Add to this the win/lose scenario for potential advertisers and their affiliates…
- a ridiculous number of “link juice” building back links to the advertisers’ site lifts the advertisers site every time a back-link is created,
- an army of salespeople who get paid basically nothing to put the advertisers brand in front of their readers,
- an almost desperate need to get a sale, any sale, by affiliate marketers to show movement including buying the product themselves just to see if it works (yes that really happens),
- downward commission pressure as affiliates fight for a tiny piece of the limited pie of potential buyers,
- picked over leads as the really interested buyers go direct…
Yes it’s tough out there, but there is a better way…
The basic premise to affiliate marketing is that your readers will somehow fit the demographic of the advertiser. This is often not the case in practice. How often have you seen a diamond engagement ring ad on a site that has nothing to do with jewelry? Imagine going to your favorite “how to” site and having an ad for Match.com sitting weirdly there on the left – this happens all the time. So the #1 rule of affiliate marketing is that the ad needs to be relevant to the content. If you have a website that specializes in marathons and you post an article a high protein training diet, then an advertisement for blenders might be okay, but an ad for protein bars would be better.
High correlation of the site to the product will get you closer but it still does not solve the problem of too much product competition. Interestingly, what you want in your advertiser is the opposite of numbers 1 to 5 above.
- very little back link traffic, which means that you (and not your six hundred competitors) have a chance of landing on page one of Google for the keyword search;
- very few other affiliates fighting it out for your reader;
- a product that sells well, even without you buying it;
- a commission structure that pays you more, the more successful you become;
- readers that come to you as the expert because you are the only game in town…
Option 1 – Go Directly to the Company and Set Up Your Own Program
Setting up an affiliate program with a company that does not offer one will take some work, but it is done all of the time. Travel guides do it (think hotels, tours, etc.). In fact one of my early ventures was a site called Explore Antarctica. I had managed to work out an arrangement with one of the Antarctic cruise ship companies and was set to make a fortune. My site had a lot of traffic and people were motivated to read about the “mysterious continent.” There was just one problem. While a lot of people plan a trip to Antarctica, very few actually go… I clearly had missed point number three above in my analysis. Still the lesson was a good one, if you want to be the only game in town, set up your own affiliate program, just pick a product that sells.
The other advantage to option one is that you can negotiate the commission structure. Advertisers don’t want you to make more the more successful you become. The have caps on payouts, etc. Why? Because they can. Most firms reward their salespeople well for the elephant sale (a term that means the big, juicy win). Advertisers often put a cap on, because they think that at the ultra high commission level, there is a little luck involved. Many firms do this but not all. The one that pays more is Amazon.com, which brings me to option two…
Option 2 – Amazon Associates Program
While you will not be working with a business that has low back links, numbers 2 through five apply if you choose the right product to market. If you designed a site that talked about hunting knives, you need only go to Amazon.com for the largest selection of hunting knives in the world. What if you specialized in Eco friendly living and want to sell LED blubs? Amazon has them. Smiley faced coffee mugs? Ditto. Bubble wrap? Double ditto. You get the point. If it is a product and is new, not used, there is a good chance it is already sold on Amazon. The best part is that the Amazon commission structure goes up the more you sell. As it should be…