Free Affiliate Marketing Course - Lesson 5d

March 26, 2008 Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing Course

Alright, let’s get through this section so we can get to the heart of the lessons. The last few lessons have been extremely valuable but it is hard to see because the topics seem so dry. However, Jeremy Palmer peaked a lot of interest when he told us that he would be giving away heatmaps for his campaigns. People jumped at the opportunity to find out what a successful landing page looks like. Well, that is what I am trying to show you however, if you are new to affiliate marketing it can be difficult to see the value. Hang in there with me.

Shopping Directories
I recently learned that there are lots of affiliate marketers who make a decent living from these sites. Let me show you an example and then I’ll tell you why I don’t like them and also tell you why some people LOVE them!

Great lingerie store (PG-13)

I found this site from reading a blog about successful affiliate marketers. Kirsty admits that this is one of her newer sites but thus far in her affiliate marketing life, she has managed to equal her salary. And if I had to bet, given the list of here favorite markets I would bet that all of her sites are in this style…. shopping directory style.

Shopping directories are definitely a money maker but let me tell you why I’m not a huge fan.

Why am I not a fan?

#1: Commission structures is based on a percentage of sale. Usually around 10-15%. That isn’t much unless you are marketing high-end products

#2: Website design is very complicated. I am pretty good with HTML but designing one of those sites is above my level… way above! And commissioning someone to make one for you (my favorite technique when I am pressed for time) would be significantly more expensive than other landing page styles. I can have a comparison site made in 2 days for $100 where are a shopping directory would run upwards of $300 and take up to two weeks

#3: Complicated PPC campaign design. In order to successfully market this site using PPC you need an intricate campaign with hundreds of keywords for each product. How many keywords can you come up with for “bra” - I can think of hundreds….PG-13 keywords of course!

Why Kirsty Loves ‘em?

Because she is good at them. That is her bread and butter. She started here career in affiliate marketing with this style of site so why not finish it that way.

Because she makes good money with them. I never denied the ability for these sites to make money. There is definitely a lot of potential for profit with these sites.

Because she is genuinely interested in lingerie. If you look at her list of niches, they are all generally related. That means she enjoys these topics and therefore it isn’t really work for her… it’s fun. (get your mind out of the gutter!)

There are hundreds of amazon affiliates who make a decent living from shopping directories. Digital cameras, Flat screen TVs, perfume, DVDs, CDs, bedding & furniture, you name it…. there is an affiliate using a shopping directory to market these products.

While this landing page style doesn’t fit my current portfolio, I do plan to give them a try in the near future. In June I will reach the 6th month (since the restart) mark where I will begin experimenting a bit more. Until then I am sticking with my bread and butter. However, until then…. here are a few considerations to keep in mind if you plan to use a shopping directory:

I’m looking forward to starting one of these sites. I’ve got an idea for a fairly untapped niche but I’m a bit intimidated. For now I’ll stick with comparison and blog-style sites. I don’t want to rush into anything and get my panties in a bunch.

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Comments

6 Responses to “Free Affiliate Marketing Course - Lesson 5d”

  1. KirstyM on March 27th, 2008 12:44 am

    Hey hey…

    D’you know, that’s the first shopping directory style site I’ve done? The rest have been small and niche based! Did you further know that the site you are talking about is a wordpress blog? It’s really amazing what you can do with the platform!

    Good luck, and thanks for the mention,

    Kirsty

    KirstyM’s last blog post..Australia… The Story So Far

  2. Michael Mosby on March 27th, 2008 6:49 am

    Kristy,

    Thanks for clarifying. From the nature of your other niches they seemed to fit the shopping directory style. You did a GREAT job with the lingerie site for it to be your first one.

    I could tell that it is wordpress. Looks like a web magazine template… very professional and appealing.

    This confirms that shopping directories aren’t a good place for rank newbies like me to start but a great way to scale your affiliate marketing business once you get your feet wet.

    One day I hope to reach your level and teach my readers how to get there also!

    Best wishes,
    Mike

  3. Chris on March 27th, 2008 5:17 pm

    Hi Mike

    I see where you are coming from in relation to Kirsty’s website (by the way, its Kirsty, not Kristy ;) ) I’ve known K for a while and know how much work went into the Lingerie Website, and it wasn’t straight forward out of the box design, however you shouldn’t let this deter you or your readers. It shows what is possible using the most basic of Content Management Systems that is freely available.

    Sure, it’s nice, infact its beatufilully constructed, however to generate money you can start from the basics. My very 1st website (since sold) was 20 pages of HTML that I updated by adding a new line every 2 days. There were no complicated PPC campaigns (they didn’t exist at the time), yet still it generated enough money to pay for holidays. A glorious website is worthless if you get 0 visitors!

    I look at K’s website and hope to find a niche where I can mimic her achievments one day. It inspires me to try a little harder… every now and then. Failing that, we could just kidnap her :)

    Just remember, as I, and K have always said - its fine and dandy to be “just an OK OK affiliate”. Just keep plugging away!

    Chris’s last blog post..Meet The REAL Affiliates - John Lamerton (Big Idea Media) - #4 of #8

  4. Michael Mosby on March 27th, 2008 7:45 pm

    Chris,

    Thanks for clarifying… Kirsty, got it. Truns out taht I don’t atcullay raed, I jsut look at the frist and lsat lettres and my biarn deos the rset of the wrok for me :)

    Content Management System will be next on my list of things to research. Congrats on selling a site, that is awesome!

    I’m definitely in on the kidnapping plan, it is the easiest solution. No need to reinvent the wheel when we can just steal it :) From now on we will refer to it as Operation Wheel…. briliant!

    Thanks for stopping by and keep up the great job with your blog!

    Best Wishes,
    Mike

  5. KirstyM on March 28th, 2008 6:35 pm

    Eh? Come on guys, behave yourselves! I’m seriously worried because Chris has been saying he will come visit me in Australia. I’m going to spend the rest of my life locked in a cellar shackled to a PC!

    The thing about my brand based site is that it is quite scaleable. It can be as small or large as I want it. The site had ten brands on there when it was launched, and I can increase them at any time I like.

    As Chris says, you don’t need the bells and knockers to get started you could just grab a wordpress theme and start knocking out the content. Its not rocket science (can’t believe I just said that!).

    Good luck, and the best thing you can do is… something!!!

    P.S. Stateside folk always call me Kristy… even when they HEAR my name. Happens here in OZ too. I answer to anything now, lol.

    KirstyM’s last blog post..Ask Kirsty - Promote Marketing E-Books For My First Niche?

  6. KG Lew on June 2nd, 2008 3:41 pm

    This shopping website looks very professionally done even if it had started from a wordpress template. I am sure that most internet newbies will not be able to make a site like this unless they hire someone to make it… its great though… and if you are experienced in affiliate marketing, then go for it!

    KG Lew’s last blog post..Issue 67 : The Internet Marketing Manual

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