Until recently, fashion bloggers were paid with free merchandise, if they were

Until recently, fashion bloggers were paid with free merchandise, if they were paid at all. But that started to change as their influence grew. Now fashion bloggers are “right up there with editors in helping to mold what the consumer is going to buy,” said Alexis Borges, director of Next Model Management, an international modeling agency.

Next has signed 11 style bloggers, including Rumi Neely of the blog Fashiontoast, in addition to its stable of traditional fashion models. “It’s definitely a growing division,” Mr. Borges said. “We’re treating bloggers as the next generation of people who will be used for advertising.”

It’s not just advertising. Fashion bloggers today can earn money by writing sponsored posts, selling ad space on their sites, working as brand ambassadors, making personal appearances and creating design collaborations.

Indeed, seemingly every fashion brand is working with bloggers these days, including mainstream brands like the Gap (which featured the avant-garde-leaning Susie Bubble in a campaign), DKNY (which hired the photo blogger Jamie Beck to shoot behind the scenes at its recent runway show) and Sunglass Hut (which held a heavily promoted contest for a full-time blogger).

But deciding which opportunities to accept can be tricky for bloggers, who risk overexposure and being seen as a corporate shill. A blogger’s influence is derived from independence.

IN this confusing new landscape, an agent can help avoid pitfalls. Still, bloggers may price themselves out of jobs by signing with an agency like Digital Brand Architects. And Ms. Robinovitz’s enthusiasm on behalf of her clients (she believes that in 15 years people will discuss Ms. Beck’s photos “the way they are talking about Irving Penn”) may come across as pushy to some brands.

Perhaps that’s why some bloggers remain agent-free. Rebecca Stice, 24, who writes The Clothes Horse, a blog where she posts looks of herself in pastoral settings near Fort Eustis, Va., likes the autonomy of working alone.

She believes she can tell when bloggers are represented by the same agent or network because “they all post about the same purse around the same time.”

Good bloggers have amazing opportunities and it’s only going to get better as the web continues to expand! Make yourself known ladies! Read the entire article at The New York Times!