Behind every great luxury blog, you will find a great story. Luxury bloggers are real people, not machines, and to successfully work with them, we recommend you get to know them a little better. Through our years at LuxeInACity, we have talked, collaborated and exchanged ideas with dozens of great bloggers from around the world.
Since bloggers rarely talk about themselves – they tend to talk about everyone else instead – we hope to showcase their skills, expertise and opinions in this blog series.Get to know them, learn from them and hopefully you will find an innovative way to collaborate with them.
Today’s blogger is Malin Richardson, a young woman who grew up in Italy, France, Belgium and Sweden with her family and her passion to travel was born this way leading her to start her own lifestyle blog back in 2007. She is now the 24 y/o CEO and Creative director behind Scandinavia’s most read high end lifestyle/travel blog Mogi by Malin Richardson. With over 400 000 hits every month and over 80 000 unique readers she is the most successful blogger in the world in her field.
On www.mogis.se Malin takes her readers on adventures around the world where she gives them the best advice where to stay, eat and what to wear while abroad. Her passion for her blog has landed her a job as a travel/food writer for ELLE Food & Wine. She has also been awarded for her photography which has landed her a job as an ambassador for Canon in Sweden.
1. Every blogger has a different story on how they got started blogging. What is yours?
I grew up in Italy, France, Belgium and Sweden with my family and we have always travelled a lot during holidays so my passion for travel started that way. I have always loved to write and photography so I thought that a blog would be the perfect outlet for me to share my passions! I started my blog back in January 2007, I was one of the first to start a blog in Sweden and it grew very fast!
2. Like most successful blogger, you probably received hundreds of emails per month from luxury brands who want you to share their story. What makes you decide to work with a brand over the other?
I decide which companies and brands that I would like to work with, I only want to work with brands that I stand for to a 100%. I am very picky!
3. What is the best pitch you have received from a luxury brand? What is the worst?
I haven’t gotten one that knocks me out of my chair yet but I have had many amazing collaborations with luxury brands which I am very happy about!
4. What is your take on press releases? Do you like receiving them or do you simply discard them?
On my blog I only write about my own experiences so press releases isn’t something that I use for my blog but of course I read them to keep up with what’s going on!
5. What would make you choose to work with a brand on a giveaway campaign on your site?
It would have to match my profile and be something that I would know my readers would really like!
6. If a brand wants to reach you, what channel should they use? Do you prefer email, social media or another means of communication?
I usually work with email the most but I got approached by a company via my instagram (@mogis) just a couple of weeks ago and that worked great as well!
7. In your mind, what makes a successful blogger outreach program? Is it the incentive, the brand itself or the relationship you already have with the brand?
In my opinion it is about the connection the blogger has with the brand, that you feel that the connection is 100% real!
8. What is the coolest gift you have received from a luxury brand in a blogger outreach program?
I don’t work with gifts that way, either I work with a brand in a collaboration or that they buy ad space on my blog.
9. Of all the social media channels you engage on, which one do you prefer and why?
My blog www.mogis.se is my number one priority and then I like Instagram @mogis!
10. Which social media channels does your audience interact with the most?
They interact a lot via my blog and via my Instagram!
11. In your opinion, what does it take to become successful on social media?
You have to be passionate and dedicated to what you do and have patience and focus on quality and of course take care of your readers!
12. Do you monitor your Klout score on a daily/weekly basis? Do you think this social ranking is of any real value to luxury brands?
I don’t use Klout but perhaps this is something I will try in the future!
13. What is the main reason you blog on a daily basis? Is it for pleasure, for business or for both?
My blog is my fulltime job and business since 3 years back so I update it 2 times per day so my readers always have something new to read!
14. Do you sometime receive compensation from luxury brands, whether it’s in the form of cash or incentives, to blog about them?
If we have a collaboration or if they buy an ad space they pay a certain amount of money to be seen on my site!
15. Apart from blogging, do you offer additional services to luxury brands who choose to work with you?
Not right now! My main focus is blogging and Instagram!
16. Do you think luxury brands should understand that blogging is also a business for some?
I think that they have realized over the last few years that a professional blog is just like any lifestyle or fashion magazine out there. The audience that I have created the last 7 years are in many cases larger than magazines out on the market so why shouldn’t I get payed for the work that I put in to it? But I have truly felt a big difference over the last 3 years which feels good. The prices to work with bloggers get higher for each year!
17. Do you manage more than one blog? If so, which ones?
No www.mogis.se is the only blog I have!
18. What would you say is the best thing about being a luxury blogger?
I love that I get to work with my passions and travel the world and discover new places, restaurants and amazing fashion! So far during 2014 I have been home in Stockholm for 1,5 months and the rest I have been travelling so it’s very intense but I love it!
19. Have you rub shoulders with the rich and famous through your work as a luxury blogger?
I had lunch at Matbaren in Stockholm back in 2011, a great Guide Michelin restaurant and next to our table sat Whitney Houston! That was quite amazing! 2 weeks ago when I was in New York I had lunch at Sant Ambroeus in West Village and Anne Hathaway and Mr Valentino himself sat next to our table!
20. If you had to mentor a new blogger, what is your go-to advice to become successful?
I would say find your nisch and stick to it! Quality over quantity and you have to be passionate and dedicated to succeed in this business!
Reach out to Malin Richardson through social media on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, or once again, if you need an introduction, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
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