$60,151.68 in past 12 months with Amazon Associates: Here is what I've learned

[ChrisGuthrie]

I am pretty new to this forum but I had shared these tips before on my blog but since not THAT many people read it (less than 1,000 a day - and probably not you ) I thought I'd add the following nuggets of information for those of you struggling with earning money via Amazon Associates program.

I just ran a report the other day to see updated numbers and I have earned over $60k from Amazon Associates in the past 12 months. My earnings come from a variation of blogs (10+), websites, forums etc. that I have hosted over a couple dedicated servers, some shared hosting accounts and a class C IP hosting account (trying out interlinking strategies for SEO these days). During my course of using Amazon Associates I've used various tracking codes to help measure what were the most effective strategies to earn money and what worked the worst.

Best Tactics to Make Money (income percentages based on 09 numbers)

1. Use in content linking as users are more likely to click links from within your blog posts or web pages (just simple HTML) than banner ads etc. - 45% of my earnings this way
2. Write bestseller list posts (i.e. Bestselling LaserJet Printers) - 15% of my earnings this way
3. Make any/all images clickable affiliate links to the Amazon product. I'm surprised how many people will get point #1 right but not make the image a clickable affiliate link. - 13.8% of earnings this way
4. Use buy now buttons in the content - 5% of my earnings
5. Focus heavily on shopping periods. HEAVILY. (I earned close to 9k in November and 13k in December 09). People want to be told about the best deals and if you take the time to write a great list pertaining to your niche people are grateful not annoyed by your consistent deal content during these times of the year. I also send out numerous emails via my newsletters on all the various websites during Black Friday / Cyber Monday - again people like getting this information so hit your lists hard.

Worst Tactics to Make Money

1. Don't bother using Amazon's banner ads. They convert poorly. People rarely click them in almost every niche I've tried and you could use that space to sell direct ad space or *gasp* simply display nothing.
2. Don't bother with Amazon stores - they convert terribly. If you can even get a visitor to click a store link congrats. If you get them to actually buy something congrats again you got lucky.
3. Don't promote products that aren't related to your niche (should be obvious, but again I still see this when I'm roaming the web).
4. Don't use Amazon Associates if it doesn't fit with the type of visitor coming to your website (i.e. are they just looking for general information? If so Adsense will probably work better. Or are they looking to buy something? Amazon will work better)

These are tips I confirmed based on data gathered over the course of the year with the help of tons of tracking codes and I genuinely believe it should help you refocus your efforts into the areas that matter or to abandon Amazon Associates if it doesn't fit your visitor profile.

Important: Remember the tracking cookie lasts only 24 hours. Target potential buyers not lookers.

Feel free to post your questions or comments. No I won't post sample URL's of the websites I run for obvious reasons (many earning sites are low competition and I prefer to keep it that way) so please don't PM asking for them either. Just do keyword research, build a good website, link build and rinse repeat.

Income Picture: (to show proof)



What do you think? Please feel free to post questions in this thread instead of PM'ing me as I like to offer my advice for all to see / comment on.

[Ron Hitson]

Thanks Chris,

As an aspiring Amazon thousandaire, I appreciate all of the tips I can get about MM with Amazon.

[Andy Choopa]

A lot of good info on there, especially the bestseller list idea. Never thought of that

[wingman]

Quite an inspirational post. Thanks for that.

I'm having trouble making things work and have come to some of your conclusions....now I just have to do it. Finding an audience and delivering good content must surely be the way to avoid the morphing monster of Google. And people dont want "sell" no more, now they want the inside story I think? Interesting when you look at all the salesletter type sites. Does anybody actually read that?

Thanks again

John

[FitGal]

Hi Chris,

I recognize you from the WF. I am LilBlackDress on there. Great post and great information as usual.

One tip I would add is to offer some lower priced items also so you can meet the higher commission payouts.

How are you building your links?

[Meanna Blog]

Just made my first four Amazon Affiliate sales in one day. They didn't actually seem to have anything to do with the site that sent them there though...

[carlmag12]

That's not surprising actually,once people visit your site and click a amazon link they get sent to that amazon page.

But as they have arrived through your link it does not matter what they purchase you get the commissions.

[adamwagner]

Thanks for the post! I am a fairly new to Amazon Affiliate sites, but I am trying a low competition niche, just to practice link building and other strategies.

I hope it goes well, this is great advice.

[AgesMGMT]

really enjoyed these tips.. especially the list ideas thanks a ton!

[EmilyParkinson]

This is an awesome achievement, congratulations.

I was only able to earn a few thousand $$$ with Amazon last year during Christmas.

Christmas seems to be the best time of the year to promte Amazon items, though it depends on your niche as well.

What I like about Amazon is they convert much better than for example CPA offers (risk free trials, etc.), because they are regarded as a reputable company.