Myths & Truths #4: You NEED bloggers

Here's another one they will all tell you: if you want to move up the ladder, you need a team of bloggers. This, they say, may make all the difference in breaking through to the next level.

Now, my disclaimer: I'm coming only from the perspective of home and garden stuff, NOT stores and promotion in general. And, of course, my experience isn't universal or even typical. (Even despite these two qualifying comments, I predict that there will be people who strongly disagree with my unpopular opinion.)

I believe that bloggers are very helpful for promotion of fashion-related items in SL. There's no doubt that people will see a dress, pair of shoes, necklace, etc. in some blogger's photo and think, "Oh wow, I want that." I know fashion designers in SL who have said they can quantitatively demonstrate that their bloggers made a difference in sales levels. I think that's fantastic.

I also believe bloggers CAN be helpful in building buzz and interest around sales events. With events, pretty much every mention or bit of promotion they can get is welcomed and helpful. I think there's never been a truer occasion for the adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity. So, bloggers for events are a piece of that puzzle.

In my experience, bloggers did little to build my sales or promote my brand in SL. I won't say they did "nothing" for Salacity, because I'm sure just the presence of my logo on blogs introduced some people (at very least, other bloggers) to my brand who hadn't previously heard of it. But to be perfectly frank, I cannot say that I saw any noticeable increase in sales or even interest in Salacity products due to blogs.

This may be because home and garden stuff is almost never the focus of a blog or blog post—and even when it is, it's never one particular piece or item, but a "scene" built up of many, many pieces that are featured in a post. A blogger may devote a whole post to a dress or an especially lovely set of jewelry or a hair style, but I've never seen a blogger give that sort of attention and focus to a piece of furniture or decor. 

It may also be because I didn't have the right bloggers, or that the bloggers I had were not managed in such a way to get them to promote Salacity in the way they could/should. (Both of these possibilities were implied or outright suggested to me by others over the years.) 

Whatever the reason, I cannot in good conscience tell another designer—especially a home and garden designer—that they truly NEED a team of bloggers. Working with bloggers is a LOT of extra work for designers, and there are already enough things demanding attention and time. My advice here would be: try it if you want to, but beware upfront of the time and energy costs involved, and the possibility that there may be very little return on investment.

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