Maybe you got caught up in the eBay gold rush of recent years and opened an online store assuming it would take off immediately – without much assistance – and bring in riches so you could quit your day job. But things just haven’t worked out as planned.

If sales are stagnant, the problem is most likely the result of one or two things: You aren’t selling the right products or you aren’t properly promoting your online store. Of course, the answer could be found in a third option: You aren’t doing either.

Ecommerce doesn’t just happen. There is rhyme and reason to everything. In many cases, you can break it down like a math equation. If you do X and add Y but subtract Z you will get S, as in sales. But work is required to be visible, attract potential customers, engage them in the buying process and seal the deal. Ecommerce is full grown at this point and there is ample competition on the Internet. So you better put in the time to properly promote your online store. If not, failure is imminent.

The single best way to highlight your online store for customers is to create a blog. A well-written blog is a great way to put a human touch to your online store’s profile. This will attract and engage customers in ways that can’t be achieved with product and sales pages alone.

To help with the transition, here are the top 5 reasons your online store should have a blog:

Search engine rankings – This one is simple. If you aren’t registering on search engines – i.e. Google – then you’re spinning your wheels. It’s as simple as that. Without good SEO, your website is practically invisible. This is a bad thing unless you are in the fortunate position of being able to turn away new customers. Using keywords in certain ways and optimizing headlines, URLs and meta tags will promote the business end in a subtle, yet effective, way.

Engagement – Blogs, especially when combined with a comprehensive social media promotion strategy, are great for engaging readers and creating a sense of excitement. Polls, comment boards, contests and other special activities make the experience interactive and will keep customers coming back.

Education – Sales and product pages are viewed with an eye of skepticism by most consumers. They know you’re trying to sell something. But a blog represents a unique opportunity to inform readers in a non-intrusive way and answer important questions or address concerns.

Feedback – A blog also offers a valuable way to gauge customer interests and possibly hear what products and services they’d like offered. This interactive platform can be a very valuable source of prime consumer information.

Familiarity – While a blog will make your online store more accessible through lifestyle content, it also gives a look into the personality behind the business. This kind of insight offers human details consumers appreciate. It puts you on a level that will pay dividends in the long run.

When you have a blog, it’s great to just write without having any concern for what anybody else says or thinks about it. Unfortunately, only the rare blogger doesn’t care at all if anyone ever reads what they’ve written. So naturally you want to promote your blog as much as possible. The following are a few ways you can get people to see and notice your blog.

Guest Post on Other Blogs
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Everyone seems to have the answer on how to market your blog online. There are social networks, bookmarking sites and a variety of other tools available to bloggers, but what about offline marketing? It’s something that people rarely think of, but can be a great way to draw in new readers. Here are just five tips for marketing your blog offline.

Leave Business Cards

A fun way you can promote your blog is to leave business cards at the places you plan to review. For example, let’s say you’re a culinary writer and want to review a restaurant you just tried. You can write a message on the back of the business card about the upcoming review and leave it on the table or give it to the manager. Either way, business cards are a great way to market your blog offline. More →

One of the reasons many blogs fail is because bloggers don’t take the time to do the proper research. Not only must you latch on to hot keywords and have great headlines, but bloggers need to look behind the curtain. The inner workings of a blog can mean the difference between thousands and millions of page views. One trend bloggers have latched onto is Google Webmaster Tools. If you’ve never used the program, or aren’t sure what it is, here’s a closer look at why you should be using it.

What Is Google Webmaster Tools?

Google Webmaster Tools is not only a way to check the ranking of your blog, but offer great inside information on what works for your blog and what doesn’t. Blogger can see which keywords attracted the most people and from where. The tools also allow bloggers to see which websites link to the blog and even give users the ability to set preferred domain names. In other words, Google Webmaster Tools gives you much of the information need to know to make your blog successful. While it may take time, every blogger should be using these tools.
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There are literally millions of bloggers competing for job opportunities. While top-rated content and a large number of followers may sound impressive, what’s really impressive is creating a stellar resume that tells companies why you’re the blogger they need. If you’ve ever created a traditional resume, you have an idea of what a resume should convey, but may be a bit confused on what to highlight. Here are a just a few resume creation tips to get you started.

Include Live Links to Your Best Blogs

Chances are you have a number of blogs and there’s another chance that some do better than others. Including live links in your resume makes it easier for companies to view your work. Be sure to link to the homepage of your blog and that your blog looks the best that it can. Before sending out or posting resumes, you should tweak your design and remove any unnecessary clutter. More →