Okay, I'm not getting rich or even making enough to brag about, but I'm really excited that both yesterday and the day before I made a sale on CJ. Basically, the first two days that I'd added the link I made a sale. So, if you are like me, and have been getting discouraged, keep trying. From time to time you'll hit on something that works, and you can learn a lot when you finally do. I think I learned something about "pre-selling" or getting the user excited about a product before they get shuttled off to another site... otherwise, why would they click the link in the first place? Cough, cough. Yes, I had a property getting reasonable traffic and no clicks and no sales... oh well, one step at a time.
Sure, I don't want to pretend I'm an expert, but in general what I noticed made a difference for me... Link to Product X Emotional claim about product X. Feature or benefit of product X. Feature or benefit of product X. Call to action. So, you are educating them about the thing you are linking to, so they really know whether or not they want to click it, plus you are giving them some excitement about whats on the other end... and giving them a push. Oh, important point, and make sure you are being honest. Your credibility is important if you want people to link to you, visit again or recommend others visit you. I find this easiest to do with products I have personally used and tried, though if I see something with a lot of great detailed reviews I can also form a positive impression and do this.
Grokodile hit the nail on the head. It's all about preselling benefits of what the product or service has to offer. Make the visitor imagine what life would be like without the product (tug on the heartstrings ). Be honest in your review. If there is something that you didn't quite like but you still give it a 9/10. Be sure to tell the visitor what it is. It will build trust and repeat visits.
Ok that makes sense but if thats the case why is a 468x60 banner often the Top converter? Shouldn't it be text links?
Well this is a bit more complicated, assuming I understand your question, but here goes... The rules will be changed if you are dealing with a brand name spur of the moment decision. If you are displaying a banner that isn't already well branded, or not dealing with an understood commodity, then it too will have to educate the user and make them curious about a product or service. I'm sure it gets much more complex than that based on the product category, but you get the idea. Also, keep in mind, banners catch the eye and are fairly likely to be read or watched. If people don't see or read text, they won't click it. Finally, is your site geared towards people that are reading everything or are they just there to look at cool graphics, images and movies? No definitive answers, but lots of questions, so just try different things out and see what is working for your audience.
I can understand you being pleased with that Groko, I havn't had any sales yet but will be pleased if I ever do. My site doesn't have any text links but maybe that's something I need to do in the future. My links are all CJ and Amazon. My site life-school.co.uk is only a week old. Would anyone like to estimate how many unique visitors per month I would need to attract per sale on a site like this? Or any other recommendations?