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Who Makes Money With Product Reviews?

by JasonParker
27 replies
I just attempted to try something new and make some cash with a huge product that launched today.

I contacted the creator of the product 9 days before the launch and got a review copy and got 2 pages to #1 in Google. Today I had #1 in Google for the product name even over the product's website and #1 for the product name + review.

NO sales... and everyone and their mom is mailing for it today.

There seems to be a lot of buzz about it and you'd think the sales would just pour in... so I'm starting to think product reviews aren't where the money's at.

Do you make money off product reviews while a new product has a lot of buzz around it?
#makes #money #product #reviews
  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
    The key with the launch is to not only do a review, but to also rank in the serps for the "product review" and "product bonus" type of keywords...Unless your only intention was to mail it to your list.
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    • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
      Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

      The key with the launch is to not only do a review, but to also rank in the serps for the "product review" and "product bonus" type of keywords...Unless your only intention was to mail it to your list.
      I'm #1 and #2 for "product review."

      Not "product bonus" though.

      Have you made some cash like this?
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
        Yeah

        If you are doing it for the product I think you are though - I probably would have passed on it for a couple of different reasons, but if you are #1 and #2 - I would have assumed that you would have made some loot...
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        • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
          Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

          Yeah

          If you are doing it for the product I think you are though - I probably would have passed on it for a couple of different reasons, but if you are #1 and #2 - I would have assumed that you would have made some loot...
          Yeah, that's what I can't figure out

          It's a ClickBank product too, so my cookie overrides others... weird.
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          • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
            Originally Posted by JasonParker View Post

            Yeah, that's what I can't figure out

            It's a ClickBank product too, so my cookie overrides others... weird.

            DOH!!!

            lol - They are using their own hoplinks
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            • Profile picture of the author psresearch
              I don't know if this is a viable idea or not, but I'm thinking that IF people are actually going to get the product from people offering bonuses you might consider:

              1) Telling the visitors that NO MATTER where they buy the product - even if they buy through their OWN link that you will give them "X" bonus (obviously, still has to be a killer bonus)

              2) Have them email the receipt (unfortunately not a great way to automate this, although you could have a program set up where they put in their "order number" and at least have it check for a valid format).

              3) Send them a link to the bonus (with the bonuses available with no optin) along with a compelling reason for all these people to optin (updates to bonuses - training to help them with the bonuses), etc.

              Now you have potentially have a BIGGER list of buyers than if you were only to offer your OWN bonus.
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              • Profile picture of the author Lance K
                Jason,

                Are you running an analytics program on the domain where your review is?
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                • Profile picture of the author Lance K
                  Well if it's an IM niche, consider this...

                  Which would YOU rather buy from
                  1. Your own link (half priced product)
                  2. Affiliate link with killer relevant bonus offer (added value)
                  3. Affiliat link of a reviewer (no monetary benefit to you)
                  I think there's a clear cut loser on that list.
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              • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
                I see what you are getting at. It would be good to make sales, but capturing the list of buyers no matter who they buy from is brilliant.


                Originally Posted by markquinn View Post

                I don't know if this is a viable idea or not, but I'm thinking that IF people are actually going to get the product from people offering bonuses you might consider:

                1) Telling the visitors that NO MATTER where they buy the product - even if they buy through their OWN link that you will give them "X" bonus (obviously, still has to be a killer bonus)

                2) Have them email the receipt (unfortunately not a great way to automate this, although you could have a program set up where they put in their "order number" and at least have it check for a valid format).

                3) Send them a link to the bonus (with the bonuses available with no optin) along with a compelling reason for all these people to optin (updates to bonuses - training to help them with the bonuses), etc.

                Now you have potentially have a BIGGER list of buyers than if you were only to offer your OWN bonus.
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  • Profile picture of the author geolt7
    My gut feeling is that the target audience for the keyword is really just browsing. Worse, if you are targeting the IM niche, marketers who visit your site could just simply use their own affiliate IDs to buy the product. Clickbank affiliate IDs can be easily overridden.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
    I have an IM conduit site. It gets lots of lookers but few buyers.

    I have a few non-IM conduit sites that have high conversions.

    The IM crowd looks for bonuses or just uses their own links for CB products.
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  • Profile picture of the author actionplanbiz
    maybe the copy of your page needs to be tweeked?
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
    It could possibly be any of these things... thanks everyone.

    But is there anyone on Warrior Forum who makes serious money riding the buzz of major product launches with product reviews and Google? Or is the strategy more of a myth?
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  • Profile picture of the author MrDay
    That does sound a little strange. The best way to make money from a product review is by actually owning and using the product and you did that. Are you sure your affiliate links are working correctly?

    That's the only thing I can think of because it sounds like you know what you're doing so I'm sure your review was up to par. Anytime I do a product review from personal experience I also always show proof and really good pics of how it all works and went down. Video well also do wonders.

    I hope you start making some sales soon!
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  • Profile picture of the author George Sepich
    Hi Jason,
    Were your #1 and #2 keyword phrases really "buying" keyword phrases? My guess is that you had a top position with a bunch of tire kickers for the brand name, even with the name "review".

    Product review sites can be golden. Make sure you are positioning your site for people that have already made the decision to buy, but are just looking for a bit more information to get them over the fence, versus all the others that want to put black rubber skid marks on your face.

    George
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
    Yep... must be a ClickBank hoplink thing

    I chose a CB product because my cookie can override anyone who's mailing. For example, they get an email and look at the product sales page, then they go search for a review. If they clicked through my aff link, I wouldn't get the cookie unless it's CB because they'd already be cookied.

    It's kind of fun trying to dominate Google during the launches, so I'll keep messing with it... next time with something set up with 1SC or Infusionsoft.
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  • Profile picture of the author yommys01
    It depends on the review. I made $511.01 with a product review ( just a blog post) in August converting at 2%.

    I am sure you will start making sales if the review is very good.
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  • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
    You need to be offering bonuses, really.

    Even more with CB products... Your bonus needs to be worth 75% or more of the product, or the dude is just gonna buy through his own link...

    Driving traffic straight to a CB product pre-sell page in the I.M. niche is almost a waste of time

    Capture names -> Show them a review -> Offer a bribe

    This works spectacularly well when executed with a little...err... energy?

    Peace

    Jay
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
    Relationship building, e-mail marketing, and bonuses are where it's at for sure.

    I guess my question is...

    Is anyone on Warrior Forum making, say, at least $3,000 every time they use the product review/Google domination combo during major product launches?

    Because this method is preached by a lot of marketers. It really only takes a few hours of work. So it would be worth doing for every major product launch if it's actually making someone good money... like $3k per launch.
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    • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
      Originally Posted by markquinn View Post

      I don't know if this is a viable idea or not, but I'm thinking that IF people are actually going to get the product from people offering bonuses you might consider:

      1) Telling the visitors that NO MATTER where they buy the product - even if they buy through their OWN link that you will give them "X" bonus (obviously, still has to be a killer bonus)

      2) Have them email the receipt (unfortunately not a great way to automate this, although you could have a program set up where they put in their "order number" and at least have it check for a valid format).

      3) Send them a link to the bonus (with the bonuses available with no optin) along with a compelling reason for all these people to optin (updates to bonuses - training to help them with the bonuses), etc.

      Now you have potentially have a BIGGER list of buyers than if you were only to offer your OWN bonus.
      hmm, now that's a new approach to think about! It just gave me several ideas to consider..
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      -Jason

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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    Hey Jason, first--congrats on what you did do! I'll bet you make some sales.

    My guess is that the majority of your traffic will come from the exact name of the product. Adding review and getting listed is good, but the bulk of searchers will just use the name of the product.

    And while sales are good, I'd make sure--like others said--get a great bonus and opt in some names. You can then market to them over and over. JayExtreme said you need to have a bonus worth 75% of the price of the product. He isn't blowing off hot air--here's why. Virtually all of the gurus on Clickbank use Intellichat or some kind of virtual sales agent to offer discounts to those who try to click out. Some of these guys even give discounts of up to 50%.

    Of the two major virtual sales agent scripts, one leaves your CB cookie intact when visitors order through them, the other nukes it and you will get no commission. That's why a lot of affiliates hate the virtual sales agents--the affiliate does all of the heavy lifting and someone else gets the commission.

    Most people buying through CB know this--so Jay is right--your bonus had better sound like it has some real value or people will click off the ad and get a 10-30% bonus through the virtual sales agent. So a 1-page report isn't going to convince anyone to buy through your link. Get a substantial bonus to give away.

    Look, visitors know that all of the pre-sell pages put up are very similar. It's the bonus that closes the sale for pre-sell pages.
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    • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
      Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

      Hey Jason, first--congrats on what you did do! I'll bet you make some sales.

      My guess is that the majority of your traffic will come from the exact name of the product. Adding review and getting listed is good, but the bulk of searchers will just use the name of the product.

      And while sales are good, I'd make sure--like others said--get a great bonus and opt in some names. You can then market to them over and over. JayExtreme said you need to have a bonus worth 75% of the price of the product. He isn't blowing off hot air--here's why. Virtually all of the gurus on Clickbank use Intellichat or some kind of virtual sales agent to offer discounts to those who try to click out. Some of these guys even give discounts of up to 50%.

      Of the two major virtual sales agent scripts, one leaves your CB cookie intact when visitors order through them, the other nukes it and you will get no commission. That's why a lot of affiliates hate the virtual sales agents--the affiliate does all of the heavy lifting and someone else gets the commission.

      Most people buying through CB know this--so Jay is right--your bonus had better sound like it has some real value or people will click off the ad and get a 10-30% bonus through the virtual sales agent. So a 1-page report isn't going to convince anyone to buy through your link. Get a substantial bonus to give away.

      Look, visitors know that all of the pre-sell pages put up are very similar. It's the bonus that closes the sale for pre-sell pages.
      Didn't know that about the virtual sales agents... thanks for the heads up.

      Well, the good news is I'm capturing people into my AR when they hit my site anyway.

      I've checked stats again and I have made some sales with the Google > review > sales page method. So it works... but not as well as I thought it would. Over time the sales may add up... so not a complete waste of time, but not really worth my time in the future... unless someone can prove they've made serious money with the strategy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Roy Carter
    Jason, Jay is right "Capture names -> Show them a review -> Offer a bribe"

    You didn't mention whether or not you were offering a great (and must be related) bonus on your pre-sell page?

    The concept of reviewing the product but 'finding' one or two things that the product lacks and then solving that with your bonus can be very effective.

    Roy
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    • Profile picture of the author Hamida Harland
      When there's a big launch like that everyone either looks for the best bonus or buys through their own link - without an amazing bonus you just can't compete. I only promote a few launches every year (those that I think are actually worth it) but every time I do I offer a bonus that compliments the product and make at least $2000-$3000 each time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Josef_Benjamin
    I'm an internet marketer (but don't promote many if any IM products)...and I know how to give myself the sale...but I'm telling yall'...most IM'ers are good people...and I mean the majority of them are and will give the commision to the first person who gave them the most value proir to buying.

    It's a common excuse to say "oh, they're cutting out your commishion and putting in their own hoplink to make the sale".

    Do some people do this? sure...but why use that as an excuse everytime something doesn't go the way as planned?

    Maybe you should stop and look at what YOU are doing wrong and fix it, instead of placing the blame on your fellow IM'ers for a failed campaign.

    It's best to leave problems like this to yourself to solve. Go someplace and meditate on it, and apply the solution. Don't come here and and look for other peoples opinions on why something didn't work out.

    By now, you could be making good money if only you took the time to figure out the real reason why your reviews didn't work as planned.

    By the way, having big bonuses tacked on to products to "get the sale" is only perception.

    I don't attach big bonuses to some of the more popular products and I still get sales...

    again, perception of reality
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