One of the easiest ways I've seen to sell digital products from a WordPress blog is the WordPress eStore plugin:

http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wordpress-estore-plugin-complete-solution-to-sell-digital-products-from-your-wordpress-blog-securely-1059

This guy had the exact same problems you've described with using PayPal, and developed a system to make it much easier. It takes care of leading the customer to the download page, and also emails them after the sale to make sure everything's OK. It has added security, like making each user's download link unique so you can limit how long it remains active and how many times it can be downloaded for each customer.

He also has an affiliate plugin that works with eStore, so you can get other people to promote your products and pay them commissions.

I don't want to sound like I'm spamming, but these plugins are very useful, and very reasonably priced for what they do. Plus the guy is himself a microbusiness! He provides fantastic customer support, too.

I'll have to check that out --- thanks for the info! It's always good to support other microbusiness owners (and I'd never think you were spamming --- I e-know you. )

This is great advice! I might have to pick that book up again and look at it with new eyes.

What's funny is that I got the idea of reading the book from your list...

This post reminded me of something I've been wondering for a long time --- what do you feel about putting ads (through adsense) on an e-commerce site? We get quite a bit of traffic on our chicken waterer site from folks who are just wandering the web and stumble across our information about chicken tractors and homemade chicken feed. Do you think that putting ads on a site like this siphons people away from buying your products, or is it more of a way to supplement that income?

I wouldn't put ads on an ecommerce site. Your competitors could target your site, so that their ads appear on your site, and they'd probably claim to be better and/or cheaper. It'd be like a BMW dealership handing out flyers for Mercedes cars to try to make a little extra money. You really don't want your customers to even know about your competitors!

If you want to try to monetize all those people just clicking around looking for info on chickens, set up a separate site with lots of chicken info. It could carry AdSense ads, but would also funnel people towards your Avian AquaMiser site (just like your Walden Effect site does so effectively).

Anna,

Normally I wouldn't put Adsense ads up on an eCommerce site. It looks unprofessional most of the time and you can often make more money selling products than the few cents you might get on a click. HOWEVER, I would make an exception if your ecommerce site has a very limited product selection, such as a microbusiness website where you are only selling one invention and maybe a few accessories.

Both of you have such good (and complementary) points! My gut reaction was not to put ads up on the site, but I can see how using Darren's suggestion, I might get the best of both worlds. (Or maybe just put ads up on the educational section. Or work harder on making those sections channel into the selling sections.) Lots to ponder! Thanks!

I've enjoyed reading your blogs for the past few months. This post reminds me of a question I had when I first started reading regarding what you do for health insurance. I feel that health insurance, not housing is the biggest factor tying most people to their traditional jobs. The options you mention for housing in this post seem reasonable for someone seriously wanting to switch to a microbuisness model from the traditional 9-to-5 but the lack of health insurance seems like the gordian knot, especially if you have a spouse and small child. I'd be very interested to see a post (posts?) on this topic.

Thanks for your time.

I'm always so glad to see that someone's reading over here. Sometimes I feel like I'm writing into a void.

That's a really good question --- I'll put together a post about it next week!

Isn't it funny how people will spend hours doing cryptic crosswords and sudoku puzzles that have no point, yet run screaming at the thought of keeping their own books or doing their own tax returns?

What worked for me was marrying an accountant :-).

"Marry an accountant" is the best simple living tip I've heard this week.

It is awfully nice to complement your spouse's good traits (and to compliment them too!) Mark is good at bringing in money, but is a terrible accountant. That's where I come in --- I'm good at making it all add up at the end of the month and making sure it doesn't slip through our fingers.

First you talk about "leftover strawberries", and now "excess cash"! You really have to stop making up these crazy terms :-).

On a serious note, I find that money spent on really high-quality tools brings me enjoyment every time I use that tool. I can feel the quality, the tool is nice to use, and I know it's going to last a long time. Money spent on cheap, low-quality tools continues to annoy me each time I use that tool until it finally breaks and costs me more money to replace.

Money spent on "stuff" is sometimes also being spent on the experience you'll enjoy from using that stuff, and so can contribute to happiness. This doesn't apply to shiny geegaws and throwaway junk, but to actual useful things that'll you'll keep for a long time and get a lot of use out of.

Only problem is, I keep having to learn this lesson over and over again :-).

I was actually thinking along these same lines as I was weeding yesterday (my thinking time.) Some things do buy experiences, and we probably think that all things buy experiences. I guess the question is --- is the experience a quick rush or something that will quickly fade into annoyance?

I feel the same way about our semi-fancy camera as you feel about your expensive tools. I'm constantly awed by the things it can do, and by the new experiences I have with it (seeing tiny bugs, etc.) I think Mark is entirely on your side about tools --- if we had the space to organize them, he'd probably buy every tool there is!

Now I'm getting long-winded, but I think that taking care of things is one reason that even the best ones pale in comparison to pure experiences. I can (mostly) manage not to drop my fancy camera in the creek or on a rock, but when I have more stuff than I can use in my normal daily life, it turns into clutter, and that weighs me down! Experiences, though, are just happy memories (that manage to get happier as they fade into the distance. )

Interesting stuff to think about!