I wanted to write this post for the many people who don’t know what blogging is and what I do…because to this day my parents are still a little confused. So let’s start with the technical stuff…

I was shocked to find this out…but blogs began in the mid 1990’s and have been around for awhile now! They’ve evolved a ton since then but the essence of what a blog is still remains the same. A blog is an online personal page updated frequently. It’s a place to share your passions…and it could be ANYTHING you want it to be. I always have liked to think of blogs as online journals.

Now that we’ve narrowed down what a blog is…how did it become a career path for so many people? Well, when you begin to share your stories and experiences with people you start to gain readers and an audience. Everyone prefers to read a review from a real person (rather than an editor) or see an outfit on a regular girl (rather than a model). Blogs became popular because of that real factor and with a readership/audience they became the newest form of marketing.

And that my friends leads me to the burning question…do you make a living off of blogging? The answer is yes…but of course…I am no trust fund baby! This is my full-time job. Here are the many ways bloggers make the dough.

1. Sponsored Posts – What better way to get your brand/product to consumers than to have a blogger promote it? That’s what a sponsored post is. A brand reaches out directly to a blogger and asks them to review the product they want to advertise. In exchange for the review bloggers get paid a flat fee rate.

There’s a lot of speculation behind sponsored posts and I will definitely do a full post on that later but rest assured I only post products I actually like, wear and use!

2. Affiliate Links – Affiliate links are based on the sales or clicks that are generated through your readers! As bloggers we earn a commission off sales if they come through our site.

3. Ad Space/Ad Networks – I actually don’t utilize this method but ad space is selling a portion (or space) of your blog…whether its the header or right column to run a continuous ad for a company. Ad networks are general ads…like those you see on webpages. These are preset and you get paid on the clicks from those ads.

4. Own Products/Services – Just as e-commerce sites have blogs…blogs (sometimes) have e-commerce sites aka selling product. A lot of bloggers are now considered brands in and of themselves! Sincerely Jules, Shea Marie, Karla Deras…all fashion bloggers who started their own clothing brands.

And that my friends is what blogging is and how we all get paid!

wearing:
top – Vici Collection
jeans – Evidnt
heels – Kenzie
scarf – vintage

photos by Enzie