Guest post by Carly Jacobs from Smaggle who’s recent trip to New York City for the Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference made us extremely jealous that we had to ask her to guest blog about it for us.

In my mind, the IFB Evolving Influence Conference is a blur of coconut water, magnums, constant tweeting with Wendy Brandes and a giant Missoni for Target doll that kept staring at me. I did, however manage to write down a few notes, I hope they make sense. I was experiencing a fairly intense Tropical Coco Bella high.

Bloggers who advertise for free are seriously frowned upon

Of course it’s easy for US bloggers to say that because Australia is slightly behind in the brand support stakes but value for post was discussed at length at the conference. For instance some bloggers won’t review a product unless they get an additional fee and some bloggers think that a $200 pair of shoes is just compensation for an in post blog advertisement. The general consensus was that a cheap bottle of moisturiser or a bag of cookies is not worth your time as a blogger unless you are being paid an additional fee.

Don’t be bullied by big brands in a collaboration. They need you.

Mrs Woog has written oh so eloquently about this matter so I’ll keep this brief. It’s your blog, your brand, your voice and if they want their product to appear in your space, they play by your rules.

You don’t have to write about everything that you receive. Be honest.

If you receive a product that you don’t like, write an honest review, send it to the company and have them decide whether or not they want you to publish it. Never lie in a review. It’s better say nothing at all.

Always engage with your readers. You’re never too important for this.

No matter how big your blog gets, it will always be reliant on your readers. Be good to them.

There’s no point in approaching companies unless you have something to offer them.

This one’s a little harsh and came straight from the lips of Ari Goldberg of Stylecaster. He said that if you have a grand total of 53 people reading your blog every day, don’t even think about approaching advertisers. You have nothing to offer them. Spend time building your readership, then come back to advertising in the future.

There are very few bloggers who make money on their blog alone.

Kelly of the Glamourai makes and sells jewellery, Scott of The Sartorialist is a professional photographer, Coco Rocha is a successful model. Personally, I’d call bullshit if someone claimed to be a full time blogger and had no blog related side income, no ad space on their blog and no sponsored posts. Think of your blog as a portfolio for whatever talent you’re showcasing because that will probably be your most lucrative income stream.

Most blogs are crap.

Again, from the mouth of Ari Goldberg. Luckily for you, he’s right. So there’s plenty of room for more exceptional and successful blogs.

Don’t just write you want. Check your stats to see what people are loving.

Your stats are your friends. Use them.

Make sure you’re actually saying something. Don’t fling around words like ‘amazing’ and ‘fabulous’. Say what you mean.

I believe this piece of info came from Grechen Cohen of Grechen’s Closet. She said to be honest and to use your words wisely. Flowery language doesn’t help anyone.

Don’t always make it about you. Personal blogs are great but they can get boring.

True that. I’ve stopped reading many blogs because it got boring watching a one-woman fashion show. Give your readers something interesting to read.

Brands need interesting tweeters. Apply this to your blog.

The crowd at IFB positively worships DKNY PR Girl and I’m a bit partial to Bergdorf’s tweeter. Be engaging. Remember the hype of condeelevator? Get on it.

When you write well, we know who you are.

If you’re getting all jealous because other bloggers are getting mad campaigns or are writing for magazines, have a think about what image you’re presenting. Key note speaker Joe Zee Creative Director of Elle US, said that if you write well, magazines know who you are. Make people share your work. Make sure people look forward to your updates. Be an expert. You can’t toe the line, be like everyone else and expect to have Vogue knocking on your door.

Some happy snaps from my day at the IFB Conference

The ladies at Independent Fashion Bloggers always put together one of the must-attend events (for bloggers anyway) before New York Fashion Week kicks off with their IFB Conference. This year they’ve got the fabulous Joe Zee, Creative Director at Elle as the Keynote Speaker. He will be interviewed by Tina Craig from Bag Snob (one of our favourite blogs).

Other amazing panelists include, Coco Rocha, Mickey Boardman, Man Repeller, Natalie Off Duty, People Style Watch, Now Manifest, Advanced Style and more!

What’s on the schedule?

• Bloggers Tool Kit
• Is the Social Media Industry Broken?
• Balancing Act: Business & Blogging
• Evolution of Fashion Media
• Key Note Speech

If you can’t be in New York City to watch it…. well the whole thing is being livestreamed right here.

We have some great fashion blogs down here in Australia and paying tribute to that fact is news that not one, but two Australian fashion bloggers have won trips to New York Fashion Week – which starts next week.

We had the pleasure of meeting with Jess from Tuula a few months back and we think she is one smart business woman and lovely girl to boot, so we were super excited to hear that she was chosen by Tumblr as one of the 20 bloggers they were flying out to attend the Spring/Summer 2012 shows in New York City.

Meanwhile, across the country, Bonnie from Bonnie Friday won a trip to New York Fashion Week through a personal style competition run by Elle and Nokia. The Perth local will be joining 7 other bloggers who also won the competition.

Both girls will be reporting their perspective of New York Fashion Week, so jump on their blogs and start following!

Photos from Tuula and BonnieFriday.com

Bonds launched a new line of underwear recently and enlisted 5 Australian bloggers to star in the new summer campaign called “Feel The Colour”. The brief was was simple – show off the new Microfibre and Mesh Hipster range.

The first blogger to release images from the Feel The Colour blogger ad campaign was Nicole Warne of Gary Pepper Vintage. Known for her super styling vintage online shop and gorgeous personal style, the brunette beauty wrote:

“I wanted to stay true to the Bonds so I kept the styling extremely simple and focused on creating a mood instead by trying to capture natural action shots. I basically spent the day jumping, leaping and rolling around the grass in my underpants (which wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be), often forgetting we were shooting because I was laughing too much or trying to stop 21 helium balloons from floating away. After working on a few things together it’s become second nature to shoot with Zanita and I’m constantly learning something new every time we do. I love the natural shots she’s captured here and now you all can finally see what I look like when I’m smiling!”

The campaign was shot by fellow blogger/photographer/model, Zanita Whittington.

Check out more gorgeous images of the campaign here.

Admittedly we were a little late to the Facebook game for iBlogFashion&Beauty – with all our fabulous followers on Twitter we got a little complacent – but we just launched our own Facebook Page and it’s kind of lonely where we are.

Come join us and like us? Pretty please! There may be some whipped cream and cherries on the top for you soon.

We’re currently planning a slight refresh of the iBlogFashion&Beauty homepage and website – with the Beauty and Fashion Bloggers Directory running smoothly, it’s time to revamp the rest of the site! Stay tuned!

It’s fair to say the world of fashion and beauty blogging in 2011 is dramatically different from what it was in 2009, even 2010. Established blogs and blogs run by business enterprises have become permanent fixtures in media lists of many PR and Marketing people around the world. But Fashionably Marketing thing there is a broken relationship between bloggers and brands in a very interesting article posted on their blog recently.

In it they touch on:

• Are Bloggers More Influential Than Traditional Or Mainstream Journalists?
• The New Definition Of Famous
• So What Happened To Blogger And Brand Relationships?
• Are Bloggers Looking At The World Through Rose Colored Glasses?
• The Formula For Brand + Blogger Success

Some interesting points are made, we may not agree with them all, but we think it’s worth a read.

Bloggers as models isn’t an uncommon occurrence these days, but for a local fashion label to embrace the phenomenon is pleasantly surprising. High street brand Portmans have enlisted the help of Kelly Framel, known for her personal style blog The Glamourai to style herself in their clothes for their June 2011 ad campaign.

Known for her talents for mixing luxury items with high street brands as well as a knack for mixing prints and colours, Framel’s list of blogging achievements also include designing a bag with Coach.

“I think Portmans does an outstanding job of making clothes that are versatile, affordable and still completely desirable,” said Framel. “They’re trendy, but won’t quickly look dated and everything is made to mix and match, so a few pieces per season can easily revitalise one’s wardrobe.”

Check out the full gallery of The Glamourai for Portmans June 2011 over at Madison.

Why do people read Fashion Blogs?

From the front row to street style, are bloggers becoming fashion’s new power players? Net-A-Porter.com ask Tommy Ton, Hanneli Mustaparta, Rumi Neely, Bryanboy, The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman and more to join the debate.

Blogs and reviews have a notable influence on buying decisions, with 63% of social media users reading reviews before making a purchase decision. On average, people read six reviews before making a decision. However, only 24% of online users post blogs or reviews, so reaching that 24% of ‘influencers’ is key for marketers.

Sensis Social Media Report May 2011

I am very pleased to announce that after a few too many weeks of work, the iBlogFashion&Beauty website is back up and running with the Australian Fashion & Beauty Blogger Directory going DIGITAL.

You read right, now you don’t need to download a PDF and sort through dozens of Australian fashion & beauty bloggers to get their contact details and reach. We’ve collated it all for you in one handy place.

How do you get started?

Sign up for a (free) account here and wait for your account to be approved (the iBlogFashion&Beauty Australian Blogger Directory is only open to PR & Marketing people) and you’re ready to go!

We’d love your feedback! Let us know what you think.