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Barnes & Noble Affiliate Program sucks?

by SpiderT3
6 replies
I'm one of those unfortunate souls who live in one of the banned Amazon affiliate states. I have a Deleware LLC, but according to my research, if you have a "nexus" (physical presence) in a banned state, you are not allowed to be an amazon affiliate.

Therefore, I signed up for the Barnes & Noble affiliate program at linksynergy.com about a year ago. Guess how many sales I've made with this program?


0 (zero)


To this date I've had 601 clicks on my affiliate links and not one of those people purchased a book. I have a relevant site where I teach people how to use a 3D modeling program, and I have recommended a few books that are additional resources for people to continue learning. I don't push the affiliate links so I consider those clicks to be highly qualified. I would have thought I'd get at least one person buy a book. Anyone else have experience with Barnes & Noble? Can to share some conversion rate stats? Even if you're on Amazon, what kind of conversion rate do you get?
#affiliate #amazon affiliate #barnes #barnes & noble #noble #program #sucks
  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Why would you blame their affiliate program? They just give you the links, it's up to YOU to get the conversions, right?
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    • Profile picture of the author SpiderT3
      Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

      Why would you blame their affiliate program? They just give you the links, it's up to YOU to get the conversions, right?
      Hey Cashcow, I'm totally with you on this one. But something just smells fishy because honestly I feel like I'm sending highly qualified traffic through those links. I find it highly unlikely that on 601 clicks over the course of a year, not one person converted. Don't you? I know it's hard for you to say without seeing my site and whatnot, but seriously, not ONE convertion???
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      • Profile picture of the author SpiderT3
        @chase & @onegoodman,

        I'm open to other affiliate suggestions. I'd prefer to go with a site people have heard of. I know everybody is going to question whether I'm sending quality traffic to those links, and there's really no way to prove that.

        So assuming I'm sending qualified traffic, what's a typical conversion rate? I'm currently getting +40,000 pageviews organic traffic per month on my site, I provide excellent content teaching people how to use a specific software. The whole point someone comes to my site is the result of a search for a tutorial on how to use this program. For me to only have 600 click throughs on my book affiliate links just show you that I'm not pushing my affiliate links, it's a very non-aggressive part of my business. The books I link to teach people about the software, it's very relevant. In my opinion, they are high quality leads.

        Any more advice?
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      • Profile picture of the author cashcow
        Originally Posted by SpiderT3 View Post

        Hey Cashcow, I'm totally with you on this one. But something just smells fishy because honestly I feel like I'm sending highly qualified traffic through those links. I find it highly unlikely that on 601 clicks over the course of a year, not one person converted. Don't you? I know it's hard for you to say without seeing my site and whatnot, but seriously, not ONE convertion???
        It depends on your traffic source and what you are doing to convert them. Maybe the traffic is looking for a free tutorial and if you provide that on the page they don't need the book?

        I would definitely try another affiliate program to see if that converts better ... do you see the clicks inside the B&N tracking (I have no idea what their tracking looks like).
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  • Profile picture of the author onegoodman
    hi,

    601 and zero sales is strange.

    Did you try to sign for other affiliate programs e.g. BookAMillion ?
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  • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
    Well this completely depends on the traffic you're sending them. Barnes & Noble may be sitting their thinking "this person has sent us 600+ crappy visitors who had no intention of purchasing".

    What other book stores have you promote and what's your conversion rate with them?
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