Making Your Blog Pay - Serve Your Reader’s Interest
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Here’s something you might not expect: one of the things your reader might find of interest is who YOU are. That’s why your third step is to make sure you have an “About Us” page in your blog. I’ve written about the “About Us” page before, so I’m not going to rehash all my arguments here. I’ll agree, however, with the one Osborne makes.
To put it simply, if I read a blog on a topic that interests me, and I’ve never heard of the writer, I’ll want to know something about them. If you don’t have an “About Us” page, you will leave me wondering – and you’ll pass up an opportunity to build my trust in you. People don’t buy from those they don’t trust; they can’t trust you if they don’t know who you are; and, while there are lots of ways they can find out who you are, isn’t it easiest for you to just tell them?
Now, earlier I said that it’s a good idea to have a “loop strategy” that takes your reader to the next page in which they’re likely to be interested. That could very well be a landing page for your product or service. There’s nothing wrong with linking to a product if it’s related to your blog entry or article and you’ve given the reader useful, related content. For example, who writes articles about the weight loss benefits of green tea? Those who want to sell you green tea, that’s who. “Does that bother me? Not if the article was useful,” Osborne notes. (And if you're really observant, you'll notice I used the loop strategy myself in the first paragraph of this section).
Here’s another good reason to link your blog entry to a landing page: it means that you can have your “call to action” for the purchase somewhere other than in your blog post. A blog, ideally, lets you provide information; it’s not a direct salesman. Leave that to your landing page. There are a number of ways you can ask for the close on that page; I’ve written about landing pages as well. But your blog is not a landing page.
Your blog can bring you money in a variety of ways. I’ve listed only a few here, and given you some tips for using it in conjunction with selling a product or service. I hope I’ve given you enough ideas to work with. Good luck!
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