Sick of Affiliate Marketing

[Aiden Roberts]

I never wanted to be an affiliate marketer, I just sought of fell into it. Lured by the untold riches on the horizon I joined the usual suspects and waited for the sales to roll in.

CJ 180 clicks no sales
AW 100 clicks no sales

Amazon has converted but with the commission so low it takes ages to add up to a payout.

Ebay started to see trickles of pennies adding up.

I have one site with multiple merchants but the main merchant with over 100 products on my site has been suspended by Paid on Results, so I have just spent god knows how long taking them off.

Adsense is the easiest and best monetisation but clearly so bloody risky makes you wonder if it's worth the hassle.

I am sick off affiliate marketing

Please tell me you are doing well as an affiliate "obviously no specifics" but I need to hear something positive today before I stop being an affiliate.

Moan over.....

Aiden

P.S and the ice cream man hasn't come tonight; what's he playing at? I want a 99'er

 

[Nova]

Don't know much about affiliate sites as I only have one but I just had a 99'er with raspberry sauce and it was great

 

[Aiden Roberts]

Don't know much about affiliate sites as I only have one but I just had a 99'er with raspberry sauce and it was great

Ha ha now I really want to hear the bells in the distance so I can stand in the road waiting to get brain freeze

 

[Admin]

I share your pain.

Automation is the key for me, if I can't find a way for a site to have self-updating aff content then I know I won't have time to do it manually.

If clicks aren't converting you must have the wrong products. If you have a specific site you want me to review let me know the URL.

Admin

 

[Blossom]

I know lots of people have made good money from affiliate marketing - or claim to - but it seems like the most successful have lists and put a lot of effort into promotion and networking. I think it's still possible to make money without though...just not as much unless you're really lucky.

I don't think Adsense is that risky, if you abide by the terms. You hear horror stories about it but then you hear horror stories about everything.

I think the healthy way to see it, unless you're full-time, is that anything you make is a bonus...as long as it's profit on your name and a reasonable chunk of your web hosting costs.

Perhaps trying other affiliate niches would help? Hosting is pretty lucrative.

 

[doodlebug]

It's all about promoting your site but Adwords and Facebook ads cost a lot of money so you need other methods like door to door leafleting but then it's a guessing game as to how much return you get ?

The ones I have done best with are the ones that offer free stuff like games and betting tips but then they only pay like 30p to 50p per sign up.

Make a marketing plan and a budget if you have money to put into it and just go for it or otherwise ditch it all together and concentrate on domain trading.

 

[AssetDomains]

Think its all about finding the right niche I've sadly missed the party in terms of making a killing from feed driven sites.

To be honest the only sector that works for me is Gambling my oldest site poker related has made me 4k+ so far this year and I've only added a few posts in the last 3 years being busy with uni.

The problem with me is I see what people are doing well with on sites like this and try and jump on the bandwagon then get bored rather quickly.

Its been said here plenty of times theres no get rich quick opportunity's anymore building quality site with lots of good content is the only way to go shame I never listen to this advice myself though

 

[JMOT]

build something real and useful.

 

[retired_member33]

Betting tips 30p to 50p?

Your doing something wrong, I run a poker site on a rev share and currently have 50 players playing via my affiliate links.

Lifetime revenue share so it continues to make me money for as long as they play.

Want to make more then 50p? I will pay you £10 for every player which signs up via my affiliate links and starts playing

With regards to affiliate marketing... The golden days are over... Golden days as in where you would build a crappy site on a keyword domain, buy 20 Paul and Angela links and your in.

These days it takes unique content, good content, quality backlinks, social media outreach and a lot more but there still is good money to be made in aff marketing.

Stay away from anything that is automated or promises to make you thousands without doing anything... It is not going to happen!

Start investing in good content, good links etc and you will be able to make money.

One tip someone once gave me is to make sites in niches which you are interested in or have better knowledge then other people about.

So yeah, there still is money to be made in affiliate marketing, it just takes a bit more time then it used to take.

Good luck and we all have bad days, just make sure the percentage of good days is higher

It's all about promoting your site but Adwords and Facebook ads cost a lot of money so you need other methods like door to door leafleting but then it's a guessing game as to how much return you get ?

The ones I have done best with are the ones that offer free stuff like games and betting tips but then they only pay like 30p to 50p per sign up.

Make a marketing plan and a budget if you have money to put into it and just go for it or otherwise ditch it all together and concentrate on domain trading.

 

[noonoo1]

I've lost heart with affiliates a long time ago.

Google suspended my Adsense a while ago, stating something dodgy was going on. I had $98 in my Adsense account after 12 months.

It takes too long to complain and I didn't even promote any of my names either, just organic traffic.

Tried cj, booking.com, affiliate window,sex goes mobile , etc.

.xxx has been the best earner far so far but adult content is big business

 

[Paullas]

build something real and useful.

good advice, and dont jump on band wagons

 

[tifosi]

Just spent 2 days updating my biggest site watchtime.co.uk. Do it 4x a year. As with all things takes time & effort. Trickles through then has a peak in oct/nov for the christmas rush. I presume holiday ones peak jan-mar. So build several in different niches.

Still money to be made I suppose though you won't retire of it! Integrating feeds into a proper cms like WP is the next step...

 

[dougs]

Took me ages to tell Tom

JMOT

Stop trying to game the systems......you will constantly be in a battle.

Find a problem and build the solution better than anyone else.......there are loads of problems:

Magically people will use your site, Google will love you and the money will come.

We now have quite a few sites in lots of sectors...but here are the new stuff I am involved in, all in build:

www.whisk.co.uk - goal to make you decide what recipes you want and then make the food appear at your house to make them

www.recycle.co.uk - a search engine to help you recycle anything in the house by telling you where you can sell it or give it away

www.iq.co.uk - challenge your iq levels for lots of things with friends .

Doug

 

[cc976a]

It is time to stop thinking like an affiliate based website builder on auto-content, link backs, feeds and SEO - and go back to basics, think as an entrepreneur.

Affiliate links in the general mindset of info sites with banner ads, deep link product links are a thing of the past IMHO. 'Affiliate' links in terms of white label, dropshipping, lead gen and the likes are where money can be made for new starters.

Your first aim in building any business is satisfying a demand (existing or new). The web makes this easier of course but the days of chucking up information sites with the odd ad banner or adsense link exist, but if you're starting now you've missed the boat.

Pick a niche and be the best. Strive to be the best, don't give up until you're the best. The rest will start falling in place. That snowball will start rolling down the mountain, building momentum and size as it goes.

If in your new business idea you can see yourself striving, fighting and competing long term for that end goal that you know will be there, just a matter of when - with the same passion on day 365 as on day 1 - you have just found your niche.

 

[Aiden Roberts]

Thanks all some great info here, I will respond later as my keyboard has just broke and I am on my phone.

 

[Sussexite]

my keyboard has just broke and I am on my phone.

You know you're really having a bad day Aiden when your keyboard breaks AND the ice cream van doesn't come round.

 

[JMOT]

Lol Doug... square peg round hole springs to mind.

Got it tho

 

[anthony]

...
www.whisk.co.uk - goal to make you decide what recipes you want and then make the food appear at your house to make them...

Perfect url Doug, how did that come about, did the previous reg drop or sell?

 

[Aiden Roberts]

Keyboard fixed and ice cream craving satisfied

What can I say folks you never cease to amaze me with your knowledge, support and honesty. Some great advice in this thread and useful insights.

I have just done a quick check and I have a few decent positions on P1 of G with my aff sites but the sites themselves are crap and in low paying niches, maybe I should sell some and stop beating myself up about them? What I have learned here is that it's easy to rank in not very competitive niches or for obscure keywords but what's the point.

I have already been spending more time on niches that interest me but my site building skills are way behind my enthusiasm so will just keep plugging away and making them useful.

I can't thank you enough for giving me the shot of reality I needed, ideas and a reminder that anything worth doing is worth doing properly.

Thank you

Aiden

 

[djbw]

I'll still have a day job for a long time yet but it's certainly extra pocket money.

If you've got sites that are generating clicks that aren't converting, perhaps try optimising rather than assuming they just don't work. Try something new on there. Get a friend to look at your site(s?) and watch how they use them. Are they doing what you expect them to? If not, ask why. You'll often find some very obvious things you're doing wrong!

Are there clear calls to action? Are you selling known quality brands?

Sometimes it's easier to get lots of small commissions than a few big ones as people are more likely to buy lower value items on a whim. If you're looking to purchase something that costs about £20, you're more likely to just buy it there and then than if it was £200.

Try other things. Not everything works for everyone. I couldn't get the hang of PPC for ages then one day I hit upon a product that just worked.

Split test if you can, and take a good look at analytics.