Influencer Insights with @AClothesHorse
With a following of on 165k Instagram, 10.6k on Twitter and 13.9k Facebook as well as her own blogging website, A Clothes Horse blogger, Rebecca, has been blogging for 11 years. She has worked with a variety of brands including vintage-inspired women’s clothing brand ModCloth and has more partnerships in the pipeline.
With a great eye for all things visual, her Instagram feed is filled with carefully curated images that take advantage of the colour and surroundings to enable a focused and romantic type of photography.
This month we caught up with Rebecca to ask her about her blogging journey, how she deals with the negativity that can present itself in the social media world and working with brands.
1. How did you first get into blogging, and how would you describe your blogging style?
I first started blogging back in 2007! I was reading a lot of other fashion blogs by girls in similar positions to me (living in small towns with normal jobs, etc) and it made me feel for the first time in my life that fashion was accessible to me. I had previously always felt that fashion was largely reserved for a select few and fashion blogs opened my eyes that it was for everyone. So I started blogging as a “personal style blogger.” I used to post more about fashion news, shows, etc, but personal style and outfits really has always been the cornerstone of my blog and what I focus on today.
2. What type of networking do you think is better to enhance your traffic to the blog?
Since I live in the countryside, I don’t really go to events or do any networking face-to-face with brands or other bloggers! Personally, I focus on Instagram, but it’s not even about driving traffic to my blog it’s just that IG is the most visually focused social network and I’m all about the photographs! Technically, I feel SEO is the most important tool for driving traffic to a blog.
3. What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey so far?
I wouldn’t say I’ve had too many challenges because I never had a lot of goals or desires when I started. In a way everything that has happened through the blog or with it has been a pleasant surprise! I’m amazed I’m still blogging 11 years later—that should have been a challenge since I can’t think of anything I’ve stuck with for so long, but once I started it felt very natural for some reason.
4. What inspired you to start your blog?
Other fashion bloggers back in the day; it’s sad though all of my favorites who got me started are pretty much gone now. I loved Style Bytes and Liebemarlene but only old school bloggers will even recognize those names.
5. Have you met anyone interesting on your blogging journey?
I’ve met a lot of interesting people! I used to attend NYFW when I lived stateside and I made a lot of blogging friends through events there—I even met some of my favorite indie designers like Samantha Pleet and Nina of Family Affairs. Calivintage is probably one of the coolest bloggers I’ve ever met.
6. How active are you on a weekly basis across the different social media platforms?
I personally focus on Instagram and don’t really do much on any other social media platform! But I definitely spend too much time on Instagram! I don’t think of a it as a strategy, I’m just a very visual person and I really enjoy seeing other people’s pictures and following their stories.
7. How much time do you spend blogging?
Way too much time! I don’t really clock it, but more hours than most full-time jobs. It’s partly my own fault though because blogging began as a hobby for me and I still find it fun—I struggle to “turn off and tune out” I’m always checking my emails and responding to comments or typing up posts at 1am.
8. What’s your best advice for handling criticism on social media?
Ignore it! I used to think you could learn something from so-called “constructive criticism” but the more time I’ve spent blogging the more I’ve realized that the critical comments you get are not constructive 99% of the time. If you listen to them they can shape what you do and make you afraid to take risks, so you really need to ignore them and move on. I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by engaging either; if the point is valid then make adjustments but if it’s just mean then don’t give it a second of your time.
9. What brand project would you consider as your most significant accomplishment in your career to date? And why?
I’ve worked on a few cool projects over the years and I’m actually working on one right now that I’m very excited about but can’t really say the details of. One of my favourite brands to collaborate with though is Modcloth; they were one of the first brands I ever worked with back in the day and I love that I still love their shop and we still get to collaborate to this day!
10. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Maybe Zoe Kazan? I used to get told I looked like her quite a bit
Check out Rebecca’s platforms to have a closer look:
Blog: http://www.aclotheshorse.co.uk...
Instagram: @aclotheshorse
Facebook: @aclotheshorse
Twitter: @aclotheshorse