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How do you become a fashion influencer or blogger in 2023?
Is it too late? Have you missed the boat?
Absolutely not!
It is never too late to start this kind of business and there are new accounts flourishing every single day. Today we are going to dive into all the details on how to become a fashion influencer or blogger.
Since I’ve previously posted about how to get accepted to LiketoKnow.It to monetise your Instagram, lots of people have been asking for more tips on how to become an influencer and monetise your platform.
If you’re not sure on how you can monetise your Instagram, read here 11 ways to make money on Instagram with 1000 followers.
What is a fashion influencer?
A fashion influencer is someone who styles different types of clothing items.
They give outfit ideas, they post them on different platforms and offer value to their audience through styling tips.
The nice part about being a fashion influencer is that you get to do this from home, you get to do something that you’re hopefully passionate about (if you’re here reading this) and you get to make money off of this.
There’s also no right or wrong when it comes to posting your outfits either. Because everyone has their different sense of style, they have different ways of pairing things.
Regardless of what your style is, there will be people out there who are looking for inspiration in that particular style.
If you’re more edgy, more feminine, it doesn’t matter – you will have an audience out there.
Watch the video or keep reading to get all the details on how to become a fashion influencer:
How do I become a fashion influencer?
There are a few things you need to know in order to get started as a fashion influencer or blogger. Here are the 5 main things you should keep in mind:
1. You need a platform (blog, YouTube or Instagram)
In order to become a fashion influencer, you firstly need a platform to do that.
The most popular ones are: Instagram, a blog or a YouTube channel. It really depends on what you prefer to do in your business.
Do you prefer recording little outfit clips?
Do you prefer longer styling videos?
Do you just like taking outfit pictures for a blog?
If you’re unsure of which one you should pick for yourself between these platforms, I wrote a full blog post on blogging vs YouTube with all the pros and cons of each.
I would say a blog, YouTube or Instagram are the three main platforms I would focus on.
And I don’t mean you need to do all of these. Pick 1 or 2 platforms and really focus on growing those. Then any other platform is just to kind of share and promote your content if you have the time.
2. The truth about picking a niche
A lot of people get really bogged down on the niche thing.
That means if they want to be a fashion influencer, that means they can’t post anything else.
The truth about having a niche, especially these days, is that it’s not as crucial as lots of people make it out to be.
Yes, it does help to have a specific type of content that you create consistently. But it’s more than ok to insert your personality, personal experience, lifestyle or struggles. I would say try not to put yourself in a box and feel really restricted on what you can post, especially on your Instagram stories for example.
You could definitely be more lenient on there.
What I would highly recommend is not focus so much on the niche, but rather focus on the kind of person that you’re speaking to. Which leads me to my next point.
3. Figure out the person you’re talking to
Try to figure out what type of person you’re helping with your content.
Even if it’s just outfit ideas, you are giving outfit ideas to a certain type of person. Think about them and think about how you can help them and provide value.
That’s something you should reflect in your content. So don’t feel too stressed out about the whole niche thing, but rather try to understand your target audience and provide value to them.
4. Create helpful content
Value is key. Provide helpful, valuable content in a bite-sized manner consistently on Instagram and you will do well. Yes, entertainment is big on Instagram, but information, education and helpful content is equally so.
If you can combine the two, you will start growing faster.
Help people with your valuable content, whilst delivering it in a fun way – that’s golden.
And that’s exactly why reels are doing so well. Whether we like it or not, reels are here to stay. If you’re feeling a bit stuck or nervous on starting out with reels, then have a look at this free cheatsheet of 30 days of Instagram reels.
5. Have a decently aesthetic feed
One thing that will actually help you too is to have an aesthetic feed on your Instagram. Now aesthetics are not everything and I wouldn’t get too hung up on having a “perfect” feed, because there is no such thing.
Especially when we’re our own worst critics.
But there are a few things you can do to improve the looks of your Instagram profile.
The easiest way you can do this is with Lightroom presets. You simply download the Lightroom app on your phone (which is free) and you can edit the pictures really easily.
If you’re unsure how to do that, I actually have some free bright and airy presets that you can download.
A preset is basically a few editing settings already applied to your picture in one click. My presets are usually bright and airy and they make your pictures look more aesthetic.
Having a cohesive look will definitely help, especially in the fashion industry.
How to grow as fashion bloggers vs Instagram fashion influencers
Growing on any platform takes time, consistency, a bit of strategy and a clear vision of where you want to take it.
If you want to be a fashion blogger
For those of you wanting to become fashion bloggers, as in have a website where you post your outfit pictures and make money off of it, then have a look at this ultimate guide on how to start a blog for beginners.
There is a lot that goes into growing a blog, which is exactly why I created the Blogging Secrets course to help you get there faster.But it is key that you create searchable content on your blog, content that has a chance of growing fast on Pinterest or that will rank in Google search.
For fashion blog posts, I highly recommend going for listicles and how to posts. For example: 7 Ways to Style Black Jeans or How to Style a White Shirt.
If you want to be an Instagram fashion influencer
If what you’re aiming for is growing your Instagram platform, I highly recommend creating a mix of feed outfit photos and styling reels to grow your audience.
Learn to spot trending audio and create your reels around those.
Be consistent in your posting and you will see results if you keep at it. We dive into a lot more details in the Insta Glow Up Kit.
How to monetise as a fashion influencer
The two main ways for fashion influencers to monetise their platform are: brand deals and affiliate links.
Brand deals (or sponsored posts)
Brand deals means you get brands to either send you clothes for free or you get the gifted clothes and get paid a set rate for your content.
This way of monetising can be very lucrative the more you grow your account.
Affiliate marketing
Here is how affiliate marketing works.
You post outfits on your Instagram. You link to each item in your outfit and you add your affiliate links for each of them.
You do need to join affiliate programs for the different brands you want to promote in your outfits.
When someone clicks on that link and they purchase the item, you get a commission from it. Sometimes it’s a really tiny commission, but it adds up.
The more of an audience you have, the more people buy and obviously the higher of a commission you will get at the end of the month.
This is actually where RewardStyle or LiketoKnow.It comes in handy, because it’s a platform exactly for these affiliate links and they have a whole wide range of stores there. They have shops like H&M, ASOS, Nordstrom etc.
They are partnered with the most popular ones, so I like to use it because I find all of the brands that I need in one place.
How to stay motivated and consistent
The one thing I think is the hardest for fashion influencers when they’re just getting started is to stay motivated and consistent enough to see results. And this applies for any sort of niche, not just the fashion one.
How do you keep going even it seems like it’s not going anywhere?
It’s really hard in the beginning, because you’re not getting traction, you’re not getting a lot of views or follows yet.
You feel like you’re putting a lot of effort into your content, but you’re not getting any results back. That’s the hardest part and that’s where most people will quit before they even make it.
I wanted to share with you the bamboo tree analogy.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard it before, this is something that I actually share with my students in my programs and courses. I actually read this in a book, but the bamboo tree actually grows for the first four years only underground.
So it only grows the roots for the first few years.
Then in the fifth year it grows overground and it skyrockets in that fifth year overground to huge heights.
That’s exactly the same thing with growing an online business, whether that’s fashion influencing, a blog or whatever it may be for you. That’s how it works.
For the first few months or even years, you’re putting in a lot of work underground, building that foundation and you’re not yet seeing the results.
You have to believe in yourself and to believe that you can make this work.
That’s the one thing that’s going to keep you going, because otherwise you’re just going to give up before it even surfaces above ground and you see any results. I think that’s a really powerful analogy and that’s something that I encourage my students to keep in mind.
You just need to keep going if you want to see results, that’s just how any business works.
How to become a fashion blogger with no money
What to do if you want to become a fashion influencer, but don’t have a lot of money for clothes?
Obviously you’re going to need a few clothes to work with, which you probably already have in your wardrobe.
Because I’m sure if you’re kind of interested in fashion, you do have some clothes you can work with.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, it doesn’t have to be expensive and there are a few things you can do to work around until you grow your business and your budget to invest in your brand.
Because once you start doing this fashion influencing thing and you start getting a few brand deals here and there, you start getting some affiliate commissions, then you can obviously start reinvesting more into your business as well.
Here are 4 things you can do if you want to become a fashion influencer but don’t have money for clothes:
1. Reinvent your wardrobe, mix up pieces
The first thing that you can do is to simply remix your wardrobe. Go through your wardrobe and find new ways to style the pieces that you have.
Reinvent, get creative with what you have.
Having a minimalist closet and sharing really simple outfit combinations is actually really popular.
2. Thrifting or charity shops
The second thing you could do here if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on clothes is to go thrift shopping.
Go into charity shops and find really good bargains that you can style in different ways.
You might think “well I can’t monetise then, because it’s from a thrift store or charity shop then obviously I won’t have an affiliate link for it”.
But what you can do, especially if you have really simple and basic pieces (not something that’s really unique), then you can find similar items and share the affiliate links to those. That’s perfectly fine.
Especially if it’s things like: how to style a simple white t-shirt, how to style straight leg jeans etc. It doesn’t have to be a specific brand and you can definitely link to similar items you find in your affiliate programs.
3. Take dressing-room mirror selfies
The third thing you can do if you need to get more content, but you don’t have a lot of clothing to work with is to go and take some selfies in the dressing room mirror.
This is something that’s actually quite popular and quite fun to do.
You could just go into the shop, get some clothes to try on, go back to the dressing room and take selfies of you wearing the clothes. Maybe styling them in different ways. You can even take some reels of them.
Or post them on your Instagram stories and ask people to give you suggestions on which item to pick.
4. Get extra on your orders
Here’s another thing people also do, which I actually haven’t done myself because it just feels like a lot of work to be honest – ha!
But this is one thing fashion influencers often do.
Say you’re placing an order on H&M. You get more items than you would like to keep, try them all on, take outfit pictures or Instagram reels and then decide which ones you keep and which ones you return.
So you can take pictures even with the items that you will return, because obviously you would try them on to see how they fit anyway.
At the end of the day, it’s just about getting creative on how you can create more content even if you’re on a small budget.
How much does a fashion influencer make?
You’re not going to like the answer, but it really depends.
And not as much on the size of their following as you may think.
Fashion influencing can be very profitable, especially if you know how to monetise your content. A sponsored brand deal for a fashion influencer can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.
It depends on the size of their audience, the engagement they have and also the type of deliverables they need to create.
How do I become a fashion influencer for clothing brands?
For brand deals, either they reach out to you (usually in you DMs or email) or you can pitch to them if you have a brand you would like to work with.
Of course, the more you grow your audience, the more brand deal opportunities you will have.
If you don’t know how to get brand deals, how to pitch to brands or how much to charge for sponsored posts, we cover all of this in the Insta Glow Up Kit.
How do bloggers afford their clothes?
A lot of bloggers get sent free clothing (gifted PR items) as they start growing, which helps them get more items for content.
As you grow your fashion influencing business, you will get more discount codes you can use, free items for yourself and also work on paid campaigns with clothing brands.
This helps you create more content without having to spend a ton of money yourself. Instead, you will be making money rather with your content.
That’s why fashion bloggers usually have quite a large wardrobe.
It doesn’t mean they bought themselves all the clothing you see.
I do hope you found this post helpful on how to become a fashion influencer or blogger. Have you been dreaming of becoming a fashion influencer?
What’s stopping you?
Where are you at on your journey? Let’s chat in the comments below!
