Being a marketer as well as a writer, I’m often curious to see a 360 degree profile of what my audience is doing — buying, selling, eating, drinking, wearing, living. Knowing what you readers like and dislike makes both of the hats I wear much, much, easier to deal with.
That said, I’m putting my marketing cap on.
Deluxegrrl is supported by advertisements, truth, and the American Way. OK, primarily by advertisements. One type of advertisement I’m looking at is called Cost Per Action (CPA) or Pay Per Lead (PPL). As you can see, there are little text ads from Google — those are Pay Per Click (PPC). PPC ads pay decently, but they don’t tell me as much about you as I would have hoped for.
PPL ads are pretty direct — you either click on them and take action, or you don’t. I get a small incentive for the action you take, which further powers this blog (bandwidth, primarily - this site is beginning to take off, and my hosting account knows it 
) and keeps my lovely accountant happy.
I’m a fan of relevance — if there are ads on this page, they should be fairly relevant. I’ve turned down sponsors because they don’t quite match the tone and audience of this site. I believe you can keep the lights on without resorting to just any old thing.
So, I’m looking at some CPA networks, and looking at their offerings, the biggest thing in the women’s category is weight loss. Considering this is a plus-size audience, weight is and always will be a sensitive issue (hence why there hasn’t been much discussion on it here). Is weight loss an actual interest of this bunch?
That’s the main question I have: is ‘weight loss’ an actual interest? I’ve been dying to touch on some of the crazy diet notions, talk up some organic stuff, and …well, you’ll see 
My goal in 2007 is to really reach out to all of you — something that I haven’t quite been successful at in 2006.
That’s my fault. 2006 has been sort of up-and-down for me, Reversia Media (the company behind the pink-and-purple blog you all love so much), and my family/extended family. Death, screwed up hands (I lost sensation in three of my fingers for 2 solid weeks, and I still don’t have sensation in my index finger yet), unemployment, unexpected moves, divorces (not mine 
), and overall life have made 2006 sheer trouble for Deluxegrrl, and I’m hoping that 2007 is a lot brighter.
Again, I would like to thank all of you for sharing in the ups-and-downs of Deluxegrrl, and making it an up-and-coming star in the plus size fashion niche. Your comments, links to this site, and ad-love make running this site much, much, easier.
Oh yeah. The last two paragraphs were written with my human cap on, so savor them
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December 28th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Yes, weight loss and health are of interest to this plus size woman. Not because I have any interest in conformity - the “ideal” pushed upon by the mainstream fashion industry is is around a size 4, and at best the smallest I’ll ever get is a size 12 (and at that size, my doctor got alarmed). That said, there’s still a general dearth of education about food choices and their impact, exercise, how many calories you really need to burn to lose weight and how many calories you need to actually consume to prevent your body from storing fat as though you were lost in the mountains. The diet industry regularly exploits this absence of education.
Since very few diet companies make any effort to sincerely address the cultural cluster that drives women into psychological states indicated by disordered eating (they want to keep their dieters a bit messed up, so they have to come back when they fail), it’s important to do whatever it takes to improve overall plus-size self-esteem so that women are more inclinced to recognize their tendencies and care for themselves better .
If you focus on educating people in proportion to the number of ads run for weight loss products, I’d be interested in reading. It’s never good to step on sponsors, however, so you may have to seriously consider who you take onboard.
December 28th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Diana,
I’d love to write more about healthy weight loss strategies — I didn’t know that was a topic that plus size women have a hunger for.
My other interest is in organic food and sensible dieting — my health has improved dramatically since I’ve cut a few things out of my diet, such as shellfish, pork, and deep-fried everything.
I didn’t want anyone to believe that I honestly want all of you lovely ladies to turn into size 4’s. However, I know I’m a bit squishy and I’d like to be less squishy and a little more firm.
Mr. Deluxe’s take? Simple. “You can do side bends or situps, but please don’t lose that butt!”
That should totally be our anthem for 2007.
Thank you for replying, Diana!
December 28th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I think it’s a market for those types of ads for sure, but there are so women who have body issues I don’t want contribute to it.Also I don’t like the way the weight loss industry is so bias againist fat folks.I have so many reason why I hate the weight loss industry I couldn’t in good conscience support them.I wish there where more blogs for plus size women talked more about healthy living.
December 29th, 2006 at 10:45 am
I have never been a fan of weight loss ads. I have blogged about how to eat and live healthy and that is something that doesn’t single out plus size men and women.
One of the affiliates to my blog is Ediets and though I struggled with the decision to promote them when they approached me I agreed to do it because there is a lot of educational material that is offered.
I try to make my blog not only deal with the fashion side but the overall life of a plus size man or woman. I think you can serve your audience well be talking about all of the things that you mentioned and not alienate your core readers at all.
December 29th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
[…] Switching gears back to plus size related stuff I was reading over at Deluxe Grrl her struggle with whether she should promote weight loss on her blog and if readers of a plus size fashion blog would care about it. I for one believe in promoting a healthy lifestyle and that is something that I will always promote in my writing. […]
July 18th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Weight loss challenge…
Please use this site to lose weight. It’s useful for your health and beauty….