Over the following weeks, I’m going to be showcasing the blog stars and experts featured in my book, The Million Dollar Blog. First up, it’s Elsie & Emma Chapman from A Beautiful Mess.
Meet Emma & Elsie
Gorgeous sisters Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman from Missouri are the owners of A Beautiful Mess, a DIY crafts and food blog with an income over $1.5million per year.
Elsie and Emma were in debt when they launched in 2010, but now employ 5 staff and several freelancers. Their blog has around 1.5 million visitors per month.
For income, they leverage the blog to sell advertising and have worked with brands including Canon, Adobe, H&M and Valspar.
They also sell online courses such as scrapbooking and sewing to their craft audience as well as classes on blogging, photoshop and Instagram strategy.
Plus they have a range of their own stationery, books, planners, scrapbooking supplies, iPhone covers, cards, art prints and apps – their popular photo editing app has been downloaded more than 1 million times.
What to learn from Emma & Elsie
A lot of bloggers struggle to monetise their blogs, and that is because put passion over business, and often have no clear strategy. Emma and Elsie are true entrepreneurs, and strategically add a revenue stream to their blog each year. They are incredible successful, but not by accident.
They also accept that not every revenue stream comes to fruition, so they might test a few before deciding on one.
Words of wisdom
Everyone knows you can make income from advertising, but there is so much more. The branding opportunities, design opportunities, book deals, TV shows, product lines, etc. are endless. If you can dream it, it’s probably possible.
Follow Emma & Elsie
Buy the book
You can hear more from Emma & Elsie in my new book, available for preorder on Amazon now