Buzznet is particularly significant to the BUZZMEDIA family as it was the site that inspired what is BUZZMEDIA is today – one of the largest publishers for music and entertainment. Please tell us what makes Buzznet unique and how it’s evolved as a brand, platform and a community in the time you’ve been working with the site.
Buzznet is unique in how it treats the idea of influence and reputation. We are really focusing on this and making sure we use it to power Buzznet’s evolution. We see Buzznet as a place where reputation matters – and not just regarding the Buzzmakers – but truly powerful and unique users who stand out within a particular niche. We want to make sure these people have a real hand in curating the site. When you take the notion of reputation, user generated content and a young female audience you’ve a pretty powerful recipe.

With a new video studio at BUZZMEDIA’s LA headquarters, we expect to see much more original video content across BUZZMEDIA’s in-house publishers. What new video programming and franchises can we look forward to seeing on Buzznet?
Buzzmedia’s new video studio has been a bright spot for Buzznet. It has allowed us to incorporate more original video programming on our site with a variety of music and fashion based shows and segments. We have been able to successfully produce Music Notes, on Tuesdays and Thursdays hosted by Buzznet’s Music Coordinator, Sara Scoggins. Music Notes highlights the most engaging music news for our users and visitors in a live-to-tape four-minute show. It includes noteworthy news, tour announcements and a Buzznet exclusive.

Another Buzznet original show is To DIY For, which goes up every Monday morning. This live-to-tape two minute show, hosted by Buzznet’s Executive Editor, Aimee Curran, is a series of tutorials based around giving a breath of fresh air to a tired wardrobe with easy, fast and inexpensive DIY tricks.

We have also used the studio to turn the spotlight on Buzzmakers with our Buzzmaker Obsession series. Buzznet partners with clothing companies to gift select Buzzmakers with items from their current line. The Buzzmakers then come in and discuss their new clothes, why they love them and, at times, have the opportunity to talk with a stylist, publicist or designer about it on-camera.

What is a Buzzmaker?
Buzzmakers are a large subculture of web influencers with strong social footprints who blog on Buzznet as their home base. Buzzmakers are the opinion leaders and trendsetters who represent the diversity and non-conformist personalities of the site. These influential online personalities with wide social media reach are recruited by BUZZNET as site ambassadors to blog and share their unique lifestyles with the group.

How do you go about selecting and recruiting new Buzzmakers?
Buzzmakers come to the program in all different ways. Some are referred to us through users or other Buzzmakers, others we seek out. Once we have on-boarded our new recruit they work closely with Kate Cordova our Talent Manager and our content producer Brittany Haggerty to develop a content plan to ensure we’re delivering the most addictive experience for their fans that we can!

As social influencers, Buzzmakers can be a highly favored solution for advertisers, lending their credibility and influence to branded campaigns in an authentic and effective way. Can you tell us about a recent partnership where Buzzmakers successfully promoted a brand or product?
The Princess by Vera Wang campaign is a great example not only of how Buzzmakers can amplify a campaign but also how a range of powerful elements like interactivity, badging, social and video compliment each other.

Check it out:

http://www.buzznet.com/cp/borntorule/

http://www.buzznet.com/tags/verawangprincess/

Buzznet has a robust badge system that inspires user sharing and participation. What is the most coveted badge in your rewards system?

The great thing about our badging system is that we reward users for contributions to the niches they are most passionate about. Our seasonal and one of badges are a big hit – right now the community is going bananas for our Halloween rewards!

Halloween planning is a lively topic for Buzznet’s creative and self-expressive audience. What are the most festive and creative Halloween preparations you’ve seen shared among the Buzznet community?
Buzznet loves Halloween and has dedicated an abundant of posts to this spooky time of year. Some of our favorite posts have included, Dogs dressed in costumes, Halloween cupcakes, Celebrity Halloween costumes, the best group and best friend Halloween costumes, how to throw a perfect Halloween party, Halloween music mixes, Halloween inspiration galleries, no carve pumpkin decorating  ideas and many more! The community has been very active in sharing their past Halloween memories and plans for costumes and parties this year. We have also had our Buzzmaker community answer questions about Halloween, scary movies and favorite spooky memories.

What is the next most anticipated pop culture event on Buzznet’s editorial calendar?
The current excitement revolving around a pop-culture event is our media partnership with Hopeless Records and Casa de Awesome for the All Time Low Halloween after-party. All Time Low is one of the most popular band we cover on Buzznet and have been working with the Hopeless Team to plan a promote a Halloween party following their sold-out show at House of Blues in Los Angeles. The band is touring in support of their new album Don’t Panic, which we used as a springboard to run an “All Time Faux “ contest on Buzznet. Users were asked to submit photos of themselves impersonating the guys to win tickets to a show of their choice along the tour route along with other band goodies. The after-party is the cap on our promotion and coverage of the album release.

With a trendy audience and swarms of editorial showcasing recent fashion week coverage, celebrity-inspired looks, and DIY fashion how-tos, what Buzznet-identified fashion trends do you think we can expect to see more of this season?
The Buzznet community is still CRAZY for nail art! In fact, and maybe it’s because winter fashion is so BORING this year, Buzznet is swarming with really cool beauty content – from make-up and hair tutorials to product news and inspiration. DIY is as hot as ever and our weekly show, To DIY For is gaining momentum!

Socially, Buzznet boasts over 5MM likes and followers, tallied from among its domain and its Buzzmakers’ Facebook and Twitter audiences. Per this success, what advice can you give publishers in enhancing their social media presence?
We work hard to understand how each of our social platforms works and how each of their audience differs. This ensures we are delivering the right content, in the right way on the right platform! Sure it takes much more time to curate each of our social properties uniquely but the results are well worth it!