Selling Products on a Blog

[jbrown1]

For people who use their blog to sell products, how exactly do you make it work? Do you have entries about each product discussing them, or do you blog about the general purpose/area of interest related to what you're selling, and then link to a "store" section on a different page or site? I've heard of it being done but never seen it, and it definitely interests me...can anyone point me to an existing blog that does this maybe so I could see?

[ChiefLee]

From my experience you shouldn't use your blog to sell your products. People will not return to visit blogs base solely on promoting products. Utilize your blog to promote your brand and your personality. Try to make the blog a useful experience "outside" of the purchase of your products.

[mrandrei]

I don't usually use my blog to promote products. That would be a "hard sell." I make a more subtle way of advertising like doing a short review about the product that is informative enough.

[MktgRob]

Depending on the product, your blog entries can severely hurt your sales efforts (all sales, all the time is very boring to the reader) or it can be a great benefit. One has to have a deft touch when using the blog to support their product sales. One example of this is a Microsoft Dynamics GP solution provider that I am familiar with in Connecticut. They were trying to sell a solution to a prospect and the solution required a complimentary product sold by one of the solution providers strategic partners. The prospect was introduced to the president of the strategic partner company and while they were impressed they still were on the fence about the pending deal. After the meeting they did a search on the web for info about the strategic partner and its president. They came upon the blog of the strategic partner's president where one of his postings talked in depth about how his company approaches working in the vertical market the prospect was in (they had previous experience in the vertical and had become comfortable working within the vertical). The prospect was so impressed by the blog entry they moved forward with the deal within days of reading the blog.

[p128sniper]

I am looking for somene that can maybe send me a link or show me a blog that is completely dedicated to promoting online products for money. Im trying to create a blog like that but its really hard to find an example of one. Its called affiliate marketing . My email is [e-mail] thnks.

[MktgRob]

I am looking for somene that can maybe send me a link or show me a blog that is completely dedicated to promoting online products for money. Im trying to create a blog like that but its really hard to find an example of one. Its called affiliate marketing . My email is [e-mail] thnks.

The easiest way for you to find the types of blogs you are looking for is to do a search in WordPress or Blogger for a specific product name. One of my clients sells Microsoft Dynamics GP and we are setting up their blogs in WordPress as there are over 200 blogs in WP about Dynamics GP.

But to reiterate what I and others have said in our previous posts. Using blogs to promote products is not the type of content blog readers are looking for in general. They are looking for advice and inside information about how to do something with the blogger acting as an expert in a specific area. If you want to create a blog to promote a product, have one or more people in the company write a blog where they give advice about addressing areas that the product can be used for.

As an example, an author of books about cooking would set up a blog where they talk about seasonal ingredients and their possible uses. In the blog they would offer a sample recipe. Somewhere on the blog page or at the end of each posting they would make a reference to the fact that they are the author or cookbooks and that the books are available on Amazon or can be bought from their website. Perhaps the blog is part of the website where they sell the books. One author who comes to mind for this example is Lidia Bastianich. She has a blog about Italian cooking where she talks about seasonal ingredient and their uses. She also has the head chefs at her various restaurants post on the blog also. Her blog is part of her overall website that promotes her cookbooks, her wine and her restaurants.

[bobchrist]

I think most of them use affiliate links in their post, a common practice is writing good review about a products and use link in anchor text.

[DansMuayThaiMMA]

I placed a store on my blog which is essentially several different pages of html code. It is set up through an affiliate, so if someone clicks on an image, it takes them to that vendors website to purchase the product(s). I end up getting anywhere from 10-20% depending on the affiliate account. I also get commission for any purchases that individual makes from the vendor within a specific time frame usually 30-60 days.

Having the affiliate account alone simply isn't enough. I find that my readers have responded to a section called product spotlight, where I write up reviews on the various products that I own, or have trained with.

You can also simply do banner ad based affiliate accounts, where you place banners on your site and get commission for that.

Some good affiliate sites for you to check out are www.cj.com (comission junction) or www.shareasale.com

hope that info helps.

Good luck.