Fashion Blogger/Influencer 2021 Income Report

My 2021 income report as a full time fashion blogger and influencer!

So…let me clarify that this post is not to entice you to purchase a course or product that I’ve created. (Nothing against those that do. However, that is all I seemed to come across when searching income reports for bloggers on Pinterest). Before I made the choice to become an influencer, I did a ton of research and online stalking on influencers and bloggers. Safe and respectable stalking of course lol. Not surprisingly at all, the only income reports I was able to find were on bloggers of the blog coaching category. I also found helpful income reports from the organizing blogger Abby Lawson. People adore their privacy, and in this day and age, it is a beautiful gift.

However, I love to give information to those seeking it in order to change their lives and financial freedom. I was that person once. So, if you’re a math nerd, like me, then numbers give you a since of comfort and encouragement. This post is for you. If you’ve been interested in becoming a fashion & lifestyle influencer/ blogger, then this post is for you. By publishing this income report, I want to share what is a very attainable income for fashion bloggers while holding myself accountable to growth in 2022!

Top | Jeans | Heels (similar) | The Tote Bag

HOW I STARTED – THE CLIFF NOTES

Let me give you some background first so these numbers make sense. If you want a more in depth post on how I got started, check out this post.

I started working on my blog & becoming an influencer in March 2016. I had already been an accountant for a little over 3 years, but knew that was not the career that I loved. For over 5 years, I did both blogging and accounting. This was not easy at all! Honestly, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Working from 6:30am to 4:30pm or 8:30am to 5:30pm, then coming home to work more at night and every weekend was not for the faint of heart. After all of my hard work, prayers, and God given grace I was able to quit my accounting job of almost 9 years on September 15, 2021. So, as of the time I’m writing this blog post, I have only been a full time influencer for 4 months.

I absolutely love blogging and influencing! To be truthful, I can’t believe I get to call this my career. I am beyond blessed and grateful. I’ve always looked at income reports of bloggers to get inspiration of what my story could look like when I was able to quit my job. Sadly, as I mentioned before, I was rarely able to find income reports for fashion bloggers. Because of that, I am a bit nervous to publish mine. At any point I don’t mind taking this post down depending on the feedback I receive lol.

One misconception about fashion bloggers & influencers is that they only have one form of income. I have the privilege of knowing some fellow corporate working women that are also bloggers & influencers, They’ve mentioned that they don’t want to quit their full time jobs, because they don’t want to have all of their eggs in one basket. I completely understand not wanting to leave the security of a 9-5 when you have many pressing responsibilities. However, one thing I learned from COVID is at anytime your job could cut your pay, refuse your yearly increase & bonus or even lay you off without warning. In my opinion, leaving myself & my household at the mercy of a corporation was more of a risk than starting my own business.

BUSINESS DECISIONS I MADE IN 2021

As I mentioned earlier, I was working my full time accounting job and influencer marketing business at the same time for a total of over 5 years. Most of the time I was just going with the flow and trying to create quality content my audience would enjoy. I rarely, if ever, had time to sit, plan, analyze, and study on the things I could do better. Most of the time I was not organized or committed to a publishing schedule. This was for the first 2 or so years of me starting my influencing journey.

In 2020, I started to take things more seriously. I hired a photographer, really focused on getting better in photos and telling a story, and began to get more consistent with my content. If I had started my influencing journey in 2016 as strong as I started in 2020, then I’m positive it would not have taken me 5 years before being able to exceed my 9 to 5 income.

For 2021, my goal was to leave my accounting job. I did not want to go into another New Year unhappy with what I was doing for a living. The corporate life was draining me mentally, physically and emotionally and I was over it!. In October of 2020, I started to drastically pay off debt until the bulk of it was paid off in 2021. I wanted to bring in more income through brand collaborations as well. At the beginning of 2021, I set a goal of $145,000 of total income from my influencing business only, and as you will be able to see below…I surpassed it!

2021 INCOME REPORT BREAKDOWN

Now let’s get to the good stuff! Here is my income report for 2021. The income report will break down how much money I made in 2021 and from what income stream category.

CATEGORIES

Affiliate Income: $5,800

YouTube Adsense: $16,730

Partnerships (Instagram & YouTube): $154,570

Total Revenue: $177,100

To clarify, my income report is more like a revenue report. I’m not going to list out all of my expenses paid. So, just note that the income reports do not include monthly expenses I paid to keep the business going. It is literally how much money the business earned last year.

Also, I want to give more clarity on these numbers compared to my following. I do not have a huge following. You don’t need to have hundreds and thousands or even millions of followers in order to make six figures as a fashion and lifestyle influencer. Here was my following for each platform at the close of 2021.

SOCIAL FOLLOWING

YouTube: 70,000+

Instagram: 39,600+

TIKTOK: 9,500+

Total Following & Reach: 119,100+

If I am being honest here, this is bare minimum income for fashion bloggers. I was sooooo tired all of 2021 and it showed in the amount of work I took on. Juggling both jobs finally caught up with me last year, and I needed some down time. This is no where near the amount of income many fashion & lifestyle influencers are making. Think closer to $1,000,000 and up when you think about what is possible in this industry.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not mad at my numbers at all! I’m so happy to see what I have been blessed to make outside of my accounting job. 2021 is the first year I made 6 figures in my business. To know that there are areas of astronomical growth opportunities, makes me extremely excited about this years goals

BUSINESS GOALS FOR 2022

When going over my numbers in 2021, I noticed that I am very partnership heavy. This is a blessing and a slight set back if you ask me. If anything happens again that shakes up the economy, brands reevaluate their marketing budgets, which could drastically impact my business. So, my goal for 2022 is to bring up the YouTube Adsense and affiliate marketing income streams drastically. Also, I want this blog to become a source of income as well. There are great opportunities of having web ad space on this site.

I had time to sit and plan how to make this happen in 2022. For this year, I’ve almost tripled my income goal which sounds a little scary as I’m typing it lol. Seeing as I have quit my accounting job and can now focus on influencing full time, I have more space (mentally and physically) to dedicate to this career. Justine, my Content Manager, and I have completed a 3 hour planning session of all the content I can create each month in 2022. This way, I wont have to think as much on what would be great to create, because I already have a list of options.

After writing this post, I actually feel good about creating this for you guys. If you are using this income report to see whether it is worth getting into the influencer marketing industry, please use my numbers as the base line of what is possible. There is no ceiling on what you can make for your influencer marketing business! There are so many influencers in all ares and niches that make a million dollars a year or more. Go for it…you got this! Comment below to let me know if you guys want me to do an income report once a quarter for 2022.