MONEY TO BE MADE: FASHION BLOGGING IN 2016

Over the last few years, the internet has seen a burgeoning of personal sites. With cheap and easy hosting providers presenting many package options like these for WordPress blogs, it has never been simpler to set up a site. Fashion bloggers, whether they are focusing on celebrity style or personal preference, have a score of ways in which they can monetize their blog, transforming what began as a hobby to a lucrative career.

So how are fashion bloggers doing this? And what separates the good from the bad?

• Advertising Space

  An easy way to make pocket money from any half-decent blog is through direct advertising sales. Advertising space can be sold directly to brands or advertising agencies. Pricing is commonly calculated for each thousand impression of the ad (what those in the biz would call CPM). Adverts can be bought and sold independently, but most rookie bloggers go through marketplaces such as BuySellAds.

  There are however drawbacks. Site-visitors often find banner ads distracting and ugly, and may take it personally if they have a bad experience when clicking through on one of the ads. Additionally, selling advertising space on a young blog does not bring in that much money.

• Affiliate Marketing

  Affiliate marketing programs are becoming widespread. This is where a blogger links to products on their site and receives a cut of the price when a customer who has accessed the product through their blog. Naturally, these are most effective when the product is directly related to the blog, and is a product that the fashion bloggers uses themselves and therefore can honestly endorse.

• Brand Endorsements

  Bloggers at the top of their game focus on building up a loyal readership so to attract the attention of the best fashion brands. Potential customers are much more likely to consider purchasing a product if it has been specifically endorsed by an individual they trust. Similarly, people are more probable to Like or Share a blog post than they are an advert of a product landing page directly from a company.

  However, a fashion blogger who appears to be taking advantage of readers will soon face their wrath. The plethora of fashion blogs available means that bloggers, no matter how successful they are, cannot afford to take their readership for granted. The most successful bloggers have a steadfast sense of who their readers are and why exactly their readers return to their blog. In short, fashion bloggers should not simply think about which top-quality brands they want to work with, but how they can come to be considered a top-quality brand themselves.