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

The Blogging Survey: Results

Hi everyone!

This post will be about the blogging survey which I posted about a while ago, as I now have some results!
People have stopped responding now and the response total is 32, which means that I reached my goal of 30 responses and should be able to make some valid generalisations when I analyse the results in detail in my report!
Here's a brief summary of what I found out:

- People unanimously favour Blogger as their chosen platform, both for blogging, and reading blogs.
- This is closely followed by Wordpress, and then Tumblr.
- A lot of the participants had blogs of their own.
- People are more likely to read blogs if they feel that the writer is genuine and personable.
- Some of the most mentioned responses to what people thought were important features were interesting subject matter, posts being well written, and the layout being aesthetically pleasing.
- Beauty blogs are the most favoured by readers, and help/instructional blogs are the least favoured.
- Things that put readers off blogs most are unpleasant topics or opinions and badly written posts.
- Social media is the most popular way of readers finding blogs to read.
- People enjoy the use of images.
- Vibrant colours and interesting fonts are generally favoured, but simple layouts are liked more than complex ones.
- Occasional variation in topic is favoured.
- People believe that links to social media improve a blog.
- People dislike the use of background music.
- Shorter posts are favoured over longer ones.
- Collaborations and guest posts are liked.
- People prefer image-heavy blogging over text-heavy blogging.
- An informal, chatty tone of writing is preferred.
- Adverts are largely disliked.

Lauren xxx

Blogger Interview: Caroline Osbeldiston from The Adventures Of Caroline

Hello everyone! Today's post is a bit different because I've been fortunate enough to get an interview with the lovely Caroline from The Adventures Of Caroline! She is a blogger from the UK who blogs about lifestyle and fashion and also writes help and advice articles and does film and TV reviews! She's here to answer a few questions about blogging.

Hey Caroline! Thanks so much for doing this interview! First, could you explain to us about your blog, and what inspired you to start it?

I have two blogs now. Originally I started blogging because I am studying Journalism at University so set up a blog to get myself out there because it’s hard in the industry. On my The Adventures of Caroline blog, I would post abut fashion, films I have seen, what I love at the moment and just random things etc.
Recently I set up another blog for my photography. I have always had a keen interest in photography and would love to become a photographer/journalist so I decided I would set up a blog for that. Basically, it is to get my photos out there whilst including posts about how to do this etc.
However, what inspires me to continue to blog is that I hopefully am helping people. It has been almost a year since I first posted on the Adventures blog and looking back, it has really helped me get a lot of things of my chest. By sharing my experiences, I have let go of feelings I have had for a very long time but also hopefully helping people that might be going through the same things. That is what inspires me now to continue to blog.

What do you love about blogging?

I love the fact that I can post whatever I want because it is my blog. If like something or want to share something with my readers then I can. I also feel like I won’t be judged. Its weird I know, but because I am posting my opinions then some people may agree and may not agree with them but they are my own views and I am entitled to having them.

Who inspires you most in the blogging world? Do you have a favourite blogger? What do you love about them?

I don’t really have a favourite blog, I just like reading through different blogs. From lifestyle, cooking/baking, music, film/tv shows etc, I like reading something new. From a review to beauty/fashion tips to what people have bought and would recommend etc, it is interesting to read their views about it.

What is your top tip for gaining hits on your blog and gaining followers?

So when I first started blogging, I came up with the 3Cs I would follow: Content, Constant and Colour.
For every blog, you have to have content. What you are going to blog about. So if the blog has a theme (baking, music, fashion, beauty etc), then that is what the content is focused on. Even if the blog doesn’t have a specific topic, it still needs good, interesting content. Something new, something different that they haven’t read before.
Constantly update your blog. If you miss a couple of posts then that’s ok but try not to. By constantly posting two days a week or something then it keeps the audience reading your blog. If you don’t then they will most likely forget about the blog, which is bad because you want as many people reading your posts.
Finally, colour. If you want your blog to look professional then that’s fine. However, you don’t want it to look boring and plain. People like colour. Whether it is a photograph or your layout, by having colour then it brings the blog to life so to speak and engages your audience because it is visually pleasing.
Those are the three Cs I use and hopefully they work in gaining me more followers, I have no idea but it makes the blog yours.

Do you read any blogs yourself? If so, what kind?

I love reading film blogs. I don’t read on specific blog based on this but I love reading peoples views on a film that has recently came out or what they have watched on the TV or what film they have bought recently. It is interesting to find out what other people thought of a film that I have watched or wanting to watch etc. I also read fashion, beauty and music blogs because again this is something I am interested in so it is good to see what other people think about a latest single/album or the newest makeup product and fashion trend.

Is there anything you find hard about being a blogger?

The only thing I struggle with is publishing my posts when I want to post them. I try to publish twice a week but sometimes I only publish one because I am busy or I am at university or something. Time management is key to having a blog. You really do have to be orangised and plan what the posts are going to be about. One thing I do is write the posts out a week or two ahead of when I am actually going to publish them. It just saves time and me panicking the day before or the day I want to post.

What do you think about blogging as a long-term career option? Do you think it's viable? Is it something you would consider for yourself?

Blogging has become a huge phenomenon in recent years, especially vlogging (video blogging). In terms of a long term career, I think if you are determined and motivated to write and update your blog then I think it could actually work. I mean look at Zoe Sugg aka vlogger Zoella. She has made money and she has a huge following on her blog and has recent bought out a book etc so she is doing really well. She just started out by posting videos on Youtube about beauty and fashion etc and now she is a huge star with an international following to be honest so if she can have a career but blogging then I think anyone could.

What is your ultimate goal in blogging? What would you like to achieve? What is your idea of a 'successful' blog?

I don’t really set goals as bad as that sounds but it is to just avoid disappointment really. However, I would like to keep on blogging and to go to events etc that I can blog about and meet other bloggers etc, that would be fun.
In my opinion, a successful blog isn’t about the posts that are published but about the person behind the blog. If they are determined and motivated then that is what makes a successful blog. If they publish things that they wouldn’t normally share then they are 1) releasing any feelings they have, 2) getting their views out there, 3) helping other people from what they have written if they are going through that experience and 4) they are being themselves. In today’s society, I think people believe that they have to fit in with a certain group of something. With a blog they can express their own individual style whether it being lifestyle, fashion and whatnot. I think that is what makes a blog successful, for the person to be themselves.

Finally, if you could solve any common blogging problem, what would it be and why?

I am not going to lie, some posts I have read on different blogs are boring. This necessarily isn’t common but it is a problem because who wants to read a boring, same old blog. No one does as harsh as this may sound. I am not saying that mine is the perfect blog but there is either too much or not enough text on the blogs and this is the same with photographs. You want to read something visually pleasing as well as interesting. By breaking up the text by using images and having a punchy post title then it gives the reader something else to look at etc so I would solve how to make some blogs more appealing to read.

Thanks so much for your answers!

We also have some awesome news here on The Meta Blog; Caroline has kindly agreed to do a guest post for us! She'll be talking in more depth about her blog, and giving us some of her top tips for being a good blogger. Stay tuned...

Lauren xxx

Professional studies hand-in day - My Evaluation!

Hi everyone! So, it’s hand-in day for the professional studies module! So here’s my written evaluation of the module now that it’s over.

The main things we had to do for the module were in two parts. Firstly, we had to create this here weblog of which you are currently reading, and post relevantly to our course and lectures, and secondly, we had to write a report of a minimum of 500 words on a chosen job role within the fashion industry, and research the job role ourselves and get interviews from experienced people where needed.

For my report, I chose to do it on the job role of a fashion designer, as that is the job that I think I would most like to pursue within the industry, ideally. I was lucky enough to get an interview via email with the owner of a vintage shop in Middlesbrough called Ticky Turner vintage, who has done everything from scratch for her business by herself and is successful, so she had relevant experience within the industry for me to learn from. I found this very inspiring and informative, and it gave me a lot of information to put into my report. Also, I used a number of different websites and books to research the job role, and things like which qualifications are needed for the job, and what skills you need to be successful. I found this part of the module challenging and informative but it was not particularly enjoyable for me. I think that in future to do better on tasks like this, I should use information from a wider range of sources to gain further knowledge.

As for the blogging part of the module, we had to create and run our own fashion blog, and post about topics that interest us but also were relevant to the lectures we received. I did this by posting about topics like contemporary styles of presentation, fashion ethics, and current fashion. I also posted about the work that I was doing as part of my course. To gain more hits on my blog, I used skills that I had learnt in my professional studies module, like publicising my blog myself and being professional, and through doing this I actually was offered space on blog hosting sites who publicise and promote peoples’ posts to get them read and noticed by more people, which proved to be a success. I also did things like linking other social networking sites to my blog so that it was accessible in more ways. I chose blogger as my blogging platform because after researching fashion blogs, I found that it was the most popular platform for fashion bloggers to use. I found this part of the module very easy because I had already had lots of blogging experience previously running other blogs, so I knew all about how to write and how to format my blog. I really enjoyed this part of the module as I like working with computers and social networking and blogging is a hobby of mine anyway. I think if I had to do it again, to improve I would ensure that I posted in more regular intervals.

Overall, I have found the professional studies module interesting and informative and I have really enjoyed it!

Lauren xoxo