Affiliates...

[nickc]

Hi all. I'm considering starting to use affilates on my site (such as Amazon) and I wonder if anyone can give me an idea of how much I can expect to make with (say) 5 affilates running and how many hits a day I will need to achieve this? I'm in the UK but quotes in dollars will be fine. Thanks.

Nick

[Perry]

Well, since no on else is going to reply, I might as well answer ya.

You read a lot of posts from people exclaiming how much they make. "I made $10,000 last month!!!" Gotta throw in those !!! also. cough, cough....

It can throw a person, who is just starting in this, off, because you get some weird people who will post anything, just to be part of a group, or to have fun at telling tall stories. Afterall, it's an Internet message board, and you are going to get some wild posts. NOT ALL OF THEM ARE LIKE THIS, THOUGH.

Then, you have the affiliate managers who also tell little white lies to bring in more affiliates. Many of these managers partly work for commission. NOT ALL OF THEM ARE LIKE THIS, THOUGH.

Then, you have the merchants who are not on the up and up. Pets-Warehouse.com is one of them. Go to petswarehouse.com (without the hyphen) to understand what I am talkng about.

Sometimes you have to make sure not to bend over in this business.

But...you can make money at this. The catch is, it takes a lot of sites to do it! ... I had to throw in that exclamation point.

Start off with doing the most popular. Dieting, hair loss, cosmetics, adult products (liberator.com is a biggie), plus-size clothing for women, loans, discounted inkjet cartridges (everyone needs those, and look how much those damn cartridges cost!).

Then throw in some high-paying programs. DentalPlans.com, Pillstore.com and carltonsheets.com are just a few.

Start off this way.

Forget about those "niches" you hear about. It's crap. You can make as much money with a product that everyone and their brother is doing, because not many will buy those so-called niche products. It just isn't that appealing to most.

But then again, UNLESS you are a advertising wizard. I am, but I just don't want to fool with them. It takes too much of my time trying to find them.

In order to make the kind of money that pays your bills, you have to put up a lot of merchant's stores. My guess would be a minimum of 20. It's just a guess, mind you, but you get the gest.

And, don't forget all the returns that these people will be doing. Those 10 sales you made last week can turn into just 2 next week. Yet another reason why you need A LOT of stores up.

But, don't be discouraged from my post, there chief, becasue you CAN make money at this. The key is to not give up, and build, build, build....AND BUILD SOME MORE!

If you do it right, making sure you have the proper keywords in, a bit of advertising, adsense, and all that shyt, you can expect to see the kind of money within 90 days that can seriously help you out in paying your bills.

I wanted to post the realities of this, because not many will. I have fond that most affiliates are a bunch of nerdy, no-sense-of-humor tight lips. Oh what fun they would be at a toga party!

Have fun!!! See ya in the funny papers!!!

Had to end it with 3 exclamation points.

[jackson992]

I have never seen such a post of things not to do to succeed. No, it will not be easy but it is definitely viable.

My advice is to start on one focused area to promote. Unlike what Perry said, you can make it off 1 to a handful of merchants.

You can also definitely make it off of one site. Sure, the more sites you have the greater change you have making more money, but 1 site will still make you successuful

[Perry]

Ummm...yeah, ok.

Nick posted alomst a week ago without a reply, and wa la, someone else replies. Well, that's one way to get people to reply, tell the realities of affiliate marketing.


Merry Christmas.

[dentalplans]

Hello, affiliate marketing is growing big-time. We run one of the larger affiliate programs promoting dental plans in the US. My advice would be to start building unique websites and include plenty of content on them and make them look professional. Then, place your links to the advertiser's site on the page and make it all blend nicely. Then, submit your sites to the search engines with those free programs to get them to recognize you. Then, start experimenting (on a very small scale) with the pay-per-click search engines (like Overture, google, and findwhat). You can obtain keyword lists from the merchants a lot of times. If you see clicks and conversions coming in you know you can make money selling that particular product.
Thank you,
Evan Weber, DentalPlans.com
954-923-1487 x. 105
evan@dentalplans.com

[Cedric]

>>The catch is, it takes a lot of sites to do it!<<

No it doesn't.

>>Start off with doing the most popular. Dieting, hair loss, cosmetics, adult products (liberator.com is a biggie), plus-size clothing for women, loans, discounted inkjet cartridges (everyone needs those, and look how much those damn cartridges cost!). <<

hmmm... I didn't start off with ANY of those and after 2.5 years of doing this full time, there's only one in that bunch that I consider worthwhile.

>>Forget about those "niches" you hear about. It's crap. You can make as much money with a product that everyone and their brother is doing, because not many will buy those so-called niche products. It just isn't that appealing to most. <<

Actually, the biggest problem with niches is when every other affiliate on the planet picks them up. Until that point, niches can be very very hot... but when others pick them up, time to move to the next niche.

And now the original questioner can see the real problem with message boards... there are as many different opinions as there are affiliates.

And to the original question? It's impossible to determine your potential income without knowing your marketing expertise, the quality of your traffic, what your targeted market is seeking when they arrive at your site and what you intend to offer them.

And even if we knew all of that? Experimentation is still the only real way to determine your potential.

[Perry]

"No it doesn't."

I try to give more than 3 words to posters who ask questions.

Sorry for the jab, I couldn't resist that one.


"hmmm... I didn't start off with ANY of those and after 2.5 years of doing this full time, there's only one in that bunch that I consider worthwhile."

So that means that they aren't worthwhile, because you couldn't make them work??? The items named, along with magazines, and a few others, are the top sellers and the most searched for in the Internet.


"Actually, the biggest problem with niches is when every other affiliate on the planet picks them up. Until that point, niches can be very very hot... but when others pick them up, time to move to the next niche."

Actually, if done right, and if one does their homework (finding the best prices and company that has good customer relations), even the most saturated items, like inkjet cartridges as an example, sell just as much.

Not to start an argument here, but it's kind of funny, I have asked past posters to list the niche products that they have pushed in the past, and they either can't come up with any, or they really weren't niches at all. There were many other products that sold just as well. They just thought it was a niche, because few others were pushing it.

And yes, I waited to ask them AFTER they no longer pushed the said niches. That way they can't come back with, "It's a secret."


"And now the original questioner can see the real problem with message boards... there are as many different opinions as there are affiliates."

That's why I tell people to not believe everything they read or hear (yes, including my posts). Find out for themselves. In the end they will know.


"And to the original question? It's impossible to determine your potential income without knowing your marketing expertise, the quality of your traffic, what your targeted market is seeking when they arrive at your site and what you intend to offer them.

And even if we knew all of that? Experimentation is still the only real way to determine your potential."

Well, at least we can agree on that one.

[Cedric]

"No it doesn't."

I try to give more than 3 words to posters who ask questions.

Is there something that wasn't clear about my response?

So that means that they aren't worthwhile, because you couldn't make them work???

No, it means there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Actually, if done right, and if one does their homework (finding the best prices and company that has good customer relations), even the most saturated items, like inkjet cartridges as an example, sell just as much.

Yeah, I hate doing homework.

Not to start an argument here, but it's kind of funny, I have asked past posters to list the niche products that they have pushed in the past, and they either can't come up with any, or they really weren't niches at all.

No argument from me. I have absolutely no problem at all with you believing there are no affiliates with successful niches.

[jackson992]

I actually agreed with everything Cedric posted. Let me add a few tho.

What is to me a niche is not necessarily a nitch to another person. "Niche" is a hard word to define. Like in your post you mentioned ink jet cartridges I think? To me that is a niche. To me a niche site is a site that focuses on one category or merchant etc and pushes it as opposed to mall sites which handle eveything

As I've learned from Cedric, in this business ultimately research is king. Along with this is to keep making pages. Wjat works for me won't work for other people and vice versa. I could have one merchant I do really well with and other people can't get them to sell at all. It's just the nature of the business

[trogar]

I would tend to agree with other comments made in this thread about the ability to "project" possible income. It is almost impossible to project an outcome when so many factors come into play. What is your marketing experience? Do you already have well trafficked sites that you can funnel visitors into your programs? Do you have a newsletter that you use regularly to keep visitors informed that you could also place program adds in? And the list goes on and on.

If you want to read something that outlines some basic principles in selecting your affiliate programs, I wrote an article a while back on affiliate strategy. It takes into account some basic principles and guidelines you should use as a means to determine which types of affiliate programs to use on your site. Once you can establish the information I talk about in the article, then is the time to do the type of research mentioned by Perry to maximize your earning potential.

You can read my article at http://www.sanders-consultation-grou...tegy-index.htm . It has also been published at NewbieHangout http://www.newbiehangout.com/articles/sanders/

After reading that, I would also suggest reading my article on emotional marketing at http://www.sanders-consultation-grou...-marketing.htm . That one has also been published at NewbieHangout. Using these principles will help you to pick affiliate programs in line with your site, and help you to generate the feelings people need to make purchases. Once armed with this knowledge, I would suggest following the other research mentioned in this thread to finalize the programs that will work best for your site.

A final caution on this topic. No two people do things the exact same way. Therefore, something that works for one, might not work for the other. There are many factors that come into play here. I've mentioned some of them in my post, but there are many more. On a side note, do a search at Google on affiliate strategy and emotional marketing :o).

Hope this information is of some help to you nickc

[voasi]

Here is a great resource for affiliates looking to jump in with 2 feet: http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/discus

Some of the people that talk on this forum are the best in the biz when it comes to starting your own affiliate program. And most of the time, they have no problem stating their success stories and telling you how much they really make a month.

Don't let anyone get you down about the affiliate game. Do your homework. Write great, keyword-rich content. Learn how to link with other websites. Read great ebooks like James Martell's ebook.

By doing all of those things, you will be successful with affiliate programs, no matter how saturated a "niche" is!

How hope this helps!

[codylh]

Something that I feel needs to be said about whether or not to have alot or a little, is that there really is not solution for any one individual. You will create your site and use your affiliate programs exactly how you feel comfortable in doing so. I will use them just the way that I like using them.

I am a pro at what I do, you are a pro at what you do and what makes this great is that you make your money based on your style, not what is or isn't. As do I.

[Electronic Perceptions]

I've been making money with affiliate programs since 1997, and like someone else here said: there's more than one way to do it.

Someone asked for niches? Here's a few I've been successful with:
- Website hosting
- Low carb food products
- Business opportunity/information products
- Palm Pilot Software
- PDA, Computer and other gadget hardware/accessories
- Subscription based electronic newsletters
- Domain name sales (new and expired ones)
- hobby products
- catalogs & free magazines
- pay per click search engines

Yes you can simply set up many sites, and drive the traffic to the affiliate partner site. This works decently well when you have keyword specific domain names, combined with an affiliate partner that converts well.

Another thing that works with a good converting partner is to simply run Google or Overture ad campaigns. Send the prospects directly to the affiliated site.

Yet another thing that works extremely well is to create a topic specific - yes niche - site that simply "reviews" products/services/programs. And/Or contains articles or advertorials centered around what you're trying to sell. This takes time because you need to develop content and traffic, but it's very powerful and effective in the long run.

[mythman]

I know that makes this sound like I'm gonna pitch some 'new Internet technology,' but that's only partially right.

I'll mostly just tell you what the problem is, and then tell you why the first obvious solution won't work as well as mine.

The problem is that - in most affiliations - the company only gives the affiliate a link-ID to denote their individual links. That's understandable, it's easier to keep track of affiliates that way. It becomes a problem when prospects who follow those links are feeling spiteful, and they delete the affiliate-ID -- buying the product the affiliate led them to, without giving the affiliate any credit.

Often, before I am able to present my solution to this problem, the people I'm telling respond, "But can't we just arrange for a redirect from one o' those redirector-sites?" Well, you could; but then you'd miss out on the 250 FREE banner-showings my solution offers you.

I'd tell you where to go to see that I tell the truth, but then this would just be another ad. Instead, I ask you to email me any questions you might have (as I cannot be guaranteed to check this forum for responses, I specifically ask that you email - clicking the "email"-button below).

[Robban]

This was a nice slug fest - I'd listen to the guy who earns 10K in affiliate. Wouldn't I want to do that kind of money. As I see it it is all about traffic and what kind of traffic you have. Niche - sure if it fits your own niche. Then you will get a high click through. If you don;t have a niche in your site it doesnt really matter what you promote. Your visitors probably found you by accident and will for sure exit your site by accident - meaning hopefully going somewhere where you direct them.

One thing you have to consider is how does the affiliate match your image. Don't do adult stuff if you are a professional service. Stick to professional services rekated to your field.

What I want ot know is what kind of traffic number are needed in order to make money. I'd be curious to visit the 10K guys website(s) which he clearly avoided mentioning. I did check the other guy's sites and their ranking on Alexa. The sites looked like crap but they- I'm an art director and make $0 money in affiliates. I am howevere planning to add some affiliate content soon which is why I am here.


Cheers,

Robban

[Perry]

Yeah, his site isn't very good. But if he is making good money, I don't think he cares. Bringing in the money is what counts.

[jackson992]

I sure hope you're not talking about my sites because if you are you obviously don't know what a good site is

[Perry]

No, Jack.

[jackson992]

ok:)

[Cedric]

What I want ot know is what kind of traffic number are needed in order to make money.

Depends on the quality of the traffic. The wrong kind of traffic can come in at 20K visitors per day (and more) and not sell a blinkin' thing. The right kind of traffic can come in at 200 visitors per day with 10 sales a day.

I've got sites that fit both profiles (or did before google belched and killed the hottie) and trust me, what Alexa has to say is of little importance to me.

[AllanGardyne]

I was alerted to this forum because my logs show that someone here recommended a link on my site that doesn't exist - http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/forums .

Thanks, Voasi, for the kind words, but my affiliate forum is actually at http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/discus . Yeah, I know it's a silly name for a link. It dates back to the days when the forum was run on Discus software.

Just briefly introducing myself. I've been earning a good full-time living from affiliate programs for five years and I've experimented with many different methods. I now have employees who build affiliate web sites for me.

One of the reasons you'll find so many conflicting ideas on what you should do with affiliate programs is that many different techniques work for different people.

After five years of doing this stuff, the technique I prefer is to build very simple, useful, keyword-rich content sites that generate revenue from both affiliate programs and AdSense.

I believe that technique gives newcomers to affiliate programs the best chance of success.

You can find some case studies on successful affiliate sites that use this technique on my site.

Hope that helps.

[Linda Buquet]

Allan,

Welcome to WebProWorld. Glad to see you posting here!
I corrected the link in Voasi's post.

For those of you that don't know Allan, he is considered by many as one of the original gurus of affiliate marketing and his site is full of great information. http://www.AssociatePrograms.com contains useful articles and great affiliate directory and a very informative newsletter too.