Should you start selling from your blog?

Are you looking for ways to make money blogging?

You’re probably asking yourself if you should you start selling from your blog

Maybe you want to write a book or create your own digital course and want to build an audience before starting selling it?

I bet if you are new to blogging you are asking yourself these questions( and more).

A little while back, one of my marketing mentors said: “If you want to be good at selling, start by selling other people’s products and services.” And then someone in the audience responded: “But what do you do if you’ve got no experience at selling or even worse, if you think that selling is a swear word”.

That reaction made me think about selling and how people perceive it and how they are so afraid of doing it.

Believe it or not, you sell on a daily basis! Yes every single day!

Whether you’re organising a night out with your friends or experimenting with a new dish, you will be using selling tactics without even knowing it.

You will have to convince your friends that this new French restaurant in town is really authentic which means that they’ll get a true French gastronomic experience without having to travel to Paris or that the double chocolate vegan cake you just baked is really low in calories which means they can have a slice even if they are very health conscious!

You see by giving the actual benefits of what you are offering, you are using one of the best selling techniques. It wasn’t that hard after all. Was it?

So selling from your blog shouldn’t be a problem either.

Let’s go back to my mentor’s advice: ‘Start selling other people’s services first and master it.’

It could be anything from a email marketing platform, to a digital course you took to an online conference or even a group coaching program.

It goes in 2 stages:

1 – Choose the right services/products that you will promote

a – They have to be in line with your blog and with the kind of information that you are presenting on your blog. They have to help your readers in the journey you are taking them to, satisfy one or more of their needs or bring a solution to one of their problems.

b – You need to know the products well and like them. It may sound obvious but there is no easier way to sell from your blog than if you are convinced that it is what your readers need and you know the product/service well. Often online course and coaching programs offer you the opportunity to recommend them after you’ve gone through the program.

c – You need to know the features and benefits of each of the products that you’ll be recommending, as often people are sold on the benefits rather than the features of a product or service.
So how do you identify benefits?
Well let’s say that when you give an argument always think “So what?” and the answer to that question will be the benefit. So in my chocolate cake example above, the feature is: it has less than 150 calories per slice. “So what?” well you can have a slice even if you are on a diet … and that is the benefit.

2 – Recommend/promote these products/services on your blog

Now that you have chosen and carefully selected your products or services, you will need to promote them on your blog. Just posting a link (an affiliate link of course) will not be sufficient. So let me give 4 selling tips that you will be able to apply to your business blog to increase your revenues from the products that you will be selling from your blog.

You will want to write posts that contain one of more of these elements:

–          Testimonials: You’ve used that product and liked it, talk about it. Share your experience and add a quick video or some photos/screen shots to illustrate your point. Interview other happy customers and ask them why they like the product or service and how it helped them.
Example of post : “Learn how Laura a photograph blogger overcame writers’ block thanks to this storytelling course”

–          Demonstrations: Do a video demonstration of the product and show how easy it is to use or how fast you will get the expected results, etc.
Example of post: “2 min video that shows you how to create your own ebook cover in less than 10 minutes on Canva”

–          Reviews: Write an honest review of the products with its pros and cons. Who it is aimed at? etc. Add links and give it a rating. These work best in product comparison posts.
Examples of posts: 5 best travel blog templates / 3 e-courses to help you build a blog / Top 5 motivational books

–          Promotion: Write a marketing piece with catchy title and a well-written description of the product or service. Add photos and tables. Make it look professional and include an irresistible offer at the end to call for an immediate action from your readers.
Example of call for action: Get a bonus 30min training session with me after buying this e-course  / Get my Social Media Checklist if you sign up to XXX /

So whatever the subject of your blog, you should certainly start monetizing your blog offering other people’s products and services that are relevant to your audience. This way you will able to offer a varied selection of  products and services and get commissions on the sales coming directly from your blog ( it is also know as affiliate marketing).

If you follow the two steps described above and use one of more of the selling techniques, you will see an increase in your affiliate revenues in no time.

Then, what’s next?

However, as my coach said, once you will be an experienced seller of these types of digital products and services, you will want to concentrate on creating and selling your own digital and physical products. You will have some many options to choose from – from creating Ebooks, online courses,  coaching programs,  paid training to even sell physical products such as branded journals and other merchandising items – if you’re short for ideas, check out these.

This is where most bloggers are getting their revenues from. This way, instead of only getting a commision on every sale, you’ll have more control on your revenues and associated costs (taxes, fees and commisions).

But first thing first, master the art of selling other people’s products on your blog!

Are you currently selling from your blog? Are you afraid to do it? Get in touch and I can give you more personalized information to get you started.  Book me for a 60-min laser focused call and let’s get you going with a blog that is attracting your dream clients and selling your services as they read your content, without being salesy.