So you wanna be a Fashion Blogger, sounds easy, right?
Charlotte, author for CollegeFashion writes “fashion blogging is growing so fast, and for the first time ever, fashion bloggers are being noticed and taken seriously in the fashion industry. There’s truly never been a better time to blog about your style.” While I agree with this statement, I will argue that there are so many fashionistas, fashion bloggers, beauty, and personal-style gurus on the interwebs that chances of being noticed are certainly not as simple as Charlotte makes them seem.
So what exactly do I have to do to become a fashion blogger? Take a few pictures build some OOTD collages, post them on Instagram, #hashtag, make sure to tag your photo with what you are wearing others will want to [tap for details] and double tap for ♥. Sit back, relax, and watch the magic happen. Hate to break it to you — but it not that easy.
After taking a very close look at my favorite fashion bloggers and finally having the courage to make a commitment to myself to become a fashion blogger I have compiled this basic how to list: Becoming a Fashion Blogger aka Building My Fashion Empire.
1. Do your research. Like really, do your research, find out who is out there – they are seriously just a couple clicks away. Remember, you want to be unique, you want to be different; what will make you stand out and get noticed? Take notes, what social platforms are these fashionistas using? (To start pick three social channels to share your blog content; once you’ve got those three up and running and you feel confident add one more at a time.) How often are they posting? Do they engage with their followers? Do they do a weekly or even bi-monthly videos to answers frequently asked questions? Do they share outfit information and inspiration? What are your favorite fashion bloggers doing? What will you do that is different? How can you combine the best of the best to stand out?
You can start your research here: The 99 Most Influential Fashion & Beauty Blogs And, if you happen to be super impressed or blown away, take notes, right click, and check out their page source — how did they build their site, how are they optimizing their site (more on this below)? If you want to motivate yourself – try looking for their first post – building a fashion empire is a process, remember it is not as easy as it looks.
2. Start drafting your (fashion) vision and values statement, sounds old school right? Well, let me tell you, essentially you are building your own BRAND, and this will help guide you as you think about design and crafting your messages – it will give your fashion blog a very unique voice, you don’t have to put it up for the world to see but you should put it up somewhere for YOU TO SEE.
3. Now that you have built your vision, build your blog. #builditandtheywillcome
- Pick a name for your blog.
- Get yourself an email address that is solely dedicated to your blog. (You will be glad you did later!)
- Build yourself a simple, easy to read blog, I recommend using WordPress. (Make sure to use Yoast and optimize away – remember that vision and values statement? Does it have keywords that describe you and your blog? Might want to use them here. Not enough keywords? Or want more? Check out Google AdWords: Keyword Planner.)
- Using your new email, create and hook up social channels to your blog. Use these channels to share snippets of your blog content – remember that social is a great free and organic way to drive traffic back to your blog.
***Word to the wise, don’t just re-post the same content on all of your social channels, mix it up!
4. Set goals and build a schedule. Everyone understands that you work full time and you need to sleep, so start with at least one blog post a week and 2-3 posts on each social platform.Re-evaluate this schedule in a month or two.
5. Analyze. How can you re-evaluate if you don’t analyze? Use Google Analytics. Don’t be intimidated – here is a YouTube video: Getting Started with Google Analytics.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Becoming a Fashion Blogger aka Building My Fashion Empire, which will explore more on using social media, photographs, scheduling and building content. Also to be on the lookout for my very own fashion blog, Chicxicana.
saludos, chicxicana