'Fashion Hayley' is a very personal blog about her life, work and inspiration, but you will also read more serious posts about body image and the sometimes harsh fashion industry. Where I find that other fashion bloggers are just repeating each other, Hayley Hughes has managed to maintain her own spot in the blog-o-sphere by staying true to herself.
1000 followers
The 27-year-old Australian started with blogging in 2006, to document her year living in Tokyo. 'It started as a way to stay contacted with friends and family', she says. Now her blog counts more than a thousand dedicated followers, and has opened a lot of doors. Hayley: 'My blog has changed my life, there are no ifs and buts about it. I wouldn't have had any of the opportunities that have come my way without my blog.' She praises the blog-o-sphere for the support and friendships that arise from it, and loves to be a part of such a modern movement. 'The community is growing stronger every year, with more bloggers joining and learning from bloggers who have been in on the trend for longer.' Furthermore, according to Hayley, social media are essential to establish and maintain contacts with readers, other bloggers, magazines and designers. 'Twitter is a great way to support your blog, but I tend to use facebook less often because I do not notice the return on my readership.'
Freebies
Relationships with PR-agencies and fashion designers are also quite important, because Hayley likes to promote young up and coming designers on her blog. 'I enjoy blogging about them and wearing their unique pieces, as I know that it will help them gain recognition.' She is not against freebies, but thinks that bloggers should choose for themselves with what they agree to. She also accepts ads on her blog, although she advises every blogger to think through what ads suit the blog and the audience.
Tangible
Hayley is very passionate about online publishing. Nevertheless, she does not think that printed media will dissapear. 'Nor do I want it to dissapear. Online media will probably become more and more important as time goes by. People still want to have something tangible to hold in their hands, but they are also going to want to read the comments on an article they just read. I think the level of engagement to online media is the key to what makes it unique. Creating dialogue that the user can get involved with takes it to that next level.'
Competition1000 followers
The 27-year-old Australian started with blogging in 2006, to document her year living in Tokyo. 'It started as a way to stay contacted with friends and family', she says. Now her blog counts more than a thousand dedicated followers, and has opened a lot of doors. Hayley: 'My blog has changed my life, there are no ifs and buts about it. I wouldn't have had any of the opportunities that have come my way without my blog.' She praises the blog-o-sphere for the support and friendships that arise from it, and loves to be a part of such a modern movement. 'The community is growing stronger every year, with more bloggers joining and learning from bloggers who have been in on the trend for longer.' Furthermore, according to Hayley, social media are essential to establish and maintain contacts with readers, other bloggers, magazines and designers. 'Twitter is a great way to support your blog, but I tend to use facebook less often because I do not notice the return on my readership.'
Freebies
Relationships with PR-agencies and fashion designers are also quite important, because Hayley likes to promote young up and coming designers on her blog. 'I enjoy blogging about them and wearing their unique pieces, as I know that it will help them gain recognition.' She is not against freebies, but thinks that bloggers should choose for themselves with what they agree to. She also accepts ads on her blog, although she advises every blogger to think through what ads suit the blog and the audience.
Tangible
Hayley is very passionate about online publishing. Nevertheless, she does not think that printed media will dissapear. 'Nor do I want it to dissapear. Online media will probably become more and more important as time goes by. People still want to have something tangible to hold in their hands, but they are also going to want to read the comments on an article they just read. I think the level of engagement to online media is the key to what makes it unique. Creating dialogue that the user can get involved with takes it to that next level.'
There is a lot of discussion going on about the supposed competition between blogs and fashion magazines, but Hayley does not think such a competition exists. 'Bloggers will never take over from magazines; nor do I think they want to. There is enough room for both! Bloggers get just as much from being featured in a magazine as a magazine being featured on a blog. It works both ways: they complement each other.'
In conclusion, does she have any tips for starting bloggers? 'Join the conversation, comment on your favourite blogs on twitter; just start participating in the community! The rest will come.'
Very interesting post. I'll definitely take a look at her blog! Thanks for sharing <3
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Hannah