This is one of those classic ‘You can learn from me being a dumbass’ posts.
I launched this site/blog almost a year ago because I wanted to get serious about marketing my business and services. Also, I wanted to use this site as well as all of my social media interactions to make people aware of who I am, and what I do.
And for the most part, it’s been very successful. Referrals and simple contacts from potential clients come in regularly now, where a year or so ago, they were infrequent at times. As part of this, I’ve learned to do a better job of promoting myself, there’s now information about who I am and what I do, and even a price stuck here and there. I’ll admit that I was once in the ‘it’s a sin to promote yourself via social media’ camp, but luckily, I got past that.
Still, one of the things that’s been nagging me for months is that I really don’t have a good handle on how much business this blog is DIRECTLY bringing me. So I’m left to wonder how much business it is INdirectly helping me get. I know it is, as are my efforts on Twitter and other places, but I don’t know how MUCH.
Then, as if God decided to take pity on me and reach down and slap me upside the head, I realized something. I have no products available for sale DIRECTLY on this site. You can email me from here, you can fill out a contact form, hell you can even call me from here. But if you come here and are ready to buy something RIGHT NOW, you can’t. The best you can do is contact me about my services, then we can go from there. But I don’t have any set products at set prices that you can purchase HERE.
So then I started thinking if there were any of my services that I could let customers buy directly from the blog. I thought of a couple, and then I started thinking about other types of products in other forms that I could sell here. Then the wheels really started turning, and I started thinking about once I create a few products, then I could have giveaways involving the products, maybe start awarding a ‘Commenter of the Week’, or a ‘Reader of the Month’, or who knows.
But this all started because I realized that I was asking my blog to solve a problem (generate sales directly), without giving it the ability to do so. So that’s my plan for the next couple of weeks, to investigate ways that I can start selling products directly from this blog.
If you are already selling products directly from your blog, I’d love to hear about how it’s going for you. Please leave a comment with your story, and please link to your blog so we can check it out for ourselves!
Mack, this is a great article. I like your thinking here.
Thank you Melissa, I didn’t recognize you when you commented on The Viral Garden 😉
Hi Mack,
This is a great subject. It’s common for many of us to come across a blog that is completely drowning in ads and affiliate marketing links etc. then there are some that don’t really have anything. I do have items for purchase on my site, with one of the most popular being an e-book entitled “TweetsIn10” which is something that people can use at I offer it at a realistic price. It’s all in the way you market your blog and your product, not forgetting how you present it on your website. I like that you blogged about your thinking process and I look forward to see the changes you have in store for us, the readers!
.-= Heather Villa´s last blog ..“What Should I Do?” – Promotion =-.
Hi Mack,
There was a good blog post on this topic about a week ago on ProBlogger’s site. The guest blogger pointed out that having a Product is the key to generating revenue from a blog. Sounds obvious but there’s a lot of real and imagined pressure to just post great content and hope that something happens without doing any direct or indirect selling.
I don’t have any ads on my blog but I have created an online blogging class. I’ve had a few close friends take the class but I haven’t been promoting it aggressively. You asked us to leave a link so here’s the blogging class info page: http://www.jpluna.com/wordpress/online-blogging-class/. The course is geared towards beginning bloggers.
Looking forward to seeing you develop some cool products. Let me know if I can help in any way.
~Jesse
Mack,
We also have a site that doesn’t “Sell Services” So we are going to make a change and add those to our site soon.. It is hard to sell services when most times they are customized to fit the client. We have found that there are some items that really don’t change in scope or price. Thanks for the blog and confirming what we were thinking.
Kim you’re exactly right, on many of my services they are customized to the client’s needs, so it’s all but impossible to offer one prize because the service will be slightly different for each client.
Maybe a good way to approach it is to offer something small and ‘bite size’ that the client can take that will help them, and also gives you a way to connect with the client and hopefully that leads to bigger projects down the road?
.-= Mack Collier´s last blog ..Don’t blame the blog if you are the idiot =-.
I am a physician/dermatologist blogger with a web site selling the collection of skin care products I’ve found most effective after 20+ years helping a ton of folks with problem skin. That site had no hope of competing with the mega skin care sites-so I started a blog at my SEO consultants prodding (Matt McGee). At first I didn’t know how I would find the time to make Matt’s 2 post a week mandate. Turns out I love blogging about skin care, a topic I love, and with links to my product site my sales jumped. Thus, the blog and the sales site work in tandem. I get the fun of sharing my dermatologic health and skin care information, advice, opinions-without a web designer as intermediary-I link to the site when appropriate-and presto, more sales.
Cynthia Bailey MD
http://www.otbskincare.com/blog/
Cynthia, Matt is a super-smartie, so I know you are getting great advice 😉
I loved this post on your blog – http://www.otbskincare.com/blog/sunburns-a-debt-you-can-never-repay/1326/
Great example of creating content that has valuable information for the reader, but that also serves as a vehicle to promote one of your products. Perfect!
.-= Mack Collier´s last blog ..Don’t blame the blog if you are the idiot =-.
Mack, I really appreciate your comments on my content. Writing for non-patients is new for me. I’m so used to doing the education in the exam room one-on-one and it’s great to see know my content is useful without the individual aspect of the physical exam and conversation to clarify things. Thanks!
Hey Mack, it’s like you’ve been reading my mind. I’m in pretty much the same boat you are, and have been trying to think of ways of generating revenue and getting more direct involvement in my blog and site, without “cheapening” the site. I don’t want ads, and I think Google AdSense trashes up a site and is usually irrelevant. Very curious to see what you come up with as I think through these same things!
.-= Ken Mueller´s last blog ..Others First: When Community Trumps Competition =-.