Friday 29 June 2012

#caratblogshop: Carat Media Event.

On Wednesday, I attended an event in Manchester held by Carat Media, which was put together by their lovely team to help us fashion bloggers make the most out of our blogs. We were greeted in the reception area and given badges to wear complete with our names and blog URLs, before being taken up to a room where we were able to mingle with the Carat team and other bloggers, sip on a glass of wine, and meet some of the brands who were sponsoring the event. After we'd made the most of the wine, sausage rolls and strawberries, we all took a seat and listened to a series of talks by Rahul, Mark and Pete who gave us some fabulous tips for directing traffic our blogs and the do's and don'ts of blogging. Here are just a handful of the things we learned:

  • Keep your posts up to 500 words long, don't make them too long but give your post some meaning.
  • Key words, labels and tags are key.
  • Having your own domain will help optimize search engine results to your blog.
  • Long blog rolls are like socks and sandals- Don't do it! 20 is the magic number.

The talks were very informative and I am definitely going to take the tips and tricks that were mentioned on board. It was also lovely to talk to some of the brands who were at the event, such as Matalan, Kaleidoscope and Swimwear365, and we were treated to a lovely bag from Matalan and a sneak peek at their A/W 2012 collection (You might want to start saving your pennies, there are some gorgeous things hitting the stores soon!). I had a great evening, loved meeting and talking to some other bloggers as usual and I would love to see Carat host some more events :) Here are some of the pictures I took:

Kaleidoscope- Some of these clothes you wouldn't think are designed with more mature women in mind!
 
Gorgeous swimsuits from Swimwear365.
 
Enhancing my inner cat lady, thanks Matalan! Cat Face Bag: Matalan £8*

Were you at the Carat event? I didn't get chance to talk to everybody! :(

25 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing those tips! They all make a lot of sense to me especially the 500 word one I try to at least give my readers something to read but I'm always concerned it'll turn into an essay ha-ha!

    The food looks scrummy too!

    Sarah
    http://fashionismyh2o.blogspot.co.uk/
    xx

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    1. No worries! Yeah haha same, I always try to break it up well! The food was yummy :) x

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  2. I went to the event too but there was so many people didn't get the chance to speak to everyone! I learnt a lot! Was a great eve! xo
    http://www.la-vida-fresa.com/

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    1. Aww same! It was so hot and crowded in that room, too! It was a great event though :) x

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  3. sounds fun :) love the bag :) xo

    vintage-teapot.blogspot.ie

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  4. Sounds like a lovely event and really useful. Thanks for sharing those tips with us! It's a shame that Matalan stores are generally quite awkward to get to- or maybe that's a good thing for the purse strings ;-)

    smazsays.blogspot.co.uk

    Sarah

    xxx

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    1. No worries! :) Ooh well my local Matalan is literally a 10 minute walk from my house so I'll be relying solely on will power haha, I love too many things from the AW12 collection! x

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    1. There are some lovely designs, made me wish I was going on holiday! x

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  6. sounds really good. wish i'd have gone. xx

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  7. Ooh the event looks like a lot of fun :) I love the cat bag - how cute??

    Charlee
    http://charmedcharlee.blogspot.com/
    xxxx

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    1. It was really informative :) I knoww, I think it's adorable, I'm such a cat lover haha! x

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  8. I recently stumbled across your blog and I LOVE it! I love the layout to the content and everything in between! Your sense of style is just impeccable and your blog is simply the epitome of perfection! I love the little cat bag, you're so lucky! I am your newest, most avid follower, I look forward to reading your future posts. I would love it if you could perhaps follow me back too? Have a lovely day!

    Love from, MISSIFFA

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    1. Aww thanks a lot lovely, I will definitely take a look at your blog :) x

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  9. Aww great review. Your blog has come on so lovely, and I commend you highly :) Well done :)

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    1. Aww thanks a lot lovely! I love your blog too :) x

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  10. Great Blog Post about the event! I honestly had such a great time.. It was my first 'blogger' event and I was a little worried everyone would know each other and be cliquey but it was fab and all the girls were so friendly! :) loved it! I've joined a few affiliate networks today, was pretty easy to sign up! Just hope people click through and buy now :o) not that I am even doing it for the pennies! Am seriously excited about Matalan's AW collection! :)

    http://sweetiesal.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks lovely! Aww I'm always a little nervous about events, this was my second proper event but the first one I was "invited" to... I'm really excited about Matalan's AW collection too, there's so many nice things! x

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  11. Sounds like a great very informative event and your cat bag is so cute! :) xx

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  12. looks as though you had a lovely time sweets, and that cat bag is adorable x

    www.misssunshinesparkle.blogspot.com

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    1. It as a lovely event :) Haha I love the bag, I'm such a cat lady1 x

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