Is Clickbank still profitable?

[ripsnorta2]

At one time Clickbank was quite a good way to make money. But, it's been a while since I did any IM with CB, and I was wondering if that was still the case.

I did read the other day a comment that things have changed with Clickbank and it's no longer a great way to make money. Is that true?

[2d0k]

It's still profitable until my inbox wouldn't be full with Clickbank product offers.

[Wonderful Warrior]

If you find a product that you ABSOLUTELY believe in, then yes.

I don't know if you know about cbengine.com

It is a great site that shows all the "newest" products and the "movers and shakers", etc...

there is a membership fee but is well worth it.

You can test it out on a free trial basis without having to give cc or anything.

And then, there are JV sites, so you can see what products will be launching in the next few months. You can start getting your domains ready now and your advertising structure in place.

IMHO stay far far far away from any CB product that has a "free report"..... you will lose a ton of customers through that..

Good Luck

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

I never really thought affiliate marketing was a sustainable business model so if you are on that side, I'd say no, it's not profitable.

And all the time you thought that, Danny, there were thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of people making a living purely and exclusively through Clickbank affiliate marketing - and some of them making a 7-figure living. And that's still very much true now.

So, with apologies for a contradictory tone, your belief is actually very far wide of reality.

Originally Posted by Wonderful Warrior

IMHO stay far far far away from any CB product that has a "free report"..... you will lose a ton of customers through that..

Yes, I certainly agree.

There are one or two other types/groups of products to stay "far, far, far away from", too, IMO. People will differ slightly, in their attitudes to these. My own criteria for product-selection (as an affiliate), which have been very good to me(!), are here.

[Wonderful Warrior]

Alexa, I think you and I agree a lot. That's weird considering nobody ever agrees with me it seems

[ripsnorta2]

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

And all the time you thought that, Danny, there were thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of people making a living purely and exclusively through Clickbank affiliate marketing - and some of them making a 7-figure living. And that's still very much true now.

So... Upshot is that the Clickbank affliliate marketing is still worth going after?

Thanks everybody for your replies.

[Wonderful Warrior]

Originally Posted by ripsnorta2

So... Upshot is that the Clickbank affliliate marketing is still worth going after?

Thanks everybody for your replies.

We didn't say that...

Just said at the moment it is still profitable

[PaulSch]

One thing I have noticed over the past year or so is that the conversion rate has dropped.
At one time I´d get a sale every 20- 30 views, now it´s over 100.

[Wonderful Warrior]

Originally Posted by PaulSch

One thing I have noticed over the past year or so is that the conversion rate has dropped.
At one time I´d get a sale every 20- 30 views, now it´s over 100.

People on the Internet expect to get things for free. So selling information products is very difficult.

Instead of Clickbank I use Plimus where they sell software. Although software ends up having technical problems (downside), if it's good it will come out with upgrades and plugins which you can also profit from.

[rohnsmith]

if you are not satisfied with click bank there are so many other affiliate network you can also try ...but 50 % of then seems o be scam so do not pay any money for joining ....

[VIBGYORtel]

Few months ago I had received one mail from clickbank vendors to join clickbank and promote my services on your blog.. I had join and I got $340 on my account..its still work

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

Just because people TEACH "how to make millions through affiliate marketing" doesn't mean they actually MAKE millions with affiliate marketing. Quite the contrary actually.

We agree about that. Some of the ones writing some of the appallingly ill-informed teaching guides are people who find it easier to make money that way than as affiliates, I think.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

But if you are going to go out and pay for advertising, write articles, do videos, SEO, etc. etc. etc., and take all that risk, that's up to you...but it's an unsustainable business model.

It's sustaining itself, and gradually increasing, very nicely for me and many others I know, thanks.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

You are depending on someone else's product and customer service to be EXCELLENT.

As an affiliate, I can easily check that out first, and with all the assets I'm building up (authority websites) I can easily switch products and switch vendors if ever I need to, thanks.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

If a customer refunds, do you get your PPC money back?

I don't use PPC.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

The goal of affiliate marketing products is to create affiliates. Most will never figure it out (hence your reply).

My reply actually stemmed from how I've been making a living for the last couple of years, actually, Danny.

[bluenetworx]

I make a large proportion of my income from Clickbank, however I must say that I am moving away from them these days as I find the quality is getting worse and there is so many great physical products to promote out there

[Steven Wagenheim]

Danny, do I feel it is better to create your own products (which I do) than
sell as an affiliate? Yes.

Do I believe that you can still make good money from affiliate marketing, which
I also do? Yes.

To dismiss either model, IMO, is leaving money on the table.

There is no reason why you can't do both...which I do.

Affiliate marketing adds to my bottom line, so why would I abandon it?

And...I do it at almost no cost at all.

So, IMO, you have a very distorted view of affiliate marketing.

But you know what? Who cares? It's YOUR view and has no impact on MY
business whatsoever.

So please feel free to think whatever you like.

I'll just go on doing my own thing and making money.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

You missed my point entirely.

If you read my first post, what I said was that if you are doing JV partnerships with people and sending out emails to a list for promotion, that's a GREAT way to increase your income. I do that as well.

If you are going to put all your "eggs" into the affiliate marketing "basket" and expect to build a business from that alone, I've yet to see anyone do it for any length of time.

Affiliate marketing is a JOB...just like selling anything else for any other company.

Creating products and recruiting affiliates is a BUSINESS.

Most people here are looking to start a BUSINESS and are failing at it because they don't understand that.

No Danny, I didn't miss your point. Affiliate marketing is a job.

Guess what? So is product creation.

So is anything you do. It's work. It doesn't happen by itself.

But you know what? I have no time to argue with people like you anymore.

I have way more important things to do.

Enjoy your day.

[Mark Brian]

Well, whether as an affiliate or as a vendor, if you outsource most of the work, it's a business, but if you do all the work, it's a job :-)

[fort21]

Originally Posted by Wonderful Warrior

Alexa, I think you and I agree a lot. That's weird considering nobody ever agrees with me it seems

hi WW,

I am new and i hope i interpret you correctly, the free product will get the visitor links and after few autoresponder follow up it become their clients???

[tpw]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

It depends on what side of clickbank you are on. I never really thought affiliate marketing was a sustainable business model so if you are on that side, I'd say no, it's not profitable. If you are on the VENDOR side, then yes, it's a great way to make money.

I respectfully disagree...

On the vendor side, it can be profitable if the seller does one of two things:

1. Builds an awesome product, with awesome converting sales copy; or

2. One of their affiliates builds the awesome converting sales copy.

On the affiliate side, it can be profitable, depending on what YOU are willing to put into it...

Keep in mind that most sellers have poorly converting sales copy, so you should be willing to step up to the plate and pre-sell the offer to your readers...

If you can, it does not matter how bad the seller's sales copy is, you can become his or her biggest affiliate seller...

If you are unwilling or unable to pre-sell an offer for the seller, then you are stuck with the copy that the seller has created, and in some cases, that will be fine... In other cases, it will fall short...

Whomever has the great sales copy, the next step for the affiliate seller is to push a load of traffic to the offer, because a certain percentage of people will buy the offer...

In the end, if you fail as an affiliate marketer at ClickBank, then you will have failed to do what was required to be successful...

Success does not fall out of the sky for anyone... You must work for it, and you must earn it....

[Bruce NewMedia]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

It depends on what side of clickbank you are on. I never really thought affiliate marketing was a sustainable business model so if you are on that side, I'd say no, it's not profitable. If you are on the VENDOR side, then yes, it's a great way to make money.

Danny, that you would say the above is puzzling?

You just finished running a successful WSO, where you taught people how to be an AFFILIATE of a dating site....

...and if I recall, you said in one post on your wso you made most of your money from that site. So, why again, is it not profitable?
_____
Bruce

[Art Of War Marketing]

Click bank is till profitbale. you just have to do your due diligence by paying attention to the gravity rating and the commision split. Also conduct thoro market research before promoting any product. You should be able to determine if there is a real demand for the clickbank offer u r promoting. Finally, stay up to date on the latest traffic generation techniques to drive traffic to your click bank product

[chriscubos]

I hope Clickbank is still profitable. I know there are a lot of other sites out there similar to Clickbank which I am also planning to check out but I've heard a lot of good stories about people earning a decent amount of money from clickbank so I also decided to start from there. Plus a lot of IM also recommend to start with
Clickbank. Is it because it's the easiest to use or is it just that popular?

[fort21]

hi Danny, Alexa and Steven,

I read this thread with great interest and in does gave me wonderful insight of Clickbank, the marketers and the vendors from the discussion. Am I right to say that it takes both hands to clap. We need vendors and marketers in IM, and the role to choose is where one's forte lies. People who produce doog product might not necessary know how to market and vice versa.

We do see Marketers who made a lots of money as well as Vendors whose product hit hit gravity in Clickbank. As a newbie, all the points make sense to me. It could be I am not a vendor or a marketer yet therefore I dont have my stand or I am still a greenhorn. cheers to all n peace.....

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

Sadly, product quality doesn't matter to most vendors. It's all HYPE and WHO you JV with.



Why would you do any of that when you can write your own copy for your own products and have thousands of others pushing it for you?



And if you are able to "pre-sell" the offer, "pre-sell" your own product and have your affiliates do the same.



The affiliate is PUSHING the traffic. The amount of sales the affiliate makes is directly related to how much traffic THE AFFILIATE can send.

The vendor is WATCHING the traffic. The amount of sales the vendor makes is directly related to how much traffic ALL OF THE AFFILIATES can send.



I'm 100% with you on this one. If you fail, it's your fault. The main problem with affiliate marketing is that sometimes that isn't true. I could "fail" because the vendor I chose put out a terrible product.

If I create my own product and it is bad, It's my fault. The vendor controls his/her own destiny. The affiliate depends on the creator to make a great product.

Hey Danny, let me ask you a question. How are these product creators
supposed to get all these affiliates?

Just curious to see how easy you think it is.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

This is a pretty deep question and really should be answered in the War Room, but I guess I'll put you on the right path. And just so you know...I'm not being sarcastic or mean...I'm actually trying to HELP you and everyone else here.


Ask yourself this question..."What is ONE thing almost all Warrior Members have in common?" The answer is "about 90% of them have some sort of knowledge of what affiliate marketing is. Half of them currently generate some sort of income from it."

Never forget that question/answer above.


Now I want to create a product and recruit affiliates. How do I do that?

You Pre-Launch the product in the WSO section and collect the emails of the buyers using WSO pro or a simple aweber opt in form on the download page.

Remember, 90% of warriors have some connection to affiliate marketing...half are generating SOME income from it.

You break your product up into 3 separate parts each teaching one "thing". For example, if I'm planning on launching a $97 CPA course on Clickbank thats 8 hours of video, I'm not going to WSO that entire thing at one time. I'm going to break it down into 3 separate courses and price them each at about $10 to $15.

Then I'd launch them about 1 month apart as WSO's.

After the 3 were pre-launched as WSO's, I'd get set to launch and use all of the buyers as my affiliates.


After you do this two or three times, you'll begin to catch the eye of the bigger lists.


Now go do it!


I missed you "Just curious to see how easy you think it is." line. With a little common sense and some outside the box thinking, It's unbelievable how simple it is.

Actually, that's not a bad plan in theory. But it doesn't always work in
practice.

How do I know?

I did it.

I got a handful of affiliates, but nothing to write home about. And the ones
I did get, did very little.

Truth is, recruiting an army of affiliates is a massive job. After over 7 years
in this business, that is one thing I have learned.

Can it be done?

Sure it can. People do it all the time. Just look at the Clickbank marketplace
for your proof. Oh, and don't even get me started on how those 500 plus
gravities are generated overnight. I know exactly how it's done.

I won't say it's unethical, but it's a very distorted picture for somebody
who thinks that these products are REALLY that popular...not at first
anyway. Then, when new affiliates see the artificially inflated gravities,
they all flock to promote and the myth propagates itself.

It's a great little system.

For those who have the stomach for such deviousness.

[Earn1KPerDay]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

It depends on what side of clickbank you are on. I never really thought affiliate marketing was a sustainable business model so if you are on that side, I'd say no, it's not profitable. If you are on the VENDOR side, then yes, it's a great way to make money.

USE PLR and ReSale Product, Create your OWN product and Sell with CB.

TO BE A Vendor!

[JohnMcCabe]

Seems like the question boils down to "is selling/marketing/promoting products created by other people a sustainable business model?"

Ask the heirs of James Cash Penney (JC Penneys)...

Ask the stockholders of Amazon.com...

Ask the stockholders of Wal-Mart...

The problem isn't in selling or promoting other people's products. As the examples above show, it is possible to build a massive, long term business doing so.

The problem is that most affiliates see it as some sort of magic formula - post a few links, run a crappy article through an article spinner and spew it on the web, and sit back and order another pina colada on the beach.

Bogus teachers teach would-be affiliates to chase the next shiny object - usually one they own or control - using unsustainable methods.

A real, sustainable affiliate business follows the same core principles as a business built on creating products. The affiliate simply enters the stream at a later point and exits at an earlier one.

As with Steve W., I believe in having chairs on both sides of the table.

[dbarnum]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

...affiliate marketing can be PART of a business but having as the entire plan will never work.

Getting into semantics here, looks like.

Scratch absolutes like the above - - - "always" and "never" statements need deleted, and that will help with the mindset. I.E. there are exceptions to rules, hence making blanket statements like this above, as others are trying to point out above, is not correct.

Bottom line: this IS working for some. Period. Call it an entire business; call it a part of business; call it an IM model; call it what you like. It IS working. Proof positive. Long term, short term, any term: it IS working. And there is a lot more to argue about elsewhere, like course quality. But time to work now :O

[MKaren]

I think more patience is the to succeed in this kind of business,if many people are moving away to click bank then that's an opportunity for others who just started clickbank business...It also need strategy for this...

[Cataclysm1987]

HELL YEAH it's still profitable!

I got 120 dollars in my inbox this morning that says so!

Thank you list!

[Cataclysm1987]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

Shoot me an email in 7 years and let me know where you're at. My guess is either out of business or you've moved over to the vendor side.

That's not an insult, it's just something that's been proven throughout internet history.

Do you think guys like Mike Filsaime are writing articles and doing keyword research for other peoples stuff? NO! Why? Because that's the affiliates job.

First off, I guarantee you Mike Filsaime still writes articles. Not that he literally himself writes them, but rather he has people on his team that do. It's not because it's "The affiliate's job", but rather because it's a job that needs doing, vendor or affiliate, and you can either do it yourself or you can outsource it.

What's interesting too is that there are people like PotPieGirl who openly admits that she has made a lot of money on her product, but to this day, still claims that around 50 percent of her Clickbank income still comes in as an affiliate, not as a vendor.

It's just one business model. You have instant entry to any market you choose, you can build whatever kind of site you like, drive whatever traffic you want, then forget about it and move onto your next project. Not a bad business model if you ask me.

Not to mention if you have a list, there is an unlimited possibility for all the products you could send out as an affiliate! If you had to take the time to make each and every product you could sell as an affiliate, as a vendor, your life would be a living hell.

Just my two cents.

[dbarnum]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

Shoot me an email in 7 years and let me know where you're at. My guess is either out of business or you've moved over to the vendor side or some other form of IM.

That's not an insult, it's just something that's been proven throughout internet history.

Do you think guys like Mike Filsaime are writing articles and doing keyword research for other peoples stuff? NO! Why? Because that's the affiliates job.

Not taken as an insult, thanks for checking that. And hey, hoping in 7 years we have better means of communications than email , but if not, sure, I'll shoot you an email if I'm still on the planet and remember this thread (doubtful though with thousands more posts piling up in that time )

Internet history actually isn't too long, but hey, who knows - -- with all the info in this thread and others, who here won't be wealthy / wealthier?

And yep, Mike F writes great articles. I know that you were just using an example, but I know many a guru who write his / her own copy, articles, ads, etc. Many.

[asant76]

YES. Absolutely it's still profitable. At the end of the day, you can recoup your investment if you are smart about running your business. And yes, being a vendor is great, but you have to be able to convert. It's not as easy as it was before (affiliate), but the opportunities are out there if you sniff them out.

There is still plenty to go around. Keep at it. Start as an Affiliate then become a Vendor once you get enough data of the HOT products on CB.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

This is true. You'd work yourself to death trying to make all the products you could promote as an affiliate. That's why most vendors do 2 or so launches per year the right way...try to do a 100K per launch and that's pretty much it. Combine that with sales that will come in after the launch period, money made during prelaunch and backend sales, you have a million dollar business.

So if I stop creating products, I stop making money.

Sounds like 6 of one, half dozen of the other to me.

[sirtom]

Originally Posted by ripsnorta2

At one time Clickbank was quite a good way to make money. But, it's been a while since I did any IM with CB, and I was wondering if that was still the case.

Of course it is.. Depends on the niche, your marketing, your experience, etc..

But heck yeah it's still profitable. People say article marketing was on the decline, but that's definitely not the case from my experience.

I suspect people not actually out there testing and tweaking and applying things will always stand aside and judge which methods and tactics don't work. (I'm in no way making that accusation about you tho, just in general.)

[dbarnum]

I think we're fighting a losing battle here with DannyAdams. He'll just have to meet us all in 7 years, host the party for this, of course, since his business will be better than that of each of us -- probably combined, sounds like, and toast his success. Of course we can each share in our own minor successes then, too, in comparison. Ahhh...Internet history

Go Warriors, to battle with our projects and not forum threads: here's to success for all of us, regardless of how we word our business, focus, affiliate marketing, etc. Let's go forth and conquer the World (Wide Web) - -shields up, swords out!

[discrat]

Sounds like the this Danny guy is 'cutting his nose off to spite his face ' !!
Wouldnt it behoove his Product Creation Business to believe and encourage Affiliate Marketers to actually have a sustainable long term business with Affiliate Marketing ??

BTW, I know of two individuals who have been highly successful used car salesmen for over 30 years. Both have put their children thru College with their Earnings.

Kind of dispels your mantra of people selling other people's merchandise and how unsustainable it is !!

[BigDaddys101]

Clickbank is still very profitable, you just have to target the right audience. Aiming towards the internet marketing world, is a fail but the outside world.....HELL YES its profitable

[mauricio.quito]

I agree with everyone that said Vendor's side is the way to go... That's where the moeny is..

mauricio

[dk1]

Anyone care to explain Clickbank to a newbie?

[Gclunis]

Yes clickbank is still very profitable. It is my main source of affiliate products (besides cj). I also know of a few people (personally) that are making a killing with clickbank products.

[Chris Kent]

Affiliate model unsustainable? Please don't make me laugh.

The affiliate or the vendor model are both valid, but different business models.

- neither gives guaranteed long term riches
- both require ongoing maintenance
- both require an intelligent and highly adaptive strategy to profit from in the long term

There are advantages and disadvantages to both that are equal and opposite. One is not better than the other.

Talk of a job or a business is just pure semantics.

To the OP, yes Clickbank is still profitable. So are other networks.

[JohnMcCabe]

Give it up. Apparently Dog himself comes to dannyadams for business advice...

Besides, if you waste all your time promoting Clickbank products, when are you going to have time to buy his CPA WSO?

Wait, do people pushing CPA offers have any control over, what was it, oh, yeah, the Price, Product and Service? If not, then you are pushing an unsustainable business model, at least by your reasoning...

I'm done here...

[Chris Kent]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

Let me ask you a question. If you walked into a bank with the affiliate marketing business model, would they fund you? NO! If you walked into a bank with a product, would they fund you? YES!

Yes they could. Banks fund both businesses. But traditional banks are equally cautious of any online business, whether affiliate or vendor.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

Back to my Coke example that was never answered. How many times was Coke created? ONCE! Good products that are priced right and have good service to follow will profit for a long time. They may need updating (depending on the niche) but that will be down the road.

Most products get stale. Only a few last unchanged for hundreds of years. Coke's survival has also depended on shrewd marketing in amongst the competition. Coke may be a great product but no product is guaranteed to survive. Only good marketing decisions can ensure it. This applies to both product businesses and affiliate businesses. I don't see what your Coke example proves. If anything, it proves that the product business can fail as easily as the affiliate business and vice versa.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

Every business requires some sort of maintenance especially in the beginning. My brother in law owns a company that sells pneumatics (I have no idea what they even is). He can walk away whenever he wants and still get paid for life. His salespeople CANT. That's the difference.

In the same way, an affiliate website also requires some effort to start with. Eventually the income is on autopilot, with minimum maintenance. The maintenance is managed by someone.

One can walk away from an affiliate business too.

With both businesses, you need management or else the profits will dwindle. Imagine you had shares in an affiliate or a product business. Both require management and there is no obligation for a shareholder to manage if they don't want to.

Any owner maintains a say in their business unless the specifics of their ownership say that they do not (e.g. a silent partner, a non voting shareholder). The type of business is irrelevant.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

The basic strategy has been in place since the beginning of time. You need a product. It has to be priced right. You have to service your product/customers after the sale.

The question is, as an affiliate, do you have control over any of that? The answer is NO!

Product owners have brokered deals to split profits with those who promote their products since the beginning of time too.

As for servicing products and customers after the sale, how is that an argument for being a product owner? That costs time and/or money. Affiliates don't have to deal with that and can dedicate their time and/or money to generating new business. Of course, there are other aspects where the roles are reversed and being a product owner is better. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, as Steve says.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

One is not better than the other. You are right on that. My point is and has been since this thread started, affiliate marketing is not a sustainable BUSINESS model.

Your statement doesn't prove your point. If you provide evidence for your point then I'm interested. As I see it, both models can be sustainable in the right hands and I've never seen any evidence to indicate otherwise.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

If it's a part time job to make an extra thousand a month it's fine. But I think most people here are interested in internet BUSINESS and they are being mislead into believing that affiliate marketers are business owners. They are not.

.

They are.

Originally Posted by dannyadams

No it isn't. People have to know what they are getting involved with. If they are looking for a JOB, affiliate marketing can provide that. If they are looking for to start a company, affiliate marketing cannot provide that.

It can and should be a tool that is used by business to sell their stuff, but not the other way around. The only time a vendor will use affiliate marketing to "make money" is to secure a relationship with another big list. Yes, money is made from the mailing, but the primary goal is to secure the relationship.

It is semantics because you haven't proven your case. I am a vendor and an affiliate and I do it for diversification processes. I also do many other things in my business. I like to mix it up. Why do only one thing? Why only be a product owner?

Originally Posted by dannyadams

This is true if you are on the right side. Vendors are profitable. Affiliates are not.

I am not profitable with my affiliate side of my business? I don't think my accountant would agree with you. Nor would my friend who gets paid thousands per week by Clickbank and hasn't done any work whatsoever in the last year.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Danny, I have been listening to your pompous, arrogant, opinionated and
ridiculous absolute claims long enough.

You sir don't know what the $@^%$ you are talking about.

And as John McCabe, who has more sense in his pinky than you do in your
entire head, said...

I'm done here.

Carry on trying to argue with this know-it-all.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Danny, I have been listening to your pompous, arrogant, opinionated and
ridiculous absolute claims long enough.

You sir don't know what the $@^%$ you are talking about.

Thanks, Steven - I totally agree with you. I had dropped out of the thread after post # 14 on the previous page ... been out all afternoon expecting the thread would be finished and was amazed to see its length when I got home.

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

And as John McCabe, who has more sense in his pinky than you do in your
entire head, said...

I'm done here.

Very wise.

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Carry on trying to argue with this know-it-all.

Not for me, thank you ...

[Hesaidblissfully]

Affiliate marketing is not a business model, period.

Affiliate marketing (and marketing in general) is a means to promote a product or service. So saying affiliate marketing isn't a sustainable business model is like saying marketing isn't a sustainable business model. Well....it isn't. Because it's not a business model to begin with. It's a means of promoting a product or service.

If you offer a freebie and build a subscriber list, the content in the list becomes your product, and affiliate marketing can be used to promote products and services in order to monetize that asset. Same thing if you have a big authority site or a blog. The site or the blog is your product, and affiliate marketing is one way you can promote other products and monetize it.

Affiliate marketing can be a sustainable way of MONETIZING an existing asset, and it can obviously be very profitable. OTOH, selling your own product or service via affiliates can potentially be MORE profitable and allows you a greater degree of leverage, which is the reason why businesses use affiliates in the first place.

[turnej]

as with any other promotional tool it is only as powerful as the products for sale

[Bruce NewMedia]

Originally Posted by dannyadams

A dating offer through clickbank? I give you full permission to post my entire WSO content on this thread for everyone to see if you can find where I talked about promoting PAID dating offers through Clickbank.

Pushing FREE SIGN UPS is much different than PAID clickbank products. Nice try though.

And yes, I do make most of my money from clickbank...AS A VENDOR.

I never said it wasn't profitable. I said affiliate marketing is an unsustainable business model over the long term.

Danny, sorry, but you're making a distinction without a difference.

You're an AFFILIATE, whether its for CLKBANK or FRIENDFINDER or WHOEVER.
Whats the difference? ??? pushing 'free' vs. 'paid' changes nothing.

This is the answer you gave to a post made on that wso you ran:

"@gcintermed - Nothing is wrong with the proof of income. I had to take it down because people were contacting FF and my affiliate ID was in there."

"Don't want any heat from my main source of income."

"No offense they've anyone but the fact is that some people can't stomach the fact that others are actually MAKING MONEY on the internet. They've been trying for years only to see a few clickbank conversions come in here and there from there PPC campaigns. The fact is that my proof of income is NOTHING in friendfinder. I'm a nobody to them. There are plenty of people in FF and other networks making 20 times what I make."

So, YOUR MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME, according to you, is being an AFFILIATE on FRIENDFINDER. .....hey, there's nothing wrong with being a hypocrite, half the world is anyway...:-)
_____
Bruce

[imon32red]

Just my two cents...

I tried affiliate marketing with Clickbank in 2008. I didn't do much with it, and made zero.

I decided that I needed to diversify this spring. I spent about a week putting together a couple of campaigns. At the time I was landing a sale about every other week. I put it off for a about a month and then noticed that I had 2 sales the same day, or two days in a row. I don't remember which. Anyways, I made some changes and sales went up. Made more changes and waited a week and sales went up, did this two more times.

So as of right now I am collecting a check from every week. It is not a ton of money, but I clear enough each month to more than pay my house payment.

Clickbank works just fine for me.

[smallbusinessguy]

For me the business has gone down. I am now concentrating on providing services online instead of promoting other people's products