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pastcaring Forums Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 9
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#1 · Posted: 31 Jan 2008 17:12
How is it that every IM forum I access (quite a few by the way) many of the members recommend affiliate marketing as a perfect method of making a living?
However, when pressed, none of them readily admit that THEY actually make much using this method..... but, they always know of a friend who has a brother's wife's uncle who knows a woman in Peru who makes a fortune in affiliate selling; Am I missing something?
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007 Posts: 1175
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#2 · Posted: 2 Feb 2008 07:07 · Edited by: happywife
Hi! I use affiliate marketing as one of my monetization methods on my niche websites. I certainly wouldn't say it is the "perfect" method of making a living. For most affiliate marketing programs, your commission rate isn't extremely high.
Obviously, it would be much more profitable to market your own products, but then that would be more of a hassle, too. With affiliate marketing you can promote various products and services but not have to deal with the processing, shipping, etc. It is fairly simple and straightforward. Perhaps that is why so many people consider it to be "perfect."
I've been working online for just over a year. I'm only bringing in a few hundred dollars a month from affiliate marketing and then a few hundred more from Adsense, etc. It is slow getting started, but once the ball starts rolling you seem to pick up momentum.
On the new site I am working on now (started two weeks ago) I'm going to continue with a bit of Adsense and affiliate marketing, but I'm adding network marketing as well. Should be interesting to see how this mix goes. With the NM products, I'll still be just getting a commission (similar to Affiliate marketing), but it has the potential of growing into something more if I generate interested warm leads who become sold on the product and want to take it further.
I think you have to make up your mind based on your personal situation, how involved you want to be in the process, and how much money you really need to make.
While affiliate marketing isn't the "perfect" method of making a living, it's a pretty good way to get started as you learn the world of online business.
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 2231
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#3 · Posted: 2 Feb 2008 11:40
Hi PastCaring,
Welcome to the forum. Join Commission Junction and LinkShare. Those are the two best affiliate programs available. They carry just about everything from just about every major company you've ever heard of.
~Newbie Shield~
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pastcaring Forums Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 9
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#4 · Posted: 3 Feb 2008 05:14
Thank you for your replies.
Newbie Shield, I am signed in with CJ but I will have a look at Link Share as you suggest .
Happy Wife - What a lovely well thought out reply! I am still interested in affiliate sales and have bought PL which has a good tutorial, but as I said I just wish I could talk to just one person who really makes a significant return using affiliate selling.
However, I am now really intrigued with your reference to SBI - I have looked t their website and it certainly looks attractive. I have bought Xsite Pro but it does seem a bit restricted, equally the ground support with SBI does seem, on the face of it, very good. Presumably you support this view!
I would be keen to pursue this further, what are your thoughts?
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007 Posts: 1175
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#5 · Posted: 3 Feb 2008 06:05
Wellll, since you asked...
Yes, I love SBI. They really are fantastic, especially since I was a complete and utter novice, and didn't know a thing about how to go about building an online business. They were my lifesaver. Well, that's a bit melodramatic, I suppose. My life wasn't in any danger.
Seriously, though, the SBI system is very well done. I've really not seen anything quite like it. They take you through the entire site building process step by step so that you not only end up with a great web site, but with a site that ranks well in the engines and gets lots of free targeted traffic from the search engines.
They keep you informed of the best ways to monetize and anything else that is current in the field that will help you succeed. I have found them to be very high in integrity and extremely helpful in every particular. You certainly get more than you pay for with them.
I'll leave it at that for now. Feel free to ask me any questions you think I may be able to help you with. You can post them here, or send a private message to me.
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aplina Forums Member
Joined: 5 Nov 2007 Posts: 260
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#6 · Posted: 3 Feb 2008 14:28
l think everyone is good at something. as far as affiliate marketing is concern . its just not something for me.
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007 Posts: 1175
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#7 · Posted: 3 Feb 2008 18:30
Quoting: aplina l think everyone is good at something. as far as affiliate marketing is concern . its just not something for me.
I have had a look at your site from time to time. It is really growing. But, it doesn't look like you are monetizing at all. Do you plan on adding some way to earn some income from it?
I would think affiliate marketing and adsense would suit your site, unless you have your own gardening products you plan to sell.
Just curious.
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IAmAMoneyMaker Forums Member
Joined: 3 Feb 2008 Posts: 18
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#8 · Posted: 4 Feb 2008 14:26
Sooo... Happywife (great name btw!!! I am one also!!)
How is your business going? To be more direct and to the point, Ya makin' andy CASH?? Am really trying to build something.... Looking for pointers and direction from real ppl not a friend who has a brother's wife's uncle who knows a woman in Peru who makes a fortune in affiliate selling
LOL!!!!
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Hemjoe Forums Member
Joined: 6 Feb 2007 Posts: 554
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#9 · Posted: 4 Feb 2008 14:38
aplina, you have a lot of content on your site, covering many areas with detail. Like happywife said before you have adsense on a couple of pages but incorporating this and other monetizing methods (affiliate marketing for example) into your site increasing your chance of making money/more money.
I noticed you both use site build it, where do you guys get your content from as happywife you have a lot on your chocolate site and aplina you have a lot on your gardening site.
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pastcaring Forums Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 9
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#10 · Posted: 4 Feb 2008 15:59
Quoting: Hemjoe I noticed you both use site build it, where do you guys get your content from as happywife you have a lot on your chocolate site and aplina you have a lot on your gardening site.
Yes, I would like to know also. Very good looking sites by the way - much impressed!
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007 Posts: 1175
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#11 · Posted: 4 Feb 2008 16:43
Quoting: IAmAMoneyMaker How is your business going? To be more direct and to the point, Ya makin' andy CASH?? Not a fortune, if that's what you're hoping. I'm up to about $600 a month.
When I got started online just over a year ago, I would have been thrilled to make that, but now that I see how it is done and the potential, I'm shooting for $3000 per month. I suppose even that is small potatoes to most people, but it would do amazing things for my family.
Quoting: Hemjoe I noticed you both use site build it, where do you guys get your content from as happywife you have a lot on your chocolate site and aplina you have a lot on your gardening site.
Well, I can't speak for aplina, but I write my own content. Obviously, recipes are recipes, but the rest you write yourself. That doesn't mean you have to have it all in your head.
I read books on the subject I'm writing about or look the information up elsewhere online. The important thing is that you don't copy and paste from other sources. It isn't really ethical (or legal in most cases), but it doesn't do you any favors.
Search engines virtually ignore duplicate content, so if you are just copying stuff and pasting it on your site as "content" it won't help you get search engine rankings.
The secret is to make it your own by writing the same information in your "own voice." Sort of like if you were talking to a friend. In fact, I've had a couple of friends check out my chocolate candy site and say, "Angie, that sounds just like you. I could hear you saying that." That was the best compliment they could have given me.
Yes, it takes a bit more time to do it that way, but it is worth the effort. I just follow the Action Guide of SBI. They haven't steered me wrong yet.
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Hemjoe Forums Member
Joined: 6 Feb 2007 Posts: 554
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#12 · Posted: 4 Feb 2008 17:33 · Edited by: Hemjoe
I must say i thought that might be the case because such results would be hard to achieve with duplicate content. you would find it hard to position yourself in the search engines with duplicate content and like you say it isn't ethical.
I admire the effort you clearly put into the website and others would have given up if they knew they had to write those articles, but i guess you see it more as a hobbie than as a job (thats the way i see it anyway)
Great work
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007 Posts: 1175
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#13 · Posted: 4 Feb 2008 18:07
Quoting: Hemjoe I admire the effort you clearly put into the website and others would have given up if they knew they had to write those articles, but i guess you see it more as a hobbie than as a job (thats the way i see it anyway)
Thanks. No, I don't think of it as a hobby. It definitely is work, but I'm working for the long term rather than the immediate pay check.
Yes, if you try to look at the whole thing you could be overwhelmed and feel like you couldn't do it. Instead, you just look at what do I need to do today or this week. You don't build a 250 page site over night.
But if you add a page a day or a few pages a week, by the end of the year you've got yourself a tidy little website. Once the bulk of the site is built, you are able to start another one if you are so inclined because it doesn't take much effort to maintain it. You could just add a page a week and still keep things rolling in the right direction.
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opendomain Forums Member
Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 535
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#14 · Posted: 4 Feb 2008 18:33
I'm not quite at $600 a month but getting their. I do some affiliate marketing, but have found it to be much easier and effective to promote GDI. When I did work as an affiliate thorugh (Click bank) I pretty much put a sour taste in my own mouth with their products. I felt dirty everytime someone purchased something from me. I've since stopped using clickbank and started focusing on my own site. I have just recently started looking into amazon's affiliate program as at least there I can promote items that are legitimate books and such.
Affiliate marketing can be down right impossible if you don't know how to do it or don't take teh time to do it right.... like happy has done.
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dmitch31 Forums Member
Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 222
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#15 · Posted: 5 Feb 2008 13:52
Regarding your questions about affiliate marketing, I think there are a couple of things at work there.
1. Many people involved in affiliate marketing don't have the time or the drive to take it to the levels where they are making a lot of money. Too often it's easy to spend too much time perusing forums reading about other people successes and dreaming about how it will happen to us one day. Unfortunately, what we don't realize is that we're going nowhere unless we get off our duffs.
2. Many of the people who are successful with affiliate marketing drop out of the forums, and you don't really hear from them that much. The forums are primarily dominated by people who are looking to learn. And of course, newbies are promoting product, or even promoting affiliate marketing itself. They are in the beginning stages so their weak point is that they can't honestly tell you they are making hundreds of dollars each month. There are however, many affiliate marketers who CAN tell you they are making hundreds each month. Some make between $400 and $500 a day.
None of the above means affiliate marketing is not legit. It most certainly is. It takes commitment and diligence, and in the end, it can be easier than alot of the other methods out there. Think about some of the "other" methods of making money - working from home out there. How many of those people are bragging about making a nice living?
The truth of the matter is that it's only the truly dedicated that become wildly successful. You have to decide to be one of those dedicated people. Too many people want to throw up a website and a couple of articles on the web and expect a couple of grand to start flowing in each month. It doesn't work that way.
Affiliate marketing is as legitimate as any other method.
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pastcaring Forums Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 9
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#16 · Posted: 5 Feb 2008 17:14
Quoting: dmitch31 2. Many of the people who are successful with affiliate marketing drop out of the forums, and you don't really hear from them that much. The forums are primarily dominated by people who are looking to learn. And of course, newbies are promoting product, or even promoting affiliate marketing itself. They are in the beginning stages so their weak point is that they can't honestly tell you they are making hundreds of dollars each month. There are however, many affiliate marketers who CAN tell you they are making hundreds each month. Some make between $400 and $500 a day.
Great point!
Thanks for that!
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JamesZ Forums Member
Joined: 2 Feb 2008 Posts: 7
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#17 · Posted: 5 Feb 2008 19:07
My turnover from affiliate marketing in Jan 08 was over $500 and about half of that was profit.
At the moment it is a nice little bit of extra money, but once you multiply this you can get a decent online income.
My first attempts at affiliate marketing failed, but don't give up. Focus on great landing pages and getting low cost targeted clicks.
Good luck
James
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