When you were younger, did your parents ever tell you that you spent to much time in your closet admiring your clothes? Maybe they rolled their eyes every time you came home with a new garment that you paraded around like a trophy. If you know what I am talking about then perhaps becoming a fashion blogger is in your future.
By blogging, regular ‘Joes’ like you and me can lay a claim to fame in the arenas that interest us most.
When blogging first hit the internet, a fashion blogger was seen as a wannabe designer. People thought of them as someone who wasn’t good enough or smart enough to create their own brand, so they simply followed the real designers and talked about their clothing, accessories and so on. But today, fashion blogging is where it is at.
The most popular designers now rely on the everyday fashion blogger to help them increase awareness of, and interest in, their products. Today successful bloggers can:
- Get front row seats to events.
- Enjoy backstage passes that give them a behind-the-scenes look at the events.
- Partner with their favourite brands and receive their clothing at reduced rates.
Does this sound like a dream you would love to live in? It could become reality by simply sharing the seasonal trends and your thoughts through a fashion blog.
Start your own fashion blog in 5 steps
Although it won’t happen overnight, fashion blogging is a real job that can generate a full-time income. Get started by following these steps.
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Get focused.
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Start following other bloggers and designers.
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Choose a name for your blog.
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Select a blog tool.
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Learn some basic SEO.
After you’ve scanned our step-by-step plan for starting Canada’s next hot fashion blog, keep reading for tips on making your blog earn money.
1. Get focused
It is so important to choose a niche. ‘Someone who writes about everything, writes about nothing.’
Choose your lane, whether baggy sweaters or bathing suits, and stay in it.
Maybe it is women’s clothing or sunglasses and handbags — or even socks and shoes. Whatever it is, you need to choose the item, or selective items, that you will focus on.
Think about what you love to window shop for, what you love to look at online and what gets you excited. What are those one or two items of clothing that you can talk about for hours?
2. Start following other bloggers and designers
Now that you have your niche, do some research and start to follow other bloggers and the designers that you like and enjoy following.
This is not to copy or make yourself feel unworthy. This is to help you to gain knowledge as to how and why they have become successful in their niche. Take some pointers from what they are doing and work on incorporating these skills into your writing and photo style. This will help to give you a foundation and a sense of where to start.
3. Choose a name for your blog
This is by far one of most important steps in creating your blog. Your blog name becomes your online identity. It is how people find you on search engines such as Google and it is how your readers will find you on social media.
It can take time to choose the perfect name. This post should help
Once you have done so, make sure to buy the domain using .com or .ca at the end. I would suggest purchasing both the .com and .ca so that no one else can purchase them.
As a side note, I would also recommend that you make sure the name you want isn’t taken on the social media platforms that you want to use (use a tool like this). You’ll want the name to be the same across the board — from your blog to Instagram and Facebook.
4. Select a blog tool
There are many ways to get your blog online — WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Medium etc. Make sure to choose a platform where you own the content. On some platforms, once you post on the site you no longer have the rights to your own content.
I recommend WordPress for your blog. There are many themes and plug-ins that you can use to create an amazing blog unlike any other on the web.
For an even easier way in, you can also use the GoDaddy Managed WordPress to start your blog. It is super simple to use, as the downloading and installation is done for you. And it comes with 24/7 live phone support in case you have a question at 2 a.m.
Related: How to set up a WordPress blog
5. Learn some basic SEO
You’ll need to learn how to use search engine optimization (SEO) for your blog. This is a well-defined series of steps that includes:
- Identifying the words that your readers type in to Google.
- Adding those words to your blog posts.
- Using a variety of other techniques to raise the search rankings of your posts.
SEO isn’t a difficult to learn, it just takes a little time. So please don’t let this little learning curve keep you from promoting your fashion blog.
Now let’s make some money
There are many ways that you can make an income blogging about the looks you love. Here are a few of my favourite ways.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a system that pays you a commission on every item purchased through links in your blog posts.
For example, you write a blog post about a certain designer or clothing item and within the post you add your a link to their website. When a reader is reading your blog post they can click on the link, purchase the item and you get paid a commission for the referral.
To get started, make a list of the brands that you want to support and research their regulations. Registering can be as easy as giving them your name and email. If you can’t find the information you are looking for, simply email them and ask.
Sponsored posts and partnerships
Sponsored posts are fun because a brand will give you one or more items for no charge, in the hopes that you will wear the them, take photos of you wearing them and blog about how much you love these products. You become a cheerleader, not just for the product that you purchased, but for the brand that you are writing about. A bonus about sponsored posts, you could have the opportunity to be paid, by the brand directly, for these fashion blog posts.
Ambassador programs
Ambassador programs are becoming very popular for bloggers. This is where a blogger partners with a brand to offer their readers a special discount code to purchase products they write about.
For example, Fashionista Franny gets a promo code from Awesome Clothes Inc and writes about a pair of pants that she loves, and she could add “love these pants? Use coupon code ‘Franny-15’ and get 15 % off your purchase.” In return, Franny receives a commission on each sale or a store credit.
Ad placements
Ad placements are not big money makers but are a great way to earn money per page view. In this case, you place ads in your top banner, sidebar and/or directly in your blog posts. You can use programs like Google Ads and Mediavine to create this paid opportunity.
There’s a place for you in fashion blogging
The best part of becoming a fashion blogger is that you get to write about what you love. It doesn’t hurt that you might earn money doing so.
Please note that it does take time, energy and work to start generating revenue on your blog. But creating a successful blog is extremely rewarding.
Hope to see you among Canada’s top fashion bloggers soon!
