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5 ways to make money with affiliate products

by shulink
33 replies
I have been promoting affiliate products in the past 2 years and about half of my income or $5,000 a month comes from affiliate marketing. If you are a newbie in affiliate marketing or having trouble making money with affiliate products, here are some tips for you.

1. Content - Content is by far the most important thing in affiliate marketing. You should create unique, quality and fresh content for your site. 60-70% of my traffic comes from search engine and about 85% of that comes from Google. There are few things you need to do for Google to find you.
a) Keyword research - Do some basic keyword research through Google adwords. See what kind of keywords people are searching.
b) Identify buyer keywords - There are people who are looking for information and there are people who are ready to buy. Target the buyers. Some buyer keywords include but not limited to the following
buy
purchase
best
review
model numbers
brand names
cheap
c) Information keyword - There keywords are still important as they drive a lot of traffic to your site and they may ultimately buy something. You can also put adsense on your site to make additional money.
d) On Page SEO - you should do some basic SEO on your site. I was getting good traffic before I learn SEO, but my search engine traffic almost double when I applied SEO to my site. If you are using wordpress, then you can use the All in One SEO plugin.
e) Build back links to your site and deep links.
f) presell the product. People tend to ignore banners in general and they have horrible conversion rate. Therefore, you should write something to presell the affiliate product that you are trying to promote. Another approaching is text links in a problem-solution post. You post a problem, and then insert your affiliate product as a solution to your problem.

2. Forum Marketing
- Participate in forums and be helpful. Help out other people who needed help and post
genuine replies instead of posting affiliate links. You should never post spam in any form as you will get ban quickly. Nobody likes spam and people are more likely to buy from a friend rather than a stranger, so try to become friends with other members. Have a signature that points to your site is all you need. Spend at least 1 hour a day in forums that are related to your niche.

3. Twitter Marketing
When I first started twitter marketing, I was clueless. All I can see is people post useless stuff. I tried to do the same, but failed. I tried again and failed again. The reason was I kept posting affiliate products but nobody came to my site or buy anything from me. Then I realize twitter is the same as forum, I should be more helpful to other twitters. So I did the following

a) I started to answer other people's question and gain followers. You don't need a massive list of followers to make money with twitter, you need real people to follow you and if your message really help them, they will retwit your message to their friends and it goes viral.
b) I have never use any tool to build followers or anything. The only tool I use is socialoomph which is free. I use the tool to send a direct message to my followers when they follow me. The message is of course a link to my presell page.
c) Use the twitter search to find targeted customers. For example, if your niche is weight lost or diet, you can do a search
“diet recommendations -http -www.” - this will search for people who search for diet recommendations and their twit doesn't include a link. The reason is there are a lot of other marketers on twitter who are promoting their products with a link, I want to exclude them from my search. Remember, that is an exact keyword search on twitter, you should try other phrases as well.

3. Promote your product on facebook
Facebook is a little different than twitter because there is no search function to find other people's message posted on the wall. So you need to make a lot of friends.
a) Post messages on other people's fan page and build your friend list.
b) Fans Page - after you have about 500 friends, create a fans page and ask your friends to join.
c) Market your fans page, post helpful stuff that people want or need, and post links to your presell page from time to time.

4. Article Marketing -
- Write articles and submit to ezine and other article directories. I don't use this method very often because of my writing skills. But if you are a good writer, you should use article marketing because the conversion rate is pretty high.


5. Product Selection - Last but not least, product selection is important in affiliate marketing. You may work 12 hours a day, but if you are promoting the wrong product, then you will fail no matter how hard you try.
a) Affiliate Networks - Join affiliate networks like clickbank and commissino junction. Promote only the products with good landing pages. In clickbank, promote only the products with a gravity of at least 10 and minimum commission of $30. In Commission Junction, only promote the products with a Network Earnings of 3/5 or higher.
b) Spy On your competitor - Do a Google search and see what your competitors are promoting. If they are promoting a product heavily and constantly, chances are the product is a good one to promote, so you should try to product it too.

As you can see, I'm not a good writer and English is not my first language, if I can make money promoting, then you can too. On top of all that, hard working and persistence is the key. If you are a guy who gave up easily, then affiliate marketing is not for you.

I hope you learn something from my post. If not, I'm sorry to waste your time. Good Luck!
#affiliate #make #money #products #ways
  • Profile picture of the author Presto Smith
    Thanks for the advise, I have a few quick follow-up questions:

    1) Of the $5000 per month that you are making in affiliate sales, how many different products do you promote?

    2) How many products did you create yourself?

    3) Which affiliate marketplace makes you the most money?

    4) How many individual sites do you maintain?

    5) How much traffic do you see on average in order to get this type of return?

    The reason I ask all these questions is for the noobies out there. On my podcast I talk about affiliate marketing and I have had people ask me these types of questions in the past. I do not make near to $5000 a month from affiliate marketing, so I am curious to see what your response is to these background questions. Thank you for your time.
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by Passive Income Presto View Post

      Thanks for the advise, I have a few quick follow-up questions:

      1) Of the $5000 per month that you are making in affiliate sales, how many different products do you promote?

      2) How many products did you create yourself?

      3) Which affiliate marketplace makes you the most money?

      4) How many individual sites do you maintain?

      5) How much traffic do you see on average in order to get this type of return?

      The reason I ask all these questions is for the noobies out there. On my podcast I talk about affiliate marketing and I have had people ask me these types of questions in the past. I do not make near to $5000 a month from affiliate marketing, so I am curious to see what your response is to these background questions. Thank you for your time.
      1. I promote a lot of different products through clickbank, commission junction and some in store affiliates.

      2. I didn't create any products.

      3. In fact, it is the private affiliates that earn me the most money, meaning they don't below to any network. I joined them because I saw my competitors were promoting them.

      4. I maintain 13 sites, but most of my sales come from 2 of those sites.

      5. The 2 sites that I have, 1 get 2,000 uniques per day and the other one get 1,000 uniques per day. It depends on the products that I'm promoting. Some products are very expensive and therefore take much longer to see results.
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    Sounds like a straight forward approach.
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  • Profile picture of the author uleesgold
    Banned
    Originally Posted by shulink View Post

    As you can see, I'm not a good writer and English is not my first language, if I can make money promoting, then you can too. On top of all that, hard working and persistence is the key. If you are a guy who gave up easily, then affiliate marketing is not for you.

    I hope you learn something from my post. If not, I'm sorry to waste your time. Good Luck!
    I think you're English skills are fine (based on what I see here)
    Good summary.
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by uleesgold View Post

      I think you're English skills are fine (based on what I see here)
      Good summary.
      Thanks. I ordered a few grammar books and trying to improve my writing skills.
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      • Profile picture of the author ExRat
        Hi shulink,

        Content is by far the most important thing in affiliate marketing
        Unless of course, you choose a type of affiliate marketing that doesn't require any content at all.
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        • Profile picture of the author johnzhel
          Originally Posted by ExRat View Post

          Hi shulink,



          Unless of course, you choose a type of affiliate marketing that doesn't require any content at all.
          What type is that ? can you tell?
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          • Profile picture of the author ExRat
            Hi johnzhel,

            What type is that ? can you tell?
            a) certain types of websites that don't require written content, but use automated solutions to put products & details on pages

            b) methods that send buyers direct to the merchant's page - EG -

            • media buys that send traffic via a banner, for example
            • offline marketing, like a paper leaflet with a url on it that goes (redirects) to the merchant page
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            • Profile picture of the author shulink
              Originally Posted by ExRat View Post

              Hi johnzhel,

              a) certain types of websites that don't require written content, but use automated solutions to put products & details on pages

              b) methods that send buyers direct to the merchant's page - EG -

              • media buys that send traffic via a banner, for example
              • offline marketing, like a paper leaflet with a url on it that goes (redirects) to the merchant page
              That's good to know. I have never really try any offline marketing yet. I should give a shot. Wanna share your experience on offline marketing?
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  • Profile picture of the author johnzhel
    The best post I have read in last few months Thank you!

    How many hours do you spend on your 13 sites every day on average? Including on-site maintainence time (SEO, writing new posts, building inbound links) and promoting time (twitter, facebook, friending, answer questions in forum)
    .
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by johnzhel View Post

      The best post I have read in last few months Thank you!

      How many hours do you spend on your 13 sites every day on average? Including on-site maintainence time (SEO, writing new posts, building inbound links) and promoting time (twitter, facebook, friending, answer questions in forum)
      .
      In the beginning, I spent a lot time learning from others in the forums and read a lot of ebooks, testing and so on. Now, it depends on my mood. Sometimes I spend all day, over 10 hours. Sometimes, I just take off or work when I feel like. I think average it will be about 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
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  • Profile picture of the author WebPen
    That's a good point ExRat- offline methods are huge, media buys are awesome, videos are becoming more and more popular....

    The trick is finding what works for you and scaling it.
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    Originally Posted by shulink View Post


    4. Article Marketing -
    - Write articles and submit to ezine and other article directories. I don't use this method very often because of my writing skills. But if you are a good writer, you should use article marketing because the conversion rate is pretty high.

    THis is a good tip, but what you missed out on what that you need to focus on QUALITY, i sat down this year and went through all my article writers, funny thing I had seven of them. So I had to fire 5 of them, and kept too on. My sales went up because i got on their case and said I will pay more higher quality articles.

    With what is happening with Google and EA, this is helping dramatically.

    You want people clicking and subscribing to you list. as there is nothing like a nice warmed up prospect from reading one of your articles. They are more likely to buy in my eyes.

    But QUALITY will win the race in 2011, there is so much cyber junk out there, it wont take too much extra work for people to find you if offer good info for free.

    People are doing it all backwards. I can sell $xxxx products that are not even mine. I do it with free video and articles. Yes, it does take a few days to set up, but then you just sit back and let others market this while you sit in your chair counting the money. IM is such a simple thing to do for those that see it.
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by celente View Post

      THis is a good tip, but what you missed out on what that you need to focus on QUALITY, i sat down this year and went through all my article writers, funny thing I had seven of them. So I had to fire 5 of them, and kept too on. My sales went up because i got on their case and said I will pay more higher quality articles.

      With what is happening with Google and EA, this is helping dramatically.

      You want people clicking and subscribing to you list. as there is nothing like a nice warmed up prospect from reading one of your articles. They are more likely to buy in my eyes.

      But QUALITY will win the race in 2011, there is so much cyber junk out there, it wont take too much extra work for people to find you if offer good info for free.

      People are doing it all backwards. I can sell products that are not even mine. I do it with free video and articles. Yes, it does take a few days to set up, but then you just sit back and let others market this while you sit in your chair counting the money. IM is such a simple thing to do for those that see it.
      Where do you find your article writers? I'm always thinking about hire one so that I can focus on marketing, and not bother with content creation. However, I am afraid getting sue in the future if they use copy articles or something. How do you ensure that their articles are 100% unique and written by them? Google search?
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      • Profile picture of the author ExRat
        Hi shulink,

        That's good to know. I have never really try any offline marketing yet. I should give a shot. Wanna share your experience on offline marketing?
        Rather than the specific example given above, my experience revolved around providing internet services to offline business.

        I was reminded that my independence and time-freedom (the ability to be spontaneous and answer to no one) are the key benefits of my business on a personal level.

        I found that typically, if someone enters into a contract with me, they somehow resent the time freedom and lifestyle that I have and enjoy eating into that freedom in a manner that ends up feeling like going backwards, back into the rat race in an employee/employer scenario. People who create careers for themselves that require them to work all hours and run around like a blue-arsed fly, never taking their hands off 'the wheel', tend to resent those who have created the opposite type of career. If they get the opportunity, they want to see you doing the same because it makes them feel better.

        I've tried many ways to combat this in order to make it successful, but human nature is a difficult beast to take on - especially when it digs it's heels in. I have found that many people who are successful - especially those who have done it via controlling a bunch of subservient employees - shift their goals beyond the monetary onto seeing how far they can control people for the smallest outlay. Although I am more than capable of winning such a psychological battle, this is not a game I am willing to play, for any price - I have better things to focus on.

        Therefore I am doing a 180 and focussing even more of my effort on building a totally independent business that is designed almost entirely to provide me with even more of a lifestyle that makes other people positively sick with envy - not because the envy is what I desire, but because that lifestyle is the very reason that I am doing this. The corporate world makes me want to vomit and at the top end, it's overloaded with psychopaths who get their kicks from controlling people. They're welcome to their world, my ExRat world is a much nicer and calmer place.

        I am a self-confessed freedom-junkie and proud of it!
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        • Profile picture of the author shulink
          Originally Posted by ExRat View Post

          Hi shulink,

          Rather than the specific example given above, my experience revolved around providing internet services to offline business.

          I was reminded that my independence and time-freedom (the ability to be spontaneous and answer to no one) are the key benefits of my business on a personal level.

          I found that typically, if someone enters into a contract with me, they somehow resent the time freedom and lifestyle that I have and enjoy eating into that freedom in a manner that ends up feeling like going backwards, back into the rat race in an employee/employer scenario. People who create careers for themselves that require them to work all hours and run around like a blue-arsed fly, never taking their hands off 'the wheel', tend to resent those who have created the opposite type of career. If they get the opportunity, they want to see you doing the same because it makes them feel better.

          I've tried many ways to combat this in order to make it successful, but human nature is a difficult beast to take on - especially when it digs it's heels in. I have found that many people who are successful - especially those who have done it via controlling a bunch of subservient employees - shift their goals beyond the monetary onto seeing how far they can control people for the smallest outlay. Although I am more than capable of winning such a psychological battle, this is not a game I am willing to play, for any price - I have better things to focus on.

          Therefore I am doing a 180 and focussing even more of my effort on building a totally independent business that is designed almost entirely to provide me with even more of a lifestyle that makes other people positively sick with envy - not because the envy is what I desire, but because that lifestyle is the very reason that I am doing this. The corporate world makes me want to vomit and at the top end, it's overloaded with psychopaths who get their kicks from controlling people. They're welcome to their world, my ExRat world is a much nicer and calmer place.

          I am a self-confessed freedom-junkie and proud of it!
          Hey, great post. I used to be a programmer for a company and I couldn't stand the 9-5 work hour. I mean the pay was good, but I think there is a better future for internet marketing. So I started in this field on my own time and quit my job after my website took off. Now, I feel that was the best decision that I've ever made. I'm my own boss, and never have to listen for instructions anymore or work extra hours for nothing.
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  • Profile picture of the author misterkailo
    I have yet to have good results from using Twitter to market anything. Everyone is spamming his or her own website so no one is looking at anyone's Tweets.
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    • Profile picture of the author clickbanktemplate
      I agree with you. Everyone wants followers in twitter. People follow and some refollow them. Everyone wants their followers to read their tweets , but they dont read tweets of people. Twitter gotta be used in a proper way so its mutually beneficial for everyone.

      Originally Posted by misterkailo View Post

      I have yet to have good results from using Twitter to market anything. Everyone is spamming his or her own website so no one is looking at anyone's Tweets.
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by misterkailo View Post

      I have yet to have good results from using Twitter to market anything. Everyone is spamming his or her own website so no one is looking at anyone's Tweets.
      That's what I did in the beginning and failed. You need to spend more time on it and truly help out others and then they will visit your site naturally. You should only promote your website once in every 10 twits. Remember, twitter wouldn't be able to grow this big if the majority people are spammers. There are a lot more people out there who use twitter as a social or business network to keep in touch with their friends or promote new business, and there are people who need your help and product, so help them get it.
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  • Profile picture of the author xxxJamesxxx
    I have yet to have good results from using Twitter to market anything. Everyone is spamming his or her own website so no one is looking at anyone's Tweets.
    Tell me about it

    I'm currently using Tweet Adder to automate my Twitter marketing but I've found it's full of marketer marketing to other marketer while their marketing their stuff

    Result... No sales

    Think I'm gonna stick with my other methods as I know they work

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by xxxJamesxxx View Post

      Tell me about it

      I'm currently using Tweet Adder to automate my Twitter marketing but I've found it's full of marketer marketing to other marketer while their marketing their stuff

      Result... No sales

      Think I'm gonna stick with my other methods as I know they work

      James
      I never use any automatic software to boost my followers as it will be end up like a spam account or may get banned by twitter. You don't actually need that much followers to make it profitable.
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  • Profile picture of the author clickbanktemplate
    Not everyone is doing that. There are genuine people who helps their followers and post related tweets. But most people the tweets are done automatically based on settings and they just login to follow new people so they get follow back. They will not read the tweets because they use auto tweet programs.
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    • Profile picture of the author live2excel
      Thanks Shulink,
      I am just a newbie, but this is INCREDIBLY helpful to me. I hope I could be so helpful in the future to other newbies. I am going to bookmark this page and do everything in your post.
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      • Profile picture of the author ally4u
        Affiliate Marketing is a revenue sharing venture between a website owner and an online merchant. The website owner will place advertisements on his websites to either help sell the merchant's products or to send potential customers to the merchant's website, all in exchange for a share of the profits.
        There are three ways to earn money through affiliate marketing:
        Pay per click,Pay Per Sale,Pay Per Lead .
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by clickbanktemplate View Post

      Not everyone is doing that. There are genuine people who helps their followers and post related tweets. But most people the tweets are done automatically based on settings and they just login to follow new people so they get follow back. They will not read the tweets because they use auto tweet programs.
      That is ok, since you will be only getting more auto followers, so what? It doesn't hurt you when you have 1 more follower. The point here is you need to find the real twitter users and help them or interact with them. When they follow you, it will become real. When you help them out, they feel thankful. When you spam them, they block you. So you shouldn't post affiliate links or links to your site every twit. You should have a frequency on how often you twit your website or your affiliate product. I kept it under 1 twit in every 10 twits I make.
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  • Profile picture of the author terrencewan
    Thanks for sharing, and do you only used the
    5 ways mention by you only?
    Or is there other ways?
    Can share with us?
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    • Profile picture of the author shulink
      Originally Posted by terrencewan View Post

      Thanks for sharing, and do you only used the
      5 ways mention by you only?
      Or is there other ways?
      Can share with us?
      These are the only ways I'm using right now. However, I will try new ways in the near future such as youtube and so on. It never hurts to try more. The only reason I didn't do youtube yet is my english speaking skills is bad, so I focus on other ways first. But I will definitely try youtube in the near future.
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  • Profile picture of the author JonnyNez
    Thanks for the info. Now time to put it to the test.
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  • Profile picture of the author shireen
    Hi:

    Thanks for the great posting :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author calfred
    This is a good overview for any beginners who wishes to know how making money online works, particularly in the affiliate marketing business model.
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    Please do not use affiliate links in signatures

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    • Profile picture of the author GarryO
      The article is excellent with all the details about Affiliate marketing. I think the most important part of Affiliate marketing is to choose the right kind of companies and promote their products as some of the companies claim to offer good commissions but fail to do so and the payments are not done on time which is another drawback.
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Thorsett
        Thank you for this thread. It has given me some new ideas and different perspectives on old ideas. I love this place! Everyone helps everyone else.
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      • Profile picture of the author shulink
        Originally Posted by GarryO View Post

        The article is excellent with all the details about Affiliate marketing. I think the most important part of Affiliate marketing is to choose the right kind of companies and promote their products as some of the companies claim to offer good commissions but fail to do so and the payments are not done on time which is another drawback.
        Exactly, but you need to test out to find out. I tried a lot of products and some never convert even though I sent them thousands of traffic so I had to take them out. That's why spy on your competitors and see what they are promoting is important.
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