May Affiliate Sales DEAD!!!

May is traditionally a bad month for physical businesses. Having said that, my Shareasale results are normal, Maxbounty very good and Clickbank awful.

My sales are down on a number of niches as well.

Maybe summer slow down has started early, this is why you need multiple streams of income.

Looks like I'm not the only one. My sales are down by more than half so far. Yet, I have a pretty consistent amount of traffic.

I used to hate summer slow-down. We're going back probably over a decade. I received some helpful tips from a friend at the time and soon diversified into areas that dampen and nullify the effects of this period (well, this upcoming period). You need to consider why traffic dips and spending dips (people out and away from the internet; folks spending money while they're away) and have traffic channels in place that target the demographics who either don't do that or who are less likely. There's more to it, but I think you get my drift. Sorry to hear about your slow down, anyway. I hope it picks up!

Tom

Yes around this time of year affiliate sales take a nose dive, especially for MMO offers.
That is why it is good to diversify in the niches you choose. Like the travel niche
should be booming about now with persons searching for there summer vacations spot.

I am not really heavy on affiliate marketing these days. But this is good insight for me. Thanks for sharing about diversifying into travel and vacation. Do you think health and fitness would help too? I am thinking that maybe the "beach body" niche can help...

Different parts of the year can always affect sales. It's different for each niche and business. It could be the niches you're in. Are they mainly hot during specific times of the year. Each person experiences something different every time depending on their business.

I just got a call yesterday from a friend that both internet and phone sales are going slow for him as his total sales for the month of may are zero. People call it the summer sag. However, we are in spring. OK so here is what we guess. It feels like summer came early this year. What you can do is a promo. Most are known as the super summer savings. Well, do a rename. Make it the:
super spring savings.

Don't worry about it. Just keep getting leads and customers, and then eventually in 5 years.... you'll have a list so big and response, that "seasonality" is a non-factor in your business. Don't sweat current results. Nature of business. Period.

Have you noticed your traffic drop as well? Anything else?

As people have mentioned, this is typically a very slow sales period. You can offset that a bit by marketing things that sell well during these months, depending on your hemisphere.

Also, very recently there were some big Google algorithm changes. Are your sites, if you have any, mobile friendly and fast to load? Check it here https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

I recently saw a statistic that over 30% of all internet browsing is done via a mobile device these days. The writing is on the (mobile) wall.

I haven't noticed any change.

It depends on what you're promoting.

Know this:

December is the slowest time of the year.

You should keep promoting because many people are going to buy your products later. They are probably bookmarking your website or products for later consideration.

I've never experienced any kind of "slow down" on affiliate sales through the summer. In fact, those are my best months. I think because a lot of people have more free time due to either taking vacation time during the summer, or if they have a job where they have the summers off, such as a teacher.

Typically, November, December, and January are the worst months for me, and I always attributed that to the fact that people are spending lots of their money on the holidays for things like gifts, food, etc. It's tough on me because Nov-Jan are the months when I need more money for the holidays myself!

So far May has been my strongest month of 2015.

It's really weird how it's different for different people. I think it must have something to do with the niche that people are in and the type of products they promote.

I am in the MMO niche, but I also have a few smaller lists in other niches. I do concentrate on a certain "micro-niche" within the MMO niche though, and that is software. I mostly promote WP plugins and other software that makes the job of IMers easier. Many of these products are not products one must have, but I make sure they are products that can help people save loads of time and do things for them that they cannot do on their own. I also find I have great success with software that performs a function that allows one to turn around and sell the service or product that the software produces.

For instance, I recently promoted a software that creates an entire funnel in about 10 minutes and that went over huge with my list. Other software products that go over like gangbusters are the small training software that people can rebrand with their own links and then give away to build their own list.

Also, I will share something that has been working really well for me as of late.

Instead of just promoting the sales page, I have been making a video of myself using the software I am promoting, and as I am using the software and shooting the video, I am always outlining the benefits of the software and ways that it has helped me. I almost always own the software that I am going to promote. Now, people may think buying every product that you promote to your list can get costly, but in all actuality it isn't. That's because most times I have received a review copy of the software.

I make a simple page with my video and a big "Click Here to Continue" button underneath the video. You would be surprised how much this tactic will increase your sales. Simply put, you are instilling confidence in your subscribers that the software is a good product if you have purchased it yourself. Also, you are giving yourself a credibility boost with your list by letting them know that you won't just promote any old thing under the sun to them, but will instead promote products that you liked so much you own them yourself.

BTW, honesty is most important. If you did not actually purchase the software, don't lie and say you did. You can simply say you were given a great opportunity by the product vendor to test the software out, and you liked it so much you wanted to make sure your valued subscribers knew about it so they could benefit too.

Now, getting a review copy of the products you want to promote isn't always easy. Most times you will need to have a relationship with the vendor or promoted their products successfully in the past before they will offer you a free copy. However, I am lucky enough to have these relationships since I have been doing this for around 7 years now.

Now, if you don't have these types of relationships yet, that doesn't mean you cannot get a review copy of a product you would like to promote. A lot of times all you have to do is touch base with the vendor and politely ask. You will need to introduce yourself, give them links to your Facebook profile and your blog, etc. Most importantly, explain how you plan to promote the product. You will be surprised how many vendors will go ahead and give you a review copy, even if it is a time limited copy just to allow you the time to make your demo video.

I guess I am getting a little off the topic here...

The point is, you have to adapt and overcome (stole that from my days in the Army). If you are having a bad month, start communicating with other marketers in your niche and ask how they are doing. If they are doing better or having a good month, ask for some pointers. I find great places to network are in IM Facebook groups related to your niche, Skype, and of course, the Warrior Forum!

Some people do see May to be a dip in sales month.

However, it shouldn't be that dramatic. What else changed? Traffic sources? Targeting? Quantity of clicks?