Arrnott Olssen is the founder and editor in chief of Rouge La Vie, a comprehensive lifestyle magazine celebrating people of colour and innovation in fashion, food, travel and technology. He joined us in the latest episode of the Creative little Soul Podcast to discuss how he was able to build a successful digital publication from scratch as well as dish out some social media marketing wisdom. Throughout this interview Arrnott also helps demystify what the role of an ‘influencer’ is and discusses the most appropriate way to pitch to a magazine or influencer when considering collaboration.
Could you tell us about your journey into the digital world and the story behind your successful lifestyle blog?
“About 9 or 10 years ago I started a blog. This was the time when blogging was coming into the forefront of people’s minds. My friends would constantly ask me for recommendations. Where to go out, where to find a great pair of shoes and things of that nature. I created a blog called Arrnott The Collector, with the concept of sharing places and things to do. PR companies started inviting me to events. I would attend with a friend of mine, who was an amazing food stylist. The concept took off from there.”
A year or so later, after taking a hiatus to work on some other projects, Arrnott transformed and broadened his blog into a male oriented lifestyle magazine with an emphasis on fashion and food. He dubbed this new publication Rouge Homme, the latter translating to male in French.
“That was 8 years ago. I was smart enough to buy the domain and set up the Instagram account right away. I advise all my clients that I work with now to do the same. As soon as you’ve decided on a business name, check if the domain and social media handles are available and if they are, secure them right away, don’t wait! Because you never know if someone will grab it before you.”
Do you look back at your past articles and cringe?
“I did! especially when I go and look at Arnott The Collector stuff, but that’s hidden so you can’t find that! I saw a memory pop up on Fakebook recently and it made me think wow look how far I’ve come. My mum paid for my first website believe it or not, she didn’t really understand what I was doing, but she wanted to invest and support me.”
As someone who’s been described as an influencer could you explain what that means?
“I think the word influencer can mean a lot of different things to different people and it does have some negative connotations around it. I think if we strip it back, an influencer is someone who has the trust of an audience. By that measure, virtually everyone is an influencer. We all have our own sphere of influence with people who trust and believe in us, it’s just a matter of how you use and leverage that influence.”
“I recommend places to go on Rouge Homme’s social media pages. I was very careful when I started Rouge Homme not to push it on people and would always remain objective. For instance, if I had a slightly negative experience at a venue, I would be honest and upfront, but try and find something positive to say about it. I might, for example, say I wasn’t as big fan of the food, but I love the décor and the cocktails were amazing.”
Do you get paid for going to places?
“Not for events, I’m not one of those reality TV stars who charge people to turn up at an event. I go to events if I think it will be an interesting story. Yes, they feed you, but you still have to get there. Often, I think I could have bought myself a nice meal at home with the money spent in travel costs.”
“I say no to a lot of things because I just don’t have time. Of course, now there’s not a lot of events to go to at all, but there are a lot of zoom events! Next week I’m attending my first event at a venue with real life people and they’re very clear about it being COVID safe. I used to have no time for events, but now I have all the time in the word.”
What is the best way to contact or approach an influencer or blogger with a collaboration opportunity?
“I get a lot of event invitations via PR companies, but I also get contacted by the venues themselves. I often get really irritated at how a brand or a venue might approach me and how they word things. When I get contacted by a PR company, ordinarily they have done their research and tailor their pitch to our brand. But if I see they’ve spelt my name wrong or my business name incorrectly or it looks like a generic email they’ve copied and pasted and sent to a dozen other people, then I won’t respond.”
Arrnott stressed that it’s important for businesses and organisations to do their due diligence and research the influencers, bloggers and lifestyle magazines they’re interested in collaborating with. It’s important not to assume that influencers will jump on every opportunity that comes along.
“It’s very insulting when brands or businesses assume they’re doing you a favour by offering to collaborate. Said Arrnott. “Often, I’ll get unsolicited emails from people saying hey we think we have a great story for your blog, and we can even pay you $90! I’ll then email back my rate card. I tell them they should have researched first and taken note of the kind of stories and content we produce. It’s an insult to offer me $90 as though that’s all my skills and expertise are worth.”
“Often people won’t see the years behind our work and the time it has taken to build skills and cultivate relationships. There’s also the assumption that social media and content creation is easy and therefore of little monetary value, which isn’t true.”
In addition to running a lifestyle magazine you also manage a social media management agency. Could you tell us about that and the work that goes into creating that content?
“I’ve just started working with a new social media client. They have a cake shop in the city. When COVID hit, they had to pivot and evolve. I’m working with them to create a feel and a vibe for their social media. I took my cues from their logo and the café itself, which has a very dark, moody and vintage feel about it. I then created a mood board, and used that as a concept for the photoshoot. Because they’re a small, family owned business it’s important to work collaboratively so they feel a sense of ownership. It’s also important to be mindful when working with small businesses that when it comes to things like social media there will come a point where they will have to put it on pause due to budget considerations. Therefore, if I’m working collaboratively with them, they understand what is happening and can continue without me.”
How often should people be posting on Instagram?
“I would say you should be trying to do it as much as possible. If you don’t have anything to share then fair enough, don’t share random stuff that has no bearing on what you do as a brand or a business. Be aware of what other people are sharing about your business, what your target audience is engaged with and if it’s appropriate share. Then start to build your community.”
Should brands utilise every social media platform available? Or narrow their focus to just a few?
“For my brand, I cover fashion and food styling and interview interesting people. So, the kind of content on TikTok for example, doesn’t fit into our vibe. I started a personal account just to see how it went. I always think it’s worth exploring new social media platforms to understand the demographic. You then need to determine whether your brand or business can benefit from that social media platform. Can you sell a product through it? Can you tell a story that has meaning and tie it back to your brand and business? If you can that’s great, but ask yourself if you can realistically keep up with the content creation. Do you have enough people working for you? Do you have enough time in the day to research and post content? If the answer’s no then it’s not worth it.”
You also have an exciting new print magazine in the works could you tell us about it?
“When we went into lockdown, all the work I was doing disappeared. I was not in a good head space. I worked my way through that and in the middle of lockdown I began chatting with a friend of mine about incorporating more female content into Rouge Homme and broadening the brand to include Rouge Femme. I decided to rebrand, and Rouge Homme became Rouge La Vie with the goal of featuring both male and female content. I’m also a person of colour. I’m half Fijian, half European and I’ve often noted that I’m the only person of colour at events and I have to ask myself why that is.”
“Rouge La Vie evolved with the goal of telling more stories about people of colour. I reconnected with an old friend and together we discussed offering a print magazine version of the publication. We are now aiming for a December release for our first issue of Rouge la Vie magazine featuring stories of people of colour and beyond, connecting humanity. We want the magazine to be a reflection and celebration of modern Australia with a collection of faces and colours. Because we’re independent we can also look at smaller brands and businesses for advertising and editorial opportunities.”
Be sure to check out the amazing content on Rouge La Vie and stay tuned for the pre-release of their lifestyle magazine.