A New Direction For the Blog in the Future? Answer + Win a £150 Beauty Package

A new year and a new decade is fast approaching, and I’m thinking of giving the blog not just a new look, but a new direction.

Before anyone panics: I’m not intending to become an ‘influencer’ or an Instagram clone – cut me in half and it’ll still say “blogger” right through me like a stick of rock. I’ve just been thinking about the direction that blogging has taken over the last 10 years, and where it’ll take me (us) in the next 10.

I don’t ever intend to switch everything over to Instagram (I’ve said before I think that’s a huge mistake) – the blog is where my heart lies. But due to the way my job as a blogger has been panning out lately, I’m finding it harder and harder to keep up with the regular content I’ve always produced… content that takes me a loooooong time to research and write.

So, I’ve had a think and was wondering what your thoughts were. This is where you come in!

As a thank you for your feedback, I’m offering someone the chance to win a beauty package worth £150 that I’ve put together as a thank you for answering a few questions about the direction I’m thinking of taking the blog.

And it’s only open to regular readers – NOT every Tom, Dick and Harry on Twitter and the like. #grrrr

Disclosure: The items I am offering as a prize have been gifted to me under no obligation. Full disclosure

Where I’m at with the blog right now

The first thing I want to do is to give the blog a new design – mostly this is due to unfortunate circumstances with regards to the company from which I bought the template (not something I’m going into detail here as it’s been discussed to death on social media). It won’t be wildly different, though.

Secondly – and this is the main thing I want to ask YOUR opinion about – is the format that the posts will take. I will definitely continue the Tuesday #iwillwearwhatilike link up outfit posts – no change there. I will always maintain this is a fashion blog and I will always aim to produce a minimum of one outfit post a week. I also intend to continue these Thursday #ShareAllLinkUp posts, but these may vary, as I shall explain.

However, what I’ve always done is produce quite lengthy, in-depth posts about various subjects: health and beauty, blogging, life in general, featured bloggers, etc. I enjoy writing long posts, and from what my stats tell me, you enjoying reading them too.

But these take a long time to write, and I’m finding that with the amount of work I’m doing with brands that take me away from home and don’t result in any work produced specifically for the blog (for example video shoots, photos shoots, hosting or attending events) that it eats into the time I’d spend writing. Therefore, the #ShareAllLinkUp posts I produce on a Thursday (and the ones I intend to publish on a Sunday but very rarely get round to) suffer, and often don’t get published at all.

So far in October I haven’t published anything other than the four Tuesday outfit posts due to being away working so much. This is NOT what I want to happen to the blog on such a regular basis, nor something I want to continue long term!

How I see the blog evolving

The last thing I want to happen is for my blog to become stagnant. I want it to evolve naturally.

So my question to you is this: How do you feel about shorter, “bite-sized” posts on a regular basis? Would you be happy to read a quick tip or about a single product or brand that I’ve been loving lately – rather than (always) a full-on list of 10-15 examples along the same subject? Things that would take less than 5 minutes to read rather than 10 minutes +?

Some examples of the sort of bite-sized posts I had in mind…

The two products I use to make my skin instantly glow
A new brand that sells really stylish, affordable loungewear
My best photoshoot posing tip (for photos of yourself that you actually LIKE)
The style of bra I wear to minimise big boobs
How I styled my mid-century sideboard on a budget
The best advice I was ever given for dressing for in a customer-facing office

They’re the kind of subjects I was thinking about – that’s not to say I won’t be doing the longer, in-depth posts any more (like My Feelings of Imposter Syndrome at the L’Oréal TV Ad Shoot or 12 Beauty Products I Am Absolutely Loving Right Now)… far from it! I still love writing and researching, it’s just that those posts take so much longer and if I only ever commit to those, my output is going to dwindle and dwindle to almost nothing.

I want to create things that will take me half a day to write and shoot, rather than 2-3 days (taking into account life happening in between along with the admin and emails I have to keep on top of each day).

Answer and win a beauty package worth £150 (open internationally)!

I’m giving away a fabulous beauty package worth about £150 to one lucky reader who helps me out with valid feedback – I’m not making this available via social media or to any (for want of a better phrase) competition whores. I ONLY want to know what my actual readers think, not people who do nothing but enter giveaways.

The prize – which is just a thank you for your time – comprises:

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eye Palette (this alone is worth £60)!
Hugo Boss Orange Eau de Toilette 30ml
Ted Baker Crimson Lips & Tips nail polish and lipstick gift set
Beuti Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir 30ml
Makeup Revolution Blush Compact in Opulence

All things I’ve been gifted but (of course) never used. These things are often sent out of the blue or given to me in goody bags at events. All you have to do is…

[Please see the T&Cs with regards to the liquid items]

How to be entered into the prize draw:

Answer my question about what you think of shorter, bite-sized posts like the examples I gave (a proper answer with feedback, not just a “yes to shorter posts”) in a comment
Sign up to my posts by email if you haven’t already (this must match the email you leave in the comment “email address” field) – I’m assuming you’re a regular reader
Leave your comment before 11:59pm (UK time) on Sunday 3rd November

Terms & Conditions:

~ A valid comment must be left before 11:59pm (UK time) on Sunday 3rd November
~ You must be signed up to receive posts by email from Not Dressed As Lamb
~ The email address left in the comment field must match the one signed up to NDAL subscription emails (it’s only visible to me in my admin page and is only used for the purpose of contacting you, it can’t be seen by anyone else)
~ One winner will be picked at random from the valid entries and contacted by email
~ The winner must reply to the email within 48 hours to claim the prize or another winner will be chosen
~ Open internationally
~ If the winner is outside of the UK, the liquid items cannot be sent via post and alternative products of roughly equivalent value will be sent instead
~ No cash prize or alternative will be offered

Thank you so much for your feedback… and good luck!

Update 07/11/2019: And the winner is…

Congratulations to Linda Charrie who was picked at random! The beauty bundle is on its way to her.

✷ ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷

LET’S GET THIS [LINK UP] PARTY STARTED!

Thank you for joining the #ShareAllLinkUp! Designed to allow you to share anything you like on ANY topic, it goes live every Thursday at around 3pm UK time and will stay open for a week. You can share blog posts or Instagram posts, old posts or new posts, and link up as many as you like. Also: by linking up you’re saying it’s okay for me to drop you an email to say the link up is open – you can unsubscribe at any time.

PLEASE be kind and leave a link somewhere on your post, and share your post using the hashtag #ShareAllLinkUp.