Sunday

Graduate Fashion Week with George at Asda

This weekend, I had the pleasure of being invited to Graduate Fashion Week as a guest of George at Asda to take over their Instagram account. George at Asda were the principal sponsor of GFW this year so it was a huge honour and also a little scary. The pressure! Luckily, all the George girls were as lovely as you'd expect and fully welcomed me as an honorary member of their crew! 


Sponsor Becky Bedbug in June

This might be a tremendously optimistic thing to say but I truly believe it: Big things are happening with this blog! What with my opportunity to devote more time to it, my speeding up of readership and some incredibly exciting collaborations in the past couple of weeks, it really feels like I'm on the cusp of something special. There. I said it! 
Of course, this brings good news for my sponsors too! More traffic = more eyes on your ads and more click-throughs. And, because it's June, I'm doing my annual birthday discount. This month I'm turning 27, so all ad spots bought in the month of June will have 27% off with the code BIRTHDAY. 

For all the information, including what you get with sponsorships, my latest statistics and how to buy an ad spot, head over to my sponsorship page.

Friday

FF CXXVI


Midge's new hair is gorgeous! 
Lucy's colourful outfits are always so inspiring! 

Other Favourites
Erica's post, as an Australian watching Eurovision, is hilarious! 

A really helpful post from Amber on how to make money blogging

Thursday

OOTD // Brights at York City Wall

Well, I'm nothing if not consistent! I first cracked out this outfit waaaay back in June 2013, but it's one of my most-worn outfits so why not show it again?
Jacket: Primark
Top: Peacocks
Skirt: Topshop
Shoes: Crocs
We took these photos along the city walls in York, which we just had time to visit before our train home. It was a gorgeous day and it was beautiful looking across to the minster. 

Wednesday

OOTD // Striped Maxi Skirt

Eek! Looks like I'm a chronic outfit repeater. How can I help but take photos when there are so many beautiful backdrops in York? Can I just come and live here please?
Top: Primark
Skirt: Primark
Shoes: Crocs

You can see how orange my nails are in daylight here. I love the bright colour of this door! It's actually someone's front door so I had to take these photos hastily. However true the friendly northerner thing might be, taking photos on someone's doorstep may be pushing it a bit! 

Tuesday

OOTD // Black & Pink in York

I have a confession. I've already featured this outfit. This post wasn't intentional but when I stumbled upon this stunning watermill at York Castle Museum, how could I resist taking photos? Besides, it's one of my favourite outfits so why not feature it twice?

Cardigan: New Look
Bodysuit: Primark
Skirt: c/o George at Asda
Shoes: Crocs
We're currently in York for a couple of days and as a history- and historical architecture- fan, I'm super excited to explore the city more!

Do you have any recommendations for places we should visit while we're here?

Monday

OOTD // Seaside Dress

Dress: c/o George at Asda
Cardigan: New Look
Shoes: Next 

Isn't this just the summeriest dress ever? I love the kitsch print and I cannot wait to wear it at the beach, all sophisticated like! Since I'm quite busty, the cardigan is necessary to avoid blinding anyone but I love how the colours in the print mean it goes well with pretty much anything.



Also, it's really fun to spin around in! 


This is the first time in a long time that I've gone out in a dress without leggings or tights on. My thighs are very susceptible to chub rub and these Chaffree knickerbockers* are magical. They're super comfy and don't ride up at all, which is a problem I've had with similar products. The only problem I had was sticking my thumbnail through the legs so be careful if you've got long nails! 

Sunday

Blogging for the wrong reasons

I'm sorry, guys. I've been blogging on Becky Bedbug for over 3 years now and it's time to make a confession: I am blogging for the wrong reasons.

I know, I know. You're all disappointed and horrified because, after all, we all know that there is one reason and one reason only why anyone should blog:

THE PASSION

That's right, boys and girls. If you blog, you must only do it because you have a burning passion inside your gut and you need to get it out in front of the world. Anything that comes afterwards is a bonus but you must never, ever plan for it.


THE WRONG REASONS

What follows is a list of some, but not all, of the wrong reasons, taken from Twitter, Land of Blogging Laws:


  • To gain followers
  • To get page views
  • To become popular
  • To work with brands (especially if this involves "freebies")
  • To get paid
  • To make a career
  • To become famous

ACTUALLY, NO

I hope you're all sitting down because I am going to knock your socks off with this revelation: There are no wrong reasons.

In blogging, like in any industry, there are only reasons. No right or wrong about it. Perhaps you started because of The Passion and decided to leave it at that. Fine. Maybe that's why you started but eventually it grew into something else. Fine. Maybe, shock horror, you started a blog purely to carve a career and make money. You know what? Fine.

Here's the deal, guys. Blogging is a legitimate career. There are people out there who make money working full time on their blogs. To put this in the simplest terms: People write for their career. You know who else got paid to write? Shakespeare. Oscar Wilde. J K Rowling. The guy who first transcribed the Bible. Were they all doing it for the wrong reasons? Were they somehow less of a writer because they got paid for their work? Or is this because it's online writing. Is that why it's wrong to get paid? Cool. I'll just ring up Buzzfeed and tell them that, from now on, their staff cannot earn money from writing. Instead, they'll get paid in the joy of writing. 

For some reason, there are a lot of people who think it's ok to get paid to blog, and ok to work with brands, as long as you do not set out with this goal in mind. That's funny because, as we've already established, blogging is a legitimate career. Like nursing. Or teaching. Or retail. Why do we not tell the sales assistants in Primark that they're doing the wrong thing? Should they only go into retail if they have a burning passion for scanning barcodes? Should they start their careers without the intention to get paid? Of course not. 

"Well, Becky, that's because nursing, teaching and retail aren't creative careers. That's the difference! Creative industries shouldn't be entered into just for the money". Oh, ok. I'll just let Tracey Emin and Marc Jacobs know that they shouldn't have planned to make money from their talent.

WHY I'M BLOGGING FOR THE WRONG REASONS

Well, here's the dealio. As I've mentioned before, I want to make money from this blog. I want it to make up part of my career. My full time career? Probably not, but that's only because the financial instability would worry me. If I made as much as Zoella, then hell yeah I would! Admittedly, I didn't start out with this aim in mind because, naively, I didn't know there was money to be made in it. So... I was blogging for the right reasons but now I'm not? Or I'm ok because I didn't plan to make money to begin with? Who knows?

Let's go back to those reasons I mentioned at the beginning and dissect them, one by one, using myself as an example.

To gain followers
Well, obviously I want followers. If I didn't want anyone reading, I'd just stick to the private diaries I've been writing for 16 years. There's an ego inside me that wants feeding and it's bloody flattering when people actually take time out to read, follow and comment. So, yes, I do want followers and, let's be honest here, we all do. If you didn't, you wouldn't have a public blog, would you?

To get page views
The more page views I get, the more appealing my blog is to PRs and brands and, as I said above, I want to make money. So, again, yes. I do want to increase my page views. (If you want to help me out, click this link!)*

To become popular
Similarly to gaining followers, there are very few people who wouldn't want to become popular or get noticed. It feels good and, of course, if I wasn't going to get noticed, I'd have no chance to make this a career.

To work with brands and get freebies
First of all, they're not free. Products and samples are payment in lieu. I spend a couple of hours taking photos, editing photos, trying out the product (longer if it's something like skincare), writing content and promoting the post and, in exchange, I get a £15 lipstick or something. The equivalent of £7.50 an hour sounds like a pretty normal rate, if you ask me, so it's hardly free. Anyway, working with brands is a great way to get started communicating with PRs and building up relationships so, for someone who plans to carve a career blogging, it's a very positive step.

To get paid
Yes, I do want to get paid for my work. Shocking, I know.

To make a career
As I have already explained, at length, blogging is an acceptable career and there is absolutely no reason why you should not aim to make a living from it. 

To become famous
Say you what you want about that John Lennon, but I'm pretty sure he only wrote those songs to get famous. I mean, if he hadn't wanted to get famous, he would have retreated to the Yorkshire countryside and lived as a hermit as soon as his name got known, right? God dammit, John Lennon, you did it wrong! I'll admit- becoming famous isn't exactly high on my agenda. It seems like a lot of faff, to be honest, but do I sometimes imagine what it would be like to have people in the street ask me for a photo or be asked to appear on TV? Hell yeah! As long as people have been famous, there have been people who want to be famous and I, for one, see nothing wrong with that. (As long as they're not becoming famous by killing people, of course!) 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Everybody has different motivations to blog. That's life. You have your own aims and your own priorities and nobody else has the right to tell you they're wrong. Blogging didn't come with a set of rules to say exactly why we need to do it, so why some people are positioning themselves as the Blogger Police is beyond me. You do you, I'll do me and we'll all get along swimmingly. Deal?

*Yeah, that link didn't actually go anywhere important. I was just curious to see if people would click on it, to be honest.

Sponsor Shoutout // Crumbs in the Bed

Kerri, of Crumbs in the Bed, is someone who I've known on Twitter for a Long Time. Capitalised for emphasis. In fact, over a year ago, I wrote a post about how awesome her blog was. Back then, she was Blue Hair in Belgium but that all went a bit awry when she dyed her hair orange.
Anyway, Kerri has relaunched her blog as Crumbs in the Bed and I am here to tell you why you need to check it out. As I mentioned in my first post, she visits awesome places around Belgium and beyond, has super easy recipes and a really cute, quirky style. Besides those (frankly very good) reasons, here are three more.

SHE IS HILARIOUS
Oh God, I think I cried laughing reading her Free Shit Friday post. Seriously go and read it now. Not only are the reviews comprehensive and balanced, but her frank honesty cracked me up. I'd love to see more of these posts so, if you're a brand, go and send her some free shit, yeah? Kerri's nine important life questions of the moment are really funny too and I can totally relate! 

PRETTY PHOTOS!
Yes, I'm massively superficial but pretty photos are important to me, OK? Luckily, Kerri has skillz. My favourite are the photos of springtime in Leuven but I also love her photos from the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

CUTE HAMSTER
Oh I am a sucker for a cute animal on blogs! Kerri has a gorgeous Syrian hamster named Sir Pork Chop and he is so adorable that I want to squish him! As always, Kerri has approached this post with her usual frankness, which is something I truly respect.

You can also catch up with Kerri on Twitter, which I recommend as she has a real quick wit and great sense of humour. I'm sure her knowledge of Belgium will come in handy for me one day!

Check out my sponsorship page for details on how to have a feature like this for your blog.

Book Survey Results

Last week I made the exciting announcement that I'm writing a book and included a link to my survey, asking what you'd like to see in the book and how much you'd expect to pay. I got way more responses than I expected (over 70) and every contribution was so useful to me! 
Since so many people took the time to help me out, it seems fair to let you know what the results were and explain how I'm going to be using them.


WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?


These percentages don't add up to 100 because there was an option to add multiple suggestions.

I asked what content you would like to see in regards to organisation and had some fantastic responses. It was great to find out that the chapters I'd already decided on are popular options, and they gave me great suggestions for extra detail to add.


As well as the relevant responses, I also had some suggestions that don't quite work for an organisation book. For example, motivation and inspiration were very popular. Although I won't be including these in this book, they're still super useful for a potential future book, if all goes well with this one!


HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY?


For this question, I wanted to get an indication of how much you would pay for a 50-page ebook. The responses varied wildly, from 50p up to £25, but the vast majority were in the £5-£10 mark. I discarded the lowest and highest so as not to throw out the calculations and then found the average of the remaining results. Now I'm pretty sure how much it will cost but I'll announce that at a later date when I'm sure of all the details.



NOW WHAT?

Well, I have used these results to tweak my chapters to make sure all the information you want to read is being covered and to set my pricing. It's been super duper helpful so huge thanks to everyone who took the time out!

Saturday

Nails // Blood Orange


Last time I had my nails done, I was annoyed that I had to resort to coral pink rather than the bright orange I had in mind. This time, I made a beeline for the colour I'd spotted before- OPI's Can't Afjörd Not To^. I was envisioning bright, summery nails for the warmer days and, while in daylight that's exactly what I have, inside it's more of a blood orange/ red-coral shade. I waited 3 weeks for this. What a let down!

Never mind, my mum has had her nails painted the brightest shade of highlighter pink known to man and I am going to get that exact shade next time. You better be prepared for it. It is bright! 

Friday

FF CXXV


I cannot wear heels to save my life so this post on how to walk in high heels is very handy!
Shannen's Captain America-inspired outfit is adorable!
A lovely, positive post on why you're a better blogger than you think.
Katy's photos from Valldemosa are gorgeous!

It would be wrong to call the following posts "favourites" as they deal with some serious issues. However, they are all so poignant and important that everybody should read them.

Kirsty (who is also a teacher, FYI- time for the government to start tackling mental health issues in teachers?) has written a very important post on the consequences of stopping medication.

Book Review // Get Rich Blogging

Get Rich Blogging^- Zoe Griffin
I bought Get Rich Blogging for the simple reason that it pops up on blogs so often and I'm looking to make some more money out of blogging (which is going to lead to some exciting things but you'll find out about that soon enough!) To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. If you want a book that recommends keyword stuffing, asking other bloggers to put you on their blog roll and spamming other Facebook pages with your links, this is the book for you.



Get Rich Blogging
is written by Zoe Griffin, a former showbiz columnist who has found success with her entertainment blog, Live Like a VIP. Her book aims to share the secrets to her success and teach readers how they can make a six-figure sum from their own blogs. The first part looks at the basics of how to build a blog and the second part interviews bloggers from different areas of blogging such as fashion, beauty and food.




Unfortunately, the majority of Get Rich Blogging has nothing to do with making money and is instead a guide on how to set up and maintain a blog. Of course this is important- you can't make money from blogging without knowing how a blog works, after all- but I did find the title quite misleading.


This wouldn't be such a problem if it was a helpful book which, sadly, it's not. It's quite clear that Griffin has a limited understanding of the technology behind blogging which is apparent in her frustratingly unnecessary information. For example, every time she mentions a website, she includes the full url in brackets, sometimes even with the http:// eg: "You can use Blogger (http://www.blogger.com)". This completely slows down the pace of reading and adds absolutely nothing since, you know, you can't click a link when it's written in a book. Another example of this is her explanation of HTML complete with (hyper text mark-up language). I don't know about you, but that definition means nothing to me. Until I read this book, I didn't know what HTML stood for and it didn't hold me back. Rather than actually explaining what it is and what it does, Griffin just breaks down the acronym and leaves it at that. Not helpful.

I also found huge problems with some of her advice. As I said above, she recommends keyword stuffing as good for SEO (search engine optimisation, as she happily points out) and contacting successful bloggers to ask if you can be placed on their blog roll. When it comes to promoting your blog, her first tip is to use merchandise such as pens with your blog logo on, followed by hosting a party and inviting magazine editors. That may be easy for an established showbiz reporter to achieve, but not so much for your standard blogger starting out. Furthermore, there are some horrendously inaccurate and outdated statements such as "advertisers won't take you seriously if you're using a free blogging service" and mentioning live chats on Myspace. This book was published in 2013 and it mentions Myspace.

Did I learn anything from this book? No. Not a thing. Pretty much the only thing it says in terms of making money is to keep up good content and people will discover you, although it does also have a massive list of PR companies for big brands. 



Have I made it clear enough that I didn't like this book? To be perfectly honest, I rolled my eyes through the whole thing and for that, I give it 2/10. 



This is a very old blog post, as you will be able to see, but Blog Inc, although with its own problems, was a much more informative read.

Thursday

Positivity with Simply Health

As I'm sure many people know, last week was Mental Health Awareness Week and, as part of the campaign for more awareness around mental health, Simply Health asked me to keep a Twitter record of positivity every day, in return for a donation to Mind. Always keen to help charities, I was on the case!

MY TWEETS

Day One
I was grateful for people who were so supportive and understanding while I struggled badly with anxiety.


Day Two I felt very productive and got a huge amount done, so that put me in a very positive frame of mind!

Day Three Fluffy pigs! I went to the farm in London, on a beautiful day, and spent a fantastic afternoon chilling with my husband and cute animals!

Day Four For the first time, I tried Periscoping a Q&A and it was hilarious. All about that seabass...

Day Five Eurovision semi finals! Yes! They put me in an amazing mood!

Day Six Today was a difficult day but I was overwhelmed with support from Rich and my friends. I also pushed myself to do something way out of my comfort zone so I was very proud of myself for that! 

Day Seven Getting my nails done with my mum always puts me in a good mood!

RESULTS

What impact did picking out the good have on me? Well, at a time when I'm hugely struggling with my mental health, it helped me realise that there is good in every day. It's difficult for me not to dwell on the difficult things but switching my focus to positives helped a lot. I realised that there is a huge amount of support out there and that good things do happen every day!


Positive thinking in this way is something Simply Health promote and they have a really handy article with five ways to think positively which is well worth checking out!

Give it a go! Tweet something positive every day and let me know if it changes the way you think about things.


This post was written in collaboration with Simply Health but, as I said above, I have not been paid to write it. Instead, a donation has been made to Mind. 

Wednesday

How to survive your first year of uni

It's that time of the year when exams are approaching and, for many people, university is on the horizon. As I had a somewhat unconventional time at uni, I've wanted to write some advice for a little while. Believe me, if I can survive uni, you can too!
MY UNI STORY
Before we start, my university history might be handy. I started university in 2006 (NINE years ago!) and was already a little unstable. Unfortunately, this insecure, anxious little emo kid did not do well being thrown into a completely unfamiliar environment away from my One True Love, so I would go home every weekend (my university was only a 30 minute train ride away). After a couple of months, that One True Love broke up with me and I was thrown into a pit of despair (it sounds melodramatic but it was so real at the time). 


After talking to student services and my head of course, it was agreed that I would take a year out before returning the following September. I moved back in with my wonderful mum, who took me in without really knowing the reasons why I had left (THANK YOU!) and took up full time employment in a nursery.

In September, I returned and had the greatest year of my life! I was single (well, being messed around by a different guy who couldn't decide if he wanted to be with me or not, but normally deciding on the latter) and made some really close friends, so I was perfectly happy staying on campus. 

At the end of the first year, I met Rich and spent all summer with him. When my second year started, I moved into a horrible, cold, illegally-managed as it turned out, student home but quickly moved in with Rich's mum and, the following year, our own flat and commuted the half hour each day. 

As I bang on about all the time, I graduated in 2011 with a first class honours degree and I have never, ever made a decision as right as re-starting my first year.
///

Now that we understand where my advice is coming from, let's dive right in!


SOCIALISE
I cannot emphasise this enough! I'm pretty certain I would have been a lot less miserable first time round if I had stayed on campus at the weekends and made friends. This doesn't have to mean going up to everyone and accosting them but perhaps suggest a drink with your housemates on the first night. Chat to people on your course and have a bite to eat with them. You won't get on with everyone you meet, so talk to lots of people and you'll find certain ones stick around. One of the girls I met in my second year is now one of my closest friends in the world.

ORGANISE
Perhaps I was a little too organised for my own good, but I had a ringbinder for every different subject and they were always the prettiest ones I could find in Paperchase. Every subject had a different design so I could quickly locate my relevant notes, rather than sifting through piles of paper. When I was reading, I highlighted photocopies (never the actual books!) in different colours depending on which of my arguments they related to, and spent time at the start of my course perfecting my referencing technique. I'm pretty sure I can still do it today (Bedbug, 2015; p8). All these little things saved me a lot of time and made the academic side of uni life much easier to manage.

BUDGET
Oh God, the money. I had no job and no wealthy parents to supplement my income. Student loan and that was it! During my second year, I was placed in catered accommodation and I'm pretty sure it saved my finances. Each week, my catering card was topped up with £33 which was just enough to get me through the week and the money was included in my rent so I never had to worry about running out. Whenever it got low, I could have Marmite on toast for 30p from the canteen. These cards were also available separately to those in self-catered accommodation and I'd strongly recommend looking into it if it's an option on your campus. Trust me, it's a huge worry off your mind!

Then there's the student bank accounts! Trusty bank accounts with their interest-free overdrafts! My overdraft was something tiny but TSB has a super-handy £1500 overdraft, and it's really easy to switch bank accounts in just 7 days. Just remember to use your overdraft wisely, and don't spend it all on skinny jeans like my best friend did! 

TAKE CARE
Of course, the ultimate thing is to take care of yourself! We all know what uni's like and, in my opinion, if you live an angelic student life, you've wasted the most free times of your like! However! Don't drink so much that you get hospitalised or arrested. Use protection. Play hard but work hard. Most of all, if something isn't working for you, do not be afraid to change things up. Change courses. Suspend your studies. Speak to student services. One of my friends got diagnosed with dyslexia while she was at university- It's never too late to ask for support! If you're concerned about anything, speak up! It might make all the difference to the best three (or four, or five, as it ended up being in my case!) years of your life!


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As always, I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have about uni life. Just pop in a comment below or tweet me up!


This post was written in collaboration TSB but, of course, all experiences and words of advice are my own!

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