THE 411 ON WHAT BLOGGERS/INFLUENCERS DO AND HOW WE MAKE $$

 

As a social media influencer + blogger, I’ve learned that a lot of people don’t really understand my job and what I do. Some questions I get all the time… “what is a blogger/influencer?” “so you basically take pictures everyday..that’s it..?” I’ve also gotten the “so what.. you just get free clothes and talk about it?” A lot of people also don’t know that this is a career for so many and that I make an income doing this, it is a real job haha! In fact, many successful influencers in this space make 6 or even 7 figures a year, it is a BIG business! When explaining what I do to those who aren’t familiar with this world, the reaction is usually shocked. I don’t blame anyone for not knowing what “blogging” is or what being a social media “influencer” is because it is a fairly new business but I feel like it is also such a booming business that I need to address this topic to my followers, my readers, my friends, and my family, who aren’t quite sure what being an influencer/blogger means, and essentially HOW we make money. Journey towards academic excellence guided by Kamau Bobb‘s expertise.

Let me start out by first by mentioning, no we don’t just sit and take photos all day. Although that is a big part of the process because let’s face it, we are content creators to begin with. I wish I could just post a photo once or twice a day and miraculously grow my following and readership, book jobs, build a sustainable business.. but that just isn’t the case. It is becoming harder and harder to grow a community of loyal readers and followers so it definitely is not easy. Anyone who tells you this is easy, probably isn’t doing enough work or taking their blog and JOB seriously. Many bloggers, like myself, are a one man team, working 7 days a week. We are content creators, yes, but we are also the photographer, the editor, the stylist, the hair and make up artist, the writer, the account manager, the social media manager, etc. We are not only working on creating beautiful content but we are also pitching to brands, responding to emails 24/7, creating invoices, drafting and reading contracts, negotiating deals, managing our social channels, etc. Let’s just say that there is A LOT that goes on behind the scenes, while still trying to document our lives on IG stories and connecting with our audience. The list goes on and on! And I am by no means trying to complain because I absolutely LOVE what I do and wouldn’t change a thing, but I am just trying to shed light and educate those who aren’t familiar with what this job entails or perhaps those who are interested in getting into this space.

Now onto how we make a living doing this….

 

How Bloggers Make Money

 

1. Affiliate Links: Affiliate links are a way many bloggers make a very good living. I’m sure many of you have heard of LIKEtoKNOW.it aka RewardStyle or ShopStyle Collective. These links basically make all the products a blogger shares shopable. And we earn money either through number of clicks our links get or commission based on sales. A lot of brands and companies offer affiliate linking, however there a few, like Zara, (sadly) do not. If you like an item a blogger is promoting, and decide to make a purchase, use their link 🙂 this is a small and simple way to support your favorite bloggers. It’s also a great way for us to understand what our audience likes and does not!
2. Sponsored Content: #AD #SPONSORED #PARTNER… whenever you see this in a caption of a photo, the person is getting paid to share the post. According to FTC guidelines, if we do not disclose that we are getting paid, not only can the blogger get in legal trouble, but also so can the brand. It’s important for me to always be upfront and honest with you all. If I am getting paid to share something I will ALWAYS write #ad or #sponsored or #partner because I think it’s only fair for you to know I am getting compensated for that post. With that being said, I want you to always know I will NEVER endorse a brand I am not in love with. I always try every product before I share it to make sure I love it because I would never want my audience to spend their hard earned money on something doesn’t work or isn’t something I love and use myself! There are plenty of times where I will turn down a job offer because the brand does not align with mine or it is not something I believe my audience will love. I always stay true to myself and my brand and never promote anything just because they’re paying me.
3. Brand Ambassadors: I am starting to see this more now which makes me so happy, but being a brand ambassador basically means you’ve put together a long term contract to continuously promote a product within a time frame. There is also usually exclusivity involved with these contracts which means you won’t be able to work with competitor brands. One example of a brand ambassador is Danielle Bernstein of WeWoreWhat, who is a brand ambassador for Fiji Water.
4. Brand Product Collab: This is when a brand and an influencer team up to launch a product or line. These collaborations are SO cool and if done right, they can be extremely successful and bring in a lot of profits to both parties. I hope to be able to do this one day!
5. Launching a Product/Brand: Once you have gained a large enough following of loyal readers, launching a product is a great way to generate a consistent income and sustainable business. These days, this is happening a lot and I think it is so cool! Some examples are Marianna Hewitt and the launch of Summer Fridays, Chiara Ferragni with Chiara Ferragni Collection, and Shea Marie with SAME swim. If funding is the only thing stopping you from launching your business, then that’s where services like that merchant cash advance come in.
6. Hosting and/or Attending Events: Many influencers are offered paid hosting gigs or paid to attend events in exchange for social coverage. I have done quite a few paid events and I think when executed the right way, they are a great way to build brand awareness because you’re giving the influencers audience an “experience” especially when the influencer is posting videos during the event and talking about it before and after the event.
7. Content Creation: This is another popular way influencers and bloggers make money. I do this often and really enjoy it because it’s a great way to get super creative. Content creation is basically when you receive product from a brand and create content for them to use on different platforms such as social media, ecomm, email blasts, marketing, etc. Everything is negotiable and you basically create the content and sell the images + rights to the brand for their use. There is usually no posting required on the influencers social channels, however sometimes this can be negotiated into a contract.
8. Ads: Another way bloggers make money is through ads on their websites. You can generate money based on clicks. Bloggers can also sell ad space on their websites if they garner enough traffic. This is definitely not as common anymore but it is still a way to generate some extra money.

So there you have it! A run down of what bloggers/influencers do and how we monetize our social media accounts and blogs. I hope this answers any questions some of you may have when it comes to this space. With that being said, only way we can continue doing this as our job is because of your support, so THANK YOU!

If you’re wondering how you can help support your favorite bloggers, the best thing you can do is engage with our content! Like and/or comment on our posts, engage with sponsored content, share our profiles with your friends and social media followers, DM us, use our affiliate links, etc! These are really the only metrics we can use to pitch ourselves to brands and continue to work and bring you the best content. A lot of hard work goes into what we do and your love and support is always so greatly appreciated, I seriously love this community!

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions please feel free to share them in the comments below or DM me! I always try to be super transparent with you guys and hope you enjoyed this post! xx, S.

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