone is different, every PR has a different style or way about them, I try not to see something a PR does as bad, just different to a way I would like it done. Usually if there has been a miscommunication on either side, I find it works out a lot better if we talk about what’s gone wrong and how it can be fixed. 

Do you have any surprising hobbies or interests?
I am also a face painter which does surprise some people as I don’t put up many make-up posts. Stick a contouring brush in my hand and I will stare at it and not know what to do with it. Give me a tub of white face paint, a sponge and some paints and I can turn you into a clown. It’s only when I do the same with my make-up i end up having an issue.

92% of UK journalists are on Twitter, how important is it to bloggers?
I think Twitter is EXTREMELY important to bloggers, I get a large part of my traffic from Twitter. I have also gained many valuable contacts through Twitter as well as made friends and experienced opportunities via Twitter that I never would have been made aware of otherwise. Twitter is a great tool for me to keep up with the latest news and opinions, giving me a chance to create posts in reference to events that have only just happened.

Editorial information on Big Fashionista, Kellie Hill and thousands of other media contacts and outlets, can be found in the CisionPoint Media Database.