9 Secrets To Becoming A Successful Fashion Blogger in India
With the advent of the Internet, a lot of things have changed: information that was available on paper is available in a digital format, sales and marketing have transitioned to digital marketing, and classroom-based learning has moved online as well. Journalism which has traditionally been paper-based has also been digitised; considering the reach ‘being online’ provides, writers today are making their articles available online. Since you are reading this post, you may have searched for ‘9 Secrets to Becoming a Successful Fashion Blogger in India’, and maybe curious to know what it takes to become a successful blogger in our country; this should give you an idea as to the ‘power of the internet’, and the importance of ‘key-words’ in any given article/post.
I have kept this article specific to an Indian context considering I cater largely to a local audience, but my ‘9 Secrets to Becoming a Successful Fashion Blogger in India’ will apply to any other country as well. At the outset, I may say that I find blogging satisfying; it is therapeutic in many ways as it provides a medium of expression, but it is not an easy journey to establish oneself as a blogger. It takes a fair amount of discipline and consistency to succeed.
Here are my 9 Secrets to Becoming a Successful Fashion Blogger in India.
1. First and foremost, you.must.love.fashion!
Well, considering we are talking about my ‘9 Secrets to Becoming a Successful Fashion Blogger in India; you must love fashion, you must follow fashion, you must feel fashion, and whatever you do you must be fashionable in your own special way! For a person who wants to write about fashion and follow fashion trends, and provide input to their readers about fashion ~ you need to know about fashion holistically. Being fashionable is not only about knowing how to apply makeup, or how to wear clothes well; being fashionable is about creating your own personal style, and being able to carry yourself beautifully and elegantly irrespective of your attire.
2. Answer this question, ‘What is my point of differentiation compared to any other fashion blogger?’
Come up with a really compelling reason as to why you’re doing something. You need to understand what makes your blog different in this space. You will need to carve a niche for yourself by writing about trending topics, and most importantly, about topics your readers will love! To divert traffic to your blog and have people follow you, it’s important to stand out so you don’t get lost in all the noise. Rather than following trends, how about creating them?
Do this right away: Write down ~
- What drives you, and what your main motive to blog is?
- How motivated are you to continue to do this for a long duration?
- What sets you apart from other bloggers?
- What are the 3 things that can help you to get started, now?
3. Know your audience
Always remember, when you are writing ~ write with purpose, and write with an end goal in mind. Remember who your audience is, and what they want from you. Successful bloggers believe in themselves and write for the right audience. They are innovative, open to change, and over a period of time have analysed what works better for them.
4. Post high-quality content that is in simple to read
You may have already heard this one, ‘Content is king’. Social media gurus will swear by this. Get into the habit of creating good content; it takes time to research, plan, write, edit and roll out good content. It is better to delay a post, rather than post a half-baked and incomplete blog article. Write deep posts {content rich articles} on topics of interest to your viewers. Some readers like to read long posts, and some readers like to read short articles; so ensure that your blog strategy is to have the right mix of both. Remember, Google likes content, as do other search engines. No matter which social media platform is in vogue at the moment, if you are producing rich content, then you will always have readers and social media followers.
5. Twitter is your new best friend
If you are about to start a blog, or you already have a blog, get busy on Twitter. The fastest way to drive relevant traffic to your blog is through Twitter. An entire article can be dedicated to, ‘How to build your brand as a Fashion Blogger using Twitter’, which I intend to cover at a later date.
To get started on Twitter:
- Create a Twitter account.
- Follow people who inspire you in fashion, and build social friends by retweeting their posts, and commenting on their tweets.
- Follow people who have achieved success in different fields and inspire you.
- Add pictures, as that will improve the Twitter experience for your followers.
6. Go Insta
Being an Instagrammer is trendy, and as a blogger, you need to spot technological trends. Your audience will follow what is easy, and where the most amount of the information is available. Like and comment on people’s photos; in short ‘be socially active’ on Instagram. This is a good brand-building strategy and will go long way in driving your audience towards your main blog-site.
7. Learn to say ‘No’
At the early stage of your blogging journey, you must learn one important aspect, that is to say, ‘No’. You have to know what works for you. You can’t cover everything and there is no need to cover everything. If a person is going that route, then they are diluting their own vision, and there is a chance to go off track. Stay focused and write selectively about topics {and brands} that you are passionate about.
8. Always be true to yourself
Always let your ‘true personality’ shine through. Bloggers who try to showcase themselves as something they are not will eventually fade away. Focus on who you genuinely are, and what you represent. This will attract like-minded followers; who will like you for what you represent. And that is your route to building your ‘Brand’ truthfully and organically. Be ‘You’ always!
9. A free blog is not a good solution
There are many free blogger platforms available: WordPress, Blogspot etc. But if you intend to eventually become a business, then get your own domain name and hosting platform, because your blog is your asset! Your blog will be the space from which you will launch every project you come up with in the future, it will be the space from which you endorse everything you do, and it will certainly be how all the big industry names will come to know you.
Ensure that you align yourself technically as well, where you learn Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing, Digital Branding, and a lit bit about website development. Oh, and a good hosting platform I would recommend is Bluehost.
Have you started brainstorming for your fashion blog? Have any other questions? Let me know in the comments section!