Yesterday, I wrote about not relying on the header or sidebar to guide your visitors. Instead, use the content area to guide your visitors because many internet users don’t pay attention to the header or sidebar.

Today, we’ll look at how Brian Clark used the content area of his blog, Copyblogger, to guide his readers to his product. We’ll see how he promoted his product with multiple blog posts.

I think blogs are a great way to sell products – whether your own or affiliate products. Established bloggers make great salespeople because they have built trust with their readership and they have many repeat visitors. These two things make selling much easier.

Selling with blogs can be tricky though. While you have trust and repeat visitors, you don’t want to overdo the promotion of products. That would make your blog too commercial. Many people think blogs should not be overly commercial. Therefore, you have to find a way to mention products without coming off like a used car salesman :)

Brian Clark makes a living producing and selling information products. His latest successful product launch, Teaching Sells, was promoted through his blog so I decided to look at how he did it.

In this case study, it will help to know what Teaching Sells is about. It’s a paid membership site where you learn how to build your own paid membership site. You learn how to create interactive membership sites where you teach others through text, audio, and video. Currently, Brian is offering 5 courses for $197.

How did Brian promote Teaching Sells on his blog? To find out, let’s look back at his blog posts from September 30 to November 13. Make sure to check out Brian’s posts to get a better picture of his blog promotion strategy. I’ll only be giving brief comments for each post that mentions Teaching Sells.

Blog Promotion Timeline

Sept. 30, 2007: 40 is the New 20

It’s not often that someone begins to promote their product on their birthday, but that’s what Brian did. He promoted his product in a low-key way. The post was about his birthday but it also had a list of links.

The next to last link pointed to a post by his business partner of Teaching Sells. In the post, his partner briefly argued for the paid content business model. The last link had this curious anchor text: Don’t click here. It pointed to teachingsells.com. At this point in time, the only thing on the domain was the logo.

In this post, Brian subtly began to guide us to his product and also persuade us of one of the product’s selling points:

Online publishers should sell content to make more money.

Oct. 1: Guest post (None of the guest posts mentioned Teaching Sells.)

Oct. 3: A post that didn’t mention Teaching Sells

Oct. 4: Are You Truly Focused on Your Audience?

Brian talked about using audio and video because many people don’t comprehend well with text alone. By using multimedia, you can help more people. Some people learn better through audio while others learn better through video. Also, audio and video formats raise the perceived value of your content, allowing you to charge more.

Brian told us about the benefits of multimedia because Teaching Sells is about creating multimedia membership sites.

Oct. 8: How to Create Ebooks That Sell

When this post was first published, Brian had a closing paragraph about a free report he was writing. The report was about the paid content model.

Oct. 9: Here?s How to Stop Worrying About Google Once and for All

At this time, Google had lowered the PageRank of some popular sites that sold links. Brian tied in his upcoming report to the news. He talked about how selling content helps you rely less on Google.

Oct. 12: Guest post

Oct. 13: Link Karma Story Time

This was another link post. Brian linked to a couple pages that supported the principles of Teaching Sells. He also linked to teachingsells.com. The domain still only had the logo.

Oct. 15: A post that didn’t mention Teaching Sells

Oct. 15: Free Report: Teaching Sells

We got the free report. Brian linked to the download page of the Teaching Sells report.

At the end of the report, Brian talked about Teaching Sells also being a paid membership site. He said he was working on it and getting it ready for launch. The free report was so good, many people were ready to join his site.

Notice when he first talked about his paid product. It wasn’t on the blog. Instead, it was on the short report. The report allowed Brian to keep his blog from being too commercial while still selling to those who were interested in the benefits of his product.

Oct. 18: Radiohead, The 4-Hour Work Week and the Importance of Raving Fans

He related his report to Radiohead’s decision to sell its new album directly to their fans.

Oct. 23: A post that didn’t mention Teaching Sells.

Oct. 24: Thanks Google!

Copyblogger’s PageRank was lowered. He used this event to write a humorous post saying his PageRank was lowered because he released a report that will help people rely less on Google.

Oct. 24: Teaching Sells is Live

Finally, Brian announced the launch of the Teaching Sells paid membership site.

Oct. 25: Guest post

Oct. 28: No Really? Thanks Google!

Brian’s PageRank increased. He snuck another link to Teaching Sells. He mentioned how busy he was with Teaching Sells that he didn’t have time to contact Google.

Oct. 28: Guest post

Oct. 31: The Blogger?s Guide to Indirect Selling

This was a perfect post to link to Teaching Sells. Brian did just that in the closing paragraph.

Nov. 1: Guest post

Nov. 5: A post that didn’t mention Teaching Sells

Nov. 8: Guest post

Nov. 12: Guest post

Nov. 13: What Web Writers Can Learn from the Writer?s Strike

Brian commented on the current scriptwriter’s strike in Hollywood. He said that freelance bloggers can avoid that situation by becoming a writer/producer rather than just a writer. He linked to an article on teachingsells.com that gave information on how Teaching Sells can help you become a writer/producer.

What We Can Learn From This Case Study

1. From September 30 to November 13, Copyblogger had 22 posts. 12 of these posts were related to Teaching Sells. That seems like a lot. Basically, every other post referred to Teaching Sells in some way. However, I don’t think Brian was overdoing his promotion.

My commentary may make it seem like Brian was constantly talking about Teaching Sells. However, when you look at his posts, much of the time he devotes only a small portion of the post to Teaching Sells. For example, this post was over 900 words yet he only devotes the closing sentence to Teaching Sells. This post was close to 1000 words and he only talked about Teaching Sells in one short paragraph.

2. Free reports are very useful because you can give a lot of quality information and introduce your product without hijacking your blog.

3. Use current events especially those in your niche and relate them to your product.

4. Gradual promotion builds buzz and expectation. First, Brian gave us the domain name. Second, he wrote posts about the principles of Teaching Sells while telling us about a free report in the near future. Third, he gave us the free report. And the free report told us about his upcoming paid membership site. Finally, he launched the membership site. He didn’t just make a product launch announcement out of the blue. Instead, he gradually showed us where he was going.

5. Finally, don’t try Brian’s tactics unless you have a loyal readership. Build up your blog first. Get some traffic and subscribers. Improve your brand and increase your mindshare.

How has Teaching Sells sold for Brian?

Currently, Brian has over 800 members. Some have paid $97 (early bird special) to join his 3 month course while others have paid $197. Crunch the numbers and that’s a good chunk of change.

What can you take away from Brian’s blog promotion methods?