If your blog is product-oriented (none of mine ever turn out to be, and I think I’m losing money as a result), you’ll want to take a look at Everton Blair’s new ShopLinc Module For aLinks Plugin.
I’m not super-familiar with ShopLinc, but it’s a new way of making money from what you’re writing on your blog. The idea is that you create a ShopLinc store and make money when people click through your store to the end merchants of the products you feature.
Because you are establishing yourself in your blog as an expert on your chosen topic, if your topic has to do with physical items, you can both make money and provide your readers a valuable service by recommending products.
What is cool about Everton’s module is that it simplifies the process. I occasionally link to books on Amazon that are of value to my readers, but it’s kind of a pain to look up and link. With the aLinks plugin, a WordPress blogger can actually set up keywords that will link to Amazon whenever they’re used. The ShopLinc module extends this feature to ShopLinc stores.
I think the neatest thing is that this combination makes it easier to use the technology even if you didn’t know about it when you started blogging. That’s because the plugin links your chosen keyword, every time it appears in your blog… past, present, or future. This is particularly useful on those blogs that have a lot of traffic coming from search engines and landing on old posts.
And now a question for you (okay, two questions). Have you ever used ShopLinc? If so, what are your thoughts?
