3 case studies on monetising your blog

How to make money with a blog/site? It is a question we ask ourselves every day at Glam Observer. Especially now the market is saturated. Gone is the time a blogger only needed to do a sponsored post or write a product review. From affiliate marketing to selling e-books – there are now more ways to make money out of your website.

But before even thinking about it, first ask yourself:

– what you are good at

– what knowledge or value you can add to your readers

– in which form you will add value to your blog and how you will convey it to your readers

It is only doing that path first that you will understand what your selling point is and then start monetising it.

To show you the different ways you can make money from blogging we thought about creating a list of people whom we consider great marketers hence great at generating revenue through their blog/site.

Julie Solomon: The Marketer

Julie Solomon is the founder of The Influencer podcast – a show like its name indicates is all about influencer marketing. On top of this channel, Julie has a site described as ‘an influencer marketing blog and destination for creative entrepreneurs and influencers.’

Once you come to her site, you are welcome with an email sign up message saying ‘$9,000 of free resources! Sign up to get my FREE library of worksheets, videos, and resources for online entrepreneurs + bloggers’. And here is the elevator pitch telling you:

– what Julie’s domain of expertise is

– the worth of the knowledge she is sharing with you for free

Julie is using a sales pitch most marketers use: sharing helpful content for free to attract readers and customers

So how does she monetises her blog?

Julie is a brand and marketing strategist for bloggers and as such the best type of monetisation for her is through:

– Courses. Julie offers a class in which she teaches the art of pitching to her students.

– E-shop. In Julie’s online shop you can find pitch email templates as well as sheets of useful contacts in many industries.

– Consulting. As a brand and marketing strategist, Julie also offers one-on-one sessions for entrepreneurs and bloggers.

Atelier Doré: The Storyteller

I had to mention Garance Doré’s site as over the years Atelier Doré has evolved into a fascinating place. I thought to observe Garance’s different skillset as well as her content to see how she seamlessly generates revenue through her Atelier.

Garance Doré started as an illustrator to then photograph people on the street during Fashion Week when street style wasn’t yet a thing. It is no wonder then she integrated these two skills into her blog. Shooting for the likes of Petit Bateau or &Other Stories, Garance also has an e-shop on her site where you can find stationery goods (but not only) adorned with her drawings.  Lately, she collaborated with Chabi Chic – a Marrakech based lifestyle brand with whom she launched a collection to celebrate Atelier Doré’s Art of Storytelling retreat in Morocco.

I believe Garance is one of the most achieved blogs out there when it comes to having different streams of revenue while doing it without seeming too sales-y. And this is all thanks to Atelier Doré ability to tell stories.

We have already seen Atelier Doré makes sales through:

– Garance working as a photographer/art director for brands

– The online shop with products reflecting Garance’s talent for illustration

– Collaborations just like the one with Chabi Chic or with Equipment for which Garance added prints inspired by her drawings on the US brand classics.

Atelier Doré is the proof that content is King with a capital K and if you treat it like this, you will generate revenue. If most posts have subtle affiliate links, it is probably the content created in partnership with brands that is generating money. Think about:

– Pardon My French, the podcast of Atelier Doré sponsored by The Outnet

– Her series of posts around French beauty in partnership with Laura Mercier

Phoebe Lovatt: The Working Woman

When freelance writer Phoebe Lovatt decided to create The Working Women’s Club, it was to give a space for working women to connect with each other but above all, to learn to navigate the working environment.

Just like for Julie Solomon, I discovered Phoebe’s site through her podcast (see having different types of content is always a great idea!). I subscribed to her Monday newsletter – one of the best I have been reading so far – and even became a member to the Club paying the quarterly membership just because I wanted access to her Wednesday newsletter. But how she managed to make me do that?

With great email marketing! She got me by giving me a piece of what I would get if I became a member and it included:

– a free digital copy of The Handbook For Women Who Do Creative Work

– The WW Club  Card, an Instagrammable members’ card offering exclusive benefits

– First-call on all events hosted by The WW Club

What Phoebe is a pro at is creating a community and bringing it from online to offline through her site. She organises events as well as workshop sessions all around the world.

To be able to do so she partnered with Nike and Topshop:

– to host events and workshops

– have a space where she can welcome The WW Club community

So how she monetises her business?

– With The WW Club membership

– The money she gets from her events

– Selling useful resources such as her books or a list of available positions for freelancers, workers and interns

I hope with these three examples you will see that there are many ways to monetise your blog. When I was doing my research for this article, a lot of the information I found was about creating things online to generate money. But, living in London, I see more and more events taking place because of the great work some women put online. That is why I mentioned The WW Club at the end. I believe this is a direction more bloggers offering more than outfits will take. Look at Garance Doré, she just did it with a retreat in Morocco with her community while Man Repeller organises meetings with their readers so don’t miss on this opportunity!