Why is Amazon Paying Me Money?
When I logged into my email today I noticed I had received a direct deposit to my bank account. At first I was confused. I knew I hadn’t sent anything through Paypal however upon closer inspection I realized that Amazon had sent me money. I’m an Amazon associate. I started using them to market products this past summer. I personally market only products I use. I’m affiliated with other companies besides Amazon. Each month the amount I’ve made from all of them has increased. Like the other affiliates, Amazon pays me monthly. How much am I making? My days of telling how much I make online are over. As I told Catherine Lawson, she gives excellent business advice, I don’t ask an employee how much their employer is paying them so I’m not about to tell the exact amount I make.
However, each month I am doing better. Affiliate marketing isn’t the magical pathway to untold riches. You have to work at it just like anything else. The more effort you place into it the better you most likely will do. In the beginning you might do a lot of work and not see any results this can go on for days, weeks, and sometimes months. It wasn’t magic. Slapping Amazon links wasn’t too effective sure it got some sales, but the biggest impact I had been simply writing about the products I use and enjoy, and yes I use Amazon for a variety of items. Each time I link to a product I’m creating a virtual doorway to Amazon. I have a lot of people landing on my website some are looking for the items that I use regularly. They do what I do they look for “real people” that are giving reviews. It’s important to remember if you give a thorough review of a product people might trust you, and they might purchase from your link. Give your customer, or in this case your readers, what they want an honest review if there are flaws point them out.
I’ll give you an example one of my personal reviews receives a high amount of traffic it’s not an Amazon product but it’s something I use almost daily with mybusiness. What is the service? Endicia for Mac. That article still receives a fair amount of traffic and I’m still using their service.
Gatormom - Univ of FL // Jan 28, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Follow-up on my free trial. I did use Endicia for 60 days and it works just fine. I purchased additional postage but couldn’t seem to use it all up before my free trial ended. I decided to cancel the account because I no longer have a need to mail frequently.I assumed it would be “lost” money but to my surprise, when I called to cancel, they said they would be issuing a check to me for any remaining funds in the account!
So, even if you only need their service for a short time frame, do not hesitate to use Endicia.
Gatormom stopped by yesterday to post a follow up on Endicia. Although she is no longer using their service, she had a positive experience with them and was refunded her money. That’s why I like Endicia for Mac the stand behind their product and their customer service is excellent. Do you have to sell you soul to become an affiliate marketer? No, promote products you genuinely believe in, write great reviews and you might make some money. Thanks for stopping by to inform us of your experience. I’ve never met Gatormom before, but I believe her testimony adds to what I’ve already written about this fabulous company. Which reminds me I’m way overdo with my follow up review.
[tags]Affiliate marketing, honest selling, entrepreneur[/tags]
on January 29th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Hi Opal - Amazon may not be the best paying affiliate program. But, people are always looking for reviews.
And as you say, if you give a genuine review, people could find it and buy through your link for a long time to come.
Plus, people aren’t allowed to buy through their own affiliate link, unlike some other programs, so you don’t lose out that way either.
A little while ago, Darren Rowse gave an example of some of his Amazon earnings and he showed how people had bought some really pricey products in addition to the book he’d recommended, so he made additional commissions on those too.
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on January 29th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Catherine,
You’re right they aren’t the best program out there. I use Amazon when I cannot find a better affiliate. Amazon is also seen as a trusted source so I think about that whenever I link. There is one item that I talk about that sells every time I write about it.
Other Affiliates I use pay me a lot more than Amazon, but Amazon still makes me money. I receive sales from products I link to along with products that people purchase while they are on the website.
My biggest commission, on Amazon; thus far, was made by someone who bought a few thousand dollars worth of products. I also use the performance model. So the amounts I make increases the more items are purchased through my links. That has done very well.
My quickest sale on a website was made on my freelance writing website. I made $150 within a day of putting up that link. it’s a month old and my PR is 0. My traffic is 40 unique visitors daily. I wrote about something I used. That made all the difference. Slapping a link on my website and walking away from it would not have gotten me those sales.
on January 29th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I’m using them on my review site. I’ve yet to see anything though. :(
It would be nice to see some deposits in my bank account too :D
But then again, it’s probably too early since I’ve just started to add them.
*fingers crossed*
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on January 29th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
So, say I ordered something through amazon but got to amazon through the link on your site, does that earn you some money?
teeni’s last blog post..?Tis the Season
on April 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 am
Great post on amazon affiliate links. I have only just started experimenting with amazon, but have yet to make a sale. I think you’re right though–writing personalized reviews work the best.
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