TPC: Basics of Fashion Blogging Panel

Last Thursday night, people young and old alike filed into a conference room at the Apple store on Walnut Street to learn the ropes of one of the fastest growing hobbies: fashion blogging!  Sitting on the panel were five local and NY-based bloggers that all approach the subject from different angles: Stephanie of A Matter of Life and Tech who played Moderator, Sammy of Sammy Davis Vintage, Andrea of Fly Girls, Tayyib of Two One Five and PWStyle’s very own Fajr of Stylish Thought.

The panel. L to R: Tayyib, Andrea, Fajr, Sammy and Stephanie

Topics covered included how to get started with a blog and what platforms to use, developing your content, other considerations that you need to think about besides ‘fashion’, social media and the power that different plug-ins have to drive traffic, making your blog into a business and more.

If you weren’t able to make it over yourself here are some takeaway tips from the experts themselves:

- If you are clueless about how to navigate the blogosphere, link up with someone who is in the know.

- Before you worry about anything else, the quality of your content and message must come first.

-Maintain a social media presence (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, etc) to not only drive traffic, but keep the conversation going.

-Check out useful apps and plug-ins like Google Keyword and other SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tricks to not only help with gaining readers, but to make your site more relevant to the hot topics of today.  Just remember to stay true to your interests.

-If you want to make money, be willing to work hard to make your content the best it can be and approach businesses with a similar audience who you’d be interested in teaming up with in some way.  Also, using the blog to demonstrate your expertise is perhaps the most valuable asset – speaking opportunities, guest judge invitations, spokesperson offers – are all  just a few of the lucrative deals that could come out of it!

Got it?  Good!  Now get blogging!