What I Learned from Writing Blog Madness: Content vs. Commerce
May 14, 2008 by J.C. Hewitt
A lot of sites have something they want to sell you. They may simply run a lot of outside ads, or they may be pushing services such as writing, editing, consulting or design. When I was running Writing Blog Madness, I tried not to penalize blogs that had something to sell, but in many cases the sales pitch did hurt them in the competition. Articles that would otherwise be helpful seemed less valuable because the sales pitch was too strong or the blog’s design would be less attractive because it was weighed down by ads.
I don’t fault anyone for using their blog to make money or promote themselves. I like money too, and I get a fair share from PoeWar. I just think that, with competing sites only a click away, you have to be very careful about how you promote your message because you are competing with plenty of other blogs that are either unconcerned about money or found a better way to promote themselves than you did.
Is Your Sales Pitch Hurting Your Sales?
If you have a strong sales pitch, especially one that you work into your articles, you need to examine it closely. How many sales/queries are you actually getting? If you work a sales pitch into every blog entry and you haven’t made a sale in months, then the strategy isn’t working. If you have a dozen ads and only a hundred daily readers, you need to think about how many people leave your site because your articles are just part of the clutter. You also need to think about how many potential regular readers/customers you have lost because your content took a back seat to your sales pitch.
How to Know When to Turn Down Your Sales Pitch
The tips below are mostly based on numbers and statistics. Statistical tracking is a key to any advertising campaign. If you are trying to make money from a web site and you aren’t tracking your statistics, you need to start. Try Google Analytics, they monitor everything I’m about to discuss and plenty more.
- If your readership is under 500 people a day, you should probably work on expanding that before you hit the readers with the hard sell. You need an audience before you can sell to an audience.
- If your readership hasn’t grown in three months or more, you should keep a close eye on your sales pitch. It may be driving readers away.
- If the average number of pages readers view per visit is under 1.5, you are almost certainly driving people away. When readers like your site, they tend to explore, looking for more articles to read and checking out that all important “About Me” page. If your site is loaded down with ads or your articles come on too strong, chances are they’ll look at one article and then move on to another site.
- If you aren’t getting comments on your articles, it may be because of the sales pitch. People tend to comment when they feel their opinion has value and the article leaves them with something to say. If they feel like they are reading a sales brochure, they aren’t going to add to the conversation because there is no conversation to add to.
- If you aren’t getting many links from other blogs or web sites, then the chances are pretty good that they aren’t finding value in your articles or they see through your sales pitch. Bloggers like to feel as if they are part of a community. A heavy sales pitch can take you right out of that community.
Four Quick Fixes
There are four quick steps that can help you get your sales pitch down from a shout to a whisper.
- Be upfront and brief. Say very clearly what you offer and then move on.
- Do not work a pitch for your services into an informational article. Let the article stand on its merits. If you feel you need to discuss your services in a blog entry, save it for a separate entry and keep it down to once a week or once every five posts or more. Put the content up front.
- Pick one spot per on your page to promote your services. It can be a prominent spot. People understand and accept the need for advertising. Just keep it to one spot and say what you have to say. The people who are interested will look.
- Take out any poorly performing advertising. If your page is filled with ads, chances are only a few of them (if any) are actually making you money. Get rid of the ones that aren’t selling. They are just clutter.
Good advice, and thanks for sharing more of your learning.
Joanna
Joanna Youngs last blog post..Powerful Writing In 30 Words Or Less: Part IV
Thank you Joanna. Your site is one of the better ones when it comes to promoting your services through your articles, which is why your blog performed so well in the Madness.
You have excellent advice here, John, and you have a great perspective and experience with blog critiques, having just come off your fabulous writing blog madness.
I beg to differ about your advice to blogs with under 500 readers, however. A niche blog only needs a small audience of fans to make a nice living. Subscribers tend to be fans, and more ready to buy than drive-bys. It depends on the niche, the blog author, the product or services, etc. And, one doesn’t have to use a hard sell, ever.
We work with many bloggers in different fields with smaller subscriberships who are making very nice money through the indirect marketing power of their blogs. That is, not through ads, but through promoting their info products, teleseminars, ebooks, other books, etc. in their posts.
We promote our blog classes through our posts, and always include a few tips along with it, and a reminder if they want to learn more we’re offering a class, etc.
Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squads last blog post..Anatomy of a Blog Post: A Writing Checklist
Patsi,
You make a good point regarding niche blogs.
To be clear, I was talking about a site getting 500 unique visitors a day, not a site with 500 subscribed readers. I would say that once you reach 200 subscribed readers, most blogs can feel comfortable adding more promotion. A niche blog might need less, but I would still strive for a significant number before pushing promotion. Thank you for pointing that out.
@ Patsi – I’m curious about your comment. It sounds like you’re saying that small niche blogs should stay small. I may be misinterpreting the comment, but I think that most online entrepreneurs are in this for growth – and whatever it takes to get there should be methods to strive to apply.
No?
James -Men with Penss last blog post..Website Content: Giving the Grand Tour
I do believe that, with hundreds of millions of people on the Internet, even a specialty niche can find a reasonable audience if it positions itself well. For example, I always thought that white papers were a tiny writing specialty, but Michael Stelzner’s blog has a substantial audience. Clearly you can find readers if you provide quality content and market yourself well.
It’s hard to know where that sweet spot is, in terms of readers that can be converted to sales. Patsi is right in that some niches tend to just sort of let the money flow while others are pretty tight. @MenwithPens won’t like this, necessarily, but I think Seth Godin is right – 1,000 true fans is really all you need.
Now, James is also right: if you can get 10,000 true fans, you ought to.
Bob Younce at WJs last blog post..The Violent Truth of Opportunity
The more the merrier, I say. I don’t think anybody in their right minds sets a goal to stay small. I even hate the term ’small business’ for that reason! (subconscious programming?)
Not really a numbers person myself so I strive for quality of posts and focus more on that. But I do not hesitate to let everyone know that we’re offering a teleseminar, for example, next week on better business blog writing and I think all blogs – business blogs that is, owe it to their readers to communicate offers for products and services.
Come on, most blog readers know you’re in business, so why hide that fact on your blog? People expect you to tell them how they can hire you or buy something from you. And if you don’t spell it out for them, they just read your great info, say, “gee this is great info,” and move on.
John, actually there are 1 billion people online by now… I just want a few of them – a few thousand actually…
Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squads last blog post..Anatomy of a Blog Post: A Writing Checklist
John:
Excellent food for thought in this post, but I respecfully disagree with the premise. I’ve been writing, promoting and selling my ebooks online since 2004 and as Patsi noted, with a billion people online now, you have to constantly remind people, “Hey, I’ll give you great content, and here’s MORE in the form of my ebook if you’re really interested.” Otherwise, as she says, they tend to move on.
I think people are accustomed to getting great info for free on the net. And, if you don’t constantly remind them that they can get what they want from you when they’re ready to buy, the’ll easily log on and find it someplace else.
It’s a fine line, as you say in so many words. I think the balance is found in providing great content consistently. As long as readers feel that your content is useful to them, they don’t mind being sold to (softly) on a consistent basis.
For me, that means working in a mention of my products in every post — whether it’s in the form of my signature, a P.S., or a two-liner in the middle of the post. It’s worked wonders for me.
Luckily for me, I’ve been able to build a solid rep, so my subscribers trust me — and many want to know how to get to where I am (like I want to know how to get where so many other successful freelancers are).
Always my number one piece of advice is you have to market — consistently and unashamedly. Why so many writers feel subconscious doing this is beyond me. Maybe that’s why “freelance writing” is synonymous with “poor” in the minds of many.
I do agree with what you said about too many ads though. I think the best thing to promote are your own products. Affiliate products should be kept to a minimum.
Again, as always, lots of food for thought in this post.
Are you getting ready for your month off? Ddid I mention how jealous I am?!
Yuwanda
Yuwandas last blog post..How I Boosted My Search Engine Results by 1,000 in 72 hours
Advice to Self: Never write a thing before you finish your first cup of coffee!!
John this sentence, “Why so many writers feel subconscious doing this is beyond me.”"
SHOULD have read “Why so many writers feel SELFconscious doing this is beyond me.”
I’ve had my 10 wet noodle licks!
Yuwanda
Yuwandas last blog post..How I Boosted My Search Engine Results by 1,000 in 72 hours
@ Yuwanda
I would never expect you to change something that is working well for you. If your system makes you the money you want to make, then there is no reason to make a change to it. I often wish I had services to sell, but I have a full time job, and the blog is my part-time addition. I just don’t have the personal bandwidth to sell services.
@ Patsi,
Thats where the rub comes in. The Internet is a long-term investment. Half of my traffic goes to articles that are over two years old. If they were weighted down with a sales pitch, I doubt they would stick in the long term, but because they are pure information, people keep coming back.
John, as prolific a writer as you are, I’m sure you have many services to sell. I understand the FT job thing though. It cuts down on what you can do.
If you ever decide to make the leap to FT freelancing, I’m sure you could do quite well selling your services — and your products. You have such a loyal, built-in audience, and that’s half the battle.
Best,
Yuwanda
P.S.: Did I mention how jealous I am of your month off? It’s been years since I took that much time off at one stretch. That’s one reason I press so hard now. Trying to get more passive income so I can do just what you’re doing (hmmm, a full time job sounds pretty good right now.) Naaahhhhhh!
@ Yuwanda,
I have considered full-time freelancing, but I actually make a very good living writing in the corporate world so it would be no easy task to replicate the income and there would be a lot more headaches involved in dealing with lots of crazy clients rather than one crazy corporation. I also love my co-workers and would miss the interaction. Now, if I can ever make a full income off the blogs alone, I would jump in a second, but I still have a ways to go there.
@ Bob
I think that 1000 subscribers is an excellent marker of initial success. My problem (and its actually a pleasant one) at PoeWar is that the site is seen more as a reference/resource than as a blog, even though it is a blog. My big success comes from old articles that just keep drawing readers. The hunt for subscribers is actually a relatively new wrinkle in my quest for success.
John:
I disagree, you could easily replicate your income by getting a few good clients. With things like white papers in constant need — and I know writers who make six figures way beyond the 100K mark doing this with relatively few clients — you’ll be turning down work if you market yourself correct.ly
And, not for nothing, I think freelancing is more stable b/c clients tend to be more loyal than a job. And, if a few disappear, then at least your whole income doesn’t disapper with them. Anyway, that’s just my take. I’m afraid I’ve been an entrepreneur for so long that the idea of job stability is a foreign concept to me.
But, you’re right about wacky clients. I have a couple right now that some days drive me to want a drink before lunch. But, like everything in lfe, it’s a tradeoff.
Yuwanda
Yuwandas last blog post..How I Boosted My Search Engine Results by 1,000 in 72 hours
@ Yuwanda
I understand your point. This white paper thing has been blowing my mind lately. I swear I knew nothing about there being a huge white paper market until I stumbled upon Michael’s blog last year. My interest has been whetted. I’m not sure it is enough to get me to leave the comfort of my high-paying low-stress job just yet though.
Just know that if you are every ready John, from what I see here on your site, you’ll be successful beyond your wildest dreams — and wonder what took you so long to make the leap.
But in the meantime, “High-paying low-stress” — some things you just can’t put a price on.
FYI, don’t think I’ve said it to you, but I love your new layout; I’m partial to white backgrounds (my eyesight sucks!).
Yuwanda
Yuwandas last blog post..How I Boosted My Search Engine Results by 1,000 in 72 hours
@ Yuwanda
I don’t intent to work for someone else forever. My aspiration though, has been to make it as a blogger, writing pretty much whatever I feel like writing on a given day without a client making demands. Is that a far-fetched dream? Maybe, but I like to dream big.
[...] following comment from John’s article got me to thinking, “Bloggers like to feel as if they are part of a community. A heavy sales [...]
Hey if you can’t go big in your dreams, where can you aspire to greatness? And, no, I don’t think it’s far fetched at all, as Poewar.com proves.
Good luck going for it.
Now I must finish that crazy client’s project I’ve been procrastinating on all day!
Yuwanda
Yuwandas last blog post..Thinking about writing and selling an ebook? Don’t make this critical mistake