Handmade E-Commerce vs. Blogging: Which Online Business is Right for You?

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This post on handmade e-commerce vs blogging (which is actually a mini-course, complete with worksheets and all) is for the individual who LOVES DIY skincare and is looking to discover how best to create an online business with their passion and knowledge.

I’m thrilled you’re here and ready to figure out which business model is right for you! 

There are so many advertisements out there claiming that creating an ‘XYZ Site’ is the perfect online business. The problem is, this doesn’t take into consideration the resources YOU PERSONALLY have.

Every detail in YOUR specific life will play a factor in which business is the best for you and your daily priorities.

Get ready to uncover exactly what you need to know about the two BIGGEST online skin care business models: handmade e-commerce and blogging.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links (at no cost to you). Please read the disclosure for more information.

Handmade E-commerce vs. Blogging

Handmade E-commerce

By referring to ‘handmade e-commerce’ as a business model, I mean making products from your own home, selling them via a website or marketplace, and then shipping them to your customer.

Blogging

By referring to ‘blogging’ as a business model, I mean creating a monetized, professional blogging website that publishes new articles on a routine basis to a dedicated audience and gets paid to do so.

These monetized articles could be tutorials about HOW to make handmade skincare products, recommending other makers’ skincare products, or anything else (related) that would be of value to your reader. No physical products created by YOU are sold/shipped.

Our Goal for This Post/Mini-Course

For each business model, we will go into detail about: 

• Time requirements 
• The space you need
• What to expect to pay (both up-front and ongoing)
• When to expect a financial return 

There is a PDF homework worksheet for each bullet point above so that you can take guided notes about your personal resources as you progress through the course.

Remember to KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN during these homework assignments, as they are simply brainstorming activities. Try not to commit to a certain online business yet so that you can explore possibilities and resources without a biased opinion!

After all of your homework is complete, you’ll be able to make an informed decision based on FACTS rather than a BLIND GUESS with fingers double-crossed!

Enter your name and email below to get your homework packet sent to your inbox:

Time Requirements Overview

Our first section is all about TIME. 

You will need a list of your current obligations, so have your planner in hand and a pen to make notes on the PDF provided in the homework packet.

No matter who you are, I’m willing to bet that time is your most precious resource – it makes complete sense to start your investigation here when deciding on a business model that suits your lifestyle.

A word about ‘Time’ and learning:

With both blogging and handmade e-commerce, you will need to dedicate time to get comfortable with your new software, website or marketplace platform, photography skills, etc.  This requires just diving in, watching tutorials, looking at examples, etc.

The actual time this takes depends on your initial level of comfort with these various tools, as well as how much time you would like to invest in just ‘playing around’ (this is how the best learning is done!).

For those with tech experience, this will be second nature and you may feel ‘ready to go’ after a weekend of clicking around on a new platform.

For others, this may be new territory and will require more time to learn and digest new vocabulary, techniques, and skills. 

If this is you, remember that EVERYONE starts from the same exact spot…knowing NOTHING. We live in a time where there is an answer to literally EVERYTHING online – if you can’t figure something out, please email me and I’ll help you find the correct resource!

E-commerce Time Considerations

(The tasks below are NOT for you to research and do right now…simply read through them so you know what to expect…links are woven in to provide you with easy access to helpful resources later.)

Business setup:

Deciding on your niche and target market

• Translation: What ‘type’ of skin care are you making and WHO are you selling it to?
• Uncovering your skin care target market can realistically be done in one dedicated weekend.

Recipe experimentation and feedback

• This depends on your prior experience with creating products.
• If you already make skin care products and have supplies/equipment, it could take a week or two to narrow down what you’d like to sell (what would fit with your target market).
• If you are new to handmade skin care, give yourself a couple of months to experiment, PLAY, test products on yourself, test products on friends/family, and get honest feedback (check out this natural skincare recipe book for a great starting point).

Choosing packaging that fits your brand

• The time this takes will change based on how large your product line is.
• If you have done your target market homework, choosing your skin care product packaging shouldn’t take terribly long (another dedicated weekend). You will know the price point your customer can expect, as well as the ‘look’ they’d be drawn to.
• It’s worth taking the time to research a few companies so you know you’re getting the best price for your packaging and that they restock frequently so that you can always replenish.

Label creation

• Again, depending on the size of your product line, this could take anywhere between a week to a month.
• Graphic design programs like Canva make label creation much easier than it used to be with tons of tutorials available.
• Editable skin care product label templates are also available on my DIY Skin Care Business website (if you don’t want to size and create your own).
• If printing from home, you can get the labels instantly after designed.
• If having your labels printed professionally, give yourself about a week and a half to receive them.

Product photography & editing

• Product photography is a skill you will always be honing.
• Factor in shopping for any props, lighting, and other equipment.
• Photo shoots themselves can be relatively quick (my husband and I recently shot my entire line in one weekend, nights only).
• Editing photos is the longer portion, which can take a couple of weeks to a month.

Setting up your e-commerce platform

• Using a marketplace (such as Etsy) is the fastest option in terms of setup, as you don’t have a choice over some settings, such as font, page layout, additional page creation, etc.
• Using a website builder (such as Shopify) takes a bit longer, but allows for more customization (fonts, color palettes, additional pages, overall site theme, etc.)
• Expect a couple of weeks to set up your site. At the very least, you will upload your product photos, write product descriptions, an ‘About’ page, and your policies.

Ongoing Business:

Shipping

• Factor in the time it takes to go to and from your local post office to ship orders.
• If you are frequently out of your house, find other post offices that are near your work or errand route.

Customer Communication

• It is a common (and expected) practice for online shops to answer customer questions within 24 hours. This will be a part of your daily upkeep.

Product Creation

• Most handmade skin care items are made in small batches with a somewhat short shelf life. Anticipate frequent formulations (or put yourself on a schedule).
• For example, I create 2 batches of products every day, no matter what, with priority given to items that are sold out in my shop. Decide what is realistic for your other obligations.

Promised Date

• Your customers will be expecting a ‘promised by’ date. While exact shipping time is in the hands of your shipping provider, you do have to commit to a certain production time. If you have a 3-day production time, you are promising that you will have the customer’s order to the post office 3 days after their order goes through on your site.

Marketing

• You will need to market yourself online to drive your own traffic. This includes posting to social media, growing and engaging an email list, and considering Pinterest or ads.
• The amount of time this takes depends on how frequently you post and how many platforms you post on (start small with this, no sense in overwhelming yourself!).
• I personally dedicate one whole day a week to preparing posts and emails for the following week ahead – that way they’re all ready to go and I just have to post and engage.

Blogging Time Considerations

Business Setup:

Deciding on a niche/target market

• Uncovering the skin care target market you’d like to write to can realistically be done in one dedicated weekend.

Setting up your blog’s website 

• You will want a platform that allows you to edit on the front and back end, and this does require training and following some step-by-step tutorials.
• Preparing the foundation for your blog can take a couple of weeks for someone who is working on it full-time (with no prior experience).
• In addition to the base pages (home page, about page, recommendations page, contact page), it is generally recommended for a blog to have about 10 posts (articles) published before ‘launching’ (this is optional).
• To eventually make money from your blog, you’ll want your average blog post to be about 2,000 words (this is roughly 4 pages of single-spaced writing, 8 pages of double-spaced writing per blog post). The amount of time this takes you depends on your comfort with writing long-form content.

Ongoing Business:

Blog Posts

• For the average blogger with other responsibilities, one post a week is typical.
• It takes about 100 blog posts (of long-form content) to start getting some serious traffic from Google. 
• What does this mean?  If you’re writing one post a week, it could take two years to start getting regular, organic traffic. If you’re writing two posts a week, it could take you as little as one year to get regular, organic traffic (keep in mind that blogging is a very long-term business model…ranking in one year is VERY fast and would be incredible).

Creating lead magnets/opt-ins

• For many bloggers, the main goal is to get their audience to opt-in to their weekly newsletter. This allows them to send new posts directly to their readers (more traffic!).
• Creating a basic PDF opt-in can take a few hours after practice. However, learning how to do this can take a few weeks.

Marketing

• You will need to market yourself online to drive your own traffic. This includes posting to social media, growing and engaging an email list, and considering Pinterest or ads. 
• The amount of time this takes depends on how frequently you post and how many platforms you post on (start small with this, no sense in overwhelming yourself!). 
• I personally dedicate one whole day a week to preparing posts and emails for the following week ahead – that way they’re all ready to go and I just have to post and engage!

‘Time’ Homework

Print off the ‘Time’ PDF from your homework packet.

Fill in all ongoing obligations and activities that you currently have in the corresponding column.

Find consistent time to work EVERY WEEK (it can be different every day).

Remember to KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN during these homework assignments, as they are simply brainstorming activities. Try not to commit to a certain online business or perfect schedule yet so that you can explore possibilities and resources without a biased opinion!

Before you decide that the steps outlined in the ‘Time Requirements’ lessons compared to the time you have available are too much…NOT ALL YEARS ARE CREATED EQUAL.

The schedule that I have NOW is SO COMPLETELY different than when I started.

Your schedule WILL change.

I actually have to revisit my schedule multiple times a year depending on what is going on with the girls’ school schedule, my husband’s work schedule, and seasonal obligations. 

Such is the game (and beauty) of being an entrepreneur! 

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Both e-commerce and blogging are long-haul business models. The reason they are perfect for individuals with other commitments is that you can build them one brick at a time, and time is actually on your side.

The key is consistency in little bits at a time versus throwing your whole self into it and burning out after a month. Slow and steady wins the race! 

Be sure to save your homework and tuck it away to reference during the decision-making process at the end of this mini-course.

Space Requirements Overview

Next, we’re going to talk about the space needed to operate a handmade e-commerce business from your home versus the space it takes to be a professional blogger.

TIME TO VISUALIZE!

E-commerce Space Considerations

Formulation Supplies

• You can start a handmade skin care line with VERY minimal equipment and supplies, but they do need to be different from your regular kitchenware and stored separately.

Skin Care Ingredients

• The ingredients for a natural skin care line are also very minimal (waxes, butters, essential oils, and herbs).
• Many of these need to be stored in a cool, dark area (away from UV light), and sealed tightly.

Product Containers

• The containers you’ll have for your products (tubes, jars, bottles) will vary based on your line, but you will also want to keep these in an area that will have no contamination possible.

Product Labels

• Store your skin care product labels (generally 8.5” x 11” sheets) away from UV light (recommend file folders in a cool area).

Shipping Supplies

• Shipping scale, gift boxes and ribbon (optional), shipping boxes, packaging tape, scissors, and included promo such as business cards, thank you notes, and flyers.

NOTE: With e-commerce, things get cheaper when you start to buy in bulk (packaging, shipping supplies, etc.) – consider this for future space needs.

Blogging Space Considerations

A place for your computer. That is it!

Note: Thinking ahead, consider that many successful bloggers also create tutorials, courses, and/or YouTube channels.

If you have any of this in mind, you’ll need a studio space (desk, lighting, microphone, camera, and attractive backdrop or office space).

Other Space Considerations

I can’t overstate the importance of creating a space that is ONLY USED for you to work.

Just as evidence shows that using your bedroom only for sleep enables you to fall asleep more quickly at night, the same ‘mindset’ concept is true for your workspace.

A dedicated office or similar area where you sit to work every day will help you be more productive during your work time.

Sitting on a couch with your laptop next to a pile of unfolded laundry will only hinder your productivity.

If you don’t have a dedicated office to use in your home, take the time before your work period to clear clutter and distractions so that you can completely focus during your allotted work time.

‘Space’ Homework

Print off the ‘Space’ Homework PDF and go through the checklist to identify areas in your space that you can use for your online business. 

Remember to KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN during these homework assignments, as they are simply brainstorming activities. Try not to commit to a certain online gig yet so that you can explore possibilities and resources without a biased opinion!

Be sure to save your homework and tuck it away to reference during the final step of this mini-course.

Financial Requirements Overview

This section is all about the CASH FLOW it takes to start a handmade e-commerce business vs. a professional blog.

I am a huge advocate for not putting yourself into any kind of debt if it is avoidable, and this is absolutely* possible with both business models if you:

• Start small.
• Give yourself boundaries and budgets.
• Avoid ‘shiny object syndrome’ by creating a personal business plan based on resources to which you already have access.

If you haven’t done so already, look at your finances and decide on a dollar amount that you are comfortable lending yourself to get your business started BEFORE looking at the details in the following lessons.

In the startup cost considerations below, I will provide you with two options:

• $: How to do it on the cheap
• $$$: What to expect when you’re ready to upgrade/grow your business

*I started a lip balm business with a borrowed $100 from our checking account, paid it back within two months, and it (plus my blog) has been self-sustaining ever since. It takes work and self-control, but IT IS POSSIBLE.

E-commerce Financial Considerations

Camera for Product Photography

• $: Most camera phones do fine these days
• $$$: Average DSLRs run from $200 – $450 

Computer for website upkeep and photo edits

• $: Use a library computer
• $$$: Large screen iMac $1k – $1.9k

Printer for printing shipping labels and product labels

• $: A basic inkjet is really all you need for shipping labels, available for $30ish (plus ink)
• $$$: Adhesive label printers are about $150

Product Labels

• $: Print from home for ten cents a sheet (plus the cost of the printer above and ink)
• $$$: Professional printing starts at $180 for 250 labels

Skin Care Ingredients

• $: Buy just what you need for a few batches of lip balm
• $$$: Buying in bulk saves you money in the long run, anticipate a couple of hundred dollars per product (depending on ingredient type and quantity)

Product Packaging

• $: Buy smaller sets of 10 or 25 containers until you see what sells
• $$$: Buying in bulk saves you money in the long run, anticipate a couple of hundred dollars per type of container (depending on packaging type and quantity)

Social Media Marketing

• $: You can advertise your products through a Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook business account and manually schedule yourself for free to start
• $$$: Using a scheduler can be more efficient and is around $240 a year (plus more if you’d like to try paid ads; the price for that is based on your audience reach and platform)

E-commerce fees

• $: Selling on a marketplace (like *Etsy) will cost you twenty cents per listing, a 6.5% transaction fee, offsite ads fee of either 15% or 12%, credit card processing fees (based on the location of your bank account), plus other transaction-specific fees such as conversion rates.
• $$$: Setting up your own e-commerce site (such as *Shopify) is around $29-$39 per month (for a Basic Plan) with a 2.9% + 30 cents transaction fee

*These fees are quoted directly from Etsy and Shopify on 3/22/2024 – please check the current fee schedule on the websites directly for the most up-to-date information.

Blogging Financial Considerations

Computer

• $: Use a library computer
• $$$: Large screen iMac $1k – $1.9k

Site hosting

• $: Average startup hosting is $2.99 to $39.99+ per month
• $$$: If you can pay annually, you’ll save money in the long run, but it can be a chunk of change and a long-term commitment.

Theme

• $: There are over 75 free WordPress themes and a handful of free Shopify themes
• $$$: Premium themes can range between $30 – $500 dollars, or you can have one designed for you between $1,500 and $5,000

Purchasing a domain name

• $: Average between $2 and $20 a year (for new domain names)
• $$$: If your chosen domain is taken and you want to add a different extension (meaning instead of blog.com using ‘blog.shop’ or ‘blog.love’) you could pay between $45 to $80+ a year

Email service provider

• $: There are several email service providers that are free for the first 1,000 subscribers you have
• $$$: The most popular blogger email service provider is $79 a month, but that isn’t necessary until you have 5,000 subscribers

Social Media Marketing

• $: You can advertise your blog and/or digital products through a Pinterest, Instagram, and/or Facebook business account and manually schedule yourself for free to start
• $$$: Using a scheduler can save quite a bit of time and is very effective for around $240 a year

Education

• $: There are countless free blog posts that teach you tips and important considerations when starting your blog (I highly recommend sticking to ONE mentor, as there are many ways to go about this, and not all coaches approach it the same way)
• $$$: Blogging Ecourses for teaching how to set up a successful professional blog have become very popular in recent years that take you from step ONE to DONE, with prices ranging from $79 to $497

Other Financial Considerations

Handmade e-commerce:

If you end up going with e-commerce, remember that you can start super small and slowly build up to the online shop that you have envisioned in your mind.

My natural skin care line started with JUST lip balm that I bundled together in a gazillion different types of sets. Spending money on 25 different products that you don’t know will sell while learning the ropes of online business will BURN YOU OUT.

Dream big, but start smart! 

Blogging:

If you end up going with blogging, it is important to note that how your site looks actually doesn’t matter to Google.

Without going into too many details right now about HOW you get found online, the most crucial steps, in the beginning, are using the correct keywords and just getting content out into the world.

You will see MANY other blogs that you are visually in love with…realize that YOUR beautiful site will come, but it’s not worth the cost or energy to purchase an expensive theme and put all of your time into aesthetics at the beginning.

Again…dream big, but start smart!

‘Financial’ Homework

Print off the ‘Startup Costs’ Homework PDF.

Remember to KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN during these homework assignments, as they are simply brainstorming activities. Try not to commit to a certain online business yet so that you can explore possibilities and resources without a biased opinion!

Write down exactly how much money you are comfortable investing into your business, where the money will be coming from, and if it needs to be paid back to the source.

Consider how you would divide up your funds for your business.

I recommend doing this exercise for both business models. Print out two copies or use two different colors of pens and use one color for an e-commerce business and another color for a professional blog.

Clearly, the specifics will change once you get to the end of this mini-course and decide which business model is right for you. Right now I just want you to see how various costs of online business can add up, how the costs are different for each type of business, and that there are always free options for getting started.

Be sure to save your homework to reference during our final steps.

Monetization & Income Overview

I know you’ve been waiting for this section – when to expect a financial return (meaning when you will get PAID) for all of the hard work you’ll be putting in!

I’ll be straight when I say this is a hard topic to approach and quite impossible to discuss accurately ahead of time.

Why?

Because it all depends on YOU, the target market you choose, how you brand your business, and your marketing strategy that doesn’t exist yet.

Online sales really come down to the numbers…the more (correctly targeted) people that see what you have to offer, the more successful you will be.

After your business is up and running, you will have to drive traffic to your website. This is done through social media, Pinterest, email marketing, and word of mouth/reviews.

Because of these important variables, please understand that the information in this section is based on what is possible, not what is guaranteed.

E-commerce Monetization & Income Considerations

Most e-commerce platforms require that your customers pay upfront for their orders.

The only time I’ve seen this to not be true is when providing items for wholesale, where it is common for the seller to provide terms of net 30 to net 90.

When a customer pushes ‘confirm’ on their purchase, you could get paid immediately if it’s on your own website, or in as little as 3 days if you’re selling on a third-party site such as Etsy.

This means that as soon as your website is launched, you can start making an income.

Something else to consider (that is technically outside of the ‘online business’ model) is that if you have gone through the process of creating your skin care line, you now have several handmade goods ready to go…

• Many e-commerce sites are happy to provide you with a mobile credit card reader.
• This means that you can sell the products listed on your site IN PERSON (to friends, family, at craft fairs, in farmers markets, etc).
• Without any extra work, you have created an online business + in-person business (without the need for a brick-and-mortar). Two ways to make an income with just ONE website!

Blogging Monetization & Income Considerations

Ways to Monetize Your Blog:

Affiliate Links:

• Many blogs include affiliate links…a link within a blog post that leads to another site or product (made by someone else) and the blogger gets paid a portion of the sale if the reader makes a purchase.
• You’ve seen this, promise. Look up any DIY blog article on Pinterest and you’ll see that some of the supplies and materials link to Amazon or another website. Those are affiliate links. The blogger gets a percentage of that sale if it goes through (and is the last click…but don’t stress about these details right now).
• Ex: If a supply is $20 and your agreement with Amazon (as an affiliate) is to get 5% of that sale, you’d get paid $1.
• Most affiliate sales are paid out after 30 days to allow time for customer returns. So if on 11/8 one of your readers clicks on a link in your blog post that results in a $20 sale (earning you $1 of affiliate income), you may get paid out December 8th (or later), depending on the company you’re an affiliate for.
• Most programs have a minimum payout rule, meaning they won’t pay out until you have a certain amount earned. So if you earned $1 but the program has a $25 minimum rule, that $1 will sit in your affiliate account until you make the full $25.
• A certain amount of monthly traffic is needed to get approved for most affiliate programs – a fair amount of companies will wait to work with you until you have thousands of monthly visitors. Others will require a certain amount of activity within a set amount of time (meaning ‘x’ amount of sales in a 3-month period, just as an example).

Ad revenue:

• You can also get paid for the traffic (number of visitors) you get to your blog.
• If you get steady traffic (5-50k+ visits a month), companies will pay you to put an ad on your sidebar or in the middle of your blog posts.
• The more traffic you get, the more you get paid.
• The amount you get paid depends on the ad service. While you can get started with some ad services at 5,000 monthly visitors, advanced bloggers recommend waiting for the more premium ad services that require 25,000-50,000 monthly visitors (which generally provides a better user experience and website functionality).
• Most ad services pay out monthly.

Sponsored posts:

• Companies also pay big bucks for you to talk about their products or services. If you are in love with a certain essential oil company and want to write an entire blog post about how wonderful the oils at XYZ company are, you can contact that company to see if they’d pay you to do so.
• A certain amount of monthly traffic is needed to get approved to write a sponsored post – most companies will wait to work with you until you have thousands of monthly visitors.
• Payouts vary widely depending on the company.

Printables & Ebooks:

• Many bloggers sell small, affordable ebooks on their sites. You can see clear examples of these digital resources on my own site.
• Payout for printables and ebooks is immediate, just like the e-commerce business model.
• Keep in mind that creating printables and ebooks requires more learning time and more software on your site than mentioned in the blogging startup sections.

E-courses:

• Serious bloggers can make a really nice income by offering e-courses on their websites that match what they write about.
• The payout for online courses is immediate, the same as the printables and ebooks.
• Keep in mind that creating an online course requires more software (and possibly supplies) and MUCH more time and educational tutorials than mentioned in the blogging startup cost section.

The key to understanding blogging income is that it all depends on traffic and time.

• The more traffic (readers) you receive, the more you will get paid.
• Generally speaking, it takes Google about 18 months (at the beginning of your blogging career) to index your site correctly. Until then, you will need to drive your own traffic.
• Blogging is a long-term business model…keeping that in mind will give you the patience to endure!

‘Monetization Ideas’ Homework

Print off the ‘Monetization Ideas’ PDF from your homework packet.

Remember to KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN during these homework assignments, as they are simply brainstorming activities. Try not to commit to a certain online business yet so that you can explore possibilities and resources without a biased opinion!

Fill in all of the possible ways to monetize your website that you’d be interested in providing to your audience.

This is NOT setting anything in stone.

Simply consider what you’d want to start right away and what you’d be interested in learning more about down the road once you get your feet wet.

Even *if* you have already decided on a business model that speaks to you, I encourage you to fill out the entire sheet.

Be sure to save your homework and put it with the rest of your resources from this mini-course.

Handmade E-commerce vs. Blogging Summary

Time to recap.

This section puts ALL of the handmade e-commerce info together and ALL of the blogging info together to help you finalize your decision.

Overview of a Handmade E-commerce Business

Business setup:

• Deciding on your niche/target market
• Recipe experimentation and feedback
• Choosing packaging that fits your brand
• Label creation
• Product photography & editing
• Setting up an e-commerce platform

Ongoing Business:

• Shipping (to and from the post office)
• Answer customer questions within 24 hours
• Orders need to be made/shipped by the promised date (the average ‘ship by’ date is about 3 days after ordered)
• Marketing yourself (Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)
• After the initial setup of an e-commerce shop, much of the day-to-day work is done off the computer since you’ll be creating the orders you receive.

Space Considerations:

• Supplies (need separate measuring and stovetop supplies from your regular kitchenware)
• Ingredients (waxes, butters, essential oils, herbs, etc.)
• Product containers (tubes and jars)
• Product labels (generally 8.5” x 11” sheets)
• Shipping station (scale, gift boxes, shipping boxes, ribbon, tape, scissors)
• NOTE: With e-commerce, things get cheaper the more you buy in bulk (packaging, shipping supplies, etc.)

Startup Costs:

• Camera for Product Photography
• Computer for shop management and photo edits
• Printer for printing shipping labels (and possibly product labels)
• Skin Care Product Labels
• Skin Care Ingredients
• Product Packaging
• Online Marketing
• E-commerce fees

How to Monetize:

• Physical Products

Payout:

• Immediately if it’s on your own site or in as little as 3 days if you’re selling on a third-party site such as Etsy

Overview of a Professional Blog

Business setup:

• Deciding on a profitable niche
• Setting up your blog’s website
• Creating lead magnets (printables, ebooks, worksheets, etc.)

Ongoing Business:

• Blog post at least once a week
• Creating opt-ins to build an email list
• Marketing yourself (Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)
• Depends on if you want to create printables, ebooks, and courses eventually
• After the initial setup of a blog, the majority of your work is still done on the computer.

Space Considerations:

• Place for your computer
• If you ever plan on creating e-courses or video tutorials, you’ll need a studio space (desk, lighting, microphone, camera, attractive backdrop or office).

Startup Costs:

• Computer
• Site hosting
• Theme
• Purchasing a domain name
• Email service provider
• Pinterest Marketing
• Education to help you get set up

How to Monetize:

• Affiliate Links
• Ad revenue
• Sponsored posts
• Printables & Ebooks
• E-courses

Payout:

• 18+ months for ad revenue
• 30 days for most affiliate sales (but need traffic to get started)
• Immediate payout for printables, ebooks, or e-courses

E-Commerce vs. Blogging In a Sentence

It was essential for you to go through this course to understand the true meaning and number of details in this one, loaded, culminating sentence:

E-commerce is more costly to set up in the beginning but you can start getting paid very quickly, whereas blogging is less costly to set up in the beginning but it can take 18+ months to start getting paid.

Long-Term Business Considerations

If you’re stuck because both of these business models sound amazing (I hear ya!), allow yourself to think long-term for a moment.

A lot of the most successful online entrepreneurs end up combining BOTH e-commerce and blogging together under one website…eventually.

I caution you…really, really, highly caution you…to NOT ATTEMPT tackling both e-commerce and blogging at the same time.

You. Will. Burn. Out.

This is just to assure you that the decision you make today does NOT lock you into a corner.

If your end goal is to make your passion a full-time, scalable business, both can be in your future.

But FOR NOW…TODAY…what will you start with?

Looking at all 4 homework PDFs you completed during this course, which business model fits with your current priorities, space, time, and attention?

Handmade E-commerce

Is the world of handmade e-commerce calling your name???

Congratulations – this is how I got my start in the skin care industry and ended up building an entire career off of LIP BALM alone…the possibilities for you are infinite!

To get started with building a handmade skincare business, check out the Business Branding Guide (ebook + workbook) that walks you through the process simply and efficiently!

Professional Blogging

Is the world of blogging calling your name???

Adding a blog was a fabulous addition to my business lineup, and I’m so excited to see what YOU create for our fellow natural living community!

Blogging on WordPress

Most every website builder (and some marketplaces) has the option for e-commerce and for blogging.

WordPress, Squarespace, Etsy Pattern, Shopify, Wix, GoDaddy, and more.

You will hear more than once along your journey as a professional blogger that WordPress is the Top Dog for building your site.

The blog that you are reading right now is a WordPress site, and I have absolutely loved learning this platform and the infinite ways to customize and scale my online business.

It does have a steeper learning curve than other website builders, but once you get used to it, the other platforms will seem incredibly restricting in what you are able to do.

If and when you decide to add your own handmade products into the mix, you can easily add them to your WordPress site using Woocommerce.

WordPress itself is free to use, but you will need to purchase a domain and hosting plan.

For beginning bloggers, I recommend Siteground as both your host and domain registrar. Their customer service is lightning fast and so kind.

I started with SiteGround and was incredibly happy with my experience for several years.

Once my blog grew and I needed more advanced hosting and website management, I switched to BigScoots, which I currently use.

They have been absolutely fabulous as well, and worth the price tag for the ‘higher maintenance’ place I am in my business.

Blogging on Shopify

If you are not keen on the tech part of WordPress (though I promise you, with a bit of playing around and dedicated time, you really can learn ANYTHING!), you can technically create a monetized blog on Shopify.

To be upfront, Shopify is most known and best-used as an e-commerce platform.

However, Shopify has many tutorials and allows for ad placements and affiliate links, so building this out to be a source of income has potential.

You need to be warned ahead of time that almost all blogging courses and behind-the-scenes blogging tutorials (blog posts and YouTube) are assuming you are blogging on WordPress, so expect to not be able to follow along click-by-click.

Shopify is the best website builder for handmade e-commerce shops, so if you think this may be in your future as part of your business model, it may be worth the hoop-jumping.

It really is all up to you, your comfort level, and long term vision!

Questions?

Have you remained undecided about which online business model is right for you and your DIY skin care passion?

Please join our private Facebook Group to ask any and all questions – there are entrepreneurs there in both skin care business models (including myself) that would love to help!

Request access to the DIY Skin Care Business Private Facebook Group Here

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