Personal stylists often recommend clothing from retailers such as THE ICONIC, Myer and David Jones. If you want to earn affiliate income from recommendations, start by checking whether the retailer currently has a suitable programme and whether you qualify. A retailer appearing in this article is not a confirmation of an active programme or a guarantee that you will be approved.
Affiliate income is a commercial relationship: a programme may pay a commission for an eligible purchase attributed to your approved link. It is separate from your styling fee and should never override the client’s budget, fit requirements or best interests.
1. Verify the programme before building your edit
Commission Factory is one network Australian publishers can investigate. Check current programmes directly with the network or retailer; we have not confirmed current live listings for all three retailers named above. Programme access, commission terms and approved promotional channels can change.
- Is the programme active and open to your type of business?
- Are private client emails, PDFs and lookbooks permitted?
- What purchases, products or customers are excluded?
- How are returns, cancellations and attribution handled?
- What disclosure and branding rules apply?
Save the terms relevant to your channel and review updates. Do not quote a fixed commission rate to clients or build your business forecast around a rate you have not verified.
2. Apply as your actual styling business
Explain how you recommend products and where clients see your content. Provide the information the programme requests, including business and payment details where applicable. Network membership may not equal approval from every advertiser; check your status before using a particular retailer’s affiliate tools.
Use the network’s authorised link generator once approved. Adding an arbitrary tag to a normal retailer URL does not establish an affiliate relationship or guarantee tracked commission.
3. Choose product links or studio tagging
In LookLayer, you can attach your approved affiliate URL to an individual product. That product-specific link takes priority. This is useful when the programme provides a special redirect link or when products come from different networks.
Studio Affiliate & Tracking IDs can also apply supported parameters to matching links. LookLayer supports Commission Factory tracking links, Amazon, Rakuten/LinkSynergy, ShopStyle and custom rules. A Commission Factory setting works on the supported tracking-link format; it does not turn every ordinary retailer URL into a Commission Factory link. Existing URL parameters are preserved.
UTM parameters are useful for campaign identification, but they are not a substitute for an approved affiliate link. Before sharing, open the result and check that it reaches the intended product. A correct destination alone does not prove that commission attribution is working; use the network’s reporting or test guidance where available.
4. Make the commercial relationship clear
The ACCC’s social media promotions guidance explains that promotional claims must not mislead consumers. Make commission relationships easy to understand wherever the recommendation appears. A practical plain-language disclosure is: “Some links are affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you buy through them.” Check the programme’s rules and the advertising guidance applicable to your channel.
Do not claim that commission cannot affect the client’s price unless you have checked the specific arrangement. Do not hide disclosure in an unrelated policy page or imply that a commercial recommendation is entirely independent.
5. Keep recommendations useful and income realistic
Build outfits around the brief, include alternatives where useful and explain why each piece belongs. Stock can change, clients may not buy and eligible purchases can be reversed after returns. Treat affiliate revenue as variable supplementary income, not a promised return on a subscription.
For delivery, read how to build a shoppable collection and PDFs versus live lookbooks. Keep records of income and ask your accountant how to report it. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.