chrissie

Fall is in the air this week in New York as designers and celebrities alike huddle in the tents for the long awaited Fall Winter 2008 collections. Providing excellent coverage of this event is the fashion blog titled My Fashion Life. The owner of the blog is editor Michele Obi, and she runs the blog as a publication that redefines the boundaries of a blog and an online magazine. She does this by taking advantage of the personal voice one gives to its blog readers, while at the same time providing news, articles, and coverage of critical fashion events that you would find in an online magazine. You will find on this blog industry news, exclusive interviews, reports on the latest trends, shows, sample sales, and a little bit of everything that is Michelle’s Fashion Life. To find out more of Michelle’s fashion life, read some of her most recent bloggeries on the coverage of New York Fashion Week AW08: Stop you’re killing us: Alexander McQueen, Fashion Fix: A Roundup, NY Fashion Week AW08: Karen Walker, Shopping: Magnes Sisters Gold Clutch, Rachel Zoe at NY Fashion Week AW08, NY Fashion Week AW08: Iodice, NY Fashion Week AW08: Rag & Bone and Alexander Wang, Features: Gap’s New Look, and London Fashion Week Starts Today!!

The blog is laid out in a very user friendly clean template making it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are left marginalized and appear in black text on white background and links and headlines are highlighted in pink. I like how the pink accentuates the feminine aspect of the blog, but it is not too over the top either. The right navigation bar contains two navigation systems at the top, with one system containing pages of: Home, Archives, Forums, Streetstyle, and About pages. The bottom navigation bar at the top contains links to Articles, Interviews, Press, Advertising, and Contact Us. In the right navigation bar you will then find a tag cloud on all things that are fashion, Recent Posts Menu, Recent Comments Menu, Subscriptions, Regular Reads, Websnobs, Websites, and advertising that is incorporated very well. Each bloggery contains relevant pictures that add meaning to the bloggeries and relevancy to the overall theme of the blog.

This blog is getting a 4.8/5 from me, as it is clearly very well maintained. The blog does well in all aspects of scoring criteria. The appearance of the blog is neat and organized, and the concept of the blog is done in a unique and creative way. While this is another fashion blog, it is clearly not just ANOTHER fashion blog as it offers so much more to its readership. The content is well done with the news coverage being brought in a professional way, yet with a strong blogging personal voice. The activity is very consistent with several posts coming in daily. I am not too sure if this is specific to NY Fashion Week AW08 or if this is consistent on the blog, but either way the blogger is providing a much needed service to her readers and is doing it very well. For professionals in the fashion industry, or even for those interested in fashion, this blog is a Must Have. I just wish I could post a photo here; but the blog wouldn’t allow me.

-Chrissie

If you are looking for another resource to get some tips on marketing your blog, you may want to check out the For All Your Blogs blog, a blog on blog marketing and resources you need to get your blog the traffic it deserves. I have to say, I have run across several blog marketing blogs and for a topic with a potential to get dry, this blog really gives you some new insights in a user-friendly credible manner. If you want to check it out, For All Your Blogs. To get an idea on the tips you will find here, check out any of their recent bloggeries: Backlinks-Text Link Publishing, Directory Submitter-Free Directory Software, The Free Site-Free Blog Services, Link2Me-Free Link Exchange Directory, Search Engine Myths Exposed, Adsense Revenue Sharing – List, and Blogoria Free Networking Tool.

The blog is only a few months old, but this is not easy to discover at first, which is interesting considering most new blogs are fairly obvious. The blog has a clean template and is nicely laid out which makes navigation very easy. Bloggeries are right marginalized and there is a left navigation bar. In the left navigation bar you will find a Vote for my Blog Widget, Advertising, a Recent Posts Menu for archived Posts with clickable links, Feedjit widget indicating blog post popularity, recommended reading, Link Partners, Traffic Generators, Blog Directories, Link List Information, Free Advertising Information, a Tag Cloud, and an Archive Menu. My first suggestion regarding navigation would be that some of the navigation menu be cleaned up a little. Perhaps the blogger could condense the formatting in the Recent Posts menu so that it does not simply look like a long list of links, though I do like the idea of a Recent Posts menu with clickable links for Archived Posts. I also think some of the link menus could be served better if they were condensed into one menu. For example condensing traffic links into one menu, directories into one menu and so forth. Right now this navigation bar simply looks like a long list of links and it could use some reformatting. I also suggest the Archives Menu be moved up the navigation bar closer to the top so readers can see it. At its current location at the bottom of the bar some readers may miss it. I also do not see a Categories Menu here, and I think the blogger could use this to organize posts better for their readers.

Overall I go with 2.4  for this blog. I really enjoyed reading this blog but think a little cleanup is necessary both for appearance, activity and navigation scores. That navigation bar really needs some work, but the content within it is very good for the niche of the blog. The content of the blog is well done, and in a user-friendly personal voice that gives credibility to the advice the blogger is giving. The activity is ranging from every few days to a few weeks in between, and I think if the blogger was able to focus on daily content they may be able to generate a more solid readership. Overall however, I think this blog has quite a bit of useful information at an early start, and this information is delivered very well also. If this blog continues on this path it should serve its demographic very well.

-Chrissie

Bloggeries is going to look at a personal Sandro photo blog. This blog is being used by 20 year old Sandro to showcase his work, talent, and passion for the field of photography. You can find a wide range of photography on this blog including cars, landscapes, portraits, and a number of creative expressions through the use of photography. Sandro uses 3 different cameras for his work, all Canon products, which you can find more about on his About page. Sandro does not just take photos, he writes about them as well, and has an interest in the field. His blog contains displays of his work, reviews of photography products, and even profiles of well known artists. If you would like to see some of Sandro’s photographic creations, and read about his interest, check out some of his most recent bloggeries: Smart Car, Canon EOS 450 D/Rebel Xsi, Trams in Budapest, Edward Steichen, Yousef Karsh, Bicycle, International Airports, and my personal favorite, Geometry.

Navigation on the blog is very simple. Bloggeries are right marginalized and there is a left navigation bar that starts off as one navigation system, and is divided into two navigation bars towards the bottom of the blog page. Bloggeries are in black text on white background and headlines are highlighted in blue. The overall appearance of the blog is very simple and clean, and this lends the reader to focus more on the artistry in the pictures rather than the blog template. In the left navigation system there is a bridal photo which serves as a blog header with the headline “My Photo Blog”. Also in this left bar you will find AdSense, and Sandro’s portfolio which includes Cars, Conceptual, Landscapes, Portraits, and Slideshow. The navigation bar then includes a box of random photos and a tag cloud before it divides into the two navigation systems. In the left navigation system at the bottom, you will find the Archives Menu, Categories Menu, and Copyright information. Categories for this blog include events, Famous Photographers, News, Personal Journal, Photo Stories, Published Photos, Reviews, and an Uncategorized section. In the Right navigation bar you will find an Inside Menu that will take you to pages of photos with categories such as cars, portraits, and the like. You will also find here the About page, blog Meta info, and Feeds information if you would like to subscribe to the feed.

I give this blog a 4/5, as it is very well done and scores well on all accounts. As mentioned, the appearance of the blog is clean and attractive and nicely laid out for the reader. Navigation is done well also, with an organized template that allows the reader to go exactly where they want to go. The only suggestion I would make at this point is perhaps a Recent Posts menu so the reader can see what activity has been recent in the blog. There are however no navigation issues on this blog as it is very well organized. The blog scores well for content also, each bloggery is written with a strong personal voice that shows the passion Sandro has for his art, and this adds meaning to each of the pictures he displays for his reader. Activity is the only area where I would suggest some changes for Sandro as currently there is no clear consistency with activity. I am seeing bloggeries coming in every other day or with a few weeks in between. If he would like more traffic and a consistent readership, regular posting would serve him well. As this blog grows, I think Sandro will do very well with it, as it is a beautiful portfolio of some very good talent and give him the audience he clearly deserves.

-Chrissie