In Episode #9 of the Black Web 2.0 Show we interview Karrine Steffans, author of the New York Time best selling books Confessions of a Video Vixen and The Vixen Diaries. Karrine has just completed her third book entitled Vixen Manual a book about love, sex and relationships through the eyes of a woman, slated for release July 2009.
We sat down with Karrine to discuss her business and web technology strategies, including her unique use of Twitter, her social network aligned with the release and subsequent chapters of her newest book, as well as her thoughts on Black Blogs and their relationships with other news publications.
Note: Karrine agreed to interview with us after we removed the use of her moniker in a past article spotlighting her recent use of Twitter.
Enjoy
September 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Changing what you wrote in the past about a subject to land an interview is not a good look.
It’s ok to change something at Karrine’s request if you agree you made a mistake in facts or taste, but not in exchange for access.
And I know you wanted to be transparent by announcing it, but that makes her look petty and you look weak.
I love this blog, by the way. I’ve sent in tips, and I’ve commented many times before.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Nah, not at all. We changed it in fact because the term we used ‘Superhead’ was in fact demeaning and we were wrong for doing it and shouldn’t have used it in the first place. We did not change it to “land and interview” at all. I strongly doubt admitting this makes us look weak, it makes us look professional. Thanks for reading Hashim, we love having readers like you
September 12th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Just to piggy back a little: We did not change the post we removed her moniker, that’s it! The premise of the post remains the same. We did not/will not change a post so that it is more or less favorable for anyone. We stand firmly behind our content and that of our writers, and I apologize for not being more clear in our retraction statement. Thanks for the comment.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Angela,
I know you wrote, “We did not change it to ‘land an interview’ at all.”
But Markus wrote:
“Karrine agreed to interview with us after we removed the use of her moniker”
Maybe Markus should clarify.
But that’s all I’ll write about that. I don’t want to hijack the comments. I’d rather read what people think about the interview.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Very good interview. I stand by the post I wrote on Karrine: she’s ahead of the game on the web, no matter what you may think about her, and this interview reinforces that. In general, people don’t give her the credit she deserves. I am glad you guys did this interview, and glad she accepted. This is definitely the Karrine I respect.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:41 am
@Hashim
@Liz I agree, your initial post was great and this is definitely a side of Karrine people should know about.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I cant be mad at her hustle!
September 12th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
At the risk of sounding like a “fan”, I have to say that Karrine and her books have been the hot topic of discussion on more than one occasion in my girly-circle. There are things that many of the girls don’t agree with, and that’s their perogative. My whole point then, and now, is that no matter WHAT she’s done, (ahem) her ventures appear to be springboards for something else better. And why not? We do it in our lives everyday. I saw her Twitter post when she requested that the moniker be removed, and that’s all it was. She didn’t hold the interview hostage, she wants to move on from being remembered as “THAT”…..She doesn’t get the credit she deserves and at the end of the day, I don’t give a good got-dern what the chile does behind closed doors; she hustles and makes her child her priority. PURR-REE-YUD.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I respect Karrine’s use of the web, social media, etc.
however, nobody would know or care who she was if it wasn’t for the “demeaning” Superhead moniker, and the story behind how she ended up with it.
let’s be serious.
September 12th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
This was a great feature. I agree with Eskay. She has to be ok with hearing people say “superhead” because no matter how bigs she gets she is still going to be known by that “moniker” word. She seems very knowledgeable about new media which is awesome.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
So far I only got 6 minutes deep so I’ll come back to say more. First off, great job Angela and Markus. Though I understand what really happened and went down with the decision not to use the name(or to remove the name), I might have tried using a disclosure that read more like we made the professional decision to remove the moniker and eventually she came around to doing an interview. But let’s not focus on that, let’s focus on some points of the interview.
1. I have always thought that this was a smart woman. She understands marketing, much in the same way that folks like Jay-Z and 50 Cent understand marketing. Of course things work differently for women though so I won’t expect to see any large brands connecting with her brand. This interview just really highlights that she understands marketing, be it traditional marketing or the new era of marketing (which a lot of it comes through social media tools or the Web in general).
2. But in understanding marketing, and now the Web, I’d have to say she would have to understand that the brand is the person and they are not two separate things. Whatever action you as a product does is always going to be tied to who you as a person is. Point Blank!
3. I chuckled a bit when I heard “The Vixen Manual.” That right there is banking off of and piggybacking off the identity that is the “supahead” name. It’s really hard to separate those two things. People will accept this manual from this author because of the brand that’s already been established. Historically, this “moniker” is a part of this brand. The only way that brands separate from older identities is to create completely new ones. It doesn’t sound (yet, as I’ve said I only got 6 minutes in) as if there are plans to change the basic idea and formula of what the brand is.
More to come when I hear this in full.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Outstanding interview!!! I enjoyed every minute of it. She seems to be very business minded.and has her head on straight.
GREAT JOB MARKUS AND ANGELA!!!
September 12th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Fantastic interview Angela and Markus. As an author and social media aventurista, I appreciate your interview with Karrin. Great tools.
September 13th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Final conclusion: Job well done with this interview for BW20 — it was tight and on point.
And for KS, I gotta respect her hustle. For real. She’s about the business (or has some serious business and new media advisors alongside her).
Also I hear her on the blog bit…I’ve always had this journalist vs the blogger thing. The reported vs. the rumored. Blogs definitely have their place but many of those getting the top traffic don’t always have the real scoop, but unfortunately people tend to believe them as the bible. It makes me think more about the idea of blogging ethics (or code of conduct).
I don’t agree with her that publishing doesn’t respect blogs though. Why would William Gibson have started his own blog? And other top writers as well, as he’s not the only one. But there are blogs that have as much clout as the MSM across many categories — politics, technology, etc.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
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September 19th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I really enjoyed this interview. It thought it was quite interesting to see how Karrine Steffans (as a brand) really is. She’s incredibly intelligent and that definitely makes me respect her even more.
September 21st, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Only hoes from broken homes, or bastards whose mommas were hoes care for Superhead aka Karrine DiMichelle-Steffans. (Even Karrine knew you couldn’t turn a hoe into a housewife, and although she tried to make it look like she was a respectable woman by claiming to be married earlier, it backfired.)
Some of you need to pick up a copy of Black Enterprise, Money, Forbes, or something, or even NESBE’s Black Engineer magazine and see upstanding role models who are ahead of their game. Karrine isn’t a businesswoman, she’s a trick, and the trick is on both of you who praise her and herself.
September 21st, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I respect everyone’s right to their opinion, but I kind of worry about the fact that so many people give Karrine Steffans props. She is a hustler, so of course she talks a good game. Being a woman who knows how to talk her way into profitable situations and then using her body to do the rst is not really one to be respected. I am surprised at the people or person who says she puts her son first. First of all, she continues to ho around and introduces him to different men.
I believe Bill Maher and Darrius McCrary were said to have met him. She let Bobby Brown live with her and you know that will be a bone of contention for this boy when he starts having to whoop mofos asses over them bad mouthing his skank of a momma. She’s basically setting hm up to get clowned. She is simply tired and I am surprised that these men still keep sleeping with her, let alone her being engaged. I wanna say like Dap from School Daze “WAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUP!!! I hope the moral fiber of our community has not deteriorated to the point where she is considered a role model.
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
The O - Before you wrote your comment, did you check the backgrounds and bios of the people commenting or even of the ones who did the interview? I realize you said “Some of you need to pick up…” But, still, you’re making a blanket statement here. Furthermore, have you read any of this site beyond this one post to make a judgment overall? Even a ho or trick (as you’ve used the terms interchangeably) has a hustle. Hustle or grind is the basis for all business moves.
Kerrian - I’m not sure anyone here said they upheld her as a model. She’s being used here as a case study. A case study of how the “entertainment industry” is using the Web to promote personal brands and thereby creating revenue streams for its/their products.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:58 am
I am very impressed with this interview, she was very knowledgeable and to be honest I thin k she’s brilliant and genious and I think her judgemental detractors are ignorant and most importantly NOT PAYING ATTENTION.