If you’ve been subscribed to my newsletters for a while, you’ll know this isn’t the first time I’ve talked about the ongoing evolution of hashtags, and their usefulness, on Instagram. Not so long ago they were a primary driver of growth and discovery for most creators in the app. Now, most users report at best,
Blog
Living
10 Things Keeping Me Going Right Now
As I write this, we’re slowly coming out of another national lockdown here in the UK. West Yorkshire, where I live, has been under lockdown regulations for roughly 3 quarters of the past 365 days, and it’s taken its toll on us all. Myself, most definitely included – which I’ll probably be talking about more
Continue Reading
Instagram advice
Think Like An Editor
This post is adapted from a lesson in my Instagram class, The Insta Retreat, where I teach strategies to grow your account and your audience, while remaining authentic to yourself. Click here to read more. Think Like An Editor Running a successful Instagram account is sort of like being the editor of your own mini
Continue Reading
Instagram advice
Stay Home Photo Challenge – In Your Hands
Our little challenge made the news this week! UK news site The Metro and Dutch newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws both shared details of what we’ve been doing alongside some of the creations from the community. Big congratulations to those whose photos were featured. The creativity in all the responses continued to completely blow me away!
Continue Reading
Personal
Lockdown Diaries – Sourer than Sourdough, Whinier than Wine
My mood has shifted this week. For the first couple of weeks at home I was reasonably sunny: enjoying the privilege of time with my little family, the slower pace of it all. But over the last few days I’ve turned grumpy; as sour as the starter dough everyone’s husband except mine is seemingly tending
Continue Reading
Instagram advice
#StayHome Photo Challenge – On The Table
How will you remember this time? I’ve been cataloguing my life in photos since before Orla was born and somehow, they seem to hold memories better than words. Each scroll of my camera roll is like uncorking bottles from the past: the strong black tea I drank with a tiny baby Orla asleep on
Continue Reading
Instagram advice
#StayHome Photo Challenge – The Rainbow
What an amazing and heartwarming response to last week’s prompt! Within minutes of the email landing I was being tagged in creations on Instagram. No two are the same, all crammed full of narrative and real life and our beautiful humanness. As Lindsay said in her comment on the last challenge, “so many are looking
Continue Reading
Instagram advice
#StayHome Photo Challenge – The Windowsill
In stressful times I have a few default coping mechanisms: shopping, creativity and community. Given the first one is not especially available in the current climate, I wanted to offer us all a small way to create and connect in the coming weeks of social isolation, and document our days from a shared perspective. This