Every blog is a store. There’s no question in my mind about that. You don’t have to be selling anything on your blog. I still consider your blog a store. The question is, what kind of atmosphere is your blog store promoting?

Why is Your Blog a Store?

Think of your blog as a store on a street. People may do some window shopping and actually come inside. Others may not even notice, or be repulsed by your store’s outside appearance.

Once inside your store, however, it is your job to lure that customer in and convince them to make a purchase. I don’t care if your blog is a personal blog that doesn’t aim to make any money whatsoever, you are still trying to get your customer (reader) to purchase something.

What Items Are For Sale at Your Blog Store?

Besides the obvious things a blog sells (advertisements anyone?), there are other things that blogs try to get readers to purchase.

• Feed subscriptions.
• Comments.
• Newsletter/email subscriptions.
• Word of mouth (aka, Social Networking).
• Donations.
• And more…

What Sales Atmosphere Do You Give Your Readers?

There are a few stores I generally like to avoid. I dislike going into a store where I look around and actually have to search for a sales person if I need help (Wal-Mart anyone?). I also dislike the stores I go into where I walk in and immediately am bombarded with salespeople trying to convince me to make a purchase.

A nice compromise is to provide an atmosphere where you are available, but not overwhelming to your customer. An example of this is a store where you can walk in, browse for a few minutes, and have the salesperson approach you and inform you that he/she is available if you need to inquire about something.

Do you give readers the impression that you are not available? Is your about page visible? Is your contact information easy to access?

On the other hand, do you give readers the impression that you’re a pushy salesperson? Do you force readers to jump through hoops to comment? Do you push ads in the reader’s face?

What Is the Purpose of a Store?

One must remember that a store is there for customers. If customers didn’t exist, the store wouldn’t exist. Customers come to a store for a good or service (simple economics).

Your blog is there for readers. If readers didn’t exist, your blog wouldn’t exist (the same argument is, if a tree fell and nobody heard it, did it really fall?). Readers typically come to a blog for content (information, entertainment, etc).

Why should a reader make a “purchase” at your particular store? And what type of atmosphere do you promote at your blog store?

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