One thing I notice on a lot of sites that have traffic, but don’t generate a lot of sales, is that they forget to sell the idea and then provide a solution for how to create or replicate the idea they sold. It can be any type of site from a private Blogger to an In-house Blogger at an eCommerce store. It includes some Affiliates, content sites or even a resource site for specific products, niches and directories. Even step by step instruction guides and YouTube videos forget to do this. (I swear this post gets better and more interesting).
Anyone can write a post or a product list or gift guide, but not everyone does one that can maximize their revenue potential.
The trick is getting your visitors to see a need for the product (generating an idea), want to create the same results or product you talk about, or to use your resource to reach a goal (create the idea or product for themselves). It can be anything from a look to a family photo or even sending a gift.
By creating an image in your website visitors’ heads with them using it, or how to incorporate your post within their own lives, you can generate a want. That want can now turn into multiple streams of revenue for you.
It sounds obvious, but this could be a bit confusing. I’ll give you a few things to think about when trying this theory, and then some examples of how to stand out in different niches while creating a want and how to possibly sell products by generating ideas.
Here are a few things to remember to include within your posts:
- Forget about the obvious products and provide a solution
- Did you provide something unique that isn’t on other sites
- Make sure to bring up issues the reader wouldn’t have thought of, and always talk to the reader (Don’t say “I”
or “it”, say you and your. (i.e. it will look amazing vs. you will look amazing)).
If you cannot check off all three of these, then you may not be placing an idea and creating a need, want or solution for the visitor. This is where you can miss out on a big sales and revenue opportunity.
Here are a few niches and ways to make your content stand out, be unique and drive an image or provide a solution for your website visitors that can help make them want to buy products through your site and increase your revenue streams. (This is where the post starts to get interesting).
Example 1: Family Photos and How to Drive More Sales (By Not Selling The Obvious).
(If you don’t want to read the entire section, here is the summary. This affiliate program is the perfect one to do this with. With the holidays coming up, or even for a fun summer vacation tradition, talk about fun ways to theme your family photo. By deep linking and using product images you can get the visitor to picture their own family and you have provided the solution to create the idea in their head. This helps to sell the products to create the idea you’ve placed in their heads. After they go through and shop, then you can give ideas on how to use the final product.)
Many bloggers and holiday sites will be writing about family photos in the next few months. Readers use them for holiday cards, keepsakes and even to torture their kids for a day.
Many sites try to monetize these posts with things like picture frames, picture holders, cameras and even printable scrapbooks. The thing many sites forget is the most obvious; how to create the photo you describe in your post and what the reader will need to do it.
Everyone knows that there will be tons of people searching for holiday family photo ideas, etc… The problem is that they promote the accessories for the end product, not what is needed to create it. That is the actual reason the user is on your site.
Although the accessories could sell, the person is looking for how to create something, not what to do after it is created. Having both options for them is what can help to maximize your revenue.
Remember, what is the person on your site for right now? Not what are they going to do with the final product.
If it’s holiday family photos, think about what people wear in them. There are ugly Christmas sweater photos, funny ones with matching family footed pajamas, or even cool themes like superheroes and villains. That is where you can make money with this post.
If the post is themed around matching Christmas pajamas (which is a huge opportunity with little to no competition, Here is the perfect affiliate program for this type of post), don’t pitch a scrap book or photo album for the end product. People are looking for how to create it instead of what to do with it.
Talk about the memories in the morning with everyone waking up and finding each other at breakfast in matching pajamas. Then sell the emotional aspect of it and fun memories by using the matching family pajamas for a fun holiday photo.
While you’re going through themes or ideas, you can deep link into different types of Christmas pajamas and give 5 ideas for poses, ways to make it fun and also afterwards for a second round of photos after everyone wakes up in the morning in their pajamas to open presents. (After the post is over and after you have given resources to create the photos and ideas, then you can have a small section or a follow up post on what to do with your holiday photos. That’s where you can cross sell what to do with the final products like scrap books, photo albums, etc…).
Instead of just thinking about what to do with the final product like a photo album or the camera to take the picture. Provide your readers with the tools to create the images you have in their head.
This affiliate program is the perfect one to do this with. With the holidays coming up, or even for a fun summer vacation tradition, talk about fun ways to theme your family photo. By deep linking and using product images you can get the visitor to picture their own family and you have provided the solution to create the idea in their head. This helps to sell the products to create the idea you’ve placed in their heads. After they go through and shop, then you can give ideas on how to use the final product.
Example 2: Costumes, How to Stand Out And Monetize Your Content
(Here is the summary of this section in case you don’t want to read the entire thing.
It’s one thing to say, don’t forget the feather duster and heels; it’s another to go into which types of bras can create what type of effect and for each body type.
If you use the bras, like mentioned above, to talk about the cut and how to style it for a party vs. the bedroom, you can use product images and deep affiliate links. By selling the image of how the website visitor will look, feel and making them want to create that in real life while providing the resources to do it (the bras, corsets and the actual costume itself), you can sell them on the costume, the accessories and the tools needed to make it work how they picture themselves in it. Click here to join this affiliate program to try this example. )
We’re going to use this affiliate program for this example. In the photo below you’ll see a sexy french maid costume.
It’s classic, people search for it each Halloween and even year round to spice up their married life or bedroom. The thing that most costume, romance and outfit sites do is describe the costume or the situation where the person is using it, but not how to use it and how it can be used in or create an effect for a specific situation.
To make your post a resource, instead of saying this costume is gorgeous, or your partner will love while you crawl on top of him/her, talk about how it will fit on the reader.
Talk about how to make it fit better and how you can use each detail and accessory with the costume to make a fantasy look (or dream) a reality. You also want to try not to say “it” but talk to the person.
Don’t say it will look amazing or it will help your love life. Say you will look amazing and by showing off your gorgeous XYZ in your new (insert adjective) french maids costume…
Remember, many sites include YouTube makeup tutorials for painting your face to match the outfit or situation. Some include accessories or multiple store options to shop at. Including these makes you a copycat, not unique. To stand out think about the costume and the end user, and then how to get them to relate to each other so that the end user wants to buy the costume and the accessories.
If there is a low cut chest, talk about the different types of bras and effects they can have with the costume.
You have push up bras to make a woman’s breasts stand out. Lace bras that can help a sensual and seductive material show through the costume for a more sexy look. You could even talk about how a balconet vs. a push up can create a look based on breast size, comfort and overall effect with the costume. By doing this you not only appeal to someone looking for a sexy french maids costume for Halloween, but you have also given a way to reuse it for a significant other by turning it into something fun for the bedroom.
If you talk about it the right way, you have made something that could be expensive for a one-time-use into something that is practical since it can be used over and over. By showing the different types of bras and how they can transform the costume for different settings, you have now helped the person to picture themselves in it and how the different bras will make it work for them.
At this point, the user may be ready to shop because she can picture herself in it, justify the cost and create what she desires.
But how can this earn you more than selling a costume?
Sell the products so your readers can style themselves!
It’s one thing to say, don’t forget the feather duster and heels; it’s another to go into which types of bras can create what type of effect and for each body type.
If you use the bras, like mentioned above, to talk about the cut and how to style it for a party vs. the bedroom, you can use product images and deep affiliate links. By selling the image of how the website visitor will look, feel and making them want to create that in real life while providing the resources to do it (the bras, corsets and the actual costume itself), you can sell them on the costume, the accessories and the tools needed to make it work how they picture themselves in it. Click here to join this affiliate program to try this example.
Example 3: Studying abroad and sending gift issues
In our last example, this is the perfect affiliate program for it, we’ll talk about helping parents or gift senders send holiday, get well or thinking of you gifts to people overseas.
Lots of parents and schools create resources for good gift ideas. Different topics can be to help homesickness, to cheer them up, to get them to call home, for Christmas, etc…
While there are a ton of sites that focus on good gifts for students in a specific country, many do not talk about issues with shipping, delivery and border control or customs. This opens up a huge opportunity for you.
In Costa Rica, the recipient may have to go to the border and pay taxes on the “gift” in order to receive it. This ruins the surprise and costs the person money instead of sending them something to make them happy. What you can do differently with your posts is to find out what countries have problems with contraband items (including books, plants, wines, etc…) or even tariff issues like in the example above.
If you want to take your post and turn it into a resource, think about cultural issues and tie that in as well.
You can talk about things with sharp edges signifying you don’t think the business relationship will last in certain Asian cultures. You can talk about colors like how a black border means death and should never be used when gift giving in some countries or even list the colors, their meanings and then giving good and bad gift ideas.
Next you can use our datafeed to show example products that would make excellent gift options for any occasion and pre-sell one of the biggest values to your visitors.
Because our gifts are already inside more than 200+ countries, there are no tariff, contraband or other issues. We also have culturally appropriate ideas for the host family, holidays and even cheer up styled gifts for the students that are homesick.
By letting your visitors know the issues and providing them with examples of gifts, and our solution, you have now given them a resource to overcome these obstacles.
Conclusion (finally!)
Selling an idea to someone is easy. The trick with maximizing your earning potential is to now provide the resources (within the post) to create the same outcomes for your readers. After that you can do a follow up post with what to do with the products and sell the accessories for when they’ve completed the idea.
By making your content unique, providing resources to create your ideas, or to make the product or idea work for your reader (like in example 2 and 3), you may be able to get them from idea shopping to ready to buy everything. You can bring them from the full idea to the products to make it work or to help accomplish a goal, and even things to buy to use, store or maintain the original idea after it is completed. Now you have three types of sales in one post instead of only being able to make money with one specific thing.
