The Beginning

As a summary to my work, I thought it would be nice to include within both my Press Pack and on here a collection of comments that have been made about my project during, and as a result of it. I will add to the post as each video goes live on my blog, which will be happening starting on the 26th May and will be posted daily from this time. 

The main thing I wanted to achieve from this project was to inspire and help others, a task which I certainly think I've done. I've met some amazing people and have loved filming and hearing the stories of individuals. Each person has their own story, and I love how different each film has turned out as a result of this. I hope these films can continue to inspire people and help people get through hard times and stay motivated in their futures. 

Mostly, I loved learning so much more about my own story. I've learnt a lot about myself, what inspires me, what I have a passion for, and where I see my future going. I have secured myself a Full Time role within Miss Selfridge as an Online Trading Assistant, and I put a lot of that down to my hard work and dedication to what I want to do. I've grown my blog and gained so many brilliant opportunities, something I want to continue on into the future. And finally, I have discovered a lot about myself. Life isn't always about sticking to the mould. Challenging the 'norm' and the expected can produce innovative new ideas and views, appealing to an entirely difference audience and resulting in a completely different outcome. My project may not be the predicted conclusion from the brief, but in my opinion it's been incredibly successful and has benefited me in more ways than I could have ever imagined. 

Blog Analytics

I've worked really hard to improve and grow my blog through this project. Along with the incredible opportunities I've been offered, I've improved my knowledge of websites greatly and have grown my readership considerably. I currently have 392 GFC followers and 451 Bloglovin followers. Below are some more stats from my blog;

More in-depth statistics from Google Analytics

Reader Demographics and Interests

Locations

Behaviour

As you can see, my readership and views are increasing day on day, and quite drastically over a month. I love being able to see that people have viewed my blog from all over the world, it's amazing how far it's reached. I want to continue to grow these and improve my blog in the future.

Pinterest Analytics

Another platform I've been working on driving traffic from is Pinterest. I've found this really hard and despite scheduling daily tweets to my Pinterest account I haven't seen a huge increase in traffic. However, I love the platform so want to persevere. I have read many advice and tips posts on how to use it best, and am working on improving my account to make the most of it.

Twitter Analytics

TWITTER ANALYTICS;

You can see how these have grown month on month, I've really pushed twitter the past couple of months and you can see the result. Unfortunately May hasn't improved much compared to April just due to me being far too busy to keep up with the level of daily tweets that are needed.

Here are my daily twitter impressions and some tweet stats.

Of course, the days with more tweets gain more impressions, but I find a small difference in tweets makes a huge difference in impressions. Days with high impressions are when I have spent the evening reading blogs and tweeting bloggers, actively shared my posts or have taken part in hour long twitter chats which are held often. I've joined a number of these recently and find them a brilliant way to pick up tips, meet new bloggers and grow my readership. 

 Out of these statistics I've been focusing most on my Link Clicks. I gain most of these through sharing my Instagram posts on twitter, which I have an app for, however I know a lot of these come when I share posts and are from people clicking onto my blog, which is brilliant. You can see below that my Instagram tweets tend to be the most engaged tweets as visuals are often popular. Due to this, I try to involve visuals when sharing new posts. I want to experiment between sharing a few visuals and just one individual one to see which is most successful. 

I love getting positive feedback from readers, and am often tagged in #FF (follow friday) where people share their favourite bloggers & tweeters for others to follow. This tweet below came from two readers who have only recently begun following me and it meant so much.

Blog Presence Stats.

To evidence the work and time put into my blog during this module, I have gathered the Analytics for my blog month by month from the end of 2014 until May 2015. I have included month on month comparisons and also each months statistics. 

I have seen the greatest growth in my Instagram and Twitter. In January, I was on 500 Instagram Followers and 100 Twitter followers. This has grown to 1,400+ Instagram followers and 650+ Twitter followers. Alongside this, my twitter impressions have increased drastically, by approx 100% month on month, and my Instagram has seen a rise in both likes and comments. 

As a result of my increased media presence, I have received many brilliant opportunities. This week I attended a Supper Club with Madeleine Shaw at Harvey Nichols which I have blogged about and shared in my book, also producing a mini zine of the night. I also attended the House of Fraser Press Day in London for the AW collection. From that, I have a potential collaboration coming up on my blog featuring my boyfriend styling their menswear collections. 

Over the past few months I've had brilliant opportunities like this, and have had a number of companies wanting to work with me, including Lush Cosmetics, Second Thread Clothing, Getting Personal who sent me note pads and a mug with my logo on and Links of London who I collaborated with on a NYFW feature.

I have also received contact from a Swimwear brand this week to promote them during my upcoming holiday, and Oasis Fashion, working with them and Gandy's Flip-Flop's on their Charity for Orphans programme, the images of which will be live on the 26th/27th May on my Social Channels.

Harvey Nichols Supper Club with Madeleine Shaw

When Harvey Nichols invited me down to their Supper Club with Madeleine Shaw I jumped at the opportunity. Having followed her on Social Media for a while I'd actually planned on getting her book, Get The Glow, that day. I waited, of course, so that I could get it signed by her on the night, and what a night it was.

We were greeted with a Cocktail and the Menu for the night, perfect. Of course I went for a Mojito, nothing else gets considered when it's made with Golden Rum, yum! There was a small group of us bloggers and a couple of representatives for Voir Magazine there. We waited anxiously for the arrival of Madeleine herself, armed with a list of questions to ask. Having a group Q&A was a brilliant idea, we all had loads to discuss and people asked questions I'd have never thought of! I've written up a number of answers that I recorded but that would make this post far too long, anyone interested in a Q&A post of the Interview with Madeleine?

I'm not going to pretend I wasn't a bit starstruck when Madeleine sat next to me. She was so lovely, friendly and I adored her accent which switched between a British and Australian. She told us all about her digestive problems and travelling to Australia where she began cooking in a Health Food Cafe and fell in love with it. I discovered cooking through my Gluten Intolerance so I related completely and loved hearing about all her nutritional advice. I learnt so many new things and it was brilliant to see someone who honestly knows about nutrition and loves it. Let's just say, her skin was perfect and glowing, definitely walking evidence that her book works! With all the talk of healthy eating and cutting out sugar I did start to feel slightly guilty sipping my cocktail, oops!

After a drinks reception with the rest of the attendees for the supper club, we sat down for food. Madeleine began by thanking everyone for coming and introducing herself, her story and the book. After a quick look at the menu I couldn't wait to start trying the food! Madeleine had already told us a  bit about each dish we would be trying and why she chose them. I must admit I was pretty hesitant about all the Avocado as I'm not a huge fan, but the rest of the food sounded perfect!

First up, The Green Goddess Bowl. Kale and Spinach served with a Cider Vinegar and Mustard Dressing, topped with the most perfectly runny boiled Eggs and Avocado, covered in Sesame Seeds. I can't even believe to explain how incredible this was. I even LOVED the Avocado. It has the most perfect combination of tastes and textures and is definitely something I'd make myself for a summer lunch.

The second dish was an Autumn Salad: Mexican BBQ Grilled Corn and Quinoa, with Chilli Salsa. This dish was definitely different. Despite being Gluten Free I don't think I've ever had Quinoa before and the texture is something you need to get used to. It went really nicely with the corn, which I love, and was just a really fresh meal. This has far more ingredients and seems more complex to put together, but would be lovely to make at a BBQ (if you ignore the Autumn Salad name of course).

Our tables were cleared and soon the next two dishes were served. As a meat/fish lover, I preferred these to the Salads, but these were more dinner style meals so were more hearty in that sense. I ADORE salmon, I love smoked salmon and salmon fillets and it's honestly my favourite fish so the third dish was right up my street;

Spicy Salmon with Cucumber and Yoghurt. This looks super simple to make and there's just 10 ingredients needed (including the standard Olive Oil and Salt! Most of it you'll already have in your cupboards). This is in the 'Speedy Suppers' section of the book (definitely my favourite kind of supper). The Yoghurt was amazing, made with Paprika, Lemon and salt. This is used as a marinade for the Salmon and is also served with it. The Salmon was perfectly cooked and was lovely and juicy, falling apart, combined with the crunchy cucumber it was amazingly balanced and tasty.

The Fourth Dish had to be altered for me as I don't eat whole nuts, so here's my personal portion. (Can you tell I was STUFFED by the end from all this food?!) This course was a Thai Beef Salad (mine served without the Salt and Pepper Cashews). The beef was perfectly cooked medium rare (just how I like it) and was so tasty. The Salad was pretty standard but I'm sure this was far more interesting with the contrast of texture of the Cashews! Definitely one I'd recommend!

And last, but certainly not least, one of the most incredible puddings I've ever eaten, and I eat A LOT of puddings. Raw Chocolate Cherry Fudge served with Vanilla and Coconut Dairy-free Ice Cream. 

One word, WOW. Apparently my face lit up when I had my first mouthful. It was so yummy. Not overly chocolatey, but enough to satisfy any cravings. If this is what healthy eating tastes like then sign me up!!! This is going to be the first recipe I try from the book. The fudge is made from just 7 Ingredients and you literally mix them all together in a Food Processor (there is an order, but there's nothing complicated about it). Serve it up, stick it in the freezer for 30 minutes then swap it to the fridge. It'll keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, perfect for when you're craving a tasty treat!! Definitely the highlight of the whole night.

A huge thank you to Harvey Nichols, Leeds for inviting me along and to Madeleine for all the advice and the amazing recipes! You can even try a selection of Recipe's from the book yourself! They're running the Get The Glow menu at Harvey Nichols, Leeds in their Fourth Floor Restaurant until the 31st May. I'd highly recommend all of the dishes I tried, especially the Raw Chocolate Cherry Fudge, obviously. 

You can find all these recipes and more in her Get The Glow book (£20), including her six week programme which she is starting LIVE tomorrow (join her here)! I'm going to give it a go too, but just cutting down on sugar without cutting it out entirely, not sure I should start my new job next week going through the moody sugar withdrawal process!! Fancy joining me? 

Laura xx