Photograph by JT
Photograph by JT
Getting ready for the holidays is right. I love Christmas! I love seeing the snow falling on my face when I am outside watching it fall.
My hubby and I put up the tree decorations on Sunday and Monday.
I really love this Louis del Olio jacket because it is not only warm but oh so chic with its different color embroidery. Paired with jeans this jacket is tops in my book.
Photograph by JT
Photograph by JT
Photograph by JT
It has been really cold the past two days as I am writing this it is 8 degrees in my neck of the woods.
I am loving the hat I am wearing it’s cool and so warm. Yes you can be warm and cozy and look chic at the same time. This hat is from a company by the name of Cumberland and they have been around since 1917 so they know a thing or two about hats and outerwear.
I had to go outside for a bit to enjoy the snow with my hubby and my doggies.
Stay warm out there because it’s been oh so cold.
KatyRose topic of questions this week is reader connectedness which I think should be the heart of each blog. If you would like to read what others have to say please stop by www.modlychic.blogspot.com.
Okay here goes…..
1. How important do you think reader connectedness is to the success of your blog?
I think it’s important to have reader connectedness; but I also think that it’s great to have good content because if you have good content readers will come. It’s give and take because you have to research your material to get a good story.
I often have friends telling me they are following my blog although not virtually following it by clicking on a follow me button or subscribing to one of my communities so I know that people are reading.
2. What do you do to draw readers in and create that writer-reader bond?
I really haven’t done market research on how I attract readers in. I officially started this blog because I love fashion, beauty and hair care and I thought that I could offer some good tips and offer hair care advice. Even a year later, I write because it’s fun and enjoyable, not to formulate a technique to get people to read my blog. This blog is about sharing information on fashion and beauty that can help someone.
3. What is one way you can improve this connection?
-I think I would like to spend more time reading other blogs and commenting more. I have commented on some blogs that have never commented back on mine and I don’t want to do that. I want to make sure that when people comment on my page I need to make the effort to comment back.
I said it in the above paragraph but I really would like to comment more.
On IFB there’s the comment challenge and I think that’s awesome because that’s a way we can build the blogging community and it’s a bit of self promotion as well. I will not leave simple post like “cute blog”. I want to make sure I leave a comment about the post I have read not just leaving a comment to get someone to look at my blog. I think that a comment is spam if it is not related to the post that you have on your blog that someone is responding to and I delete those comments. I have often made solid comments on blogs to not have that blogger to comment on mine, but that’s their prerogative.
I map out the chain and then it makes it easier to carry out this goal.
Fashion Blogger—>Research—->Write Content—->Publish—>Reader-Connection—–>Comment
This seems simple but I realize that I have to read between the lines to make the connection.
4. Is there a blogger you think does a great job creating that writer-reader bond? Why?
It’s hard to choose because I enjoy so many. I think KatyRose of www.modlychic.blogspot.com does a great job because even though everyone cannot comment on everyone’s blog since there are so many, bloggers come together to post on one topic every Friday and a group has been created with new bloggers joining everyday. Other Blog communities I love being a part of is Blogfrog, SITS, The Lady bloggers Society and Blog Catalog. Being personable like a warm cup of tea is oh so nice. Veshoevius of Taxonomy of my wardrobe and Grit and Glamour are blogs that I also think give that connection to their readers. I know that I have learned a lot from all these women.
5. What do you do to cultivate new readers? How do you get them to your site in the first place?
To cultivate new readers I comment on every comment I receive and I post fresh content at least 3 to 4 times a week so it keeps the blog current with new material. I do what I love to do and if a reader request for me to write or do a video on a particular topic I will make an effort to do it.
Sometimes I feel out of the loop because I work a full-time job so I can’t comment during the day and when evening comes the discussions have already been going on long before I am able to get on. Can’t let that stop me though.
To increase readership to my site:
I must continue to show the world my tips on how to be fashionable!
Photograph by Jason
I wrote a Friend Friday post on Copying in the Fashion Industry in September fessing up that I bought two counterfeit handbags at a local flea market, a Louis Vuitton and a Coach. I actually was going to the Flea Market because I heard that they carried pure shea butter and look what else I wound up buying, a handbag.
My husband came across an article today entitled, “Coach sues St. Louis County flea market, claiming counterfeit item,” in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Coach Inc. filed a Federal Trademark Infringement lawsuit against Jack Frison, owner of Frison’s Flea Market alleging that vendors are selling counterfeit handbags.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch said that Coach was tipped off by a former Coach employee who worked at the Frontenac Mall. The article said that she called Coach after she went to the Flea Market for the first time. Wonder what she was going there for?
Photo credit of Jack Frison:Jennifer Silverberg
Photo from Riverfront Times website
When I bought the counterfeit handbags from Frison Flea Market last year, it was the first time I went into this smoke infested smelling place. When my hubby and I walked in we paid $1.50 each before we could enter. I remember written on the walls that nothing sold in the market was illegal or counterfeit. Is this Mr. Frison for real? Apparently so, in the St. Louis Post Dispatch he was quoted saying,
“The people they need to get are the people doing it, not me,” he said. “I don’t use Coach purses and I don’t wear Tommy Hilfiger.”
It is not the point that he doesn’t use the merchandise that’s being sold in his Flea Market. It is the fact that he is accepting the rental money from the vendors to sell the counterfeit handbags. In the article he states that the vendors are probably selling counterfeit merchandise. He does own this Flea Market, right?
He is acting like an innocent bystander when he is a contributor to the problem. According to the article he has owned this Flea Market for 28 years so he should be able to have whatever kind of vendor he would want.
It is a shame that Coach officials and investigators had to fly to Saint Louis on two separate occasions to purchase these counterfeit handbags to prove a point that it is just like stealing someone’s identity.
Mr. Frison in the article said, “All I can do is tell them it’s against the law. I can’t make them stop.”
He can make the vendors stop. That quote is a cop-out because he owns the Flea Market. He takes the rent money for a table and a chair according to the article. He can make them stop and set in example that selling counterfeit handbags is stealing because they are not giving credit where credit is due.
This is such a huge problem and as much as we are tempted to buy that cheap bag because it has those logos on it and it makes us look like we are somebody.
DON’T DO IT!
*I will be following this story and posting more details as they become available.
Day 30 30 for 30
Photograph by Jason
Day 30 30 for 30
Day 30 30 for 30
Day 30 30 for 30
Review to come soon, feeling a little sinusy tonight and needing to get some rest.
30 for 30
Outfit
Dress = Metrostyle
Turtleneck -Macy’s
Tights – Walmart
Shoes – Artisan Clarks
Jewelry
Heart pendant – Nolan Miller
Gold chain – gift
I am so happy that I was able to pick out 30 days of pretty cool outfits.
Follow!