35 Live Articles & No Sale. Why???

by edmltw
37 replies
Hey IM-ers Ed here,

Have been earning some decent income writing articles for others but I decided to try out affiliate marketing. The system I am currently following is the usual Ezinearticle articles plus a link to a page containing my affiliate link.

So far I have about 35 articles live with 1,756 views, with an average click rate of 8.9%. Although I've gotten about 200 over hops (clickbank analytics) to a rather popular clickbank product, no conversion.

I'm in the weight loss niche. Is that too competitive a niche to start my affiliate marketing?

Or am I doing it wrong?

Anyone willing to shine the light? I think i'm running in the wrong direction.

Regards,
Ed
#articles #live #sale
  • Profile picture of the author SunnySahu
    There are a lot of variables that *could* affect your sales.

    It might be that the offer doesn't convert that well for the kind of traffic you're driving to the offer. If you're using a presell page, it might be that you need to work on it and presell them better. Maybe other factors?

    The weight loss niche makes me money. It's competitive, yes, but that means money. So, I don't think there's a problem on that front.
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    • Profile picture of the author edmltw
      Originally Posted by SunnySahu View Post

      There are a lot of variables that *could* affect your sales.

      It might be that the offer doesn't convert that well for the kind of traffic you're driving to the offer. If you're using a presell page, it might be that you need to work on it and presell them better. Maybe other factors?

      The traffic is not targetted enough? I'm using a "How-to" story as a review. Is there a more suitable pre-sell page for a weight loss eBook?

      The weight loss niche makes me money. It's competitive, yes, but that means money. So, I don't think there's a problem on that front.
      Thanks again Sunny

      Ed
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  • Profile picture of the author mbacak
    Personally, I would never do it that way.

    As in driving articles or any traffic (except your list) to the affiliate link.

    I'd suggest, setting up an optin page. Have them optin then have them
    land on your affiliate link after they optin. Now you really can monetize the
    traffic alot better and also build a great online asset. Your list. Then you
    can follow up with them about that product or offer other products too.
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    • Profile picture of the author edmltw
      Originally Posted by mbacak View Post

      Personally, I would never do it that way.

      As in driving articles or any traffic (except your list) to the affiliate link.

      I'd suggest, setting up an optin page. Have them optin then have them
      land on your affiliate link after they optin. Now you really can monetize the
      traffic alot better and also build a great online asset. Your list. Then you
      can follow up with them about that product or offer other products too.
      I am using a wordpress-based landing site with an opt-in box to the right. Offering a free weight loss report for those who subscribes. But the sidebar doesn't seem to be converting though..

      Should I place the opt-in box page before my affiliate links page?

      Ed
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      • Profile picture of the author mbacak
        Originally Posted by edmltw View Post

        I am using a wordpress-based landing site with an opt-in box to the right. Offering a free weight loss report for those who subscribes. But the sidebar doesn't seem to be converting though..

        Should I place the opt-in box page before my affiliate links page?

        Ed
        .

        You create a optin page. That means people
        have one option ( really two ) optin or leave.

        Now when they optin...

        Make the thank you url be the affiliate link.
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    • Profile picture of the author Emily Meeks
      Originally Posted by mbacak View Post

      Personally, I would never do it that way.

      As in driving articles or any traffic (except your list) to the affiliate link.

      I'd suggest, setting up an optin page. Have them optin then have them
      land on your affiliate link after they optin. Now you really can monetize the
      traffic alot better and also build a great online asset. Your list. Then you
      can follow up with them about that product or offer other products too.
      Exactly. All that time and energy could be used to promote your own name, rather than compete with a 1000 other affiliates with likely larger budgets than yours. All of their advertising budget though, can't compete with the relationships you develop on YOUR list.

      Not to mention, I find that promoting other people's products in the fashion you're describing is way too disorganized. It may work for some people, but it doesn't feel so kosher to me.
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      • Profile picture of the author edmltw
        Originally Posted by moneysoapbox View Post

        Exactly. All that time and energy could be used to promote your own name, rather than compete with a 1000 other affiliates with likely larger budgets than yours. All of their advertising budget though, can't compete with the relationships you develop on YOUR list.

        Not to mention, I find that promoting other people's products in the fashion you're describing is way too disorganized. It may work for some people, but it doesn't feel so kosher to me.
        So the mistake I'm making here is that I should drive my targeted traffic to an opt-in page instead of a review/story-like page with my affiliate links?

        Ed
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        • Profile picture of the author Emily Meeks
          Originally Posted by edmltw View Post

          So the mistake I'm making here is that I should drive my targeted traffic to an opt-in page instead of a review/story-like page with my affiliate links?

          Ed
          IMHO, yes. You direct to an opt-in page, you give your reviews, and once you've built credibility, you give them your affiliate link.
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  • Profile picture of the author Slin
    Your article ctr could stand to be higher.

    What are you using as a landing page?

    200 hops though with no sales is a bad thing. I would look at a different product to promote.
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    • Profile picture of the author edmltw
      Originally Posted by Slin View Post

      Your article ctr could stand to be higher.

      What are you using as a landing page?

      200 hops though with no sales is a bad thing. I would look at a different product to promote.
      Regarding the resource box, I have been using different styles such as "Click here for a FREE blar blar" , and K.I.S.S. stories to attract them to click it. Guess it's not that effective with my article writing styles.

      I'm using a wordpress blog as a landing page. It has about 4 posts all related to weight loss. It has a opt-in box to a free gift on the sidebar, but hardly anyone checks that out.

      Look at a different product? I think I might have to. But the thing is, I already bought the product from this affiliate and know the stuffs about it. I'd hate to start on another product, but I guess its necessary?

      Thanks Slin

      Ed
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  • Profile picture of the author digigo
    200 hops?? that is ridiculous .. you should at least put adsense codes on them and start collecting coins.. you should make at least $100 from those clicks.

    it looks like you are pretty good at writing.. maybe you need to switch to other article host that shares revenue with contributors.. like ehow.. squidoo??
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    • Profile picture of the author edmltw
      Originally Posted by digigo View Post

      200 hops?? that is ridiculous .. you should at least put adsense codes on them and start collecting coins.. you should make at least $100 from those clicks.

      it looks like you are pretty good at writing.. maybe you need to switch to other article host that shares revenue with contributors.. like ehow.. squidoo??
      I'd try Squidoo, thanks for the idea, anyway, I can't use Adsense... Some issues with them ha!

      Thanks anyway
      Ed
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  • Profile picture of the author Slin
    If you have an autoresponder use it.

    But with that many hops you should have at least one sale.

    If you have an autoresponder you could try making a squeeze page instead. Otherwise how well is your review page converting? I mean do you have a 50% CTR on the review page?
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    • Profile picture of the author edmltw
      Originally Posted by Slin View Post

      If you have an autoresponder use it.

      But with that many hops you should have at least one sale.

      If you have an autoresponder you could try making a squeeze page instead. Otherwise how well is your review page converting? I mean do you have a 50% CTR on the review page?
      50%?? It's... More like.. 4 out of 50 visitors so.. Probably around 8%?

      Ed
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      • Profile picture of the author rconejr
        If you have it in your side bar then there is likely too much distraction. People don't pay much attention to sidebars. You need to get them to a page where there is one thing to do opt-in or leave, thus, the opt-in page as was suggested earlier in this thread. Putting it on a page with posts won't get anyone on your list.
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  • Profile picture of the author mbacak
    Please take away this important point.

    Why send your traffic to someone else when you can send it to yourself first?

    If you drive traffic to an affiliate link or amazon first do you know who went
    to the page? Can you ever market to them again? The answer is NO.

    But, if you capture the traffic and have them optin. Do you know who
    went to that link? Can you market to them again? The answer is YES.

    Now you are building an asset you can leverage and go from making
    100's of dollars to thousands. As you spend your time and energy writing
    articles and watch them getting passed around the internet you can watch
    you list and your income grow along with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
      I'm curious. On your selected product at Clickbank, does it pop up with a great big SIGN UP FOR MY LIST pop-up the moment you hit the landing page?

      Two reasons I ask that question. Number 1, your visitors might be signing up on the list, and may eventually buy, and hopefully you get credit.

      Number 2, many people will see the pop-up and just leave.

      Ask if there is an alternative landing page with no pop-up if that is the case, and see if your conversions change.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnmags
    Why not try to write articles sending viewers to blogsport with banners.

    I understand many will object on this method; but I am making a hundred bucks per clickbank cut-off. Not much, but decent enough to add to my income.

    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author neodarth
    Driving traffic to a squeeze page to create a list and monetize trhough that list (offering different products related to that niche). To increase the CR I've tried adding an exit pop-up opt in offering a free report before they leave I know they are annoying but with pretty good results.
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  • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
    If the traffic is not interested enough to sigh up for a free report extremely relative to your main offer they will not buy either .

    Do as Matt suggest and use a pure capture page ... Redirect the subscription click to your affiliate link.

    This can easily be done if you use single or double opt in .
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  • Profile picture of the author petelta
    There could be a couple reasons why you aren't getting conversions.

    First, 35 articles isn't really that many articles for strictly looking for conversions from EZA. When I did strictly EZA article marketing, it would take about 140 articles (10 articles a day submitted every 1 hour), before I started seeing sales come in.

    For some reason, 140 was my magic number. All of a sudden, I would have 3 or 4 sales lol.

    Your click thru rate is pretty low. I work largely in the fitness niche and I know the difficulty of getting people to click thru. You're probably giving them to much of an answer in your article...leave it more open ended and wanting more.

    Also even though, the clickbank product converts well by the numbers doesn't mean its a good product for what your keywords and audience are. Try switching the products and see if the conversions help.

    You're right though out of 200 hops, you should get a few sales. Like I said, it could be the product or it could be the audience you're pulling.

    Travis

    Originally Posted by edmltw View Post

    Hey IM-ers Ed here,

    Have been earning some decent income writing articles for others but I decided to try out affiliate marketing. The system I am currently following is the usual Ezinearticle articles plus a link to a page containing my affiliate link.

    So far I have about 35 articles live with 1,756 views, with an average click rate of 8.9%. Although I've gotten about 200 over hops (clickbank analytics) to a rather popular clickbank product, no conversion.

    I'm in the weight loss niche. Is that too competitive a niche to start my affiliate marketing?

    Or am I doing it wrong?

    Anyone willing to shine the light? I think i'm running in the wrong direction.

    Regards,
    Ed
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    Threads asking how to do Article Marketing come up quite often here - so I have a standard reply - I hope this helps:

    Two brilliant threads to read about article marketing are these:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...marketing.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...eza-first.html

    Read them both - all the way through - and take notes.

    For further information I recommend the following directory - It is education in article marketing - a guide book and monthly newsletters - with a directory thrown in! You can read what Warriors think about it here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...alks-walk.html

    Article Directory - Article Marketing Community

    I can also recommend the WSO's from this guy:

    View Profile: Zeus66

    This guy also has some good stuff - some article marketing some on other things

    View Profile: Steven Wagenheim

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gavan
    Originally Posted by edmltw View Post

    Hey IM-ers Ed here,

    Have been earning some decent income writing articles for others but I decided to try out affiliate marketing. The system I am currently following is the usual Ezinearticle articles plus a link to a page containing my affiliate link.

    So far I have about 35 articles live with 1,756 views, with an average click rate of 8.9%. Although I've gotten about 200 over hops (clickbank analytics) to a rather popular clickbank product, no conversion.

    I'm in the weight loss niche. Is that too competitive a niche to start my affiliate marketing?

    Or am I doing it wrong?

    Anyone willing to shine the light? I think i'm running in the wrong direction.

    Regards,
    Ed
    I think you probably either chose a product that does not convert well or chose the wrong keywords for your articles.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bossman34
    Hey Ed,

    You've been given a lot different advice here...some of it pretty good. Of course, there is always more than one right way to do things. However, I think you need to listen to Matt's advice. Send the traffic to YOUR squeeze page where they can either optin or leave.

    I I held off on using squeeze pages and building lists for a long time because, quite frankly, it scared me and I didn't see how that would make me more money than other methods. I was wrong! I finally bit the bullet and built a squeeze page and started building a list. That way, you don't lose them forever if they don't buy at that moment.

    You build trust and a relationship with them...waaayy better than some review page or blog posts. Now, you can sell them down the road if they don't buy AND you can sell them other related products AND you have yourself a valuable asset in the list.

    Now, I kick myself for not starting earlier...who knows where I'd be today!

    Adam
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  • Profile picture of the author Lee Wilson
    If you can't convert a hop then you probably can't convert a list. You need to figure that out before wasting time with anything else. Somewhere along the line you're getting the wrong visitor, selling the wrong product or they aren't seeing what they expected by the time they get to the sales page. A list won't solve that problem.
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  • Profile picture of the author moneymo2010
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      There is no way anybody can tell you what you're doing wrong with the
      little bit of information you've given.

      But I can tell you this much...200 hops is nowhere near enough to make
      any determination.

      Years ago, I sold an affiliate product that converted at a solid 2% for over
      5 years.

      Yet, I'd make 5 sales in 100 clicks at times and at other times make 0
      sales in 500 clicks.

      You can't make any kind of determination from such a small sample.

      Aside from that, there could be many problems.

      1. Your articles suck
      2. Your resource box sucks
      3. Your landing page sucks
      4. Your presell sucks (if you even have one)
      5. The product sucks

      Who knows? There are so many variables, any one of those things can
      kill sales.
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  • Sales and Marketing is not about numbers... it's about fulfilling customer wants and needs.

    Think about the person with the credit card. If you are not thinking about them you won't make money.
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  • Profile picture of the author yst
    Originally Posted by edmltw View Post

    Hey IM-ers Ed here,

    Have been earning some decent income writing articles for others but I decided to try out affiliate marketing. The system I am currently following is the usual Ezinearticle articles plus a link to a page containing my affiliate link.

    So far I have about 35 articles live with 1,756 views, with an average click rate of 8.9%. Although I've gotten about 200 over hops (clickbank analytics) to a rather popular clickbank product, no conversion.

    I'm in the weight loss niche. Is that too competitive a niche to start my affiliate marketing?

    Or am I doing it wrong?

    Anyone willing to shine the light? I think i'm running in the wrong direction.

    Regards,
    Ed
    Ed, it takes time and the conversion rates are low. I would just give it time. You're obviously hardworking and smart, so if you think you can add more on the marketing side, do it. There are tons of ways to promote that requiers nothing but effort. My best wishes, let me know if you want some free feedback.
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  • Profile picture of the author ZerosToHero
    Building a list is one thing. Getting people to buy from you is another thing. I don't care how much free good info you have. I don't care how much your try and build the relationship. It can be difficult making money with a list.

    With that said, everyone who makes a lot of money has a list. But that doesn't make it easy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
      Originally Posted by JamesAggie View Post

      Building a list is one thing. Getting people to buy from you is another thing. I don't care how much free good info you have. I don't care how much your try and build the relationship. It can be difficult making money with a list.

      With that said, everyone who makes a lot of money has a list. But that doesn't make it easy.
      Where did you come up with that observation?

      If you are qualifying your list from the first attempt all the way to the end proposal, email marketing is very productive .
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  • Profile picture of the author mlord10
    There could be many reasons why you are struggling to make sales. I know that a lot of people here are talking about list building, and while I do this myself in many niches, I think that you should concentrate on getting a few sales before building your list. This is just my opinion of course, but it has worked out well for me.

    Your CTR is pretty low, which means that you probably do not have a strong call to action at the end of your article. You want to lead your reader into your resource box. If your resource box seems completely detached from the article, then you are not going to have a great click-through rate, based on my experience with over 1,100 articles published online.

    Once people come to your page their could be a myriad of problems. For one, a website or blog needs to be neatly laid out. You do not need an award winning website, in fact I have made thousands of dollars in affiliate sales with a simple blogger blog for a landing page. Again, this is my personal experience, but it works well for me.

    You also want to make sure that you do not "hard sell" the product on your review page. It should be a true review, which means you are going to include both your likes and dislikes of a product. If you do that, you are going to get a lot more respect from your readers then just saying "this is the greatest product ever."

    Not trying to be harsh, but just want to point these issues out. These are some of the same things that I goofed up when I first started marketing online, which is why I want to keep you from continuing to make the same mistakes that I did.
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    • Profile picture of the author cashtech29
      Hi all...
      I hear much talk of opt-in form but I am not understanding just what reason would you
      give them for giving you their personal info?

      I know, I know... Offer them something for free...
      There are billions of free things on the internet.
      What do you give and where do you find up to date materials to give?

      If it is a specific niche, like traffic to your web page, (just an example) or something like that,
      could you be more specific on how to get them to opt in, for any reason?

      Thanks for any feedback.
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      • Profile picture of the author neodarth
        Originally Posted by cashtech29 View Post

        Hi all...
        I hear much talk of opt-in form but I am not understanding just what reason would you
        give them for giving you their personal info?

        I know, I know... Offer them something for free...
        There are billions of free things on the internet.
        What do you give and where do you find up to date materials to give?

        If it is a specific niche, like traffic to your web page, (just an example) or something like that,
        could you be more specific on how to get them to opt in, for any reason?

        Thanks for any feedback.
        You can write a ten pages report about how to get more traffic add a nice cover and an attractive Killer title, like "The most incredibly awsome fantastic secret traffic ninja tactics of all times reloaded" or something like that.

        Or a X days trainning course direct on your email.

        If writting is not your strengh then you can buy a PLR ebook with give away rights.

        The "Sing in for a newsletter" approach, somehow I don't feel that works to well for me. it's just my opinion, I don't know how everybody else think about it, but I never sign in for a newsletter.
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  • Profile picture of the author yommys01
    Personally, I don't think 200 hops with no sale is good. Go for another product and try to increase your click through.

    Also, try doing a review page. I find out that product review sites work more than squeeze page - at least for me.
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