I Ignored Kyle. The Decision is Costing Me $
I have a confession. Here at WA, most of us are here because we would like to build a PROFITABLE affiliate marketing business. Recently I have spent hours trying to figure out why one of my niche websites is not generating very many sales.
This particular site happens to be one of the few that I still own that I do NOT have hosted at WA. So, I'm not going to ask you to look at it. I used to have so many websites, that I needed a second host. Kyle told us to focus on one website. I did not. That is one of the two things that I ignored. My inability to focus on one website hurt my productivity. Yesterday, I am fairly certain that I figured out what my bigger issue is right now.
Kyle has shared the "secret" that will allow us to build affiliate marketing websites that will generate a steady income stream. He has gone into a lot of detail explaining "the secret." In fact, the secret has been shared so often that many of us do not even comprehend the significance of what we have been told. I know that I didn't. For all practical purposes, I basically ignored Kyle's advice.
It is so obvious, that I am almost reluctant to say what it is at the moment. Yet, I will. If we want our website to be profitable sooner rather than later, we need to attract people that are on the verge of making a purchase NOW. How do we do that? With reviews. People do not read reviews as a form of entertainment. They read product reviews because they want to make sure that they are about to buy something.
All of our other website's content? People are reading it to be entertained, educated or informed. Their primary purpose is not to buy something.
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What made me realize that I was ignoring Kyle's advice?
One of my niche sites is a little over 2 years old now. Slowly but surely, it has been getting more and more traffic. ( I have not ignored everything that I've been taught.) In 2017, the website had the most visitors on December 23. I had 73 visitors that day. Even though it is not a holiday site, the highest number of visitors for 2018, was almost exactly a year later. On December 24, 2018 - I had 356 people that took the time to visit my website that day. I liked that increase.
Even better is that in January this year, the website has been averaging around 150 visitors per day. Watching this website's growth over the last two years has been fun and exciting.
My website is in a food related niche. I'll just say that NO ONE comes to my site to learn how to lose belly fat. Unfortunately, no one comes to this website with plans to buy anything either.
If I get a sale, it is because I got extremely lucky. I say that because my website does not have one single product review. If someone clicks on one of my Amazon links and make a purchase, it was nothing but luck.
After all, who wakes up in the morning and says, "I am going to surf the internet today and click on random ads and links to see if there is anything that I want to buy today." Personally, I am just the opposite. When I read blogs and website articles, I do everything that I can to avoid clicking on ads. I feel almost like I am playing a video game, dodging ads.
Product Reviews Are Different
I do not know of anyone that reads product reviews as a form of entertainment. When person reads a product review, they are seriously thinking about making a purchase. When a person searches for a product review online, they are typically trying to finalize their purchase decision.
Kyle teaches us to do product reviews. Remember the Vitamix blender example? The concept of creating reviews is introduced very early on in our training. He walks us through setting up the:
- Privacy Policy,
- Affiliate Disclaimer, and the
- About Me page.
Then he introduces us to "the product review."
The information that he teaches us can also be used to monetize blogs. The problem that I see with blogs and websites that do not have reviews, is that we are catching people earlier in the buying process, assuming they want to buy at all. With blogs, we have to spend more time developing a relationship with our readers. We have to find a compelling way to get the reader to return to our website when they are ready to make a purchase.
In both the WA online entrepreneurship course and bootcamp courses, Kyle has given us a step by step guide that can be used to create a profitable affiliate marketing website. We simply have to follow the instructions, step by step.
However, we are all adults. If we do not follow the instructions, he is not going to act like our Daddy or a boss and punish us. I ignored Kyle's instructions. That decision has cost me money. Yet, it is not too late to start adding product reviews to my website now. Are you doing product reviews?
If not, it is never too late to start.
ps Thank you all for the wondeful comments! Since I tend to really stop and think about people's comments, it takes me a bit longer to reply. But, I will. Yet at the same time, I have make sure that I don't neglect my website. Afterall, I've got a lot of reviews I need to add. :)
Recent Comments
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Honestly, I started doing product reviews not so long ago. I was thinking it is hard to research and write but I was wrong.
I also like to link my info posts to product reviews which I heard is a good strategy for driving traffic to a sale page.
From 136 posts on my website, only 20 are product reviews.
Daniel, as of today, you have 19 more product reviews on your website than I do. That is awesome what all you have accomplished.
Thanks for reminding me about the link strategy. I will want to implement that also.
Keep up the great work. Your website should become profitable much quicker than mine will.
Thanks for your honesty. I guess its time to go write another product review.
Thanks for the inspiration.
I sure did, just got it published a little bit ago and going back to format it better and add images.
Thanks for the motivation.
Hey Sondra,
Is that you at number 16? No!!
Hahahahahah!
I did the same thing! Now, I am concentrating on product reviews.
They are still in draft stage.
Personally, I am taking it one day at a time!
Take it easy, my. friend.
Blessings
Maxine 🐎
Maxine, I am about to fall asleep at the computer, so I can't reply to everyone tonight. Yet, I absolutely had to get to yours since you put a little horse by your signature.
How thoughtful.
I am glad to hear that you are concentrating on product reviews now also. Granted, you are ahead of me if you have some in draft stage. As you said, one day at a time.
p.s. I think I accidentally jumped in some one's plane instead of my car. So, my speed is a little faster than I am accustomed to. Had I written product reviews for the last two years, maybe I would be in Vegas with the others. Instead, I am headed towards a different city. One near you maybe?
You are welcome Alejandra.
The quantity of traffic does not matter if the visitors are not coming with the desire to purchase something.
This is a great post. I enjoyed every single word of it. I don't like reviews just like most people. But I do them.
There are other things Kyle has said that I know I ignore. I am going to review it all again and see where I have decided to make my own wrong decisions.
Thank you so much for this reminder that we are here to learn and if we ignore a teacher that has tested the waters we are only hurting ourselves.
Laura
Laura, I am glad that you found it helpful.
As I have come to learn more and evaluate my mistakes, I am awed at how much thought Kyle and the others have put into the training.
Even if we do not comprehend why he tells us to do things, there is a reason why it is in the training.
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Still building unfortunately
Nothing wrong with building the website. It is better to take your time and to follow the lessons.
When you do start writing, make sure that you do some reviews.
When we chat this weekend, let me know if you need any ideas or help. I've done more reading on the travel industry lately, so I may have some affiliate marketing ideas that could useful to you. I'm hoping you can help me also. :)