Of all the blog ranking lists, except fashion and celebrity blogs, an average
of 12% of women appear in the top 100 of each list. And some sources have the
nerve to think that fashion blogs are "personal diaries of style". After doing
some research I realized why so many bloggers and readers today perceive women
bloggers differently than men:
- Many men bloggers don't link to women bloggers
- Less than 10% of women are political bloggers
- 60% of women created blogs are categorized as "personal diaries"
- Nearly 88% of top bloggers are white American men.
- Some guys don't appreciate being lectured by women
Instead of analyzing RSS feeds and researching list after list, I decided
to go directly to the source to get more answers and find out how women power
bloggers reached success, how they reach their readers, and what they think
about the discrimination towards professional women bloggers in today's
blogging community.
I communicated with four very different women bloggers (Chanel Ward/Hip
Candy, Charlene Li/Groundswell: Winning In a World Transformed by Social
Technologies, Michele Obi/My Fashion Life, and Julie Strietelmeier/The
Gadgeteer) and asked them the same five questions:
- What is the focus of your blog and why did you choose this particular
niche?
- If you could describe your readers in three sentences or less what would
you say?
- How has blogging advanced your career?
- On average, only 12% of women bloggers are featured on top 100 lists.
Why do you think that is?
- If you could give one word of advice to women bloggers today what would
it be?
After talking with these women I realized that a "power blogger" has
nothing to do with your ranking on a list but the quality of your posts, the
awareness of your reader's needs, and the ability to look beyond fame and
fortune and stay true to your subject matter. This is part one of a two part
series featuring women bloggers who have changed the way the world views them
and their readers. Today's featured blogger is Chanel Ward from Hip Candy and
Charlene Li from Groundswell: Winning In a World Transformed by Social
Technologies.
Chanel Ward / Hip Candy
It's hard to pick one of my favorite blogs, but Hip Candy is very close
to my heart. From the tag line, "sweet... but not in that fattening kind a
way" to the blog's owner, Chanel Ward, Hip Candy is fresh, exciting and new.
Fashion designer/graphic artist/writer Chanel Ward was featured as 225
Magazine's Top People To Watch in 2008 and for good reason. After being the
voice for the America's Next Top Model Interviews and one of the finalist for
Project Runaway's fan favorite blogs this fashionista was invited to
experience and write about Fashion Week and is soon launching the much
anticipated clothing line Hip Couture. Blazing a trail of personality and
style her blog and her career has a life of it's own, but don't take my word
for it.
1. What is the focus of your blog and why did you choose this
particular niche?
The focus of Hip Candy is in my tagline. Fashion. Celebrity. Entertainment.
Me. That's basically what I blog about in a nutshell! I like to think of my
blog as fashionably fun! I chose this niche because my background is in
Fashion Design (graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
in Los Angeles, 1999 - www.fidm.com) and I've always been intrigued by
celebrity culture, so I just thought it would be an adventure to start a fun
site that would focus on those things, and at the same time, it would keep me
abreast of what was happening in the [fashion] industry. Hip Candy is a fun
forum for readers to come and share their opinions on fashion, (the latest
trends, fashion don'ts...) celebrity (what they were wearing, what were they
thinking?!) the latest happenings in entertainment, with a little bit of
what's going on with me thrown in for good measure.
2. If you could describe your readers in three sentences or less what
would you say?
I was surprised to learn recently that some of my readers are as young as
12! But I also have more "seasoned" readers, women over 50 and beyond as well
as every age (and gender) in between. Hip Candy readers are very opinionated.
Even though most of them usually agree with most things I opine, and "wax
poetic" about, they don't always agree with everything I put down, and that's
okay! Having a difference of opinion is what makes us unique! One of my most
commented posts (69 comments at last count) has a firestorm of strong opinions
on it from start to finish (http://hipcandy.blogspot.com/2007/03/style-verdict-hetero-men-in-heels.html)
Anyone who takes time out of their busy day to click onto to Hip Candy, read a
post and share their opinions is more than alright with me.
3. How has blogging advanced your career?
Wow. That's such a loaded question! I'd never really considered myself a
"writer", but after starting Hip Candy, I slowly began allow myself think
otherwise. My blog has already reached levels that I wouldn't have imagined
when I started it. I figured it would just be a fun hobby. The response since
I started it has been phenomenal already! It's very humbling. Some of the more
noteworthy advancements have been 1) exposure to the masses from conducting
the "Top Model" interviews 2) getting credentialed and being invited to
Fashion Week from my fashion coverage on the blog coupled with solid
readership 3) That same solid readership translating into monthly ad revenue
generated on Hip Candy 4) all-expense paid trips to cover trade shows and
events (http://blogs.dreambrizo.com/kbis_2007/) 5) recognition and
acknowledgement from magazines, and finally and ultimately, 6) built in name
recognition for a future clothing launch! Blogging has truly been a surprise
and a blessing and I look forward to more in 2008!
4. On average, only 12% of women bloggers are featured on top 100
lists. Why do you think that is?
I hadn't heard this statistic before, but it's pretty staggering given that
I did hear that about half of the people blogging right now are women. I don't
really know why more women aren't considered top bloggers. I'd love to find
that out myself. I'd love to find out what we as women could do to level the
playing field. I'm not as privy as I'd like to be on how blog ranking works.
I've made a couple lists in the past, (http://www.fashioniq.com/wordpress/2007/04/23/top-50-fashion-blogs-in-the-us/)
(http://www.customizedgirl.com/blog/) but unless you're a site like Technorati
who ranks blogs on several different statistically based criteria, I'm not
sure how much weight it holds. That being said, I'm always grateful to be
included on people's "Top" list, whatever the criteria!
5. If you could give one word of advice to women bloggers today what
would it be?
My word of advice to women bloggers would be to not give up! So many of us
who may have a strong voice on whatever subject, fall by the wayside after
starting blogs and don't ever see the full fruit of what could have been.
Unless you are a celebrity, nobody ever starts out with millions of readers!
I'm still striving for that myself! So it's definitely a process, and growing
pains are a part of that process. I can remember back when my mom and a few of
my friends made up the entirety of my readership. But if you're putting out
good content, readers will always follow. Have faith in yourself and what
you're doing! Especially if you love it.
Charlene Li / Groundswell: Winning In a World Transformed by Social
Technologies
Charlene Li knows what she's talking about and she is passionate about
it. Groundswell: Winning In a World Transformed by Social Technologies is one
of the best written blogs on the web, period. Charlene is an expert on
technologies like blogs and social networking and uses this knowledge to lead
the marketing and research team at Forrester.
Charlene doesn't just write about her passion, she consults others about
trends and methods surrounding her niche. She is the one of the most quoted
analyst and has appeared in The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, CNN, NPR, and BBC,
as well as The Wall Street, Journal, The New York Times, and BusinessWeek. As
a matter of fact, while writing this biography and researching Charlene's
accomplishments, a commercial for 60 minutes segment on Facebook was
advertised, Charlene provided background on that story. Reading Charlene's
blog has personally advanced my career as a technology leader within my
company and has kept me fully up to date on innovative marketing solutions
through social networks and blogging. I am very honored to have her take the
time to reach out my readers on the topic of women and blogging.
1. What is the focus of your blog and why did you choose this
particular niche?
The focus is developments in interactive and social technologies primarily
for marketing purposes. Most recently, the focus is on the use of social
technologies and supports a new book that I'm publishing in April 2008. The
blog is an extension of my work at Forrester Research.
2. If you could describe your readers in three sentences or less what
would you say?
I have three very specific readers: 1) Businesspeople interested in
leverage interactive and social technologies, primarily in marketing; 2)
Influential press and bloggers; 3) Thought leaders in the field, whom I can
tap for research purposes.
3. How has blogging advanced your career?
Oh, in so many ways! It's given me visibility beyond the limited Forrester
client base and extended my influence tremendously. I have contacts that I
would never have developed without the blog. And I rely on it consistently to
conduct research amongst a community that doesn't exist anywhere else. As
such, I have access to better research faster than anyone else in the
industry.
4. On average, only 12% of women bloggers are featured on top 100
lists. Why do you think that is?
I'm assuming that you mean only 12% of top bloggers are women. This is
partly a matter of who does the listing. And frankly, why does it matter if
you're a "top" blogger? The most important thing is to know who your reader is
and to hyper-serve them better than anyone else. I'm unlikely to ever make it
on the Technorati 100 list, but I'm clearly considered a "top blogger" in my
field.
The other way to look at it is do women consider themselves to be a top
blogger? If the stat is 12% of women bloggers consider themselves to be top
bloggers, then we have a self-esteem problem!
5. If you could give one word of advice to women bloggers today what
would it be?
Be true to yourself and to your reader. There's nothing worse than a
blogger who's striving to be something they aren't.
