The IFB Evolving Influence Conference brought together fashion bloggers and brands. IFBCon Part One covers the first two sessions of the conference. Here, the remaining two:
Foot in The Door: Launch your new career with your blog
Style Bubble started as an obsession, with Susie rushing home from work to post 3-4 times per day. She wanted to show it was possible to have fun with fashion and how to play with clothes, that fashion was “this thing that you could experience yourself.”
Getting Traffic
Her first major press in Teen Vogue, a few months after starting her blog in 2006. Along with press building traffic and several small writing gigs on the side, her readership grew organically.
Creating content
Susie confessed that in the beginning, she had no concept of having relationships with brands. “I was just emailing indie designers to find content for my site. I was doing everything on the sly.”
Beyond Blogging
In 2008, Susie famously became the Commissioning Editor of Dazed Digital. “It was so valuable to work in an environment like that.” The position gave her the opportunity to improve her own writing as well as experience commissioning work from others.She decided to leave in March 2010 to work on her own full time.
“I have no idea what I’m doing from week to week, going on from project to project.” Recent projects include an installation with Joyce boutique in Hong Kong, commissioning a newspaper celebrating Selfridges London shoe boutique, freelancing for Pop magazine, and partnerships with Doc Martens & Sanrio. She’s also been styling the Ting Tings–frontwoman Katie is a fan of Style Bubble. “Katie has own style, so it’s really a collaboration.” Susie noted that she works to keep blog content and projects separate.
Acting as a contractor of sorts for fashion brands, Susie does custom projects for each brand, but admits that “It’s been very stressful working for myself.” She has a literary agent that she works with to help manage the business side of things.
Advice
- Keep your content fresh by seeing as much as possible and narrowing it down to what you’re really passionate about.
- When deciding which brands to work with, look for synergy with the brand–it should feel like you can do something incredible together.
Image, SearchingforStyle.com
Bryanboy started in 2004 as a travel journal, and has always been a diary of sorts–fashion just happened to play a part. “I’ve never really had a job in fashion,” says Bryanboy. “My interest comes from being a consumer. Over the years, my interest evolved.”
Before blogging, Bryanboy worked as a freelance web designer. Now, his energy is focused on his blog and his readers–and he wants to keep it that way. “I’m just doing something I really love and I’m just having fun in the process. For me, why should there be a next step? I can see myself doing this for 10 more years.”
He admits that he’s come a long way since the faux-cocaine pics of yore. “I also evolved as a person. I have to be a little bit more responsible. I can’t really forget where I came from and my blog is a reflection of my life.”
Getting traffic
The blog really took off in 2006. “Facebook was a good tool for me because any time I posted my link, it would send traffic.” As long as you have something that appeals to people,regardless of where they are, you can build an audience.
Adding value
As a professional blogger, Bryanboy’s value to brands lies in his ability to generate discussion. If he blogs or tweets about a brand, it encourages discussion, awareness, and inspiration. “I have so much energy, when I obsess about something I have to share it with everyone.”
His dream project? Something long-term: “Bryanboy dolls with Jason Wu!”
Content is Queen: Captivate your audience with compelling content
Emily started out writing restaurant reviews online. She quickly grew tired of just doing that, and decided to create a site that talked about everything she loves. Her main focus? Compelling content, pretty photos, and a clean layout.
Outfit posts
With outfit posts, she wanted to show how to mix and match pieces. “Being an effective editor is important” when deciding which photos to keep, so she tries to keep the posts short and use 4-5 of the best photos. Her boyfriend takes the photographs when she’s wearing something post-worthy (“not every day!”) that incorporates items at different price points.
Emily spends time planning which parts of an outfit to showcase–detailing, nail polish, hair. “We take a lot of pictures–horizontal, vertical, details. A good outfit post takes time and preparation.” She tries to take pictures on the weekend or in the evening during “the magic hour”–the time right before dusk, and uses a tripod and remote if her boyfriend is not available.
Food
“Shooting food is different than shooting clothing.” Emily says she started reading food blogs and photography books to get a feel for how professional photos looked. For visual interest, she recommends investing in props: napkins, place mats, ribbons, etc. “I take my time staging the shots. I want it to be visually appealing, inspiring, but still attainable.”
Naming your blog
Emily asserts that choosing a name is important. If you’re struggling, she advises writing down a bunch of words you like, putting them together, and crossing off what doesn’t sound right.
Site design
Favoring sites that are simple–white background with black text–Emily points out that people are visual. Visitors should be able to get an immediate feel for what’s going on and where to find what they’re looking for.
Getting traffic
“I commented on sites that I liked and found ways to get on people’s blogrolls. Blog growth was a gradual process. There was never one big break–there were several big things that happened.” It’s also important to be consistent: “Keep writing so people know they can come to you for more content.”
Staying organized
“I typically have some sort of schedule lined up. There’s a lot of work involved. I think about what I’m going to post, what I’m going to cook, what I’m going to wear.”
Advice
- Think like an editor. When choosing photos for outfit posts, narrow it down to 4-5 of the most visually appealing images.
- Get a feel for what you like by finding inspirational pictures online and narrowing it down to a few common elements.
- Write about what you love instead of trying to fit into a specific category.
Having earned a Journalism degree from NYU, Amy now reports fashion news–entertaining fashion news. While in school, she applied for all kinds of internships. “No one wanted anything to do with me.” Deciding to work for the school paper, she was then able to find events to cover, and took the initiative to go to editors to ask if she could write stories. “It’s wonderful training–going up to people at events to interview them.”
Keeping up with the news
Amy pointed out how important it is to be first in the news arena. “You have to get your post up first, make sure people know you’ll catch EVERYTHING and they can rely on you. Pull new things that come up throughout the day–I write about what I think is entertaining.” To keep up, she reads multiple news publications early each day.
Blogging for a magazine
Blogging for a magazine is a bit different than blogging for personal reasons. You have a larger platform, but you also have to stay true to the publication’s voice. “You do have to consider things like ads being pulled,” she points out. As far as content, daily Trackur reports indicate that Anna Wintour, Beyonce, and celebrities are popular. She notes that it’s important to have a good mix of news, high fashion, and celebrity news.
Even so, it’s still necessary to have your own point of view. “Blog things you feel strongly about.” She also advocates being authentic. “Be honest with your readers. Don’t be afraid to say something because no one else is saying it.”
Advice
- Stay on top of the news. Read print publications, set up an RSS feed for alerts, keep an eye on social media streams, and post quickly!
- Do something different. When multiple outlets are covering the same stories, it’s important to take a different angle–try to get a first look, or a quick quote, or go behind the scenes.
- Don’t lose your voice. If you want to be funny, be funny. Or sarcastic, or sweet, or curious…whatever suits you.
Image, Elle.com
Rumi started fashiontoast when she noticed how many questions she got from customers who purchased vintage clothing from her eBay store. “There was a lot of curiosity from people on how I was styling outfits,” so she started the blog to show them. After a while, she noticed that the personal photo posts got the most response, so she figured she needed to put more effort into those.
Popularity
“Every day I’m shocked and amused at where the blog has gotten me. That wasn’t really my goal.” Rumi feels an obligation to her readers, and says that she and Colin are always ready to take pictures wherever they are. Though he has no formal photography training–or even real experience with photography prior to Fashion Toast–Colin says “I have a camera on me 24 hours a day.”
Pretty pictures
Regarding the photographic content of the site, “It’s just something we have fun doing, we don’t think too hard about it, and we don’t always plan.” Their process is very spontaneous–inspiration could strike at any time. Rumi notes that this spontaneity is also reflected in her stream-of-consciousness writing style, which, along with the editorial-style imagery, garners approximately 75,000 unique visitors per day. “It’s about knowing what you like and capturing it as you see it,” she says.
Getting traffic
Rumi notes that there was a slow build-up, and that there was no magic secret formula to getting readers all of a sudden. She and Colin take feedback seriously, too: “We both read all of the comments.”
The NEXT level
After receiving multiple offers to model and collaborate with brands and not really knowing how to handle it, Rumi went to NEXT to find an agent and bookers to help her manage projects. Soliciting professional assistance is a great way to ensure that contracts and financial agreements are handled properly.
Advice
- Be unique! Even if you do decide to do something someone has already done, take inspiration from the concept and do it in your own way.
- Choose projects that seem natural and are a good aesthetic fit. The Forever21 job came about because Rumi says, “I’ve been wearing Forever21 forever.”
Whew! That’s the end of our event coverage–thanks for making it this far! So…what did we miss?
Overheard