You may remember an earlier post I did on Lynn Thomas, who interviewed me for a terrific online magazine called Chic Galleria, the go-to magazine for all personal care, beauty, and fashion-related must-haves! Chic Galleria is the "brain child" of Beth Anderson. I'm very pleased that Beth agreed to be interviewed here on Silverlight. I'm sure you will find her success story very interesting:
How did you become involved with the online magazine Chic Galleria? It appears to be your idea originally, is this correct and if not, whose initial idea was it? Tell us more about your role in it.
About 2 years ago I started an online boutique, My Chic Things. To drive traffic to my store, I started a personal blog. To my surprise, I began meeting people online who asked to advertise on my blog. Through these contacts, I also met people willing to do a few guest blog posts when I felt like I was having writers block.
One of those contacts was Paul David of the Smart Stylist. His partner, Matt Lum of Hoodlum Productions, designed Perez Hilton’s website. Matt is extremely talented. We started throwing ideas around about a virtual shopping mall and Chic Galleria.com was conceived! We then transformed my old blog into Chic Galleria.com. Matt does all the design work on the website as well as our weekly Newsletter.
My son Austin and I co-own Chic Galleria.com. I’m the Editor-in-Chief and I have fourteen fabulous Contributing Editors who write for Chic Galleria.com. Christie Connelly, Elana Pruitt,, Paul David, Jamie Wheeler, Carrie Castleman, Peter Tosko, Jayne Goode, Libby Haynes, Christine Spencer, Phuong Le, Denise Tong, Terry Carter, Curtis Ludlow and Martha Collins. Since I have so many experts on board, we now have six sections publishing articles daily; Women, Men, Parenting, Gourmet, Living and Wellness.
How do you make Chic Galleria stand out on the internet? Does it advertise off-line?
We don’t do any off-line advertising except with our business cards. I continue to use social networking as a way to “stand out” in a crowd. Also, the people we feature in our articles are always kind enough to tell their friends.
How many different “hats” do you wear at your job?
I basically do everything you see on Chic Galleria.com except write all the articles. I manage the advertising, schedule the publication dates of the articles, contact people about a feature, find photos to go with the articles, etc.
What are some of the things you would like to accomplish in your career in the next 5 years?
I want to continue to attend galas and runway shows so that I can interview people in person. My friends Jack Mackenroth and Suede, both Project Runway alums, have introduced me to some wonderful people. I would love my social calendar to be booked!
I am currently looking into corporate sponsorships and would like to do some public speaking engagements.
What are your favorite things to do when you aren’t working?
Is there ever a time when I’m not working? Actually, I love to read. I’ve been lucky enough to receive several books from authors I have featured on Chic Galleria.com.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us or promote?
I absolutely love what I do! The contacts I’ve made through writing articles about people have been invaluable. I hope to continue to meet inspiring people and that Chic Galleria.com becomes everyone’s “Go-to magazine for all personal care, beauty and fashion-related must-haves!”
I hope you will stop by Chic Galleria.com and see for yourself what a fun, savvy, informative place it is to visit. Thank you Beth, for bringing it to us!
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