I've been promoting Clickbank products for a few months now, and up until about 2 weeks ago things were going swimmingly. Now, sales have suddenly dried up to nothing. Not one in two weeks. I know the economy is in the dumper, but this seems ridiculous. How do I tell if someone is stealing my commissions?
I suspect the economy. There is no real gang of commission pirates out there. Word to the wise: promote to non Internet consumers of if you do, own the product you sell. That way, it doesn't matter who buys it. You still get paid.
You say sales have dried up. Are people still clicking on your links? Are you using tracking codes to see which links are getting clicked on, compared to before? It's impossible to know if a person bought through his/her own link after clicking on yours, but at least you'll have an idea about click activity.
Target traffic is what you`re looking for. I`m not very familiar with the high jacking techniques. One thing you can do is to click your own affiliate link, go to the merchant`s sales page and click on the Order button. Take a peek down in the footer is that you`re affiliate ID there ?
I feel if you are concerned about it, search for "affiliate link cloaking" in to cloak your links.. Cloaking does is protects your clickbank affiliate link and helps you make a sale without the buyer knowing that the link is an affiliate link and it makes it safer for you to hit sales, faster as well. There are invisible link cloakers and visible link cloakers. You've got to find them.. I guess, not sure, clickbank has affiliate link cloaking tools.. There are free link cloakers available as well. Find them on google. tinyurl.com is one of them .. I love to help people and build my reputation here.. each strong posts adds so much quality value to other members here.. Liked my posts, let me know or add a rep. Add me on skype if you had like to talk to me. Thanks.
I basically never make a single sale with Clickbank. After an entire year of that BS, I stopped using them entirely. Yet, I can do extremely well using other affiliate programs...makes me think that something is very wrong with CB.
Wether or not clickbank is tracking it correctly is the real question thats been asked 1000 times. But to answer your question, If your still getting hoplinks, nobody is cookie dropping or 'Hijacking' your links. Best of Luck.
I use CB and have been very successful, it's definately the economy. You will notice a huge spike come the first of Januray.
Let's hope you're right, tarpon19! All this talk about ClickBank having problems is probably disheartening to some, but I think the economy, and many people holding back on credit card usage, definitely has some effect.
Only some niches are working good in this economic condition, if you are getting hops then no one has hijacked your site or link(etc.). In my views try to sell make money or seasonal product for time begin.. We are in same boat. Best luck!
I feel your pain CheapCanuck, It could be a product cycle thing. Check to make sure there is nothing new out that everone is promoting and selling. For example I work and monitor the Forex niche a lot and a new product hit the market FAPS turbo, and all the other products I was promoting saw their gravities cut by as much as half in like a week as it swung up to over 500 gravity! The other simple truth my Canadian friend is that your government almost got toppled this week over the economy (or their lack of initiative to introduce a stimulus package), and in the US today the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Non Farm Payroll Numbers (US Employment Picture) a the fact that in November ALONE, more then 533,000 (THAT IS OVER HALF A MILLION FOR THOSE NOT PAYING ATTENTION) people lost their jobs was made public. Things are not pretty right now friend. Some stuff still works and if you grind it out and double your efforts there are still sales to be found, but it is real tough out here! Unfortunately what we sell is extra! If you can not afford your home, or heating and electrical expenses, or even food for that matter, the clickbank guide on how to do whatever is usually one of the first luxuries to get cut! Hopefully things sure up soon. I would hate to have to explain to my pretty wife that we may have to pack up and leave our nice house on the hill to return to less expensive accommodations. As cute as I am, THAT WILL BE A PROBLEM!
I definitely feel it's the economy because my sales dropped as soon as the SHTF. They have started to pick up this week so let's hope for a Happy Xmas.
Still not a single sale in over a month, despite a lot of hops. Getting pretty discouraged. I've stopped active promotion for now to focus on other things. Until I hear people praising Clickbank again I'll probably just let it simmer.