If fashion blogging is your full-time career (or if you want it to be), then my hat goes off to you. I've realized firsthand that it’s not an easy job… but you make it look easy — because, simply, that’s the point.
There’s a reason why there is such a surge in this industry: the fantasy of living the fashion blogger lifestyle falls nicely under the umbrella of the “American Dream” (or any dream for that matter). It’s having your cake and eating it, too. It’s business and, to the untrained eye, mostly pleasure.
The general public sees a shiny new Louboutin stiletto, brunch with friends, a trip to fashion week. What they don’t see? The long pitching, negotiating, and delivering process of working with a brand. The nights when you’re staring at your laptop until 4 in the morning trying to finish a post after your computer just crashed. The bill for dropping your camera and cracking the lens. The year when you worked two jobs, only ate Ramen, and blogged at night to build up a following.
Readers don’t see that because if they did, it would ruin the fundamental elements that makes fashion blogging so alluring – the fantasy. The catharsis. The feeling that is relatable, because a blogger is “real,” but also the lifestyle the general reader wishes they too could one day obtain (whether it be a classy outfit on a budget in the midwest or luxury goods by the pool in Paris).
Running a daily independent publication online is more work than those reading blogs may realize; often times the assumption is made that bloggers don’t work hard, that they make a ton of money and have luxurious gifts thrown at them. But the reality is, when you are just one person running the whole show (as the photographer, writer, editor, graphic designer, web developer, publicist, brand and marketing manager, social media director, business accountant, so on and so forth) it can damn well be overwhelming.
It’s not easy balancing it all, but being an independent publication and business means all the decisions are only made by one person — you. And at the end of the day, that’s what makes every sleepless night worth it.
LOOK LIKE LUXURY STYLE.... :)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I love your post! I can so relate! I have to agree that our readers don't see what's behind the scene. I stay up all night talking to my international sponsors and to those who want to be featured in my site.
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Sai
http://www.fashionbysai.com
http://fashionbysai.tumblr.com
An interesting post! Very well said Ms. Blair! Salute to all the bloggers!
ReplyDeleteAnne
http://enchantingcolours.blogspot.com/