“Selling” your blog.

Do you want to use your blog to sell products or services? Perhaps you already do? Have you had much success with the products or services that you’re selling? Perhaps it could be better?

If there’s a saying that’s applicable to sales… pretty much across the board, it’s that ‘things can always be better’. There can always be more sales. There can always be more customers. There can always be more value.

Value.

Hold onto that word.

The primary error that most people make when it comes to sales is that they believe they’re selling a product or service. They’re not.

Sales is about fixing problems. Sales is about providing value. Sales is about creating a need for something that people didn’t even realize existed. Sales is not about shoving a deal down people’s throats.

Listen… when people buy cars, they’re not buying a car to have a car. They’re buying a car for transportation. They’re buying a car to save time. They’re buying a car that has room to carry all of their kids, soccer equipment, furniture and tools in one trip. They’re not buying a car because someone told them to. They’re buying a car because they need a car. They’ve determined that the car provides them value.

Does everyone need a car? No. Does everyone need what you’re selling on your blog? No. To those that do need what is being sold on your blog, what have you done to show them value? I ask not to offend, but out of genuine curiosity. Are you just leaving a link there and hoping for clicks? Are you trying to guilt people into purchasing? Are you showing them the value provided through purchasing your product and the problems that it will solve when they do?

Think of it this way: you could sell consulting services or you could provide prosperous futures. You could sell your book or you could provide a page turning cure for quarantine boredom. You could sell t-shirts or you could start new fashion trends.

Successful sales provide value beyond the good or service. This is because those selling are aware that people aren’t buying an item, they’re buying their own personal solutions. You can throw all of the discounts and special deals to the universe as possible, but if the value isn’t communicated, the message won’t register.

I love seeing bloggers succeed. I love seeing bloggers find their passions, build visions for their platforms and accomplish their desires. I love seeing bloggers selling their personal goods and services because I believe in the power of the entrepreneurial spirit. That being said, nothing pisses me off more than seeing “50% off! Today only!” on someone’s platform. 50% off of something that I don’t need is still something that I don’t need.

Instead of focusing on the deals, discounts, flashy pitches and shiny packages, ask yourself how many people need what you’re selling. Ask yourself if they know they need what you’re selling. I want you to make sales, so I want you to remember that 50% off of something they don’t need is still something they don’t need.

Can your poetry help anxiety sufferers? Can your graphic design help with Pinterest metrics? Can your book instill a sense of wonder and adventure within readers? Can your consulting help someone find their passions, financial freedom and hope for the future?

If you’re selling on your blog already, I strongly encourage you to reassess your sales tactics. Even if you’ve made sales, there’s always room for improvement. And, if you’re not selling yet but you’re considering it, I strongly encourage you to asses what values you can provide with the products or services you’re looking to sell. Quite often people aren’t even aware of the problems they have. They aren’t aware of the solutions that could be available to them because they’re so used to living with what is instead of what could be.

Show your audience what could be. Make those sales matter. It’s more than just money. It’s people. It’s passion. It’s relationships. It’s entrepreneurial spirit that knows your value and provides it through your offerings. Discounts don’t matter. Solutions do.

30 thoughts on ““Selling” your blog.”

  4. You took the words out of my head! Well written post; I hope every blogger consultant trying to make a sale reads your blog post. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how everyone and their mom is trying to sell something how overly saturated the market is. Standing out from the crowd is key, but the question is how? I think that’s where people have their work cut out for them.

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    1. There is quite an influx of people trying to use their platforms to sell things. I admire the efforts, especially in a pandemic world. But,ike you said, the market is so saturated… people really ought to be trying to stand out and showcase value rather than offering discounts or trying to guilt people into purchases

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      1. I would be lying if I said I didn’t consider trying it too. But the more I did more research and dug into the pros and cons of starting yet another business, er….project, I decided that now is not the right time. Trying to compete with everyone is just not worth it especially if I don’t have a clear direction. If a product is good, the sales will come organically. At least, that’s what I want to believe. 😅

        As for discounts, ugh…. There are some wonderful bloggers who do that, which drives me nuts. Their content is good, so why must they plaster “deals” all over the place and peddle their courses/products/services every damn day?

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  5. I absolutely loved this post. This post itself holds a lot of value to me. I always hated sales role and marketing because I feel like it’s done to fleece people and trick them into buying goods/services that they don’t need. You have explained the sales role in such an incredible manner that I won’t feel guilty to sell/market anything in future if I manage to make it worth the other person’s time/provide them value. Thanks for sharing this!! Keep up the great work.

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    1. Thank you! Marketing is kind of… my jam, I guess you could say. I like to understand people and to show them potential rather than product. Theres definitely a difference between good and bad sales/marketing. Bad sales/marketing merely exist to push units. And why would you want to give your money to that? You wouldn’t!

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  7. I feel like you should sell more stuff. Or write more poems. Though your stories occasionally do help my anxiety, which is nice.

    I also like the post. Not really into “selling my blog”, though. I’m more of a mom-and-pop outfit; small time, underwhelming, in it for the fun and maybe some apple pie (or the occasional free book). I will keep this in mind though, should I ever hit it big.

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    1. No poetry for this girl. I’m about as eloquent as… well, I’m definitely not eloquent enough for poetry. Just out of curiosity, what does help with your anxiety? Just in general… I’m trying to learn new coping mechanisms.

      Also, if you ever hit it big, I’m claiming 10%

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      1. Sounds fair. Mostly.

        For prevention, medication and exercise help, but I’m sure you know that. I also avoid the news, because it’s always depressing.

        For relief once I have it… reading, a nice quiet walk, hot cocoa (not that I can have that anymore). If all else fails, I retreat to my safe place; you know, it’s generally just somewhere you feel safe and calm. For me it’s trees and green, maybe water, w/ no one else around (I’ll send you a photo or two later as examples). That, along with the sounds of rain, or birdsong, or the wind in the trees… or music, if you can’t get any of that, helps. What do you do (other than not writing poetry)?

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    1. Not necessarily. There are seven people on my sales team at work and we have thousands of clients in more than 40 countries worldwide. And, some of the biggest businesses we know today started out with one person, in their garage, believing they had the ability to give value in the products and services they offered. I was watching a documentary about Spanx (the compression clothing to suck you in) last night when I was writing this. Spanx was started by a 27 year old woman in her own apartment because she wanted pantyhose that didn’t roll down her hips when she walked. Now it’s a multi-billion dollar company. There’s value, to women, in having products made for women that fit the curves of their body. It’s all about finding the value of what you’re selling.

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  9. V, this is a topic I have been meditating on recently. Your post couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m currently creating an online course and your post will help me to focus on the value. I have read so many of these online gurus talk about how to build an email list and sell your product. They all seem to focus on the “offer” and none talk about the value. Your wording of “selling” v “providing,” clarifies everything for me. This is going to save me a lot of time when I launch my courses. You are my new hero. 😉🐱‍🏍 Thank you.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Courses are especially important to provide value. I’ve seen a lot of courses pop up the past few months, very few of which actually speak of the course content or what outcomes can come from taking the course. Everyone seems to be so darn focused on making a course that costs less than the next guy that they lose focus on the reason why they built the course in the first place – to help. At least I hope when you’re building a course, you’re seeking to help.

      Wishing you oodles of success in the creation of your course and the subsequent promotion of said course to the masses!

      Liked by 1 person

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