Want to Monetize Your Blog? Sell Stuff.

People often forget that the easiest way to make money—whether it's online or offline—is selling stuff. And I don't mean advertisements. I mean real stuff.

Many a blogger has contemplated selling an actual product online -but ultimately decided not to. Inventory, shipping, customer service, credit card processing... it sounds like such a nightmare.

But thankfully, it can be far easier than many bloggers think. In fact, anyone with a blog can get started in few simple steps.

• Identify a product. (More on that below.)
• Register for a PayPal Business account here if you plan on directly selling a physical or electronic product. It literally takes no more than 5 minutes.
• Register as an Amazon Associate here if you want to sell someone else's product. If you already have an Amazon account, signing up is even faster than PayPal.
• Add a PayPal "Buy Now" button to your blog by following these directions.
• Add an Amazon Associates product link to your blog.

Identifying a Product

Yes, it’s true— there’s already an overwhelming mountain of products available online. But don't fall into the paralysis-by-analysis trap. If you have a blog that people read, then you have something most retailers would kill for—your readers' trust. As long as you sell or recommend quality products that are relevant to your readers, then you'll be fine. The worst that can happen is no one buys anything, which means you're no worse off than before.

If you know you want to sell something but you’re not sure what, here are a few quick ideas to get the gears churning:

• Identify books and/or e-books available on Amazon that might appeal to your readers. Or write your own! You are a blogger after all.
• Design a funny or creative t-shirt (or coffee mug, bumper sticker, etc.) relevant to your niche. Or find one that already exists. Sites like cafepress.com, zazzle.com, and 3dcart.com are a great resource.
• Review products relevant to your niche available on Amazon and include a call to action with your Amazon Associates link.
• Scour all of the other popular blogs in your niche and find out what they're selling. Remember, if an idea sounds good, someone's probably already had it.

Placing Your Product

One of the most common mistakes bloggers make is adding a "Shop" page to their blog and sticking all of their product and affiliate links there. There's nothing wrong with a shopping page, but if that's all the product placement you do, then you've really hamstrung your sales potential.

Besides a shopping tab, here are five more places where you should include "Buy Now" or affiliate links:

• Anywhere you mention a product available on Amazon. Whether it's a book, a cough drop, or a video camera, link to it on Amazon. If one of your readers clicks it and then buys something—even if it's an entirely different product—you get paid.
• Product review posts. Readers love reviews, so don't shy away from them. Include a picture at the top (with an Amazon Associates link) and a call to action at the end (with another link).
• A "Random Product" or "Best Sellers" widget. Position it prominently above the fold in your blog's sidebar or slider. Make sure you include a pretty photo of every product.
• "Top 10" or "Best of" posts. If you're in the health foods niche, your readers want to know what to eat. If you're in the backpacking niche, your readers want to know the best sleeping bags. Give 'em what they want.
• An "About You" section at the end of every post that describes you (with appropriate purchasing links) as the author of X, designer of Y, and/or creator of Z.

Don’t Give Up

It’s the rare bird that succeeds the first time it tries to fly. Don’t expect instant success on your first try. Every blogger I know who’s making a good living now spent at least months experimenting with different products and sales strategies. As long as you don’t give up and keep trying new things, you’ll eventually find something that people want to buy.