I’ve written before about step-by-step niche research and the importance of choosing a niche you know and have interest in, along with other important guidelines.

Today I want to address the importance of the commissions you can earn with the niches you choose.

I was doing some marketing today and it reminded how much is involved in getting traffic, promoting websites and all of the tasks involved in Internet Marketing. Just building the niche website can be a huge task for those of us who are not pro web designers.

So here is a bit of advice, that may help some of you who are just starting out in affiliate marketing, or anyone looking to expand online campaigns.

When choosing a niche, consider the commissions you will receive from the affiliate programs that you will be participating in.

AN AFFILIATE MARKETING PAYOFF SCENARIO

Look at it this way, let’s say I build a website around some niche, and then I choose an affiliate program or two with products I will promote. My commission is 5% of each sale I make and that will equal about $5 per sale. Then I spend lots and lots of time and effort to promote my sites. Then some weeks later I start to get some good traffic, and then slowly sales trickle in, let’s say I get 5 sales a month, this means I earned $25. Now, I will be very excited at first since I did get sales, and in today’s competitive Internet market place THAT IS GREAT!

But, then I may look back at all the effort and wonder, $25??????? Is it worth it? Maybe in the long long run, when and if my site really hits big and there is a huge amount of converting traffic when I have 1,000 sales a month that brings in $5,000, but that could take some time.

Now, let’s say, my commissions averaged about $20 + dollars per sale, then 5 sales would give me $100, or $30 per sale, then I would have made $150 for those few sales! That is certainly a much better payoff and as more sales trickle in, is a much bigger motivator to keep going!

Now it is true that there are several ways to monetize websites besides affiliate links and products, like Adsense, Yahoo Ads, relevant banners, but these sources are not usually the greatest money makers, they are often supplemental money sources on a niche site, and really only pay off well once there is a lot of traffic coming in, which takes some time.

All I’m saying is that if you plan to sell golf balls, and make a few cents per sale, it may NOT be worth the effort! Maybe 7 years ago, small commissions were explosive, because the competition was so low that you could get all the traffic, but unfortunately, not anymore!

MAKE THE MOST YOU CAN FOR YOUR INTERNET AND AFFILIATE MARKETING EFFORTS!

When looking at commissions, remember there are lots of different affiliate programs and some may pay better than others for the same niche products/services, so be sure to do the research.

Commissions of the main affiliate products you will be promoting is just another factor to consider when choosing your niche, considering the amount of work involved in getting sales it’s a worthwhile consideration.

What do you guys think? Have you experienced this? Do you go for the big bucks? Is this a consideration in your niche decisions?