Interview with a Blogger - Fran Brill

Fran is the Marketing Manager for Aptus Personnel (“one of UK’s top 100 recruitment agencies providing temporary staff, permanent recruitment and innovative personnel services to leading companies and local businesses across the UK”).  Prior to this she worked as a Brand Manager for Avon Cosmetics, dealing with products ranging from Jewellery to Aromatherapy.  Fran writes the Aptus Personnel blog – rather nicely entitled Brill’s Blog.

How long have you been blogging?
Only since July this year, I’m a self-confessed novice.

Why did you start?
At first, as a straight forward attempt to increase traffic to our website.  Over time I’ve realised however that few recruiter blogs look at the industry from a marketing perspective, so I think I have something to add to the pot.

What do you do, work related, when you aren't blogging?
My role is really diverse, one day I can be at one of our branches helping design a new shop-front, the next working on market research to help drive our desk strategy forward.  In between – everything from flyers & posters to competitions, job boards & our websites.

Do you think blogging has helped your business?
It’s been a relatively short period of time since the blog was launched, but I’ve definitely seen an increase in traffic to our website.  Additionally, anything (however small) which increases our presence in the marketplace has to be a good thing.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?
Making sure that what I want to say comes across in an interesting way, and genuinely adds to the reader’s knowledge.  I love the idea that something I write could inspire a great idea!

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?
www.verymildperil.com.  This blog makes fun of the ‘over the top’ parental warnings on films and household items, it always makes me smile.

What do you want your reader’s to know about you?
I’ve lost 4 stone in weight so far this year, and I’m very very happy about it!

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them? 
Be passionate about your subject, and try to add value rather than re-visiting the same old topics.

Is there a question you wished I asked you?
Which do you think offers the biggest recruitment opportunity - Facebook, My Space or LinkedIn?