Do you have a blog you want to monetize? You’ve thought about putting ads on your site or creating digital downloads. But, have you considered physical goods?
It’s time to think outside the digital product box. Selling physical products online can turn your blog visitors into paying customers.
Starting and growing a blog is a long-term venture. To earn a living with your blog you need a plan. Let’s dig in to see if product blogging and selling physical products can work for you.
Selling Physical Products
bloggers spend most of their time online. It’s natural to consider selling digital products. But, don’t stop there.
Consider physical books, artwork, and clothing. Sell any physical product you want. The only restriction is your imagination.
Creating a product and manufacturing it can be hard. The idea of packing, shipping, and inventory is overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be difficult.
People love physical products they can buy online and get delivered to their door. Thanks to technology, you can make a profit promoting and selling products on your blog.
Physical products have a higher perceived value than digital products. The value determines the amount a consumer pays. For example, people pay more for a physical book than a digital one.
It’s easier to blog about a physical product because you can show it in action. Give a demonstration. Show how it works, what it does, how the customer benefits.
Use physical products as a natural extension of your brand. Use physical goods to complement your digital products. If you offer an online course or ebook, create another product viewers can use with it. Reviews like on this website can promote products related to health issues when blogging.
Do you teach people how to run a marathon? Create a planner for tracking workouts. Are you a life coach? Sell mugs or shirts with motivational prompts. Make a notebook that gives users productivity tips.
A real product adds a tangible, personal touch to an online class or digital download. It builds a sense of community for your business.
Whatever product you sell, make sure it’s related to your business. It should remind people about you and your business. Make it useful so your customers use it often.
How to Sell Products on Your Blog
Thanks to eCommerce platforms like Etsy and shopify you can open an online store in minutes. But before you start selling something, consider how you’ll manufacture it.
Will you make your product, outsource it? Do you plan to sell something another company produces? Or are you reselling treasures you find at yard sales or thrift stores?
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when you sell another company’s products on your website. The retailer pays a commission for sales resulting from your referrals.
The beauty of affiliate marketing is you don’t have any upfront expenses. Your job is to connect the customer to the seller. The seller fulfills the order and handles customer service.
You work as much as you like from your own home. The time and effort you put in determine how much money you make.
Affiliate marketing commissions can range from 1% to 50%. It depends on the niche and the product price point. You’ll never make 100% of the profit.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another way you can sell products on your website. It’s a retail fulfillment method that doesn’t need to keep products in stock on site.
You sell items from a third party company that ships it to your customer. You connect consumers to products without handling the merchandise. There are no inventory and warehousing expenses.
Product research is the most important aspect of a dropshipping model. You must choose a niche so your store is unique and stands out from other sellers.
Whatever you sell, make sure you understand manufacturing and scaling options. Is your supplier reliable? Are your products genuine?
If you order merchandise from another country, factor in shipping time. Think about keeping a small inventory on hand so you can offer faster shipping for a premium price.
Once you find the right product, create a message that’s clear and concise. Stay focused on your specific audience.
Dropshipping is a realistic startup option for small business owners.
Your Products
When you sell your products you get 100% of the profits, but you also get more of the workload.
You’re responsible for storing the products you find or create. You buy raw materials. You ship the products.
Another important decision is choosing the right eCommerce platform. Pick a platform based on the type of product you’re selling.
You can put a store on your existing website, or build one on a separate platform like Etsy or eBay. You can sell on Social Media or amazon.
Etsy is a marketplace for artists and crafters. It’s a good fit for selling handmade products, crafting supplies, and vintage goods.
Accounts are free, but you pay a listing fee and a percentage of each sale. The platform is well-known and active, offering traffic to new entrepreneurs.
There are many places to sell handmade products online. Research the different sites to find one that matches your wants and needs.
Consider these points before selecting a platform:
- Does the platform help with search engine optimization?
- Does the platform attract your target audience?
- Is it user-friendly for both buyers and sellers?
- Are all major credit cards and payment services accepted?
- Is it a secure site where customers feel safe?
- Is there a monthly fee and/or a per sale charge?
- Does the platform help with returns and exchanges?
- Does your storefront look the way you want? Can you customize it?
Research before you commit to a platform to make sure it’s best for your products.
Shipping Your Product
You’re responsible for shipping and customer service when it’s your product. You have two choices: package and ship the product yourself or use a fulfillment center.
Most bloggers pack and ship in-house when starting a business. It’s cheap and manageable until sales grow too large to handle alone.
When you need more room for inventory, consider a third-party fulfillment center. The fulfillment center offers storage, inventory management, and shipping.
Moving your product from your garage to a fulfillment center is a big step. But there are benefits for a growing company.
You don’t have to rent warehouse space or hire staff as your business grows. An efficient center can reduce packaging and shipping costs.
Customers get their merchandise fast. You get more time to focus on other parts of your business.
Each center functions in its unique way. Try to find one that specializes in businesses like yours.
Promoting and Selling Products
Thanks to the internet everyone can send a message around the world. Setting up an online store is easy. Selling your product takes work.
Social Media
Social media networks began as a way to connect people. It’s a place where friends, family, and strangers can talk and share common interests.
Social networks grew into an essential marketing tool for businesses. Consumers expect companies to have websites and social channels. Many businesses use social channels for customer service conversations.
Social channels like facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter offer advertising and shopping features. A consumer can learn about your product, see photos, and click a button to buy it.
You can incorporate a shop on your Facebook page, or use it as a sales tool to send visitors to your website. Engage and interact with customers by posting photos, videos, and links to your blog.
Encourage people to visit your blog for info on the product and related topics.
Product Blogging
Spend some time learning about search engine optimization techniques to increase blog traffic.
Think about the words people use when searching for your products. Include those words in your blogs to help search engines and buyers find you.
Blogging gives you more space to explain your product. You can:
- Show a product with words, photos, and video
- Write in-depth about features and benefits
- Show how the product solves a problem
- Create tutorials
- Include customer testimonials and photos
- Describe improvements and new versions
- Ask customers to write a product review
Choosing a specific niche makes it easy to write blogs. Use your blog to discuss your product and every related topic.
Add new blog content often so search engines rank your site higher in the results.
Create an Affiliate Marketing Program
Remember the affiliate marketing option mentioned above? You can start an affiliate program.
Create an affiliate program for other bloggers in your field. Give them links they can use to drive traffic to your online store. Offer them a commission on every sale.
It’s an inexpensive way to create a sales team to promote your product.
Are You Ready to Sell Products on Your Blog?
People like physical products. They want to see, feel, and own things. You earn consumer trust when you deliver your product as promised.
Are you ready to create a storefront and start product blogging? By now, you should have lots of ideas about selling physical products online.
Be sure to read this article to learn more ways to make money from your blog.
Recent Posts
Many consumers have divided or negative feelings about marketing practices. Unsustainable marketing breeds distrust—whether it’s the false promise of greater value or convincing customers to buy...
The most significant investment to think about is web hosting to get more traffic and higher performance and run your website successfully after you build it. So it's essential to select the best...