Over the past years
fashion bloggers have become an intricate part of the industry’s current
landscape. But blogging itself has evolved with time as well and become a
full-time pursuit for many and become a complex blend of content, marketing
and branding. Never before has a fashion blogger’s influence reached as far
or as wide, and labels from around the world are keener than ever to work
with them. But how do bloggers approach brands? What actually goes into the
daily running of a blog? For the third episode in this series,
FashionUnited spoke to Olivia Purvis, the woman behind ‘What Olivia Did’ to
learn more about the business of blogging.
Olivia Purvis: “I started my blog five years ago when I was
studying and since then it has gone on to become my full-time gig. My best
friend at the time had been reading a lot of blogs and she introduced them
to me. It seemed really cool to me and quite an accessible way to showcase
what I was up, so I just started one kinda off the cuff to see how it would
go.”
OP: “Well initially my blog was a music blog and it had
a really stupid name like ‘Olivia is listening.’ But at the time I was a
really big fan of a band call the Libertines and I was really inspired by
their song ‘What Katie Did’ so I took that and didn’t really think too much
into it other than I needed a blog name, so I just put my name in it.
Looking back though now I think it is a really boring name but it has kinda
stuck now and it’s how people know my blog.”
OP: “Oh my god, they were awful! Please do not ever go
that far back through my blog archive. I studied photography for my A
levels and I think a lot of my first fashion content was inspired by that.
I used to post about collections I like, wish lists, outfit of the day –
usually taken by the wall in my back garden so not very creative – such a
variety of things that I would not do now. I supposed it was just about me
discovering my own style and the direction I wanted to go. It was more
hobbying back then, unlimited in a sense – I just posted anything.”
OP: “I was shortlisted for a Cosmo’s ‘Best New Fashion’
blog award in 2011 and that was the first time I realised that anyone was
actually reading my blog. I won which was so cool and really surreal, since
I didn’t even know awards like that existed. But it was only when I was
short-listed that I thought ‘Oh maybe people are reading this.’ At the time
my blog was just something that I was doing alongside with my studies, it
wasn’t really a huge focus of mine, so I think after the award it became
more important because I realised I do have an audience.”
OP: “It totally depends. At the moment I am going
through a little bit of a blog makeover, but I suppose it varies between
80,000 to 100,000 visitors a month. It depends on content and how regularly
I am posting. I do feel that because there are so many social platforms now
it’s hard to keep you traffic up, because people digest the information so
differently across so many different places.”
OP: “I usually post every other day, but at the moment
it’s been nearly every day because I have a lot of things going on. But
it’s usually between 4 and 6 times a week. I map out my content up to two
weeks in advance, but at the moment I kinda have everything written up
to the middle of December so that’s very organized. I work two weeks in
advance so that I always have all the content I need. But I try not to plan
too far ahead either because of projects popping and having to rearrange
everything and then end up getting into a bit of stress about it.”
OP: “I do have kind of a weekly routine, I’ll do a
couple of outfit posts, a beauty post and then another lifestyle post as
well, whether that’s travel or something else, different style of content
so there is always something for everyone every week.They are probably my
best received posts, the outfit posts. But at the same time planning outfit
posts and stories around that is really fun, just time consuming having to
go out and find a great location, pick the time of day and go from there.”
OP: “If I am doing an OOTD post then I’ll get up early
to walk my dog and try to allow some time to clear emails before doing
anything else. If I am going to London, as I don’t live in the city center,
then I’ll head early into town, have a meeting and then do some shooting
afterwards, so I can get back in the afternoon, edit, upload and schedule
the post. Afterwards I’ll try and get a bit of lifestyle content done. I
try and get a couple of things per day to get a bit ahead of myself, as
some days I am out in meetings all day and I don’t have time to do anything
content-wise. So when I do have time I try to get in as much as I can.”
OP: “It changes. It’s definitely quite playful – it’s
not as conservative or sleek as a lot of the bloggers I follow. But I
really like color and the 60s and 70s, I like those type of shapes. It does
change, it can be quite bohemia one day and then very put together the
next, it’s very mood depended. I just see how I feel and go from there. I
think that’s the joy of personal style, being able to wake up and think
‘Hey, today I want to dress like this!”
OP: “My boyfriend takes my outfit photos for my blog and
that’s a huge, huge help. I’ve been with him since before I started my
blog. He’s always been very familiar with what I do and he’s great at
photography. He’s been a great help and is very patient.”
“But I shoot all the lifestyle content myself, it’s only when I can’t take
the photos myself that I’ll rope someone else in. I think I prefer keeping
that kind of control over my blog to myself. I am pretty much a control
freak, really. There are times when I think I need help, but what could I
ever let anyone else do? Even with editing and email, I just love having
control of everything. Which is a bit bad, but the blog is like my baby, I
have nurtured it, watched it grow and I don’t know if I can let that go.”
OP: “I was talking to my friend about this the other
day. She recently came back from Australia with all this travel content. I
asked when she was going to upload it and she said she didn’t know. I would
love to have all that content since I’m trying to build up an archive, but
it’s not mine, I didn’t shoot it and I didn’t go there. It’s tricky because
although I think it’s nice in theory to have guest articles, I’m always
like ‘Well it’s not what Olivia did is it?”
OP: “It depends, I am usually interested in things from
different brands. But I try not to go too many events as I have so much to
do and I have limited time when I go to London. I go to all sorts of
different things, launches, openings, an exhibition opening. But if it’s an
event organised by a brand I love or worked with, or a new brand that I am
interested in then I’ll go. It’s just where the interest lies, what my
readers are interested in because if I go somewhere then I want to write
about it, I want to have something I can share. I am not blasé about the
invitations I get, but at the same time I can’t go to everything.”
OP: “Definitely a blogger. I am the least business
minded person in the world. I need to sort that out. I would love to be
more business minded and be like here is my five year plan for my blog and
this is what’s going to happen next, but I am not like that at all. I’m
like ‘Oh I’ll see how that goes,’ but I know that I can’t be like that
forever because you need to have an idea of how you’re going to develop.
But up until now I haven’t really thought that way. I know girls who are
and they are incredible and do such a great job and are soaring way higher,
but I am not overly strategic in any way. But I am definitely working on
it.”
OP: “I work with brands via collaborations, so I guess
in that sense I am entrepreneurial. I know if a clothing brand approached
me the best content deal I could offer to them. It’s just so depended on
the brand and what they want from me and what I can offer them to ensure it
fits together well. Each brand I have worked with is so different and their
requirements are different, but it’s nice being creative in that sense too
– getting a brief, interpreting it and thinking how I can make it exciting
for them and make it a good fit for me.”
OP: “I work with an agency who has a network and they
work with different brands. But I have never pitched to a brand in all my 5
years of blogging, which is a bit weird. I think I have just been so scared
for a long time of someone saying ‘No, we don’t want to work with you’ that
I’ve never approached one. But I must become braver though in that sort of
thing and stop being worried about someone saying no.”
OP: “No, not consistently. I do projects, last year I
did something with Boden and it went on for a period of 6 months during
which I was creating content for them. But I’ve never had something where I
was a full on brand ambassador for a long period of time, it’s always been
little bits here and there. But that keeps it nice and new and interesting
and keeps my mind active. I don’t do many big advertisements, although I
see it more as collaborating with brands I suppose.”
OP: “It eventually comes down to whether I would buy
from them or not. When I first started I was contacted by an online brand
where you could tell that the products were very badly produced and I
received some samples from them which were really awful quality, I thought
I would never write about this because it’s completely misleading. If it is
something I would buy and go back to, or something I really love and fully
support then yes I would work with them.”
OP: “At the moment I really love Madewell. I’ve done a
lot of shopping with them and would love to do something with them because
I love, love, loveee their stuff. I love Topshop as well and would love to
work with them, l since I feel like I spend a lot of money there.”
OP: “Yes, I can. I live at home so it’s a bit different
for me, but I can.“
OP: “Too much, far too much. I am always on my blog. I
rarely switch off. At least 12 hours a day, it’s a full-time job. Even when
I am watching tv, I will be checking my Twitter or Instagram. It does
consume me a lot. I try and make sure I get everything done in time for the
weekend, so I can have time not working and don’t have to be on top of my
emails or making content for my blog.”
OP: “Not necessarily. I know the kind of brands I would
work with. So I suppose the benefit lies in whether they connect with me or
my agency. So they may not contact me directly, but then they contact my
agency who will put me in touch with them. But I don’t think it really
developed me, I’ve always known what brands I like to work with.”
OP: “No, not at all. I wish I did but I don’t. I am not
as strategic as some people are.”
OP: “Just to keep people reading it. I am currently
having an overhaul with the layout and the archiving of things, so to get
that done is the current aim and hopefully that will go smoothly. I think
the goal is just to keep my audience engaged and keep on with the content I
am happy, which is the main thing. I know it’s not terribly exciting.”
OP: “I don’t know, hopefully still writing it. I am not
sure how it’s going to develop. Maybe it’s going to develop with my
lifestyle, like if I am married or have kids. But I would like to have it
as a destination place, with different sections like travel and recipes
where everything is nicely archived and searchable. But yeah, it’s a work
in progress.”
OP: “Keep at it, is the main piece of advice I would
give. It’s quite competitive and you can compare yourself with a lot of
other bloggers easily which can be quite intimidated. But I would say don’t
compare yourself to others, just take inspiration where you can and keep at
it. It’s taken me a good three years of hard work to kind of get to where I
am now and to get that audience so don’t give up at the first hurdle. Don’t
expect it magically grow other night and post about what you like and
interests you, not what others are doing. Do what you like because there’ll
be an audience out there for you.”
Photo credit: Olivia Purvis and Joe Galvin