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6 Tips for An Insanely Effective Blog Giveaway

Brands use contests and sweepstakes to drive engagement and to support new customer acquisition initiatives.  Why shouldn't your blog leverage promotions in a similar way?  Here are a few tips to help you set...
people judge anyway

Daily Inspiration: People are going to judge you anyway…

As bloggers we're constantly putting ourselves "out there" as personal style bloggers we're putting our images out there, as fashion bloggers we're putting our opinions out there, it can get pretty personal sometimes. It puts us in a vulnerable place, open t...
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6 Ways to Figure Out Your Blog’s Brand Essence

A brand essence isn't something that is easy to communicate - instead, it's a few words (the fewer the better), that communicates the feeling that your brand evokes. Unlike your visual identity, or a tagline, y...
dont quit day dream

Daily Inspiration: Don’t Quit Your Day Dream

How many of you like to day dream? I know, I sure love day dreaming! Some may think day dreaming is wasting time, but I like to think of it as exploring the possibilities. What does your mind want to accom...
independence happiness failure impossible

Daily Inspiration: Independence is Happiness

  Happy 4th of July! Here in the US, it's Independence Day... which usually means a day off, fireworks, something off the grill... hamburgers or veggie dogs. I usually like to reflect on what it means to be independent. This quote by Susan B. An...
shit atleast tried

Daily Inspiration: Well Shit, At Least You Tried.

I literally laughed out loud when I saw this image, followed by a deep feeling of, "Oh, shit. Well, it's true." As we get older, we expect to be perfect, knowledgeable, and experienced the moment we star...
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5 Ways to Find Contact Information for Fashion PR Agencies

Being connected to fashion publicists is great. You get the inside scoop on all sorts of great designer collections, events and opportunities to partner with brands for fun and fame and financial gain. However, not all agencies (or publicists) are created equa...
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7 Ways You Can Borrow Ideas from Others

I wanted to title this post, "Shakespeare and the Beatles stole from their peers, you can too,"  but that's a bit long and cumbersome. (And really, it promotes the wrong idea.) I'm a firm believer that there aren't new ideas.  What I do believe in is new wa...
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5 Ways to Weave Quotations into a Feature Article

 by Chanelle Leslie of "Not So Naked" So you've found a designer that takes your fancy - let's call him Karl Lagerfeld - and he's agreed to have you interview him. You email over some questions, receive a ...
fashion blogger gifts

3 Things to do Before Contacting a PR Agency to Send You Free Stuff

Let’s be real: one of the great perks of being a fashion blogger is the opportunity to connect with PR agencies and have them send you lovely things to wear and write about. Who doesn’t love getting goodies in the mail and showing off a great look that came ...
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10 Outfit Photo Locations You Can Find Amost Anywhere

Taking outfit photos can be hard work just by themselves, but finding a good location? That's tough, especially if you feel like you live in the middle of nowhere, especially if you are looking to find a VARI...
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12 Reasons You Won’t “Make It” as a Blogger

I've contributed for IFB for the past four years and have written a LOT of posts.  I've also received thousands of comments over the years, so I feel like I have an idea of "what the IFB community wants."  Success varies from blogger to blogger, but the memb...
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10 YouTube Stars to Watch (& Learn From)

In the internet galaxy, YouTube is a universe unto itself. In just over eight years of existence, YouTube sees over 1 billion unique visitors who watch over 4 billion hours of video. PER MONTH. While the traffi...
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5 Photoshop Tricks That Will Ruin Your Photos

The invention of Photoshop is at once one of the best things that ever happened to photography and one of the worst things.  Now we have several options to edit photos, there are endless photo apps, Instagram being the most popular as well as browser based one...
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126 Niche Fashion Blog Ideas

Do you know your niche? Honing in on a niche for your blog can be difficult in the very general topic of fashion. Fashion is a glamorous, beautiful topic, and it's hard to decide which direction to take ...
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Blogger Grammar Basics: Colons, Ellipses, and Dashes

Last week I talked about grammar basics with periods, commas, and semi-colons, and this week I'm getting into the fun and fancy punctuation: colons, ellipses, and dashes. These get used often by bloggers, b...
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Behind the Scenes: How a Fashion Blogger Makes Money

I always appreciate getting a "behind the scenes" look at income breakdowns and the nuts & bolts of making a living as a blogger, so I thought I'd get on the other side of it today and give you a peek inside my income stream over the last 5 years. I was ...
fashion blogger polaroid

How to be a Fashion Blogger WITHOUT a DSLR & Other Things….

Have you ever been afraid to start something - a new blog, a new project, or whatever? Or told yourself you'd start when you have _______ (fill in the blank)? I know I have. We're so good at putting things off because we don't have the latest thing (camera...
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Daily Inspiration: Be a Voice, Not an Echo

We talk a lot about developing a "strong voice" here on IFB. It's the quality of a blog that's often cited as the single most important. Another way to think about it, are you voicing something original,...
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8 Ways to Be Insta-Awesome on Instagram

I'm loving all of your dialogue in using Twitter and Facebook pages for promoting your blog! I'm continuing the series this week with a look at how you can make the most of Instagram for your blog. With over ...
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10 Ways to Build an Insanely Loyal Following

The internet is a fickle place. One minute you're hot, and the next minute... well, let's just say people move on quick. Building a loyal following can be difficult in a time where everything changes so quickly, yet, most all successful bloggers have a dedic...
beautiful thing never perfect

Daily Inspiration: A Beautiful Thing Is Never Perfect

Perfection might be a virtue for some people... but in reality, how much do we really love perfection? Anne Hathaway is seemingly perfect, kind, talented, smart, and beautiful, yet all the gossip columns ab...
artist first amateur

Daily Inspiration: Every Artist Was First an Amateur

Yes, it is true, every one begins as an amateur. I would even go a step further and say, we suck at first. Maybe some have a gift and do something ok the first time. But for the most part, to really beco...
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7 Steps to a Fabulous Facebook Page

Thanks for your responses to last week's Twitter article! While I can talk about Twitter all day, Facebook takes a little more effort for me. However, it remains one of the most visited sites in the world, with over half of its users logging in and spendin...
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10 Surprising Phrases You Might Be Getting Wrong

Many of us bloggers may not have started our blogs out of our love for the written word. There are many bloggers who are "ideas" people-- those who love sharing information about a favorite topic. Personally,...
high quality fashion blogs traits

7 Common Traits of High Quality Fashion Blogs

"Be so good they can't ignore you." ~Steve Martin I keep going back to this, because it's at once sage advice, and completely subjective advice. For bloggers wishing to become professional, getting noticed is no small feat in this competitive world. Your wo...
fashion blogger personality types

The 6 Fashion Bloggers Personality Types

Fashion bloggers are an interesting mix aren't we? Who else takes photos of ourselves (often with a tripod) and posts them on the internet? Sounds strange when you say it out loud doesn't it? But somehow it's...
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10 Easy Ways to Get More Twitter Followers

"How can I get more followers?" Whether you are just starting out on Twitter, or have been on it for a few years like I have, that's a common question people have. With over 200 million active monthly users...
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4 Creative Examples of Successful Sponsored Posts

After affiliate links & advertising, sponsored posts are the third tier in monetizing your blog. But how do you present these without them seeming like adverts in the midst of your otherwise heartfelt content? They key is making them either quite useful ...
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Beginner SEO Tips for Fashion Bloggers

When you take a look at your analytics, where is most of your traffic coming from? For many blogs, as much as 50% of traffic can come from search engines.  With IFB, 44% of our traffic comes from Google organ...
professional blogger signs

7 Signs You Might be a Professional Blogger

"I want to be a professional blogger." We've all said it, but what does it mean? I imagine that for each of us the definition of professional blogger varies.  For some of us, being a professional blogger m...
greener grass

Daily Inspiration: The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It

We've all heard the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" cliche. It's a great saying that keeps us aware that we tend to compare ourselves and think that other people have it better. It's perception. Because the people on the other side of the...
6 tax tips for bloggers

Six Tax Tips for Bloggers

Have you filed your taxes yet? In the business of blogging, taxes are the biggest drag. For most of us at least. In fact, you many be reading this post in procrastination of actually doing your taxes. But no ...
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23 Ways to Promote Posts & Increase Your Blog Traffic

Writing your blog posts is just a small part of growing your blog. The rest is getting readers to your blog...and that's not always as easy. While there are some tried and true means of growing your blog, t...
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6 Graphic Design Resources For Fashion Bloggers

Great graphic design is a critical part of branding your blog. It's as important as your Twitter strategies, your photography, hey, I would go as far as to say as it's as important as your text. Why? Because the way your site is designed is the first thing...
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Actually, Bloggers DO Influence People to Buy

Sometimes getting feedback on the impact of blogging can be tough. I keep thinking about how Mickey Drexler once said, “I have yet to see a correlation in my industry between great social media and great numb...
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9 Fashion Bloggers Worth their Weight in Words

There are more niches in fashion blogging than we could ever begin to cover, but its worthwhile to explore bloggers whose main tool is words, not photographs.  Those who are exploring (and blogging about!) fa...
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How to Protect your Blog from Plagiarism

Guest Post by Sandra Miller After investing that much time and effort in creating fresh, interesting and completely unique content for your blog, it would be best to also make sure your posts are protected from being stolen by other blogs or websites with...
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Daily Inspiration: You Can Never Be Overdressed…

Gotta love Oscar Wilde. But it's true, especially in fashion blogging. You can never be overdressed in this industry (even if some say we are "peacocking"). And even more so, you can never be overeducate...
person better than yesterday

Daily Inspiration: The Only Person You Try to be Better Than

When it comes to fashion blogging, it's hard not to compare. I don't know why we do it, but comparing ourselves to other bloggers: who's thinner, prettier, has more designer handbags, the list goes on, and we compare quite often. But the truth is, even ...
everyone perfect unusual ways

Daily Inspiration: Everyone Is Perfect

"You are perfect, just the way you are." Either you love hearing that, or roll your eyes. But the truth is, that more often than not, we subject ourselves to self-criticism in the name of improvement. However, how often do we spend looking for the thing...
glossi interface

Create Your Own Digital Magazines With Glossi

Click to view OntheRacks on GLOSSI.COM When I was in High School, I wanted to create magazines. More like fan 'zines with a photocopied issues with handwritten and typewritter'd text and collaged images. At first it lead me to a career as a graph...
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Blogger True Story: My Blog Helped Me Get My Dream Job

I met Kiley Stenberg of a Sequin Dress at Breakfast a few fashion week seasons ago at a brunch (where else?) and we've been fast friends ever since. While living in Des Moines, Iowa, Kiley has been working at a...
ernest miller hemingway

Quotes from the Lost Generation on Writing

I've recently started reading  The Paris Wife; at 70 pages in, I'm completely captivated by this historical fiction piece and forgetting it's not an autobiography. More so, I'm reminded of my fascination and love of The Lost Generation-- an era of writers, p...
every night forever

Blogging Tip: How to Write The Perfect About Page

When you start blogging, the first page you should think about adding to your site is the about page. Although it is one of the most important pages on your site (along with the contact page), it is often con...
kelly erin glamourai sister act

Sister Act: Blogging Duos Keeping it in the Family

As an only child who grew up spending most of her time providing her own entertainment and playing make-believe by herself, running a blog solo has always felt natural to me. I like the control, I'm comfortab...
viral content fashion blogging

Viral Content in Fashion: What Makes It Go Big?

  In digital media, we're all looking to capture that special something that could make our content go viral. It can feel like luck of the draw and often prove difficult to pin down just what exactly makes a photo, video or article become so incred...
fashion bloggers tablet

The 6 Best Tablets for Fashion Bloggers

Can a tablet make keeping up with your blog easier and which ones are the best for fashion blogging? I resisted the call of the tablet for a while, thinking that all I needed was my trusty MacBook. But aft...
live two weeks without social media

True Story: I Went Two Weeks Without Social Media

Sounds dramatic, right? (Or maybe you look at the headline and think, "Two weeks without social media? That's so EASY!" Shush you.) Since I began blogging 5.5 years ago, social media (and my blog) have ...
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4 Timeless Blogging Lessons From Carrie Bradshaw

By Emily VanderBeek, Isn't That Charming It’s safe to say that if Sex and the City had started 10 years later, Carrie Bradshaw would have been a blogger. New York City’s “It” girl would have tweeted to Miranda, re-pinned Charlotte’s outfit posts, and li...
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Where to Draw the Line with Copied Content

While a pessimist would say, "Nothing is original." an optimist would say, "We're all inspired by each other." In the creative industry, there are times when someone's "inspiration" is a pain in the ass....