PRETTY YOUNG THING

It’s always feels nice when we get free stuff be it a magazine or winning a makeup giveaway. In the age of social media getting free stuff has now become simpler and made even more so by Twitter. Twitter makes it faster and easier to locate and keep track of freebies. I've won lots of twitter giveaways in the past from a pair of heels from River Island, a Clutch bag, Topshop vouchers, I've won tickets to events and many more. It's really easy so I thought i'd share a few tips below


1. Keep track of hashtags
A hashtag is a symbol that marks topics being talked about the most by the public. It makes it convenient to find tweets about specific issues. This simplifies the process of finding freebies on twitter. All you have to do is type in the hashtag #freebies in the search bar and you have access to all the freebies on twitter. You can use twitter clients such as TweetDeck and TweetGrid to keep track of tweets being posted with specific hashtags. You can also use Twitterfall which gives you a tweet stream that is related to certain key terms. With apps you have constant access to free goodies such as movie tickets and trial memberships from the comfort of your computer. With the use of a RSS (Rich Site Summary) reader or services like Twilert you can track all kinds of hashtag results and have them sent to a specific inbox at an hourly, daily or weekly rate.

2. Always follow brands on Twitter
 As a means of promoting themselves many brands usually have giveaways or offer discount coupons for limited periods of time. You can keep up by keeping an eye on brands through their social media account. I always do this if there is something i'd love to get buy can't afford to buy just now. I've been looking at a Fit Bit for the last few weeks but I already have one so don't really need to buy one however I keep entering giveaways on Twitter just incase I might win myself a shiny new one. This doesn’t only apply to brands but also certain accounts. These accounts specialize in tweeting about free things. A few recommended accounts include: @wowfreestuffwow, this a user friendly account that leads to a website with an active interface. It usually updates daily so there is always new free samples or free stuff added to there site. @Gumtree, members of the public post things they don’t need and other members try and see if they want those things @HotUKDeals, not only does it have freebies but it also has all kinds of information on discounts and coupons. So far these are the most legitimate accounts.

3. Find a “Tweetmeet” 
A tweetmeet or twitter party are online events hosted by brands where tweeps talk about certain topics for about an hour or more, i've not heard of these before but it's like a day of giveaways, I noticed a few weeks back for Blue Monday alot of brands did giveaways via twitter. They are getting really popular with marketers and usually involve a lot of giveaways and freebies. There is almost one going on at every hour of the day and different clients like Tweet deck can be used to separate tweets into separate columns. To be in the know about these parties you can use apps like Twitter Party Guide. These tips are guaranteed to save you money and get you the freebies we all crave









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Some of you reading may already be in your dream job but most of you are probably in a job you don't particularly like and know what you want to do you just don't know how to get there. Today I want to share a few simple tips on how you can get that dream job. These are things that most people dismiss when applying or looking for jobs.

My dream job would be a full time blogger, I love blogging and it has created some amazing opportunities for me and I like working from home and having freedom. I live in Birmingham and we don't have a steady flow of blogger events or opportunities most blog events are in London and because of my work commitments I can't just drop everything and go to events. Blogging can be very hit and miss sometimes there's loads of work and sometimes it can be very quiet and I can't afford to not be working which is why I work part time and blog part time which is good enough for me right now.


1. Update your CV! You probably think not much has changed since you last looked at your CV but you should be updating it all the time. If you are working what skills and training have you done recently and can you add this to your CV is it relevant?  Are your references and recent employees still correct and are their contact details correct? Do you have different CV's for different jobs? If applying for a role in Social Media / IT does your CV stand out? If it's just a word document then chances are it will go to the bottom of the pile! Could you make a video CV / animated CV?

2. I know that newsletters and emails etc are annoying but set up a separate email account for job hunting and sign up for all the newsletter regarding jobs in your area/ field. It's hard to check for jobs every single day and the last thing you want to do when you get home from work is look through job search engines. Newsletters sift through and show you relevant jobs and this means you have more time to actually apply for the jobs. With the internet now job hunting is a very speedy process so you don't really have time to think about applying because tomorrow that position could already be gone.

3. Most jobs get filled before they even hit the recruitment department. Make friends with someone who works at your dream job or mention to a friend that your looking for work in a certain area. Chances are they know someone who works in that field or may know of a job going. Word of mouth is a great way to get in the door and it means someone doesn't have to sift through a stack of applications.

4. If you like to party or your Facebook page is embarrassing, then check your privacy settings and set it to private. The first thing an employer will do is check you out online. If your social media accounts are relevant to the position then you shouldn't make them private however they should be professional. For example as a blogger it wouldn't make sense for my twitter to be private but my account is professional and I wouldn't mind an employer stumbling across it. A new survey conducted by Bidvine to find out how people present themselves to others online recently found that the average profile picture is 2 years old. The Survey found that from a group of 2000 British social media and online dating users that on average a Facebook profile picture is updated every 5 months where as on LinkedIn its more like 2.1 years! Chances are this means that your whole LinkedIn profile is out of date. You are giving the wrong impression if your profile is not up to date, an employer may think you look too young for the role and dismiss you completely. 11% of the people asked admitted that the pictures used for their profiles were taken more than 10 years ago. And another statistic that I thought was relevant was 1 in 4 would not want their boss to see their current Facebook profile picture! Chances are you wouldn't want a future employer to either!! So update your profiles so that are relevant and up to date.

5. Don't let a lack of experience stop you from applying! Sometimes employers would prefer some experience however not always. Sometimes employers would prefer to teach you themselves and having some previous experience can go against you. It's harder to teach an old dog new tricks. You also don't know what kind of experience the other candidates have so you may be just as qualified as the others, this may mean that even without the relevant experience you could be the best candidate for the job. Just be positive and try and stand out and be unique. You want them to remember you!

6. Any progress is good progress, even if it's just an interview. If you've been in the same job for the last 10 years then chances are things have changed since you last went for a job interview. Do some research about the company, most now have websites and they usually expect you to have checked them out prior to your interview. Even if you don't get the job at least you will have gained some interview experience.

7. Stay positive and be patient. Chances are your not going to hear back off an employer over night or you may need to do you may need to do some training so that you have the right qualifications for the position but don't give up. Do your research and keep your head held high. Stand out from the crowd and let your show your positively.

for those of you that follow me on twitter you will know i NEEDED a leopard print fur coat well... i got one and its such a funny story of how i came to own it.
i've been looking on ebay, twitter, peoples blog saless and just none of them were right or of the right price. i found one that i loved and got into the bidding war but it went past £40 and i just wasnt willing to pay that much so anyway i was having a general conversation with my little sister about the matter and she was like OH laura has a fur coat ... a leopard one that she never wears anyway i tried it on and fell in love with it and after all the searching i found THE ONE and i bought it for £25 :Dwell happy and i love it

this week i was invited to a midlands blogger meet by rebecca and lucie are organising. It will be in birmingham and they are really trying to finalise numbers before they plan much. if anyone is interested just get in touch with myself or the girls and we will add you to thelist. all the london bloggers do it so its about time we got to have a bloggers meet also if you have any ideas about what we should do ect then let us know.

thats all really ive had such a long weekend been working and went to see two door cinema club last night so pretty knackered; might go and watch a film before bed.