It’s a rainy Saturday and that gives me the excuse I’m after to ignore all of the usual chores and indulge in some me time. The first thing I choose to do is head straight over to a blog called Styled Canvas and catch up on recent posts. Styled Canvas is such a beautiful blog and it always inspires me to focus on my own, so today I’m enjoying cocooning myself in a cosy blanket and settling into some writing.
Meet Mel, you may recognise her from a post I published about a year ago. She is a mother of three, an amazing cook, passionate about photography and interiors, a freelance writer and stylist with a regular column in New Zealand’s House & Garden Magazine as well as the author of Styled Canvas, aka my blog crush and my best friend.
Photographer Larnie Nicolson
When it was proposed to me by my web designer that I should start a blog to give my online business personality and to create a nice platform to be able to connect with people, I turned to Mel and asked for her advice on blogging. I have watched her blog grow over the years from a personal pursuit of finding a creative outlet to a sophisticated go-to lifestyle and interiors platform with a list of designer sponsors. Mel’s key to success is to focus on original and good quality content and this is something that she has delivered from day one. It’s a matter of maintaining authenticity and staying true to yourself. I’m amazed at how many blogs post such high volumes of material but for Mel it’s about having regular, interesting and original articles that her followers can really engage in.
Mel started blogging mid 2012 after moving from Australia to New Zealand with her French husband and then two little boys. A short time later a beautiful baby girl was born and Auckland was to be the family’s new home. At this point Mel realised she had a yearning to write and starting a blog seemed to be the perfect solution to satisfying that creative need whilst balancing a very busy family schedule. Mel enrolled in several online blogging courses and soon after Armoire, Pegs and Casserole (the blog) was launched with the help of a local bespoke web designer.
The Armoire, Pegs and Casserole blog steadily grew and opened many doors for Mel as a freelance writer, but she felt that the name was holding her back in terms of growing her now popular blog into a small business and potentially strong brand. So the exciting and arduous task of rebranding began, and with a lot of thought and research the wheels for change were in motion. A brave move considering she ran the risk of losing her already loyal following. Mel strategically decided to lead up to the launch over a four month period with regular mentions of the up and coming changes on social media and on the Armoire, Pegs and Casserole blog itself. Mel’s followers were not only supportive but also encouraging throughout the process, which gave her a pretty clear indication that they would stay with her.
The new name “Styled Canvas” was announced on social media a few days prior to the launch, which allowed for the change over across all of the social media platforms. Most importantly Mel made sure that all of the links from the old blog were automatically redirected to the new name and she couldn’t be happier with the results. Not only did her followers stay with her but readership is up and growing.
So if you are after a wonderful blog to fall in love with this winter (for us in the Southern Hemisphere) or are a blogger considering making changes to your site you really should pop over to Styled Canvas to hear more about the rebranding process, and for some inspiration.
If you need any more persuading, now is the time as today marks the beginning of a final run of amazing giveaways. The latest Styled Canvas giveaway STARTS TODAY and is called “The Styled Entertainer” in conjunction with NZ retailer Father Rabbit. The Pallarès Solsona Kitchen Knife, Robert Gordon Condiment Bowls and the Nkuku mango wood pizza board (pictured) could all take centre stage in your kitchen so good luck and you never know… Styled Canvas may just become your blog crush too!
All images courtesy of Styled Canvas.
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