IFB - Page 6 of 8 - Independent Fashion Bloggers

11 Super Handy Scheduling Tools for Bloggers

The Holidays are here. You may be taking your annual vacation to see family, or to go on an actual vacation. Hanging out at a computer may NOT be an option. Whether you will be far from an internet connection...

40 Fashion Films & TV to Binge on Netflix

You know what's great about Thanksgiving? Other than hanging out with your family and loved ones, the turkey, pumpkin pie, the National Dog Show (we always watch since no one in my house watches football). The ...

What Do YOU Want From Your Readers?

When you start your blog, you think about what you want from your blog. You think about what kind of content you want to create. You think about what kind of design you want, what kind of logo you want... all of which are very important. But have you thou...

How A Personal Brand Pyramid Can Help Define Your Blog’s Direction

Last week we explored the idea of a brand pyramid as an effective tool in helping you to define and express your blog's brand. This week, we're looking at brand development from a slightly different angle, ...

How to Make An Animated GIF from Video in Seconds

Ever been confused on how to make an animated GIF? Or do you not have Photoshop? Don't worry... imgflip makes animated GIFs from your videos in a snap! So if you have a favorite clip from a movie, or would like...

24 Fashion Blogging Lessons From Animated GIFs

What can you learn from animated GIFs? Plenty! 1. Get right to the point. (source) 2. Have fun with other bloggers. (source) 3. Don't waste your time judging other bloggers. (source) 4. Even if you're addressing tough topics, always make a great present...

Hiring Help For Your Blog, pt. 1: Why Hire Someone and What Kinds of Jobs to Hire For

Note: This article is based on a roundtable presentation I gave at Blogalicious. You may not know this, but many famous or "big" bloggers have an entire team of people behind them. This invisible (but esse...

22 Must-Attend Conferences For Fashion Bloggers

Here on IFB, we have a lot of tips for you on networking and how to make the most of conferences. Now, where to put these skills to good use? These days, there are a variety of conferences that either cate...

Why You Need a Brand Pyramid and How to Make One

Successful bloggers build strong personal and professional brands, and a brand pyramid is a visual device used by publicists and marketers to help their clients clarify the important aspects of a business identity. This clarity helps in developing communicat...

How to Take Professional Quality Headshots of Yourself

Headshots. Believe it or not, they're not just for real estate agents and actors. Headshots are handy for bloggers as well. We can use them for "about pages," Twitter and Facebook profiles, LinkedIn profiles, p...

Introduce Yourself to a Fashion Publicist with this Handy Email Template

One of the questions I get asked often by bloggers is what exactly they should write when introducing themselves to a fashion PR agency for the first time, and it is one of the more common deliverables that I...

10 Places to Find Creepy Halloween Images

Halloween is in two days. I am hosting a Halloween party at my house and am frantically sewing, gluing, and putting everything together for the big day. But in the digital world, Halloween is an awesome time to get your readers engaged, thinking about all thin...

13 Resources for Finding Local and Regional Bloggers

When we talked about the challenges facing new bloggers and how to break through those new blogger barriers, one suggestion that came up was networking with your fellow local and regional bloggers. While a l...

The Difference Between PR, Marketing and Advertising

By request, I thought we'd take a step back from all the 'how to work with PR agencies and brands," for a quick foundational course in fashion PR 101. With many bloggers coming into the space with dollar signs...

How to Write a PR Plan for Your Blog

If you are serious about growing your audience, building your reputation and turning your blog into a business, then the first step is to think about your blog as a business. How are you going to promote your blog articles, your videos, panel appearances so ...

21 Link-Ups to Promote Your Outfit Posts

Never has there been more places to promote your blogs, and particularly, outfit posts! While, "What are you wearing" communities ie. Lookbok.nu have existed for a long time, not as well-known, but equally ...

5 Types of Posts Fashion Bloggers Should Really Do More Often….

Ever get tired of the same-old, same-old posts? "Here's what I'm wearing today!" or "Look, this collection launched!" Yeah, I like those posts too, but I also like a little variety in my fashion blog consumpt...

8 Tough Challenges New Bloggers Face Today

IFB is great for many things, and I believe the best thing that our contributors have to offer is years and years of experience in the industry. That being said, our experience doesn't always help when it comes to new bloggers - those of you who may have st...

Blogger’s Toolkit: 8 Things You Must Put on your Business Cards

Business cards are an often-overlooked tool in a blogger's marketing arsenal, but they can be extremely effective in introducing yourself and your blog to potential partners or readers offline. Including y...

6 Ways to Get Products You Actually Want to Review for Your Fashion Blog

I love writing reviews. Every week, I write a review on Eat, Sleep, Denim about a different pair of jeans. It's a great way to get content useful content about fashion on your site, while still interjecting...

10 Tips for Maximizing Affiliate Income (Without Losing Your Soul)

Last week I addressed the Fashionista article which claimed that some personal style bloggers would earn up to $50,000 a month in affiliate commissions via RewardStyle. Then I countered with my own average affiliate earnings of about $3,700 a month. Needless...

Blog Milk Now Has Beautiful Themes for Blogger AND WordPress

Ah, the question of Blogger or Wordpress. Both have been suffering from relatively nerdy designs lately compared to other platforms like Tumblr, Squarespace, and Virb. Even though Wordpress has a history of cus...

You Don’t Need a Massive Following to Make a Living Blogging

Most of you have probably already read Fashionista's article about "personal style bloggers raking in millions", but in case you haven't, the gist of it is that there are some fashion bloggers out there who mak...

3 Things No One Tells You About Being a Full Time Blogger

There's a lot of glamour associated with being a full time blogger. Many people think it's all fast money, sponsored trips, and fabulous clothes (if only!). While being a full time fashion blogger is absolutely fun and exciting, it can also be really hard an...

10 Modern, Mobile Friendly, Responsive (Free!) Themes for WordPress and Blogger

More people are checking in on their favorite websites and blogs from their phones, tablets, e-readers and other devices that aren't laptops or desktop computers. If you want some of that traffic, your best bet...

Where to Get Cool Blogger Templates for Fashion Bloggers: Jelly Design Studio

For those of you on Blogger wanting more designed templates to make your fashion blog stand out, it's not always so easy to find great designs as most custom templates are for Wordpress, Tumblr has some really fantastic ones, and the premium themes rarely prov...

The Guide to Affiliate Companies Every Fashion Blogger Must Know

You probably already know that affiliate programs are one of the easiest ways to monetize fashion related traffic. Even if you only participate in affiliate programs to answer your own questions: how many cli...

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet! Post Titles for Fashion Bloggers

You have a fraction of a second to get our attention. Your post is inspired, your photos are gorgeous, your readers are going to love your post, but wait... what do you title your post? Believe it or not y...

How to Blog Like a Boss With an Editorial Calendar & Content Idea Bank

Here on IFB, we write a lot about your 'editorial calendar' and 'keeping your content fresh.' What does an editorial calendar actually look like, and how exactly does one keep coming up with new and fresh ideas to blog about? I'm going to give you a peek i...

Keep It Simple: 4 Tips for the Part-Time or Hobby Blogger

Many of the members in the IFB Community are hobby bloggers or part-time bloggers, myself included! I'm sure by now you've all realized that blogging can quickly take over your life if you let it and that ma...

The Fashion Blogger’s Quick Guide to Monetization

Now that you've figured out it's time to monetize your fashion blog, how do you do it? There's no "one" right way or the "best" way to monetize your blog, you'll just have to figure out what works for you a...

Are You Selling Anything Yet?

Ebooks, digital courses, consulting, t-shirts oh my! On your path to turning blogging into a career that supports you (day job not included), developing a signature product is a super smart way to go. Why? With your own products, you are no longer at the m...

Is Fashion Blogging Broken? 5 Issues Hurting Bloggers

It surprises me whenever I hear an authority in the fashion blogging community say things like, "The bubble has burst." "Things have changed so much, and it just doesn't work anymore." "The fashion ...

Make More Money From Your Affiliate Links By Learning These Terms

For bloggers looking to monetize, affiliate links are often the easiest way to start. While different networks have different requirements, it generally takes fewer visitors or pageviews to be accepted into a...

Monetizing Your Blog: How to Figure Out Your Banner Ad Rates

Despite the increasing popularity of new ad types like native advertising, advertising and programmatic ads, banners are still one of the most popular forms of advertising, and they're usually the first kind a blogger tries when beginning to monetize their b...

Categories + Tags: What Are They & How to Use Them

Confession: I've been blogging almost 6 years, and I don't entirely know the difference between blog tags and categories. They always seemed like a redundant organization system... like, organize your posts ...

Should You Create an “About Me” Video for Your Blog?

Last year, my tiny living room was transformed into a makeshift studio with two cameramen, lights and a director who actually said "action." I was being interviewed for a documentary about fashion blogging, a...

Daily Inspiration: Energy flows where intention goes… Create your day.

Every morning when I wake up, I like to set my intentions for the day. Things I would like to accomplish, whether it be a task or to keep my cool during stressful times. Without taking the time to set intentions, it's a lot easier to get caught up in the mom...

6 Tips for An Insanely Effective Blog Giveaway

Brands use contests and sweepstakes to drive engagement and to support new customer acquisition initiatives. Why shouldn't your blog leverage promotions in a similar way? Here are a few tips to help you set...

Daily Inspiration: Creativity is Intelligence Having Fun

Mondays are always tough. You'd think after the weekend we'd all be rested and raring to go, but it takes a minute to get the brain back into it's groove. Which is why I'd like to kick off the week with th...

Daily Inspiration: People are going to judge you anyway…

As bloggers we're constantly putting ourselves "out there" as personal style bloggers we're putting our images out there, as fashion bloggers we're putting our opinions out there, it can get pretty personal sometimes. It puts us in a vulnerable place, open t...

6 Ways to Figure Out Your Blog’s Brand Essence

A brand essence isn't something that is easy to communicate - instead, it's a few words (the fewer the better), that communicates the feeling that your brand evokes. Unlike your visual identity, or a tagline, y...

Daily Inspiration: Don’t Quit Your Day Dream

How many of you like to day dream? I know, I sure love day dreaming! Some may think day dreaming is wasting time, but I like to think of it as exploring the possibilities. What does your mind want to accom...

independence happiness failure impossible

Daily Inspiration: Independence is Happiness

Happy 4th of July! Here in the US, it's Independence Day... which usually means a day off, fireworks, something off the grill... hamburgers or veggie dogs. I usually like to reflect on what it means to be independent. This quote by Susan B. An...

Daily Inspiration: You will never influence the world by trying to be like it

One of the biggest pieces of blogging advice is to have a "strong voice" or to be "unique" or to "stand out." Advice easier given than put into practice. However, why is this advice so important? Why does it ...

Daily Inspiration: Well Shit, At Least You Tried.

I literally laughed out loud when I saw this image, followed by a deep feeling of, "Oh, shit. Well, it's true." As we get older, we expect to be perfect, knowledgeable, and experienced the moment we star...

Daily Inspiration: If You Think Adventure is Dangerous, Try Routine, It’s Lethal

As bloggers, we're encouraged to develop routines: post at the same time of day, the same days of the week. Create a brand, and stick to it through all social media platforms. It can be scary to think of living a life or building a business through an ad...

Former SEO Manager for ELLE.com Shares Biggest Rookie Blogger Mistake

A crucial strategy for any fashion blogger looking to go pro is increasing how many people come visit your blog each month. Impressive stats appeal to advertisers. They also give you major negotiating power...

Daily Inspiration: It always seems impossible until it’s done.

At the beginning of any journey, the destination always seems so far away. Taking a road trip, running a marathon, graduating from college, having a baby, all seem so far off and maybe even a bit impossible...

Daily Inspiration: Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.

It's so easy to get caught up fixing problems. Particularly on a Monday! Holy moly! But don't let your problems dictate where you go with your life. Sure, learn from mistakes, take your knowledge, but don't forget about the most important thing: your happin...

Daily Inspiration: Whatever makes you feel bad, leave it.

When it comes to blogging, we're overloaded with messages, content, pitches, you name it. It's easy to feel like you're being pulled in a million different directions. So how do you deal? I used to read ...

Daily Inspiration: Do something today that your future self will thank you for.

So much wisdom revloves around being in the moment and living for today. So why not hit two birds with one stone and do something today that will also benefit you in the future. Whether it be working on the...

Daily Inspiration: Your dream job does not exist. You must create it.

A few years ago, I went to a talk with Anna Dello Russo who advised everyone to "Invent your job!" The truth is, everyone has special talents that are useful somewhere in some way. We all have our passions, and in order to stand out and be irreplaceable, y...

Daily Inspiration: Great things are done by a series of small things brought together

There is nothing like having a grand idea. I remember the first time I wanted to do a full day conference, even though had never done a conference before. I had thrown a few events, but nothing li...

Why Every Blogger Should Send an Email Newsletter (Plus, What to put in it)

We've talked a little recently here on IFB about how important an email newsletter can be for driving traffic to your blog, but it's still not a tool many bloggers use. It should be. Besides search engine tra...

5 Ways to Find Contact Information for Fashion PR Agencies

Being connected to fashion publicists is great. You get the inside scoop on all sorts of great designer collections, events and opportunities to partner with brands for fun and fame and financial gain. However, not all agencies (or publicists) are created equa...

Daily Inspiration: You’ll have a whole eternity to think inside the box.

Anyone can think "inside the box" it doesn't take much to come up with an idea that's already been thought before. But thinking outside the box? That's a challenge. That means taking risks. That's how progres...

Daily Inspiration: Next to excellence is the appreciation of it.

When I saw this quote, I thought of two things... the amazing people who can spot excellence in a sea of mediocrity, and the people who complain when excellence is being appreciated. Finding beauty and goo...

7 Ways You Can Borrow Ideas from Others

I wanted to title this post, "Shakespeare and the Beatles stole from their peers, you can too," but that's a bit long and cumbersome. (And really, it promotes the wrong idea.) I'm a firm believer that there aren't new ideas. What I do believe in is new wa...

5 Ways to Weave Quotations into a Feature Article

by Chanelle Leslie of "Not So Naked" So you've found a designer that takes your fancy - let's call him Karl Lagerfeld - and he's agreed to have you interview him. You email over some questions, receive a ...

3 Things to do Before Contacting a PR Agency to Send You Free Stuff

Let’s be real: one of the great perks of being a fashion blogger is the opportunity to connect with PR agencies and have them send you lovely things to wear and write about. Who doesn’t love getting goodies in the mail and showing off a great look that came ...

10 Outfit Photo Locations You Can Find Amost Anywhere

Taking outfit photos can be hard work just by themselves, but finding a good location? That's tough, especially if you feel like you live in the middle of nowhere, especially if you are looking to find a VARI...

Daily Inspiration: The Key to Failure is Trying to Please Everybody

We've all heard you can't please everybody, and that you shouldn't try to be all things to all people, but have we ever thought about linking failure to trying to please everybody? When I read this quote, ...

12 Reasons You Won’t “Make It” as a Blogger

I've contributed for IFB for the past four years and have written a LOT of posts. I've also received thousands of comments over the years, so I feel like I have an idea of "what the IFB community wants." Success varies from blogger to blogger, but the memb...

The Fashion Blogger’s Guide to Editing Photos Like a Pro

Have you been to a blog that had 10 large photos of the same thing? Did you find it overwhelming? Are you posting multiple photos because that's what everyone else is doing? When it comes to taking photos, t...

Daily Inspiration: Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.

Ever get caught up in something thinking it would mean the "end of the world" only to forget about it a month later? Maybe I'm just a drama queen, but yeah, that happens from time to time. The things th...

Daily Inspiration: Be the Best Possible Version of Yourself, and Don’t Settle

We've all heard people tell us, "Be the best you can be!" Hello, army! But what does that really mean? Some days my best is just making it to work, other days my best is pretty damn good. I like the idea of being the best "version" of yourself, because ...

10 YouTube Stars to Watch (& Learn From)

In the internet galaxy, YouTube is a universe unto itself. In just over eight years of existence, YouTube sees over 1 billion unique visitors who watch over 4 billion hours of video. PER MONTH. While the traffi...

Daily Inspiration: Life is a Story: Make Yours The Best Seller

My whole life I didn't know what I wanted to do, but it had to be extraordinary. Now, my life didn't turn out to be exactly "extraordinary" but so far, I've been able to accomplish most of my goals on some le...

5 Photoshop Tricks That Will Ruin Your Photos

The invention of Photoshop is at once one of the best things that ever happened to photography and one of the worst things. Now we have several options to edit photos, there are endless photo apps, Instagram being the most popular as well as browser based one...

126 Niche Fashion Blog Ideas

Do you know your niche? Honing in on a niche for your blog can be difficult in the very general topic of fashion. Fashion is a glamorous, beautiful topic, and it's hard to decide which direction to take ...

Blogger Grammar Basics: Colons, Ellipses, and Dashes

Last week I talked about grammar basics with periods, commas, and semi-colons, and this week I'm getting into the fun and fancy punctuation: colons, ellipses, and dashes. These get used often by bloggers, b...

Behind the Scenes: How a Fashion Blogger Makes Money

I always appreciate getting a "behind the scenes" look at income breakdowns and the nuts & bolts of making a living as a blogger, so I thought I'd get on the other side of it today and give you a peek inside my income stream over the last 5 years. I was ...

Daily Inspiration: There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

The amazing thing about perception is that it can be changed. You're having a bad day? Look for the good things? Blog not going as expected? Look at what's going right, look for the things that make you ...

Daily Inspiration: Kind Words Will Unlock an Iron Door

It's amazing what kindness can do. It can enrich your life, build the foundation for wonderful relationships. Even when meeting people, paying them a genuine compliment is a nice way to start a friendshi...

How to be a Fashion Blogger WITHOUT a DSLR & Other Things….

Have you ever been afraid to start something - a new blog, a new project, or whatever? Or told yourself you'd start when you have _______ (fill in the blank)? I know I have. We're so good at putting things off because we don't have the latest thing (camera...

Daily Inspiration: Be a Voice, Not an Echo

We talk a lot about developing a "strong voice" here on IFB. It's the quality of a blog that's often cited as the single most important. Another way to think about it, are you voicing something original,...

Daily Inspiration: You are far too smart to be the only thing standing in your way.

When it comes right down to it. You are the only thing standing in your way. I know this speaking from experience. The times when I day dreamed about doing something more with my life, but didn't because I was afraid, I didn't think I was talented enoug...

Daily Inspiration: Successful people never worry about what others are doing.

Do we have to be overly concerned that other people are successful? Do other people's successes indicate our own demise? I hope the answer is "no." I find that when I'm heads down and working on my own stuff...

Daily Inspiration: Tough times don’t last; tough people do.

I don't know what this has to do with blogging, except that having this approach to life will make you a better blogger. Some of my favorite sayings are, "this too shall pass," and "the only thing you can ...

10 Ways to Build an Insanely Loyal Following

The internet is a fickle place. One minute you're hot, and the next minute... well, let's just say people move on quick. Building a loyal following can be difficult in a time where everything changes so quickly, yet, most all successful bloggers have a dedic...

Daily Inspiration: A Beautiful Thing Is Never Perfect

Perfection might be a virtue for some people... but in reality, how much do we really love perfection? Anne Hathaway is seemingly perfect, kind, talented, smart, and beautiful, yet all the gossip columns ab...

Daily Inspiration: Every Artist Was First an Amateur

Yes, it is true, every one begins as an amateur. I would even go a step further and say, we suck at first. Maybe some have a gift and do something ok the first time. But for the most part, to really beco...

10 Surprising Phrases You Might Be Getting Wrong

Many of us bloggers may not have started our blogs out of our love for the written word. There are many bloggers who are "ideas" people-- those who love sharing information about a favorite topic. Personally,...

Get Paid: Invoice Template for Your Blogger Services [DOWNLOAD]

The good news is, your blog is in business. You've got your first project approved by the client, and now what? You need to GET PAID! Sometimes business is done with a handshake, but for tax purposes, b...

7 Common Traits of High Quality Fashion Blogs

"Be so good they can't ignore you." ~Steve Martin I keep going back to this, because it's at once sage advice, and completely subjective advice. For bloggers wishing to become professional, getting noticed is no small feat in this competitive world. Your wo...

The 6 Fashion Bloggers Personality Types

Fashion bloggers are an interesting mix aren't we? Who else takes photos of ourselves (often with a tripod) and posts them on the internet? Sounds strange when you say it out loud doesn't it? But somehow it's...

4 Creative Examples of Successful Sponsored Posts

After affiliate links & advertising, sponsored posts are the third tier in monetizing your blog. But how do you present these without them seeming like adverts in the midst of your otherwise heartfelt content? They key is making them either quite useful ...

Collaborate: 23 Beneficial Ideas To Do With Blogger Friends

By Jessie Holeva of trendhungry.com Blogging can be lonely. Whether you blog in the early morning before your 9 to 5, on the weekends, or 24/7 it’s usually a solo task. But take a look on Instagram. A lot of y...

Beginner SEO Tips for Fashion Bloggers

When you take a look at your analytics, where is most of your traffic coming from? For many blogs, as much as 50% of traffic can come from search engines. With IFB, 44% of our traffic comes from Google organ...

Daily Inspiration: Some days you just have to create your own sunshine.

There are days where everything goes wrong. Toothpaste drops on your silk blouse, late for work, given bad news, accidentally deleted a 1000 word post, someone says something rude to you... ug. There are those days, and everyone has them. It's easy to g...

7 Signs You Might be a Professional Blogger

"I want to be a professional blogger." We've all said it, but what does it mean? I imagine that for each of us the definition of professional blogger varies. For some of us, being a professional blogger m...

Daily Inspiration: Doing what you like is freedom, Liking what you do is happiness

The search for happiness goes beyond the ages, as is the quest for freedom. I've found that after working a day job for most of my life, day jobs I never really suck with, that doing what you like is sup...

Daily Inspiration: The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It

We've all heard the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" cliche. It's a great saying that keeps us aware that we tend to compare ourselves and think that other people have it better. It's perception. Because the people on the other side of the...

8 Business Books to Inspire the Entrepreneur Inside You

As the sunshine finally returns to those of us who've been under a long winter, why don't you head outside to get some vitamin D with a book that will help you take your blog & business to the next level....