When’s the Right Time to Start Selling?

This guest post is by k out Brandon Yanofsk of B-List Marketing.

If you’ve ever asked another blogger, “When’s the right time to start selling on my blog?”, you’ll know you never get a solid answer.

Some say as soon as you get one person visiting your blog.

Some say never to start selling until you’ve got at least 100 subscribers.

And some say selling before you have 10,000 people on your email list is premature.

However, I’m here to set the record straight and give you a solid answer.

But before I give you that answer, I need to explain something.

Don’t sell: provide a solution to a problem

Everyone thinks of selling as something nasty—something you shouldn’t do. They think of shady car salesmen or the cliched snake-oil salesman. Basically, someone trying to rip them off.

It’s no wonder then that people don’t want to sell on their blogs.

Instead of calling it “selling,” let’s call it what it really is: Providing a Solution to a Problem.

Now, let’s rephrase the original question:

When’s the right time to provide a solution to a problem?

If someone runs up to you and says, “Hey, I need your help”, would you reply with, “Sorry, I’m not selling right now.”?

Of course not. You’d jump right in and help.

So, the right time to start selling on your blog is:

As soon as you identify a problem and create a solution to that problem.

It doesn’t matter if you have one subscriber, or 100,000 subscribers. Once you’ve identified the problem your readers are facing, it’s time to create a solution to it.

I know of a blogger who has a very, very healthy following. Yet he can’t manage to make one sale. The reason is: he isn’t providing a solution to a problem his readers face. He’s just creating products and hoping someone buys them.

On the other hand, I’ve seen bloggers who have very few subscribers. Yet they have a very healthy business selling products. Why? Because they identified a problem their readers face, and created the solution.

So, don’t let people tell you there is a certain number of followers you need before selling products. It doesn’t exist.

Instead, ask yourself only two questions:

1) Have I identified the problem? and 2) Can I provide the solution?

Looking for more tips on creating a blogging business? Check out Brandon Yanofsky’s site B-List Marketing where he’ll show you how to create a blogging business your readers know, like, and trust.