Natalie Dickinson is also known online as Hello Cuppies. She is a prolific blogger, and writes about all things CAKES and BAKING! She came to us in 2011 for hosting, and has steadily taken advantage of other services as her businesses have grown. We noticed Natalie recommending Fastnet on Twitter recently, and so thought it’d be nice to delve a little into what she’s up to and write this piece for a Fastnet Customer Profile blog.
Cuppies ‘n’ Cream, Natalies first business, is now 8 years old. It was a way of taking her hobby to a more serious (and profitable) level. Her first attempt at owning an online presence was to showcase her bakes and business from one Facebook Page only.
When Natalie realised that using Facebook instead of a website wasn’t the most professional way to go, she came to Fastnet – and we helped her get her first basic website off the ground.
“A year or so later, I realised I wanted to start blogging but didn’t want it to be confusing to my cake customers and started a whole new self-hosted platform so I could also cover more than just baking and cake related things. I did want to keep the cake link somewhere though, hence why I came up with the name Hello Cuppies.”
Natalie blogs about her own cake experiences, wedding venues that she visits for work, and recipes for brownies, cupcakes and vegan cakes. She is always out and about eating amazing food around the world – and of course this all ends up on her blog too. Go and have a look at her adventures and foody blog posts here.
We asked Natalie how things have changed for a blogger since she started out in 2011. For those of you who may be aspiring bloggers, Natalies insight is priceless.
“For the first few years, organic reach and building an audience was so easy compared to how it is now. I think I set up my Facebook page at just the right time: all of my audience would see my posts, followers increased steadily every week, and it was great for building my customer base too. Now I’m only too well aware that a small percentage of followers will see my content on Facebook and if I want more people to see it, then I’ll need to boost the post to achieve that. You need to be far more savvy about what to post and how to get followers to engage now than you did back then.”
At Fastnet, we pride ourselves on staying with our customers from the beginning – helping them to grow into the business they always had in mind, and more! Cuppies ‘n’ Cream is a great example of how a healthy relationship with your ISP can pay dividends to the success of your business.
“Back in 2011, I was on the simplest package with Fastnet and over the years I’ve needed to gradually increase this as I now have 3 websites to work from (the third isn’t launched yet). I’ve needed to SSL certificates added on, transfer of content for my blog from a basic WordPress site, setting up of email addresses and as this was all new to me Fastnet have explained and helped through the whole process. I once had my blog hacked, had an absolute meltdown, but I really shouldn’t have. Fastnet had it all back up and running within hours with extra security and a process in place for making sure backups were regularly made. I actually have recently recommended Fastnet to a few blogger friends. I genuinely hand on heart have found the service I have received second to none.”
“The reliability, security and quick answers to emails and queries is something I don’t think I’d get elsewhere. Recently I’ve heard other blogger friends complain about their hosting companies being incredibly slow to respond to emails, needing to spend hours on the phone and high price increases yearly. I really don’t think I’d have the patience for all of that!”
Natalie delivers to London and all over the South East – so if you’re in need of something special for an event soon, please have a look at her creations and get in touch with her. She caters for all occasions – especially weddings, christenings and for corporate occasions. Every design is 100% bespoke, and any dietary requirements are fully catered for. Her ingredients are all ethically sourced from local suppliers and of the highest quality – and her bakes contain natural ingredients only.
“I’m passionate about making sure my cakes taste amazing as well as looking beautiful. There’s no point having a pretty cake if it doesn’t taste great right?”
