Newbie Questions

[fastfish720]

I'm somewhere in between the level of newbie and super newbie. I can't believe I didn't find this site earlier, I've spent the last 6 years posting on forums and didn't once think to look for an affiliate marketing forum. So Kudos to this forum and it's users for making a correct path to success.

2 years ago I was asked to research and investigate different internet marketing opportunities by the former COO of Carlson Companies -TGI Friday's, Radisson Hotels etc. After many failed attempts at trying to make profit, it never really happened and we gave up on the project.

So by accident I bought a domain named: Domain X with the intentions of reselling it to a company. Well it didn't pan out, but I started noticing that I was getting organic traffic to my website for only keywords/title/domain name.

So I've made a few more websites and I'm converting 9% of my visitors into sales through affiliate marketing. I'm doing about $100 a month from 4 sites.

The concept:
1. Buy highly searched keyword domains like: ex. IamsDogFood.com
2. Create a list of products available that Iams might sell with pics and info
3. When they are ready to buy redirect them to Iams and earn a commission from LinkShare.

Now am I on the right track? or is this a failure waiting to happen?

Thanks so much!

[Linda Buquet]

Hi fastfish720,

Welcome to 5 Star. You have the basic concept down although there are many variations and lots of different types of affiliate marketing.

Just be aware that you are running a lot of risks if you buy domains and build sites around a brand name. Some affiliate programs prohibit it and won't pay you commission. The trademark owner can force you to take the site down and can even force you to give them the domain. In fact they can even SUE you.

cybersquatting trademark domain lawsuit - Google Search

You really don't want to invest time and money and then lose everything or get sued. Most savvy affiliates I know wouldn't buy a name that was even close to a brand name. Even if you buy a misspelled domain name to try to capture some traffic, that's typo squatting and you can still get in trouble.

My 2 cents.

[fastfish720]

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. I have started reading through the forum and other threads looking at different methods and approaches.

My niche is actually the Saltwater Aquarium hobby, where I am considered an industry expert. In the last 6 months I've also created another business just from Craigslist, using articles averaging about 200 reads per post in just my city. I'm going to do some research and perhaps I can put this into use.

Thanks

[Linda Buquet]

You're welcome. I'm glad you're reading more and researching. If you are an expert at something and have a passion for it then it's definitely worth doing some keyword research to see if it's a viable market and if there are some good options for monetizing the niche.

[gcsr_ws]

the only prob with that is that i'ts hard to figure out what the highly searched terms are. They change sporadically. Today mileycyrusbf might be hot but tommorrow paperplanes is. You never know. Question, Where do you find out the highest searched terms? I've always wondered that.

[FDC]

Nice, although, yes you don't necessarily have go by just those three things. Plus there are probably 100 between each of those.

Generic domains are a plus but not a must.

[hijinks]

Linda is right. Some companies will come after you for this. If you get a C&D letter it's best just to comply.

[JeremyHFSykes]

You brought it up! I have always wanted a beautiful salt water aquarium. I want 100% real everything in it. No fake coral, no fake see weeds, etc. ALL real. Vibrant Caribbean colors.... the whole deal. Here is the problem: from all I have read over the years, it is close to impossible to have an aquarium like that without an outside specialist to ,maintain it. coral is supposed to be impossible to grow & KEEP alive. The fish are tough, the fish mixes are tough, etc. Lastly, even if you got past all that . . . THE PRICE! It ain't like buyin' a goldfish and a little round bowl!