If you’ve got a blog set up and running, it’s probably occurred to you at some point to monetize it. There are plenty of ways to do this; some of the most popular are joining affiliate programs and attracting sponsors. But another great way to make money is to start selling your own products. 

However, this can be a bit of a risky option. After all, your blog is accessed by people who are just here to read, and not necessarily to be sold to. Encouraging them to start parting with cash at the end of every post might not be received well. 

Plus, unlike becoming an affiliate, selling products comes with quite a few overhead costs too! 

As such, down below are three questions to ask yourself before meshing your blog with an ecommerce portion. 

How Engaged is Your Audience?

This is the first question to contend with. If your audience isn’t exactly a well engaged one, you’re not going to be able to convince them to buy something from you with ease. 

If you get plenty of views, but very likes or comments, you can quite safely say that your engagement rate is low. 

You can check your engagement rate via your website analytics and/or your social media insights. 

Will Your Products Be Digital Only?

Digital only products are great for bloggers. You can make money off of products that only need to be delivered to an email inbox, and that’s always going to be more cost-effective than real-life items. 

However, not every blogger is interested in taking this digital only route. If you have ideas for physical products you know your customers will enjoy, it’s OK to explore their viability. 

And if you’re not going to be digital only, and you’re planning to have some actual shippable items for sale, it’s time to think about the final point below: 

What Will Your Logistics Cost?

The expense of logistics is nothing to joke about. You should never underestimate just how costly it can be to try and ship real life products out to your audience. Depending on where they are in the world, it could cost upwards of $50-$60 to get something to them. That’s also quite the hefty price to ask one of your followers to pay!

On top of that, if someone buys blog merch, or a physical copy of an e-book you’ve published, who is going to take care of shipping it? You’ll need some kind of order fulfilment in place – unless you’re happy to take care of this issue yourself. 

Of course, this is a viable way to try and keep costs lower, but it’s not exactly convenient when you’re trying to maintain a healthy, active blog! 

So, will you be able to make money off of selling via your blog? The answer very much depends! Go into this with plenty of research.

Monetizing via products can be lucrative, but it’s not for every blogger out there. 

Thanks for reading this article. 💚

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If you have any questions or if you wanna work with me, feel free to contact me. I’m always available to help young hustlers like you @InuEtc on Instagram.

Keep hustling!