When searching the internet for kids fashion forums or blogs, one gets bombarded with incomplete articles and lots of sales pitches. I ther...
When searching the internet for kids fashion forums or blogs, one gets bombarded with incomplete articles and lots of sales pitches. I therefore decided to put together a small guide about how to get started in the online community for kids fashion.
This way you can start being an active member instead of just a passive reader. This guide is written in a general way because I don't want to promote any specific blog or forum.
We all have different views so it's best if you find an online community by yourself. Basically, your goal is to find online platforms that are committed to the kids fashion scene.
Online portals could be forums, blogs, twitter accounts, Facebook groups/pages or other active websites. So the first question is: how do you find such an online portal?
Like most internet users, you'd probably do a Google search to find an online portal. When doing so with keywords like "kids clothes blog" or "kids fashion forum", you'll see that there are no results on Google that could content you.
There are a couple forums, but most of them haven't seen a new thread in months (sometimes even years) or are spammed by sales offers with no real content. Therefore, I suggest you first get yourself a Google Alert and Google Reader account. Use these tools to be informed automatically about topics related to specific keywords of your interest.
What you want to do is enter keywords like "kids designer clothes" or "children designer wear" into your alert and Google Reader will then display all content that is being published related to these keywords. You should also use specific brand names that you are interested in like "Gant Kids" for example.
Keep reading your Google Reader results on a regular basis and you will eventually find active online communities. Next you can browse Facebook for groups and pages. I am sure you are going to find one or two groups/pages there that you will like. Maybe not at first but if you keep searching and stay active you'll find them eventually.
The kids fashion Facebook pages and groups usually don't have a huge community, yet. But this has its advantages, too: for example it will be easier to get to know all the members.
And lastly, you can still keep using search engines like Google, Yahoo Search etc. on a regular basis. Make sure you also visit some of the result pages further back because you might find a good article or forum post that will lead you to another good online portal.
Once you found an online portal that you like, you need to commit to that website. In most cases, this means you will have to register as a user.
I won't go into the technical details of how to join an online community, because usually this is well explained on the specific website itself. Just look for a "Sign up" or "Register" button somewhere on the page and follow the instructions.
If you are not used to this procedure, take your time and read everything carefully. In most cases, once you have completed the registration process, you are going to have your own account to use the specific website.
Nevertheless, having an account doesn't automatically make you an accepted member of an online community.
The best way to start is by providing as much information about yourself as you feel comfortable with. This is important because once you start writing online with other members, they are going to visit your profile to find out who you are.
The more information they can get about you, the more "real" you become to them. Hence, you become more of a human being instead of an anonymous writer. This way you are going to be accepted much faster to an online community.
To do so, look for something called "Profile" or "About Me" and fill out as much information about yourself as you can - and as you feel comfortable with of course. As a next step, I'd suggest you present yourself to the community by writing a short post about yourself.
Usually, there is a designated section where people can present themselves. Make use of that! Next step would be reading what others are writing and posting a constructive answer or opinion on that topic. Once you got a feeling for the community and its members you can start to lead your own discussions.
Just in case you are absolutely new to online communities, I want to give you some important ground rules before you start posting your own comments. First of all, you should always be kind and helpful. Don't insult anyone - even if they insulted you.
Always remember that you joined the community to talk about kids clothes - a topic that you are passionate about - and not to argue with others on a personal level. With this said, it's also important that you always stick to the topic.
Other members can get annoyed if you start contributing to a discussion with answers that have nothing to do with the topic that is being discussed. If you want to talk about something else, start a new discussion. And lastly, always respect other members' views and don't feel offended if others have a different opinion.
If you follow this guide you will have no problems joining any community. Sticking to these points is even more important in the online community for kids fashion because it is quite new and small.
Once you joined a portal and started exchanging your thoughts with other members, I am sure you will find friends very quickly that you will talk to on a regular basis. I wish you a lot of fun following my guide. I hope to meet you online one day, so that we can talk about kids clothes together!
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