Add a product to generate revenue

I have discussed in a couple of previous posts about adding a revenue stream to your website to generate profit. While in both the previous articles i have mentioned adding a product, it has been just one of the few options i have mentioned. So i thought it was about time that i put in the time to give you a little more information about this idea, as really it is one of the more beneficial options which can often far surpass the potential of placing ads on your website.

In the first post (Adding a Revenue Stream to your website). I included sell a product as an option. Then i followed this up with an updated post (Adding a Revenue Stream, Updated). I brought the idea to the top of the list and focus on the idea of an electronic product, and expanded to the idea of adding further products and making the site easy to use and easy to buy from. I want to expand on these ideas even more now, and hope that you will find this a useful place to start in adding a product to your own site.

The first place that you want to look to giving some time in adding one or more products to your website is creating a plan to do so. While in theory it is possible to just take a product and put it up for sale, this is hardly the way to build a valuable place to bring customers. So while the plan does not need to be really structured or overally detailed there are a couple of good ideas that you should include;

• Does the product fit – If you have a website or blog that is about starting a business, then selling a weight loss e-book is probably not the best idea.
• What sort of product is it – Are you looking to sell a physical or digital product? Will it be a product of it’s own or have accessories?
• How will you sell the product – Will people buy online via your website? Will it redirect to another site? or, Will people purchase it offline in stores?
• What future potential is there – Is there potential to offer follow up products, or add-on’s later on. Or will this be just a single one off product without much scope to offer more later on.

Even if you do not answer these questions within a plan as such. It is worth being able to actually answer them though. This will give you at least a good idea at where you are starting from and what you may be able to do in the future.

What about if the product does not meet some of the above points. Well all is not lost really, however it could potentially be setting up roadblocks that you may not want to or may not need to deal with. Selling a product that is completely different to the topic of your website is immediately a hurdle. People very rarely will go looking for something they want on  site that is about something completely different. Additionally it will lead people to question the validity of what the product is being sold as, if it can actually provide what is promised.

Depending upon the type of product that you are offering and the way you have your website set up can make a big difference in how sales will flow through. A dedicated landing page which is aiming to sell the product, will sell both physical and electronic products. However Often electronic products will sell better, as there is the ability to offer the benefit of instant gratification. Which can be a big selling point. If you can create the need to have something, within people, and then provide it instantly once they pay, you are likely to generate more sales, then if you are able to create the need but, it takes time to get it to them.

Finally being able to create a product that inevitably leads to another product, you can create later on, can generate plenty of return sales. As such you do not want to put everything into a product the first round. In other words, if you want to write an e-book, you may be better off writing a short report to start with maybe 20-30 pages, and selling this first, to test the market. Then you can either follow it up with a full e-book or maybe a second 20-30 page report. Continually building upon your base.

Adding a product to your website can be the most profitable way to build an income from the internet. While there are some benefits from creating websites with advertising and such. These ways of making money often require much more time and money then they will generate as a return initially. The best thing about products is the ability to tweak the offer, know what you are promoting. Where often with advertising on your site, the advertising it can be far from know what will be shown.