Konector interviews Elessa from Pursebuzz

Konector interviews Elessa from Pursebuzz, who has been rated the most influential beauty blogger in the Top 50 Beauty Blog and Bloggers report. Her blog, Pursebuzz.com, has been ranked sixth out of the top beauty blogs. She is the most popular beauty blogger on MySpace with 3,700 followers, she has over ten thousand followers on Twitter and one thousand friends and fans on Facebook. However Elessa’s greatest impact comes from her presence on YouTube. To date she has 141 thousand channel subscribers on YouTube, she has produced 395 videos that have been watched over 45 million times.

   Elessa from Pursebuzz.com
   YouTube: youtube.com/pursebuzz
   Twitter: twitter.com/pursebuzz
   Facebook: Pursebuzz
   Myspace: myspace.com/pursebuzz

Konector: Congratulations on being named the most influential beauty blogger. So tell us a little bit about yourself, for instance do you blog full time or part time?

Elessa: I blog full time, I work full time, and while being a full time grad student. I don't really leave much room for down time but I love it like that. During the day I work as a project manager in an industry completely opposite of anything beauty related.

Konector: What is the history of Pursebuzz.com?

Elessa: Pursebuzz.com was launched 2006 but under the blogspot.com umbrella. When I picked out a theme and how I wanted it to look like I officially moved over to pursebuzz.com early 2007. I started the blog as a way to hold my videos and information. I have always wanted my own website and I figured why not write about something I love- all things beauty. At the time I only knew of specktra.net and I since I was working closely with other industries that had blogs I wanted to bring that to the beauty industry. I started on YouTube to help others. I originally uploaded a video for a friend and I received requests for different looks and so from there I started the pursebuzz channel. I watched expert village and Tricia Sawyer's videos and I just felt that it was great for professionals but what about the everyday people? We don't constantly have an artist and stylist following us. So I wanted to do tutorials to demonstrate how to achieve these celebrity looks on your own. So after I uploaded the videos I added it to pursebuzz.com and the rest is history. I wanted to have an online magazine that was up to date and always fresh.

Konector: Tell us something special about the blog, why do you believe it has been so successful?

Elessa: My blog is successful because not only have I readers, they have become long time friends. I reach out to my audience by providing them with the pros and cons of new products so they don't have to waste their money on products that don't fit their needs. Everyone is busy and we all don't have time to read long paragraphs about a product. So when I review I keep it simple and to the point. Bullets on the pros and cons and how I feel about it over all. The main component that makes my blog successful are my videos showing you how to use the products and how to style your hair to look good for that special occasion. By using YouTube as a platform to host my videos I am able to bring those who don't normally watch YouTube go to YouTube and those who watch YouTube visit my blog. It's a great way to build 2 way traffic.

Konector: Do you have any exciting plans in the future for the blog that you believe will increase your readership in the coming months?

Elessa: I do, I have been learning a lot more about what my readers are looking for and I am going to really cater to that. I can't say just yet since all the details aren't there, but I know it's going to be good.

Konector: With all your success, have you had any additional exposure in the press?

Elessa: Yes. I have been in the New York Times, Glamour Magazine, Self Magazine. An eye ball on Rachel Ray's show. Riviera Page 40 , and some international news papers just to name a few.

Konector: Tell us something special about you, something beyond the beauty blogging world?

Elessa: I like to collect things. If I like something (mostly tops) I want to have it in every color. It’s something I get from my mom. It makes getting ready in the morning so much easier when you know how it will look since you already own two of the same. I love playing video games except I have zero hand -eye coordination but I am hooked on the Sony PS3 PSN games like Trash Panic. I can't play too much because it takes away from pursebuzz.com.

For more information about the most influential beauty bloggers and Konector’s report, The Top 50 Beauty Blogs and Bloggers, please visit the Konector web site here.

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