Twitter is always the indicator on which way the wind is blowing on the subject of blogger competitions hosted by magazines. This time the Company competition is coming up and if my timeline is anything to go by, it’s being met with very mixed views.
There are some magazines that embrace bloggers – fashion, lifestyle and beauty – really well; More Magazine stands out as one that genuinely gets the blogging genre and realises its relevance for More readers. Fashion bloggers seem to have crossed the divide more easily than beauty bloggers though and it does seem that appearing in magazines can have a mutually beneficial effect for them. You still see far more coverage of fashion bloggers than beauty bloggers.
There are still plenty of publications that view blogger competitions as some sort of favour to bloggers, which is an attitude that I find quite upsetting in many ways. As everyone knows, beauty blogger stats can be huge – if you include the beauty vloggers then they are beyond stellar. Any magazine would pray for a readership like they have (I pray for a readership like the Vloggers have!!). There’s always seems to be an undercurrent (from sitting both sides of the fence, here) that beauty bloggers don’t really know what they’re talking about, or in other words, they’re not experts. Well, precisely. That’s why everyone loves them. It’s still a very new way of talking about beauty at so-called experts haven’t quite got to grips with yet.
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You do not have to be an expert to enjoy and write about beauty products. That is the point. So, because this different way of writing about beauty has proved so popular, despite all reservations that we might be throwing out some incorrect advice on cleansing, magazines are very quick to start their own ‘blogs’… it’s not the same. It’s not the same at all. I’ve even seen a ‘Blog’ page in a magazine, which, to be pedantic is a contradiction in terms.. if it’s in print, it’s not a blog (Weblog). Conversely, blogs are a trend and what kind of editor would not go with a trend? It’s absolutely incumbent upon a magazine editor to go where the trends are for the sake of their readership figures and of course, to inform their readers. Readership figures are so important.. if you take it all the way down the line, people’s jobs and livelihoods depend upon it. All print media is in a dangerous place right now and to be honest, I want to support that end of line scenario – I’d hate to see fellow journalists being made redundant. But, some don’t make it easy.
Last year, I did a Magazine Awards on BBB in conjuction with Irish blog, Beaut.ie. Now, Beaut.ie stats are massive – gigantic in fact, far, far bigger than mine but jointly the reach was enormous. Not one single magazine contacted any of us to acknowledge it. It was done on reader vote – we didn’t choose the winners, we didn’t have a panel of ‘experts’ and we didn’t vote influence in any way at all. It was entirely done by readers. When the boot is on the other foot, and mags are doling out blogger awards we’re all supposed to be beyond thrilled, excited, tweeting, displaying badges that link to their site on our blogs, blogging and basically doing anything we can to send our readers to their sites so they can include this influx in their monthly figures (most magazines now include their on-line arm in their readership stats). It’s this kind of inequality that I’m not comfortable with.
I see a lot of beauty experts trying their hand at blogging – some are brilliant reads – but there are two classic mistakes I see time and time again. One is writing your blog posts like you would write a magazine feature – people don’t come to blogs for that..they buy the magazines for that. The other is an assumed superior knowledge. Nobody likes a big-head. If you come into the blogosphere, it’s generally a good plan to come in with a humble attitude and be prepared to learn before you teach.
So, back to the Company awards. This year, they’ve taken beauty blogging out of the mix totally, with categories such as Best Thrifty Blog and Best Blogging Duo and keeping it pretty much otherwise to style and fashion. The cynical part of me thinks that maybe it’s because they’ll hold a separate beauty blog awards later on – therefore guaranteeing another huge stats surge – but maybe they’ve just totally had it with us beauty bloggers. After all, what do we know?
As a footnote, and written sometime later than the content above, it transpires that Company are targeting bloggers to advertise in their forthcoming Style Guide at the special low price of £100 along with a nifty reminder that the Blogger Style Awards are coming up and a note that ‘the Company Team are … starting to use (The Style Guide) as inspiration for features.’ It also comes with the promise that parting with £100 is a ‘fantastic opportunity to associate yourself with a leading magazine title.’ On Mars, maybe.
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11 comments
Great post this was a good read as a new beauty blogger it was nice read about things like this xxx
http://mrsbeautyjunkie83.blogspot.co.uk
Blog awards annoy the crap out of me.
I end up rocking back and forth in a corner muttering “mutually beneficial” over and over again, when there is something in it for me (other than a sparkly badge for my blog, which links to THEIR site) then I will pay attention. Until then I would rather be recognised by other bloggers than patted on the head by magazines that try to throw us a cupcake every now and then.
It’s a real minefield at times, this topic, and I wonder if magazines will ever get the balance right in the long term. I remember a real twitter uproar when a lifestyle blogger with a huge following won a magazine’s major award even though voters were saying her blog was hardly updated. It’s a tough area but I guess the relationship is rather symbiotic.
A great read Jane, particularly about the lack of response to the Magazine Awards.
Actually gobsmacked by this re Beautie & BBB Awards: “Not one single magazine contacted any of us to acknowledge it.”
Did they write about it in their magazines & shout about it in social media, with links back to your websites?
Nic x
I believe bloggers have evolved to become real competition for magazines, plain and simple. And what’s more, it doesn’t cost a dime, other than your monthly ISP’s bill, to read us And there are hundreds more of us than there are of the magazines.
We’re a growing army of women of all ages and backgrounds. We call a duck a duck and we don’t gush over every new product or trend. In other words, if I don’t like a product, I’ll say so and why, just as I will with something I like. What’s more, I don’t insult my readers by suggesting they should look and feel 21 until they drop dead and if they don’t, they are somehow letting the side down. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard women say they will trust what they read on a blog before they’ll believe it from a magazine.
Its as much in a brand’s interest to cultivate the blogging community as it is to cosy up with print media. In fact, it might just be a good deal more rewarding all the way around.
And now I’ll get off me soapbox and let someone else have a go.
Ali x
I was thinking about the relationship between blogs and magazines a long time ago – it was then, that I stopped buying magazines… Bloggers here are still generally neglected, although we are so many now. If you’re interested, have a look at the post:
http://maquilab.blogspot.com/2010/10/are-magazines-blogging.html
But my thoughts were provoked by a totally different thing, here in Bulgaria we are very far from big blogger contests. So I can’t really tell how they affect the blogging scene…
other than we feel we would love to enter the “Best Blogging Duo” as the ultimate piss take and get all you guys to vote for us to show how stupid they look – Bit like Big Fashionista and her ASOS challenge – this £100 is not funny as we are all aware there are lots of young bloggers who will part with this money and see it as an investment – shame on you Company & Hearst publishing – it makes me think this is a desperate act ……..
But either way rest assured the Blogger Bitches are going to rip the proverbial P out of this and Company ……… stand by your laptops bloggers
The only time I buy a magazine now is if there’s a good freebie with it and it’s been that way for a long time. Beauty bloggers may not be experts but we’re real people who actually trial products and give our honest thoughts. I would read that any day rather than rely on airbrushed pictures of 15 year olds advertising an anti-ageing serum.
I can’t help but feel some people think of beauty bloggers as a bit of a joke sometimes.
I must say I was surprised to see that Company is the one that’s annoying everyone – though not sure I get why the awards go down like a lead balloon so much other than bloggers feeling patronised perhaps?? The journalism industry has its awards so surely it’s a good thing that bloggers are recognised – but maybe it needs to be hosted by something other than a mag. Of all the mags, and I usually read Company, Red, Cosmo and Glamour regularly, I always thought Company was one of the best when it came to embracing blogging. From what I’ve seen their newer issues seem very keen to feature bloggers and write about what’s happening on the web which as a mag is quite brave… the advertising idea shocks me though and I hope no one falls for it.
As a writer I’d like to think (though it may be wishful thinking) that there is a place for print and online and blogging – I see them as 3 separate entities and consume all three for different things. Bloggers are fantastic and I follow BBB and others for reliable advice that’s far more tailored to my needs (sensitive skin etc) but still read mags for expert tips, news, in depth features from my favourite writers. Mags definitely need to get off their high horse – can’t believe they didn’t contact you about the awards! – but likewise bloggers need to be careful not to grab their pitchforks as soon as they disagree with something as I think that’s equally damaging. Basically, I don’t understand why the industry is constantly having a little battle between mediums… ‘can’t we all just get along’ and so forth!
Great post Jane xx
Great post! The only time I read the glossies these days is in the hairdresser and, even then, I don’t bother with the beauty section….their information is mostly out of date and, as someone else pointed out, “gushing” about every new product…..and to be frank, I don’t trust their opinions. Sad, but true. Blogs are absolutely the way forward for beauty advice and any brand that hasn’t grasped this will be losing out……..(and no, I’m not a blogger but I am a beauty addict 🙂 )