The blogging and social media landscape is almost unrecognisable compared to when we launched Rock My Style in January 2014.
We have made several significant changes to the platform over the years, focusing more on interiors and fashion and dropping our “Jack Of All Trades” beginnings where we featured anything and everything – sometimes posting multiple times a day.
With Editor Lauren’s maternity leave imminent and most of the team juggling childcare (or lack there of) over the next 6 weeks, we decided it was exactly the right time to have a holiday, smell the coffee (or drink at LEAST 6 cups in order to stay awake…that might just be me) and enjoy time with our ever growing families while we test and refine new ways of producing content.
We have always experienced year on year growth with Rock My Wedding, with 2018 set to be our most successful year to date. With Rock My Style we’ve always been so busy churning daily content that we haven’t given ourselves the space to evolve with our readers online habits and utilise our social media accounts strategically.
From today onwards until September we will be posting less on the blog and experimenting with micro blogging and specific story features on our instagram account. Rather than posting seven times a week on the blog you can expect three features instead, more than likely on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. We endeavour to bring you more of what you want in the way that you want to receive it and it seems like the perfect time for the team to take some much needed creative headspace and experiment. We’ve already received lots of positive DMs via instagram on our new shopping features and we’d love to bring them to you more frequently.
It’s time for change. And we’re feeling excited about the future.
I hope you will join us in enjoying the sunshine, regrouping and sharing some slightly different features in alternative ways over the coming weeks. As always please PLEASE do share your thoughts and any insight into what you are listening to, looking at, and absolutely loving online. We will be eternally grateful.
Becky and I have begun recording our first season of podcasts for Rock My Wedding – we’ve really enjoyed it and hope perhaps this might be an option for Rock My Style too.
Please do follow our instagram account if you don’t already.
Big Love and lipsticks…..always x
Exciting! Ive been following your content since 2011, through RMW, RMF and RMS. I’m sure this is another right turn for you guys!
Have a great break!! Xx
Ah thanks Charlie! We hope you like the changes! x
Wow. I must admit I’m surprised. You read things on social media becoming Instagram led but then I look at blogs like roses and rolltops and I love the blog posts. I just use Instagram to find them.
From a money making sense I was listening to something on the Love Islanders potential to make money from Instagram and they were saying £150 per 75,000 to 100,000 followers depending on engagement of 10-20%. Which doesn’t seem like loads really. When you think that there is such a big backlash against #ad and #spon on forums like mumsnet. What is it now? 6th (intelligent) thread on social media influencers.
I totally get that this job allows you flexibility to work around school holidays and you should be able to have the breaks you wouldn’t have in another job. But I’m fascinated as to how this will impact on engagement and if you are going to do more #ad and #spon how you deal with it.
Brave step.
Hi Rebecca, I don’t think it’s “brave” necessarily, we’re just trying new things, no business/blog can simply do the same thing continuously and hope for the best. I don’t and never have read mumsnet – but I am well aware there were various really venomous threads about influencers that seemed mostly an excuse for certain people to hide behind a keyboard and bully others. If they don’t like ads then they simply need to scroll on by or unfollow – I myself did the latter to quite a few accounts recently as the ads were not appealing to me personally. As a business we only ever collaborate with brands we feel our readers will love as much as we do, will we always get it right? probably not, but we’ll certainly do our absolute best to offer engaging content and useful advice. Only time will tell how the changes will fair, thanks for your feedback.
To be fair there were a few nasty posters on those threads but what the majority were saying was that some influencers don’t use #ad or #spon when they should. It’s misleading to followers. To my knowledge RMS has never misled anyone and always been very transparent.
I think there are some horrible threads on there but the influencer thread is really interesting so worth a read. It was saying how there should be a form of regulation surrounding online advertising (like there is with other forms of advertising) and its just a case where social media is moving faster than legislation can to keep up with it. Some influencers like Mother Pukka are really engaged with the commenters on there. Its intelligent not bitchy.
I find the whole social media environment thing really fascinating from a sociology point of view. Both from the idea that bloggers effectively become mini editors in their bedrooms (or instagrammable garden terrace) with a huge following and the impact on them from a psychology point of view – the way they take feedback and / or loss of followers personally (which is understandable but then again as someone said below, your tastes just change as you grow up).
As some people have said below, I’ll miss the engagement with comments which I don’t find on IG. I’ve often looked back for recommendations I knew were here for holidays and weekends away. I follow RMS on Instagram but I don’t really get engaged with it in the same way.
I also never listen to Podcasts. I’d thought they were “in” a few years ago and had died out a bit but I’ve noticed other people like Stu-the-dad-guy from the Guardian does them now too – social media trends obviously follow cycles.
Like you Rebecca I find social media really interesting from a sociology perspective. I mentioned somewhere below that I have begun writing a feature on it but I’m finding it really challenging, I’m quite conflicted with how I feel about it personally and how I absolutely appreciate how vital it is for my business. The following/likes situation with regards folks self esteem I find terribly terribly sad. What an odd world we live in where a red heart seemingly signifies success/desirability/happiness more than real life adventures and friendships do.
The only threads I saw discussed with reference to influencers that were on Mumsnet were shamefully spiteful, I can’t comment on any intelligent discussion that may have occurred because I simply didn’t want to engage with it. I really admire Mother Pukka and her efforts towards flexible working, I haven’t listened to her Heart FM show yet but keep meaning too. An interesting article you and @karthryn might like to read:
https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/24/technology/fat-jewish-swish-beverage-canned-wine/index.html
It’s really given me food for thought, what is the future of these micro influencers?
I have followed Rock My Style since it started, then Rock My Family since I’ve had my little girl and now I’m engaged- Rock My Wedding (and before that if I’m honest!) and I love you guys! I catch up on blog posts every few days and always find them all completely relatable and real, pitching it just right with a great balance of everything. I have bought so many things, been so many places etc because of your posts and find them really useful. I also enjoy Instagram so will look out for you more on there the next few weeks. Never commented before on anything so just letting you know I’m sure you have many silent cheerleaders! Thank you for being fab, enjoy a lovely summer break with your families and I look forward to seeing all the exciting new things to come x
Hi Hannah! Lovely to “meet” you!
SO lovely to hear we have inspired your shopping and mini breaks, we hope to continue to do the same but perhaps in slightly different formats x
Oo I would love RMS podcasts! I would find them much easier to consume with a little one in tow.
Have a lovely summer break with your little everyone! I will continue to follow along on insta and look forward to seeing what is to come. X
Thank you Sian! We still have blog posts – just less frequently. We’ll look forward to “seeing” you more on insta too! x
I’m on instagram but only look at it once in a blue moon (think while sitting in a waiting room waiting for an appointment blue moon). I was a more regular user until the #ad #spon started to creep more and more into the feeds I enjoyed. Come September will there still be an email to say what the blog post is about? I enjoy reading the blog post with a cuppa before I get up in the morning – it’s my 5 mins of me time and I’d be sad to see it go.
Hi Susie! We’ll still be posting on the blog – just 3 times a week rather than 7, with additional features on instagram. We’ll be directing you to the blog via instagram and you’ll receive all notifications as normal. I promise we’re not “going” – just having a break to refocus on what works for us and you x
Phew! 5 mins of grown up stuff really helps take the edge off the next 10 hours of arguing about whether it’s necessary to wear pants 😉
Susie this made me laugh out loud!!!!!!
Susie – depends on whether it’s the child or adult that’s asking x
I’m a little sad that there won’t be posts every day but things change. Ir would be good to know the days that there will def be new content. Goid luck with the changes x
Hi Siobhan, we’re hoping for Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with micro posts on insta Tuesdays and Fridays x
Will there still be family content? I miss Rock my Family!
Yes absolutely!
Super! Thank you x
I’ll miss the daily written content but I’m always on insta so I’ll see you guys there…please pretty please can we have some instastories from Becky? She’s the queen of them!
Isn’t she Katie?! Hopefully she can teach us a thing or two and we’ll all be on there a bit more.
Hi Charlotte,
I have loved RMS for a good few years now and it’s a fantastic platform, the content is real and interesting and I feel like you genuinely care about your readers.
I have a general comment about blogging and Instagram in general that I have always felt RMS addressed the gap for… I’m in my mid 20s and I love make up and fashion but I’m more warehouse and Zara than prettylittlething and boohoo! I like my make up like Sam Chapmans, not Patrick Starr! I don’t identify with the younger bloggers in their tiny clothing but I have also suddenly found that all my favourite bloggers are having babies and starting families! I’m lost at who to follow because I totally understand that bloggers lives evolve but sometimes content about baby clothes and prams just isn’t of interest to my stage in life. I hope it’s ok to say that, I don’t want to come across as rude but it is an observation of Instagram and Bloggers over the last 6 months to a year!
I would love RMS to remain the place for fresh interesting content on fashion lifestyle and make up, I’ve always felt engaged by your content and would love it to stay that way.
Congratulations to you all on your successes and lovely families! X
Hi Anon! We hope to continue to bring you diverse content that you enjoy. And of course it’s not rude to share constructive feedback – we appreciate your honesty and taking the time to leave a comment. Blogging as a platform is essentially little snippets of life/what you know so it does tend to follow the writers life experiences as they happen. Rock My has always been more of a team effort so we have always endeavoured to cover topics we feel will appeal to most folks at least some of the time. Sometimes it can be challenging, but even as parents we still love to talk about make-up, fashion, books, holidays….anything and everything. We will continue to cover family related topics but hopefully there will still be lots of inspiration and ideas for you personally too x
Sounds a fab idea! Love your work allllll over my phone.. would especially be interested in poddies too.
Have a fab and fresh summer and happy mat leave to lovely Lauren xxx
Thanks lovely lady. Not going off for a little while yet but definitely wanted to try out some new bits and pieces before I go 🙂
Although I will miss the daily posts I completely understand and hope the reduction allows for the more important things in life. As I am today celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary, rock my wedding not so relevant anymore, but I am obsessed with podcasts and LOVE the idea of a rock my style one! (Will still have a sneaky listen to rock my wedding anyway!) Xx
Happy Anniversary Emma! The RMW podcast will definitely be worth a listen! x
I have followed all forms of RM since inception and have loved them all. However I do read fewer blog posts recently as Instagram has kind of taken over all of my alloted time for social media. Personally I love my highly curated influencers and really appreciate #ad #spon etc. My feed is really honed to things I am interested in and see many of those I follow as my personal shoppers/advisors, leading me to things I love and want to see more of. This is a great move and I look forward to seeing more from RMS on Instagram xx
Thanks so much Jo. Looking forward to seeing you over on instagram too x
Hi Jo! Lovely to “see” you here! I am trying to curate my feed in the same way currently, my personal account was always still a bit mixed in with work/research where as now I’m making it just for me and home inspiration/make-up buying enabling (!). There are some great accounts/brands out there and like you, I don’t care if it’s sponsored – as long as it’s relevant to me and I like what’s being advertised x
Enjoy the break!
I too am a long term follower since my engagement in 2012 and also find it quite interesting the way social media/blogs etc have evolved. People who get angry about sponsoring and advertising can just scroll on by and ignore if they aren’t interested! But for me as a Mum who now lives in a small town and isn’t out in shops/bars etc so much anymore, I feel it keeps me ‘plugged in’ to whats current. I no longer have hours to browse makeup counters and shop rails so it saves me a ton of time! I have bought HEAPS of favourites that I’ve seen on here and other blogs/Youtube which I love……….everything from those darn office wedges (cause now I want every colour) to a spray mop and stair basket!! Have a lovely summer xx
Those wedges are epic Nikki! I want another colour too!
We’re hoping incorporating a new format into the regular blogging will mean we can be even more current and share more finds with you too. Hope you have a fab summer too x
Nikki I LOVE this comment! I have a micro blog about washing up liquid that I haven’t even told Lauren about yet 😂 (Lauren you will love it promise – I made the image look pretty and everything so I don’t balls up your feed….pah ha ha). The office wedges are literally my summer go-to shoe. They make my legs look longer and are incredibly comfortable. I have them in grey and nude/blush x
Charlotte I am very excited about the washing up liquid post! What had my life become!
Also love a bit of dirty enabling too:-).
Looking forward to the new style.
P.s did you know the really gentle garnier eye make up remover you recommended ages ago is being discontinued! I need to stock up ASAP x x
I too have followed you since my wedding planning days in 2012/2013 and now have an almost 3ur old and looking forward to our 5th anniversary in November x
Vicky love this comment ha ha ha!!! yesterday I bought a bathroom caddy and can’t wait for it to arrive from Amazon, honestly – I’m more excited about that than new makeup these days (!)
Oh no on the Garnier?! Nivea has a clear gel eye makeup remover for sensitive skin, I have it but am yet to try, will definitely add it to my cheap skincare feature if it’s any good x
Ha ha just butting in here to say I went out on a rare Saturday night out last week & at about half past 10 found myself extolling the virtues of my new self cleaning oven 😳🤦♀️
Katie I understand completely. I know I will be boring my friends to death with bathroom storage solutions in the no too distant future.
Well I’m intrigued too. I have a lot of appreciation for Method’s pump dispenser and even decant my regular Sainsbo’s washing up liquid in there. Is this going to beat that?
The pressure Lauren…
Whilst I’ll miss the daily updates I’m definitely interested to see what changes you guys come up with – and agree that it’s good/important to take time out to experiment and get creative!
I’m already following on insta so I’ll see you all over there 🙂
Hi Rebecca! Thanks for your comment, and I’m glad you agree – sometimes you can’t think that far ahead because you are literally thinking of the following day/week, so it’s good to take time out and think about the future in more detail and try out new ideas x
Ahhh I’ll definitely be sad to see less content on here as I love visiting every day (and still miss RMF!) but totally understand the need for a break and it must get tricky thinking of new content for a daily post. Look forward to seeing the changes though and wish you the best of luck with it! I am on insta daily so I’m sure I’ll catch the posts on there as well x
Hi Sarah! Thank you, we look forward to seeing you over on insta more often x
The plans honestly map on to how I make use of RMS at the moment, I don’t manage to follow a link to a blog every day so I love the idea of more micro content and I completely support the rationale behind it. Good job for responding to your staff’s needs and being flexible with the medium. Good luck!
Ah thanks so much Gee! We have always aimed to be as flexible as possible with the team and this new way of sharing content will also enable us to be more flexible/current with that too x
Aww I sure will miss the daily content, I’m still lamenting the loss of RMF (although I’m regularly rummaging through the archives lol!)
Looking forward to seeing what direction you guys decide to take with the blog and I’ll be along for the ride.
xo
Ah thanks so much Helen, change is always a little scary but we’re embracing it – lovely to see you along for the ride x
Hello beauties,
I have to admit, juggling life, businesses and parenting has meant it’s harder for me now to give myself time to sit and read content and engage as it’s posted on the blog (I have like a fifteen minute window at 6am to myself… sob!), so I’ve found myself spending more RMW/RMS time on Instagram for that quick fix.
You always make the right move so I’m sure I’ll love what’s coming. In the meantime, family comes first so spend your summers with/or growing those little ones of yours!
(Oh and always amazing to hear that RMW continues to grow from strength to strength) xx
Lovely Karen….:)
I too have windows and I don’t mind holding my hands up and admitting I missed the amazing feature about the lady Rachel who moved to France and renovated a B&B whilst pregnant (!) I must have been in the early stages of maternity leave and somehow it passed me by. And that’s on my own blog (!) so I completely understand how these “windows” of time are so important and it’s difficult to cram everything in.
We have lots of exciting plans for RMW too, Becky and I are really enjoying creating Podcasts! x
This seems to make total sense to me!
In terms of what I really, really love on Insta…The Fashion Lift! Fran Bacon is just brilliant (ultimate girls crush) and her Shopping with Fran instastories are life. So good when you have a little one and can’t browse the shops in quite the same way!
And, while I do love all the pretty and styled shots, it is always nice to see a bit of reality on Insta. I have a lovely kitchen but it never ever looks like they do on Insta…there is always baby formula on the work tops and some form of sminge streaking the floor tiles!
Hi Pamela! “The shopping with” sounds really interesting – I’ll take look. I do wonder how much cleaning these interiors insta folks must have to do, my counters are always covered in bread crumbs and used tea cups and we tidy up/wipe surfaces daily. I’m never insta ready very often 🙂
I think with the #ad debacle it was just about the clarity of something being a paid advertisement that people got upset about. As long as posts are clearly marked with ‘ad’ or ‘spon’ or it’s noted in the caption somewhere then everyone knows what it is and if an account starts doing too many of those for your liking or they’re not relevant to you then I think most people are happy to scroll on by or unfollow. It was the whole ‘being advertised at without knowing it’ that was the issue I think. The RM pages always seem to have been very open about whether a post is or isn’t sponsored though so it’s never been a problem here I don’t think! 🙂 the product reviews have always felt very genuine and I love the posts about household items / washing / cleaning etc! (I’m definitely getting old) x
Agreed Sarah, I think a lot of “influencers” emerged very suddenly as did these agencies that farm out ads/products without detailed instruction or advice. We only ever work with brands we use already otherwise it seems disingenuous/just another sponsored post. Household features are my favourite! I have lots of those in the pipeline x
I’m glad the blog wont be disappearing completely as I enjoy reading daily. Appreciate I am in the minority here but I really don’t like instagram, as a small business owner i feel i need to post there to maintain a customer base but i would delete the app in an instant if i didnt use it for that as i find it terrible for my mental health. I still prefer music on cds and records and wish i could see friends face to face so i could just throw my phone into the sea so what do i know! I read a lot though that everyone is too busy to read a blog and prefers social media so fair play to you for thinking of how to keep your audience engaged 🙂
Rachel I have a more general social media feature coming soon – it’s been quite challenging to write if I’m honest, trying to get the balance right between my personal thoughts/experience and the fact social media (specifically instagram) is so important to my business/the Rock My brand. Definitely only follow accounts that you find engaging/positive if you can, I’m currently doing a big cull from my personal account x
Hi Charlotte, look forward to reading the feature- I used to enjoy using social media when i started my company a few years ago, I don’t know if its changes from the social media channels themselves or content that has made me change my views over the years. I find myself un installing the app on days that i don’t post and finding this makes me a lot happier! I have toyed with employing someone to do all the social media for me but i fear it would leave it very impersonal and, to be honest, I don’t really have the budget for it. It’s been so instrumental in getting me clients over the years and as you know, you have to keep up with what your client/audience wants, but i really wish my clients would engage more with my website, which i love to work on/update – but its never that easy is it!
I totally understand the need to achieve the work/life balance and also to address the ever-changing landscape of the blogging industry, but I will be sad to see fewer posts on here. I love this little part of the Internet and will always check back to read other people’s comments and to see discussions evolve. I have to admit, I find that part of Instagram quite tricky to navigate – the comments aren’t chronological so if there is a lot of them, it’s hard to check back and read new ones. However, I love the Stories feature of Instagram and hope to see more of them from RMS – I’m actually more likely to engage directly with an account through Stories than actual posts (mainly because the bloody algorithm on Insta keeps showing me posts from 2 days ago, rather than anything recent…!) Also, a podcast would be brilliant and I’d subscribe in an instant 🙂
Hi Jo, thanks for your feedback, I too find comments very awkward to navigate now they are not chronological. We are definitely working towards doing more stuff on stories – it’s great for quick fix fashion but also as a platform for certain features too x
Really interesting debate and the number of comments already shows this has hit a nerve! I am certainly watching more insta-stories that I am reading blogs (which altogether is probably reducing my concentration span…ugh) but I do dip into blogs, especially as they often provide more thoughtful content.
Looking forward to how this works out, but please keep it personal where possible – I do find the RMS instafeed a bit bland – sorry! (Hopefully this is constructive feedback!) Your blogs are my more first person and I find this style more engaging.
Seconding the anonymous comment above about preferring non-family content, anything you do on cats is great as mine is my baby 🙂
Enjoy a bit of a break over the summer team!
Thanks for the constructive feedback Caroline. We just haven’t had the time to focus on instagram hence the need to change the way we split the resource so we can make it less bland 😉
Hi Caroline, yep – we definitely to make our insta feed more engaging/personal, it hasn’t been as much of a priority as perhaps it should be and the constant algorithm changes are so tedious to keep up with, we just needed this time to refocus.
Love the comment on cats 🙂 quite a few of the team have pets, maybe they should share them more frequently x
Hi, I must admit I am a little disappointed to read this as I love popping on here daily with a cuppa at work to read the latest post before I get on with my day. I agree that I have been less inclined to read lengthy blog posts recently and I do really like the smaller insta micro blogging and stories that many bloggers seem to be switching to. However, I am not sure how this would work for a brand like RMS as I see you as more of an editorial/magazine with daily articles and great varied content. Personally I don’t get the same enjoyment from your Instagram.
I do really enjoy following a lot of your personal accounts along with stories and more lengthy post captions on photos. I think part of the appeal is that you feel you have a connection with the writer and you get to know them personally whereas with a bigger site I don’t think this works in the same way. For example, I follow quite a few brands and smaller brands for the photos of products etc but their stories don’t really appeal to me as they are quite impersonal.
Anyway, that’s just my opinion but I am a huge supporter and wish you luck in the future whatever you decide to do x
Also, the community on here is brilliant too and I have been sat with a pen and paper a lot of the time making notes on peoples recommendations and tips for certain things. This definitely is something which sets itself apart from Instagram or even other blogs x
Hi Sarah, thanks so much for your feedback. We are really conscious about the sense of community, and we really want to keep that. We’re experimenting with new ideas but that’s not to say all of them will work quite the way we want/are as engaging as expected. I too get loads of ideas from the comments – definitely want to retain the chat and advice x
All change! I’m excited to see what comes next, but I will miss the daily posts (like I still miss RMF). But I’ve been here since RMW started and I love Insta so hopefully all will be good. As long as there’s still a way for the community to engage I’ll be happy – I love the comments nearly as much as the posts themselves! x
Snap! me too – we’re trying to engage the community as much as possible and perhaps those that are active on insta but not so much with commenting on a blog x
Ahh I wish you all well but I will miss your daily blogs as I love taking 5 min out at my desk at work to read them (I couldn’t do the same on Insta!). I also find the 24 hour nature of insta stories a bit annoying as I can’t always follow what’s been happening if the first part of the story has vanished. You could save these as highlights though to get round that? I also really love the comments section on here, they are often as useful as the features.
I love the mix here on RMS, and always read RMF too even though I don’t have kids yet. I get particularly excited if I see content on: finances/budgeting and how to manage them, flexible working/shared parental leave, mini breaks, planning holidays, organisation, food trends (you inspired me with the yogurt ice lollies and tonight I’m going to try energy balls), meal planning…. this has made me realise it’s the interiors articles that I’m not as interested in. I’d love to be able to wear the fashion you share but as a size 14/16 at the mo, I’m just not able to wear the little floral teadresses that I think are synonymous with RMS fashion features 🙂
Hi Bunny! Yes we will make sure we create highlights for some articles so they don’t disappear so soon. We hope to be able to cover an even more diverse range of topics now we are moving to different formats – and we can be much more reactive as we are not so restricted to such an organised schedule x
I love RMS but I find less and less time for blog posts what with work/parenting/studying/life. But I seem to find time for insta and podcasts. I love your insta stories where Becky films different bits, it’s just a bit more real and a good addition to other content on there. I also like your clothes swipe ups for quick fashion content as often by the time I get round to reading a post the clothes are no longer around! I would suggest promoting stories on your feed and vice versa as if people don’t digest either reguarly they will drop down their list on insta and I often find new content this way. Also, yes to a RMS podcast!!
Thanks for your feedback Tracey! we definitely need to make sure it’s obvious where our new content is and we will be adding more behind-the-scenes/personal content on insta x
I think a Podcast would be a great idea… I love listening to them on walks with my nearly 1 yr old who has decided she doesn’t want to nap in her cot any more!
Charlotte would love to hear about how you are getting on as family of 4, how Mabel took to the transition etc. I always get worried I wouldn’t be able to love another person as much as my first (because I love her just soooo much!) so would love to hear your take on it.
Looking forward to seeing more of you guys on Instagram!
X
Hi Ellie!
Absolutely I can cover this Ellie, I think we’re really keen to try out Podcasting, it took me a long time to get into them personally but like you I find them easier to engage with whilst doing jobs than trying to find time to read blog posts or scroll through instagram x
I’ve throughly enjoyed rock my style over the years and have always gravitated towards the lengthier or more discursive posts as I found them the most engaging. I generally skipped past the ones that were marketing or selling me things but I’ve always understood the blog is a business and needs to be viable. There are some standout posts that will stay with me such as Lauren’s posts on ivf and at the other end of the spectrum how to find the perfect shade of off white paint. I particularly liked the fact the posts were geared towards people who work or have families and don’t necessarily have thousand of pounds to spend on face cream. All in all I will really miss the longer posts. I’m not on instagram. I know I’m in the minority but I’m also not sure that instagram will be the best way to reach people in the future. I’m increasingly conscious that technology isn’t benign and I’m trying hard to make sure my interaction with it has a bit more meaning than it has in the past. I do wish the blog/platform lots and lots of success in all of its future incarnations.
Thanks for your feedback Suzy, we are not going anywhere – just trying new things. We will still be here posting several times a week on the blog and hope that the sense of community and discussion with continue with gusto x
I think it’s fantastic that you are taking a summer break. I thought long and hard before posting because I 100% do not want to sound negative, so please know that this comes from a good place!
I was an avid RMW reader before getting married, and an avid RMF reader before having my daughter. RMS has never quite pushed my buttons. And I *think* the reason is that you just haven’t totally found the sweet spot. There is definitely a niche, and a need, for this kind of blog. In my personal opinion (which I am sure doesn’t represent everyone!) I find RMS slightly impersonal. The reason I like reading blogs is a window into someone else’s reality. I can take from their life whatever lessons / purchases I want to, but fundamentally I’m reading because the STORY is interesting. It’s what I liked so much about RMF (#ripRMF).
I think RMS has tried to occupy a more magazine-like space. With a few articles and other, dedicated, dirty enabling shopping posts. Mixed in with posts that just say ‘what do you think?’ in the hopes that engaging with other readers is enough to keep people coming back to the blog. For me, that doesn’t feel personal and it doesn’t invite me in. I sometimes read RMS these days, but only when I have a lull at work. And that’s a shame.
Personally, I would love to feel more connected to the host of gorgeous writers you’ve got. What’s going on in their world? Sure, that might be an endless hunt for the perfect pair of summer sandals – but while they’re on that hunt, maybe they can introduce us to a cute café or an amazing doughnut, or a hidden park, or give us tips on how to keep littles happy while shopping. Or it might be more serious, like they have a friend who’s trying to go freelance and it’s got them thinking about how they started out. Or a weight loss journey (saying that, none of you lot need to diet, you’re all lovely…!).
Even with your holiday posts, I sometimes find it’s like reading a Lonely Planet – a long list of stuff you can do in the area, rather than a blog post evoking how much fun was had and the feel of the place.
Rather than trying to find your niche category (like ‘shopping’, ‘interiors’ or ‘family’), I would love you to focus on a niche voice – I don’t really care what the category is when the voice hits the right notes.
I think what I’m trying to say is that I, personally, would love your blog posts to scratch the surface just a bit more. Pretty houses are great, but I actually want to read about people. There’s a reason people love Becky’s stories – we feel like we know her, big problems and small ones. And surely it’s more fun for your writers to have that kind of freedom?
I really hope this has come across in the spirit in which it is intended. I miss my daily Rock My posts.
For me, that voice was Charlotte’s so perhaps after mat leave that connection will be back more strongly?
Everyone deserves a break and I love that you guys are taking one!!! I 100% have faith that whatever direction you all decide to take will be a great one. Can’t wait to see xxx