Grab your favorite gadget and follow Independent Fashion Blogger’s exclusive cross-country Instagram road trip

Embark on the blogging community’s ultimate summer escapade with Independent Fashion Blogger’s (IFB) “Day in the Life” Instagram campaign, a virtual summer road trip that gives Instagram users the chance to explore the country through the eyes of their favorite digital personalities.

Making virtual pit-stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville, Dallas, Chicago, Washington DC and New York City, each selected blogger will share five original photos on the IFB Instagram account. With a different featured blogger each day, the “Day in the Life’ campaign will highlight the diverse voices and personalities that can be found within the nation’s digital space. Each photo will be posted on the @_IFB instagram account and will be shared with both IFB’s and the participating blogger’s social media community.

Follow each blogger’s Instagram postings with this posting schedule and the #DayintheLife dedicated hashtag:

5/28/2012: Mollie Ruiz-Hopper, www.MollieInSeattle.com, @MollieInSeattle
5/29/2012: Whitney Powell & Brittany Hebb, www.BrittandWhit.com, @BrittandWhit
5/30/2012: Erin Hiemstra, www.Apartment34.com, @Apartment_34
5/31/2012: Tara McNulty, www.TheWonderGirl.com, @TaraDear
6/01/2012: Lauren Wickman, www.LAintheBay.com, @LAintheBay / @CallMeLoLo
6/02/2012: Krystal Bick, www.ThisTimeTomorrow-Krystal.blogspot.com @Krystal_Bick
6/03/2012: Natalie Goel, www.LikeFreshLaundry.com, @NatalieGoel
6/04/2012: Samantha Hutchinson, www.CouldIHaveThat.Blogspot.com, @CouldIHaveThat
6/05/2012: Mara Ferreira, www.MLovesM.Blogspot.com, @MaraFerreira
6/06/2012: Bradley Agather, www.LuellaJune.com, @Bagather
6/07/2012: Sarah Faye, www.LivingGoldie.com, @goldie_locks
6/08/2012: Jennifer King, www.IfIMustSaySo.com, @birdflygood
6/09/2012: Allyson Noriega, www.AllysoninWonderland.com, @AllysoninWonderland
6/10/2012: Audrey Huber, www.ALovelyEscape.Blogspot.com. @MissAudMarie
6/11/2012: Amy Creyer, www.ChicagoStreetStyle.com, @ChiStreetStyle
6/12/2012: Cait Weingartner, www.PrettyandFun.com, @PrettyandFun
6/13/2012: Megan Gilger, www.TheFreshExchangeBlog.com, @hitchdesign
6/14/2012: Elise Yetton, www.PennyweightOnline.com, @Pennyweight
6/15/2012: Jessica Nell Graves, www.TheLoveList.net, @thelovelist
6/18/2012: Jewel Hazelton, www.EatDrinkShopLove.com, @Eatdrinkshoplove
6/19/2012: Meg Biram, www.MimiandMegBlog.com, @MegBiram
6/20/2012: Molly and Sally Miller, www.APieceofToast.com, @apieceoftoast
6/21/2012: Lacey Maffettone, www.ALaceyPerspective.com, @laceperspective
6/22/2012: Alison Coglianese, www.ChainStrapPurse.com, @AllyCog
6/23/2012: Sarah Morgan Shepherd, www.HemenwayStreet.com, @HemenwayStreet
6/25/2012: Laura Ellner, www.OnTheRacks.com, @ontheracks
6/26/2012: Erika Sheffer, www.StyleActivist.com, @styleactivist
6/27/2012: Lauren Brenner, www.EveryDayToRunway.com, @Everyday_Runway
6/28/2012: Sarah Lederman, www.ChevronandStripes.com, @Chevronsarah
6/29/2012: Caroline Knapp, www.SweetCarolineintheCity.com, @CarolineinCity
6/30/2012: Jinna Yang, www.GreaseandGlamour.com, @GreaseandGlamour

Don’t forget – the campaign starts May 28, 2012 over here with the #DayInTheLife hashtag!

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Oh twitter. How we love you. Constantly entertaining us, keeping us up-to-date on the news, and in-touch with all our blogger pals. We find ourselves giggling and re-tweeting silly or poignant tweets all week, and thought it might be fun to start sharing some of our favorite with you.

The woman behind the @dkny twitter feed always understands our hair trauma.

This convo made us giggle. Mindy’s tweets are worth a follow.

Ironic, Mr. Martin. We like that.

We ask the same thing about attending events…

A perfect Monday morning tweet from Matchbook Mag

We’d have to agree with you on that one, Miss Sage

So very, very true!

RIP Disco Queen.

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Fashion and music will collide this weekend as everyone (and maybe their moms) head out to California’s massive music festival known as Coachella.

From Twitter to Instagram, you can expect your social media feeds to be inundated with tweets and pictures filled with good music, late night adventures, and sunscreen. Festivals can be hit-or-miss in terms of interesting social media information – I mean, how many times can we hear about the raging B.O and you uber-rough night? Instead of following those boring accounts, we rounded up the top 10 Instagram feeds that you should follow to get your music festival fix.

1. @RollingStone: The king of music, Rolling Stone magazine will have behind-the-scenes footage with all your favorite Coachella acts. The Black Keys, M83, Laura Marling, St. Vincent, Fitz & The Tantrums, Beirut, Gotye… Their feed is bound to basically be a music orgy in the best way possible.

2. @Refinery29: Hands down, we consider Refinery29 to be one of our favorite sites for interesting content. Fashion, music and lifestyle – they have got it covered. Which is why we are staying tuned to their Instagram feed during the Coachella weekend. Who else would we turn to for exclusive images and fun snapshots from the weekend?

3. @lateafternoon: As one of Los Angeles’ leading fashion bloggers, we will be scouting her Instagram feed for summer style inspiration. With sweltering heat and long nights ahead of us (Oh New York), we will probably pin every look she wears this weekend. Fact.

4. @BullettMedia: Fashion, film, design and music are the focus of BULLETT magazine and we seriously love everything they do.

5. @NylonMag: We can’t talk Coachella without mentioning Nylon magazine. They basically are the cool kids of pop culture, right? We can only imagine the fashion snaps they are going to take while out in the desert this weekend.

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5 Things Fashion Bloggers Would Like to See On Instagram

• Click on an Instagram through to a url: This was the first thing on the list. Got that outfit shot and share it with your Instagram following? While you can see action on your actual Instagrams, it’s hard to translate how these photos affect your blog’s traffic and it’s harder to measure how it impacts your own social media presence.
• Toggle between accounts:Do you have a personal Instagram and one for your blog? What about an account for your work. Come on, logging on and off is a pain in the derriere and it’s almost easier to get two phones, or three. Dude.
• Being able to choose which Facebook Page your Intsagrams feed into: When I posted about Instafb, everyone loved the idea, but hated that it didn’t feed directly into a Facebook Page. While you can use Statigram to feed ALL of your Instagrams into your page, what if you have two or three pages to feed into?
• Insights for Instagram: If you’re not looking at your Facebook Page Insights, you should.. it provides valuable information about who is looking and interacting with your page. Having this feature in Instagram would help you understand your community in the app better.
• Upload Directly to Pinterest: Now this would be the ULTIMATE chocolate-and-peanut butter combination, why is this not a feature? They should be working on this as we speak. Dude.

What are some of the things you’d like to see with the new Facebook/Instagram acquisition? Do tell!

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Creating a blog is only one part of the blogging equation; you absolutely have to manage and maintain your blog in order for it grow and become better, faster, and more successful.

There used to be a time when trying to find helpful tools, get blog inspiration and update your blog was pain (No Pinterest, what?!) but now, thanks to the growth of the Internet and blogging community, you can find help and resources almost anywhere. From photo programs to blog design resources to social media tools, the list of helpful online programs is never ending.

Assisting you with your blog and social media personality, IFB has rounded up 50 online tools that will help you better your blog and your brand:

1. IFB (obviously): Your ultimate blogging resource with tips & insights
2. Problogger: Great outlet for content inspiration and tangible blogging advice
3. Google Analytics: Learn more about your site traffic and how to keep visitors on your site
4. Pixlr.com: Don’t have Photoshop? Use this photo editing software that mirrors Photoshop
5. Copyblogger: One-stop shop that offers tutorials on content marketing, SEO, email marketing and keyword search.
6. Tweepi.com: Manage your Twitter following by gaining quality followers and deleting spammers
7. Klout: Measure your influence across most social media platforms and see what kind of following you are garnering
8. Pinterest: Gather inspiration, promote your visual graphics, and share content ideas with your following.
9. Pugly Pixel: Graphic design blog that offers tips and inspiration for better graphics
10. EHow.com: Learn just about everything (video-production, SEO tips, grammar help) on this guide-to-everything site
11. Dictionary.com: Your grammar 101 source.
12. Associated Press Stylebook: News and media guideline for writing and reporting. Abbreviations, grammar guidelines, and more
13. Instagram: Social photo-sharing application that links to your Facebook and Twitter
14. Thesaurus.com: Online dictionary and mobile reference source
15. LinkedIn: Get job tips, newsworthy articles and more! Plus, stalk your favorite brands and companies for potential marketing opps.
16. Google +: Social media program that allows you to share your posts and create various communities through the Google + Circles
17. Bloglovin’: Follow your favorite blogs and share your posts in this easy-to-read and mobile browser.
18. Her New Leaf’s “Primp My Blog” page: Tips on how to add plugins to your blog and advice on designing your blog better
19. The Academy: Empowering You To Achieve Success Your Way: Brush up on marketing and PR tactics that will help you grow your blog
20. Mashable: The ultimate source for all things technology and social media, plus news bites and 24/7 updates
21. GoDaddy: A blogger’s resource for domain registration and hosting services
22. PSFK: Technology’s destination for creative business, design and fashion topics and hot issues
23. RewardStyle: Affiliate network that helps bloggers monetize their site
24. Fashion Traffic: Another outlet for fashion bloggers interested in joining an affiliate marketing network
25. Lyst: Social sharing shopping site that allows you to curate your own collection and share your designer finds with your readers
26. CurrentlyObsessed.me: Discover the hottest fashion finds from your favorite top-tier bloggers
27. Fashionably Marketing.Me: Get updates on what’s going on in the fashion digital marketing space
28. Business of Fashion: daily resource for fashion leaders and creatives
29. ShopStyle: A shopping portal where you can create layouts with products from thousands of brands and shops
30. Polyvore: Create magazine-like layouts with products, text, magazine images and more
31. Webstagram: If you’re iPhone-less, you can browse Instagram accounts easily through this site
32. Hootsuite:  A great tool to manage mutliple Twitter, Facebook and social media accounts in one place
33. StumbleUpon: Use this to promote and share your posts and find new sites and inspiration as well
34. Bit.ly: Create an account and use this tool to shorten your links for Twitter and Facebook then track their reach
35. Style.com: For the best  Fashion Week images and trend story ideas, we go here. (Remember – site your source!)
36. Free Gretchen: Use this site to promote and grow a giveaway or contest on your blog
37. Shortstack: Custom designer Facebook pages, for free (fancy, right?)
38. Offerpop: Create contests and launch promotional campaigns with this Twitter/Facebook marketing tool.
39. North Social: Create interactive tabs (video, welcome, photo gallery) with this easy Facebook customization program.
40. Etsy: Promote small business owners, find cool things, sell your stuff – Etsy is great for all that
41. TweetReach: Analyze your Twitter account, get total impressions and more with this impressive Twitter management dashboard.
42. Topsy: Fast-indexing technological program that delivers crucial metrics from social media apps
43.  TwitterCounter: Get statistics and insight into your Twitter following
44. Blog Milk: resource for inspiration, design and other tools that will get your creative juices following
45. Icon Archive: Hundreds of thousands of icons, for your use, for free!
46. MailChimp: Set up a custom newsletter for your blog
47. Random.org: Use this generator to pick a winner at random for your contests / giveaways
48. Flickr: Flickr’s creative commons is a great source for photos you can use freely on your blog
49. DaFont: Download free fonts for your blog’s graphics
50. Veer: View and purchase photos and exclusive fonts

Phew, now THAT is an impressive list of 50 effective tools. Have you used any of these programs? Do you have any additional recommendations? Share in the comments section!

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