My experiences in fashion blogging
13 Jun 2011
My sister and I were by far the least fashionable sisters in school. I actually think my mother bought half of our clothing (ah, the horror). So some might think it was madness that we started writing our own fashion and shopping blog last year (we kind of did ourselves - my sister practically lives at Mr Price, not quite haute couture, is it?). We liked the concept of two sisters living in two different cities united by one fashion blog and we saw a gap in the market for fashion bloggers who were writing about their own personal styles rather than those of celebrities.
The deals, the sales and favourite outfits
So we created Boguslavskysisters.com (a mouthful, we know!) and we persevered with the blogging. We wrote, weekly, about our latest shopping finds, the deals, the sales and our favourite outfits. In the beginning, I think our readers were a handful of friends and, of course, our mother. But slowly our traffic grew and it practically doubled when we moved the blog over to the WordPress platform in March, 2011. It has been an interesting 10 months of blogging and I have learned a few things about fashion blogging along the way:
- Authenticity matters - So many people email us, telling us how much they love that we are "real" and "authentic". I think readers enjoy that we are not pretending to be fashionable, nor are we trying to make it seem that we wear designer labels all the time. Yes, we shop at Mr Price sometimes (well, my sister does). So do 90 percent of our readers. It's okay. Be yourself. It will shine through in your writing.
- Blogging platform makes a difference - We started the blog whilst using the Posterous platform. It's simple, easy and great for beginners. Unfortunately, it will only take you so far in terms of SEO. We moved over to WordPress this year, changed the design of the site, focused on the SEO aspect and our traffic grew almost instantly, thanks to organic search.
- Online PR is vital - It is vital for creating awareness for your blog, vital for introducing yourself to a new audience and vital for link building. I focused on some of the more popular fashion websites in SA and within the first six months we were lucky enough to be featured in StyleSociety, StyleScoop, All4Women and even in La Femme in The Herald (means nothing for Capetonians, but a big deal for those who live in PE).
- Guest Bloggers rock - Our first guest blogger ever was Robyn Hobson and it made such a difference to our traffic. We saw a huge increase in readership for that day and it was due to her promoting the guest blog post, and because it was something fresh and different for our readers.
Finally, just keep on blogging. It takes time and perseverance to build up an online audience.
About Marianna Boguslavsky
Marianna Boguslavsky is an Online Marketing and Social Media Consultant working and living in Cape Town. She runs www.mbconsultancy.co.za. If you need any digital and fashion content creation advice, contact her at az.oc.ycnatlusnocbm@annairam.
