We are always looking for new and inventive ways to make more money online. For most of us, are core business is outside of the make money online or blogging niche, so we have to apply the tips and tricks in our own unique ways to cater to our audiences and increase our revenues.
Over the past week and a half, I have been testing a new theory that I picked up from a long time site owner to increase my affiliate commissions on Bike198.com, and…guess what…it worked much better than I would have ever imagined.
Where This Story Starts
I ran into the same scenario over and over again. I have had readers asking me constantly how to help out the site because they love the content delivered on a daily basis. After I explain the process of affiliate commissions from page referrals, I get the same answer almost every time.
Man! I wish I would have known! I read your article and then went to xxx retailer and bought the product, but I didn’t click on your link!
After enough of that money left on the table, I started looking for ways to educate my readers on how they can help the site grow and continue to deliver top shelf content on a regular basis.
The World Outside Of Blogging
Outside of our blogging niche, there are very few of your readers that will actually understand how to help your site. All they know is that you have a couple of ads showing and you continue to pump out content. Outside of that, they will not understand affiliate marketing simply because they have not had to deal with it on a personal level.
With this understanding, I went looking for ways to help my readers understand the process a little bit better than they were now.
Now…it is important at this point to understand that I am attempting to convert readers that are targeted leads for my affiliate retails from my content through rss or organic search. Theses are not paid leads through advertising or PPC campaigns so this process does not violate any of the agreements with these retailers.
During my search, I hit up one of my favorite photography sites, KenRockwell.com. Ken has been full time blogging for a long time, so his methods have been tried and true in a product niche. At the bottom of every post…so you see this.
Genius! Simple and effective. So it was time for testing. At the bottom of each of my posts on Mountain.Bike198.com, you now see the following box.
The result: There was a drastic increase in affiliate commissions in just the first 72 hours. If that is not results…I don’t know what is.
Some Things To Consider
Now…there are still some things you need to consider before you jump in and test this theory on your blog.
Your Market
Some markets will be more receptive to this than others. For instance, in the blogging and make money online niche, we all know the routine. So putting up a box like this at the end of your posts might look like you are begging for more money which would not be a good thing for your audience. This is going to work best in situations where your audience is actively looking for ways to help your site and they do not know how the internet world works.
Your Affiliate Agreements
Check and double check your affiliate agreements to make sure this does not violate them in anyway. Most agreements center around keyword selection for PPC campaigns, but you need to be sure before jumping in head first.
Test Different Phrases/Colors/Etc.
Over the course of this testing period, I will be testing different ways of wording this box, link colors and box colors to see what performs the best on my site. Just because you found something that works, that does not mean you stop the testing process.
This has been a very positive experience for both my readers and the general health of the site. Hopefully, you can adapt this theory to your blogs as well to increase commissions and get one step closer to going full time.
Image by AMagill
13 comments
Robb, I discovered recently in chats with various friends that many are not aware that clicking an ad on your site generates revenue. I pressed a little bit further, and found that those who were aware that the site owner gets paid per click, assumed it was only pennies per click.
In reality, depending on your topic, you can earn as much as $20 per click (I think the most I ever earned was about $2.50), so a single visitor clicking an ad can actually make a difference. Affiliate links earn more, but for those, the visitor usually has to make a purchase.
I don’t do a lot of shopping online, so when I visit a site that I enjoy, I don’t click the affiliate links, because I’m not going to buy something like that. But if there are AdWords on the site, I’ll make sure I click one or two. It doesn’t cost me anything, and it can throw a few dollars your way.
That really only applies to PPC campaigns like Adsense. Many of the banner ads bloggers display on their sites are affiliate backed so a click doesn’t do anything unless it is followed by some action (like purchasing something on that site or submitting an email address).
True, and PPC campaigns generally require really high traffic volumes to generate a significant amount of revenue. If you can generate it with a small number of visitors, you get banned (like I just did, although I’m trying the appeal process).
Hey Robb,
I have a quick question on this? Is this box something that can be setup through a plugin or do you have to hard code it in?
I hard coded it like I try to do with everything, but you can also use Post Footer to make this easier on yourself.
Rob, I saw that box yesterday on your site and my first reaction was, ‘that’s new!’, immediately followed by, ‘why didn’t I think of that!’
@Srinivas: My guess is that its code put in ‘the loop’.
I would love to put up a box like this, but of course adsense does not allow you to bring attention to their ads. So yes, what you say is true: Check and double check your affiliate agreements to make sure this does not violate them in anyway.
You’re right! They instituted that rule a couple of years ago after people were blatantly telling their readers to click on the links so they would make money.
What this resulted in was a lot of false clicks that drove down the price and didn’t do anyone any good.
Robb,
A mate of mine recently decided to build a big garden in their back yard, so they needed to get lots of manure to prepare the existing soil.
He drove out to a horse ranch where they have bags of manure sitting at the front of the property for sale. Each bag costs $2.
If you live in the country, you would have seen this before with fruit or veggies for sale and usually a big sign with the price and an “honor system” of payment.
At this property, there was a big poster, with a long handwritten message, and some photos of children hard at work scooping up and bagging the manure.
The sign explained that despite the low price of $2, the bags of manure were being stolen, and the message went on to elaborate that the children in the photos were the ranchers grandkids, who bagged and sold the manure as a way to save for college.
The last sentence basically stated that, “If you steal this manure you’re stealing my grandkids future.”
I thought the concept was brilliant!
Potential buyers should know the lengths you go through to provide a valuable product or service!
I’ve noticed more experienced bloggers are able to pull this off much better then newer blogs…not sure why…maybe you have some insight?
It seems the veterans are viewed with more compassion, as if they have put in their time, so it’s ok to ask for them to ask for donations to support their cause.
Though your suggestion here is not just ask for help, but remind everyone just how hard you work to bring them something which does have value…information!
Write On!
Great story!
I think you are right about veteran bloggers though. I think there is the “you have paid your dues” mentality that you almost have to earn your stripes in a way to gain that kind of respect.
New blogs make some of the same actions look desperate and begging.
hey Robb,
You gave me a top affiliate idea. i will now consider using such technique on my blog
I just visited that blog and saw the advertising box. it’s much fun. i hope customizing mine won’t be hell. hope editing the post footer will do?
There is a plugin called “Post Footer” that makes things a little easier if you are not comfortable with editing your themes core files.