Many people look at fashion bloggers and wonder how posting pictures of outfits can become a career. Fashion blogging is a very profitable business, but few people understand how the industry works and how the money is made. Here are the five ways fashion bloggers profit off of their blogs.

1. commission vs. pay per clicks

Fashion bloggers profit by using one of two hosts to make money off of their blog. The two choices are Reward Style and Shop style; both are equal it just depends on which one will work best with their following. Reward Style allows bloggers to make money by commission. When bloggers link to an item, it will go through a reward style for a fraction of a second and then will continue to bring them to the site the blogger linked to. If the follower buys the item, they clicked on the blogger will get a percentage of the sale. Reward style offers different commissions for different brands and can even differ by item.

Shop style pays the bloggers by clicks. This system is better for bloggers that feel that their followers are active readers and viewers but might not be big spenders. If the blog doesn’t showcase high price items, shop-style probably will result in a higher commission for the blogger than reward style would.

2. Sponsored posts
Bloggers can charge brands thousands of dollars to create a designated blog post for a brand. Bloggers with 25,000-30,000 followers will start collaborating with brands. These micro influencers will charge around $1,000 per blog. Bloggers with about 100,000 can charge anywhere from 2,000-4,000 and bloggers with hundreds of thousands, or even million can set their price much higher. The top influencers can request hundreds of thousands of dollar for a designated post.

Fashion bloggers profit from different aspects of the business and have many opportunities to create a career out of a hobby.

3. Social media
Similar to sponsored blog posts, bloggers can charge for designated social media posts. They cost less than a blog post but can drive just as much traffic to brands. The other way bloggers can make money off of Instagram is through Reward Styles like to know it features. Bloggers can post to Instagram through this app, and if a follower likes or screenshots the picture, they will receive an image with outfit details and links to the exact items. From there they can earn a commission through purchases.

4. offset costs
While it is not income earned, fashion bloggers receive many free items that offset a lot of their costs. Brands will send them clothes, shoes, skincare, makeup and even gift cards in hopes of being featured in any way. Even micro-influencers will receive multiple packages every single day.

5. Other
The top 1% of bloggers have much more opportunities to take their career to the next level. Some bloggers turn model and grace covers of magazines, while others start their own fashion line. They have opportunities to become brand ambassadors or collaborate with brands to create their products under a recognized brand name.