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Why Im gradually moving away from affiliate marketing

by cjshu99
16 replies
Ive been doing a form of affiliate marketing for about 12 years. Parttime only because I have decent job. But since 2008 my income has been spiraling and stumbling downward. It started with online gambling being made illegal in the USA. Then came the adwords ban. Next up Adsense changed their terms. After that came the Google updates and the dissappearance of my sites. Lately its been merchants ending affilite programs or substantially reducing commissions. Whew. Im sure I missed something but you get the point.

As someone who is now in the early stages of senior citizenship I was looking for something that I could get more control over. I realize this is the internet and things change daily so total control is out of the question. Also something that wasnt highly technical and could generate profits quicker.

So what I have been doing lately is looking into selling real products on Amazon and eBay. Its not easy, but if it waseveryone could do it. Finding products and suppliers is work, dealing with shipping and buyers too, but Ive profited in my first 2 months, not much but no coding, buying domains, backling or seo was needed.
#affiliate #gradually #marketing #moving
  • Profile picture of the author Dragonfire Wealth
    A really nice solution would be to outsource creation of an informational product in each niche that you're involved in, and selling that instead for 100% of the profits rather than 75% from commission.

    Don't half ass it though make sure it's quality, have a really nice video made (whiteboard wins it usually) with squeeze/sales pages set up nicely.

    It could be quite a bit of up front cost ($500-$600 for high quality) but then you have a GREAT product that you can sell and sell and sell some more
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  • Profile picture of the author John J M
    I know dropshipping can bring in a lot of money if that's what you're interested in. There are several courses on the forum about it.

    Personally, I always encourage people to invest time/money into Kindle publishing. I don't see Kindle going anywhere in the next few years, and there's a lot of money to be made there.
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  • Profile picture of the author GamerZag
    The take-away I see from your post is that technology is moving too fast for you to keep up. This is where you must make the choice of what deserves your focus and in what amounts.
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    • Profile picture of the author optionmedia
      Personally, I always encourage people to invest time/money into Kindle publishing. I don't see Kindle going anywhere in the next few years, and there's a lot of money to be made there.
      I agree!

      I think Kindle would be your best bet. Make sure you produce high quality products and they will provide years of income.

      Each book you publish is an asset, just keep adding to your library and you'll have a steady income.
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  • Profile picture of the author simonpiemon
    I've been in affiliate marketing a long time (since 2000) and the one BIG thing that has changed is the ability to get instant commissions.

    The days of waiting 7, 30, 60 days to be paid are in the past for me - instant commissions are the ONLY affiliate products I promote now.

    And, being a product owner too, of course, very easy with affiliate networks such as JVZoo.
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    1 simoncrabb.com (consulting and coaching - I've been a full time affiliate marketer since 2000)
    2 plrproducers.com (free and paid PLR products)
    3 concealeddeals.com (digital downloads deals site)

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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Anton
    hi cjshu99,

    Ironically you are moving towards the most lucrative and promising ways to make money online in 2014. The internet isn't "fake" anymore and real products and ecommerce are going to continue to explode.

    This could be the perfect niche for you to sell real products online. Like you said, it's about finding the right suppliers and buying low and selling high. Affiliate marketing is certainly difficult, but just because your approach is "simple" it's a sustainable real business model based on relationships that has already proven successful. Good for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author creztor
    I think the point is that you are selling something "real" that does something? Having your own physical product is definitely good, but I think it is also important to sell products that have and offer real value and just aren't get rich quick stuff you see floating around.

    Ebay and Amazon are probably just as difficult as any other "market". 15 years ago it was easy. Very few people were buying stuff from China and selling it online. They quickly changed and now profit margins have dropped dramatically. Please don't think it will be any different selling on Ebay and Amazon. It changes just as much as Google and Adwords does.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    It can be very frustrating and I sympathize but
    I don't care what you start doing you will constantly be faced with change and have the rug pulled out from under you. I watch traditional business with their life savings in their business evaporate over a simple change. What do you think Wal Mart has done to 99% of family owned business? How about Amazon?

    For every bad thing that happened there was a good one to offset.
    So now today you can drive unlimited traffic from Facebook, outsource anything on the planet on Fiverr and pick up your toys and go live on almost any beach in another land with a cost of living so low that you could work 20 hours per week from your laptop.

    Change is no bid deal, our reaction to it is the killer.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Trujillo
    Sounds like you've hit a few bumps in the road! But don't get discouraged and think this is the end of affiliate marketing. There is LOTS of money to be made, and in order for this to work for you, you must change your mindset and beliefs that got you to believe this isn't working anymore. If you jump around from one shiny object to the next, you will never get anywhere. Stick with one thing, learn as much as you can, get good at it and take massive action, that's the only way you will ever succeed.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasondinner
    Sounds like you had most, if not all of your eggs in one basket. And it was Google's.

    I learned the hard way as well to not waste my time catering my business to their bullshit.

    There is so much traffic out there outside of adwords and SEO.

    Yes offers come and go, but that's part of adapting. You should never get complacent ever - whether if as an affiliate or with your own products.

    Good luck with the Amazon stuff though
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    "Human thoughts have the tendency to transform themselves into their physical equivalent." Earl Nightingale

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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Part of my personal online strategy is exactly what you are doing, selling goods on e-bay. My wife is a crafter, and we do Etsy as well. I have 3 items I have in-stock at all times. I got an e-mail not to long ago from one of my suppliers and they were discounting one of the items I sell. I called my rep up like right then. I asked "how many of X do you have in stock?" He said "I have 689." I said "done!" he said "WHAT?!?" I said "Ring it up!" Taking advantage of price discounts with-out question helps the bottom line. It doesn't look good when you take the dive, but it pans out in the long run!

      Anyways where was I.. yes I carry 3 items. Everything else I sell is dependent on the deal I get on them. I get stuff from Walmart all the time. Before X-mas I got X-box Bluetooth headsets for $5.00 sold them for $30.00 I got little lego packs for $1.50 sold those for $6.00. Deals are everywhere. Walk through stores, when you see stuff on sale look up what they are going for on ebay with your phone.

      Here is a e-bay trick for you. If you have a lot of 1 item list the item 2 times each one with different shipping. ( I always do free shipping ) So I list 1 with a low price, and cheap slow shipping ($6.00 listing). On the ad I say if you want it faster look at item #2. The second one is with Priority shipping ($9.00 listing), with a note, if you want this item for less see item #1. I do 3 day repeating buy it now listings. I start each one exactly 36 hours apart when possible. This gives you good rotation in the list of items.

      Hope that Helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author PinkStar
      Originally Posted by jasondinner View Post

      Sounds like you had most, if not all of your eggs in one basket. And it was Google's.

      I learned the hard way as well to not waste my time catering my business to their bullshit.

      There is so much traffic out there outside of adwords and SEO.
      This is my thinking too: diversify and not be dependent on one source.
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      Move it along folks, nothing to see here
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    The beauty of affiliate marketing for me and why I'm not keen to get into handling products is because of the location independence.

    I don't have to be mailing out products or holding stock (not feasible for me anyway I live in Thailand and travel a lot).

    Of course if you find a dropshipper that problem is eliminated but again the droppshipper is outwith your control and if they decide to stop shipping products for you that's a whole other potential problem right there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Moneymaker2012
    So what I have been doing lately is looking into selling real products on Amazon and eBay. Its not easy, but if it waseveryone could do it. Finding products and suppliers is work, dealing with shipping and buyers too, but Ive profited in my first 2 months, not much but no coding, buying domains, backling or seo was needed.
    If you are still need to buy domains , backlinks and SEO so why don,t you try to promote clickbank and jvzoo products.
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  • Profile picture of the author affilorama-portal
    There is still a huge opportunity in affiliate marketing but I personally think the usual problem why a lot of people fail is because they also fail to properly market the product out there. Sure there's too much competition in this industry but the same thing is happening in every business available online- including Amazon and Ebay.

    I always believe that it is wise to start creating your own product online, especially if you have been in the IM industry for so long, earning from affiliate websites.
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  • Profile picture of the author reachintan
    Hi,

    Thanks for updating your stats on Affiliate Marketing. Neither affiliate marketing is easy to deal with, nor selling products on eBay or Amazon is easy. However, I do believe that with hard work and perseverance, everything is good. It all depends primarily on what you are really interested into.

    Thanks once again!
    Chintan
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    Chintan Mehta

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