Don't put all your eggs in Amazon's basket

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byN33
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It can be counterproductive to target only Amazon, let me tell you why multiple income sources are important to ensure your business some stability.

When considering an affiliate program, many think of Amazon. Sure, it is a very popular giant. But see what happens in Switzerland.

The online giant has announced that it will no longer deliver in Switzerland from December 26th. This means that 100 000 customers will be affected and I don't tell you how many affiliate marketers will be even more. Of course, all the local retailers are happy.

The background of the delivery stop to Switzerland is a new VAT rule, which comes into effect from 2019. Foreign mail-order companies, which generate more than 100 000 Swiss francs of sales per year worldwide with small shipments, are now subject to tax. Amazon too. To date, small shipments with a value of up to 65 Swiss francs have been imported into Switzerland without any tax.

Despite the advance of up to a year, Amazon seems tohave been unable to implement the new Swiss rule.

For Amazon, Switzerland just doesn't seem big enough, sales are too small. According to reports, sales of Amazon.com in Switzerland amount to about 65 million Swiss francs, but this is also due to the fact that only a small part of the gigantic Amazon range is already delivered in Switzerland.

Amazon writes that it focuses internationally onwebsites for countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada or Germany.

Amazon.com advises Swiss customers to order from European branches such as Amazon.de or Amazon.it. Compared to article 300million strong Amazon US range, the selection in European country stores ismassively smaller, but growing sharp.

So, what does this mean for our business ? You receive such news just before Christmas and don't have much time left to develop a new strategy. In fact, you would need the time to write articles about all possible gifts for Christmas.

  1. Be sure you have signed up with Amazon for each country: Italy, Germany, Canada, UK, Spain, India etc.
  2. Take time to have a look at the following : https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/the-importance-of-u...
  3. Don't forget all the other programs out there : Awin, Rakuten, TradeDoubler, https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/how-to-find-relevan...
  4. Be creative and offer other services such as writing for others
  5. Diversify your activity, have you thought of a eBook...?
  6. YouTube offers spectators
  7. Become a web designer
  8. Create your own product

Be the full of who you can be instead of being the fool of just one program.

What are your strategies ?

Anne

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Recent Comments

37

Great advice. Thank you. I didn't know about Awin.com and am just looking at them.

Let me know if I can answer any questions. It's my favorite topic in the whole wide world.

Sure, Isabella, do so and ask JeannineC if you need anything.


Nice to hear from you again, I hope you are doing fine.

Have a nice evening,
Anne

Great to go for contingency plans Ann!

Hello Mike,

I guess you have plenty.

This is very good info, Ann. Thanks for sharing. Since I'm in the US, I guess that rule doesn't affect me very much, unless I had a Swiss customer who wanted to order from me. Such good advice to broaden our businesses, even if this particular one doesn't directly affect us!

Hello Carol,

No, it doesn't affect you, just a very small place in the world. But from that place, it is more difficult to work as an affiliate marketer. The consciousness towards a big company like Amazon or Google is not the same, they are less accepted than in the US.
So, we have to find other strategies.

Wishing you a successful day,
Anne

I understand. Best wishes as you grow your business in your little corner of the world.

You are so right. Thank you for sharing Anne

Thank you for reading.

Totally great advice and reminder. Thank you for sharing.

Also Interpreting and translating languages have becoming very popular. You can do it on the phone or video conference. I am learning now... Very interesting.

Oh, yes, Haroda, this is such a good idea. I will think about that too.

Have a nice evening,
Anne

Could not have said it any better. Thanks for sharing :)

Thank you, Marchelle, sure I could have said it much better in French. But you understood what I meant. Thank you for reading.

Just about every product that's available on Amazon is available on other sites too - find those merchants and promote them instead. I work for Awin.com, and we have thousands of publishers working in Switzerland who are using our merchants instead of Amazon.

Amazon only does what's good for Amazon. While I understand that from a business perspective, it's hard to stomach when other people are counting on you for their livelihood. That's why I couldn't agree more about not putting all your eggs in the Amazon basket!

Thank you for reading and bringing your perspective. I suppose many of us begins with Amazon and then, either because they are kicked off or for any other reason, they begin to diversify. It's quite a year from now you told me about Awin and I signed up, however I find it more difficult to localise the products. I will have to concentrate more on it soon, very soon.

Thank you, Jeannine, I always appreciate your useful and kind advices.

If I can help you with that, let me know. There are some tricks.....

I will...

Good to know. I am just looking at Awin.com. I didn't know about them.

Diversification is just one of the pillars you need to be successful.
Jerry

You say it. How do you diverse, dear Jerry?

At the present time my diversification is with my website and it led me into starting a brick and mortar business that by end of 2019 should be doing $1.9 mill US. i am getting referral like crazy for it. I am in the process of using several different affiliate marketing programs and finding ways to funnel people to my site. I am trying to write good content to keep people on plage longer to check out the offers on the affiliate platforms to increase the likelihood of earning and income for today and the future.
Jerry

So great, Jerry, this sounds amazing, continued success with all you do. It is so nice to hear from you.
Anne

Sound advice, Anne.

Amazon's an easy option but many people have suffered by putting all their eggs in one basket.

Ian

It is not a bad starting point, but should not be the only option.

Much better (and higher paying) affiliates out there. Amazon has gotten too big for their britches. Like Facebook and Google.

Mark

Gigantism syndrome...

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