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Posts in Blogging
The Blog | 2.0

Hello and welcome to twenty something meltdown version 2.0 - or more commonly known as gwennanrees.com

That’s right, a quiet weekend at home and a cheapskate move to avoid paying for multiple website hostings has resulted in a Monday morning change to my whole blogging brand.

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - December 2018 (the final countdown!)

Feels a bit bitter sweet writing this for potentially the last time. I have called it a day on advertising bloggers (for now at least) after two years of hard graft and lots and lots of lovely ladies sitting alongside me on my sidebar.

For December then, for the last one it feels fitting that all of my advertisers are repeats, are people who have been with me before and actually, some of the girls who advertised with me on my very very first month all them months ago.

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - November 2018

So yes, the banner at the top of my blog is correct - I am finally calling it a day on blog advertising. I’ve offered 6 packages every single month for two years and I think in the face of a changing blogging community and my job change it’s time to give it a break. At least for now.

For the next two months though it’s all about the lovely people who have signed up to give these advertising slots the best send off, starting with these gems for November.

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(All new) 5 Minutes With My Advertisers - September 2018

Hello hello and welcome to the all new look for my advertisers introduction. I am changing my advertisers packages this month and this little lot are my guinea pigs as I navigate my way around the changes and what I plan to do with it. 

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The 'Death Of Blogging' & What It Means For Me.

I know I know, another blogger banging on about the death of blogging as we know it. It's a topic being thrown about left right and centre over the last few months and to some extent I think we all believe it's true. 

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - August 2018.

It's August and we're already well into the middle of the month and yet here I am only just writing up my roundup. Can I blame any more on my new job? 

Luckily this month I have a bunch of return advertisers who *hopefully* know I'll get round to it eventually and do them a service. This month I have four advertisers, who I think you'll all know by now. But in case you don't, here's an introduction to these fab gals.....

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - July 2018.

My poor July advertisers have had to wait a whole long time for this one. I try and get my advertisers round up done in the first kinda week of the month but alas, life majorly got in the way of this one. 

For the first time ever I haven't filled the six advertising slots available for the month and I suspect it won't be the last. The blogging world is changing and the world of blog advertising is changing I think. Maybe it'll stay in this format for a while yet, maybe I won't fill all 6 spaces, maybe it'll change and I'll come up with a new system. Who knows - but what I do know is I'm not the only one thinking it. 

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Social Media & Blog Statistics - June 2018

If you read yesterday's monthly round up it'll come as no surprise to you that this blog stats and social media report might be a bit of a sorry state of affairs. I don't really know how many of these I'll keep doing, I don't massively enjoy writing them anymore and the blogging world is currently on a bit of a downer, we all know that. 

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - June 2018.

Hello and welcome to my SIXTH set of advertisers of the year. We are half way through 2018 and half way through another year of advertising somehow and I have some returning and some new advertisers to show off this month. 

Love ya'll, let's get on with the show. 

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Social Media & Blog Statistics - May 2018.

So we're halfway through the year - how in the hell did that happen? 

I felt all motivated and prepared to make 2018 'my year' for blogging. I was going to pitch to brands, to secure more paid work than ever, to have a blog overhaul, a new look, a new focus, have more viral content and generally kick ass. But then the 'death of blogging' phase kicked in and we all lost motivation and social media became more the big thing and I just got too busy in my own life and here we are - I am feeling the slow decline the same as the rest of us. 

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GDPR & What It Means For Bloggers.

The GDPR deadline is looming and businesses and bloggers alike are panicking. This guide will hopefully put your mind at ease that it doesn't need to be the big ball ache everyone is claiming it is and make it easy for you to implement the changes you need. I have already begun the steps to make my blog and businesses compliant with GDPR and take it from someone who likely is collecting a hella lot more data than you are - it can be a few small changes that take you up to date.

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6 Things People Don't Tell You About Blogger Friendships.

Blogger friendships. We hear a lot about them - we hear about amazing ones, we hear about bitchy ones, we hear about groups that have loads of them, we hear pleas from bloggers who don't have them. It's a buzzword, it's an aspiration, it's a club, it's a clique and it's a joy if you're fortunate enough to be part of one. 

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - May 2018.

It's another month and it's another set of advertisers on my sidebar for the next few weeks. If you're a long standing reader of this blog then a lot of these gals will be no stranger to you, you probably already follow them - and if you don't after all this time then really what are you playing at? 

I spose it's a testament to my blogging advertising packages that these girls return month on month on month which makes my heart all happy but I really do enjoy promoting them as people I loved long before they signed up. 

This month I have 4 returning advertisers who you'll know the faces and logos and blog names of and 2 new to my roundups that maybe you don't follow yet. Read on to see who we have!

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Phone Or Camera | The Eternal Blogging Debate.

Tale as old as tiiiiiiime.....

That age old question that ever blogger has posed at least once in their lifetime; should we be snapping away on our phones or splashing out on a decent camera? Maybe you've already popped the pennies on a camera, maybe you're furiously reading Olympus Pen reviews right now or maybe you're happy with the trusty old iPhone in your back pocket. 

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - April 2018.

I know I keep saying it but really, how are we on to April advertisers already? How is it even April? How fast is this year going plz?

Anyway before I get onto silently screaming about time, I have 6 lovely advertisers to introduce to you - some new and some returning. 

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Social Media & Blog Statistics - March 2018.

I had a funny old March and I think my stats match it. I found myself too busy to dedicate a lot of time to my blog and similarly my social media fell by the wayside with the exception of Instagram. I didn't really feel my blog this month, I wrote some stuff I was pleased with but I generally didn't write as much as I wanted and maybs that came off and that's why my stats dropped a little? Idk, let's get into it. 

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Social Media & Blog Statistics - February 2018.

I was never going to beat January was I? February can easily be looked at as a bit of a failure on my part because isn't the aim of blogging and tracking your stats to be improving every month? If you even skim read January's blog stats post it's clear to see I had what will probably be the best stats month of the year and it's always the case as my traffic spikes when people start looking for bullet journal inspiration on Pinterest

That being said, I always treat January as one on it's own, a stand alone month where everyone and their dog is on my blog and then we move on and up from there. I might take a quick peek at my December stats to see how February's fair against a more normal month. 

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5 Minutes With My Advertisers - March 2018

My advertisers this month have had to be a lil patient with me. In case I didn't bang on about it enough I started March in Venice (full post coming soon) and have hit the ground running to catch up and thus, here we are 10 days in and my advertising post is only just going live. 

Luckily for me most of these cherubs are returning advertisers so know how uhm, lax I can be, and I am very pleased to be introducing them. 

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7 Failsafe Ways To Motivate Yourself When You Work From Home.

Working freelance from home sure has it's perks there's no doubt about that. 

There's the lack off office politics, there's the free timetables, the ability to take a day off on a whim, not having to fill in time sheets and don't even get me started on the perks of working from your sofa. 

But for all it's highlights of course, like any job it has it's pitfalls. Working from home and working for yourself has it's strains and the biggest of all comes from the knowledge that you and you alone are making your cash. Sick day? You ain't getting paid. Holiday? You're losing money as the days go on. 

It can be a ballache for your mojo so here's 7 of my failsafe ways to stay motivated when working from home:

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