make money blogging selling products

Make money blogging selling products

If you have a popular blog, especially one that deals with topics that are important to others, you can earn money by selling your own products from your blog. People are always willing to buy merchandise that makes a statement, or support a cause they believe in. If your blog is popular you should consider making merchandise to sell on your blog.

You do not have to create merchandise that is branded to your blog, you can sell things that are relevant to your blogs topic and that relate to the content of your entries. Just make sure that your audience will be interested in the merchandise you create or you may find that you make few sales.

For example, if you blog about gaming, creating merchandise that relates to games and software will probably sell on your blog. You can also create merchandise that contains your blogs logo or other graphics, and get some free advertising every time a reader wears it as well.

Creating merchandise to sell on your blog is not as hard as it sounds. There are a few websites out there that allow you to create t-Shirts, mouse pads, mugs, hats, and other things that you can personalize any way you wish and sell for a profit.

Most websites handle orders, payments, and shipping, leaving you to do nothing but design your merchandise and profit. Here are some websites that you should consider if you want to create merchandise to sell on your blog:

Cafepress – This is a very popular website and allows you to create a variety of merchandise to sell on your blog, or anywhere else for that matter.

Basic membership is free and even includes a simple online store hosted on Cafepress. The merchandise you create has a base price and you mark it up to the price you wish and keep the profit. They handle orders, payments, and shipping.

Printfection – Printfection is relatively new and is similar to Cafepress. They have less merchandise you can create, limited mostly to different styles of shirts but the range of colours is excellent. I run a printfection store covering my Dominican family

http://www.printfection.com/dominica

On the other hand, they offer a free online store that is comparable to the one you have to pay for on Cafepress. They also print with high quality and offer many color choices.

Zazzle – Another print on demand company, although they are more geared toward individuals rather than people trying to sell their products online.

The payment structure is different form Cafepress and Printfection where you set your markup. At Zazzle, you earn a fixed percentage. Prices are slightly higher at Zazzle than at Cafépress and Printfection as well.

Each of these websites allows you to create merchandise that you can sell on your blog, either with your blog logo, slogan, or something related to your blog’s topic.

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Who are you accountable to?

When you set out to achieve a goal or make a change it is easy to keep
it to yourself and not tell anyone. But it is far more powerful to tell
someone your plans and ask them to hold you to account for what you get
done. Not so they can blame or critize you for not doing everything,
but because we tend to get more done when we know we have to "report
back" on our progress.

If you find someone else working towards a goal then set up a system so you can both support each other.

This makes goal setting far more fun to work towards and when you hit a challenge you have someone to bounce ideas off.

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From Blaming to Blessings

From Blaming to Blessings
It can be wonderful to be a victim.  First of all, I get to be right. I am misunderstood, mistreated, and miserable, but at least I know I’m right. I’m in pain, but my pain is at least a little bit satisfying. The end all and be all for life’s perpetual victims is self righteousness–being the one who is right, good, or special. I get to be the star of my own drama.

Second, if I’m really suffering you can’t expect much from me. As the suffering one, I should be appreciated, treated special, or helped. You can’t expect me to put out too much energy for others in this condition. You can’t expect me to do much for myself.

I feel a deep compassion whenever I see someone suffering.
Compassion is not pity. It is a deep respect and understanding for the person and where they are on their journey in life. I know what it feels like to suffer. It is through my own suffering that I have learned where my suffering comes from. It comes from within me.

Most people in the world blame someone or something for their suffering. The payoff for blaming is self justification and innocence. This does not mean that suffering isn’t painful. It is. It means that we will not find release by blaming anything or anyone. We must follow our pain inward to its source.

Whenever I expect a person or situation to provide me with healing, joy, or wealth, I am setting myself up for suffering. No external person or thing can make me happy.
Creating happiness is an inside job, regardless of what my life conditions may be.

As an organizational consultant and speaker, people often tell me how others make their lives miserable. Everyone has their story, and often I get two diametrically opposed accounts of the same event. A lot of blaming and self justification goes on in many organizations. My message is to move beyond blaming and to take personal responsibility for one’s relationships.  I ask people to start being the person they want to be at work, instead of who they think they are forced to be.

Blaming is a denial of who you are. Do you know who you are? You are an incredible being of light, a powerful expression of Spirit. You have a mission to create beauty, joy, and peace in your own unique way. You are so powerful that you create your own circumstances. Blaming is a way of pretending you are not powerful. Blaming gives your power away to someone else. Blaming says that this person, or this situation is the source of your good, not the Creative Intelligence of the Universe.

Many people blame the economy for their financial state.
The economy is irrelevant if you know who you are. Your abundance does not come from the economy. Your source of good is not your job, your spouse, the government, or your customers. Your source is within you. It is your ability to connect with Spirit. Blaming is a way of pretending you are not your own source.

A while back I experienced a slow down in my business and income. People told me it was the economy, but I refused to believe it. I knew it had to be me. I asked for guidance in prayer. One morning as I meditated I received my answer. I realized I was filled with resentment. I resented certain others who I felt had not supported me as much as I wanted.
Of course, I believed I had been very supportive to them.
My resentment sent a message to the Universe that said, "I can’t succeed until I get their support. If I succeed they will never know how much pain I suffered not having their support."

I was grateful for the message. To make sure I got the message, Spirit provided yet another opportunity. Later that day while channel surfing, I came upon Dr. Wayne Dyer on PBS. He was talking about resentment. He said it was a low energy and it blocked out God. I got the message. I made a decision to stop resenting. I let go of my need to have specific people support me in specific ways. I immediately felt a sense of joy and freedom as I released my burden of resentment.

As soon as I stopped resenting, the suffering it brought stopped also. Suddenly, the people in my life who I had resented seemed to change. They seemed more approachable, more love worthy, rather than blame worthy. I saw how much my underlying attitude of resentment had caused me to withhold love and support from others. It felt good to let go and be more responsive. And yes, business did pick up immediately.

Blaming, resentment, and suffering ooze out of the gap between how a situation is and how we want it to be. We see this gap and attach meaning to it. I want you to love me a certain way. You don’t. I think this means I am unworthy, or that you are a bad person, or that somehow I can’t be happy. In reality your inability to love me means nothing.
The meaning I give to it is what causes me suffering. It causes me to resent and to blame.

Suffering is eased when I accept you the way you are, whether you love me or not. Suffering is eased when I accept myself as I am. Suffering is eased when I realize that the source of my love is within me. I am sustained by the love of Spirit, surrounded by it. As I rejoice in this knowing, love manifests in ways and from people that I could not predict. As I stop focusing on all of my gaps in life, and begin to focus on who and what I am–a spiritual being, the creator of my own experience, the source of my own joy, a spark of the Divine–I experience freedom and joy. There is nothing to resent, no one to blame, and no reason to suffer. As I give my love more passionately and openly to self, to others, and to life, I am showered with blessings. I stop coming from a place of need, and I become a light.

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William Frank Diedrich is a keynote speaker and the author of The Road Home: The Journey Beyond the Spiritual Quick Fix,  30 Days to Prosperity: A Workbook for Well Being, and Beyond Blaming: Unleashing Power and Passion in People and Organizations. To learn more about Bill, his books, and his services, go to http://www.transformativepress.com or to http://noblaming.com

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12 Steps to goal achievement

Step 1 - Be accountable to your success
If you can be part of an accountability group even better because your accountability to others will help keep you focused

Step 2 - Take action and get started
Step by step action is often the only thing needed to achieve a goal

Step 3 - Plot your route
Stop and create a strategic plan of where you are going and where you want to end up

Step 4 - Affirm your success
Make regular declations about your ability to succeed

Step 5 - Hold your vision
In your mind’s eye create a vision of what you want to acheive and hold on to it.

Step 6 - Stay authentic
Don’t let your goal become ego driven or don’t pursue your goal to look good for others. Follow your heart

Step 7 - Maintain balance
A little bit of everything goes a long way. Don’t overwork and don’t sit and procrastinate either

Step 8 - Brainstorm your ideas
Go wild and let your imagination take you further than you are willing to take yourself

Step 9 - Embrace the setbacks and challenges
They are there to teach you and make you stronger

Step 10 - Expect change
When you work towards a goal change in inevitable

Step 11 - Celebrate each small success
Measure your results step by step as you go along

Step 12 - Stay committed
Be commited to achieving what you want for yourself and your life

Resourcebox :

Diane Corriette supports mothers in the UK and online build their own online business using mentoring, elearning, workshops, podcasts and teleseminars. For more information visit http://www.inspirationalguidance.com

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Say goodbye to the naysayers

Unfortunately when we decide to change and begin on the path of
personal and professional development there will be people who are non
too happy about it!

Maybe they have been "better
than you" in their eyes for a long time, and to see you suddenly
progressing upsets the status quo! When my ex husband left I had a
"friend" who was always there for me, she did whatever she could to
help.

She often came round to share what her husband had
bought for her, or what they were buying next (the car, the new house).
Then one day I decided I was going to return to study and my study
included gaining myself a degree. Within a few months of starting that
course this "friend" disappeard and within the year we were no longer
in touch with each other.

Why? because suddenly I was no longer "down there" but was doing something to actively ensure I developed and moved forward.

Family
are another bunch that can very easily dampen your dreams. Sometimes
not intentionally. But for a husband who sees his wife progressing, or
a mother watching her child become independent, it may just be the
thought of things changing. They may also feel "unwanted" or like they
are no longer of use.

The easiest way to avoid people close to
you putting you down is to discuss your plans with them and provide
constant reassurance. Of course some people are just plain negative and
what you will need to do is develop your own inner strength to deal
with that.

Are you still ready to continue on your path despite
not having the blessings of family and friends? Do you believe in what
you want to achieve enough to perserve when times get challenging? If
you have 10 people standing in front of you telling you "it can’t be
done" or "its not worth doing it" or even worse "you are just not good
enough to do it" will you continue anyway. Will you believe in yourself
enough to allow them to say their piece without it changing your
decision. I know I did. And I have never looked back.

Be
grateful for all those that come into your life and challenge your
dreams because they are testing your own strength in what you want to
accomplish. See them as little reminders that are asking the question
"do you really want this?" Chances are, if you don’t then you will
listen to their "advice" and use this as your reason and excuse for not
having what you want in your life, for not achieving what you knew you
could. But when you choose to create your own path, when you choose to
believe in the power of intention to achieve your goals, then something
quite magical happens.

Trust me.

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