Wednesday, May 29, 2013

How Bloggers Are Scoring Million-Dollar Funding Rounds

From AdAgeMobile:  For the budding #SMMUCLA Bloggers!  Turn your blog into a business!

Wed, 29 May 2013 06:45:00 -0400
Lauren Sherman
Bloggers-turned-startup founders have been commonplace in tech, but the “big ideas” of fashion scribes never drew the same kind of investor appeal. Now, an influx of style-driven startups -- Moda Operandi, Rent the Runway, and more recently, Bauble Bar and Halsbrook -- is changing that.

Geri Hirsch never considered bigger opportunities when she launched the fashion-lifestyle blog Because I'm Addicted in 2005. “From day one it was always a hobby,” said Ms. Hirsch, who reports that the blog draws more than 200,000 unique users each month. Even though Because I'm Addicted is now a source of revenue -- she sells ads through celebrity fashion site Who What Wear's blogger network -- it's never been her job.

But when Ms. Hirsch wanted to work fulltime on Leaf -- a series of DIY, style and cooking videos created with Erin Falconer -- she used her influence as a blogger to appeal to investors. “I want Leaf to be a lifestyle brand,” she said. She envisions everything from shoppable videos to product lines.  Read the rest here

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