Professional Studies 2015 Evaluation

For the professional studies module this year I decided to focus on the career of Blogging. Learning outcome one was “Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of professional practice in the relevant creative industry and the career opportunities within it”. I feel that I have fulfilled this. I have researched blogging as a career very well and documented my findings on my blog, which involved writing about the various factors in blogging professionally and interviewing existing bloggers to see what their thoughts were and how they blog. I also researched the necessary qualifications and skills needed to be a professional blogger and wrote about this as a section in my report. The second learning outcome was “Analyse, interpret and apply research and data from a variety of sources appropriate to the identification of your own career aspirations”. I feel that I did this very well because I made sure that I collected data from a variety of sources and I also made sure that I got different types of data, applying research method skills I had to make sure I had collected an ample amount of data to reach a valid and reliable conclusion. I made sure that I collected data from primary sources which were surveys and interviews, and also secondary sources which were websites and online articles. I also collected a variety of quantitative and qualitative data so that I could analyse the data collected in different ways to explore my research further. From doing this research I identified the career aspiration of becoming a better blogger with the aim of eventually turning blogging into a career, and decided to base my report on finding out how to do this. The final learning outcome was “Select and apply appropriate presentation methods for reports and professional documents” and I feel that I also did this well because I learned how to use Adobe InDesign so that I could present my work appropriately and I put these skills into practice when I was writing my report. I also applied these skills, as well as other skills in Photoshop and Illustrator to create my personal creative CV and I am very pleased with the result. I also managed to create a multi-page PDF document to showcase my work which acts as a digital portfolio which I can continue to build on throughout my professional career. My blogging skills have also improved during this module because I have written a number of long posts on my blog linking to my chosen career and I have set them out appropriately so that they will be appealing to my blog’s audience. Overall I have enjoyed this module and I think that I have learned a lot from it. The conclusion I came to in my report will help me in the future to become a better blogger which can hopefully lead to a blogging career in the future. If I was to do this module again I think the one thing that I would change would be to manage my time better because I would have liked more time to further experiment with and develop my digital portfolio.

Lauren xxx

Blogging Spotlight - The Unmumsy Mum

Hi everyone!

Today's post is going to be about one of my favourite blogs - that of The Unmumsy Mum. I first came across her blog when I was told about it by my mother, who also reads it and tells me from time to time how hilarious it is. Although I am not a mother myself yet (thank goodness), I have to say it struck a cord with me, because when she talks about her experiences, I sympathise. Partly because I have two younger brothers and my mum also used to be a childminder so I have too had many stressful experiences concerning small children and their unwillingness to do as they are told, but mostly because of the way she writes - I feel as if I know her. That then got me thinking, if reading her blog is evoking such emotion in me, clearly she must be doing something right. So, I decided to analyse her blog and figure out exactly why I liked it so much, and pinpoint the 5 key things that I think she is doing right, because these things may be able to help bloggers of all kinds to become just as successful.

"In March 2015, the month I am writing... the blog page went mad. It took off. I started receiving hundreds of comments for every post and new messages every single day. I got recognised by strangers (yes really) and offers of writing jobs started coming in." - The Unmumsy Mum

Firstly, as mentioned, I think that the way she writes is a major strong point. There are near to no technical terms for anything used. She swears and uses slang. She writes how one would speak, not formally, and very down-to-earth and chatty. It makes the reader feel that they know her and can relate, which is something very appealing. Yes, there are some uses of swear words and slang which may put some readers off, but I like it, because it makes her seem more human, and that to me is important, and I think that it works in her favour.

Secondly, she doesn't write about idyllic situations which are already existent on countless other blogs. There are plenty of examples of perfect lives written about by almost every other blogger, and to read about something satisfyingly imperfect is wonderfully refreshing. I realise this point may seem specific to this particular blog, but it isn't. Take beauty blogs, for example. The majority are by people who are expertly good at makeup already, and I feel that it separates ordinary people, who are probably the majority of the readers, from the person writing the blog. I would much rather read a blog by a complete amateur in a subject, so I feel like I am learning alongside them, not being taught. The Unmumsy Mum has identified a clear gap in her market and has been very successful through it.

"... I wanted to read about somebody who felt the same. Somebody who would reassure me I wasn’t going completely mad... That was the blog I needed. So I searched for it, but found nothing that was quite right. I’ll write one, I decided. And the blog was born. I made a vow to myself very early on that I would document parenthood as I found it. Not how I wanted to find it. Or how I wanted other people to think that I found it. But how it was." - The Unmumsy Mum

Another thing I like about this blog is that it stays on topic. Every post is on the same lines, talking about parenthood, yet still manages to be new and interesting, which is a very hard balance to strike. When people come back to blogs, they often do so because they want to read about a certain thing, so to stay on topic is a very good idea. Some blogs jump about far too much and they feel very hit-and-miss because they can't then build a proper audience who solidly enjoy all their posts. Some interest them, and some don't, which isn't helpful at all to a blog's growth. Having a clear audience and appealing to them is infinitely more powerful than trying to please everyone in my opinion.

Although it may seem obvious and simplistic, the next thing I like about the blog is the layout. There are no harsh clashing colours, no dancing GIFs flashing at you, hundreds of advertisements aren't popping up everywhere, and the text is clearly visible. I know it's fun to mess around with formatting, but at the end of the day, people come to blogs to read, and the last thing they want is to feel unfocused and for it to be a task. This blog uses simple, clear text, a very traditional layout, is easy to navigate, and is quite literally, very black and white, which I feel works very well.

The final thing I love about The Unmumsy Mum is something that I think most of its' readers will love, too, and it's probably the reason it's so popular: humour. The blog is hilariously funny in a very honest and plain way, no clever jokes that only some people will get, it's just simply hilarious. Not everyone actually has the ability to write humour and to create something so funny which has the power to brighten someone's day hugely is a very skilled talent to possess.

I feel that all of these qualities could apply to any blog, and in most cases, would change it for the better; I know I'd certainly read it. I think that this blog is brilliant, and I think that the blogging community can learn a lot from studying how successful bloggers write and taking a leaf out of their book.

Lauren xxx