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Physical products vs. info products and consulting?

by Unsuckable Banned
10 replies
Hey guys. Im new to the forum. But I am not new to the business world.

I have been reading about affiliate marketing for a couple of years and I still feel stuck. Hopefully by asking you guys a question I can get unstuck.

Here is my question:
As a person who is brand new to affiliate marketing, are physical products or service based consulting or digital info products better?

The way that I see it is that probably 80% of the stuff that is bought online is physical products. Consulting services don't even compare.

Does anyone agree or disagree with me?

I do realize that the profit margin is way higher with service based products, but physical products tend to have a lot larger customer
base to sell to. Everyone buys stuff. From kids to the elderly, they all like to buy new stuff.

Also, the number of people who are out there right now shopping for stuff greatly out numbers the amount of people who are sitting at
home reading a book. So I think that when it comes to getting people to shell out cash, it is easier to do when you have a physical
product to sell to them.

Thoughts?

Anyways, the reason that I bring this up is because I am in sales. I do face to face selling of electronics and other goods. There is never
any shortage in customers for us.

Also I have been doing research on affiliate sites and I see these coupon sites or large review sites like CNET who seemingly make a killing
doing physical product reviews.

I even checked out Alexa top sites in the shopping category and I don't even see Clickbank in the top 100. But I do see tons of merchant sites
that offer physical product.

Am I onto something here? Or am I missing the bigger picture?

Thanks,
Trav
#consulting #info #physical #products
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Unsuckable View Post

    I even checked out Alexa top sites in the shopping category and I don't even see Clickbank in the top 100.
    ClickBank sales pages aren't on ClickBank's site: they're on their individual vendors' sites.

    But in any case, "Alexa rankings" are dreadfully misleading, as explained here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6698841

    I don't think one should infer anything from that, really.

    ClickBank has been in existence longer than Google, and has now paid out well over $2 Billion in "takings".

    I think many of your comments above are about right (or better than just "about"). I sell both digital and physical products, and generally find the commissions far higher with digital ones and the conversion rates higher with physical ones. (This is very subjective, from my point of view: I'm largely comparing ClickBank with Amazon, in saying this. I earn far, far more from ClickBank, but I've been using that for longer).
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    • Profile picture of the author Unsuckable
      Banned
      You probably do make more from Clickbank, but it is with way less sales volume and less conversion rate.

      How come Clickbank affiliates never win affiliate of the year awards?
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Unsuckable View Post

        How come Clickbank affiliates never win affiliate of the year awards?
        I've never heard of it, but my guess is (a) that so many are more or less anonymous, and (b) that as they're almost all affiliates for many different vendors' products (i.e. rather than strictly "affiliates for ClickBank") they could easily be effectively ineligible for it anyway, at least as far as the summation of their sales goes? Just guessing ... :confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas W
    Rule #1 to internet marketing

    1. Thou shall learn how to build traffic

    Try not to focus on "Making money" just yet. You will just be disappointed!.

    review this will help also

    http://www.warriorforum.com/local-me...irections.html
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    • Profile picture of the author AchievingDreams
      Originally Posted by Thomas W View Post

      Rule #1 to internet marketing

      1. Thou shall learn how to build traffic

      Try not to focus on "Making money" just yet. You will just be disappointed!.

      review this will help also

      http://www.warriorforum.com/local-me...irections.html
      Totally agree! THE SECRET (not really a secret, but most will NEVER understand), is building a list! It's just like sales, if you don't have a list of leads, you will never sell one thing. So focus on building a list and then worry about selling something.

      But even before you do that, you have to decide what market you want to hit. Being in the electronics industry, it may be wise to step into that market.

      NOw to answer your question: Personally, I would go with Info Marketing so that way you can be a consultant. HUGE Business nowadays cause EVERYBODY wants knowledge.

      Good luck with your endeavors!
      Signature

      Please read the forum rules.

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      • Profile picture of the author fedor50
        Originally Posted by AchievingDreams View Post

        Totally agree! THE SECRET (not really a secret, but most will NEVER understand), is building a list! It's just like sales, if you don't have a list of leads, you will never sell one thing. So focus on building a list and then worry about selling something.

        But even before you do that, you have to decide what market you want to hit. Being in the electronics industry, it may be wise to step into that market.

        NOw to answer your question: Personally, I would go with Info Marketing so that way you can be a consultant. HUGE Business nowadays cause EVERYBODY wants knowledge.

        Good luck with your endeavors!
        This. Building a highly responsive list should be your numero uno objective if you're trying to make a long term income online. Once your list trusts you, they'll be more likely to purchase the products that you recommend.
        Signature


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  • Profile picture of the author myob
    Originally Posted by Unsuckable View Post

    Anyways, the reason that I bring this up is because I am in sales. I do face to face selling of electronics and other goods. There is never
    any shortage in customers for us.
    I think many who are separating online from offline marketing are missing the big picture. Being in sales, there is no reason why you should think online affiliate marketing needs to be significantly different than other forms of selling, or other media. Online marketing extends your reach, but the sales process itself is basically the same.

    As a point of interest, affiliate products are being sold online and offline, including Clickbank and Amazon. In fact, some high end products may require using both methods to clinch the sale. Ignoring either method is leaving a whole lot of money on the table.
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  • Profile picture of the author RecessionPROOF
    Interesting topic.

    Like most, we have all tried to nail down the best strategied in affiliate marketing, and although I have been promoting affiliate programs from start, it is so much more difficult in the last couple years regardless of if you are selling tangible verses consulting services. In the last couple years my clickbank sales have dropped and dropped, even though traffic to my sites has quadrupled. So I was wondering the same thing, which programs sell best?

    It all comes down to value in this recession, if your product or service does not scream value, as in, saving people money, forget about it, just too much competition for the same crap in my opinion. And with all these so called guru's stroking each others backs, I will promote yours this month, you promote my deal next month, it has become a joke to me and no longer worth promoting the same old same old over and over again and expecting different results.

    It all comes down to value, if you cannot find a product which practically sells itself on value, forget about it, you won't see much success. I've promoted hundred of programs over the years, and sadly, back when I started in the affiliate industry, I made a fortune promoting online gambling sites. Then the gov. came in and destroyed business by threatening credit card banks, and POOF, a six figure income vanished. Back then we offered free incentives of $50.00 to open an account, so the value sold itself, nothing better than giving away money to make a sale. lol

    Pay it forward, give to receive, care to share and people helping people is my focus, and it works as well, if not better than ever before given these difficult economic times. Everyone responds to free, the most powerful word in marketing. The second most powerful marketing tool is the fear of loss. Combine the two and you have a killer concept. No one likes to sell, but who can't show and tell? Find something of value and give it away, and only then will you find success. This is how you build a loyal list, pay it forward, give to receive, care to share and people helping people.

    Success to all,
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce NewMedia
    If you are any good at person -to-person sales, you should at least consider Offline Local Consulting.

    While it takes awhile to get going, (what doesn't) it can quickly eclipse what most make in online marketing. One client, properly cultivated, can pay much of your monthly living expenses...and even a small deal will probably bring in $500 to $1,000.
    ..and you can still work at online projects. One doesn't exclude the other, at least that's what I've found.
    _____
    Bruce
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