I run a celeb news/gossip site, and last week started running CJ ads on my site. While the CTR is very, very, very low, it's high enough that I'd like to pursue it further (even on a new site if it doesn't work out on this one). I noticed CJ also features text links. I'm curious what kind of results users have had? I'm also wondering which of these 2 methods would be an effective way of using the text links; I've had success in the past (with Amazon program) by merely linking to the product from within my posts (i.e. "Kylie Minogue has just released her new calendar and it's great"). Would actually pitching the product work any better, or worse? I'm thinking of something like "I highly recommend all Kylie fans check out her new calendar over at XYZ Store" or the even more direct "If you think these photos of Kylie are good then you should buy her new calendar at XYZ Store etc." Or should I just ditch text links altogether? All advice appreciated
I find text links to products work very well. Your calendar example is ideal, find products that will be of interest to your audience and promote them in your posts. Another affiliate you could push (again off CJ) is ebay, simply link to auctions related to the celebrity.
Thanks dct, but which technique should I go with, the direct pitch or no pitch at all? (question's open to anyone else, of course )
I'd go for the direct pitch approach. One of the most profitable posts I made was about this cool GPS tracker, the product was of interest to my readers and also an affiliate link. I was fortunate enough for it to get on the front page of digg and I can happily testify that digg readers (who tend to be very fickle) do buy things when it interests them.