This post is by Ann Colville Somma of Holier than Now

For most of us, our blog is personal. We are independent fashion bloggers – the very opposite of corporate blogs that ultimately seek to sell something. It might not come naturally to think of ourselves as a product – yet we want people to consume our blogs (i.e. visit them) as often as possible, and to align their brands with our brand by purchasing ad space or including us in their P.R. outreach.

Whether your goals include growing your audience, securing or increasing ad revenue, connecting with P.R. firms, or developing a portfolio, it can be inspiring to take a fresh look at your blog as a brand.

A brand is a promise to deliver

Replace “brand” with “blog” and this oft-used definition suddenly resonates. The pressure to deliver is constant in the blogosphere, and it’s easy to lose sight of our unique voices when we’re hustling to create something – anything – to satisfy the daily reader. But in order to differentiate from the growing number of fashion blogs, your brand should be known as a destination for something special.

What do you or can you deliver that other blogs do not or cannot?

“If you can’t write your movie idea on the back of a business card, you ain’t got a movie.” – Samuel Goldwyn

Kevin Roberts employs this quote in his book Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands. Great brands stick to their story, and the story is usually simple. For example: once upon a time there was an Apple product that was totally new as compared to other stuff, looked great, and understood my needs. (You might not agree with all of those statements about Apple, but chances are you agree with some). If you’re developing the next Apple product, you’ll ask yourself: is this thing innovative, beautiful, and intuitive?

How can you express your blog’s story in a sentence? Better yet, how can you express it in three words?

“Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent.” – Jim Jarmusch

Many successful blogs turn conventional branding on its head. Why is Cat Khan’s Knightcat so well-followed when she’s primarily just reposting other people’s images? Even her header (which we think of as a blog’s logo) is someone else’s image!

Cat’s vision is authentically hers, and unwavering. It is expressed consistently in the images she chooses, the post titles, and the brief commentary. Paradoxically, knowing what to expect is what keeps us coming back to the blogs we love. You might find newness multiple times a day over at Knightcat, but you know how it’s going to look, feel, and sound.

Does your content look, feel, and sound like your story – every time?

You might be surprised to come to the end of this article without a mention of logo, aesthetics (layout, etc.), and customer (reader) interaction. Yes, each of these traditional communicators of brand can help differentiate your blog and clearly express why you are special.

If you want a new logo, by all means let your answers to these questions guide your design process. But even if you have a plain white background and a black text logo (see: Fashiontoast), your answers can provide a framework for your vision, a checklist for your content, and ultimately, a foundation for your blog’s brand.

Recommended reading:

Jim Jarmusch’s inspiring take on originality can be found here.

These illustrated books are a great way for anyone to get inspired about branding and design:

Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands (Kevin Roberts)

Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design (Debbie Millman)

About the author: Ann Colville Somma is the blogger behind Holier than Now, co-founder of the Cliquesound ad network, and a branding and innovations consultant to the fashion and beauty industries.

Image by metaldoll / CC BY 2.0

We’ve expanded the Evolving Influence Conference to make this a special day for fashion bloggers!

Due to high demand… the theater is full, and because you are important to us, we would love for you to come, so we added as special space attached to the theater where you can watch the conference in real time on large screens, participate via twitter #IFBcon, and in the Q&A, you can tweet questions to the panelists! So please do come, it will be a great time to meet up with other bloggers, and of course if you come by, you are welcome to fill any empty space at the theater!

• Large screens and seating for viewing the conference
• Live twitter to participate in real time #IFBcon
• Blogger lounge to rest up and recharge
• An exciting giveaway open to everyone who attends!

In addition to the live streaming conference, we will have a blogger lounge for you to rest up and recharge, coffee & tea, a few snacks, get your nails done with a touch of MINX, and more goodies on the way!

We’re still working on the Dress UP After Party…stay tuned!

We hope to see you there!

And if you can’t make it in person, we’re working to bring you a video livestream, so stay tuned for that too!

RSVP for Evolving Influence

Date: February 15, 2010
Time: Conference 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wine & cheese reception 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. After party in the works!
Place: Helen Mills Theater, 137-139 West 26th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues), New York City

A production by Independent Fashion Bloggers– with the help of American Express, G-Star RAW and ModCloth

Image courtesy of Saga Sig

The Love/Hate Relationship With Fashion

Edited by Debutante Clothing

I’m always complaining about going out to fashion events by myself  – I just don’t have many friends that are into fashion. While some people think fashion is frivolous and contributes nothing to the world, others are curating museum exhibits featuring 20th century clothing. This week’s links made me think about the love/hate camps in fashion. Starting with Grit and Glamour’s post on bloggers getting backlash from fashion insiders, Houndstooth + Tortoiseshell’s refreshingly funny admission of Tavi envy, or Fab Lab’s hate of people who hate. But there is some love in sight – British Style Bloggers reminds us to look in the mirror and love ourselves. Enjoy!

Note from Editor : Please be sure to check out the IFB Conference at NYFW : Evolving Influence

Links à la Mode: February 4th

• A Dress & A Bike – Why breaking the love of one particular brand has been good for my personal style
• British Style Bloggers – Some gems to remember
• Debutante Clothing – Going to a Vintage Show? Insider Tips & Interview
• dirty hems – lacroix by lacroix
• Fab Blab – Why I Hate People Who Ostracize Fashion
• fête à fête – Review of Guerlain’s Spring 2010 Cherry Blossom makeup & the new Rouge G Le Brillant lipstick
• Friend in Fashion – Luxe Vintage
• grit and glamour – Fashion’s Knickers are in a Twist
• hello beauty! – Benefit Stay Don’t Stray: An innovative new primer to lock down shadows AND concealer
• Houndstooth + Tortoiseshell – Young fashion blogger incites curiousity, envy
• Independent Fashion Bloggers – Get Out There : How To Cover Events Without Feeling Like an Idiot
• Lillys Roses – How to DIY your own Chanel Jade nail polish
• Mariel's Castle – Haute Couture 101
• Model Max – MAT GORDON: The ModelWatch Interview
• Oranges and Apples – Top websites for ethical shopping
• Retro Chick – Ethical Design Spotlight – Junky Styling
• Styletastic – To fur or not to fur?
• Stylist Diva – : Are Fashion Bloggers taking over the world?
• Tatiana Supports the Arts – Etsy Window Shopping: Queen Elizabeth I Roundup
• the brooklyn posh blog – He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, red hot
• THE COVETED – Pretty Dresses at the VioletvilleVintage.com launch
• White Rabbit – The inspiration behind my Merlixa Designs millinery collection
• [the3st] – Interview with Amy Smilovic of Tibi

PLEASE READ IF YOU’D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE:If you would like to submit your link for next week’s Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links HERE. The HTML code for this week will be found in the Links a la Mode group will be published later today. ~Jennine

This week’s Blogger Spotlight goes to the darling Fashion Pulse Daily
Julia from Fashion Pulse Daily got an overwhelming vote this week…and rightly so, this blog is full of handy real life fashion tips and the lovely lady behind it has to be one of the nicest people in real life (and online) it’s such a pleasure to present this week’s Blogger Spotlight!

Nominated by: Ashe Mischief , RetroChick, Dream Sequins, Dozen Dresses , Adventures in Fashion and Nookie

Why did you start blogging?
I originally came from a print background, and as I began writing more and more for online, I became completely enamored with the style, the voice, the personal touch that came along with blogging. There is no other experience like it, and I love that each day is a fresh start, with new content and ideas that can also be seamlessly updated at a moment’s notice – a HUGE advantage over print!

What is most inspirational for you when blogging?
I really think that meeting other creative entrepreneurs, from indie designers to fellow bloggers, and exploring the new online frontier and powerful tool of social media fuels my enthusiasm. I love finding new angles to bring to features, and the freedom that comes with blogging is unparalleled to anywhere else in the publishing industry.

Plus, I feel that the online blogging community is WAY more supportive and understanding of each other, a rarity, especially in fashion!

Describe the type of man or woman who would love Fashion Pulse Daily…
The readers are predominantly female, and my Dad keeps begging me to do more men’s fashion-related posts, so I’m sure that will be down the pipeline. The reader who would love Fashion Pulse Daily is someone who would like to use FPD daily as a resource as well as an inspiration for themselves. The site covers the latest breaking news in fashion and beauty, but also features eco-friendly items, gives shopping and styling tips, while frequently injecting a sense of humor and raising questions that provoke the viewer to think about and respond. I love the reader interaction on the site, because after all, where would I be without them?

Choose the next Blogger Spotlight!
Do you have a favorite blogger? Nominate! It will make their day (and we’ll post a link to your blog for being so kind).
Place your nominations here.

This post is by Gotham Hipster

Once you’ve started  your blog, you’ve probably realized the readers don’t all come out by  themselves. Here are some tips to get yourself out there and interacting with the blog community, and your readers.

Interviews

An interview is the most personal way to market yourself to viewers, because you’re giving away quite a bit of information about yourself, they can just as easily detract readers as they can increase your popularity.

• Be the interviewer. Although we all want to be interviewed, the best way to get notoriety is email your favorite bloggers, requesting to interview them.  Go to interviews they’ve done in the past to make sure your not asking them the same questions. Hopefully they’ll post it to their blog, exposing you to their readers.
• Choose who interviews you. It’s exciting when people ask to interview you, at first I suggest taking the ones you can get. But after you’ve done a couple discuss with them the questions their asking, and check out their followers to make sure it’s worth your while.

Networking

• The obvious Twitter. I am Twitter newbie, but in my brief time on the site I’ve seen how valuable a networking source it can be.  You can gain followers, at a faster pace, and even expose yourself to the world of celebrities. But certainly the most useful part of Twitter, is building more personal connections with your readers more readily, than a normal blogging format allows.
• Facebook/Myspace. Many people have suggested to me that I network through personal pages. Connecting with people who have the same interests at you can have help attract large portions of your blog traffic. Just make sure that you are comfortable with how much you’re sharing so that it doesn’t get out of hand.

Commenting

Although it may seem innate to comment on other blogger’s posts, there are a couple tips and tricks that you can benefit from (besides those warm feelings you get when you’ve just complimented someone). Comments are like little written vignettes. You have a very limited space to show other bloggers who you are, so use that space wisely.

Make your comments are worthwhile. Make comments that can start discussion. Instead of just saying “cute dress!”, try writing something more in depth, depicting why you like something, or what you thought was unique about the blogger.  “I love the juxtaposition of lace and florals; red looks simply darling on you!”

Tracking your traffic

How do I know how many visitors I have? Which ones are returning vs. new? Tracking your blog traffic is truly one of the most beneficial applications a blog can have. By looking at the stats you can determine what parts of the world your viewers are coming from, where there being referred by, how many viewers are new vs. returning, and how many total page loads you have.  There are so many different stat counters, how do you know which one to choose?

Statcounter.com
Pros: allows you to have an invisible stat counter so that your number of viewers doesn’t appear in your blog. It’s free.
Cons: doesn’t give you a description of where your viewers are referred from.

Freestats.com
Pros: it has all the features you could want (unique visitors, top 50 referrals, popular posts)
Cons: if you’re going for their free version you have to have their ad your blogs

Google Analytics
Pros:  IFB creator and fellow blogger, Jennine put it, “It’s probably one of the most widely used among professional bloggers as well as several media and ecommerce sites. Most of all it’s free.”

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography

This post is by the lovely Retro Chick

A great way of creating unique and interesting content for your blog is to get out from behind your computer and cover events first hand. Fashion Week is seemingly the holy grail for Fashion bloggers, but if you don’t live in, or near, a city with a fashion week it doesn’t mean you can’t include event reviews on your blog.

If you’re tired of covering big events after the fact based on second hand information here’s how to find and cover events near you without feeling like a fish out of water.

FINDING EVENTS

The more events you go to the more contacts you’ll make and the more you’ll be invited to in future. Finding events related to your niche isn’t rocket science, it’s about getting out there and looking for them. Clothes swaps, table top sales and catwalks organised by your local college or a Charity Shop might all be potential material for your blog and can all lead to contacts that might have more events in future.

Some sources to check are

• Local newspaper listings. Check them regularly for smaller events. If you find a write up of an event that has already passed then don’t be afraid to call or email the venue or organisers to ask if they are running anything similar in future.
• Flyers in shops. If your site caters to a particular niche then check out the windows and notice boards in local shops that cater to that niche, even if the shops aren’t directly fashion related.
• Attend unrelated events. If you write about budget fashion then it won’t hurt to attend a local art gallery opening. While you’re there you might just make some contacts that are more involved in your area. If not there’s no harm in widening your interests to keep it fresh. Also remember the close link between music and fashion and keep your eye on bands and gigs that might appeal to your demographic.
• Sign up for website newsletters and groups. If there are places local to you that have newsletters, Twitter accounts or Facebook pages then sign up for them. Try doing a Facebook search for your keywords and sign up to fan pages and groups to get the alerts about events they run. Then check out what fan pages they are linked to and follow that path. It might sound unlikely, but that’s exactly how I ended up covering a vintage hair styling demonstration in December that I might otherwise never have known about.

COVERING EVENTS

Covering events for the first time can be incredibly nerve racking, so put your professional head on and talk yourself up. Don’t stress too much about what you wear, just make sure you’re comfortable and you feel good for a little extra confidence boost.

Some Dos and Don’ts

DON’T

• Turn up with a gaggle of mates. Depending on the event you may or may not be able to take a friend or partner. If you intend to talk to the organiser for interviews, or the event is invitation only then you don’t want to have a load of giggling girls making you look unprofessional and ligging off the drinks and snacks. If you feel it is appropriate to take someone with you make sure they’re capable of looking after themselves while you work.
• Be late. Do your research. Find out where the event is held in advance and plan how you’re going to get there. Leave an extra half hour early, just to sure. You might think it’s cool to be late. It’s not, it’s rude.
• Get drunk or blag. At some of these events there will be free booze. If you’re not sure you can handle it without loosing control of your motor functions, giggling insanely or coming out in a rash that will make you feel embarrassed (my own personal alcohol demon) then stick with orange juice, at least till the party is well underway.

DO

• Introduce yourself. It might be that you’ve found an event as a “customer” that doesn’t mean you can’t cover it as “press”. Email the organiser in advance or seek them out and introduce yourself on arrival. Remember, this is how you end up getting introduced to other people who might be organising events in future.
• Be prepared. Go with a list of questions you might want to ask. You may or may not get the chance to use them, but if you turn up at a shop launch and suddenly find yourself in a corner having a drink with the owner it would be nice to be prepared.
• Take the right kit. A camera that takes half decent photos, a note book or PDA to take notes and a handful of business cards are all essential kit if you’re planning to come up with a decent post afterwards, or you want people to remember you and let you know about other events in future.

WRITING UP EVENTS

Once you’ve been and had a fabulous time and written all those notes, that’s when the hard work really starts. Here’s how to make the most of it for material for your blog and turn that new material into new readers.

• Keep it timely. When it comes to writing up the event after the fact make sure you do it promptly. If you leave it 2 weeks the event won’t be fresh in your mind, you’ll also look like an unprofessional blagger to all those people you met and gave cards to.
• Be honest. A dry, blow by blow, account is dull and no one wants to read it. Neither do they just want to look at endless photos of people they’ve never met having a wonderful time. Make sure you cover the event in a way that’s “you” but not self indulgent. Try and add value to your readers lives. Tell them what you learnt, when similar events are happening or where they can get tickets for the next one.
• Stay in touch. All those people you introduced yourself to in a professional manner? Email them a link to your post. Don’t just shamelessly promote yourself, thank them politely for such a fantastic event and ask them to keep you up to date with what they’re up to in future.
• Promote yourself. Shamelessly. I know I just told you not to, but this is different. If you’ve written up an event then let attendees and potential attendees know about it. Add a link to your post to the events facebook page, or a comment to the organisers blog if it was that kind of event. Make the most of the opportunity to reach out to new readers in your niche.

On a final note, always remember just because it isn’t a “fashion” event doesn’t mean it can’t be fodder for the insatiable beast that is your blog. Over the last 12 months I’ve written up 2 hen nights, 3 weddings and my own birthday party. If you were there, being your fabulous self, there’s probably material in it.

A Touch of Frivolity

Edited by Retro Chick

It’s been a long time since pay day and this weeks Links à la Mode brings a touch of much needed frivolity as we crawl into the second month of a new decade. Idiosyncratic Style takes Scooby Doo’s Velma as her style inspiration, Dirty Hems is inspired by dolls houses and Ode to Awe shows off her leopard print nails. Want something for nothing? A few Goody Gumdrops has an Aspinall of London bag to giveaway and Retro Chick (that’s me!) has 2 Valentine goodie bags to giveaway worth over £100 each. We’ve also got some great designer interviews and some practical advice.

On a more sober note there’s some timely tips from Sway, Sway, Sway! on how you can continue to donate to Haiti without getting scammed, Shoe Daydreams discusses Tanya Golds “Why I hate Fashion” article and Ventures of Jenn shares her opinions on the body image debate.

Bring on February!

Note from Editor : Please be sure to check out the IFB Conference at NYFW : Evolving Influence

Links à la Mode: January 28th

• 39th and broadway – 5 Questions To Ask Before Beginning a Career in Fashion
• A Few Goody GumDrops – A Few Goody Gumdrops and Aspinal of London are Giving away an ever-so chic and sophisticated beige patterned skin clutch!
• Analogue Chic – Looking good while doing stuff – braving the weather and the commute with a sense of style.
• Bonne Vie – Invest in Quality Denim; featuring How-To Tips from Denim Debutante
• Cafe Fashionista – Style Secrets: Cowboy Boots Made Classy
• Cindy Whitehead – The Modern Snow Bunny
• Denim Debutante – Aeropostale Gives Back with Teens for Jeans Campaign
• dirty hems. – In the Dollhouse – Miniature inspiration and a teeny resulting DIY
• Dramatis Personae – a feature & interview with the designer behind i am dorkas
• Fasshonaburu – I challenge myself to follow my own dress code regulations in order to wow up my day to day ensembles.
• fête à fête – Clarins debuts first certified organic beauty soap
• Idiosyncratic Style – Inspired by the sartorially underrated Velma Dinkley.
• Independent Fashion Bloggers – IFB Presents : Evolving Influence Conference NYFW 2010
• kaKofonie Of si(gh)lenS – Interview with Janeane Marie Ceccanti
• Ode to Awe – I review Minx Nails, plus my glamourous Russian Garnet cocktail ring
• Oranges and Apples – Vintage teenage hair inspiration
• Retro Chick – Valentines Day is on it’s way and Retro Chick has 2 goodie bags worth over £100 each to give away to help you celebrate!
• Shoe Daydreams – Fashion Influences (?)
• Style Eyes Fashion Blog – I have avoided eco and ethical fashion in the past because of the price but I have just discovered it is affordable and stylish.
• Style Symmetry – How to Choose Items at a Clothing Swap Party
• Sway Sway Away! – A passionate plea from a member of the global community to her fashionable brothers and sister: help Haiti!
• THE COVETED – Suzy Menkes, Facehunter, LeMads & The Coveted talk about fashion blogs
• ventures of jenn – on body issues

PLEASE READ IF YOU’D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE:If you would like to submit your link for next week’s Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links HERE. The HTML code for this week will be found in the Links a la Mode group will be published later today. ~Jennine

This week’s Blogger Spotlight goes to the amazing Michelle of Wicked Whimsy.

“I’d like to nominate Wicked Whimsy this week for her unique style and amazing hair. I think it’s really refreshing in a world where so many blogs I visit are full of pictures of moody looking girls with ironed hair and black skinny jeans (not that that doesn’t have it’s place, of course!) and I always feel inspired to be more adventurous after visiting her site.” — RetroChick
Nominated by: RetroChick, Ashe Mischief and Nookie

Ashe Mischief did a quick little interview with the lovely Wicked Whimsy here…

Why did you start blogging?
I actually used to blog when I was much younger (off and on between the ages of 13 & 19), but I stopped because of some drama (long story!). I’ve loved writing since the age of about six, so I missed the regular chances to write, and decided to start blogging again in October of ‘08.

What is most inspirational for you when blogging?
I don’t know if I can pick one thing! As far as post ideas, they come from everywhere – magazines, my Google Reader (it is a constant battle to keep it tamed, I swear!), walking around Austin…even places that might seem odd. Some of my favorite reads are fantasy (Neil Gaiman FTW!), but I always put the book down inspired.

Describe the type of man or woman who would love Wicked Whimsy…
Someone who was interested in style, but in living their whole lives stylishly, not just their shopping lives! Style & fashion are obviously pretty common topics, but I also like to write about taking care of yourself in other ways; making sure you’re looking good inside and out.

Choose the next Blogger Spotlight!
Do you have a favorite blogger? Nominate! It will make their day (and we’ll post a link to your blog for being so kind).
Place your nominations here.

In 2009, fashion bloggers came under the media spotlight. We have grown our readership and expanded the possibilities of online conversation well beyond anyone’s imagination. We’re increasingly sought out by high-profile brands. So what next? How do we handle success? IFB — with the help of American Express, G-Star RAW and ModCloth– is proud to present EVOLVING INFLUENCE, a conference for fashion bloggers to discuss where we go from here.

EVOLVING INFLUENCE

Date: February 15, 2010
Time: Conference 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. • Wine & cheese reception 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Place: Helen Mills Theater, 137-139 West 26th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues), New York City

For the conference schedule click here

Panelists include : Susie Bubble - Style Bubble/Dazed Digital | Tavi Gevinson – Style Rookie | Bryanboy | Phil Oh – Street Peeper | Britt Aboutaleb & Lauren Sherman – Fashionista.com | Imran Amed Business of Fashion | Diane Pernet – A Shaded View on Fashion | Gina Garrubbo, EVP Blogher | Jessica Schroeder – What I Wore | Clark Hoyt - Public Editor, New York Times | Gala Darling-iCiNG | Lauren Dimet Waters – Second City Style | Dina Fierro – Eye4Style, Attention! | Aubree Nichols-Urban Signals | Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond- BlueFly.com | Corinne Leigh -Threadbanger | Erika Miller – Elle.com | Pamela Castillo- Market Publique | Nichelle Pace – StyleMom | Melody Biringer – The CRAVE Company. With Influential Blog Presentation from YM Ousley Signature9

Moderators : Jennine Tamm | Wendy Brandes | Yuli Ziv | Jordana Bruner

Giftbags courtesy of : G-Star RAW • WeLoveColors • Affordable Scarves • Revlon • Jean Straps. Image courtesy of Saga Sig.

Evolving Influence Conference Schedule

Suggested donation is $20 a person. Donations will be used to help cover the costs of this event. Remaining funds will be allocated to improving the IFB website to benefit the blogging community. Your generosity is appreciated!

…excited?