Bloggers: How to compensate them and still be kosher?

I just read a great article by Cate T. Corcoran on WWD.com called: Marketing’s New Rage: Sponsoring Influential Bloggers. Fashion seems to be leading the way and I believe beauty brands must be dealing with similar issues of their own. This is a difficult topic, but Cate’s research and insights were very good and this is a must read for understanding the space. Bloggers are a fundamental part of both fashion and beauty industries that rely so strongly on word of mouth and influence. Some are bigger than traditional niche publications and brands are starting to realize that. Jessica Schroeder from the blog What I wore makes an interesting point in the article:

“The brands that are working with bloggers, I think they get it, they realize bloggers are their customers and their bloggers’ readers are their customers, so they’re taking that natural chain of who they want to work with. You have these customers who are already wearing their stuff, so why not see how you can take it further with design collaborations or videos?

In my opinion, open collaborations with bloggers and friends/fans (we call it Social Production) are the best way to go forward. Inviting them into the product development process, like Coach did resulting in the launch of 4 handbags designed by NY and LA fashion bloggers, and allowing them to participate in the research, ideation, design and launch can spur innovation, engagement and most importantly sales. This will create a different dynamic and revenue model for bloggers (how different is this from a free-lancer?) that may help solve the problem of trying to use traditional compensation strategies in our post-modern blogging media world.

Sources & Photo Credits: WWD & Refinery 29