The answer to why you might not be getting blogged

Oh hey, look! A non-365 day post!

So, I have a lot of friends who create things in SL. Most of them I've met via plurk, and as such, they are more likely to talk and ask questions. One of the big questions I've seen is "Why isn't anyone blogging my stuff?!" And then of course, their blogger friends make up all kinds of excuses and tell them that their stuff is great and we'll totally blog it! [Yes, I do it, too! But usually I try to make good on it.]

Well, there are truly a lot of reasons why your item may not get blog exposure. I'm not a professional in marketing, but here are some of the reasons why I personally wouldn't blog something that I've received. And I gather if it's the same for me, it might be the same for several others.

I received a review copy through a bloggers group, and upon rezzing it, I realized it wouldn't make the blog for a few reasons.

1. It was completely not my style.

The item was a VERY short, tight, nipple baring minidress with a photosourced texture. [I'm assuming it was supposed to be a dress, although it might have been more of a shorts outfit as there was no skirt prim.] Although I'm not against sexy clothing, it simply was not my style at all. I love to play dress up, and I'd actually love to blog more things that are outside of my normal comfort range, like costumes and such, but if it's not my style, it's just not. Plus, I'm not down with photosourced textures unless blended with hand drawn to make something wonderful. That leads us to...

2. I didn't care for the quality.

I won't say that I'm overly picky, especially when the designer is new to SL [I'm unaware if this person is or isn't], but there are certain qualities I look for in an item. Are the hems too smeared on my arms or legs? Do the seams even meet? Does one strap look like it might tear apart? Do the prims match the rest of the outfit at all? Do I look like I'm wearing a photo of an item or is it hand drawn or a hand drawn/photo blended combo? Can I modify any prim pieces to make them fit or will I be stuck with a skirt that I can't wear? Is it just a recolor of an XStreet purchased template? If it's a non-fashion item, will I be able to use it ever? Are there texture glitches? Do the poses work properly? Are the prims lining up correctly? If I find the quality to be severely lacking, chances are, it's never going to be blogged. Maybe something might not be my style, but if the quality is there, I can't argue with it.

And the biggest reason in the world why something will probably not be blogged?

3. I had no idea where it came from.

Listen to me carefully: Bloggers get at least a couple of review copies a day, either through people dropping things on us, or through groups. If you do not LABEL your item with your store name, we will not remember where it's from. Just titling your folder or box with "Dress outfit" means it will get lost in my inventory and thrown out at the next inventory cleaning. I need it clearly titled, "MY STORE - Dress Outfit." Or even better? "Review Copy - MY STORE - Dress outfit." Then I absolutely know what it's for. It also did not help that in the group notice, the creator never said the store name either. Your store name, your brand name, can NEVER be said or shown too much when you are attempting to get noticed.

Upon further inspection of the item, there was not a store name on the vendor. At all. And when I opened up the colors of the outfit, again - no store name and no landmark. I need a landmark so I can come to your store and check prices and check out your other items if I plan on blogging it. Don't ever worry about someone getting annoyed that they have your landmark 50 times now. I can delete a landmark, I cannot make one appear out of thin air. Especially if I can't get to your store anyway because I have no idea what your store is.

These are just 3 of my biggest reasons. There's other smaller ones, like I think the item has been shown off much better in several other blogs, it's named after someone I don't like [shut up, yes I am that immature at times], the creator has been horrible in public forums, reviewing it would make it seem like I'm taking sides of some fashion drama, or...I just get lazy. Seriously, I just get LAZY. I try very very hard to show off each item I blog to the best of my ability and so this usually means I spend a LONG time taking pictures and looking for the best shots. I will never be one of those 10 posts a day, show everything with crappy lighting and too much blur type of bloggers. I don't think that does me, or the creator of the item, any good at all.

I'd love to hear more reasons why someone may not get blogged. I know all the bloggers are very different and some of them may have other ideas as well! :)