WordPress is open source software used by about half of all websites. While the software is free, it is also powerful for creating all types of websites like blogs, membership sites, and WooCommerce sites. In this series, I take users through some of the basics necessary for easy operation.
Deciding on WooCommerce, Membership Site, or Monetized Blog
When deciding on which type of website you need, you will have to answer a few questions.
- What is it you want to do with the site? Share stories, recipes, how-tos, etc.
- Will you sell products, physical or digital?
- Do you want to protect any content?
- Do you love using products and sharing your review?
- Do you want to dropship products?
Looking at the answers will help determine which kind of site you need. If you are like me, you will need all three! 🙂
WooCommerce allows for selling physical and digital products. It has a shopping cart and there are tons of apps to integrate with it. If you want to dropship, WooCommerce is a great option too. I’ll be adding another video on two trusted services that provide vetted drop shippers so you are sure to have a great experience. If you have tried on your own to find reliable suppliers, you will love this option. I’ll go ahead and give you the service providers so you can be checking into them while I prepare the video.
Membership Site allows for selling digital products and protecting content. If you are a course creator, you will probably benefit from building a membership site. You know I sell courses for QuickBooks and Excel spreadsheets, so I started out my eCommerce web design life with a membership site. Using a plugin, I can also host an affiliate program and even pay commissions using PayPal Mass payments which saves a ton of time and money. At just $1.00 per payment, that saves me and my affiliates big-time fees. With a membership site, you can create a mastermind, subscription service, sell bundles of digital products, offer coupon codes, and more. I use MemberMouse, WP Courseware, WP Affiliate Manager, and a plugin to integrate them all. I’ll add my affiliate links below to help you explore more on these if you are interested.
Monetized Blog takes advantage of affiliate marketing to make money while sharing valuable reviews of products and services you’ve used and can recommend. Another popular way to monetize a blog is to share recipes or crafty posts with affiliate links to products used in the preparation of the food or art project. An obvious example is this blog post where I am sharing affiliate links for website plugins, apps, software, and services.
Need additional help?
Go ahead and check out my coaching page and book some time with me.
