What to include

1. A list of the ways you earn compensation–usually in the form of gifts and money–from your site. This could include advertising, product reviews, affiliate programs, etc.

2. Whether or not your content is influenced by advertisers. If you post about certain topics, shops, or products solely because you’re being compensated to do so, that should be clearly stated. It is considered ethical to mark those posts as “Sponsored” or “Paid content.”

3. If and how your opinion–not your content, but the way you feel about it–is influenced by paid advertisers or free gifts. If an advertiser is telling you what to say or insisting you use certain keywords in an editorial post, your “opinion” is being influenced. This is strongly discouraged because it’s often the result of a blogger being taken advantage of by a company. It’s best to say no to these types of offers!

4. Whether any affiliations–your employer, organizations you’re a part of, financial interests, family ties–influence your content and opinions. Many bloggers list the organizations and brands that might present a potential conflict of interest in the disclosure policy.

On GP

• Label ad space as “Advertising” or “Sponsors” so readers know who is paying you for space on your blog. If you mention sponsors and advertisers in a post, it’s good practice to note that in the post–it could be as simple as adding (sponsor) behind their name.

• In the case of product reviews and the like, it’s best to remain as impartial as possible. However, if someone is sending you free stuff, it can feel weird to say something negative. This is where a policy of only endorsing brands you really like–and preferably use–comes in handy.

• Post the policy on your sidebar, About page or add a separate Legal page–whichever works best for your site.

The easy way

Don’t feel like wading through all the legal mumbo-jumbo? Yeah, us either! Luckily, Disclosurepolicy.org has made it simple to generate a basic disclosure policy with a few clicks.

Having a site full of images is attractive and engaging to your readers. Saving all your media–images, video, animation, etc.–can take up quite a bit of space on your computer or USB (which comes with the hassle of remembering to carry it around with you). However, there is one concern that I have come across: Where am I supposed to store all my media content?

If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you start saving your media content online! Images stored “in the cloud” are accessible anywhere you have internet access, and accounts are easy to set up.

Many of the hosting sites are free. Here are a few suggestions:

Photobucket

This is one of my favorites for those who want a no-fuss alternative. It’s easy to set up an account, and the service boasts handy features such as mobile compatability to upload pics from your mobile, as well as image editing features for your photos (handy!). Each media item you upload comes with a unique URL so it’s easy to insert them into widgets, store blog icons, and create slideshows.

Flickr

With a free Flickr account, you can upload 2 videos and 100MB worth of photos each calendar month. With a Pro account (currently $24.95/year), you get unlimited video and photo uploads, unlimited storage, and unlimited bandwidth. Many people don’t realize this, but Flickr images have their own unique URL, too!

esnips

Esnips is also on the top of my list as a site that does everything for you. It’s free to join, and you can store up to 5GB for free. Extra features include the ability to publish straight to your Twitter feed, create music playlists,  and create static and animated widgets. It also has a mobile application where you can download or upload your pictures, video, and music from your mobile phone for those always on the go.

Picasa

If you use Blogger, all images uploaded are automatically placed into a (free) Picasa Web Album linked to your blog. Since Picasa is a Google product, you can connect your Picasa albums to your Google profile and Google Buzz.

Adding images to your site

Just upload your images from your computer to the hosting site of your choice, where each image or video is given a unique URL. To add images in your online storage account to your site, select the image insertion tool, choose the “from a URL” option, then paste the unique URL code, and you’re good to go!

Blogger

Insert image> From URL

WordPress

Add an image>From URL

Tumblr

Upload a photo>Use a URL instead

I find it’s a great alternative to freeing up some of that memory on your computer!

When it comes to blogging, especially about fashion, there are three blogging networks that bloggers turn to: Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr. But which one should you use?

I have used all three platforms, and am here to tell you the pros and cons of each so you can decide for yourself:

Blogger

Pros:

• Blogger is the most popular blogging network. Putting anything on this website is very simple because most other websites and applications consider Blogger and make it possible to connect.

• Since it’s owned by Google, there are many features you can add to enhance and promote your page like Google Reader, Google Friend Connect, and Google Adsense.

• Blogger is easy. If you’re new to blogging, Blogger lays out everything for you.

Cons:

• There are a few technical issues with Blogger, like the clock or even uploading photos to your page. Different blogs experience different difficulties using this platform.

• Template choice is limited. You can change the backgrounds and colors, but it comes down to pretty much the same thing using the standard templates.

• Blogger has the right to delete your blog without any warning if they don’t like your content or think it is spam.

WordPress.com

Pros:

WordPress is a bit more advanced, and includes integrated blog statistics (so you know how many people are visiting, and when), as well as built-in spam protection for comments.

Plenty of attractive themes available.

Tech support in the form of helpful user forums–if you have a problem, there’s probably someone out there  with a solution!

Cons:

• Some bloggers find it difficult to use at first, but with time you will learn it and enjoy the benefits!

• Customizing your template requires a small yearly fee and some knowledge of CSS.

• Looking for publicity? Find it somewhere else. WordPress is a popular site but unlike Blogger, you will have to publicize your blog on your own.

*Ed. Note: There is a difference between WordPress.com and the blogging software available for free at WordPress.org (self-installed WordPress).

Tumblr

Pros:

• Easiest place to share tons of pictures of your outfit–and you can get reblogged on the site easily!

• Large variety of free templates.

• Easy-as-pie posting.

Cons:

• A place mostly for just pictures, videos, quotes or short pieces of inspiration, not long-form writing.

• A picture that you posted today could be posted by someone else the next day, and you may not be credited as the original poster.

• It can be repetitive. Most of the supposed new and original art, photos and etc on Tumblr are often re-blogged.

• Comment boxes are not automatically a given. You have to create your own through Disqus or another third-party application, then add it to your Tumblog.

I don’t use any of the major blogging networks anymore (though I refer to Blogger for other needs). I have switched to the OnSugar network, which was created for fashion blogging. It has served me as a good blogging platform just as Blogger and WordPress would. I do have my complaints, but what site doesn’t have its pros and cons?

It’s up to you to check out these blogging networks to determine the best place for you and your ideas. It’s your blog!

While you could achieve these effects using expensive photography equipment or by making multiple adjustments in Photoshop, there’s an easier way: Phixr. It’s free, it’s fast, and the results look pretty good!

Original photo

Upload your photo at Phixr.com. You don’t have to register–just click the green “Get started” arrow and start your upload from your computer or via a link to a photo online.

Once your photo is uploaded, select the Color Effects button, then choose Cross Process. Check the preview and adjust brightness, contrast and opacity as needed. Click Execute when it looks the way you want.

To add the Lomo effect, select Camera and Lens Effects from the left-hand menu, then choose Lomo effect. Adjust the intensity, saturation, brightness, and opacity until it looks the way you want, then click Execute.

How very Mad Men!

When you’re finished, just download your stylized picture et voila! Let us know if you try it!

How to install WordPress from scratch (Part 1)

How to install WordPress from scratch (Part 2)

This video is a few years old, so make sure you download the most current version of WordPress. As of today, it’s version 2.9.1.

This guy uses Host Gator, but there are multiple site hosting companies to choose from. Some of the most popular are:
BlueHost
GoDaddy
Host Gator
1&1
DreamHost

Let me know if you have questions or need help!

~Tamia

Your Blog’s Editorial Calendar: Get Organized, Then Relax

Why You Need an Editorial Calendar for your Blog

Creating an editorial calendar for a blog

The main points

1. Choose a few categories for posts and come up with ideas for those categories– anything from outfit posts to shopping suggestions to what you ate for dinner.

2. Use your time to research upcoming topics and write awesome posts that will keep your readers coming back–which will also bring more advertising opportunities.

Simple, right? The hardest part is actually sticking to it!

Blog Editorial Calendar Template

If you don’t have time to create your own calendar format, here’s the really simple Google spreadsheet I started using to plan posts on my own blog.

Now, go forth and blog! And let us know if you need some motivation…