About three weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend my first blogger meetup in Vancouver organized by the amazing trio: Sheila from Maddy Loves, Jordana from JustJ and Angela from Do Want Makeup. If I had known about their organizational capabilities sooner, I would have let them organize by wedding!
There were over 20 beauty bloggers/vloggers in attendance as well as PR reps from a variety of companies all of whom were an absolute pleasure to meet (in person finally!). I was a little nervous about meeting everyone all at once, but the atmosphere was so welcoming that I couldn’t help, but chatter away with everyone once things got going!
After mingling, eating and getting hand massages from the Lush Cosmetics booth, we settled in for the main event: a Q&A session with a panel of bloggers and beauty and fashion industry professionals composed of: Cynnamon Schreinert, a PR extraordinaire for a number of different companies, Brandi Halls, Director of LUSH North America PR, Sarah Murray, Agency Director of Fashion Capsule, Alison of alison*elle and Jordana of JustJ.
The session proved to be very informative and there were several points of active discussion amongst the entire group concerning the importance of social media, when is your blog “big enough” to contact PR reps for reviewing product and how to balance blogging with “real life” as most of us blog for fun. If we all could make a decent living doing this, I think most of the First World would probably stop turning. The most important points that I took away from this session were:
- Get a Twitter account. It is a necessary evil that even I’m not the biggest fan of, but having a Twitter account is an absolute must! I learned this very early on two years ago and started a Twitter account purely for the blog. It’s the easiest thing for PR reps to see, connect with you quickly and is used as a measure of how engaged you are with the beauty industry and your readers.
- Although it’s not openly stated, there is a sort of “number” that PR reps will look for before sending you items to review. Yes, blogging is for fun and the free items are a great perk, but when it comes down to the business side of it, a blog must have a certain number of unique visitors. It doesn’t mean you can’t try though!
- As an add on to the previous point, you probably shouldn’t ask for anything until you have a “library” of posts to showcase. If I were a more discerning PR rep, I would want to see the quality of your work and also the amount of dedication you have to a brand before investing in you.
- It’s ok to post a negative review as long as it’s done with respect, so obviously using words normally heard in rap music will not get you any brownie points with an industry professional.
- If you are a busy working gal, schedule your posts ahead of time. I’m notoriously bad at doing this, but I’ve tried to blog for a few hours on a day off and not worry about it at all when I’m working. It has been much less stressful this way and let’s face it, this is a FUN HOBBY! Not a job!
Of course, no beauty blogging event is complete without products to put through the ringer and happily blog about! I posted a picture on IG, but natural light is SO MUCH better. Thank you to Lush, Revlon, Nail Polish Canada, Annabelle, Marcelle, Almay, Jukebox Print and Metropolis at Metrotown!
And now that I have found some AMAZING local lovelies, whose blogs I now make part of my daily reading, I mustn't be selfish so here are some new reads/videos:
http://www.alison-elle.com
http://eyeshadowaddict.squarespace.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/annabellesmakeup
http://makeupkismet.blogspot.ca
http://akabailey.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/makeitupcanada
http://www.denisechavez.com
http://www.cosmeticproof.com
http://www.kittenonthecatwalk.com
http://www.justj.ca
http://www.youtube.com/makinguplauren
http://shortwidenails.blogspot.ca
http://www.perfectlyimperfectbeauty.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/missmikaylag
http://www.ninaonthemoon.com
http://style-love.blogspot.ca
http://cooperscloset11.blogspot.ca
http://www.thelookoutblog.com
http://www.maddyloves.com
http://lifeinthecity.pixnet.net/blog
http://www.macaronsandmischief.com
.JPG)
No comments