Hi and welcome to the Handbag Designer 101 podcast with your host , emily Blumenthal , handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother , where we cover everything about handbags from making , marketing , designing and talking to handbag designers and industry experts about what it takes to make a successful handbag . Welcome , amber Katz , to Handbag Designer 101 , the podcast . I'm very excited to have you here today . Welcome , welcome , Amber .
Speaker 2Thank you so much for having me , Emily . I'm so happy to be here .
Speaker 1Yes , I think I'm happier . So we recently connected because you were doing a handbag story and we connected and I provided you with some unique information . I believe it was about the belt bag , bum bag .
Speaker 1Yes , and cross bodies and all that , and I was excited to meet you and then saw your wealth of work and how you've been writing for 100 million publications , it seems like for 100 million years , and I think , hearing the angle of someone who writes and covers content and being on the receiving end and what you look for , I thought it was really important to have someone like you specifically , you come in and talk about the process and everything in terms of how you want to be pitched and all those things you look for . So you know , I've just basically cut you off , thank you , welcome , amber .
Speaker 2No , it's fine . Thank you for having me . I'm excited to be here . Yeah , so should we start ? Where should we start ?
Speaker 1So I'd love to start . You know where you went to college . Was writing always something that was interesting ? Was fashion always something you followed , like , how did those two worlds collide ? Interesting ? Was fashion always something you ?
Speaker 2followed . Like how did those two worlds collide ? Yeah , so I went to Boston University and I always wanted to work for a magazine , write for magazines , that was always what I wanted to do . But actually it's funny , in college I was in like a , you know , I was going to be a journalism major and weirdly there was like this kind of derailment , like there was a . There's actually a hurricane , my like at the beginning of you know , once I declared my major , I think sophomore year , and the class got canceled and we had to . You know , we didn't learn how to do our first assignment , which was like a new story . I had to write it without you know learning how to write a news story . So of course it was like full of opinions .
Speaker 1I didn't know what I was doing and I'd scheduled office hours with my professor this is such a random , random tale and she actually , like , stood me up for the office hour , so I wrote it , you know , without understanding what was going on . A whole episode on that alone . Yeah , I was . Had you ever gotten an F on anything before ?
Speaker 2Never in my life . So I was so put off by this and in retrospect , like I maybe you know , could have handled it differently I just like withdrew from the class , changed my major and I feel like you know it was sort of a blessing in disguise Not that I don't , you know , I love journalism but I never wound up actually , you know , studying it for a degree . I've taken journalism classes actually a la carte , once I moved , once I graduated , once I moved to New York I took some NYU classes , some new school classes , so I actually did sort of get like a little bit of a professional education in it , but not toward my degree . So anyway , I wound up switching my major . I wound up majoring in French language and literature .
Speaker 1Oh , I was a Russian , spanish major . I see you , girl , I see you .
Speaker 2Yes , yes , no , it's a great jumping off point for many things and you know , it's like majoring in English , with the added complexity of reading your books in French , writing about them in French and speaking about them in French . So it's much harder but you learn the same skills , but it's kind of dialed up . So , anyway , I wound up majoring in French . I also thought I wanted to go to law school , a thing that never happened . So I had like internships in law . Anyway , the bottom line is I never had internships for magazines , so it was really difficult . I was not able to get a job , you know , out of school , in magazines . I wound up like falling into a career of financial copywriting and editing . Actually , well , I'm sure that paid . So , yeah , kind of it , kind of I didn't work for like an investment bank , but like I worked for these places , it paid better than magazines , certainly Right .
Speaker 2And then I started actually I started a beauty blog in 2006 . I was one of the first beauty bloggers . Oh , and there it is , and I was able to pivot from there . So it was originally called Beauty Blogging Junkie , which is the stupidest name . I changed it to Rouge 18 , which it was named after a Pantone shade . And then , yeah , I had that blog for many years . I actually discontinued it maybe three or four years ago and now I have a sub stack which is sort of an updated version of the blog which is called Things I Buy as a Civilian . So that's the very long story of how we got here . So now I do a combination of writing for various publications , including Time Magazine has a commerce site called Timestamped , kind of like their wire cutter , I write for them . Ap has the same thing . It's called AP Byline . I write for them . And then I do brand copywriting for brands you know across the spectrum , from beauty brands to , you know , kind Snacks , estee Lauder , leather goods brands .
Speaker 1You know across the spectrum from beauty brands to , you know , kind Snacks , estee Lauder , leather goods brands . You know it runs the gamut Right , right , right , oh my God . So much to cover here . So , and number one , I want to apologize because both of my ring lights have just died . I had one and I had like a mini backup , so if anybody who watches this on YouTube , you can only see half of me .
Speaker 2So I'm in the same . Yeah . Yeah , I'm like the Phantom of the Opera . I don't even have one up here . I forgot mine totally , so you're seeing this on .
Speaker 1YouTube . I know the one I had just died and then I bought like a pocket one because you know who isn't up at 1am on Instagram and it's like , oh , I guess I need this too . Well , it lasted for all of six minutes . So , anyway , I'm sorry , but yeah , the early blogging it's funny because I found that anybody who was an early adopter to blogging I had a site that was the origin of Handbag Designer 101 . Oh , really Came out in 2006 . Yeah , I closed it . I want to say 2017 .
Speaker 1It was one of those things . It was ongoing and it was so much work , but honestly , it's a marathon to know how to . I mean , writing was something I never thought I would be doing . But then it's like you don't realize that everything you do , especially when you're presenting your own brand , you have to be a craftsman in terms of your words to get the point across as quickly as possible and as effectively as possible , especially when it comes to a fashion brand . Yeah , so why beauty ? And were you excited to start getting free product ? Was that the end goal and how did that work ?
Speaker 2Yeah , so I always loved beauty . I was always like , you know , I started babysitting solely because , like , my parents were like not giving me the money for beauty products that I needed . I was like very entrepreneurial . I was like I will make my own money for beauty products . So I've always been very into it . You know , I was like buying , you know , masks and lipstick and all kinds of things from the time I was like seven , eight or something .
Speaker 1So I was always . Skin looks beautiful . So whatever you did at seven , it's worked , it's held over .
Speaker 2Thank you . So I love fashion too . I love fashion and beauty , but mostly , yeah , I was more consumed with beauty and when I started the blog I'm sure you know , as a person who also started a blog in 2006 , people were not getting free things really in 2006 .
Speaker 2A couple of years later I was listed in like a top 10 list of the new , you know , blogs for my women's wear daily . And then I started getting free , like the industry sort of started to catch on in 2008 . But in 2006 , like you know , I never . I was just like . I thought my mother would read this blog and like maybe that . Yet I just was .
Speaker 2I did it because it was mostly for me , like I was working at an accounting firm , which was not a fit , and I was doing marketing and writing , so that was somewhat of a fit , but like I , you know , I didn't like it . I was talking to partners like men in their 50s about my favorite lipstick and obviously that was not the best audience for that . So I started the blog , actually just like , as an appropriate place to talk about the products I love . And then it wound up leading to , you know , a pivot in my career and a lot of , you know , freebies , which was fantastic . But you know I bought it . I was buying my own stuff in the beginning and just reviewing everything I was buying at like TJ Maxx and the Lancome counter .
Speaker 1So how long did you do it before you realized you could do it full time ?
Speaker 2That's interesting . So , yeah , I did the blog . I had a full time job and wrote the blog for four years and then I quit my full time job , but I always freelanced as well , like I always did the copywriting . I never actually , because I just don't believe in a single source of income . I agree , yeah , it just forget it . So I always did other things , but there were a few years where I would say that the blog was like maybe 80 percent of my income .
Speaker 1So that must have been hard to do . To say , ok , you know , my writing is my power , which is my income . I mean , that's , that's a lot of pressure to put on somebody .
Speaker 2It is . It is , but it was great . I mean , I
loved it . It was a very different time . You know , I used to go to events for , you know , fashion and beauty launches , like almost like four or five nights a week and it was great . I would eat hors d'oeuvres for dinner and I got to know a lot of people in the industry and it was really fantastic . And I have to say , like a lot of these publicists who I met , and , you know , people from brands , brand founders , a lot of them are my copywriting clients now . So , like all of that work and networking for so many years , while it was kind of exhausting and I'm an introvert , so it was , you know , well worth it because it established like a great network of so many people who I'm in contact with to this day . And this was , you know , 15 to 20 years ago .
Speaker 1I think that that brings up a good point , that don't underestimate networking , because I honestly , at that same time , and I wish those kinds of events still existed because I would still go out for them , but I just , especially in this day and age , it's so hard to find like-minded people within the beauty and fashion industry that don't have an aggressive agenda to meet and connect and you know that , aren't shooting video of themselves while you're there in order to have a conversation until they're looking over your shoulder for someone else .
Speaker 2It's funny you say that . Yeah , I have to say , like you know nothing against influencers . They work very hard , but the rise of that sort of , you know , I mean I was also like in my late 30s by the end of this cycle , so I was just kind of not up to , you know , being out every single night , you know , from like five until like 9pm , but it just shifted . You know , the whole focus became about the photography and what you can put on Instagram and it was just sort of expected and you know , the whole landscape shifted , as you said . So it just sort of became less fun for me as a person who , you know , I have an Instagram , but that was never . I was never really like an influencer . So , yeah , it just changed .
Speaker 1You know you brought up a good point about Instagram and , obviously , the advent of social media . How has that impacted not even so much you as a brand , but the people you cover and the brands that you look for ?
Speaker 2It's interesting , I think for a while , everything had to be like pristine and beautiful and stunningly shot , and it was all about that . And now I don't know . I think we're seeing a shift back toward good writing . The images still matter and the items still matters . Of course , things need to be beautifully packaged , beautifully designed , all of that . That's never not going to be the case , but things are a little bit more real . I think Substack has become , sort of it's taken over some of the market share , I think , of Instagram . People are still on Instagram , but it's not as polished and it's not really as fake . And I think TikTok also , you know , changed that landscape too . So , like things are just a little less , you know , performative .
Speaker 1Yeah , I would say no . I mean , I started my sub stack in September . I moved everything off my Thank you . Yeah , I moved everything of mine off MailChimp and moved it straight there because I figured if I was doing weekly mailing , why should I be paying for that when I could have people start following and reading ? Because you know what I've been writing about has been pretty consistent for the past 20 years . So I might as well just put it out there for people to consume by choice and potentially get paid for it and potentially get paid for it .
Speaker 2Yeah , I have to say I love Substack . I talked to a friend of mine who works for venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz , and she actually put me in touch with one of the founders of Substack like five years ago and I was so impressed by it . I actually started my Substack then and I just didn't start writing it until three years ago , but I was like I love everything about this . You know , people are reading , people are less focused on just like captions and this , as I said , like this performative nature with like Instagram stories and everything .
Speaker 2Yeah , so it's been great for me and it's , you know , it's very much a return to old school blogging , which , of course , I identify with too , and maybe you do too . But yeah , it's been an interesting shift . And listen , like I'm sure in five years there'll be another shift to something else that we don't even know what it is yet and you know , always changing it's a game of the floor , is lava . But I have to say , like , right now , what we're doing , you know , it really resonates with me and I'm into it .
Speaker 1Do you think , though again speaking about this , because I really want to make sure that people take away like nuggets of you know what writers look for and people to cover , and also like ideas in terms of developing your brand DNA I don't think people should sleep on Substack . I think it's an amazing opportunity as a brand owner , even if that's where you're incorporating your weekly journal of what you do as a designer . It's just a way to get followers . It's a way to have your own almost like publication , of sorts , within others . I think that's something that a lot and it's just , it's a pain in the ass , of sorts within others . I think that's something that a lot and it's just , it's a pain in the ass , let's be honest , because it's just another medium you have to do , but as long as you're doing something , the SEO of it . They've made it so easy that I always recommend like bring your followers over there and have an opportunity to get your message out .
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Speaker 2I totally agree and you know I've gotten a lot of new subscribers from within Substack , from the app , from , you know , notes , which is kind of like a Twitter competitor . So , yeah , it's its own sort of ecosystem and you know it's been good for me . But I do think , you know , it's sort of at the nascent stages , like I don't know that every consumer is aware of what it is and it's . You know , it's like sort of it , but it's on the up , you know . Like you know , podcasting is also like another place where people can go . Obviously , you know this is a meta conversation , but I just yeah , it's one more thing .
Speaker 2I mean , yeah , you're doing a million things , we're all doing a million things , but you know , choose the one that works for you and is the medium that really lights you up , whether that's Instagram , a podcast , a sub stack , whatever it is . But there are great people , you know , on all of these platforms and you know you just have to do the one that bolts you out of bed and you have a lot to say on it .
Speaker 1Do you find , though ? Now I'd love to kind of move the conversation to what you look for in people to cover and what are the touch points that you want them to have ? So I'm sure you've reached out , as we all have , at least on this end , because I go on both sides reaching out to brands and having brands reach out to me to be covered , and there's so much misinformation about what is needed to be covered , and there's so much misinformation about what is needed to be somebody that's worthy of consideration . If you could talk a little bit about that that'd be great , sure .
Speaker 2So I'm actually happy to see . You know , I think there's so many AI articles . You know , some of them like they don't even real people writing them . They've made up like I forget which publication it was , but they made up like a fake journalist . Like there's a lot of crap online and , you know , for a while it seemed like publications just wanted things to be written for you know robots to be reading it . Ie like just SEO out and it didn't sound like a human wrote it and it just wasn't fun to read and that was sort of the game plan for a while . And I think we're moving away from that . I think that you know these publications are losing readers because , you know , just reading something that's very , you know , highly SEO and not written like a real person wrote it , it's just it's not appealing . You know no one's going to read it , don't you ?
Speaker 1agree , and I'm sorry , so sorry to interrupt Like the expectation of people like you , tied to publications and the need to pump out content at unrealistic , unhuman speed because they just and so much of that I have found wasn't proofread , wasn't fact checked , wasn't like typos and grammar errors , because whoever was writing it was either unqualified or was in too much of a rush to get another set of eyes , and it's like at this point I feel like the expectation of readers now has to be higher or else we have so many options on where we can read .
Speaker 2I totally agree . I totally agree . And you know copy editors , improved readers I've worked as a professional copy editor , improved reader . I can tell . I mean , I'm constantly like , as I'm reading things , like horrified , but they've , they've let these people go for budgetary reasons . You know a lot of the publications have lost . You know ad dollars , of course . So it just it is what it is , but you know , and also e-commerce is a thing you know .
Speaker 2Things have to be , as Victoria was saying in your episode earlier , like things have to be available on major retailers . They have to be affiliate friendly . Unfortunately , they have to be on Amazon . That's not the case for all of you know no-transcript for things that are available , you know , at a major retailer , that's not to say like 100 percent of you know . Say , I'm writing a handbag story , I might be able to cover like one or two items that are not available at a major retailer .
Speaker 2But the other thing is and I think you know this is one of the reasons I love working with Time and AP they really want expert commentary .
Speaker 2Like you know , I'm somewhat of an expert in fashion and beauty , but they don't actually , you know , they don't want the quotes coming from me with regard to , like , specific , frequently asked questions that they always want to include at the end of the article . So they always want me , you know , to interview , you know , someone in the industry who is like a real expert , which is why I tapped you for that handbag article and I think that's great because , you know , I know what I know from being a consumer and I know what I know from being a journalist . But , like I , you know , you spoke to things that I absolutely would not know about and that's , I think , a little bit of a shift . I feel like , you know , the expertise was sort of put on the journalist for a while . We're moving back to like we need experts , we need to differentiate this content from the sea of same on the internet , and I think that that's making a difference .
Speaker 1I think all of that's so , so unique . I think you know , speaking to what you just said , a lot of the designers with whom I work . I think it's also really important for them to start seeing that USP , this unique selling point , as a point of differentiation , like what makes you special and understanding the landscape , doing a competitive analysis so you're able to speak to who else is doing what you're doing , analyze it , so when someone like you comes to want to cover that , you already know what you're looking for , as opposed to saying I'm the best thing that's ever happened . You know you've never seen anything like what I've done , because chances are you've seen a million . I think another thing that a lot of people tend to forget is if you're pitching a writer or a writer is covering you or has reached out to you , before you respond , look at everything they've written before .
Speaker 2That's great advice . Yes , yeah , just like , a little bit of personalization , I think , goes a long way . You know , I understand it's . You know I can't even imagine how intimidating and just like what a Sisyphean task it is to , you know , look up every single person you're pitching . But it's worth it . You know , even if you just look at their Instagram , even if you look at their .
Speaker 1you know , for writers , their muck rack just to get an idea of , like the last two or three things they wrote , what kinds of things they cover . It really makes a difference . Yeah , I think it's one of those things though that are you as someone ,
when you're looking to cover . Like what if you found , like the best designer product , independent handbag product , independent product , and yet they are not on Amazon , they don't have an affiliate link to a major retailer , Are they able to get an affiliate link through a major retailer if they're not sold on that platform ? Like , what are some recommendations you can suggest for someone to get coverage , Because it gets harder and harder ? It's like how do you look up a word if you don't know how to spell it ? Like , how am I supposed to get on a platform ? If I'm it's , I should be a good question .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's a good question , I would say . You know , I think independent sellers can sell on Amazon , so I think you can get on Amazon in a you know a multitude of ways , so that's something to explore and that would you know , take care of the problem . There's also skim links . I forget what some of the other there's shop my . There's actually a new affiliate network called flagship that I just found out about . That's a lot of smaller brands that influencers are working with , not necessarily like editorial publications , but that might be a good route because you know it's all about indie brands . You know , smaller brands on Flagship is another option . Again , like these tend to service content creators and influencers , but I think that that's a way in the door . But I would , yeah , I would reach out to you know , I would see what I could do to get my product sold on Amazon . Look into Skimlinks I'm not as sure exactly how that process works . And then , yeah , shop my flagship . And then there's also like to know it LTK or whatever , that's another one no-transcript .
Speaker 1At the very bottom it says affiliate links needed must have , and I think that's something that a lot of smaller brands need to realize , that have it available just for editorial , have it available just as an opportunity in marketing . It's not something you need to publicize , but just have it . So it exists , I agree . I agree , yeah , because editorial , at the end of the day , is supposed to lead to sales .
Speaker 2So right . The thing is that , as I said , they're not relying on advertising anymore , they're only relying on this . These you know e-commerce links are keeping them afloat . It is what it is . You can like it or dislike it , but that's just sort of the nature of the beast right now . So I agree with you , it's , you know , it's not ideal , but if you want to be considered that , unfortunately it's just a thing you have to do right now . Maybe that'll change , but for the moment that's the case .
Speaker 1That's wild that these publications can't depend on advertising anymore .
Speaker 2I mean , it's just crazy , those big events , that we'd go to the upfronts , the whole thing you know , I mean , I think the majority of the budget goes to Google , facebook and influencers , and then whatever's left goes to these , you know , legacy publications , but you know , that's just sort of what's happened .
Speaker 1So I just want to speak a little bit about how you receive what you should cover and is a lot of it ideas that you've come up with , or is it typically what's handed to you ? Because I know a lot of designers . When they're looking at people to cover them , they'll reach out and saying I'm sorry , I only do what's handed over . Like , how does it work with people like you ?
Speaker 2So for me . I actually go about it in a few ways . So I will , you know , let's say , I get a handbag assignment . You know the best , whatever the best tote bags , whatever it is I will usually , you know , do some research . I'll look online . You know , I'm a shopper . I'm buying handbags too . So I'm thinking about , you know , whatever I last purchased that I happen to like , and then I kind of cast a wide net , like I go on quoted Q-W-O-T-D , and I get a lot of things sourced through that . So a lot of publicists are on there and they'll pitch me . I find a lot of experts on there to interview . So that's one
avenue . I'm in a giant Facebook group of publicists . It's called PR czars . So that's another thing I do once I get an assignment and then I get a lot of that too .
Speaker 2You are too OK , great , yeah , I get a lot of everything from small brands to , you know , very corporate , larger brands that way . And then you know I have an Instagram following , so I usually put something on an Instagram story too . So anyone who follows me there will , you know , reach out . And you know I always tell people like friends of mine , if you have a handbag you know that you really like , let me know about it . So I sort of approach it that way and then go from there .
Speaker 1Do you ever come up with your own ideas and saying here's a story I'd like to do , and then pitch it out ? Or do you typically wait for someone to come to you with a story because you know it's paid for ?
Speaker 2I do , I do pitch things , but I think I've noticed just in the last several years it tends to just be more assignments , like I think the publications just sort of like know exactly what they're looking for . It's a lot of times it's based on SEO , really like frequently asked questions that people are just asking on Google . It's just sort of the nature of the beast right now . So I certainly can pitch things , I do pitch things , but I would say the majority of my fashion and beauty articles anyway of those assignments tend to be assigned . I also write for the Seattle Times about , like home decor , and that is actually all pitching . So and they don't want any e-commerce . Weirdly , like they don't even want me to mention products at all . So it's a mixed bag . You know it's bizarre , but it just depends on the publication .
Speaker 1Now , just to wrap up , how have you seen the trends in terms of stories that have come to you ? I mean , I know , like , regardless of when this , this episode runs , like , for example , right now , everything is so election focused . So is it like you know the top 10 products to wear that show your political pride , or something like that ? Do you find like that , the stories that have shifted in terms of what's pitched to you to write ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I would say there's definitely a timely angle . I mean , because I write a lot of shopping content , it tends to be like you know , I have a lot of Black Friday assignments . Right now I have one for furniture the best you know furniture sales for Black Friday . The best , dyson hairdryer sales is another assignment I have right now , but it runs the gamut . I mean , I get , like you know , fashion , beauty , home , all of that . So I would say it is definitely timely .
Speaker 2But because I'm mostly writing , you know , e-commerce stuff , it tends to be around like Prime Day , black Friday , labor Day sales . There's a lot of that in terms of like timeliness , but the rest of it is pretty evergreen . Though you know I'll do , like you know , time has me doing a lot of like single product reviews . They tend to be more like furniture items or like a perfume or you know something specific . I guess it could be like a handbag too , and I'm always pitching , you know , sort of one-offs like that and you know . But I'd say , like every you know , maybe I'll pitch 15 of those and one will get assigned .
Speaker 1Can I just ask you , just as a final question let's just say you're doing a story on handbags just for conversation's sake . What do you need the designer to have to send to you beyond just the link , just beyond an affiliate link ?
Speaker 2I would say I need like not , you know , I feel like the days of press releases are over , but I would need , like just like a paragraph about it , an image . You know , I obviously need to see it . They don't need to send a sample . That's kind of you know . That used to be the case . It's not the case anymore . No one's really doing original photography . So yeah , for me I would say , you know , a small write up , what makes it different , and an image where I can buy it , how much it is , and that's basically it .
Speaker 1And the image should be on a clean white background , just to be clear . Yes , yeah , that is helpful . Yes , yeah , because it's not like you're going to reshoot anything and I think that assumption is long gone of send it in , we're going to review it , we're going to shoot it , we're going to do a lifestyle shoot . Like those are gone . Unless it's a Vogue , it's not happening .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah . And if you have the budget of Vogue , but yeah , the budget is just simply not there for these publications in you know , 2024 . Oh my God .
Speaker 1Anyway , it's just so true how things have evolved . But you know what I always tell people , because I deal with retailers all the time , and the big box retailers and they're a lot of them are pretty doom and gloom , like , oh , nobody's shopping , and it's just everybody's shopping , everybody's just shopping differently , shopping , and it's just everybody's shopping , everybody's just shopping differently . And I think you know we had a glut of sameness for so long and then followed by COVID , where there was a backlog that I think all of us collectively are just hungry for something new and shiny and something that's going to bring joy . And it has to fall into two categories Either it's luxury that's already been approved , meaning like it's established .
Speaker 1I think it's very hard to get somebody to invest in a very expensive product if there's no backstory behind it , or it's been around , or it's within an affordable price point . That theoretically justifies the investment . Yeah , I would agree . That theoretically justifies the investment . Yeah , I would agree . So , amber , you have been phenomenal . Thank you , thank you , thank you for taking the time out of your day to talk to us . How can people find you , follow you and catch some of your amazing stories ?
Speaker 2Well , thank you for having me on . It was a delight to speak to you . People can find me on Substack . It's ambersubstackcom . The Substack is called Things I Buy as a Civilian . I'm also on Instagram . My Instagram name is the name of my old blog . I should really change that , but I haven't . It's rouge R-O-U-G-E , underscore 18 , like the number 18 . And yeah , that's pretty much it . It's those two places these days that I'm all over .
Speaker 1Oh my God , Amber Katz , thank you , thank you . Thank you for joining us on Handbag Designer 101 . Thank you , emily . Thanks for listening . Don't forget to rate and review and follow us on every single platform at Handbag Designer . Thanks so much . See you next time .