DIARY directory recently caught up with Em Sheldon from UK beauty, fashion, travel, fitness and lifestyle blog Emtalks. Founded in 2012, EmTalks showcases Em’s love of beauty, fashion, food, travel and fitness. The blog also features a few personal posts and aims to be the little book of everything; whether it’s the latest place to travel to, the best place to grab dinner, or the outfits and beauty products you need to buy. Em has been featured in a number of publications, including Grazia, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, Metro, Yorkshire Times, BBC Radio and LOOK magazine, among others. She has also collaborated with brands including Nike, adidas and ASOS to name a few.

UK Fashion, Beauty,Travel, Fitness & Lifestyle Blogger

InStyle Project 13 Top Travel & Lifestyle Winner

Cosmopolitan Best Newcomer Blog Award Winner

Listed in DIARY directory in the digital influencers subsection, along with 1000+ categorised influencers for PRs to work with, Em shares an average day in the life and talks about her favourite sponsored collaborations to date in addition to her opinion on the future of influencer marketing. 

When and why did you start your blog?

I started my blog as a way to get onto my course at the University Of Leeds. I soon realised it was a passion of mine and haven’t stopped since. 

When was the moment you realised you could go full time?

I went properly full time in January last year, I wouldn’t say there was a ‘big break’ it was more I knew I was financially stable.


What's an average day for you? 

I typically receive anywhere from 100+ emails per day. I start my day by working on my social media as soon as I wake up, that means promoting new posts etc during the commute hour. I then do my emails before breakfast. After breakfast I do any urgent content for projects or will write a blog post. I gym as a way to clear my mind in the middle of the day. My days really do change every single day so one day I could be in London in back to back meetings and events and the following day I could be in Milan! 

What has been a career highlight?

Winning InStyle magazine’s top lifestyle and travel blogger! 

"I really enjoy flicking through glossy magazines and for me, that won't change. I don’t think magazines and influencers are similar and actually think they’re two completely different things. I personally think the influencer industry is only going to get bigger and better "

 
… and biggest struggle?

Juggling everything and always making sure my quality is right. 

What have been your favourite sponsored collaborations to date? 

A recent campaign with Nike was one of my favourite as I’ve adored the brand forever and grown up wearing Nike so it was a natural fit. I also recently did a travel campaign with Starwood hotels, one of my favourite hotel chains.

Have you thought about signing up to a management/influencer agency?

I receive work from a lot of different places but haven’t signed up to anyone exclusively. It depends who they are, what experience they have and what they can offer me. 

Do you have a rate card? Can you tell us an example of a cost?

I do have a rate card but my cost is usually only disclosed when I can calculate it with a brief in-front of me.

How do you think brands/PRs can work better with influencers? Any pet peeves?

I really dislike it when a brand says something is a ‘collaboration’ yet they’re getting way more out of it than the influencer. For example, ‘I will give you one free dress in return for 3 Instagram images, a video and a blog post’. I sometimes think brands forget that creating those images takes time and it costs money. 

Magazines vs blogs, what do you think the future holds?

I really enjoy flicking through glossy magazines and for me, that won't change. I don’t think magazines and influencers are similar and actually think they’re two completely different things. I personally think the influencer industry is only going to get bigger and better and I’m really excited for the future. Every day I am seeing really exciting collaborations on my feeds, exciting book launches, product launches and more. It’s amazing to see such huge, global brands collaborating with influencers and working together to create genuinely beautiful and interesting content! 

Is there something else you’d like to branch into?

I’d love to bring out a book filled with all my mantras on balance! 

Contact

Em Sheldon in 'digital influencers'