Setting up your shop via your blog

You’ve got a blog, and your blog is quite popular, if you do say so yourself. You’ve got plenty of people flocking to you every time your mailing list updates, and you’re always able to interact with likes and comments on the things you write and the images you share. All in all, you’ve got yourself a healthy following, and now you’re looking to monetize these efforts.

You can join an affiliate program, you can start doing sponsored posts, and watch your monthly income rack up and up on your blog – a lot of people in your position have even been able to quit their day job because of how well paying their blogs are! But you can also be a little more creative with these monetization efforts, and open up a little shop your followers can buy in and out of as they please.

But how do you add a retail option to your blog pages? Don’t worry, it’s not as hard a process as you might think. Here’s some tips to follow.

You’ve worked hard to make your blog a fun and interesting place, and now it’s time to take it to the next level.

Have a good product

You need something to sell, and it needs to be something that’s worth the time, money, and interest of your loyal readers. After all, if you’re selling a £30 t-shirt with nothing but a small symbol or some letters on it, the people who signup and login to see you and read all about you are going to feel cheated.

So you need a good product – one that has plenty to offer, and is innovative in its own way. Maybe it’s a clothing line, maybe it’s a stationary set, maybe it’s just some stickers you designed all by yourself because you’re an art lover at heart. Whatever it is you’re selling, ask yourself, ‘Would I buy this if I was a fan?’.

Make it easy to pay

By that, we mean your readers need to know they’re safe with you, and that they’re safe to use their credit card details whilst on your site. The people who are fans of you need to be your top priority, and you always need to keep an eye on their protection – if your blog isn’t even a secure site, that’s your first step in setting up shop!

So you’re going to need some trusty and secure eCommerce payments around, but don’t worry, there’s many ways to make sure of those. You can use a previously established third party option, you can add an SSL socket and layer to your website, or you can host your shop on an established online marketplace, such as Etsy. Providing easy links here and there for the latter option is one of the most efficient and convenient ways to boost your blog, after all.

Setting up a shop on your blog is something you’re very capable of, so make sure you’re going about the process properly. Your readers deserve it!