What Works Best After Trial and Error

Hey, I've been with Amazon for the past couple years and have tried different methods... I've tried the automated Amazon plugins that post related items. It didn't work well for me and left my site feeling a little spammy. I've wrote reviews but looking back I realized I made the mistake of being too pushy. That wasn't the end of it either. I read many eBooks on how to promote Amazon products and some of them left me with a few good things I could take away from it, but overall not worth much.

Some key points I've learned:

*If you're writing reviews DON'T push for the sale. Honest reviews are key.
*On your website have a good mix-up of good and bad reviewed products.
*Pick a product niche and stick with it. Don't review just anything and everything. (Those don't typically do good.)
*Use other peoples reviews to your advantage.
*Don't review products that are too cheap.

Those are just a few points I've learned over the past couple years working with Amazon as an affiliate. I've compiled a step by step guide on what works best for me called "Amazon Niche Advantage" and made it available for free for DP members *Limited Time* if you're interested.

If you have any thoughts on the eBook I'd love to hear from you.

Here you go: Amazon Niche Advantage

I'll send you my eBook via email.

 

Great share! Btw, you said "Don't review products that are too cheap" but I saw some people still make good cash selling books I'm thinking of selling books like they do, but this makes me confused...

 

It's all my opinion. I would rather sell 1 product that gets me $5.00 commission then have to sell 10 products to get the same $5.00 commission. For me selling lower priced items just don't justify the effort I put in. In general I like to review items that sell for more than $100, but will review products as low as $50 if there are a lot of reviews for the product.

 

I sell a ton of low-priced goods and in the end it makes me more money because I get into the higher commission tiers faster each month. And yeah including negative reviews tends to work really well if you give legit reasons why the product sucks and provide good alternative products with similar features in a similar price range.

 

great tips

 

That's true freelancewebaz, low-priced goods often are easier to sell and can bump you up to the next commission tier. My focus however, is on higher priced items and then if I have time I'll write reviews on product that are lower priced as long as they fall within my niche. I still have my limits and won't review products too low priced.

 

I usually outsource writing projects. Longer review for more expensive products and shorter reviews for cheaper products.

 

@AllproJJ, I don't write reviews about the lower priced goods. I just slap up single page sites that look like a store with the photos linking to Amazon and it's worked pretty well so far. I have two sites like that which make regular sales.

 

AllproJJ, I am reading your little book now, and I found a real fallacy inside it.

You said in your book: "No matter how many products you sell in the Electronics & Computers category you’ll only make 4% per item", and that's certainly not true.

All my websites are electronics & computers related, and I move to the next tier of 6% commission after I make 7 sales. I am in this field for few months, and I know what I am saying very well.

So, correcting your claim here: "Let’s say you sell 10 laptops, you’re gonna be stuck making just 4% commission on each one of those", I say: if you sell 10 laptops, you will get 6% commission. And you can easily move to the next tier according to Amazon's standard plan.

And here is a simple proof for what I am saying:

 

That's not proof at all as you left out which category it was under. Often times things we think of as electronics actually count as something else and are credited with a higher rate. For instance, I've sold computer accessories that were credited at over 7% because they were marked as a different category. Also, laptops and other computers have a fixed commission but no cap on percentage. The 4% cap is on items marked as Consumer Electronics such as camera, bluray players, etc. Post another screenshot with the category.

"Personal computers (both desktops and laptops) have advertising fees capped at $25, and Amazon Video On Demand as well as Amazon MP3 products are capped at $1.50 per item." - taken from Amazon's Help section (http://goo.gl/1sEH2)

 

Have a look pal at this product's page on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005039I32 and you will see clearly it is in the "Electronics" category.

Now, what do you say?

And maybe you are right about the computers thing, but I am sure this is not the case with electronics.

 

Consumer electronics are capped. You can say whatever you want but since you cropped out the category that it was credited to your account with I call bullshit. Affiliate commissions are based on the browse node associated with the product so unless you show that you've shown no proof at all. Also, the cap isn't on Electronics but rather on Consumer Electronics which Amazon does make a distinction between. For instance, an iPad charger ordered through my account was considered electronics but not consumer electronics and so I got the full rate whereas a camera is considered consumer electronics and is subject to the cap.

 

Ok, that's true again. That product was categorized under "computers", so it is not even considered consumer electronics. Does this matter in this discussion?

 

Yes in fact it does. That's why you got the higher rates.

 

I think that an honest negative review of a product will convince your reader of your sincerity and gives you much credibility for the other product review that is a better product (by design or functionality).

 

What you say makes sense and trial and error is always part of the learning process with anything. It took me a while to get a grasp of what works and what doesn't and I never push for the sale. I avoid things like "buy now" and "cheapest price" and stick with things like "click here for more information on the ........". People don't want to feel pressured or trapped in to buying anything.

My approach using free methods.

1. Technology products between £50 - £350 (UK program)
2. Low competition for keywords using free Google keyword tool
3. Product has at 4/5 stars with Amazon and recent positive feedback
5. Use free blog like wordpress or blogger for your articles
4. Write and article 300 - 350 words with three keyword links including a picture
5. Upload the page, tweet it, ping it and use a feed for faster indexing.

All of the products are indexed within 72 hours with Google and the main search engines and about 60% of all promoted products arrive on page one of Google for the relevant keywords. This approach has turned a £50 a month account in to a £300 - £400 monthly commissions and rising and all this using free methods apart from my time about 10 - 15 hours weekly.

Everyone has a different approach and the trial and error period is crucial in understanding the marketplace and what really works best for you and can make a huge difference to your success or failure and the longevity you'll have from online marketing.

Mark

 

@Shmeeko69...Have you noticed a sales spike for any product promotion on the days that Goog gets you gtood placement?

As a seller, my numbers jump drastically on a daily basis...from a base of 2 or 3 sales per day to 8 and 10 sales. The 8 and 10 sales are the spikes and all I can think is causing this is that an affiliate published a good article (pre-sold), got ranked well with Goog and therefore the sales spike.

The drastic sales spikes tell mew that the sellers are getting bogus metrics from AZ since the page views remain rather constant.

Thanks,
Victor

 

Hi Victor, It depends what you're promoting. Some days I only get one or two sales and other I can get 10. What usually causes that, is if one customer by a few items then, it makes a big difference to your sales and conversion rate for eg. customer buys a TV, plus stand, 2 x HDMI cables, universal remote, memory card - that equals 6 sales from one customer.

 

@Shmeeko69...thanks for the info but I think you misunderstood me. I am not a promoter (affiliate marketer) of different products within one or several niches. I am a merchant (seller) who is selling products on AZ.
Specifically I am selling a patented comfort invention to the health care market through several listings. Sales of this one product of mine goes from 2 or 3 per day for a few days and then jump to 8 or 10 sales per day. When I see a jump to 8 or 10 sales per day, I attribute that to affiliate marketers like yourself that are actively promoting my listings through your IM means. What I do not understand is how this happens unless Goog sporadically sends some affiliate pages that are promoting my products to the top thus more readers, thus more sales.

Just trying to figure things out so I can 'rinse and repeat'.
Thanks,
Victor

 

Thanks for the tips. Do you think digital music is a good category to go after, since the commissions are high (at least that's what I remember)?