The Incremental Route to Profit Success
Since I wrote about affiliate marketing I have had quite a lot of feedback. While there are a lot of people saying they are cautiously going to give it a go, many more have told me one of two things:
- I didn’t make a lot of money right away so I gave up!
- I’m removing all other monetization methods and going 100% aff!
Woooah!
Yes there is a great deal of money to be made in affiliate marketing, and it is possible to get a nice fat windfall occasionally, I did not intend to give anyone the impression it is all or nothing. In most cases the situation does not end up being home run or drought.
As with any blog revenue method it is all about trying things out, experimenting, and making incremental improvements.
I know what it is like, it is discouraging to try something and not see tangible results right away. Even more so when you are built up on it being the answer to all your prayers. But you must persist. When you succeed or fail, ask yourself why. In many cases the people who stumble a few times are those who make the best success longer term, they have learned lessons the people who have early success never do.
The great thing about affiliate marketing using blogs is it doesn’t cost anything to promote an offer. If you do it authentically and ethically there is zero risk. That means it doesn’t hurt to try and the offer doesn’t have to pay off right away. For a while now I have focused on clients and freelancing so my affiliate efforts have withered and I have long lost my first page rankings, but I still get lots of pleasant surprises in the form of commission cheques, sometimes for offers I can’t remember promoting.
Darren makes thousands each month from Amazon alone, that is without adding in income from the other programs he promotes. Adding appropriate Amazon links helps your reader find a good place to find a product, rather than looking sleazy it is friendly. You are probably going to get a product shot from there to illustrate your post anyway.
When Yaro tells you he makes a healthy mid 4 figures a month (probably sometimes more, this is Yaro we are talking about!) from affiliates alone, he is not talking about one super performer. In fact I am sure he would caution you against putting all your income eggs in one affiliate basket.
Think about it, this is a very powerful thing! How many posts will you create after a year? How many of those posts can legitimately carry an affiliate link? If you are in a product-rich niche then you are looking at a lot of posts, articles where the audience will expect shopping links. One sale from half would still add up to a sum that most people would be pleased with.
Of course the upside is you might find a great performer in one or two. That’s when the real fun starts. When you do
find a great converting offer it is time to put all your blogging skills behind it. Drive more traffic, write more posts, find intersections between the topic and your readers interests and needs.
Depending on your niche and your traffic this technique might not be right for you. All I would say is don’t dismiss it too early. It could be you miss out on something great, and I am sure you would change your mind when a nice affiliate commission arrives in the mail!
Picture cropped from a photograph by Yomanimus
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by Chris Garrett in Business
Yeah, right on Chris - Affiliate marketing is great but it’s a tricky beast.
Darren is in a great situation because some of his blogs are so well entrenched in the search engines for hot topics (like cameras) as long as the blog received updates the google traffic keeps coming and some of leaves via affiliate links.
Most bloggers won’t reach this stage for months or years.
In my case it’s because of my email list that I can earn consistent affiliate income and again that was not something that was established over night.
Diversification is the key for bloggers. However if you are going the fully fledged Internet business path, selling your own products as well, affiliate income can be the icing the cake on top of a steady stream of income from selling your own stuff.
Affiliate marketing is definitely a matter of planting many small seeds and waiting for them to grow… I’ve found helpful to go back through older posts that still see some action, looking for mentions of products that I feel comfortable in recommending and then (I use Triggit) adding an aff link to the post, just one more ’seed’ planted.
Heh, I was going to say that Yaro plainly has stated that it takes time to build things up, but it looks like he showed up personally.
I’ve been paying attention to the StomperNet/Frank Kern videos, too, and Frank has also indicated that getting full effect from a list with regard to aff sales (or direct, for that matter) takes some time to build up.
Amazon links are particularly good for bloggers essentially promoting themselves: their businesses, careers, consulting services, etc.
They may be wary about running ads or selling products, but an Amazon link to a professional book in their area of expertise, for example, looks pretty professional. Unlike Google AdSense etc.
I agree about the Amazon links, especially for businesses etc… I think it is easier for bloggers that write about blogging to use affiliate marketing.
– Jason Simon
@Yaro - Yeah I also think Darren has the early mover advantage too, but I still hear about people hitting on untapped niches so they are still out there, it’s just harder to find them. I completely agree a list is important, and your own products if you can do it too.
@Jen - Exactly, it might not be an immediate windfall but lots of chances of a sale do add up.
@Michael - A lot of people don’t want to hear the “patience” message, I guess that is why they buy so many “millionaire overnight” courses!
@Ted - Indeed, in fact by showing only the best you are demonstrating expertise, and preventing someone making a bad purchase, it is helpful advice.
@Jason - The trick is to plant the links in such a way that they are expected and welcome and not forced on the reader just to make sales