Questions for Einat Naveh of Be Happy NYC

Einat Naveh is a blogger based in New York City. Her mission is to find  things (mostly food) that make her smile. Check out her blog, Be Happy NYC.










Why did you decide to start blogging?  
I decided to begin blogging after I returned from my honeymoon July 2009 and realized I had so much extra free time in the evenings now that I had finished planning our wedding. I had also found myself in a place with nothing to "look forward to" on the horizon. I started my blog with the premise of finding what it is that makes me smile on a daily basis. Looking for the extraordinary out of the ordinary. 


Your focus is often on food- both cooking and dining out. What is on your 'must eat' list for NYC? 
It really depends on the cuisine and the occasion. A few of my favorites:


An ideal place for a 'fancy' brunch buffet is Brasserie 8 1/2

For fresh pasta, I like Po in the West Village or I Coppi in the East Village

The best pizza ever is Keste, and yes it IS worth the wait

The lobster roll at Pearl Oyster Bar is fantastic

If you're looking for  a steak dinner, Striphouse beats Peter Luger in my book

What else makes you happy? Any recommendations for readers? 

I obviously really enjoy trying new foods and indulging in old favorites. I also love to cook for friends and loved ones. Lately, I have gotten pure happiness from riding my new bike and from going back to doing yoga. I would tell anyone to keep trying different things and stick to what puts them in a "childlike" state of mind. There is nothing better than calming down the to-do list in your head with sautéing onions or biking up the west side highway.

How have you been promoting your blog? What kinds of social media tools do you use? 

I have a Facebook page that links to my Twitter account. I make sure every blog post I write I also share on Facebook. About 60% of my "fans" are my own friends. I played with Facebook ads in the beginning just to see how it worked and was pretty impressed with the results. I would highly recommend to any business to use the facebook ads as they are so targeted and I was seeing great conversion rates from clicks to fans (now "likes").

Your parents recently started an e-commerce jewelry site, which you've been helping them market. How does marketing a web store differ from the blog, and what have you been doing differently? 

I am so proud of my parents! They took their idea and made it a reality. Inspired by the book Eat, Pray, Love my parents went off on their own Bali adventure and curated an assortment of unique silver jewelry pieces that they now sell on Muse Bazaar. I wrote about them on my blog and they are starting to use Google Adwords. They are also thinking of starting a blog of their own on the site. The key to any site's success is obviously traffic. I helped them create a Facebook page and hope to get them using the Facebook ads soon!

Q&A with Jessie Weiss from Fashion Blog Les Mads

As part of my blogger interview series, I connected with Jessie Weiss, one of the founders of the Germany-based fashion blog Les Mads. Les Mads is published in both English and German, and is highly regarded as one of Europe's top fashion blogs.

What is unique about fashion in Germany? Is there a difference German and other European style bloggers?

Well actually Germany is a bit slower when it comes to trends, it's a bit conservative. You need your time to get accepted ;) Syle bloggers are still a bit shy to push their own individuality but I think we do in a good way.

What upcoming trend do you think will be hot in a year?

Trend in one year - well, let me wait and see the upcoming shows this september ;) Fashion is so fast, trends get adopted in a second... nevertheless I'd say the 90's will celebrate a big comeback because the 80's phase is almost over and we need something new.

Is there a unique German style? Can style be unique by one country or has it become more or less all the same all around the world?

Well I think we dont have a particular style here like all the Swedish style bloggers. Berlin is the only city in Germany where people look like they're from all around the world, which of course comes from street style blogs.

Do you have a fashion icon?

I think Chloe Sevigny's style is great. I have no idea what it is, but she can throw on everything and it looks good!

What is the future of blogging?

More influence, more opportunities to become part of the fashion scene which was more less private a few years back.

*Special thanks to Anne Koophamel

Encouraging New Social Media Strategies

I read two interesting articles this week, one from Jason Falls' blog and the other from Harvard Business' Conversation Starter, both focusing on the need for more critical thinking and out of the box designing for social media strategies. Now that social media has moved out of the woodwork, companies (and marketers) are becoming increasingly more formulaic in the creation and implementation of social media campaigns. And although Facebook, Twitter, and blogs should be part of any good social media, they shouldn't be the whole strategy.

As David Armano points out in Conversation Starter: "The current state of "social media" for many businesses looks more like an episode of MacGyver than Apple's design process. Duct tape and bubble gum hold together fragile tactics such as Twitter accounts run by the summer college intern (nothing against college interns) or agency-generated Facebook fan pages that have few actual fans. This is not how any design process begins. It's not a purposeful or intentional act of originating and developing a plan for a product, structure, system, or component. It's a reactive fragmented approach that may achieve short-term results for marketing but usually ends up living in isolation (a social media department)."

Jason Falls created a list of suggestions to round out a social media campaign. The highlights, paraphrased, are:

* Make a point of developing ideas that don't involve Facebook, Twitter or blogs.
* Devleop five tactics to reach consumers on forums and message boards.
*Take 10 pictures (without captions) that visualize what you’re trying to communicate, and upload them to Flickr. Look at them every day.
* Write a news report about the success of your campaign, starting with the headline that you achieved your goal and write the success story in reverse chronological order, imagining the blueprint for your success.
*Ask yourself, “What would make the boring, old clerk at the corner store tell me about this?” Find a way to weave that in to your strategy.

These suggestions apply to any type of social media campaign, but they are particular useful when creating campaigns targeting women. Women are indundated with unoriginal, formulaic, and disingenuous social media tactics from marketers and advertisers. If we are to reach women through social media, we must think outside the box to create clever campaigns that both appeal to them and engage them. If not, we run the risk of being just another advertiser pushing a product to deaf ears.

3 Questions with ShowMeYourWardrobe's Jackie Dixon

As part of my new interview series with top bloggers, I asked top fashion blogger Jackie Dixon of ShowMeYourWardrobe 3 questions. Below are her responses:

What was the original inspiration for your blog?
To put it simply: real style, and by that I mean how real people (and not models on a catwalk or a celebrity on the cover of a magazine dressed by someone else) put together a look. I am a stylist and have always admired how the people in my industry dress, whether it's a make-up artist that consistently looks immaculate or a photographer with an eclectic look. I love seeing how fashion influences people in reality and how each person incorporates a look or trend to suit them.

Why, in your eyes, do you think you've been so successful and have been able to reach such a broad audience?
I never think of myself - or my blog - as being "so successful". I am just really pleased if someone has seen it and even more happy if they like it as it's really fun to produce! Re the wide audience aspect I guess that's something to do with holding people's attention. It's interesting to see what the Creative Director of ELLE looks like and how she dresses, or a designer, illustrator etc. And because I always link the person's website you can check out their work too.

How do you see yourself, and other bloggers, fitting into the fashion world, now and in the future?
I think the beauty of blogs is that they are immediate, free, easy to set up and run and you're not censored or have to be biased in anyway. The blogs that review stuff can be completely honest and readers respect that. I think they proudly sit within the fashion world in a very prominent way. Marc Jacobs named a bag after BryanBoy, Tommy Ton (from Jak and Jill) just shot a Lane Crawford campaign and has teamed up with POP, Garance Dore just shot for Australian Vogue and Scott Schuman has shot for DKNY. Style Bubble is working with Dazed Digital, Rumi (Fashion Toast) is now with Next modelling agency...the list goes on! Blogs are ingratiating themselves within the fashion industry, even (British) Vogue just launched their very own blog!

Social Media vs. Blogging

eMarketer released results today from their 2009 Social Media Study, which found that "women are turning to all sorts of social media for fun, entertainment, community and connection." According to the study, 75% of women participated in social networking and 55% used (read, posted to, or published) blogs.

The 55% of blog users attributed to nearly 23 million women who read blogs, 12 million who posted to blogs, and 8 million who published their own blogs. “Bloggers represent a highly engaged and influential segment of social media users for brand marketers looking to connect to consumers online,” said Susan Wright, president of Compass Partners.

And the motivations for using for social media and blogs vary. Women who used blogs were more than twice as likely to seek information, advice and recommendations than women who participated in social networking. When providing advice or contributing to a community, more women also turned to blogs than social networks. According to Elisa Camahort Page, COO of BlogHer,“Blogs remain the go-to resource for those who want to gather information, share ideas and get reliable advice.”

Mommy Bloggers Mentioned in "New Blog Trends" Interview

In a recent interview about new trends in the blogosphere, the General Manager of Six Apart Media, David Tokheim, discussed the rise of mommy bloggers:

Mr. Tokheim: We’re seeing a lot more women blogging, a lot of mommy bloggers. They have a different dynamic than what we’ve seen from tech bloggers in that most of the moms have multiple blogs. They work with different networks like BlogHer, as well as Six Apart Media. And there’s a very strong community around what they’re doing.

eMarketer: What do you think is driving the spike in mommy blogging?

Mr. Tokheim: Two things: I think it’s awareness, or word-of-mouth, and blogging platforms have become easier to use.

For the full interview transcript, check out the eMarketer article here.