Ebooks and Clickbank affiliate marketing: still going strong in 2018?

23 replies
Hello. 8 years ago I wrote an ebook (men's sexual performance niche) and marketed it through various channels (blog with E-junkie commerce, a few affiliates). I had moderate success (attention from the national press), then got distracted by other opportunities.

Now I'm looking at this niche again, and thinking about writing a new product. I see that the leading ebooks in the niche are still available (since 2008) on Clickbank (though their sales pages look very 2008) and there are still a billion affiliate blogs trying to market them. Some of the better affiliate sites are still updating with new posts, so all this suggests to me it remains an income opportunity.

I'm also aware than much has changed (YouTube popularity, Amazon opportunities, social media marketing (though premature ejaculation probably still not a much discussed/liked topic on FB ).

So is my thinking still in 2008, or is this approach still going strong? Your views would be much welcomed - thanks!
#2018 #affiliate #clickbank #ebooks #marketing #strong
  • Profile picture of the author grandetourer
    Why are you thinking about writing a new product? This is only opinion but I would pick up the 2008 model, seeing that the leading ebooks in the niche are still available (since 2008) on Clickbank (though their sales pages look very 2008), and you see that there are still a billion affiliate blogs trying to market them. You go on to say that some of the better affiliate sites are still updating with new posts and that it suggests to you that it remains an income opportunity. You've done your homework. Just dust off that 2008 model you have, market that, then update and market some more. Rinse & Repeat. A lot of people will start asking you about different things, and that's where you will get your next idea for the new product.
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    • Profile picture of the author bangontime
      Hey thanks for the advice. Makes perfect sense. I was probably paranoid that after so long out of the game, the world had moved on. It seems that the Clickbank affiliate model is still strong, even if there are inevitably more competing products and affiliate sites these days. Good thing I still have the PDF of the old product - will get to work
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    Some of the better affiliate sites are still updating with new posts,
    I would contact them. Tell them who you are and what you can offer.

    Brent
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    • Profile picture of the author bangontime
      Yes that's a good suggestion - thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author superowid
    The only change is we have more channels to market today than back in 2008.
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  • Profile picture of the author bangontime
    Thanks for the insight, this is all positive news.
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  • Profile picture of the author extrememan
    Ebooks and clickbank aka affiliate marketing is still going strong, and will always be strong. The only change is more places to advertise.
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  • Profile picture of the author bangontime
    Thanks for the feedback
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    For sure, pick up where you left off. Only thing you want to pay attention to today is plan some back-end offers...this gives you a higher ROI on your marketing effort, gives you a more complete set of offerings and will give you many more opportunities for marketing and scaling down the road.

    Think upsell to a video course, and ebook bundle (where you package a few different ebooks together into a bundle), an interview series (where you interview 3-4 experts on your topic giving different perspectives and tips, etc...

    Think funnel, upsell and scale - makes it more exciting and brands you bigger than in the past.
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  • Profile picture of the author bangontime
    That's excellent advice - thanks! I'd noticed that the leading competitor products had done exactly that since I last looked at them; they all offer extended bundles, support, video packages etc. Makes perfect sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ivan2b
    If you look just a little bit better you will realize that many things stayed popular even after time has passed just the ways of dealing with those stuffs changed over time. The same story goes for the eBooks. You should try to catch with the last apps, websites related to eBooks and see what they are offering today.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Any time you have a starving crowd/market that are looking for specific information about something, or have a desire/problem that currently isn't being solved.... it will be strong.... forever.

    Then as a smart marketer, create a marketing system to extract the most money out of these people as possible. That's when *true* marketing begins.
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    • Profile picture of the author bangontime
      Wise words - thanks. The more replies I get to this, the more I wish I'd kept the old product alive for the last 8 years. I'd be swimming in bitcoin by now
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  • Profile picture of the author TrickyDick
    Originally Posted by bangontime View Post

    Hello. 8 years ago I wrote an ebook (men's sexual performance niche) and marketed it through various channels (blog with E-junkie commerce, a few affiliates). I had moderate success (attention from the national press), then got distracted by other opportunities.

    Now I'm looking at this niche again, and thinking about writing a new product. I see that the leading ebooks in the niche are still available (since 2008) on Clickbank (though their sales pages look very 2008) and there are still a billion affiliate blogs trying to market them. Some of the better affiliate sites are still updating with new posts, so all this suggests to me it remains an income opportunity.

    I'm also aware than much has changed (YouTube popularity, Amazon opportunities, social media marketing (though premature ejaculation probably still not a much discussed/liked topic on FB ).

    So is my thinking still in 2008, or is this approach still going strong? Your views would be much welcomed - thanks!
    Since you're in the men's sexual performance niche, I say...

    Stick it out!

    That was too hard (pun intended) to resist....

    Being serious, why would you want to create new product?

    I'd simply go back and update the ebook, sales page, affiliate page and relaunch... You might as well make money from an asset you already have.
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    • Profile picture of the author bangontime
      Ha! Can I have that for my new sales page? Good advice there, thank you.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnVianny
    If you notice that most of the ebooks in your niche are still in 2008, try to re-style the page u already had, that's because you don't loose your gravity and set yourself apart with new improvement, like a better graphic style, affiliate page etc

    In addition, am old product which has worked for a lot of years is seen better: stick to it

    Just open a new cb account to promote it, so you can improve the gravity and it will be seen from affiliates

    You can also extend your product with upsells like a private coaching or a series of videos, and earn more
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    • Profile picture of the author bangontime
      That's a good point re older products. I see that the competitor products use "since 2008" and "downloaded over 10k times" etc in their marketing. Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    This can work these days. Why not give it a try?
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  • Profile picture of the author dsimms
    You could hire a click funnel expert, they do this stuff for a living, and can provide you with a complete outline if your product is viable today, if not, then they will do niche research, and find you something more profitable, then they will setup a modern click funnel site, based on your product or entirely something else. keep in mind having a prof to create your click funnel site is not cheap, but consider what it could do for you in the long run....

    IMO, when you visited these affiliate sites, are the links still going to active sales page. I noticed a certain product discontinued some time last year, and noticed new article was written on a product that no longer exists.

    (Site owners normally do not remove content even if the product was discontinued so they just keep the content up, dont throw the baby out with the bathwater, as someone took the time to write the content..) and would make sense to keep the content for future opportunities.

    good luck,
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  • Profile picture of the author bangontime
    noticed new article was written on a product that no longer exists
    Really? ouch

    I did notice that affiliates are trying every approach possible, like registering domain name variations of the product name. One had created an entire blog site supposedly written by a doctor in India. It had one blog post, explaining how all his patients had stopped coming to him because they had all read this particular ebook, and it was putting him out of business but here is the link to the ebook anyway... I love it.

    Anyway, I digress. Thanks for the advice; it makes perfect sense to capitalise on the product I already have.
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  • Profile picture of the author John47
    As others have pointed out your core business model has not changed.

    It just needs to be updated and expanded with additional upsells
    using video etc and all the other new media that has come mainstream
    since 2008.

    The developments in social media have given you a great opportunity
    to get affiliates to promote you, using free traffic techniques which were
    not available when you released the first product.

    You can also use social media yourself to generate traffic especially free
    traffic and low cost ads and then pass on these successful methods
    to your affiliates for their own use. Affiliates always appreciate a vendor
    who helps out with promotion techniques and a bit of training.

    Implement all this and you're back in business stronger than before.
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    • Profile picture of the author bangontime
      Makes perfect sense - thanks for the feedback!
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