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Eleven reasons to love the latest Hiho Silver Country Shows Journal

Hiho Silver Country Shows JournalWhy eleven reasons? I’m not entirely sure… but here goes. To be honest, there are more than eleven reasons to love the latest issue of the Hiho Silver Country Shows Journal, but these are my top eleven. The best thing is if you read it yourself. I would love to know your favourite bit…

What is the Hiho Silver Country Shows Journal?

Hiho Silver produces the Country Shows Journal. This online publication is produced at specific times of the year, for Hiho customers and fans to enjoy for free. There’s always a competition, some brilliant brand and product features, there’s usually some gin… and there’s always beautiful jewellery. The latest issue of the Hiho Silver Country Shows Journal is no different, but is also bursting with fashion, style, an inside out horse (it’s OK, no animals were hurt!) and a lot more. So… my eleven reasons to love it…

  • Harriet Edwards’ fashion feature. In her role as Hiho brand ambassador, Harriet styled the lovely Imogen Murray for the trot up at Burghley. Dressed in Musto, Dubarry, Joules, Mackenzie & George and Hiho, Imogen looked absolutely stunning… Harriet did an exceptional job. In this issue of the journal, Harriet also shows us some other potential trot up looks that made her shortlist. There wasn’t a look I didn’t like. Honestly.
  • The competition. Who doesn’t love a great competition? And this issue’s is, as usual, a complete corker. In this issue, Hiho has teamed up with Hyde & Hare and Teddy Edward to offer one lucky winner one heck of a prize haul. A new Foxley Bag from young British brand Hyde & Hare, who specialises in cowhide products, a £150 gift voucher to spend at Teddy Edward, and a Cherry Roller Bundle from Hiho. STUNNING.
  • The Cherry Roller options. I ADORE my Hiho Silver Cherry Roller and have upgraded and changed it as new beads have become available… and in this issue Hiho created an image to show all the options – from CZ roller beads in a range of colours to the World Horse Welfare Charity Bead, the Fairfax & Favor Bead, all the way through to the new solid gold and diamond 4 Star Bead, which launched at Burghley. Oh my. It’s a stunner.
  • Doris’s Burghley Picks. I adore the shopping villages at horse trials and this issue, Doris picked some lovely products that you could find around the tradestand village… but can also enjoy online and buy from the comfort of your chair.
  • Who doesn’t love a cocktail? And what about a gin one? Exactly. In this issue, the lovely people at Silver Fox Gin share a couple of delicious cocktails to enjoy, and there’s a brilliant story behind the brand too, and how it came to Hiho Silver Country Shows Journalbe.
  • Teddy Edward. Have you heard about this lovely British brand? I have heard so much about this brand, and it’s great to read a bit more about in the in the Country Shows Journal too.
  • Horse Inside Out. Before I started PR and marketing, I actually used to work at an event yard and then later as an instructor. As I went up through the BHS levels, I spent a LOT of time learning where the muscles and bones were… and attempting to compare a picture to a horse in motion was a bit tricky… but not with Horse Inside Out. With the ‘important bits’ painted on the outside of the horse, it’s a great way to understand how everything works together… and Gillian explains how it all works in the latest issue.
  • A Badminton recap. I love Badminton Horse Trials and I was so, so chuffed with how Hiho’s first sponsored best dressed at that trot up went. Sophie Callahan, one of Hiho’s brand ambassadors, commentated during the full trot up on Radio Badminton… and then wrote an article for the Badminton website, and here she relives it for us. It’s fab.
  • Sweet story. Rachel Bragg from Sweet Images Photography is a long term Hiho fan, so Hiho caught up with her and had a chat about her job, her favourite Hiho pieces and more. It’s a really great read.
  • Hyde & Hare is a new brand that produces a range of high quality cowhide bags that are real one offs. They are made from genuine cowhide that is completely natural and unique, and hasn’t been printed like many available. I love the feature about Piers Dickinson, the man behind the brand, and enjoyed finding out what Leonardo DiCaprio had to do with it… and there is something!
  • An Event Rider Masters update. It’s been such an amazing series for far and I can’t wait to see the finale at Blenheim…

So, there you go – eleven reasons to love the Hiho Silver Country Shows Journal… but I am sure you’ll find loads more. Have a read of it here, and don’t forget to enter the competition. It’s a really good one.

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Two fabulous Instagram takeovers

Harriet Edwards and Sophie CallahanIf you follow me on social media (and, if you don’t, I’m on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook here), you may have noticed that last weekend, when The Game Fair was on, I promoted two Instagram takeovers, and I wanted to explain a bit about these and how they work. Firstly, because Harriet Edwards (aka A Girl About Country) did an amazing job for Mackenzie & George, and secondly because Sophie Callahan (of Sophie Callahan Photography) did an amazing job for Hiho Silver. Despite really dodgy Wifi…

What’s an Instagram takeover?

An Instagram takeover is, usually, where a brand ambassador takes over a company’s Instagram feed for the day. More recently, the Instagram Story is where most of the takeover content happens, with perhaps a scattering of posts appearing the main Instagram feed.

Why are Instagram takeovers good?

A few reasons… and reasons that I will go into in a whole heap more detail on in the future. However, Instagram takeovers can be…

  • A great way to utilise your brand ambassadors
  • A nice way to promote brand ambassadors, so they get exposure to the company’s following, to help grow their own
  • A superb way to generate new, exclusive content taken by a different person in a different way
  • A fun way to explore events when most of the company’s team is stand bound or not at the event at all!
  • …and more…

So what did Hiho and Mackenzie & George do?

Mackenzie & George’s Instagram takeover involved the lovely Harriet Edwards, Now, Harriet is a brand ambassador for M&G (as well as Hiho and others) and has a really good, engaged following on Instagram. Harriet set off with a plan for the kind of content she wanted to capture on her Instagram takeover and, despite having Wifi nightmares, absolutely nailed it. She interviewed Melanie, joint owner and founder of Mackenzie & George about The Game Fair and her favourite pieces, and also spoke to members of the team too. In addition, we got to see the machine that personalises the company’s lovely leather products in action… and I love that kind of thing! The company extended this further by giving Harriet cards with discounts on and when people found her around the event and asked her, she gave them a card. She also gave Sophie Callahan who was taking over Hiho’s Instagram, a shout out… and that made me smile a lot.

Sophie did a great job for Hiho, taking pics from around the showground, despite the dodgy Wifi signal! She captured the stand, gundogs in action and also met up with Harriet on the Hiho stand (and posted a lovely picture to Instagram that I have borrowed for this blog!). Sophie also gave Harriet a shout out, which was really lovely.

Why did it work?

Both ladies really understand the brands that they’re representing and, more to the point, understand how to represent themselves too. They’re professional but fun and also understand the brand values of the companies that they’re working with… so much so that the companies involved are happy to give them free rein on the content. Because they trust them, because they have put the time in to building the relationship. And when you see a takeover like this, it makes good ambassadors worth their weight in gold. On to the next one!

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Blogstars – Harriet Edwards – A Girl About Country

Harriet EdwardsBlogstars – the occasional series I run on here looking at some superb bloggers that have caught my eye – is back… and what I treat I have for you… it’s only A Girl About Country, aka Harriet Edwards!

I have the pleasure of knowing Harriet as she’s a brand ambassador for Hiho Silver, but she also works with a number of brands I have connections with and adore. Her style is just superb, her blogs are well written and interesting, she’s a proper country girl and, you know what else? She is so flipping lovely! I met Harriet properly at Badminton Horse Trials this year and she’s even more lovely in the flesh (and, let’s be clear, she’s always been a delight). Actually, it was her influence that MADE me add to my Fairfax & Favor collection. OK. She didn’t make me. She actually offered some really good advice to help me pick the right colour Drivers and told me how and when she wore hers, and that made me think about how I could wear them too. So I bought. Anyway, I digress… here’s Blogstars…

What made you start blogging?

Honestly, I think it has to be attributed to my shopping addiction! I’ve always been very passionate about style and more specifically country style. The countryside is my home but just because you need to wear practical clothes it doesn’t mean they can’t be stylish too. A perfect example of this combination of practicality and classic style is Fairfax & Favor – needless to say a good few years ago I fell in love and started my collection. It quickly expanded and through sharing my pictures of their gorgeous products I was encouraged by the guys at Fairfax & Favor to start a blog. I laughed it off at first – I’m not great with technology, but came round to the idea and the rest, as they say, is history!

A Girl About Country British Polo GinHow do you measure the success of A Girl About Country?

My blog is very much a hobby. I have a very stressful and somewhat scientific full time job that keeps me busy, so blogging is an outlet for me. That means that my idea of success is probably different to those who blog full time. For me, the success is knowing that what I have said or shared has made a difference to someone else or that they enjoyed reading what I have written. The first few times I wrote a post (and to some extent even now), I would feel a little bit nauseous at the thought that no one would bother to read what I had spent hours agonising over. The biggest measure of success for me has to be hearing from my followers that I have inspired them to try something new – the one I’ll remember most is a lovely lady who contacted me after reading my post on the Femmes Fatales (an all ladies shooting club), she had never even picked up a shotgun before but was inspired to give it a go after reading my post and now she’s a regular at their events!

Tell us about the post you’ve most enjoyed writing/has been best received for A Girl About Country

The blogs I’ve enjoyed writing the most are also the ones that I invariably feel most nervous about releasing into the world. The one’s that open my life and my choices up for criticism which actually makes me feel quite vulnerable but at the same time I feel so passionate about that particular subject that I really want to put my point of view on the table. The post that I believe has been best received was one of these blogs – it was an account of my first experience game shooting which is a very controversial and emotive topic to talk about. I was expecting so much negativity for that post and don’t get me wrong I did get some, but the overwhelming response was positivity and more importantly education. A lot of people really didn’t understand the reasons (my reasons at least) behind shooting game and I think I managed to help people understand that – even if they didn’t A Girl About Countryagree.

How do you promote A Girl About Country?

As I mentioned, A Girl About Country is my hobby and so I don’t really promote it as much as I’d like to but I do utilise my Instagram account to direct people to my blog. I try and link the content with Instagram and the actual blog site so that the two are synonymous and people identify with both.

Any tips you’d pass onto people thinking of blogging?

YES! I feel very strongly about this, particularly with the influx of new country/style bloggers. Of course you should look through others content and take inspiration from that, in fact that’s a total compliment but please please please stay true to yourself. That is my biggest bit of advice. Don’t write about the things you think people want to see, write about the things that YOU love and you’re passionate about because that is what people really want to see. If you are trying to do something that your heart isn’t 100% in, just because you see others enjoying success with it, it won’t work. Be true to yourself and you will only be successful.

Has anything good come out of blogging?

Absolutely – if I didn’t enjoy blogging I wouldn’t do it, so that must mean some good has come from A Girl About Country in Ariatit right? If it ever gets to the point where I feel like I’m not enjoying it anymore I will definitely stop. I know that most people will expect a particular answer to this question – freebees, but the truth is getting freebees is about the furthest reason from the truth possible why I started blogging or enjoy blogging. I’m very independent and I’ve always bought my own things so I wouldn’t want or expect to blog solely for freebees – as soon as people do that the blog becomes false. The very best thing that has come out of blogging is new friends, I have been introduced to some of the best people and have formed some fantastic friendships and from that enjoyed some amazing experiences. It’s all about spreading the love!

Where can we find you online?

The blog – www.agirlaboutcountry.com

Instagram: harriet_lily

 

 

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