From this blog’s conception I’ve been interested in finding ways to monetize The Style Confessions. It would be nice to create a bit of income to help offset the costs of running the site. So far no one has approached me to buy ad space and although I’ve tried my hand at a few sponsored posts they are very time-consuming and don’t really create much income. I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to come along to make some a little money from the blog, and I think I might be getting closer to my goal.
Recently I’ve read a lot about “affiliate marketing”. Here’s how it works; The fashion blogger posts photos of garments they like on their blog. These photos link to a site that sells apparel. If the reader buys a piece of clothing the blogger receives a percentage of the proceeds.
I love the idea of affiliate marketing. As most of my posts are outfit orientated I thought it would be very nice if I could offer my readers links to similar clothes they could buy themselves. Unfortunately finding an apparel-focused online store whose owners wanted to work with me wasn’t easy. So imagine my excitement when Independent Fashion Bloggers sent out an e-mail about “Lyst.com”, a social commerce site with an open affiliate program available to all fashion bloggers.
Wow! I guess someone finally realized the more bloggers you have selling for you, the more money you’re going to make. So I looked around the site, checked the fine print, and jumped on board. This is how The Style Confessions’ Lyst page looks:
But I don’t want to just add a bunch of clothes I like to my “Lyst”, I want to find pieces that are close to what I’m wearing in my outfit posts. ”How to Wear Red Jeans for the Holidays” is one of my more popular posts. Here’s a photo of my outfit.
Although the coat and clutch I was wearing that day are both vintage I did find some rather similar pieces on Lyst.com. The newer pieces were easy to find because the site sells J Brand and there were lots of red cardigans to choose from. Check out the collection by clicking on any of the images below.
I’m planning on adding a little collection like the one above to future outfit posts. What do you think of the idea? Would you take part in an affiliate marketing plan yourself? Have you ever purchased from one of these sites?
