7 Tips To Becoming a Successful Fashion Blogger

Every morning I wake up to a new batch of emails. Inquiries from companies, questions from readers and yep — tons of spam. One type of message I get a whole lot? Passionate emails from new bloggers seeking advice on how to start a successful fashion blog. So today I’m rounding up some lessons I’ve learned on my blogging journey thus far.

Let me start by saying that I am no Chiara Ferragni with millions of followers nor am I ranking in millions of dollars through my blog. I have however, partnered with a lot of very established brands and I’m happy to say this is my full time job so I thought why not share some advice for those of you starting out or looking to build. Here are 7 Tips To Becoming a Successful Fashion Blogger. Hope you enjoy!

WRITE WELL AND TAKE GOOD PHOTOS.

In order to differentiate yourself from other bloggers and provide value to your readers, creating good content must be a priority. Take your time and create engaging content – things that people actually WANT to read. Write well and take good quality photos because at the end of the day, isn’t that what you would want when reading other blogs?

When it comes to fashion blogging, it is saturated with millions of blogs and very talented people so to be honest there’s no room for poor quality photos. Find a good photographer or become your own photographer! If you’re not the best at it yet don’t worry sometimes learning how to edit your photos is even more important than knowing how to take the photo so just do your research!

When you have a photoshoot, plan your photos and looks in advance. Having a fashion blog is more than just throwing on any outfit and snapping a few pictures. Nowadays, brands are re-posting their favorite images and using your content to represent their brand so you need to look at it in a different way. You want to catch the attention of those brands so plan ahead, come up with a concept and pay attention to detail.

SET A BUDGET.

Some people think blogging has no expenses whatsoever but that is actually incorrect. There are a lot of surprise costs like website hosting, blog design, photography, photo editing programs, clothing, makeup and so on. If you are looking to be successful in blogging, calculate those costs in advance and set a budget that works for YOU. Don’t feel like you have to go overboard at the beginning, take it in stages.

BE SELECTIVE WITH THE BRANDS YOU PARTNER WITH.

One mistake people make when they start seeing success in blogging is you will be tempted to say “YES” to any and every offer that comes your way. My best advice would be not to do that. Be mindful of your mission, audience and what you can actually do. Only work with brands that you really would support apart from blogging. If you don’t like the company’s products or how they do business, don’t partner with them — your readers will see through it.

EMBRACE INSTAGRAM.

I hate to say it but Instagram truly is a GOLD MINE for fashion bloggers. Not only is it a key platform for engaging your existing audience and finding new followers, it’s where most companies go to find fashion bloggers to partner with. As opposed to Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is purely photo based which attracts many people. We are in a world nowadays that we want to see things quick and move on. Think of Instagram as a digital fashion blogging portfolio where you can showcase your best work and lead people over to your blog for more if they are interested.

CONTINUE LEARNING.

Think of blogging as a never ending intellectual journey. Like all things digital, the blogosphere is constantly evolving, and it’s important that you evolve along with the space. To this day I am reading up on new techniques, doing my research, note taking and so on. It’s important for me to realize what works and what doesn’t and learn from it. There are tons of online lessons/seminars and there is SO much free content on the web that you can learn from. Understand that there is so much more to learn constantly and that will help you become more successful.

UNDERSTAND IT TAKES TIME.

You guys — as much as I’d like to believe it can happen, success does not happen overnight. I have been blogging for 4 years and I know some of you have followed me from the beginning. Success for me did not happen the minute I opened my laptop and started writing. It took a long time and I’m still not where I’d like to be. As with anything we do in life, we become better at it as time passes and we learn what works and doesn’t work. Don’t start your blog for the sole purpose of making money because you will never be successful with that mindset. Do it for YOU and do it for fun which is exactly what I did! Be positive and know that there is a process to everything and don’t compare yourselves to other people who are doing it faster than you are. I truly believe there is a path for every one and a reason for when and why things happen the way they do so just enjoy what you’re doing and believe in the process.

HAVE FUN.

Seriously, don’t forget to have fun while blogging! I’ll be honest: Blogging is a LOT of work which is what I think a lot of people who try to do it underestimate. You will spend hours writing posts and spend double the time sharing it so that people know you even exist. You’ll sometimes work on photos for hours only to realize you hate the images and don’t want to post it at all. It’s a whirlwind but when you are truly passionate about your blog and mission, all the work will be worthwhile and it will never really feel like “work.”

Shop the Look:

Bodysuit: Urban Outfitters // Shorts: AGOLDE // Shoes: Gucci // Sunglasses: Ray Ban // Necklaces: Argento Vivo (Here and Here)