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Not Getting Overwhelmed ... Really
April 14, 2006
I've been re-focusing on the affiliate side of things lately, which has lead me to merchant hunting again - and I just have to say that I'd forgotten how incredibly "idea-full" looking for merchants can be.
The last time I actively spent huge chunks of time nailing down merchants for various sites was well before Christmas last year. Since then I've been busy with offline deadlines, my blogging, and Adsense, Adsense, Adsense.
I see now that focusing on Adsense doesn't stir up the creative juices nearly as much as focusing on affiliate marketing does. With Adsense, all you have to do, really, is just slap on your code. I mean, sure, you have to figure out the best way to configure your ads, how many ad units to use, and where you want to put them all, but other than that, there's not that much more to do.
With affiliate links, you're looking at playing creatively with not just links, but datafeeds. The links themselves can be included on any given page in a stunning assortment of ways. Then there's the possibility of developing an email list.
And the datafeeds! And let's not forget the various tools that are out there that will let you do things that you haven't yet dreamed of doing.
One of the great things about affiliate marketing (as opposed to Internet marketing) is that there are tons of tools out there that are either low-cost or free. It's only the learning curve that's a bit itchy-feeling.
Right now, I'm feeling the need to try out a dynamic datafeed site.
Since I know squat about mySQL (other than setting up a database for Wordpress) and any php I know comes from tackling Wordpress templates, I've saddled my husband, a former programmer, with the task of learning mySQL and php. He did mention he wanted to help, after all.
As for being overwhelmed, I think I really have to drag out my spreadsheet program and figure out how to use it to get organized. I know there are programs out there that will help affiliate marketers become more organized, but I need the flexibility that something like a spreadsheet program will give me.
More learning curves! The fun never ends, does it? It's a good thing it IS fun, or I wouldn't be doing it.
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Posted by BJ at 01:18 AM in Affiliate Marketing | Permalink
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Comments
What do you mean by a dynamic datafeed site exactly? Like a link pulling in ClickBank rss?
Posted by: Tater | Apr 14, 2006 7:00:50 AM
Dynamic datafeed site is one that pulls the datafeed directly from the merchant (these things sometimes get updated weekly or even daily), and the code to query the database is on your template. So once you have it up and running, it keeps updating itself on the fly.
Once you have the technical stuff down, the trick is to figure out how to add useful, unique content to each product page - that's where the creativity comes in.
Posted by: BJ | Apr 14, 2006 12:47:54 PM
BJ,
On your affiliate sites, where you get the most sales, do you make those websites particularly attractive at all?
Or do they look like sort of a portal that sends a 'message of neutrality' to visitors, i.e. they don't think you're involved in the sales, but that you're just linking to stuff.
I haven't had any sales on my Netshop site which has received 2,000 visitors since creating the site, and I'm wondering if it's because it looks too "finished" and sales-ey. Thus my general question.
Steve
Posted by: steveb | Apr 15, 2006 2:51:39 AM
My affiliate sites tend to be very plain looking, so that the content stands out.
I also like to have additional content on each page so that it's not just the sales blurb from the merchant's site about each product. So it sounds like my best-performing sites probably look like your site, although I'm not too sure about the "sales-ey" look of it. But they do make it pretty apparent that these are product links, and if you click, you can buy.
I don't actually have any portal-looking types of sites that look like a neutral collection of links, so I can't say whether that works well or not.
If you haven't been getting any clickthroughs to the merchant's site, then it could be that your links aren't placed prominently enough. That was one of the things I wondered about having optimized adsense on a site that is very much a product site. You should also check to see what search terms your visitors are clicking through to your site on - if they're not using "buying mood" types of search terms, they will be less likely to buy. And also, 2000 visitors is probably not enough yet to determine whether or not you should be doing something differently.
Posted by: BJ | Apr 15, 2006 1:51:58 PM
Thanks, that all makes sense. I need to be more consistent with visiting statcounter to get the keywords used.
Posted by: steveb | Apr 15, 2006 2:17:09 PM
