How To Monetize A Fashion Blog or Instagram
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Looking for some clear-cut advice on how to monetize a fashion blog or fashion-focused Instagram account? I’ve got you sister.
I’ve been earning from my blog content since 2017. In addition to this blog, I also own a few others, and one of which is a fashion blog.
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In this guide, I’ll share some no-fuss strategies about how to monetize a fashion blog or Instagram. Follow these tips and you will be an income-earning fashion blogger in no time.
No matter if you have been blogging for a while and already have solid traffic, or if you are just starting out; these strategies are here for you.
Your Journey To Owning A Monetized Fashion Blog
Picture this: You’re sitting in a café, elegantly sipping your latte, snapping that perfect, Instagram-worthy shot. Your outfit is impeccable, a mix of high-street and a vintage find that whispers, “I’m stylish, but I don’t try too hard.”
Suddenly, someone recognizes you from your blog. “I love your style,” they gush.
You smile, thank them, and then, as they walk away, you can’t help but think, “If only compliments were a currency!”
Well, guess what? In the realm of fashion blogging, they are! But instead of turning heads on the street, you’re turning those likes, shares, and follows into cold, hard cash.
I mean, who wouldn’t want to make money by being their fabulous self and sharing their passion for fashion?
Now, I’m not saying it’s all sequins and runway shows. There’s a lot of hard work behind those effortlessly curated posts.
It’s like trying to walk in stilettos on cobblestone streets – a bit of a challenge, but hey, the best fashion bloggers can make anything look easy.
First, What Does It Mean To Monetize A Blog?
Simply put, monetization of a blog means that you are making money from your site and when you earn a revenue stream from the online content on your blog, that is also considered to be monetization of your blog.
No matter if your blog gets over 10,000 visitors or only 1,000 per day, there are many ways to monetize your blog.
In truth, there is no golden rule as to how much traffic or how extensive your email list should be to monetize your blog, as it kind of all depends on what you are trying to sell and how you are marketing it.
I teach a class on blog monetization, which goes deeper than this article can. Learn more about the program here.
Obviously, the more traffic you have, the easier it will be, but you don’t necessarily have to hit numbers like 10,000 to monetize your blog.
Instead, the goal should be to create a steady flow of traffic and having at least 1,000 unique visitors a month means that you are doing something well.
Two things that have to be stressed is that:
- It takes time and patience to build up a steady income stream from blogging. It is important to identify the stage you are in right now and build it from there – there are no shortcuts to increasing blog traffic. All you have to do is be consistent in what you do.
- The second thing to take note of is that monetization is about math. This means choosing the right strategy that aligns with what stage you are at now and where you want to be in 6-12 months.
What Are The Best Ways To Monetize A Fashion Blog?
Here are some of the best strategies you can use to monetize your fashion blog:
Affiliate Marketing
Partner with fashion brands and retailers to earn affiliate commission on sales generated through your blog.
Just about every fashion brand has an affiliate program. Take a look at these fashion affiliate programs to find the best ones.
I’d also recommend that you utilize platforms like LTK that cater specifically to fashion bloggers as well.
Sponsored Content
This is how most fashion influencers make money: brand sponsorships.
Essentially, you will charge brands a fee to feature their product or service on your blog or social media. The brand will get exposure to your audience and will therefore obtain more reach and more potential leads and convert to sales.
The key here is to be completely honest and transparent with your audience when reviewing the product, as it is not worth jeopardizing your credibility for a sum of money which probably isn’t worth it.
Ensure that the brands align with your blog’s aesthetic and values. Transparency is key, so always disclose sponsored content to your audience.
Don’t have a blog yet? Enroll in my free blog start-up training now!
Sell Digital Products and Courses
Create and sell digital products such as fashion eBooks, styling guides, or online courses. These products can offer styling advice, building a capsule wardrobe, or even fashion blogging itself.
A highly effective way to monetize a blog that generates even just a small amount of visitors per day is by creating and selling online courses.
For this stream of revenue you do not need a lot of leads or customers, and it is, as always, to start from where you are and upscale.
What holds most bloggers back from launching an online course is that they think they need to be degree-educated in the subject to teach a course.
That isn’t true, all you need to know is more on the subject than the people that you are targeting so that they gain value from it.
Online courses are usually focused on a specific subject, and this should be something you have noticed that your readers really need to know.
Additionally, online courses have a higher perceived value than blog posts, as your audience knows that you have put time and effort into them.
The online course space or e-learning is booming, and it is a great way to get value to and from your consumers of your content. By creating online courses, you have the opportunity to deliver your best content exclusively to customers.
If you are all out of ideas on what kind of content to offer, the best thing you can do is to ask your audience what their pain points are through a survey via email or by reading blog comments.
If you do not have an audience, then it would be a good idea to brainstorm topics such as: what do people come to you for advice for? What does everyone complain about that you enjoy? What can you do better than most people?
Alternatively, start with your best blog posts and make some more in-depth courses on those topics.
Courses can be hosted on platforms such as Teachable or Thrivecart – both options are relatively easy to set up and won’t break the bank either.
Host A Broadcast Channel
Instagram has a cool feature where you can post messages and links in a group chat where your followers can see and interact with your messages (but they can not post messages back.)
This is a great opportunity to post affiliate links and promotions!
Offer Personal Styling Services or Consultation
Leverage your expertise to offer personal styling consultations or virtual styling services. This can be a great way to engage directly with your audience and build a loyal customer base.
Coaching or consulting in the fashion niche gives your customers direct access to your expertise and is often used as an auxiliary service to products like courses or e-books.
By offering one-on-one consultation time with your customers, you will be able to assist them through their challenges in life and work by giving them the tools and knowledge to get through the challenge and equip them for the next one.
Offering consultations is not about generating a high number of traffic, but the quality of traffic you get-you want to attract the right kind of customers or clients who will use your services for a long time and see the value you bring to them.
It could also involve speaking on podcasts that your audience listens to, or going to events where they are to get to know you and your services.
Create Shoppable Posts on Social Media
Utilize shoppable posts on Instagram and affiliate links on Pinterest to drive sales.
Display Ads
Use your blog’s traffic to generate revenue through display advertising.
Collaborations and Brand Partnerships
Establish long-term partnerships with fashion brands. This can include capsule collections, ambassadorships, or co-branded content.
Email Marketing
Build an email list to promote your content, products, and affiliate offers. Email marketing remains a powerful tool for direct engagement and sales conversion in any niche, not just fashion.
When someone subscribes to your newsletter or buys a product from you, you have to follow up and build a relationship with them.
When you follow up with a lead, the conversion rate to sales increases, as by connecting with the customer, you will motivate them to buy your product or stick with your service.
Once you have someone sign up to your email list or service, you send a follow-up email as an auto-response, and you build the relationship with them through blog posts, e-books and videos (as examples) that focuses on their pain points.
Ideally, it is extremely valuable to find out what these are beforehand through surveys and the like.
It can be useful to recommend products, affiliate programs and your own products and services which address their potential pain points.
E-commerce Integration
If you design or curate fashion items, integrate an e-commerce platform into your blog to sell these products directly to your audience.
Membership or Subscription Model
Offer exclusive content, early access to your posts, or special perks to paid subscribers. This can create a steady stream of income.
Memberships or subscription models are super popular, and businesses using this model are seen as part of what is known as the subscription economy.
A membership plan on your website is a gated section of your online business where only members that have subscribed to the plan on a paid monthly or yearly basis, can access the services or benefits associated with the plan.
The members of the community have access to things including reports, webinars, advice, exclusive articles or meetups for like-minded people. The memberships will allow for more reach and will create a community online.
Host Events and Workshops
Organize fashion events, workshops, or webinars. Charge for attendance or collaborate with brands for sponsorships.
Content Diversification
Branch out into different but related niches like sustainable fashion, techwear, or fashion history to attract a wider audience and more sponsorship opportunities.
Fashion Freelancing
By blogging, you already have the skills to become a fashion freelancer in many ways. The easiest way to make money from your blog is to freelance write for more well-known fashion blogs.
You are also in a unique position as you have experience with WordPress, SEO and social media, making you a hot commodity as a fashion freelancer.
Bigger brands are always looking for bloggers with certain skill sets who can create content to bolster their marketing, be it B2B or B2C.
This would give you experience on writing articles on different topics in the form of long and short-form articles, emails and website page copy-so it is a win-win really.
Getting clients may be difficult at first, but there are many ways of getting attention such as through social media marketing, consistent blogging and inbound marketing on your own site to drive people to your services as a freelancer and marketing your services on third-party freelancer platforms.
You can also find clients by searching for keywords relating to that niche and approach them to see if they have any work available.
In terms of pricing, try not to go too low or too high on the pricing structure you offer- it may be best to start out with quoting per-project basis rather than an hourly rate, as you may not know how long it will take to complete a task.
Collaboration With Other Influencers
Generating traffic and leads from your blog and emails is just the beginning to achieving conversion to sales. Nearly 80% of the leads from marketing attempts do not convert into sales.
This is because of lack of nurturance or follow up of the leads and, second to that, having the wrong kind of leads.
To generate the right type of leads, you will have to collaborate effectively with influencers and leverage their reach.
This can be done by asking them to review your product or for you to sponsor their posts in which your product or service is mentioned.
The first step to doing this is to build relationships with the influencers you think would be the right fit for you and your product.
Organizing Virtual Summits
A virtual summit or conference is an extremely under-utilized marketing tool. They are a valuable resource helping with connecting and building relationships with influencers and potential customers.
When organizing a virtual summit, you will need to choose a topic that inspires people to action and invite experts along to talk at the summit.
The most important thing to do is to ensure that you have a product or service which is fit to sell as part of a value-add at the end of the summit.
Remember, virtual summits are different to webinars. Virtual summits are more interactive and engaging as opposed to a webinar where it is just speakers talking with little to no engagements, and virtual summits usually only appear for a limited time period.
How to make revenue from them is to sell “all access” passes to the attendees, as summits are typically only available for a limited time. With these passes, the attendees can access the material at any time.
Tips To Scale A Fashion Blog
SEO Optimization
Optimize your blog for search engines to increase visibility and attract more organic traffic, which can lead to higher monetization potential.
Analytics and Feedback
Regularly analyze your traffic and engage with your audience to understand their preferences. Tailoring your content and monetization strategies based on this feedback can be highly effective.
Networking and Community Building
Network with other fashion bloggers, join blogging communities, and attend industry events. Building relationships can lead to collaborative opportunities and increased exposure.
How To Monetize A Fashion Blog or Instagram – Conclusion
While it is easy to start a blog, monetization of a blog can be tricky, especially if you are new to the business.
Most of the strategies discussed above do not need a high amount of traffic or leads to start generating income. But the more you have, means the more you can earn.
So, get out there and monetize your fashion blog!
Don’t forget to enroll in the Blog Monetization course if you really want to make good money with your fashion blog!
Don’t have a blog yet? Enroll in my free blog start-up training now!
Follow along on Instagram!
