But not every 'Mr Harry the affiliate' out there is making something worth of a mention from the Amazon associates. Why? Do Amazon Associates pay their affiliates based on some tribal criteria or is that they got that stingy sales tracking system that would infringe other people's commissions and give others what they do not deserve? Non of the above. In a nut shell, the truth lies in the truthfulness of this quote by an Indian philosopher;
Successful people do not do different things. They simply do the same things everyone else is doing but in a different way.
That cannot be emphasized enough. We are all Amazon Affiliates. We all have blogs and websites. We have the same amount of traffic to our sites. But affiliate A is making more money that affiliate B. What the heck is that supposed to imply? Isn't this some kind of corruption or what?... Listen hear boy. There is no corruption and there is no what, otherwise your mother would have warned you in the first place- they always do. Here is the simple trick that you have since been oblivious to; Those super affiliates do just the same stuff you are doing ( promoting products) but in a super different way. How? Read the tips below then perhaps we could have a chat of over a class of whisky when you come back to say thanks.
1. Choose a specific niche for each blog or website.
When your sign up for the Amazon Associates program, you do not do so with the intent of promoting every bloody product on Amazon do you? You would be better off creating your own online market platform and get all the bucks. Niche selection plays a very crucial role in determining how successful we can become courtesy of this program. Promoting many or all of the products ( assuming that you have only one blog or website) would be complicating yourself and you are gonna complicate your income. If you are promoting baby diapers, promote baby diapers. If it is electronics, stick with electronics. The only additional products that you can promote should be those that complement your actual products. Let's say you are dealing with a certain brand of laptops, including a suggestions of flash disks as side products to go with them is a good idea. This will increase your streams of income and your commissions will soon be shooting.
Hope you got the trick? Promoting a specific class of products then suggesting to your customers other products that co-exist with the ones you are promoting. And make sure that you also have the links to the suggested products.
2. Remain relevant to your blog's or website's purpose
This is where most affiliates go amiss. The purpose of your website or blog, that is the kind of information you provide is what draws the traffic you have. If you blog about baby diapers ( I got a thing with baby diapers so don't raise an eyebrow) the readers that you have are probably individuals who either want to blog about baby diapers too or want to know the best types for their bouncy little ones. And that is where the business comes in. If they love your propaganda about diapers that much, then they might as well use your links to go buy or simply admire and include in their wish list those products that you suggest to be a smashing choice for their small ones. But now let's assume you want to be a businessman and because businessmen sell every jewel and crap they lay their hands on, you come up with a supposedly 'bright business idea' and decide to include rocket launchers from Amazon on your blog or website. You know what is gonna happen to you and your cute business idea? Flop!
3. Include links to your affiliate products inside your content
We love to create mishaps by avoiding this. It surely sounds simple but some affiliates love to overlook this concept then grimace and curse the air when they are making no sales. In case you didn't know, seven out of ten visitors to you site come to read content and the information you provide, and the other three are probably upcoming bloggers who want to see how your blog looks like then go and try make theirs look the same way. No one comes to your blog looking for banners to click on. In fact they won't even notice them unless you say something about those banners in your main blog content. Two out of ten will click the banner without learning anything about it, may be because they had seen it somewhere else and know something about it or simply because the banner is so beautiful they couldn't find it in their hearts to deny themselves the honor of finding out what they were about. Either way, the probability of them making any purchase is extremely slim. Placing banners on your sidebar alone is not enough, in fact they don't work unless they are advertising banners from clients who bought advertising spaces. But if it is an affiliate banner, it is as good lying there as it would have been in some rubble of a deserted library. But you know what? A bunch of majority others are already placing banners on their sidebar and then take a nap afterwards. So be smart. Do things differently.
The trick is to include as many relevant Amazon affiliate links inside your blog content as possible. But not many enough to deprive you post of sense. That will flop it again. Five text links per blog post linking to Amazon products you are promoting is a good idea. If you have enough traffic, somebody must just click on one of the links and if they make purchase within 24 hours of clicking, you get your 4% commission or more. The good thing with Amazon is that the person you referred does not necessarily have to buy the products you are promoting for you to be paid. I f they buy anything else, you will still get your commission as long as they used your affiliate link.
4. Include product images inside your content
One affiliate admitted that his sales increased drastically when he started including images in his product reviews- something he didn't use to do. I am a living testimony myself. Products I promote that have images are more likely to be bought than those which I use text links only. It is not like the images will prove that what you are talking about is actually what you are talking about. Not really. People just love to see how what they are going to buy look like. If it is a Camera, they won't doubt for a second that what you are reviewing is actually a camera. Be sure you got their trust on that. But how does the camera look like? Is it their favourite color or design/? Is it the size they want? But of course you can include all these features without the image. But take it from; include an image and if it fits your description, they are gonna jump for it.
Your old adage about not judging a book by its cover kind of business is not pertinent here. Many people will buy products just because they love how they look like- an ingrained tendency of many beauty possessed women. So please next time, make sure you got an image, a nice one in that case, going with your links. And make sure you make the images clickable too. 70% of your readers will unconsiousily click on the image rather than the link itself.
5. Sell many products with low prices
When you are just starting out, this should be your tip. People don't know you yet, so they won't trust you enough to risk and buy something expensive you suggested. But some of them might just fall in love with your witty reviewing skills that they won't mind buying that cheap Ebook you recommended. But we all know again that people love cheap things. Especially when they are cheap, nice things. So instead of filing your blog with luxurious sewing machines that cost anything between $500-$1000 when you are just putting a start, why don't you go for cheap stuff worth something like$10-$50. That isn't bad enough for a start up. At least they give you a kick on the pants and motivation you need to keep going. Expensive products for a beginner is like a try and error game. But mostly it will turn out to be a fatal error.
You know, the wisdom behind selling cheap things is for you to;
- create concrete and healthy relationship with your readers. They will not like it when they come to your blog and the first pop up that jump on their faces is about a $500 worth sewing machine that they don't even need. It would be nice if you told them first why they need to buy that.
- increase your sales and thus your commissions.The more sales you make within a month the higher chances of your commissions being increased regardless of the price. Amazon associates commissions go up to 15%. So if you sell many cheap products, you stand a chance of your commissions being increased.
6. Write product review articles
This is so far the best trick. Even the banners on your sidebar will now get some attention. Unfortunately many affiliates are not using this technique. They think it is some kind of slavery but in real sense this is where all the money come from and there is no any kind of slavery involved. After all you are promoting products or services you are passionate about so writing a few paragraphs about them should not be a big deal. Products you review are more likely to be purchased than those you say nothing about. Apart from including links to these products in your main content, set some time aside and write something about them. You don't have to write a whole post just about one product. You can write about as many as five products in one post but making sure to give as satisfying description about them as possible.
Write reviews about products you have personally used or know a lot about toguarantee their validity. But again make sure that the product reviews you make are relevant to your blog or website. If you are a photography blogger, then reviews about really nice cameras will get your sales shooting up.
You know, reviews brew readers interests about the products and get their purchasing powers activated. Your readers will feel like they already know so much about the same products that they can start using them right away. Even if they are very expensive products and you write a really captivating review about them, they might just as well sell and get you higher commissions. Out of the five products you are reviewing, the probability of three of them being bought is actually high. So the more reviews you make the more money you are likely to make.
But it would also be nice to only write legit reviews about these products. If you mislead your readers, the last thing they would want to do is come back to your blog for anything else apart from to report you to the relevant authorities. Hehe. You can imagine yourself curled up in some stinking cell because you convinced your readers Amazon was selling a toy that could take care of the babies while mommy was away. Nice huh?
7. Promote more products on holidays
Research shows that people, especially Americans buy more products online during holidays. The reason is obvious. Many people get their financial senses resting on holidays so they will buy anything every Tom, Dick and Harry is selling. Take advantage of this holiday 'weakness' and make more sales. Christmas, Halloweens, Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day are the best. Be active and increase your sales so you can buy the kids something for holiday. And I don't mean you are necessarily married. Kids are all over.
8. Built an Email list
I am putting this as the last point but essentially it should be the first thing before you even sign up for the Amazon Associates program. I just wanted to make sure you don't forget it immediately you start reading the second point. But this is it- the core or rather the corner stone of your affiliate marketing success. It is clear that the epicenter of any affiliate marketing business is the kind of traffic one has to his or her website. When you have a 'rich' mailing list, you are more likely to increase your sales and thus your commission drastically. How? Let us say you got a really nice vacuum cleaner from amazon your readers should know about. Of course you will probably write a post about it and other people may see it too. But the first people to actually know about it are those in your mailing list and 70% of the sales will come from there. These people are like your own loyal customers. So they are more likely to purchase products that anybody else.
You should not confine these tips to Amazon only. They are as effective with any affiliate program or network.
I will leave you with these:
1. Affiliate marketing is not about how many products or services you promote, it is about how many loyal referrals you have.... it is about how many products are bought through your affiliate links.
2. Affiliates do not sell products, they suggest products.
3.Do not tell your readers to buy products, tell them why they should buy the products.
To your success!!
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