6 Tips for Starting a Fashion Blog While Working Full Time

The blogging business is booming in 2016, and it will only get bigger as time goes on. There are many people who love their full time jobs and are perfectly happy with running their blogs as a side gig or hobby. On the other hand, if you are like me, you want your fashion blog to be your full time business. You want to be able to travel the world working with your favorite brands, going to fashion week, and making money doing what you love.

Well, if you feel and dream exactly as I do, here are a few tips you can use while starting your fashion blog and working full time!

1. Treat your blog as your career, not your job

There is a clear difference between a job and a career. A job is something you have to pay the bills. You may not necessarily like the job, or you may be indifferent altogether. At the end of the day, all you care about is the money you are getting paid to complete your daily tasks. A career, on the other hand, can be a lifestyle. People choose their careers because it is something that they enjoy doing, but they also happen to get paid while doing it.

You never want to make your blog your second job. Maybe don't focus on being the next Rachel Parcell as soon as possible, but enjoy the creativity you have in your mind and at your fingertips. Remember the reasons you chose to start your fashion blog in the first place. There is still work and dedication involved in running a fashion blog, but overall you should have fun in this space you’ve created.

2. Pick a specific niche that is natural to you

One thing you should do is pick a niche that is like second nature to you. Fashion is a niche in it’s own, but there are so many layers to your style when it comes to fashion. Being more specific and original will capture more readers than just starting a generic fashion blog. It will also help get you noticed by brands and your target audience.

My niche for my blog is dating and plus size fashion. I built a fashion blog discussing how plus size fashion has raised my confidence after a long battle of dating with low self-esteem. If that’s not specific, then I don’t know what is. I had help from a friend on picking a topic within fashion that was important to me, we made sure it can be monetized, and now all of my content comes to me naturally. There’s no pressure to fit a certain standard, because I created my own standard by specifying my niche

3. Better utilize your available PTO

Try saving your paid time off for not only that once a year vacation you take, but also for blogger networking events. If a blogger or fashion event lasts for an entire week and you want to take advantage of other events that year, try traveling on a Thursday or Friday for the remainder of the event. Spread your time and spend it wisely.

Attending these networking events is a sure way to get noticed by the brands in your industry. Not to mention, you will get the chance to meet brands face-to-face and exchange contact information, which is so important to your business. This makes your introduction more personable than just shooting them an email asking them to work with you. You will also meet some fellow blogger buddies, which is a great advantage. It’s like working in groups for a project at school. You all have the interest of excelling the class; so working together makes the load much easier.

4. Prepare your posts ahead of time

Your time can be very limited when running a fashion blog while still working your day job. Try batching your shoots and scheduling your content in advance to save some time. You could take one day to shoot all of the outfits for that month’s posts, and take another day to schedule the content for that month. This way you are not stressed about making sure you have time to sit and complete some posts, and you will also be consistent with the timing of your posts since they are scheduled in advance.

5. Market to save your life!

When you first start your fashion blog, you should spend 40% of your time on your content and 60% of your time marketing your blog. I know it sounds crazy right, but it is so true. Just think about if you only spend all of your time writing your pants off and publishing your blog posts. After about a month you would check your analytics and see you have only had 5 visitors this past month, no new subscribers, and no new social media followers. It’s not that you don’t have anything good to say; it’s just nobody knows you exist.

Create great, viral content for your fashion blog, then market that content and yourself with the remaining time you have left. You can attend network events, contact magazines, promote your blog in forums that fit your niche, join Facebook groups, etc. Basically bring the audience to your site, and capture them with your amazing content. The Fashion Pro Blogger course taught me everything I know about marketing my blog.

6. Overcome self-doubt & enjoy your journey

Everyone I’ve come in contact with has had doubts as to whether they can make it as a full time fashion blogger. Many questions will run through your mind such as, “Am I good enough? What if people don’t like what I write? What if people don’t like my style? What if I fail?” The list of questions can go on for days.

Despite your concerns, I have some great news to share with you. If there is a niche within fashion you care about, then I promise there is an audience for you that feels the same way. Embrace your difference, because that is what’s going to captivate your audience and turn them into your loyal readers.

What are some concerns you have about starting your fashion blog while working a 9-5? Comment below with more advice, concerns, or questions!