Carly WoodAbout me:

I’m 26 and I live in Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire.  (Keep your eyes peeled for the lady that looks as if she’s spent far too much time at a computer, and is walking a mischievous Miniature Schnauzer. That’ll be me!)

I’ve just finished my MA in Communications and Media at Sheffield Hallam University.  I finished with a Distinction overall!  I wrote my dissertation on virtual communities, focusing on Twitter specifically.  I looked at how one small community operates and discovered the appeal this community holds for its members.

What I do:

I’m self employed, I write blog posts/articles and conduct SEO for both agencies and small business on a freelance basis.   I write about a range of topics: anything from window glazing to food hygiene!  I also am a regular contributor to Groupon’s city blog and just recently, I’ve been recruited as a guest blogger for Virgin.com too.

Here are some of my posts:

Carly

Featured on the homepage of Virgin.com

Additionally, I own a few well trafficked style/fashion blogs that have had a mention in many notable publications including the Telegraph, the Independent, Fashionista.com, The National Post and Sew Magazine.  These produce healthy revenue from adverts, which is reinvested into the site and reimburses me for the time I spend curating the content! I do this in my spare time, I literally never get away from the internet!

What I did:

In my previous job (which I quit to pursue my MA), I did SEO, copy writing, online marketing, a bit of usability and a lot of tea drinking. Generally, I used to tweak webpages, watch them jump in the rankings and convert more sales…. It was lots of fun.  I did it for around 3 years and I must have been doing something right as they wanted to promote me to departmental manager, but I already had my heart set on returning to the student life!

Before that job, I had no professional experience in any of those things, but I did them all as a hobby.  Everything I’ve learnt has been from books, blogs and my colleagues.

Skills:

This is a basic list of things I can do, off the top of my head…

  • Pretty proficient in WordPress (back & front)
  • Can do all manner of XHTML/HTML/CSS
  • Fairly useful in Photoshop (as much as you need to be without being a designer)
  • Very social, love Twitter/Facebook/etc
  • Lateral thinker, good at finding workarounds for problems/issues
  • And, it also helps me think up good PR angles for stories/blog posts
  • It can also help me get good links from good quality, untapped places
  • I also love writing copy, blog posts and press releases
  • Proven record in making webpages convert more after tweaking
  • Good eye for usability & enjoy writing reports on sites
  • Tea making & cake baking!

Carly

Things I love:

  • My Miniature Schnauzer, Archie.  He’s a 5-year-old fluffy, scruffy, smelly, bouncy dog that snores loudly and gives good cuddles.
  • My iPad & Macbook Pro. I’m a tiny bit of an apple fan girl :) don’t hate me!
  • Social media:  I’m a total Facebook and Twitter addict (see below for contact details!)
  • CUPS OF TEA…. With those malted milk cow biscuits…nom nom nom
  • Harris the Toyota Yaris.  I saved up for my car all by myself and I’m very proud!
  • The colour pink: I’m a true girl!  If it’s available in pink, I’ll buy it in PINK…
  • I also love reading books, here are some of my recent reviews:

Let’s have a chat:

Would you like me to write for your website?  Get in contact by following & DMing me on Twitter, or comment on this website somewhere and ask for my email address.  I know it’s a pain, but so is an inbox full of Viagra spam if I publish my email address!

You can also ‘like’ my Facebook page and we can chat through there.