LoveHoney Carly Drew an interview, “everything from the utterly filthy to the sweet and innocent”.

Tell me about your Blog?
My blog is part of LoveHoney (http://www.lovehoney.co.uk), the biggest online retailer of sex toys in the UK! It covers everything from the utterly filthy to the sweet and innocent.  If you’re looking for relationship, dating or sex advice, then you can find regular guest blogs from two international sexperts – Tracey Cox and Julie Peasgood. They really are fabulous and answer a new user-submitted question every week.

The LoveHoney Sex Toys Blog (http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/blog) is also a great way to see what goes on inside a sex toy company, from the promotional side of things to all the characters that work here! As well as all that, the LoveHoney Blog also offers competitions, surveys and some of the most concise ‘buyer’s guides’ around.

Why sex?
Sex is all encompassing. It crosses all boundaries and barriers and allows people of all different cultures, races and religions to identify with each other in one of the most basic of ways. To blog about sex is to share experience, knowledge, thought and opinion on something which everyone is curious about.

Despite the fact I have been blogging about sex for over a year now, I’m still learning something new every day and I hope that I’m helping others to experience the same! In fact, I recently learnt how to attach and fit a male chastity belt – you don’t get that from many other blogs!

What did your friends and family say?
When I first started blogging about sex, none of my friends were shocked at all – but my family were! My mum is very open and accepting and although she was startled by it all to begin with, she now thinks it’s great! She always asks me what I’ve been blogging about and asks me to explain new sexual terms to her – which is both hilarious and embarrassing at the same time!

What has been your best moment?
Tracking down one of my favourite erotic authors, Fredrica Alleyn, for a blog interview was fantastic! She is absolutely lovely and gave me some brilliant tips for writing my own erotica. I remember getting my first e-mail reply from her and the smile that was on  my face for the rest of the day!

What has been your most embarrassing moment?
There have been a fair few embarrassing moments, to be quite honest! As part of the promotion for the LoveHoney sex toys site and the LoveHoney blog, the whole team goes to the Erotica show in the UK. For those who have never heard of Erotica, it’s a big event held in London where anyone in the sex, porn or erotic trades can go to sell their products, meet people, network and buy lots of goodies! I was working on the LoveHoney stand doing product demonstrations and someone wanted to know how to use a strap-on! Let’s just say, somewhere on the internet, there are now photographs of me in a lab coat, pretending to use a strap-on on some poor unsuspecting lad!

What was your first blog?
My absolute first blog was a LiveJournal one from when I was 16 that detailed my teenage angst! I look back on it now and cringe! My first proper blog would be the LoveHoney Sex Toys Blog. I think my first post was about the BDSM tale, ‘Story of O’ – talk about being thrown in at the deep end!

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?
Network! The only way to generate genuine interest and inbound links is to build up your network of blog friends. Spend a good couple of hours every day commenting on other people’s blogs and reading the latest news in the blogosphere. If you stay savvy, then you’ll soon find that you don’t have to beg for traffic and links – it will just happen naturally.

What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t?
I know that bloggers struggle to get revenue for what they do but I really wish that the act of paying for links would stop. I’ve seen so many sex bloggers randomly litter their pages with the term ‘sex toys’, then use that to link to a site that has paid for them to do it, that it really makes me lose respect quickly. Blogging is a hard game, but accepting payment for keyword-rich links just goes against all blog etiquette (not to mention the fact that it makes the Google-Gods angry)! Using an affiliate scheme is a much more rewarding way of getting some revenue through your blog.

Where do you see growth in the blogging field? 
Video and audio blogs are becoming increasingly more popular and growing into realms that I never thought possible. I have only just started doing video blogs myself, but I’ve seen some really fabulous interactive ones and some audio blogs that have really blown me away!

What do you do to improve the world?
I think my contribution to improving the world is mainly educational. It’s great to get blog comments from people explaining how I’ve helped them to understand a particular part of their sexual psyche or how to use their new vibrator.

 What do you do that is green?
As LoveHoney’s Blogger, I do a fair bit that is green, surprisingly! I help to promote our sex toys recycling scheme, Rabbit Amnesty (http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/rabbit-amnesty/), I make sure that our green, eco-friendly and vegan sex toys get noticed (http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/tags/green-sex-toys) and I lift share with a couple of my friends at work. LoveHoney, as a whole, has a great environmental scheme including carbon offsetting, general office recycling and much more! I think we’re probably one of the most green sex toy companies around – http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/help/environment/

 
What is one thing about you that not many people know?
Hmmm… I’m pretty honest and open so there’s not a lot that people don’t know! I have quite a few ‘secret’ tattoos though. I have a massive back piece but there are lots of little tattoos on discreet areas of my body that people don’t get to see very often. Which reminds me, I must book my next tattoo appointment…

What’s your favorite book?
My favourite book has to be ‘The Good Prison Guide’ by Charlie Bronson (the legendary prisoner, not the actor!). I’ve been reading Charlie’s books since they were first published and they never fail to educate me and make me smile. The man is a gentle giant and has been locked up for way too many years. His writing, his poetry and his art is superb and it just goes to prove that he could help society much more outside of a cage, than locked up inside.

What is on your iPod?
The LoveHoney office  is split into two factions – the Mac’s and the PC’s – I’m a PC girl and refuse to use anything Apple! Currently on my MP3 player is a mix of Tom Waits, Pantera and the first Prayers for Atheists EP, amongst others!

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums, etc)?
Company: http://www.lovehoney.co.uk

Blog: http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/blog

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarlyConundrum or http://www.facebook.com/lovehoney

Forums: http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/community

What events do you go to?
As LoveHoney’s blogger, I always make sure I attend as many trade shows and erotic events as I can! Erotica UK, Venus in Berlin, AVN show in LA – you name it, the LoveHoney team is there, in force!

How do you prefer to communicate?
I much prefer e-mail and text message for communication! I find phone calls quite distracting, actually. An e-mail lands politely in your inbox and a text message just sits, waiting on your phone. But a telephone call is the equivalent of someone running into the office, sitting on your desk and shouting in your face until you pay attention! So yes, please e-mail or text me, or if you’re in the area; drop in for a cup of tea!

Who would you recommend, and why?
My favourite sex bloggers would have to be: 

Violet Blue – http://www.tinynibbles.com/
Em and Lo – http://www.emandlo.com/
The lovely Tracey Cox – http://www.traceycoxshop.co.uk
Karen aka Serial Mistress – http://www.serialmistress.blogspot.com/
Jay David – http://jdsmanstories.blogspot.com/
Abby Lee/Zoe Margolis (the infamous Girl With A One Track Mind) – http://girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com/
Laura Leu – http://lauraleu.com/Jake of Facts and Friction – http://factsandfriction.blogspot.com/
Diana Cage –  http://www.dianacage.com/
The Todger Talk Boys (absolutely hilarious) – http://todgertalk.blogspot.com/

Outside of the sexual realm, I’d also recommend the bloggers at Strange Famous Records (http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/) and the chaps who update The Awesomer (http://theawesomer.com/).

What is one thing people can do for you?
One thing? Buy me chocolate! But failing that, it would be great if people could check out the blog (http://www.lovehoney.co.uk) and if they find a story that they like, link back to LoveHoney using a HTML link. Forget Javascript or 301 redirect’s – HTML is where it’s at!

LoveHoney Carly Drew – thank you
Hold on, I have just worked out you are going to make me get traffic for ‘sex toys’ – Hum thanks Carly LOL

See also sex links , Sex Video