Before we jump into the $$ talk, we have to implore you…don’t start a blog or “influencer” account to make money. It is SUCH hard work and truly necessitates authentic passion and resilient patience. Turning your life into a business is only right for those who really love the grind and their online community first. Also, NEVER take on a paid collaboration if you don’t really love the product you’re getting paid to advertise. Discrediting your trustworthiness with your followers is not worth the one-time payment; trust us!

OK enough of that, on to the question that has you reading this article in the first place: How do you know what to charge for collaborations as you grow and start monetizing your Instagram?? There are a million ways that influencers and brands decide their starting numbers, but here are two general rules of thumb for determining your fee per-post.

1. Historically a fairly common starting place is to charge $100 per 10,000 followers. However, engagement percentages can significantly impact this one way or the other (low followers with high engagement can mean more to a brand than high followers with low engagement… see more on that below)
2. Another way is CPM (the cost to reach one thousand people). To calculate this, take your follower count and divide it by 1,000. Then multiply that by $5-$15 to get your fee per post. We know $5-$15 is quite a range. The right number that applies to you is strictly based on your engagement percentage. AH! #moremath …How do you determine your engagement percentage??? Websites like @Fohr.co can be really helpful here. Otherwise, you can figure out your engagement percentage using this equation: average likes + average comments / total number of followers x 100. Note: to get your average likes + comments we suggest using your last 20-30 posts. If your final engagement score is 1%-3% then you are on the lower end of that $5-$15 range vs. if you score is 5%-8% you are on the higher end and can charge more.