by Desmond Menz posted in Selling Strategies
Anyone can set up a blog. They are a proven and reliable way to make money, although the
reality is it takes time, a lot of time, to build up a readership and a customer base. But that
shouldn't deter you from trying to use your blog to sell your offerings and products.
Many people - first-timers and those with little experience about an online
business - are steered towards the Wordpress platform when starting out in the
blogosphere.
I've written previously about what to be wary of with Wordpress, and I've also
suggested one of the simplest blogging platforms out there - Blogger!
Blogger is fine for starting out, and its big advantage is that it's connected to the Google
system.
It's your choice of course, but personally I didn't find Wordpress the easiest to get up and
running when I first started out online a few years ago. Because of where I live - in my rural
home office - I have to be self-reliant and learn everything by myself. And when I changed to
Mac several years ago, that's when I made the leap to Mac applications (such as you see
with this website and blog).
Anyway, it's well-known that blogs perform well in search engines. They’re also easy to add
content to, and they allow you to write about your products and to promote them, and to offer
them for sale.
If you blog often, and you’re good at what you do, you could develop a good size following of
readers who enjoy your content and what you have to offer.
Posting frequently also keeps your content fresh, and search engines hunger for fresh
content.
Don’t start a blog and then after a short while let it sit idle. You'll rapidly lose any ranking
you've built up with the search engines, and that would be a waste of your time. If you’re
going to start a blog, you need to be prepared to commit yourself to growing it by posting
regularly and keeping it updated. This is one of the hidden powers of blogging - if you run
into a period where you have little of substance to blog about, then put up a post about an
information product, a report, or an affiliate offer that you may have.
How to use your blog to sell
Here are a few ideas about how to use your blog to promote your offer
or service. By the way, always add a blog to a static website, because
you'll be able to add content much quicker than with your website.
Blogs are great for people who sell services. Let's say you're a graphics designer, an
online writer, or someone who has an ability to solve technical problems based on your
knowledge or skills.
Use your blog to keep in touch with your clients. Offer updates on your schedule and
availability. Report on your current prices and special offers, and when you’ll be releasing
new work.
Post samples of your latest work, whatever it may be. If you have a number of clients
who are subscribers, then you’ll be able to keep in contact with them to alert them to your
great offers. Remember, people tend to follow blogs more than websites.
If you're an online writer, and have now accumulated a number of well structured and
informative posts in your niche, then select a number of them and compile them in a report
that you can sell on your blog. This is one aspect of my business that I'll be trying out,
because as you can see on my blog, there are many articles that have been placed into
categories for easier transfer as content for reports and ebooks in the future.
Promote your affiliate offers by writing a comprehensive review of the product and
placing text links throughout the content. Images and banner ads can also be strategically
placed on the blog post page. One thing to be careful about is to check your affiliate links
from time to time. Go back to your posts and click on the links and make sure they still work.
OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN
Use your blog to sell as an affiliate
Let's discuss briefly about weaving your own products and affiliate offers into a blog post.
In an article Becoming an affiliate stripped bare I wrote about a simple approach to
becoming an affiliate.
There's nothing complex about it, but there is a method. And one of the critical steps is to
get backlinks.
In the article just mentioned is an example where I've not only provided content by describing
how to quickly become an affiliate, but I've also linked to my own products, linked to other
offers such as domain registration and hosting, and described and linked to an affiliate
product that I created a sales page for -
I also described two strategies about how to leverage the power of being an affiliate.
So, the article contained a story and the 'how-to' in becoming an affiliate, but importantly it
contains the opportunity to earn income. This is the way I like to present blog posts in
between writing other content rich posts.
And that is what you should have a go at.
What methods do you use to sell on your blog? Have your say.