Weekly Poll: The Reverse Poll | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

08 January, 2014

Weekly Poll: The Reverse Poll

Well, this has been a weird week for me blogging-wise. Not weird in terms of subject matter, just more irregular than usual in terms of posting frequency and responding to comments and stuff. It happens to all of us sometimes, I'm sure. Anyway, since this has been an unusual blogging week I thought I'd do something a bit different for the weekly poll this time around.




This week's question is for everybody:


Is there anything you'd like to ask me?


That's right, it's "ask me anything" time. Want to ask a question about me? Or my blog? Or about your blog? Or for advice about what kind of sandwich to have later? Use your imagination. If I can answer your question, I will!

7 comments:

  1. What's your favorite eyeshadow? Have you ever broken any bones? What's your favorite potato dish? How often do you change your socks?

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  2. Haha, all excellent questions!

    1. That's a tough call, actually. I have a lot of them and I mix it up frequently. The shade I've been using most often lately is the purplish color from the Wet n Wild "I'm Feeling Retro" trio (which I think may have been discontinued?) I'm not sure if that's my all-time favorite though. I just like purple a lot and it's easy to use.

    2. Nope, never broke a bone!

    3. Not sure if this counts, but I really like tater tots. I've made many a tater tot casserole with spicy black beans on top. Enchiladas with mashed potato and spicy black bean filling are also popular in my house.

    4. Generally speaking I'll only change them once a day unless they get really wet or sweaty or something. If I'm just hanging out at home I wear flip-flops or slippers though, so no socks required!

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  3. Where are your favorite places to hang out in NYC? Why aren't you and your bf engaged yet?? (haha, j/k!!) Seriously though, how did the two of you meet? Do you have any advice about how to get products sent to you for review on your blog? I've only done it once!

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  4. Hanging out: I'm sort of low key when it comes to "hanging out" so I tend to prefer chill places like parks, coffee shops etc. I've sort of grown tired of going out drinking all the time, if that makes sense. But places with good people-watching prospects interest me. I really like Sunset Park in Brooklyn, just as an example - if you ever find yourself around that area you should check it out because there's an amazing view from the top. Oh, and I don't know if this counts as "hanging out" but one of my favorite things about living in NY is exploring the various food markets in search of treasures.

    My boyfriend: Haha! My boyfriend and I met off the internet, but not on a dating website interestingly enough. Several years ago when I was still living in the UK (grad school) I visited New York for a week, partially to see my sister and partially just for the hell of it, and while I was here I went to a meetup group type thing, and that's where I met him. We kept in touch and the rest is history, as they say. It's sort of funny, because when we first started dating and told people we'd met on the internet they would immediate ask something like "What dating service?" and look at us like we're liars when we told them that wasn't the situation, haha.

    Getting products for review: Tricky subject. I'm not really an expert on the matter, but there are basically three main ways it could happen:

    (1) I don't have much experience with this because I haven't done it too many times, but... Write to a company you're interested to introduce your blog. Let them know who you are, what you blog about, some of your stats, about why you're interested in their brand and why it's relevant to your blog. Try to make it interesting - if you have a unique idea for a feature or review involving the product, go ahead and suggest it! If the company doesn't have a specific contact address for bloggers it would make the most sense to reach out to the PR department. Don't take it personally if you never hear back, because I'm sure companies get dozens (if not hundreds) of those types of emails per day.

    (2) Join fashion/beauty/lifestyle blogger networks, because some of those may occasionally give you access to samples. I've done a couple of beauty-related campaigns through iFabbo and BrandBacker, just as an example. You can also sign up for word-of-mouth marketing sites like Influenster and BzzAgent if you haven't already.

    (3) Wait for companies to find you and contact you. Easier said than done I know, haha. Seriously though, I've had a few companies/PRs contact me out of the blue and ask if I was interested in trying their product. I think what will make your blog "attractive" in this sense probably varies from brand to brand, but a few things *I* would take into consideration if I were a PR: What is the age of their site? Is it attractive and easy to use? Does this person post frequently? Do they post product reviews regularly? Are other people engaged with their posts (via comments, sharing etc)? Are they active on social media?

    That's already a long answer, but just to sum things up it's a complicated subject, haha. I guess the best way to think about it is from a brand's perspective - they need to have a good reason to want to send you something. If you're not getting contacted directly by companies, blogger network sites (like the ones I mentioned above) are a good way to get started, because it's not as much of a crapshoot as blindly emailing a bunch of people.

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  5. Mmm tater tots... I haven't had those in years.

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  6. It makes total sense to not want to go out and drink all the time. I get it--been there and done that & have outgrown it. I bet the people watching in New York is a lot more interesting than people watching in Ohio. Mostly I just get bored or disgusted, haha.

    Thanks for the info. about the blogger networks. I will look into those because I do get emails about sponsored posts, but they are not beauty related and not really ones I would like to put on my blog, a couple seemed sketchy--they wanted to write the post themselves and just pay me a fee to post on my blog, but I didn't really feel comfortable with that.

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  7. Haha yeah, there are a lot of interesting people here. The plus side of that I can act or dress as weird as I want in public, and the only people who stare are little kids!

    I'm sure this goes without saying, but if you're not comfortable with putting something on your blog then go with your gut! It's OK to be choosy - as a reader, my eyes kind of glaze over when one blog is filled with nothing but sponsored posts about random stuff. Better to pick and choose things that match your website and/or interests. But seriously though, if there are any specific companies you'd really, really like to work with I'd say drop a line and let your enthusiasm shine. Worst they can do is say no.

    On the topic of networks... are you interested in sponsored posts (that you write) in addition to reviewing products? You might want to check out Sverve and SocialSpark. I haven't done any campaigns with either, but I recently became aware of them. Might be worth a look if that sort of thing interests you. There are probably other platforms like that but I'm not aware of them, haha.

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