#IFBCon Recap (Part 1)

The principles and ideas I took away from watching the most recent Independent Fashion Bloggers' (IFB) Conference have most definitely shaped some of the new goals for my blog. Every season, days before the NYFW officially begins, the online fashion blogging community meets in person to attend an all-day conference that presents and curates content relevant to the latest trends and questions in the blogging industry.

Since New York is still at the top of my must-visit locations, I have yet to attend in person, but have managed to catch the live-stream from the last 3 conferences. You still get to benefit from the information shared during the panels, but without the fun meet-and-greet with fellow bloggers.

The IFB Conference was hosted at Milk Studios in NYC.

You'll never see a blogger far from their phone. (Exhibit A on the right.)

Waiting for everyone to get seated.
400+ bloggers, media personal, and brand representatives were in attendance.

Opening speech was delivered by Jennine Jacob (left), founder of IFB.

Panel 1- What are Bloggers Worth?

Panel 1: What are Bloggers Worth?

Moderator: Jinna Boo (Grease & Glamour)

Panelists: Susan Schwartz (Glamour), Jessie Thorpe (Denimology), Carmina (La Carmina), Jenni Radosevich (I Spy DIY), Kat Griffin (Corporette), Lauren Tesar (Lifebooker)

Highlights:

• If you're self hosted, you own 100% of your content but when you blog via other platforms they have control over the existence of your blog.
• An advertorial is lingo for a post you're paid to produce and public on your blog.
• If 3 people are willing to pay your price, perhaps it's time to raise it.
• Insist brands pay your set rate.
• Sponsors are looking for flexibility, scalability (relevance to a particular demographic), and credibility.
• To separate yourself from other bloggers and reach out to brands, create a media kit that includes what you post about, your audience, partnerships you've formed, and your demographics .
• A media kit can be in PDF form.
• Give information, such as your stats, as requested (not necessarily posted directly on your blog.) 
• Only sell ads for what's relevant to your blog- keep them within your niche.
• Put together your ideas and shop it out to brands you want to work with.
• Using an agent or manager can allow you to get around having to talk about money.
• Ideally, your comment section should become a forum for readers to converse with each other.
• To encourage more comments, pose a question at the end of your blog posts. Get people to talk about your content.
• Comments show engagement, traffic shows reach.
• Blogging can be a channel to showcase your skills and target what you want to do..
• Demonstrate passion rather than just enthusiasm to set your blog apart.
• Blogging is the next marketing medium.
• Bloggers have changed what branding is.

Jess Estrada (left) and Aliza Licht- DNKY PR girl (right) from panel #2.

Panel 2: Media Goes Mobile

Moderator: Jess Estrada (Fresh Jess)

Panelists: Aliza Licht (DKNY PR Girl), Bryan Boy (BryanBoy.com), Tom & Lorenzo (Tom & Lorenzo), Macala Wright (Fashionablymarketing.me), Karen Moon (Style Musee)

Highlights:

• Where you can't be at a desk 24/7 using mobile apps such as Twitter and Tumblr keep the conversation going.
• There are so many mediums out there that you can only do so many things.
• With Twitter, the most popular choice, you have to condense the voice of your blog down into 140 characters.
• Using twitter to share even a little personality in every tweet helps engagement, making it a conversation.
• It's a good idea to #FF people who keep conversation going.
• Percent of engagement, not how many followers you have on Twitter is what people should look at.
• It's not how many followers you have that matters. It's what you say and are they listening.
• Don't say things [tweet] if you don't have anything to say or you're not inspired.
• What's your strengths? Let that show through the platforms you use.
• Use media platforms to drive traffic back to your blog.
• Consider, would you be interested in what you wrote on your blog? On twitter?

My notes don't necessarily capture everything communicated during the panels, but I always find these conferences a great resource for new ideas to consider for my own blog. For part two, tune in later next week where I'll share contents from Panels 3 and 4.

If you were there in person or also had the opportunity to watch the live stream a few weeks ago, which Panel was your favourite? Which was your favourite panelist of the day?

Photo sources:  IFB Conference on Livestream