What is your take on this frank email I got today from someone who manages several affiliate program
Hey there everyone,
I don't know if you caught my cry of distress on WA the other day. I have been blogging and blogging and building and building on 12 different sites. Lately, the sites that I've been building on are savvyshopping7 dot com and todaystechnology dot net.
I've been able to build traffic from google search, facebook ads, and taboola and outbrain ads. A month or two ago I was able to get some traffic from bing ads and adwords express but I gave up on those.
I'm getting lots of traffic but barely any sales, close to none at all. Since I started affiliate marketing in March I haven't even made more than $50 total from all of the work that I have done. So I've been looking at ideas to try to generate at least a LITTLE bit of real income. Of course I know that content is key and it takes a while to build that up and also the trust in my sites and brand.
So the idea I had yesterday was to email all of the programs that I am an affiliate of that I really like and that have a generic toll free number on the landing page. Why? Because I want to address "leakage" and try to cover all my bases so that I can get credit for the most sales that I am trying to generate.
I've gotten a few program heads to respond and point me in the right direction for 'pay per call' programs and which affiliate programs that I am involved in that don't take orders over the phone and such.
The nicest thing about it is that I've been able to make contact with some of these real people who are in charge of these programs and who are prompt to respond and help me become a better affiliate with some one on one interaction. Pretty satisfying in and of itself.
Now, one response I got was from David. He did suggest I leave his name and company off of my post here on WA. He said it was ok to post this on here. My point in doing so is to try to get some feedback from y'all on what he says.
One of the things that bugs me that he says is that he has never been tempted to quit his job and do what we do. Grrrr. But hey, I respect him and appreciate his feedback very much. What do you think?
What do you think? Do we have a chance as small, individual people in this giant cesspool of corporate bullies dominating the affiliate industry? I hope to get some good dialogue going in the comments.
To our success,
Tim
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Thanks for sharing this, it's some how disappointing, but I prefer waiting for experts' comments about this, so we can get the clear picture, because I'm like you, always asking what is our chance to win in this huge industry..
Your opinion and experience matter a LOT too though. What is your take on it as a newcomer? Tim
Interesting Tim! It is discouraging however I take hope form the second to last paragraph where he says he does see some success from niche sites with good content comparing products and working hard to get good SEO. That is what I am doing, so that makes me feel good.
On another note however, do you really have 12 sites?!!!
All the advice I have seen here is to focus on 1 site until you get it up and running and making money before you start another. Or maybe do two if you can handle it and have a lot of time.
I have never heard of anyone starting out with 12 sites and making it successful. Maybe you will be the exception but you will be a superhero. I really recommend focusing on a smaller number of site.
I hate to be a downer here but I am sure you would rather do whatever it takes to make it work.
Yes I have started 12 sites. Keeps me from getting bored. The ones that I have been focusing on lately however are savvyshopping7 dot com and todaystechnology dot net. Mostly Savvy Shopping so I can pitch more products.
The other 10 sites are:
surveillancepros7 dot com
securitysystemzone dot com
chaplaintex dot com
adtsecurityservices dot net
makingmoneyinretirement dot com
welcomewagonusa dot com
newmovers dot siterubix dot com
thebaseballhalloffame dot com
hobbiesformoney dot com
bestcabledealsmyarea dot com
I've also been working on an app. The html5 version of the app can be found at:
app dot savvyshopping7 dot com
Wow, you are pretty amazing if you can juggle all that! I can't even imagine keeping track of all of that.
Again, I only focus on one site at a time. I usually do so for a few weeks at a time. Lately I have shifted to mostly just focus on Savvy Shopping with a Technology twist.
And I'm trying to revolve it all around what the most productive products are for me to sell. Not just the higher EPCs but also which ones have Pay Per Call, respond promptly when I email a question, and don't have blatant, generic toll free numbers or blatant generic forms to fill out once my contact gets there.
Thanks. Yeah I'm pounding away. Hopefully something clicks like it did for Mark Cuban in 1995. He started broadcast dot com in 1995 and sold it to yahoo in 1999 for $4.5 billion. Even a trace of that would be nice hehe.
Gotta be sure of your approach. All it takes is some unprofitable affiliation to sink an entire program!
I think it just depends on the program you choose to promote. I've been digging and digging to find programs that respond to my emails to them one on one. I also like the ones that have pay per call programs or the ones where most of their sales are from online. I also like them if they don't have a generic toll free number readily available on my link pages and also no generic form fill out thing on my link pages. I'm trying to avoid commission 'leakage' as much as possible.
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He is one guy at one program. I would not consider him to be the "authority", regardless of how many programs he manages. How long has he worked there? Where did he work before this? Did he get all the programs that he manages at the same time or progressively?
He just does not look at it the same way that we do, and since he clearly does not want his own site, that comes through in the way he is talking to you.
I think that there are so many variables when it comes to affiliate marketing...what the niche is, how much time you spend on it, what types of products you promote, to name a few.
I think that he is right about the quality content. I, too, would focus on one or two of the sites and just keep building them out.
I am going to watch this thread, as I am going to start my online education program soon-ish and will be looking at a second site.
Great stuff Irma. I see that you have been making quite a bit of progress already in your online education. Your site is spectacular. I love the layout and ease of readability. I also love the tenacious fearlessaffiliate name.
I think my friend at this particular company was trying to be helpful actually, not mean or anything. Just trying to help me gain some perspective.
I don't think we need to take his feedback as a reason to quit what we are doing, but to take it as motivation to work harder...beCAUSE we have such big corporate animals to contend with.
I believe that healthy dialogue amongst ourselves and with the people running the programs we are affiliates of will help us grow in our chances to succeed.
Is he an 'authority?' Of sorts. He clearly has authority over many affiliate programs. I think he has a lot to offer by way of insight and help. He didn't have to write me, as he said. "Take what we can and leave the rest" is what I try to live by.
Tim
That is a positive way to look at it!
I am not trying to be a bummer. Just adding another voice to the others here who will not be swayed by "one guy" lol.
I feel you Irma. I love your tenacity :)