How do you go about monetizing your blog? How to make the switch from selling your blog’s content to selling actual products? While running a blog can be a lot fun, it is also time consuming, so you may as well make a little extra money doing it. Start by taking a look at our list of simple steps to go from blogger to ecommerce entrepreneur.
Step 1: Have The Right Attitude
The very first thing that has to be accomplished is the assurance of the ‘right attitude’ as you go about your plans. Be optimistic, fearless, and passionate. Know why you are doing this, and remember that some things will change – which is totally okay. For starters, you must now look at your readers as your customers, which is difficult for many people making the transition.
Step 2: Use The Knowledge You Already Possess
You’ll be happy to know you already possess a goldmine of knowledge needed to make this switch. As an already established blogger, you have existing assets and networks available already, like your blog itself, social network accounts, connections formed with other bloggers, etc. Use these to the best of your advantage as you move forward in your journey.
Step 3: Become An Expert In Your Niche
Knowing your niche is incredibly important. Start out by doing some keyword research to find out what is popular, trending, or bringing the customers in. Check around the internet, and subscribe to popular blogs in your niche, or simply good business blogs, companies, etc. Finally, take a good look at your competition. What are they doing or have done that works? What mistakes have they made that you can avoid?
Step 4: Know Your Target Audience
Knowing your target audience is vital. For your purposes, this begins with your blog followers. Who are they? What do they want? How can you make them happy? You can glean useful information through surveys, checking out comments under relevant hashtags, and defining who they are statistically. Are they mostly male? Female? Equally both genders? Are they lower, middle, or upper class? Educated or manual laborers? Parents, single, young, middle aged, old? Find out who they are so you will know how best to approach them.
Step 5: Take Action
Now comes the time to put all your research into action. Devise a business strategy that includes good marketing plans, and strictly defined goals. Don’t forget to include items like your tone or company brand, schedules for social media, information on products, and a well outlined budget for reaching these goals. Don’t look too far into the future just yet, besides knowing where you hope to eventually be. For now, your startup is the main focus area.
Step 6: Promote, Promote, Promote!
All of this research, all your efforts, is nothing without promotion. Promotion and marketing is the backbone of every good business, whether a physical storefront or an online business. Marketing gets you in from of the people. Start by creating buzz prior to release, which may include offering products for review by other bloggers or consumers. Continue your efforts after launch with coupons, sales, giveaways, and learning analytics so you can refine your actual customer base.