Revis
This is a guest post from Gina Joseph, social media community manager at Cision.
Today we introduce you to Layla Revis, editor in chief of Jaunt Magazine and Eco-Adventurer and contributor to Huffington Post and Mashable.
Q: How did you get into the fashion & beauty media industry? How did you grow your reach?
A: Believe it or not, I first started working in fashion and beauty as a print media buyer selling discounted print media advertising space in beauty books like Elle and Cosmopolitan. I soon developed relationships with brands, sold them advertising space in women’s publications, and wrote advertorial copy for them. Thanks to Jason Binn and Jason Oliver Nixon, Los Angeles Confidential Magazine later took me on early in my career and I leveraged that experience into a long running column called Sweet Charity, where, for six years, I was able to attend almost every event in Hollywood and try out almost every new beauty product on the market!
However, I’ve always been writing. For as long as I can remember, I was writing poetry and in love with prose. In 2006, after working as a writer for magazines, and writing copy for film and television, I began to see that everything was not so slowly moving into the digital space. So, I started blogs as a way to put all the content I was privy to in one place. Plus, I was tired of all my friends and family asking me for recommendations on where to go, what to buy, and what to do! My blogs, JauntMagazine.com and Eco-Adventurer.com, both served as repositories for all the great tips, deals, and information that I was receiving. What I discovered was that there was a great thirst for travel and beauty content, however, because travel brands don’t advertise as frequently in non-travel publications, editorial is similarly limited. Now that I’ve said this you’ll probably start to notice that most travel ads are in travel publications where sifting through the clutter of them can be overwhelming. My blogs attempted to solve some of that.
Q: How did you grow your reach?
A: I grew my reach through word of mouth through friends and family. I also was able to tap into all of the writers I knew so they began to write for me and publicize their pieces on their social networks.
Q: What do you like most about covering fashion & beauty as a writer and blogger?
A: Well, as someone with curly hair, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I like learning about the latest solutions to my own beauty problems! I also like the fact that, because I’ve had a career as a journalist, advertising executive, copywriter, and blogger, I’ve been able to directly suffer – and benefit – from the shift to digital communications. I first started writing for newspapers and magazines at a young age as a teen reporter for the Phoenix Gazette and Arizona Republic. Later, as a young adult, I moved to Los Angeles where, while working in Hollywood at Warner Brothers, and then as an advertising writer and executive, I began to write for magazines. All the swag bags and interviews made me realize one thing. There is only so much space beneath my sink for product and that, although there’s no shortage of product, there is a shortage of valuable, quality product, so it developed my taste immensely.
I love to learn and blogging allows to be learn every day. It’s a lot of work to keep content relevant and timely so that’s certainly what I love most.
Q: You mentioned ethical dilemmas as a brand and as a blogger…can you elaborate on a couple of these for those who may be in a similar situation?
A: I think there’s a problem with the blogging industry today in that bloggers are not disclosing freebies and are getting extremely mercenary where – and when – they shouldn’t be. Do bloggers often need samples to write about a product? Yes. Can they often afford the things they write about? Probably not. That’s a given and most PR agencies should know that. Companies and marketing/pr departments should write off these samples when allocating their budgets. They should also understand that, although big name books and blogs are important, there are many other blogs and outlets that are relevant and influential among those in the know. It’s important to consider that reach does not always mean relevancy.
That said, should bloggers only write about things that were free? Absolutely not. There’s a lack of understanding among bloggers who never worked as journalists in that, I believe, the same ethical values that journalists have to maintain, bloggers should have to maintain, as well. It’s disappointing to see bloggers who first started blogging as a passion project turn that into a business without maintaining a certain level of integrity. This comes into play when you begin to notice that every placement seems like it came with a handout or a price.
Q: What are some upcoming fashion- or beauty-related trends you’ve noticed?
A: Well, for 2013, it’s definitely about bold stripes, cut-outs, short stacked heels, wine tinted lips, bespoke nails (I don’t see that going anywhere anytime soon), and a return to feminine comfort which may mean longer hemlines and longer shorts, but cinched in waists.
Q: What are some tips for other fashion bloggers/journalists just starting out?
A: Write about what you love. Period. Create content at least 2x a week, if not daily. It’s hard for me to keep up myself as I also work as a Senior Director at We Are Social so I spend the majority of my days helping luxury and fashion clients conceive, embrace, and engage in the social space, but if your goal is to be a professional blogger and writer, frequency and quality are key.
Q: Any tips for PR professionals who want to get in contact with you?
A: Don’t send me a generic press release! Take note PR professionals… I don’t know a single journalist or blogger who wants a press release. Sure, those might work for the wires, but we want 2 short paragraphs, a website link, low res JPGs (sized for web use properly labeled) and something unique about the product or service.
Q: What are you PR pet peeves, or what is the strangest pitch you’ve received?
A: Well, as someone who has worked on almost every side of the marketing puzzle, I have to say… at this point, I don’t have many pet peeves. So, that probably means that I’ve seen and dealt with just about everything. From Hollywood to New York City, I think the one thing I wish would change would be the attitude of those working in our profession. There’s nothing more frustrating than difficult or artificial people and it’s important to constantly remember that you’ll need – and meet – the same people going up that ladder, as you’ll meet on the way back down. Kindness is something all too often forgotten, but absolutely treasured in my world. So be kind and treat PR execs, writers, and marketing professionals the same way that you would want to be treated.
Find Revis on Twitter.
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