Do you enjoy reading blogs? Have you ever considered creating your own blog? I met up with Anna Clark, The Cornish Life, to discuss the perks and struggles of life behind the keyboard.
Anna Clark is a Cornwall based lifestyle blogger, living just outside of Falmouth with her partner, Alex. She writes content for an audience of mainly women aged 25-34 years old. Documenting her life and experiences, Anna writes content about home, travel, food, health, sustainability and dog ownership. She attracts the attention of Cornish locals, as well as, London-based readers who are interested in the relaxed Cornish lifestyle.
Anna Clark is a Cornwall based lifestyle blogger, living just outside of Falmouth with her partner, Alex. She writes content for an audience of mainly women aged 25-34 years old. Documenting her life and experiences, Anna writes content about home, travel, food, health, sustainability and dog ownership. She attracts the attention of Cornish locals, as well as, London-based readers who are interested in the relaxed Cornish lifestyle.
Anna has always enjoyed creative writing and has a passion for photography, so she decided to combine the two, establishing The Cornish Life in 2015. A marketing course and an interest in website design allowed Anna to promote and grow her blog into the respected brand she has today.
However, establishing a brand isn’t as easy as people may think. Anna has had to deal with her fair share of struggles over the years. She currently uploads three blog posts each week but can sometimes lack ideas for content. “It’s okay in the summer, because I’m always out, I’m always doing things, but when it’s winter and it’s raining every day, and I’m doing the same walks with the dog, because it’s too wet to go anywhere else, it’s really, really hard to constantly think of content.”
Although lacking motivation on those cold, wet days, Anna is fortunate enough to work with several brands, so will always have some kind of content lined up. One of her biggest achievements so far has been working with Barbour, a luxury clothing, footwear and accessory store. “One of my dream brands to have worked with, they sent me some clothes and paid me and my friend to be a part of their campaign.”
Anna also explained that it can be difficult to choose which brands to work with. “When you’re starting out, you don’t get that many enquiries, so you’re like I’ll work with you and I’ll work with you too. Generally, if they’re Cornwall based and it’s something that I think my audience will like, then I’ll always say yes. If it’s a national brand, then it has to be relevant to my audience and fit that demographic. Although with national brands I’ve now had to be more selective just because I get so many enquiries.”
When it comes to blogging, you need to find your own niche in order to be successful. There’s a lot of competition these days. “There’s a lot of people doing beauty, fashion or travel blogs and it can be so hard to make yourself stand out, just because there’s so many. I’m really glad I did a course in marketing and worked in marketing for a few years as well, without that I would have really struggled getting to where I am today.”
Anna has worked hard enough to ensure that something she is passionate about and sees as a hobby, can actually make her some money as well. She currently doesn’t have any hobbies that aren’t related to business in some way. She doesn’t do anything just to relax. “I like reading books and going for walks, but then I’m usually taking my camera anyway. I think that’s the nice thing about having a hobby that can also make money, you never really feel like you need to be using your spare time to do other things.”
One piece of advice Anna would give to anyone out there wanting to start their own blog is you need to be willing to learn. “There’s a lot that goes into blogging that isn’t just writing and taking photos. You have to learn to build a website, how to maintain the website, keep it up-to-date and secure while also marketing yourself.”
(Original interview date: 22/09/2018)
However, establishing a brand isn’t as easy as people may think. Anna has had to deal with her fair share of struggles over the years. She currently uploads three blog posts each week but can sometimes lack ideas for content. “It’s okay in the summer, because I’m always out, I’m always doing things, but when it’s winter and it’s raining every day, and I’m doing the same walks with the dog, because it’s too wet to go anywhere else, it’s really, really hard to constantly think of content.”
Although lacking motivation on those cold, wet days, Anna is fortunate enough to work with several brands, so will always have some kind of content lined up. One of her biggest achievements so far has been working with Barbour, a luxury clothing, footwear and accessory store. “One of my dream brands to have worked with, they sent me some clothes and paid me and my friend to be a part of their campaign.”
Anna also explained that it can be difficult to choose which brands to work with. “When you’re starting out, you don’t get that many enquiries, so you’re like I’ll work with you and I’ll work with you too. Generally, if they’re Cornwall based and it’s something that I think my audience will like, then I’ll always say yes. If it’s a national brand, then it has to be relevant to my audience and fit that demographic. Although with national brands I’ve now had to be more selective just because I get so many enquiries.”
When it comes to blogging, you need to find your own niche in order to be successful. There’s a lot of competition these days. “There’s a lot of people doing beauty, fashion or travel blogs and it can be so hard to make yourself stand out, just because there’s so many. I’m really glad I did a course in marketing and worked in marketing for a few years as well, without that I would have really struggled getting to where I am today.”
Anna has worked hard enough to ensure that something she is passionate about and sees as a hobby, can actually make her some money as well. She currently doesn’t have any hobbies that aren’t related to business in some way. She doesn’t do anything just to relax. “I like reading books and going for walks, but then I’m usually taking my camera anyway. I think that’s the nice thing about having a hobby that can also make money, you never really feel like you need to be using your spare time to do other things.”
One piece of advice Anna would give to anyone out there wanting to start their own blog is you need to be willing to learn. “There’s a lot that goes into blogging that isn’t just writing and taking photos. You have to learn to build a website, how to maintain the website, keep it up-to-date and secure while also marketing yourself.”
(Original interview date: 22/09/2018)