Blogs and eCommerce how to make money from your Readership
After you've had your blog up and running for a time and gained an audience, you might be wondering, What's next? What can I do to make money from my blog?
The data shows that around one-third of bloggers employ monetization strategies. Marketing through affiliates and advertisements are two popular strategies, but you could also add an eCommerce feature to your blog. This can be even more exciting and lucrative -- especially for creative or entrepreneurially-minded people -- and can help grow your reach.
Do you blog about nutrition? What if you wrote a recipe eBook and offer online cooking lessons, or even sell memberships with exclusive benefits? It's possible to take it another step, and sell virtual consultations online or even physical items.
There's not a "one-size-fits-all" method in this case, and that's the thing that is so fascinating about it.
What bloggers can do to harness the potential of eCommerce?
A lot of businesses that sell online create blogs in order to attract visitors who are their intended market. They use it as an advertising strategy to boost the rankings of their website and build trust with those who are most likely to be customers.
So as a blogger, you've been able to overcome one of the most challenging challenges in the field of eCommerce marketing. You're a skilled writer and are attracting an audience that's grown to trust your work as well as your views. No matter if you've been blogging the past year or more the audience you've already cultivated shows interest -- which is only half the battle.
What can bloggers sell?
Here are a few suggestions to monetize your blog:
- Offer eBooks, guides, or books. It's a great way to monetize your greatest source of material! What are your most popular content? How can you incorporate them into a comprehensive tutorial? If, for instance, you're woodworker, then you can take ideas from your top ten blog posts and make "The Beginners Guide to Woodworking" featuring a wealth of new images, examples, FAQs and other information. Develop something that is valuable to those who are already awed by your posts, and they'll support you.
- Give access to online communities or forums. Your readers will have the chance to communicate with one another, ask questions and build a community around your brand. Consider this as your own social media platform -- but with more flexibility and control. If you blog about parenting toddlers, for example it is possible to create an online forum for parents who are following you. They can post ideas for summer fun and preschool lunches, benefit from the experiences of others, as well as have the opportunity to connect directly with you!
- Sell consultations or online courses. Once you've cultivated a loyal, interested group of followers, many are willing to pay for a more in-depth dive into your area of specialization. You could sell photography courses, for instance, or personal workout coaching.
How can you integrate an online store on your blog?
Ready to get started? Let's dive into how to add an eCommerce store to your blog. If your blog is using WordPress You're one step ahead!
1. Decide what to sell (and how to sell it)
We've looked at a variety of examples for monetizing your blog -- now is the time to pick the right fit for you! It will obviously, impact all of the decisions you make from here from now on.
First, consider your target audience. What would they find the most useful and what would they most likely be interested in paying for? Think about the type of media they use as well as the tools they utilize currently. It is possible contact the people on social media, or email your list with surveys for their feedback direct.
If you opt to adopt advice, establish an online group, create online classes, or provide additional digital goods then you don't need to worry about things like shipping or inventory management. But, you'll have to consider any equipment you'll require. If, for instance, you're planning to build online courses, you could combine a tool like Sensei LMS and build the courses , and offer these to your students.
If you are selling physical items, you will have to think about the method of getting them into the hands of customers. You don't always have to handle inventory and shipping by yourself. There are two great alternatives for bloggers:
2. Install
Additionally, you'll be able to build and manage your store with the same dashboard and processes that you're familiar with.
Install :
- Click on the Plugins tab - Add Newin to WordPress dashboard
- Find for ""
- Simply click Install Now - activate
3. Include items
The way you add your products is similar to how you create blog posts. This process is different according to the type of product you're selling. Below are a few examples including links to the specific directions to each:
4. Connect to a payment gateway
5. Start preparing shipping
If you're shipping physical products it is necessary to choose what you'll charge delivery and the processes that you'll employ to deliver things. Are you looking to provide free delivery or charge a fee? Do you want to send packages using USPS, FedEx, or any other service? What is the be to send each item?
6. Add extensions
Here are a just some great extensions that bloggers can use for bloggers:
These are only the choices to choose from! The marketplace for extensions has a wealth of useful tools to assist in everything from marketing and design to merchandising and taking payments.
7. Spread the word!
Once you set up your online shop, you'll need to spread the word to your audience. It's good to know that you don't have to become a salesperson to achieve this. You shouldn't even need it! Make a blog announcement of your new services and talking about how thrilled you are. Share some behind-the-scenes photos of your production. Send an announcement to your email list.
But, generally, you'll just want to offer your online store to your loyal readers and be casual about mentioning things when they naturally fit into the content. Add a link to your footer that asks for donations. Or make a post about an coming adventure, and invite for donations if people would want to get involved. Include a picture of you wearing one of your t-shirts or write a short story about an exciting person who has just joined your membership. You don't want to push sales at the cost of the things that have brought you your success to date -- your great content!
Are you ready to take new adventures and dive into the endless possibilities of eCommerce for bloggers? Start right now!