Lessons I've Learned From My First Successful Foray Into Affiliate Marketing

I think I finally cracked the code towards success with Amazon Associates.

In late February, I started a new blog covering a photography software application featuring reviews, news, tips, tutorials, and stuff like that. It's really taking off with over 8K hits so far, with 12 sales through Amazon for $58. I also made $16 from CJ, and a whopping $2.57 from Adsense. Not bad for 10-15 hours of work.

And this is with ZERO promotion of the site except for a single ezinearticles.com article. I haven't even started pushing the site and I barely have any inbound links.

So between my many failures and one success, I learned a few things along the way:

1) Don't Focus on What's Most Popular

There are a million people writing about Photoshop, but not that many writing about the product I focus on. So I'm now ranked #1 for over a dozen very important search terms on Google and on the first page for countless others, simply because there's less competition. And if this product grows, I've got a great foothold within the search engines to stay relevant.

So promote products that aren't always the most-talked about, but which still have a decent level of consumer interest.

2) Don't Sell Hard

Don't paint everything rosy, because you'll just sound like a used-car salesman. Don't be afraid to NOT SELL by saying things like "this product may not be right for you if..."

And don't pretend everything is perfect. People can detect BS better than you think.

3) Serve a Purpose

Don't just sell - also help. Offer free information, even if it doesn't make you money. If you promote smartphones, write simple user guides and lists of tips for readers. Original, relevant information keeps people on your site and makes them likely to eventually click an ad or affiliate link. Google likes original content too.

4) Use Multiple Sites

Don't count on one site to make you money. Different product areas will have hot items at different times, and diversity smooths out your earnings. Plus, the more items you sell, the faster you get into higher commission tiers.

5) Just Get Them to Amazon

It's important to get people to Amazon any time you can simply because people just might buy something. My biggest sale so far (netting me $22 in commission) came from something I'm not even linking to. If people get to Amazon from your site and buy, they will make you money. And even if a sale earns you a commission of 50 cents or a buck - the volume can push you into a higher commission tier.

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Going forward, I'm planning on launching a brand new niche site on the first of every month, with the goal of making $1,500 in December of this year. I think I've found a formula that works, and I'm going to stick with it.

 

Thanks! You have given me several good ideas and some motivation.

 

Thank! for idea

 

thanks for idea. I get many new ideas after reading your tips.thanks mate

 

Nice post. At least this further goes to show that you don't have to sell hard or promote the most popular products to make some nice money.
Good luck and hope you continue to make even more.

-
Helen

 

Care to explain when you said "Don't Focus on What's Most Popular". How do you judge this criteria? any rough numbers from kwtools/google?

 

I actually don't even think that hard with this stuff. I just want something that isn't number-one its category, but can still be monetized.

 

I dont know. I dont think we should based on hit and run. we need to have some sort of guidance. otherwise it will be very difficult for us to repeat the success. i used to do the same thing "hit and run". it was difficult to repeat the successful sites. now days i'm more careful in planning my venture. i do lot more on planning especially on the keywords and niche. of course numbers from kwtools alone wont guarantee any success there lot more than the numbers.

 

One of my key success is tracking...I never add any tracking piece in the past, so I'm blind to visitor.
I would recommend to at least install a tracking on your Amazon sell site, at least get google analytics.

 

yeah, i did the same mistake earlier. i did not do proper tracking. only looking at my stat figures. now days most of my important sites have at least google analytic with goal setting. at least i know how many visitors i'm sending to amazon/affiliate sites. lot more to learn about google analytics.

 

Good advice.

now I sold only cheap product. but get volume for more commission.

 

4) Use Multiple Sites

Don't count on one site to make you money. Different product areas will have hot items at different times, and diversity smooths out your earnings. Plus, the more items you sell, the faster you get into higher commission tiers.


i am confuse with this section

plz give details what you wana say ??

 

Good treads my friend.... thank you very much....

 

Yeah, I actually kind of dumb-lucked my way into this one - but I'm becoming much more calculating going forward. I want and need to make real money online.

But a new blog I'm starting up is about a particular product that gets millions of Google searches a month but doesn't have a single blog devoted entirely to that product.

It's about $100 on Amazon, but if I end up selling 2 a day, that's about $240 a month plus 1) revenue from additional items they pick up at the same time 2) additional revenue if I get pushed into a higher commission category from the added volume and 3) more interlinking with my related blogs, which gives me even more moneymaking potential.

 

I like your way of thinking "BlogsAboutCrap", and at least you are doing something that works for you.
Far better than those who try amazon once and give up complaining they don't make any money

I noticed myself i can see more of an item listed between 11 and 20 in amazon best sellers than i can listed 1 to 10 ...
simple there are less blogs/sites pushing the items.

Hey, even adding one new blog/site a month gives 12 more ways of earning and they can earn for a long time.

 

Number three is your most important point here, because most people don't do it:

3) Serve a Purpose

Google will not like you unless you offer something of value. Rewrite the product descriptions to be better. Add more information about them. Write a review. Write a guide on how to use it. Recommend other products relating to it.

Above all, think of the customer. What will help them? What will they want?

 

Yes. Thi is great.
Some people start by somethings that most popular. ex. HDTV
Then you are in HARD market.

So for Beginner I suggest Slow but Sure.

 

Hi all, I just wanted to post a quick progress report:

Amazon Associates Earnings:

February - $4.31
March - $63.11
April to date - $85.49 (hoping for $105 for full month!)

Besides time, my only cost has been $30 spent on new domains, and $25 I spent on a book. I've set a goal for myself to earn $1,500 in Internet-sourced revenue in the month of December, and I think I'm off to a decent start with $118 in revenue so far in April.

I'm actually planning on starting a blog for beginners interested in Amazon Associates. I had a manic 12-hour episode on Monday where I did the following:

1) Bought a book that was brand new with no reviews (a book I would have bought anyway)
2) Read it very carefully and took detailed notes
3) Started a new blog on that book genre (I have a formula for getting new blogs up and running quickly)
4) Wrote a 1,200 word review
5) Posted excerpt with links to review on multiple user-generated content sites
6) Submitted to multiple social-networking sites

Results:
Site crawled within 12 hours (good wordpress theme + google sitemap + social networking links)
Attracted a few natural inbound links from good sites
Over 700 UV's
11 RSS subscribers
5 orders for a little over $5 in revenue

So far, the site has been a money-loser because of money spent on the book and domain, but here are the benefits:

1) I'm monetizing a hobby (makes it easy to justify spending $$ on stuff to girlfriend) and it will turn a profit within a month or two.
2) The more low-priced books I sell, the more money I make on higher-priced stuff like software - the cheap books I sold ensured that I'm now in the 6.5% bracket on Amazon.
3) I can review books a lot faster than the critics, and there are plenty more in the genre coming out. Getting a review up first helps big-time in search rankings.
4) As this site gets crawled and gains importance in search engines, it becomes helpful in launching other new sites and blogs I'm planning.

 

nice post and great advice - thanks i will try it

 

Not bad for 8k hits! Working on a blog myself.