Amazon Affiliates - Are You Seriously Making Money?

well I would said.. run a PPV campaign blast it all over the internet before the holidays.. amazon will put your cookies on anyone who click on your page... and you might see over $100K in commission after the holidays.

That's the commission.

We use Amazon plugins for some of our product reviews but we prefer to change the content. No point copying over the same content from Amazon. It just doesn't work. You really need to be writing your own review.

You only need a few product reviews to make that sort of money. Most people assume we have hundreds of reviews, and we do, but really a good majority of that income comes from maybe 10 or so reviews.

We have niche sites but the niche is not the important thing - the product is. You just have to choose the right products in Amazon.

Amazon IMO is not going to make you rich...There are definitely some people in this forum that make a full time living off Amazon because they have sites that are highly ranked, but if you are making absolutely no money what so ever, Amazon is the perfect place to start.

- A perfect way to make your first $1,000/m online.

Everyone is so focused on all the products out there that are like 'watch me make $100,000 promoting products through clickbank'

Well I hate to break it to you, anything on clickbank these days is extremely competitive. Can anyone make money with clickbank? Sure. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't take skill and experience.

(In fact, I'm now building an authority site that primarily promotes a CB product, with a physical product to promote on the back end)

All I can say is stop looking at this as 'oh this product will make me $100,000, so I'm going to buy that'

If you can't make money online, or don't have the experience, forget about making $100,000.

Make your first $1000/m then go from there.

I honestly believe promoting physical products is the best way to get started making money online. While everyone else is focused on clickbank, and most likely failing, you can make a good bit of money every month promoting those unknown physical products that no one ever thinks about.

Just my 2 cents.

- Dan Brock

Amazing! Inspiring! Thanks Paula!

Nice little plan Sojourn!
Thanks.

Hm.. Okay, so volume is the key.

Conversion is better than ebooks..
SEO traffic is the best..

I seem to get some ideas now.

Thanks everybody!

Sojourn,

Thanks for such a detailed response. It is very informative and helpful. It is always encouraging to know about other people's successes.

Sojourn you are reallly help people on this forum I did not expect to get something so detailed on this forum like this

Thanks this was great information.

Hi Sojourn, really liked your post and have to say I find Dan Brock an insperation!

Thank you so much for such great information. I am new at affiliate marketing and in my 4 weeks or so in this business, i've seen so many programs which offers this and that via clickbank. I never thought Amazon can be such a great source of online income.

Quick question though, I live outside the USA. Is the affiliate program available anywhere in the world?

You are a great help. Thanks a lot.

We mostly just manually post reviews on blogs. We also use Amazon plugins but not in a big way.

This is great info, and I have a question for you who are doing well with Amazon.

How focused are your sites?

What I mean is; looking at one of your sites, do you focus on:

1) A single product (like IPK), such as "Model LCDTV004337"
2) A narrow niche such as "LCD TVs"
3) A broader niche such as "TVs"
4) A general niche such as "Home Entertainment"

I do have IPK, and the thought of building a bunch of sites based on individual products seems more difficult to generate content. So, I'm guessing that #2 or #3 above make more sense. Or, does it work to just build one fairly large site in a general niche (#4 above) with reviews on several products.

With a large, somewhat general site (like Home Entertainment), you could have reviews on TVs, DVD/Blu Ray players, sound systems, etc. Or, does a site that large dilute the effort and make it too difficult to rank?

Thanks,
Jason

1) Are you ranking on any keywords?
2) Are your reviews actually "exceptionally good?"

I'm going into Amazon affiliate "hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst". If Im not mistaken there is a YouTube video with Matt Cutts saying that there's an algorithm update targeting long tail keyword rankings, replacing the first page with deep links from authority sites (Amazon.com), allegedly because of Bing bringing the web faster than Google's index (which would explain those commercials, which never made sense to me until Caffeine's release) in conjunction with what happened with Google not being able to index the news fast enough when 9/11 occurred, or something to that extent.

I'm not saying that's true or not, I'm just saying I'm going to write some very good reviews (I sold CB products quite successfully last year, paying back my investment and then some; I just didn't know what I know know, I was actually pretty close to making good money looking back, but I digress) I just hope nothing changed "too much" about getting on the front page for very specific (read:long-tail) keywords, but I'll report back on my progress when its appropriate.

Update 8/20:

Okay, so I have chosen my niche that has higher-end products ($150+ or more, at 4% thats $6 a sale, not bad, but I believe you have to sell smaller products as well to climb that fee structure every month and while I'm doing that I will be promoting CB products in the related niche as well for article fodder.) that are only sold online and not found in retail, and is a buying niche because it is needed at some point in time. I began writing product reviews on my wordpress blog (I am VERY impressed how user-friendly WP has become recently, having not used it in over 1+ years.) So far I am pacing myself as I want to write QUALITY reviews, the length is not all the most important factor to me as long as I thoroughly cover the topics I want to cover in each review I consistently hit 500 word reviews according to EzineArticles. I am hoping for the first time in my article writing lifetime that I get Platinum status (I'm starting again after a year hiatus btw), as Ezines has gotten me to the front page the most and given me the most traffic and sales so my domain is more of my "soft" landing page instead of a squidoo lens or hubpage, which I will also be using. So far I have 5 product reviews and a comparison post - I will be writing top 5 products for less than $200 or something like that tomorrow as well as other posts. It is taking me all day to thoroughly review 2 products and form them into a product review I would personally want to read in researching that product niche, among other things like adding pictures and updating prior pages with new ideas I want to implement. I would like to note that it is becoming easier for me to write reviews, Sojourn mentioned this hurdle when first writing and I am no expert in my niche either, but I would like to know more about it and as a result I can keep everything interesting because I want to write and talk about it. Once Ezines has approved my articles I will begin my traffic generating campaign which hopefully results in landing on the first page as I create as many product reviews for my niche as I can, which depends on the keywords I find and believe I can rank for. Once I've done that or made a sale or two I will move on and make another niche site. Like I said this method had worked for me in the past with CB products, I just never applied it to Amazon products and I hope the method hasn't changed much. I can definitely see that this is going to take time to make a substantial income; Paula to make over $10,000 a month I can only imagine how many pages you have up and running and how long it took to get there; but I do see that it is possible to make that kind of cheddar strictly through Amazon, if one has the discipline to commit to writing quality articles that help the customer instead of rushing to make a garbage review that only helps yourself. I just hope things haven't changed much to the algo to rank on the front page, I am also focusing on becoming an authority site, making articles that people would want to read and recommend.

Once all that mashed up mayhem is accomplished (More Articles -> Ezines - > Traffic) I will make another update; which should be in about a week or two (roughly the same time it took for Ofthemix to make her first sale on Amazon, if I'm not mistaken.) I just need the taste of waking up to a sale again to really get the ol' proverbial fire burning again, then I can really do some damage lol

What's that?

Hi Matthew,

There are a variety of ways....I do believe that on her blog she talks about this a little more in detail.

Definitely don't put all your eggs in one basket....Try a few different ones and double up on the winners!

Michael

They talk about it in their book in a lot more detail than in their blog.

Best thing you can do is search on the forum for posts on driving traffic and utilize what you see.

I not only use her techniques, but I also use straight-on article marketing and a variety of other things.

A lot depends on how determined you are to get traffic.

I'm not her, but, I imagine it's similar to using text vs. banner/widget type ads for just about any other affiliate program: text links typically perform better...are more readily clickable because they usually bear the #0000FF hex coding....

People have been conditioned by sites like craigslist...and, this is the most recommended color behind Google ads, as well...

no call to action, it's more like information site...

Han

Hi Charlie,

Your site needs a much simpler layout. I've found conversions to go up when you have very simple, 2 column layout. You're better off having product reviews in the main part of the site, rather than the right sidebar. The sidebars look a little too cluttered.

Michael

put an opt-in box in the upper right corner where you currently have the male pic. Also, I would make your header text a little smaller, with a pic of a smooth male just above. like a headerboard photo.

Offer a free report and drip it to your list.

Can't believe I missed this thread until now.

Probably the most value filled thread I've read on WF.

As someone starting out with a few Amazon sites this is priceless.

Thank you to all those who have contributed positively.

Not sure if Paula is keeping up with this thread, so I'll just chime in- I think that widgets are "bannery" and look like ads, which people are less likely to click on than normal text links.

It's worth testing, however, I've read this on several top amazon affiliate marketer's blogs, so I haven't used any of amazon's widgets in ages.

I don't have an answer for why really.... but I can vouch for her statement. Text links convert much better and have a higher CTR. I think that one reason is, is that it is in the review they are reading. Most people subconsciously ignore banner ads and anything not in the content they were seeking, so text links helps with that.

Over the years I've been an Amazon affiliate, practically since the beginning, I've never been able to get any results from any of the widgets I've tried. On the other hand, in-context text links have worked the best overall.

It means use in context text links.

Echoing what others have already said - THANK YOU for all of the great information in this thread!!!

Quick question: So everyone favors the text links in content over the widgets, but I'm curious if there is formula for the text links you're using. For example:

"...and we found that the sound on the ABC system was much better than..." where ABC system is the link back to Amazon.

or

"...we found that Amazon had the best price on the ABC system..." where Amazon is the actual link back to the item on Amazon.

I guess the better way to ask is, when they click your link are they aware that they are clicking a link that is taking them to Amazon to purchase the product? Or are the links more concealed such as - product name, "more info", etc?

And is it correct that when someone clicks through your affiliate link to Amazon, they get a 24 hour cookie that will pay YOU regardless of what they buy?

If that is the case, what happens if they click through to Amazon from site A (your competitor) at Noon, and then click through to Amazon from your site at 1PM - does your cookie override the earlier affiliate's cookie?

Thanks again for all of the help you all are providing!

Erica, quick question, and if I missed the answer in a subsequent post, my apologies.

From this I get the sense that your first review sites were aimed at individual niches, but your most recent site is a general review site focusing on a variety of products. Am I correct?

That tip is absolutely golden. I never even considered that. I am just now starting to get into amazon as cpa can be up and down from a seo perspective. I will definitely be using this.

Thanks Craig - I appreciate that...I'm just starting to crack the Amazon affiliate shell but from what I can tell the rewards are looking real juicy -

I'll have more to post on this money making strategy.

Respectfully,
Tim

Craig,
There is some additional info regarding Amazon in this thread also: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...s-convert.html

Respectfully,
Tim

Yes - that site and a few other sites I have built around "needs" are really starting to get hot with traffic and more importantly conversions. The sites are quick and easy to make and the traffic is targeted when it arrives and once I send it to Amazon it is converting extremely well.

I just responded back to your PM -

Respectfully,
Tim

That's excellent Tracey!

That's an amazing amount from Amazon...Your blog postings using IPK were exceptional also as I spent some time going through them. Lot to be learned from what you posted in terms of when it was workign for you (seasonal)..etc.

Respectfully,
Tim

Wow. This is great. May be I should get into this.

Traceye, dats why u seem so happy (LOL) very nice.

oh its really fentastic earnings

i am also having 5-6 blogs promoting amazon products but not getting atleast 10-20$ every month
any suggestions please

That is awesome. I took the IPK course and used it as well. I seemed to get better results using IPK techniques on my own wordpress sites than using the Netblazer sites that he recommended. Did you find the same?

This is taking a slightly different spin on selling through Amazon.

I was actually kinda amazed at the volume of sales you can get if you offer a product on Amazon. I am experienced in e-commerce, so I kinda know how to approach suppliers and whatnot. But I realize others might not want to get into it, but if you DID then there is a great opportunity.

As a rest, I tried to drill down into smaller categories and sort through products that appeared to be a little higher margin AND were top 1000 sellers in that particular category. E.g. No books or whatever, but real actual usable products.

This is the part that takes work, but it pays off for people that are willing to do a bit more work. You need to get a list of 5 or 10 of these products and find the distributors, get the wholesale price, and find out if they dropship. This takes a bit of work, but becomes easier once you get started.

After that, you want to offer the product for the lowest price, even if you lose a few bucks on it. Selling more, delivering quicker, and getting feedback puts you as the "preferred seller" for that product. So when they click through the product, they go straight to you instead of a list of other vendors. It also serves another purpose, it puts you in a better position to get a discount through the supplier for the volume you might be doing.

I picked 2 products in a particular category and did this for the month of April. In May, I raised my price slightly and things picked up.

For product A, I made a profit of $765 after all shipping, amazon, product fees.

For product B, I made a profit of $ 490 after all fees.

The downside to this, is that you're kind of making money off volume as opposed to a lot per product. I would never do this personally unless I was just starting out OR I had someone I could pass this off to. In my case, I have someone that does this whole thing for me.

Might be worth checking out.

I must admit that I've wrote a few reasonable articles about the most popular Amazon product the Kindle DX e-book reader with Ezine articles & got views & traffic, but haven't had any sales, although I've had a couple of sales from other Amazon products.

I will certainly take on board the comments about writing articles about higher priced goods, quality of review content & text link only instead of banners & widgets.

Cheers

Mark

I recently (approx. three months back) signed up as an Amazon affiliate, but haven't actually tried it yet (too busy with other things), even though I have a couple of books for sale through Create Space...

After reading some of the comments here, I think it's a good idea for me to get cracking promoting Amazon products.

Anyone hear about the 24 hour credit for all sales made thru your Amazon affiliate link (back wash effect), meaning you get credited for all sales made to the same buyer on Amazon within 24 hours after clicking your link, even if it's something other than what you are promoting?

It is possible to make money as an Amazon affiliate.

However, there are two things you need to be aware of:

First of all, it may take some time before you start seeing huge results such as some of the more veteran Internet Marketers.

These people have been working on their strategies for months and months. They did not just start making money over night. What you don’t see is all the hard work and effort that went into making all of those sales possible.

The second thing is you need to experiment until you find something that works for you. If you have honestly given your current strategy your best effort and it is not performing as well as you would like, then reevaluate your strategy.

You may need to change some things up. You have to be willing to accept the fact that your strategy just might be wrong.

The fact is you can make really good money as an Amazon affiliate. You just have to stick to it.

Most people who don’t make money online are the ones who either did not have a good plan or gave up to quickly.

To make good money with Amazon there are two routes to take.

• Dominate a niche of products ie: One person made millions focusing on cell phone accessories.
• Drive massive traffic to Amazon, there site is gear up to convert visitors, even if they do not buy the product you are promoting and then go on to buy something else, you still earn the commission.

Good luck :p

Yes you can put your aff link directly into the hub (but only two times). Best positions are at the top right in a link capsule, and then once in the body of the text - again somewhere near the top.

In addition you can add an amazon capsule, but I prefer to put these down lower since you only get revenue share of these with HubPages and not the full commission and you want your own links to get priority.

Make sure you have lots of text though (for Google) and maybe a picture or video as well so it doesn't look too spammy which Hubpages hates.

Conduit method refers to Chris Rempel's product/idea. Essentially the idea is that you become a conduit for the "inevitable sale". To do that look for keywords that people use to buy a specific product and then build review type of site around that keyword.

Basically i have set up a wordpress blog based around a particuar type of product. luckily there are 100s of different variations of this product. I write a review for each product as outlined in "the conduit method". Its more of an overview of the product rather than a review. Only takes about 5 minutes to write.

Not to hijack the thread, but is the conduit method basically a scaled down version of IPK? It sounds like the basic idea is the same or very similar.

Thanks,
Jason

From Google.

It's the search query string that Google shows in the search bar after you use their Advanced Search options. Their advanced search features are useful for doing searches that focus only on a specific page or URL, specific phrases, and where you want to exclude other phrases.

Once you know the search query terms you don't have to actually bring up their advanced search page - just type the terms into the search bar and you're on your way.