Create a product for your blog

It’s important to create a product for your blog.

This is how you build an audience, an email list and therefore a business.

But I know, most bloggers think “hey, I can’t create a product. That’s only for the big guys and gals.”

Not true.

Anyone can create a product and here’s the thing.

Creating a product for your blog will put you head and shoulders above the crowd.

Here’s why.

The importance of creating a product for your blog

It’s really important to weave products into your blog.

Otherwise, how will you make your blog a profitable business?

Command authority

When you create a product for your blog, you immediately improve your credibility.

You show your readers that you are an expert in your field, and an authority in your business, profession or niche.

Gain trust

One of the keys to being a successful blogger is to gain the trust of your readers.

You could do this by building arobust social media presence, having a compelling “About Me” page, or by simply publishing great content on a steady basis.

But a shortcut to building enormous trust, and with probably greater effectiveness than any other method, is to simply create a product for your blog.

People trust people who have a product, whether it be an ebook, video training, digital course or simply great blog posts that help your readers solve their problems and improve their lives.

Create multiple streams of revenue 

When you put your own products on your blog, you will have access to many streams of income.

That can include selling other products, affiliate offers, services… it doesn’t matter.

Anytime you feature your own products on your blog, many aveneues of revenue will be opened to you.

The best products for your blog

What products can you create for your blog?

Paid products are great, but I’m not really talking about products you can sell.

Instead, I’m suggesting you create products that people want and need.

Products that will improve their lives.

If those are paid products, you stand to make an instant profit.

But if they’re free, they will make you a blogger offering solutions instead of selling something.

And if your readers see you as someone ready to help them, they will become the core of your business.

They will become the core of your audience, your email subscribers and at some point in time… your customers.

So paid products can give you an instant profit, but free ones can help you build a solid business with steady, residual profits.

That’s why I’m going to focus on free products in this article.

Now, what kind of products should you create for your blog?

They’re called “lead magnets.”

Lead magnets

Free products are the best kinds of products for your blog.

That’s because they aim at giving you “leads” instead of “sales.”

And that’s really the main function of a successful blog.

Build a data base of leads that you can always turn to for sales and clients.

The data base is your email list.

And the key function of your blog is to get people onto your email list.

Now, the best way to do that is to offer free products… “lead magnets”… in exchange for people subscribing to your email list.

The main thing you want to do with your lead magnet product is to offer your readers something to improve peoples lives.

That’s called value.

If people don’t see key benefits to getting your lead magnet, it’s because you’ve not focused on promising them true value focused on their needs

So let’s see what kind of products you can offer on your blog to deliver that kind of value.

Blog posts

It’s funny that bloggers so often overlook their very own blog posts as lead magnets.

Make no mistake about this.

Your articles are the best products you can offer on your blog.

Now, you might think that a blog post is not a “product.”

But if you understand that any product for your blog is nothing less than a lead magnet, then you also understand the product value of your blog posts.

So here’s how this works.

Write a compelling and informative blog post.

Make sure it’s solutions-based.

When your readers see that you have solutions, they begin to bond with you, and with your blog.

And right in your blog post, invite people to get more of your great content by signing up for your email list.

Or, you might have a different goal.

Have them join you on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram for instance.

You decide what goal serves your business model best.

Then form your call-to-action accordingly.

This is how to create a product for your blog in the form of a simple blog post.

And, done right, it can be very effective.

Review articles

Review articles are special types of blog posts.

If you review a product or service, it looks like an ordinary blog post.

But when you embed your own lead magnet inside the article, it converts your blog post into a product.

Think about how this works.

People are reading your review of how a third-party product or service can help them solve their problem.

So it’s geared toward addressing your readers’ pain points.

And it’s aimed at offering them specific benefits.

Yes, your review article is primarily written to inform people about some third-party product.

But in the course of your review, you simply embed your offer to get even more value by following your blog, subscribing to your email list, watching your explainer video or some such thing.

Again, a review article like this functions as a product on your blog.

Interviews

Interviews also make great products.

The key is to interview someone who 

• your readers want to hear from, or
• has information that greatly benefits your readers

Now, you can do the interview as a blog post.

In that case, your blog post becomes the product.

But you can also do the interview in another format.

Perhaps it’s a Facebook Live presentation or a YouTube video.

Whatever alternate medium you might use, you simply embed it into your blog post.

Then you craft a call-to-action offering your lead magnet.

In this way, you are using your blog post to convert your blog into a product.

Videos

You can also embed a video into any of your blog posts to use them like a product.

We just discussed how an interview can be done in video format.

But any video can be used in the same manner.

It can be a powerpoint presentation, a face-to-camera discussion or just a simple explainer video demonstrating how to do something.

The key to using videos is, of course, to present high-value content that your readers will be anxious to see.

Videos are one of the best content forms for a blog post that can be readily shaped into a viable product.

Podcasts

Podcasts are yet another form of a blog post product.

Instead of embedding a video into your blog post, simply embed or link to your podcast.

Then use your blog post to invite people to get more information about your topic.

You should also embed a sign-up form for people to subscribe to your email list.

Ebooks

Ebooks are used slightly differently.

They don’t need to be mentioned at all in any of your blog posts, although they can be.

More importantly, though, is to create a squeeze page or subscription form for people to join your email list.

You can put that on any or even all of your blog posts.

Let people know that they can get your free ebook just for joining your list.

In other words, use your ebook as your lead magnet to entice people to subscribe.

You can then invite them to subscribe from inside any blog post, on your blog site sidebar or in one of the header menus.

This is a simple, yet incredibly powerful way to use your blog as a product.

Create a product for your blog

Creating an ebook, video or podcast are simple products.

They don’t take a lot of time or expense.

Yet they an be great enticements for people to join your email list, become regular readers and part of your growing following.

And they can all be shaped into the perfect product for your blog.

Now, I’d like to hear from you.

Leave me a message in the comments section below.

Let me know a bit about your thinking on this topic.

Are you comfortable with the idea of creating a product?

Has this article helped you understand a little better how to do that?

What kind of product are you ready to create for your blog?

-Donna

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• Bio
• Blogging Magic

Donna Merrill

Donna is a well known blogger and creator of "Blogging Magic" - an intensive guide to blogging. "Blogging Magic" is for beginners who are trying to figure out how to bring their blogs to life with tons of visits, comments and social media interaction. It's even for advanced bloggers looking to reach new levels of authority and engagement with their audience.