In the history of good ideas, Dom Ramsey had one of the best. His blog Chocablog is about chocolate. It features reviews of chocolate bars from around the world, chocolate recipes and events dedicated to chocolate. What's not to like? Join us in totally not being jealous or wondering why we didn't have that idea.
Tell us a little bit about Chocablog, how did you get started?
Chocablog is a blog dedicated to chocolate! I started in 2006, and the only thing I knew about the subject was that I liked chocolate! Seven years later I've learned more than I ever dreamed possible, travelled around Europe and met some incredible people.
Now I have a team of writers around the world to help produce the content, and we try to post something five times a week.
How do you source content for your blog?
Almost everything we write about is something we've tried ourselves. We review a lot of chocolate bars from all over the world and publish recipes regularly. We're also lucky enough to get invited to lots of interesting events too. But we don't publish press releases for things we haven't seen in person.
Do you like to write reviews? How many people read your reviews?
The bulk of the site is reviews. With chocolate, there is always something new and exciting to write about! We'll generally get a few thousand people reading each review, but we also post a lot on Twitter and Facebook, so the total audience for a popular post can be tens of thousands over time. That's quite exciting!
How did you build a following for your blog?
When you're writing about chocolate and posting a lot of photos, it's not that difficult to build a following! I do think social media is key though.
Are you a PR friendly blog? Do you accept contributions and content for your blog?
We love PRs, and often get sent samples to review, but we do have very strict rules. We would never accept payment for a review. We wouldn't accept a guest post written by a PR. When the bulk of what you write is reviews it's very important that readers can trust what you write, so I'm quite strict about that.
How best do you like to be approached by PRs?
Take the time to at least read the 'about' page on the site, and maybe a few posts. Address me by name, but spell my name right! And don't send me random press releases that are clearly nothing to do with my chosen niche… chocolate!
Marmite: Love or hate?
Love. Especially with chocolate.
Chocablog can be found tweeting @chocablog and is also on Facebook.