Make sure your blog is giving you a good ROI.
I don’t care about traffic and I am guessing you don’t either. Sure you could get ads for your site, but as a business, that’s likely not your primary revenue. Ads also slow down your site which may actually repel the customers you want. So instead of trying to get your blog up to 10,000 views, let’s talk about making sales from your blog. As a for-profit business, you need to make sure your energy is not wasted.
Table of Contents
Are you new around here? Let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Kara and I offer content marketing and Pinterest management services for small businesses that want to make a big impact. You can check out my services here or connect with me directly here.
Okay, now back to what I promised – how to measure the ROI of a blog post:
Ask new clients how they found you.
If you always forget to do this (like I do), can you add this to your initial inquiry form? Make sure Pinterest is an individual option and not lumped in with “social media” to make sure your blogging and Pinterest strategies are mutually paying off. You can also add something like “if you found us through a particular blog/article that you found helpful – do you mind letting us know in the ‘other’ category”.
This is one of the things you can use to measure your ROI and make sure your efforts are paying off. This also helps you prepare right from the initial inquiry. If you found me on this post (for example) and inquired about Pinterest marketing, I could already guess that your primary goal is making some more cash in your business. And that you are curious if blogging is really a way to do that (it is).
How are you tracking your leads? If the main way your customers are inquiring is through an email contact form, consider investing in a CRM. In my wedding business, for example, I use Aisle Planner. If you are looking for a CRM, I highly recommend Aisle Planner. This is an affiliate link, but it also gives you 25% off for your first three months if you decide after your trial that it is a good fit for you.
The key to making sales from your blog: Make it easy to buy.
I have been guilty of this on more than one occasion. If you want people to buy – you need to make it a very easy decision. Always remember, you almost never have their full attention. I usually choose just one thing to focus on selling in each blog post. For some industries, making it easy to buy is easier than others. I am going to break down what I mean by this below.
You also may want to check out what rookie mistakes you should avoid when setting up a blog for your business.
Blogging for a product-based business.
For a product-based business, you may get away with focusing on more than *one thing* per post. Let’s use jewelry as an example. Instead of focusing on one necklace, you could focus on one collection that you carry or everything you need to accessorize one great outfit (or for one season!). The key is to focus so you don’t confuse or overwhelm readers who are just barely giving you their attention.
And of course, links to buy each item and an easy checkout experience are a must.
I want to add a caveat here – if you are blogging for a digital product, I think you need to stick to just one. I can’t tell you how many times I have been reading a blog about marketing and the writer is suggesting too many products that might help. That is way too much! I usually can’t decide where to start, and I move on to the next thing. Definitely not the outcome you want.
Blogging for a service-based business.
This is my sweet spot. And to be honest, it’s a bit harder to make it “easy to buy” because most of the time you can’t sell your service through a PayPal button. It usually involves an inquiry form (and then maybe even a phone call or in-person meeting). Set packages online are also often easier to “sell” than custom packages – although I will leave that business decision up to you. Some industries (like marketing, for example) often need a custom option.
A lesson from my own destination wedding planning business: I know a lot of industry people will tell you to get them on the phone. Here’s what I will say about Love at First Travel: when I switched from trying to “sell” a phone consultation to simply asking them to fill out an inquiry form, my leads grew exponentially. Yes, it’s easier to “sell” on the phone. My conversion rate for a phone call was about 90% and my conversion rate over email is probably closer to 70%.
For us, the difference in the amount of inquiries has made this decision a no-brainer despite a slightly lower conversion. Inquiry forms make it easier for potential customers to reach out. Especially if they find you at 1 am from a good old-fashioned Pinterest binge.
The Best Way to Write Blog Posts for Your Business
If you want to start making sales from your blog and content, the first step is to start writing. My course Blogging for Bingeable Brands will give you the exact tools and format I use with my clients that help get their blog posts to rank higher on Google. Through this course, you will learn about growing an audience, creating engaging content, and optimizing for SEO. Oh yeah – and it’s under $50.
In addition to taking courses and learning the basics of blogging, there are also tools available that can help you write faster and more efficiently. Jasper is an AI tool I use almost every day to help me write blog posts faster (for myself and my clients!).
Making sales from your blog
I don’t want to get too much into the marketing mindset piece here, but make sure before you sit down and write that blog post, you are writing with the intention to sell your services (by helping your audience, of course). Helping is the new selling – I firmly believe that. That’s why content marketing is so effective.
By providing your audience or potential clients helpful solutions to their problems, you will find it easier and easier to make sales from every blog post.
Can we continue this conversation? Overwhelmed by the amount of marketing platforms out there and want a simple plan for balancing your fast and slow marketing strategies? If you are looking to scale your business without burnout, you can get in touch with me here for my DFY services, or enter your email below and I will send you my free guide!
PS: Need a website fast? Check out my new service: A Website in a Weekend!
