Some thoughts about affiliate marketing
November 3rd, 2009 by John Dilbeck
I was reading several blogs and forums where people were talking about how much money they earned (or didn’t earn) from affiliate marketing in October.
The more I read, the more I realized that I’m not doing as badly as I have been feeling.
After all, I earned a living from this for quite a few years, and, even if my income has dropped quite a bit over the last year, I’m still earning more than many people are.
Now, I know that sounds selfish and I hope each of you has greater success with your affiliate marketing efforts in 2010 than you’ve had in 2009.
What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been reading about many people who are working hard to earn something and still haven’t made any money at all. I can remember how frustrating that is. When you’re doing everything you know how to do and it isn’t producing any results, it can be a very difficult and disheartening experience.
I remember how happy I was to get that first commission check from Amazon.com quite a few years ago. Over the years, I’ve received checks from a number of companies and I still get a thrill when I endorse and deposit them.
Although they aren’t coming nearly as frequently as they used to, a few are still arriving and I’m thankful for each of them.
I’m wondering now if I’ve lost my way with affiliate marketing. At one time, I worked hard to send people to Amazon.com and looked forward to commissions from them. It was fun finding products and telling my readers about them.
Those were products that real people were interested in.
When I say “real people,” I’m talking about folks who aren’t interested in affiliate marketing. They were people who saw a link to something that interested them and they purchased it. Sometimes they purchased several things totally unrelated to what I was writing about and I earned a commission on each of those sales.
Now that Amazon.com dropped me after NC passed the new tax law this summer, I’m wondering if there is another company that would be a good substitute. I still love recommending books and some other consumer products, but don’t know of a good company with which I can work.
Do you have any suggestions?
As those of us in the United States get closer to our annual Thanksgiving Day holiday, I’ve been looking at things from a different perspective.
I think I’m over being stressed out about all the things that have gone wrong in the last year or so and I’m starting to focus more on what can go right over the coming year. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to hang on this year and now I’m setting my sites once again on prosperity instead of mere survival.
A year from now, I expect to be in much better financial shape than I am today, and to get there I’m going to have to create a new plan and work hard to achieve it.
One of the things I’ve identified is that this blog is not an income producer. Lots of people read it, but few purchase anything. Most of my sales come from sites that have absolutely nothing to do with making money online.
Years ago, I was advised by someone who knows a lot about online marketing and he said then, and it is even more true now, that the world doesn’t need any more websites and blogs about making money online, especially when the people building those sites are not very successful themselves.
I’ve talked about being interested in too many things for my own good, and not being specifically interested in a few things I could build a site around.
My brother, before he became disabled, loved drag racing. It was a life-long love and a few years ago I started building Georgia Drag Racing for him. He was working to write a book about the golden years of drag racing in the Atlanta area and was making great progress before he got to the point where it hurt too much to sit at a computer for very long.
So, that site has seen its best days and will be declining over time as less content is created. Still, surprisingly, it remains one of my best-earning websites, even though it has many links to Amazon.com that aren’t earning me anything and which I haven’t had the time or energy to remove.
It’s not at all about earning money online and I think that’s the key to its success. It attracts people who enjoy drag racing and they’re willing to spend money on their hobby.
I’ve watched as others have done the same thing. I know of people who have built successful, money-earning websites based on such diverse topics as dealing with insurance problems, telling Halloween and ghost stories, juggling, repairing computers, kitchen counter tops, organic gardening, hydroponic gardening, modeling advice, and dozens of other niche subjects that interested them and which they built into sites that produce a substantial annual income.
I have been trying to find a niche for myself in which I could do the same thing, but so far I haven’t found it.
At least, now, I know all the things I will need to do to build and publicize such a site if I can ever identify a topic that I can love and be willing to write about every day.
I’ve come close to such a niche, but it is not really what I’m talking about.
I love living in the mountains of Murphy, NC and I love the people, scenery, and pace of life here. I’ve been promoting the area and a few businesses off and on over the years and this year I’ve been concentrating on building Murphy Connections, a social networking site, and Murphy Gold, a site for promoting a few locally-owned, small businesses that are located in the Murphy NC 28906 ZIP code.
I’m starting to have some success with those sites and look forward to spending a lot of time working on, and improving, them over the coming months.
Another site that I enjoy, but whose earnings have dropped dramatically since I removed all the Amazon links is my Act On Your Dream! site.
Basically, I lost focus on that site, but I’ve been brainstorming a lot of ideas and now have a plan for updating that site on a regular basis. Now that Sitesell has made Content 2.0 free for all SBI sites, I’ll be adding more interactive features to it over time. In fact, I think that I’ll be blogging less as a result.
In fact, I’m going to be taking some of what I’ve written in my blogs and repurposing it on that site to see how it works.
Even though I’ve just gone through the worst 12 months of my life, I still believe that we can achieve what we want if we identify our goals, make good plans to accomplish them, and then put in the required work to make it happen. In as little as a year from now, we can make big changes in our lives.
I’m going to be acting on that belief.
What about you?
What do you think?
Is affiliate marketing working well for you?
Have you identified niches that are good income earners?
What company do you recommend as a substitute for Amazon.com?
I welcome your comments and look forward to discussing them.
Act on your dream!
JD
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Affiliate Marketing, Musings, Sitesell and Site Build It, Success and Failure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:26 am
I agree with what you said. If we plan our actions accordingly, we will most probably get the results we want.
Charlotte´s last blog ..Surge Protectors And Their Types
November 7th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Hi John,
Obviously affiliate marketing isn’t working all that well for me, but I just know I’m doing something wrong big time. I’ll figure it out; I just have to.
As for you, I really think you’re over analyzing things. Emotions really get in the way of our real intentions at times, and I still think you’re dealing with the loss of your mother, getting sick, and other things. You’re right, you are still making more money than the rest of us, and you probably always will. If you picked one thing, I know you’d be a killer, and the rest of us could learn some great things from you.
The issue with recommending something is not knowing just what you like. For instance, I could recommend Commission Junction, because it has products, real products mind you, that you’ve seen me put at the end of many of my posts. If you had certain products you liked to talk about and market, they’d be perfect.
Amazon is just another version, at least to me, of Barnes & Noble, and if that’s the type of thing you like to market then you sign up with Google Affiliate Networks and market them, and/or many of the advertisers who are there.
That’s kind of the thing with affiliate marketing. There’s just so much out there that everyone can find something somewhere that they’re interested in. Promoting it properly is where most of us fail, but you already know that beast and how to whip it.
As for your brother, I hate seeing his site falling, but even there, if all he wanted to do was create content, and I assume you mean written content, get him Dragon or some voice recognition software, which he could use in any position, and that would drastically drop the time he had to spend on the computer.
I guess what I’m saying is that, even though I’m failing at affiliate marketing, I always believe where there’s a will, there’s a way. Back in 1990 I seriously hurt my back. The pain was excruciating. Yet, every day I drove an hour back and forth to work. I still bowled 2 nights a week. My will was that I’d made commitments, and I wasn’t going to let pain stop me. I never went to a doctor, never took any pain killers. At least at the time. After 12 years of pain I finally did a little something about it, but I never let it stop me.
I’m not saying there aren’t reasons to slow down. I’m not even saying that it’s possible some people are in more pain than I am, mentally or physically. But at a certain point we do what we do, when we need to do it, or we give up.
And Mitchell never gives up!
Mitch´s last blog ..Everyone’s Got An Opinion 
November 9th, 2009 at 4:46 am
I know you love the mountains you live in. With your writing skills, why not make the mountains your niche? I love your stories, short though they be. There is such a wealth of topics to cover. Just ask me if you need a few topics.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Good afternoon, Charlotte,
Welcome to our discussions and thanks for your comment.
Act on your dream!
JD
November 10th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Good afternoon, Mitch.
I like your attitude. Never give up.
That’s the way I like to think, but it doesn’t always work. I’ve seen people in such pain that they can’t think of anything else, even when on strong medications. For some of us, not giving up becomes untenable at some point.
Still, for most of us, we can probably endure more than we think we can. Working through pain, problems, and bad situations is just a part of life.
I just re-read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay on Compensation a couple of days ago and he says…
It is true that I have learned more and made more progress when I really had to work at it.
Identifying and overcoming our weaknesses is a task well worth doing.
However, sometimes when we do the best we can, it still does not work and that’s when we have to examine our goals and see if we’re moving in the wrong direction.
Something that originally looked like a good idea becomes a millstone around our necks.
A few years ago, for instance, I decided that my primary goal was to build Castle Freedom. Yet, I find that I go days and even weeks without even thinking about it. So, I’ve determined that it was a temporary sidetrack and not really my primary goal.
So, I’m changing it. Now, my primary goal is to create the best marketing system in Murphy, NC for locally-owned small businesses, and secondarily to promote the town, too.
This is something that I think about every day and almost always do something constructive to achieve the goal.
So, am I quitting by moving away from Castle Freedom or making better use of my time, energy, and other resources to put my efforts into something that can be achieved more readily?
The same applies to affiliate marketing.
I’ve done okay with it over the last few years, but not so well, now.
Let’s look at Commission Junction, for instance.
I sent hundreds of thousands of visitors to their merchants in the last few years and very few of them converted into commissionable sales. Why waste my time in sending so many people to those links for a return of less than $100?
It’s just not worth the effort.
For much less effort and in a far shorter time, I can earn much more than that talking to and promoting local business owners.
Perhaps my affiliate marketing career is winding down, just as my local marketing career is starting to take off.
I’m not sure yet, but I do know that I want to put my efforts to where they are most productive, as long as I enjoy what I’m doing.
You’re right that I over analyze things. I’ve done that all my life. I look at a problem or an opportunity from every direction I can imagine.
Whether that’s a good trait or a weakness, I don’t really know. It’s just part of who I am.
The market for Murphy, NC is far less than the global market that I’ve tried to approach for the last several years, but there are some real benefits related to talking to real people face-to-face.
I haven’t come to a conclusion, yet, but I’m still examining these things and which way I plan to go in 2010.
Act on your dream!
JD
November 10th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Good evening, Pat.
Yes, I do love living in these mountains, but it really isn’t just the mountains that I love.
I love the people, most of the traditions, the music, the outdoor recreation, the scenery, the peace and quiet, the lack of crowds, the low crime rate, and many other things.
I’ve found a home here in Murphy and I’m surrounded by people and things I love.
That’s one of the reasons I’m working on building my Murphy Gold and Murphy Connections sites.
The problem arises, however, is that a niche that will work for me?
I would love your input on topics I could write about. You can either post them here in the comments or email me.
Thanks, Pat.
Act on your dream!
JD
November 11th, 2009 at 2:38 am
Change is sometimes good, John, but I just wanted to make sure you wanted to change for the right reasons. After all, you’ve had so much change in your life lately, much of it not of your doing. Good luck; I’ll always support you, of course.
Mitch´s last blog ..No-Self Pings
November 11th, 2009 at 4:01 am
JD, You tickle me! *grin*.
You are so close to the trees that you are not seeing the abundant forest in front of you.
Topics you can write about? I quote YOU!
“I love the people, most of the traditions, the music, the outdoor recreation, the scenery, the peace and quiet, the lack of crowds, the low crime rate, and many other things.”
That ought to give you 6 months of writing without thinking about it!
You have written about these very things in forums and emails, making me wish I lived in such a magical place!
I would be one of your avid readers and promoters!
(I could see a whole bunch of Squidoo lenses in there, also!)
Maybe this IS your “freedom castle” of 2010.
I remember (in my younger days) some of my favorite reading:
“Foxfire”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire_books
Check it out.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Good morning, Mitch.
You’re exactly right. A lot of change has happened to me, rather than being chosen by me, in the last year.
Most of us know that it’s not a good idea to make major changes in our lives during, or closely following, a period of stress, and I’m taking that into account as I look at what I’ll be doing next year.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing something related to affiliate marketing. At the very least, I’ll continue promoting SBI for people who want to build a real business online.
One difference, however, is that I’ll be doing more of that promotion offline when talking to business owners who want a website for their business, but don’t really know how to approach it or have a lot of time to learn all the technical issues.
So, while it will be a change, it’s just a course correction and not aiming at a completely different destination.
Does that make any sense?
On the other hand, I spent a lot of time on the traffic exchanges over the last few years and was earning income and getting more people to sign up for my offers. The problem arises when I look at all the time I wasted doing that.
There is a never-ending flood of new things on the traffic exchanges and the quality of most of the visitors is rather low, because they want something for nothing and rarely do the work required to accomplish something. I know that’s a general statement, but it comes from my experience of contacting thousands of people and finding only a small handful who follow through with their initial stated interest.
I’m happy to be off that treadmill and won’t go back.
While it works for some people and some products and services, it’s not what I want to do.
I truly appreciate your support. That means a lot to me, Mitch.
Act on your dream!
JD
November 11th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Good morning, Pat.
I had to laugh when I read your response.
You’re right. I’m not seeing the forest for all the trees.
In addition to promoting local business owners on Murphy Gold, I’m going to write about some of those topics and talk about how and why they add to my love of living here.
I should have thought of that myself. (grin)
I probably won’t make a lot of Squidoo lenses, however.
With my slow Internet connection, it is getting harder and harder to work on a lens at Squidoo. Sometimes I have to reload the workshop several times before all the modules will completely load and I can actually get some work done. It usually takes at least 15 minutes or more to get the workshop to load before I can even get started.
It didn’t use to be that way. I used to be able to enjoy working on lenses, but now it’s getting to be more of a chore to endure.
Plus, I’m not earning from Squidoo what I used to earn. Do you remember when you had the forum on Powerful Intentions and we talked about earning at least $100 per month from Squidoo?
At one point, I was making progress in that direction, but now my income is down to $5 or $6 per month directly from Squidoo.
I still like Squidoo for some things. For example, I build a lens for each of the businesses I promote on Murphy Gold. It helps in the search engine rankings and provides a small, but steady, stream of visitors.
On the other hand, I want to develop my own Internet “real estate” and want most of my hard work to go into websites, blogs, and forums over which I have control and ownership.
I really want to find a way to get my Act On Your Dream! site back on target and find a direction in which to proceed.
Now that I’ve taken the Amazon.com links off of it, I’m not earning what I used to earn there, but I love that site and want it to do well. I just have to find a way to make it work.
Perhaps I need to get others to help me with it.
I loved the Foxfire books, and have the complete collection about a dozen feet from me. I never really thought about using them as a springboard for ideas to write about, but you’re absolutely right.
If you liked those books, you would probably enjoy the Blind Pig and The Acorn blog written by Tipper Pressley. She lives about 20 miles from me in Brasstown, NC and writes about her Appalachian heritage. (We’re in discussions about her becoming more active on Murphy Connections and possibly creating a new group to discuss local mountain traditions.)
I especially like her page of Grannyisms.
Thanks, Pat. I appreciate your thoughts and encouragement.
Act on your dream!
JD
November 11th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I’m looking forward to reading your mountain stories. My grandmother was one of those grannies Tipper writes about! Thanks for introducing me to her work.
I was making between $60 & $150 a month with Squidoo, but the last 3 months not even $20 a month (with 300 lenses). Even updating lenses everyday, I can’t get them back to even the top 10,000. I haven’t built a new lens in a while.
One law of the internet: Things change!
I was doing well with my google ads on my forums and my blogs on Powerful Intentions. I was really sad to see that go.
I’ve never had any luck with Amazon!
November 12th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Good morning, Pat.
Tipper created a new group, Blind Pig and The Acorn, on Murphy Connections, yesterday. I’m happy to have her on board. I started a discussion in the group on Grannies and Grandpas.
I got to where I was earning $30 to $50 from Squidoo every month, but that was awhile ago and it has steadily decreased every month. It seems to have stabilized at about $5, now.
Things change, indeed.
I was sorry to see the Powerful Intentions site go, too. I don’t think the new site hosted by Ning is nearly as effective or easy to use, even though I’m a fan of Ning communities. I’m sure it’s a lot less work for them, though, since they don’t have to do all the custom programming and maintenance.
Adsense has been good to me. It’s funny how much difference there is between sites, though. Some of my sites earn pretty well from Google and others earn just a few cents per month. Currently, I’m earning about half what I was a year ago, but it’s slowly starting to rise, again.
I used to enjoy promoting products on Amazon, but I can’t say that I ever did really well with it. Some months, I earned $100 or more. It wasn’t nearly enough to justify all the work, but I was getting more passive income for previous work until they canceled me this year.
I always look at sites where the owners claim to make thousands of dollars per month from Adsense or Amazon and just have not identified a common denominator that would work for me.
I’m not trying to be greedy, but I would really like to get my income into the $50K+ range.
I’m not there yet, and I may not get there, but I’m going to keep trying.
Act on your dream!
JD
January 21st, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I agree with Pat. Take your interests, like mountains, and turn them into your business strengths. Also I agree with your Emerson quote. My Papa use to say, “sometimes you just need a kick in the pants before things work out.” And I agree. sometimes we need to struggle a little bit before we learn what we can do better or before we stumble upon any better ideas. Good luck with whatever you venture to next.
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Good afternoon, O. I.
(I normally don’t approve comments with keywords instead of names, but I made an exception because your comment is obviously on-topic. I still prefer to know to whom I am talking, however.)
I certainly had my “kick in the pants” last year and things are already looking up this year.
I’m still thinking about how I can take advantage of my love of the mountains and I’ll be doing something with it, for sure, this year.
Struggle makes us stronger, even if it takes awhile to learn the lessons and take advantage of our new strengths.
Thank you for your kind words.
JD
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Hello, John & All.
Many thanks for the discussion, the info here from you and others has been very helpful.
Yes, I have a familiar, it seems, dilemma: Another virtual know-nothing who thinks I know something - my dream - to share. Well, we shall see…
By the way, John, your internet presence is captivating. I gather you planned it that way but after surfing all over your neck of the woods in the www, it looks to me like you are consistently idea-rich and communication-diligent. Two gifts suggesting winning alliteration in anyone’s DREAM acronym perhaps:
Dream diligently.
Best ahead in 2010.
~pdw