Using your Blog to sell a service

Do you have a service that you want to sell or pitch online? If you have a blog and you want to promote or sell a service it can be a useful alternative source of income. You can use your blog as a springboard to extend your talents into freelance consulting or coaching. When you have been blogging for any length of time and you are reasonably good at what you are doing you will get requests from people, who want some form of consultation. I have had a few requests myself from other online locations like FaceBook, but I just don’t have the time or the inclination to do it. I do have plans to publish an eBook early 2010 but it has nothing to do with blogging but has everything to do with a solid sustainable and dependable method of generating income, Later!

Having a blog always opens up many opportunities which you didn’t factor in when you started, but as you progress you realise that there are plenty of ways to expand your online activities. I am sure there are many bloggers who have written eBooks or started blog tutorials or blog design services. I know of one or two bloggers who run SEO services for other bloggers, this can be in the form of link building by submitting to directories and so on.

Using your Blog as a sales pitch

Well written individual posts can spark interest from readers that can result in enquiries for your services. These posts can act as a pre-sale message for whatever you’re good at. Whatever service you are selling always make sure to have a link or better still a form for the visitor to fill out. It’s probably a good idea to make the form or call to action stand out, so make a memorable icon or logo that catches the eye. Proof and stats always give reinforcement to your authority and make the visitor feel more at ease.

Inspiration

If you need any inspiration then just look around at some of the top bloggers, there are thousands of blogs that offer all kinds of services like building niche sites, social media consulting, link building, WordPress blog technical set up and many more. You have it in yourself to succeed and be more profitable by extending your talents. This strategy will bring you more return over the long term than any direct advertisement will do. Check out elance to see what kind of services are being offered by its members. [http://www.elance.com/]

Building Blocks for success

To do well in your venture, building trust is your number one priority, a good way to speed up the process is by using audio or video, a friendly face or voice can do wonders for your authority. As time goes by your readers will feel they are getting to know you, this will help you to develop a business relationship when needed.

Getting the message out about your service
Using your blog as the main promotional vehicle for your service is fine and dandy, so make your links and forms easy to find. You will need a dedicated enquiry page with all the correct contact details, a skype link would be ideal; you can get the code from Skype to put on your blog. This way people can leave a message or talk to you directly, just think about it as a bricks and mortar business, if you miss a call then you might be missing an opportunity.

A landing page for your service

This is a no brainer and having a dedicated landing page will increase your chances of further business. As for promoting you can start a banner exchange program or run a PPC campaign, obviously have a prominent notification on your blog. There is no end to how many ways you can raise awareness of your service, an ideal way to start is by setting up a dedicated twitter profile and posting your services around the forums.

In the end if you are successful with your service you may well pack in blogging all together; in fact there are some people who do just that.

Best Tip

Create value
in everything you do