What Do You Do? Running A Men’s Fashion Blog

Michael Adams
Jul 25, 2017 · 7 min read

It’s a question that a lot of people ask when you tell them that you have a blog. What is a fashion blog? What do you do? Why do you do it, and what does it entail? I started my men’s fashion blog Michael 84 several years ago because I loved to create content online and was getting more and more into menswear and clothing. Blogging is one of those things which is easy to get into, but takes a long time, even a lifetime, to master. It’s not easy, and there’s lots of work involved. Some people think it’s as easy as writing a few words and taking a couple of pictures and hitting publish, but it’s a lot harder than that. I guess it depends on what type of blogger you are, how involved you get in each process, and how much time you dedicate to it.

My Type Of Blogger

So I guess I should write what kind of blogger I am, which is an old school type of blogger. I would prefer the term online content creator, but I actually do more than just that. The new school got into blogging through social media, and in fact I was part of creating online long before social media kicked off, so when it comes to creating something online, I see that as something different to social media, which I believe is right; Anyone can have Instagram and Twitter (and many do) but it doesn’t make them a blogger, you have to have a blog to be a blogger, and you can also have social media too. I think these days you have to look at the two almost as separate entities, and if you’re a blogger, make sure you actually spend time on the blog.

What else does an old school blogger do?

Design & Coding

I use Wordpress as the bare bones which I adore, but I designed the blog myself, which has a lot of positives and negatives. The positives being that I can always keep adding stuff, taking things away, adding in new features, and fixing things when they break. The main negative is that keeping up with design changes and coding takes time, time away from other things like creating content.

Usability & Optimisation

I am obsessed with the speed and usability of Michael 84. I am always running tests and tweaking things, and making sure that the blog runs smoothly. It could be a speed test in Google, it could be manually checking pages and posts on a PC, iPad and iPhone, it’s something which I do from time to time to make sure everything is looking fine for you guys, and I’m always looking to improve things.

Server Stuff

I have to handle my own server, this is something most bloggers do not do. That means updating things like Apache, PHP, MYSQL which are the things which the blog runs on. I also need to make sure these are working properly at all times. It’s not just a case of clicking a button for a WordPress plugin, but actually looking into the server and things running on it which have almost nothing to do with the blog at all. The server load could be high, I may have to take a look at what’s causing that, for example.

Comments

I don’t get too many comments on posts, but when I do, they have to be answered. I try to answer as best and as possible, and give as much detail as I can. I have lots of older posts which are packed with great content, so these get lots of comments which I have to keep on top of.

Emails

Something I hate doing, but has to be done is emails. Other than social media, virtually all my contact is through emails, whether it’s to and from brands and PRs, people pitching ideas or general news, releases or information on fashion and lifestyle (and everything else people care to email about!) I get so many emails. At the moment I am getting around 450–500 a week, which is quite a few! I have to separate all the emails out, from spam to general emails, some need replies and others don’t, then it’s about keeping on top of it all, and keeping on top of each conversation too which can be tough.

Ideas For Content

If you’re a new blogger reading this you should be thinking, “There’s tons of ideas” and there is. However after blogging for over 7 years, sometimes ideas can be hard to come by, and it’s increasingly harder to come up with something you’ve never written about before. Having said that, it can be one of the more fun things to do, brainstorming and thinking of ideas for content, blog posts and where I’d like to take the blog. To create ideas I am always browsing the web, keeping on top of everything fashion related and what’s trending in popular culture, and I actually use an old fashioned system, yep, a notepad and pen.

I cannot underestimate research. People who aren’t bloggers will probably just think that it’s a case of just sitting there and starting to write, but that’s not usually the case, especially for bigger features. Research has to be done on whatever I am talking about, and there’s lots of planning before anything is even written.

Photography

Taking photos is something I enjoy more and more, and it’s definitely been a learning curve, and continues to be. I am always learning with taking photos, editing, and above all experimenting on new things or what works and what doesn’t work. A lot of bloggers come from journalism/writing backgrounds, some from photography, but I am definitely from the computer background, which has huge advantages, but photography has always been something I’ve wanted to get better and better at, and I think looking back from the photos I used to post compared to today, they look so much better!

Writing The Content

So I’ve talked about getting emails, photography, getting ideas, and now comes the time after all of that to actually get something down and write the content. The hardest part about the writing for myself and most other bloggers is getting the time to actually get it all down. When I first started I used to write posts everyday, in some cases a few posts a day, but they were much smaller, and were only a few hundred words maximum, with a few exceptions. About 2 years ago, I decided to concentrate on writing more in-depth content, and now a lot of posts are over 1,000 words (like this one!) and are much more detailed. To have this kind of depth doesn’t just require time to write it, but there’s usually a lot more research to do to get more in each post too. On my bigger features I could start writing one of them and keep adding bits to it for days or even weeks before it goes live and people read the finished piece.

Away From The Blog

Social Media

As mentioned above I feel social media has changed a lot of brands and bloggers, and specifically bloggers who are essentially marketing themselves as “the brand”. I think when we all started social media with our blog it was an extension of the blog; So it was about using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to promote and get people reading our blogs. However I think that in the past 36 months brands (and therefore bloggers promoting themselves too) are looking at social media as it’s own entity, which to be honest it always has been. I see bloggers/brands posting more and more about things which are not connected to their blog at all. I have adapted to this too, and for me it’s becoming more about putting an individual stamp on each entity, with only a small amount of promoting of the blog on each platform.

Marketing & Promotion

Most of my marketing and promotion is done through social media. It could be paid campaigns; I have experimented with Twitter and Instagram and I use Facebook ads which can be great, but mostly the free promotion route is just about promoting via the social media channels. I try to let my content do the talking, and that tends to bring people in which is great.

Business & Deals

Negotiating deals can be tough, but it’s something I enjoy. I get pitched so much, lots and lots of offers, and usually I only take the very few. Everything has to match up, from the budget to the angle and idea, it has to work for everyone involved. There can be a lot of back and forth, and on some rare occasions someone will come to me and we’ll have an agreement, and then they’ll never get back to me to get the deal finalised.

It could be anything from a fantastic brand or product which I have to feature on the blog which I am sent a press release for, to a start up with an idea I really want to share, small campaigns or large campaigns for brands.

That’s It! (Although there’s probably more…)

So there you have it, welcome to my world! This is what being a blogger is all about for me, there’s a lot to do and lots of individual components, and it’s good when they all come together.

Michael Adams

Written by

Men’s style blogger — Editor https://www.michael84.co.uk — Lover of menswear, tech, music and drinks.

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