Dressful

I often talk about fashion blogging with people who once heard about bloggers who receive expensive clothes for free, launch their own lines and collaborations, fly business class, get paid €5000 per appearance and make millions in ad revenues (OK, I made that one up). While I love discussing fashion blogging, I don't love it when people think this kind of success is what every fashion blogger is aspiring to. Telling them I don't subscribe to the same blogging rationale leaves them in shock. They think something is wrong with me because surely I should be aiming to become a Famous Fashion Blogger, bathing in designer goods between paid flights to glamorous events all over the world.

There are as many reasons for having a fashion blog as there are fashion bloggers. The degree of monetization that allows the blogger a comfortable lifestyle (I'm vary of "luxurious" over "comfortable"; a blog is not an accurate representation of the blogger's life because it only shows what the blogger wants you to see) is widely regarded as the peak of fashion blogger success. However tempting it sounds, there are bloggers who would actually not be interested in dropping everything on the spot to become the next Famous Fashion Blogger for reasons such as being in school, having kids, enjoying their current job etc.

Why do I blog?

My motive for starting this blog was essentially what I've accomplished in the past year: 1. establishing myself as a relevant blogger and writer attending major fashion weeks and 2. being accepted to London College of Fashion to study fashion journalism. It was through blogging that I realized I want a career in international fashion. In order to land the kind of jobs and projects I'm interested in, I need to be physically present in one of the four fashion capitals. I have a blog, but nobody is going to hand me a career, let alone my dream job, over the internet because thousands of others have tried harder, moved to New York or London and relentlessly started working their way up the fashion ladder. In this industry trying harder often pays off better than being talented.

Though the purpose of this blog has been partly fulfilled with my acceptance to London College of Fashion, quitting blogging is not on my agenda. In fact, one of my dreams for Dressful has always been to publish exclusively original content (photos and writing). I think that's the number one thing a quality blog should have. I don't post outfit or street style photos, so creating original content that fits the theme of this blog constantly is only possible in a city with a huge fashion scene and many events. Therefore the fulfilled blogging purpose opened the door to a new purpose. Let's hope London will be everything it's cracked up to be and more.

This week's Friend Friday topic deals with copycats, blogger rights and giving credit where it's due.

1. What are the "unwritten rules" about copying content that we bloggers should all abide by?
Flat-out copying? Don't do it.

2. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. But when is a post imitation and when is it copying?
It's copying when you haven't made the idea your own. In this context, I see imitation as deriving inspiration from an existing concept.

3. Taking another blogger's idea (perhaps for an outfit, or DIY tutorial) is pretty common in the blogging world. Do you think it is necessary to credit the original source?
If you base your work upon something exceptionally creative and original and don't credit it, it's going to leave a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Your readers will know (or eventually find out) where you got the idea from and if it's uncredited, it'll make it difficult for them to trust you. You'll probably have a bad conscience about it too. The point is, crediting is awesome. If you're in a dilemma whether to credit or not, go for it. This is also the reason I have a love/hate relationship with Tumblr - it's full of amazing photos, but no one credits their sources. When I want to repost them, I have to credit Tumblr as the source which makes me feel blah.

4. How have you improved your blog by comparing it to other bloggers? Have you made changes due to something you have seen others doing?
I think most (if not all) of our blog changes stem from observing other blogs and bloggers. For example, we all started facebooking and tweeting because others were doing it. Not to mention that I find other blogs and what they're discussing a big source of inspiration for my own work.

5. Have you ever had one of your posts copied by another blogger or publication? How did you handle the situation?
No.

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Check out other bloggers' answers on ModlyChic!

Some of you requested tips on how to promote your blog effectively after reading my blogger self-promotion posts, so I put together this list. It was written with fashion bloggers in mind, but most of these tips actually apply to any kind of blog. I hope you find it useful. :) If there's anything you're still curious about, let me know in the comments!

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1. Make a Facebook page for your blog and post your updates there. Be sure the link to your Facebook page is visible on every page of your blog so that your readers can find it easily (for example, put it in the sidebar). When someone likes your page, it often shows up on their Facebook friends' homepages (News Feed). This way you also reach those who haven't visited your blog yet. If they like what they see when they check out your page and blog, chances are they'll come back and become your regular readers.

2. Make a Twitter profile and post links to your updates, but don't do only that. If you use Twitter just for linking to your blog, you won't get many followers because that's boring. The point of Twitter is interaction with others. Be personal. Retweet other bloggers' posts that you like. Don't be afraid to talk to people! We're all nice.

You don't have to tweet only about the things directly related to your blog. Tweet about the things that are you. If you're interesting, people will be inclined to read what you have to say on your blog.

3. Add the Facebook Like button to your posts. This works the same as Facebook pages: when someone likes your post, it appears in their friends' News Feed, which means it's suddenly seen by many people.

Setting up the Like button on your blog is no trouble - I'm on WordPress and use the Like-Button-Plugin-For-Wordpress (there are many more plugins that will do the same, but I like this one best because it has some extra features). If you're using Blogger, check out these instructions how to add the button below every post.

4. Leave comments on other blogs. We're talking meaningful, thoughtful comments. Think about what you've read. Contribute your ideas to the discussion. Share your own story or experience. Bloggers love this because it shows that you took time to really take in our posts. When someone leaves me a great comment, I always visit their blog and try to write an adequate response. Many bloggers comment back for every comment they receive, so if you spread the love, you're guaranteed to get it in return!

5. Write guest posts on other blogs. Think about what kind of people you want to attract to your blog and write a guest post for a blog with such (or similar) audience. Ideally the blog that will publish your guest post should have higher traffic than your blog, but if you're targeting a specific niche, this is not so important. Check out more tips on how to arrange and write a great guest post.

6. Ask your readers to share your content on other sites and make it easy for them by including social media buttons (linking to Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, email, Digg etc.) at the end of your posts. In Blogger you can enable the buttons by opening the Design tab, clicking Edit under Blog Posts and ticking Show Share Buttons in the pop-up window (see this picture for details).

If you want more share buttons than the 5 offered by Blogger, use a service such as AddThis or ShareThis (works both on Blogger and WordPress). If you're on WordPress, you can also choose from many plugins (I'm currently using SexyBookmarks on Dressful).

7. Find blogs and websites that do blogger interviews or profiles and ask to be featured. Similar to writing a guest post, this is a great way to expose your blog to a new audience (Katy of ModlyChic features a fashion blogger every Monday).

8. Socialize virtually. Join sites and forums related to your blog topic and connect with others. If you're a fashion blogger, I recommend Independent Fashion Bloggers (resources and articles on everything from tips for better writing to monetizing your blog), Friend Friday (Google group for discussion, a set of questions to answer every Friday) and The Fashion Spot.

If you're a beginner blogger, I don't recommend sites like Lookbook or Chictopia because you need to have a huge following to be successful on them. It's not worth to spend a lot of time on them in exchange for very little traffic. You'll be better off if you use these hours to work on your blog content.

9. Socialize locally. Attend events related to your blog topic, blogger and Twitter meet-ups and network, network, network. To avoid clumsily searching for a pen and a piece of paper when you want to give someone your blog address, always keep a stash of business cards in your bag (Moo is awesome for business cards design and printing - their quality is great and they ship worldwide from the UK and US).

10. Produce inspiring and original content, be it text, photos, video, anything. You can excel at all of the above 9 points, but what matters the most is continuously putting out content that people want to read and share. Before you start dedicating serious time to promoting your blog, make sure you've published at least a few posts you're really proud of.

If people visit your blog and don't see anything interesting, they won't share it. Great content is a call to action by itself.

I loved reading and replying to your comments on my post about fashion bloggers and self-promotion - thanks to all of you who shared your thoughts! I'm also very flattered that post was chosen as the basis for this week's set of questions for Fashion Beauty Friend Friday, in which I'm participating for the first time today. My answers are below.

1. How do you promote your blog?
I post updates on my Facebook page, Twitter and host giveaways. I think it's important to have Facebook and Twitter pages because these platforms have become number one news source for many people. I'm not doing as much promotion as I'd like right now because I'm working on future plans for Dressful (I'd like to start implementing video next year) and unfortunately the day only has 24 hours. However, my friends and readers often help me promote my blog by sharing posts on other sites, which makes me incredibly happy. :)

2. In your experience what has been the most effective form of self promotion?
Giveaways are great for getting new people to your blog. Leaving thoughtful, sincere comments on other blogs works wonders if you want to establish relationships with fellow bloggers, which is what really pays off in the end. People who keep returning to your blog, read everything you write, think about it and discuss it with you bring you so much positive energy and motivation to keep blogging.

3. Do you think there is a wrong way to promote yourself and your blog?
Technically it's only wrong if it doesn't work. I see these ways more as annoying and aggressive.

4. When it comes to others pushing their product what annoys you?
I'm not a fan of the "I'll follow you if you follow me" or "Following you please follow me back" proposals. Leave me the freedom to decide if I'm interested in your blog or not! Also, if I see a generic two-word comment that could go under any post (such as "great blog!") followed by a bunch of links, I am all but motivated to check out that blogger.

5. In Dressful's post on this topic earlier in the week she said, "It's impossible to respect someone who wants all the attention, but adds nothing worthwhile to the conversation." Do you agree?
Of course. ;)

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Check out the links to other bloggers' responses on ModlyChic!

I've recently heard that the fashion blogosphere has reached a point of oversaturation. It's becoming increasingly hard to "break through" and there's nothing new left to say. While a debate about this would deserve its own post, truth is that many fashion bloggers have resorted to abusing the community for unabashed self-promotion in hopes to keep their head above water.

When I joined Independent Fashion Bloggers after starting Dressful, I was immediately bombarded with unusual communication disguised as "welcome messages" from some IFB members. Those messages consisted of three to four words like "Hi welcome to IFB" followed by a plethora of links to the member's blog, Facebook fanpage, Twitter profile and even pleas to follow their blog.

It was more than obvious that they had been copy-pasting the same message all over the site not to make anyone feel welcome, but to promote themselves. In my case, the effect of this was diametrically opposite to these bloggers' intention: I was put off by their spamming and never visited their blogs. I also deleted the messages.

How much self-promotion is too much? Shoving your links into people's faces when you're leaving comments on other sites and blogs is unnecessary if you have the option to fill in your name and URL so when others click on your name, it'll take them to your blog.

Blogger supports this.
WordPress does, too.
If you click on a member's name on IFB, it'll take you to their profile where you can find all of their links.

Why copy-paste your links everywhere when blogging platforms make it easy to reach your blog by default? Nobody appreciates it. It's time-consuming. It won't do anything for your blog in the long run. Initially it might bring you some extra clicks, but if most people who visit your blog never come back, it means you're doing it wrong.

This is a frequent case with blogs whose owners desperately seek attention - the very reason their self-promotion is so aggressive is that nobody follows them because their work (or lack thereof) is mediocre. Blogs entirely filled with reposts and unoriginal content don't inspire, educate or make you think in any way.

I wish these bloggers knew they could get many more followers by improving their content instead of wasting time on shortcuts to success.

Shortcuts don't work. Especially not in blogging.

Sometimes it does happen that an aggressively promoted mediocre blog gains a big(ger) following, but only in numbers. Looking at the feedback they're receiving, you'll see it's just like the spammy comments those bloggers adopted as their claim to fame - generic and boring.

If you constantly bother people asking them to follow you on 5 million sites without a good reason, don't expect anything better in return. It's impossible to respect someone who wants all the attention, but adds nothing worthwhile to the conversation.