Obviously, this is a very generalized question. But for you, which niche market do you get the most income from? Also, if you have a story about how you got started, where you are at as an affiliate marketer, and how you got there, I would love to hear it and I believe it could be very beneficial for others to hear them as well. I'll go first. First let me tell you. I am not a great website builder. I either a) use easy web creation software, or b) hire out. I have been an affiliate marketer for 4 years. I started with eBooks, but the volatility of the market overwhelmed me. Too many refunds, to many lawsuit threats, and I finally just decided to stop doing eBooks for awhile. From there, I decided to move towards a more ambitious project. Create a social network for gamers. I hired a programmer, spent a huge amount of money, and got a social network for gamers that was great, unique, at was easy to get members. The only problem, I didn't make me any money, and cost too much money. And in order to change the business model, do a website revamp, I needed venture capital. That in itself is an extremely hard process. I got tired, worn out, and just sat on the website, and am still sitting on it. From there I decided I was going to keep it simple. I started making unique, couple page websites. Joined some affiliate programs. Started advertising them, and boom. It worked. So I decided to make more, and more, and more... Some were or are successful, but most fail. I would say my success rate is 1 in 50. My problem is getting to generalized. I try to make a couple new niche websites a week, in many different markets. No matter how many fail, I still manage to squeeze out about six figures a year. But it is so frantic. Markets change so rapidly online, it is really hard to keep up. My biggest problem is riding the roller coaster of affiliate marketing. The ups and downs are so dramatic. A website can be extremely successful one day, and nada the next. Sorry, this is kind of a rant, but i will get to the point. First some advice for beginners... try and try again. You WILL fail, but don't get discouraged. And some questions for the veterans.... What in your experience is better? Focusing on one major project, or spreading out your energy on many different smaller projects. How many times do you fail before finding something that works? What markets do you work with, and which is the most profitable for you and consistent? Anyway, theres my little rant, and short story of my affiliate marketing carer thus far. I would love to hear everyone elses experiences, any advice, etc...
Definitely spread your energy out on many different smaller projects as you say. Rake in the cash using the "shotgun" method. The couple that do especially well will be the keepers...
Thanks for the post. Do you think you could expand a little more on why campaigns/sites go ka-put? Competition from other affiliates? I can't think of other reasons (as a newbie).
Sure. There are many reasons why many of my successful affiliate websites failed. 1. The biggest is change in demand. If something is not as high in demand anymore, it is harder to convert. 2. Change in trends. 3. Competition. This can be an issue. Especially if it is a new affiliate, spending way too much on advertising, and driving the CPC up. But affiliate websites like that are not sustainable. SO if you do it better, then just be patient, and wait. And they will fail, and you will still be there. There are many reasons affiliate websites fail, those are just a couple.
Note: I was in a big rush when I wrote this, I may come back later and write a more clear/detailed reponse. *kinda hard to be detailed on something like this when you need to get in your car and go out with the family who's standing at the door waiting for you lol* I don't think you'll get alot of people answering your first question on which niche is the most profitable. It's different for everybody, and alot of people guard their biggest sources with their lives. I specifically work with very niche specific product groups. For example - camping gear, when working on that niche I only work with a few key merchants that are setup really well in that market, I refuse to work with large merchants that have thousands of products in hundreds of niches. I got started many many years ago, in the pharmacy field. Won't go into the details right now. Where I am now is that I could quit my day job and live happily off the revenue, but I choose not to. I won't disclose exactly how much I make. I work with a few medium size projects at a time. Usually about 5 sites in different markets. 99% of the time lol. But once you find the 1% of things that works for the spcific program/products things take off very quickly. I work in specific narrow product groups. One example like I gave above is camping equipment.