We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Being a blogger for my personal blog, while also blogging for my college, I can’t help but wonder how those who blog for a living make money. Some fashion bloggers even make it so far that they get to sit front row at fashion week, get photographed by press, and are looked up to as style icons-around the world.
So my question is, how do these social media experts make enough money solely by blogging? To live and pay for day-day expenses? while wearing Manolos on their feet, and toting the latest new Chanel?
I decided to take my curiosity to the next level, and research my questions. According to Isabel Wilkinson, a writer for the Fashion Beast, brands have figured out that fashion bloggers have a real influence over people. Apparently street style blogs are so influential, that they can really drive people into purchasing clothes.
Net-A-Porter favorite blogsGetting “gifted” has also become a sign in the blogging community that your blog “matters”, and that you’re important enough for brand recognition, willing to take money out of their account, by sending you free gifts (ranging from beauty products to designer handbags).
You can call me a newbie but before research, I never knew how frequently companies did this, or how frequently new and upcoming bloggers mislead their readers into believing that something was a gift from a company (when really they brought it themselves).
So aside from designer bits & bobs that a selection of bloggers may or may not receive for free, I went to a popular blogger website called IndependentFashionBloggers.com and read an article by Ashley Robinson on how to monetize your blog.
First and foremost I learnt that you need to create a media kit, and have all relevant information that an advertiser or investor could want. The first place that bloggers look when wanting to monetize their websites are advertisements.
From banner ads-text link ads-ad networks-RSS ads, they can be sold individually or through an ad network. There are also affiliate companies like Google affiliates that give you a commission percentage if something from their company is sold through the link on your website. As more companies are utilizing blogs as a means of outreach, they often hire bloggers to create content or review their products in exchange for payment.
While I can’t sit here and say that I have received free gifts from companies, or earned any money from my blog (yet), what I can say is that blogging isn’t my sole goal of income. Instead it’s something I love to do. To write, to style, and to document my day-day life.
It’s a passion, a journey and an insight to my future company ????
