Should I add a store to my blog or start a different site for selling?

Question

I have a blog that is about 4 months old. I get around 30-50 visitors everyday. It has been growing slowly but growing nonetheless. I do have ads on my blog and insert affiliate links from time to time. But also want to open a ecommerce store. I'm not sure if I should just add one to my blog or start a stand alone ecommerce site.

I feel like my readers are starting to read because of what I have to say and not for what I have to sell. I don't want to scare them off.

It would cost more money to create and run an ecommerce site but I also would not alienate my readers and could always cross promote on the blog. I just don't want to do too much "in your face" selling.

I also know that the ecommerce store would be lots of work - but at the same time it could also appeal to non blog readers as well.

My niche (top secret) is also small. For the three major keywords there is something like 2000 - 2500 searches for it a day. This is not huge so I'm not sure if having a full on store would be worth it.

The economy also has me worried because I hear that folks just aren't spending anymore.

What would be the better choice? Blog with store or store alone?

Thank you!!!

Answer 1

I don't think it's a question of blog with store or store alone.

If you want to sell products, you're going to need a separate set of links for the merchandise anyway. The blog posts are informational, which is separate from the merchandise. So yeah, go to Godaddy (or whatever domain registrar you use), and get a new URL for the storefront.

And if the products pertain to the topic of the blog (which you've said they do) then of course you should promote the store on your blog. It's a built in audience for your goods.

If you have a new product, talk about how you're using that product. Why did you like the product? Readers enjoy hearing about personal experiences, and it doesn't appear to be an overt sales pitch-a-thon.

BTW, I personally don't put all my faith into what the media is saying about the economy. Surely we are going through some kind of economic downturn, but I haven't seen even the teeniest dent in my sales level. And I sell information products.

When I'm out on Friday nights the 3 high-priced restaurants within a few feet of my buildings front door are FILLED to capacity, with a 40-minute wait. Even tonight (a Wednesday) I went to two restaurants in my neighborhood before I went to a third that had an available table.

People may not be buying cars and houses, and they may complain about the price of gas and groceries, but I look around Center City, Philadelphia, and I can tell you that they're still spending.

After saying all of that, in your situation it all depends on what you're selling and whom you're selling to.

Good luck!