DIARY directory recently caught up with blogger Natascha Cox. Starting only four years ago, she covers fashion and beauty trends along travel guides, with tons of research and advice on the latest products and detailed reviews! A huge believer in body positivity, Natascha is also an ambassador for teenage confidence charity Girls Out Loud and has worked recently with brands including Elizabeth Arden, Avon and Monica Viander.

UK fashion, beauty & travel blogger

Ambassador for Girls Out Loud charity 

"unless I have contacted a PR/brand specifically then don’t expect me to give coverage for free" 

Listed in DIARY directory in the digital influencers subsection, along with 1000+ categorised influencers for PRs to work with, Natascha explains how she got into blogging; the important of engagment over number of followers and why traditional blogging will never fade out. 

What got you into blogging, how long ago did you start? 

I started blogging around 4 years ago. I saw a series on TV about fashion bloggers and thought 'I would love to do that’, so I did. It’s just amazing that my hard work has paid off and it’s now a career for me. I was really lucky to get a following that is so down to earth.

What's an average day in the life for you?

Getting up, dropping the kids to school, either going into London for an event or working on a new post. Some days I will be out shooting. I also have to fit in the boring admin side of things too but I try to do this as little as possible! 

When bedtime comes you can find me sat on my bed as early as possible watching my iPad….I am a TV addict!

You cover a variety of areas - which blog posts of yours do the best?

Although I love the fashion posts myself, the travel posts seem to go down amazingly. I think it’s just because readers love to see places they haven’t been before so they are more interested. When I mix a fashion or beauty post with a travel post they always do better. 

What social media platform works best for you & why?

Twitter works the best for me as it’s more shareable and I get so much engagement and followers here. I love Instagram because it’s more of a canvas of my life and fashion posts do really well. I would love to focus more on Instagram but it’s just finding the time….. 

Do you have any additional professional help for your blog?

I do have help with the management for collaborations and PR enquiries. But otherwise, it's just me :-) It would be great to get some help with the admin side of things but at the moment I’m pretty much a one-woman band.  

What catches your eye in a press release/brand collaboration e-mail?

It has to be relevant to me or my usual content to begin with. I understand that brands are trying to get coverage and can’t filter every mailing list each time they send out a press release. 

I need to see images, links to the brand's website and samples or review opportunities need to be on offer. My blog is personal and I take my own images so I will never include something I haven’t done or used myself.  

Any pet peeves when it comes from PRs/brands?

Yes, unless I have contacted a PR/brand specifically then don’t expect me to give coverage for free. A lot of brands send you a complete campaign brief asking for a blog post and social post in return for a product, normally worth less than £50. Sometimes they ask you to take part in a competition by posting a blog and/or social post in the hope you might win a voucher. 

They don’t seem to grasp the fact that bloggers don’t work for a magazine. We don’t get paid a salary and a free product isn’t a perk for us. Blogging is our job and we need to be able to pay the bills from it. 

If you don’t have a reasonably sized budget to pay a blogger, please don’t expect coverage. 

What’s your opinion on unsolicited gifting?

I don’t mind it as long as the brand doesn’t start asking for coverage afterwards. 

Do you think traditional blogging will fade out in favour of YouTube and social channels like Instagram?

No, brands still need to SEO links so that will never happen. These channels will get more engagement but will never make blogs obsolete. 

"Blogging is our job and we need
to be able to pay the bills from it."

What are your thoughts on influencers buying followers?

What's the point? Brands are looking for engagement over following. If you have 100k followers but just a couple of engagements then an experienced PR can see immediately that your following will not benefit their campaign.

What are your top social media tips for growing a following?

It takes time - unless you are a Kardashian! Keep active, post consistently and engage with new people. 

Do you feel that engagement for a post is lessened by declaring it as sponsored?

No, engagement is engagement no matter what it’s about or if you’ve declared it as such.

What, if any, metrics do you provide to a PR after a sponsorship campaign to help them measure success?

I don’t generally do this as they can see for themselves how many comments, likes shares etc the blog or social post received. This is also an ongoing thing as the posts continue to get views and engagement long after being published.

What’s your dream collaboration?

This is a difficult question! I am a big time fashion girl so a collaboration with a mainstream affordable fashion brand would be amazing. I also want to do an Adidas or Nike collab, I love athleisure!

I would also love to bring out my own line of lipstick or be the face of a beauty brand.

What’s coming up for you in 2017?

I will be writing a fashion focused column for Curva Magazine.

I also have lots of fun stuff coming up that I can’t really talk about at the moment. I’m hoping within the next month everything will be done and dusted and I can start telling everyone the exciting news. Let’s just say it’s a major deal for me!

Who’s your biggest inspiration?

My family, I come from a hard working family and everyone around me is hard working and really caring. We are always here for each other and that makes me the person who I am. I want to achieve the best that I can and I’m able to do that because of who I have in my life.

What other bloggers/influencers do you follow and why?

I follow tons because I tend to start following every blogger I meet in person….which is a lot! 

There are a few I take more of an interest in because I relate to them more. People like Gabi Gregg, Iskra Lawrence, Grace Victory.  

Contact

Natascha Cox in 'digital influencers'