Anyone Into Affiliate Marketing?

Subject: Anyone Into Affiliate Marketing? Mon Aug 06, 2012 12:18 am

Do any of ya'll do affiliate marketing? I didn't even know about this until one of my customers at Fiverr.com asked me to write a research paper on it (and then stiffed me on half the payment).

Affiliate marketing is where you review and promote products sold by major online retailers, for small commissions paid when potential buyers convert a click into a sale. Amazon.com has the largest affiliate program, but Walmart, Best Buy and all of the big-box retailers and major online retailers also have affiliate programs. Some pay larger commissions than others. When you go to a blog or review site and there is a button to click through to Amazon.com, you have just visited an affiliate website. That button is connected to the affiliate's Associate's Account at Amazon.com, which also then places a cookie on your computer for 24 hours. If the connector then buys the product, or meanders throughout Amazon to buy anything else for the next 24 hours, the Associate gets a 4-6% commission on those sales, depending on the product and volume of sales that have been done through your account.

A couple of months after writing that paper on affiliate marketing, another Fiverr client wanted me to write content for one of his websites, and it turns out, he was big into affiliate marketing (but based out of Australia). He gave me some materials and some help and guidance so I could start my own affiliate website, and by November of 2011, I had my own WordPress blog site set up reviewing LED light bulbs. In April, I set up my second site reviewing popular paper shredders sold at Amazon.com. In July, I set up my 3rd site, reviewing LED flashlights (URL in my signature). I am now working on my 4th site, where I will review widescreen LCD monitors.

After you set your sites up, then it becomes a battle to get ranked by Google. You have to have good on-page SEO on your web pages, and you have to develop backlinking strategies to boost your sites over those of the herd.

It is a great online hobby. I didn't make any sales until June and July, but traffic to my sites is growing (especially my paper shredder site) as I manipulate the SEO as best I can. If I can make some extra money doing this, great; but I will be happy if I can at least earn enough to cover the webhosting. There are some nerds who claim to earn 6-figures doing this.

Subject: Re: Anyone Into Affiliate Marketing? Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:30 am

I just commissioned my 4th affiliate marketing website; http://www.best-monitor-reviews.com

At this site, I review 16 different widescreen computer monitors sold at Amazon.com, and I think I am going to pick one of those models to replace my 7 year old Acer 19" flat panel monitor. I am definitely going for an LED backlit model, and will incorporate a VESA mount.

I am curious to see how this new site does. Traffic is growing at my other sites; especially this one:
http://www.best-papershredder-reviews.com

At that site, I review 18 different models of paper shredders sold at Amazon.com. The paper shredder site is getting the most traffic, and of course the most "clicks" to Amazon. Of course, very few of those clicks actually lead to conversions, but when they do, I get a small commission. I netted over a hundred "clicks" in August, and it looks like September might do as well. My first direct deposit from Amazon netted me $10.03. Of course, there are some affiliate marketers who claim to net six-figure incomes from doing this. I think I will just shoot for a few hundred dollars per year, if I can.

Now I need to do some maintenance on my other sites (and work some bugs out of the new one), work on search-engine-optimization for all of them, and start planning my 5th site. I have some ideas in mind.

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