I have an affiliate marketing website that I built a few months ago. And the keyword is very popular and I have worked hard to get traffic and SERP rank position. As the months went by, I was getting a good amount of traffic but not one single sale!
I analyzed and performed the requisite tricks, such as landing page, colors, navigation and other reasons that result in high bounce rates and lack of sales and nothing seemed to work. I soon decided to move onto to other projects. A couple of weeks ago I was checking my commissions and noticed that that website had a couple of sales. And in the last week the sales are increasing and averaging a couple a day.
The lesson here is don't quit till the magic happens. Affiliate marketing and making money online is hard work and can be a crap shoot with lots of testing and failing. But if you give up then you will never reap the success you seek. Many newbies give up quickly because they are looking for a fast buck, but that is not realistic for affiliate marketing and making money online and if you set your mind that way you are destined to be disappointed.
Remember, not all websites will generate income right away, if ever, any honest affiliate, especially the honest super affiliates will tell you that. They all have failures on their books, but they also have one thing in common, they never gave up. They know that this is a great business with endless potential, but it has its ups and downs, bad months and good months, successful campaigns and some that are just dead. None of that matters, we move on and push harder.
Internet marketing is a lonely business. Most of us sit at home and pluck away at the iceberg, building websites, trying to rank our sites, build links, get traffic and of course make money. It is not easy, but many of us, including myself, love it and would not want to do anything else. Yes? No?
Sometimes, there are hard times and we all need the motivation to keep going. So, I am here to tell you to keep plucking away, new sites, new keywords, trial and error, learning from past mistakes, new opportunities and DO NOT GIVE UP!
Patience, faith and not giving up is key in making money online and affiliate marketing and the reward of the freedom that it provides in working for yourself is unparallel.
Your principles apply to ANY web site, not just those engaged in affiliate marketing.
Patience is definitely a virtue with link building.
Slow & steady wins the race!
@Sacramento Weddings
Very true Matt, as well as blogging.
It is always nice to wake up and have a sale or two you weren’t expecting.
Sometimes the harder you try to find the right way the more frustrating it becomes. Leaving it like you did is the best thing- sets the way for the streams of passive income for the future.
I hear a lot of “overnight success” stories. You are right about the fact that they never gave up. That is what people starting out need to focus on- not the $1000′s of dollars a day the big wigs are now making.
I really like th posts in which a story is told- it make it more real.
jen@Tips From A Network Marketers last blog post..How To Find Other Bloggers
I have some very old sites that were setup with affiliate marketing and some still make money. The money is not significant, but then again the site has not been updated in years. The downside to affiliate marketing is when you spend money and energy promoting a specific product and then they change the % you get or they change affiliate programs.
@Logo Design
Very true, this biz is unpredictable, that is why diversity is key, once you have the knowledge and skills necessary it is important to have a large set of campaigns, and not put your eggs in one basket.
@Logo Design, Really? I haven’t experience such things before..
Ben Peis last blog post..Top 10 Facebook Games Of The Year
Follow Me on Twitter @: DennisEdell
(224 comments)
Man how I would li=ove to sticky this article on every newbie forum I visit.
Btw, I moused over ever link and none seemed to show this website of yours, did I miss it.
(Not my last post in commentluv)
Dennis Edells last blog post..Do You Use Google Alerts?
@Dennis Edell
No the links was not given, as I answered Steve, I cannot share my niches, too many haters and thieves out there, most bloggers in IM do not, I have read too many horror stories of those who have and regretted it.
Follow Me on Twitter @: DennisEdell
(224 comments)
@JR, I figured as much and wasn’t really expecting anything lol. Never hurts to ask!
Dennis Edells last blog post..FINAL CALL: $100 Blog Review Contest Ends The 31st!
@Dennis Edell
@Dennis Edell, Lol seems like you are having big problem with Commentluv dennis.
Ben Peis last blog post..Top 10 Facebook Games Of The Year
hey JR,
I agree that one needs patience (with many things) and that it takes time, but did anything else happen? Did your traffic go up, and then you got the sales? Or is everything the same, but now you’re getting sales? Any idea why now, and what’s going to happen in the future?
~ Steve, aka trade show display booths
PS. Ditto on Dennis above. Do you want to share what this potential mini-cash-cow site is?
@trade show display booths
Good question Steve, I really have not got a clue, traffic did increase as the site went up in SERPS significantly in Yahoo and Live and did go up a few positions in G, but all in all, a lot of it is a crap shoot. I have no idea what will happen in the future, it is a day by day thing with AM.
Traffic is always the key, that I know for sure, because they more traffic you have the more likely you are to get a sale, since the exposure is much wider.
Unfortunately I cannot share my niches, too many haters and thieves out there, most bloggers in IM do not, I have read too many horror stories of those who have and regretted it.
@JR,
I would NOT expect you to disclose a money-making niche site because obviously some people would copy it, and there would go your income stream. If you had disclosed it, I probably wouldn’t have believed you or I would have considered you foolish, and may have even stopped reading your blog!
My second question (can you tell us the website or keywords) was actually a test, which you passed with flying colors.
Whew, that was a close one!
~ Steve, aka trade show display booths
@trade show display booths
Wow, Steve, I am glad that I passed your test, mama didn’t raise no fool!
@trade show display booths
Also, I think picking a good niche is important, it must make sense, in that it is popular and in demand and the keyword is such that is searched for enough to fill a great demand.
@JR,
And if there isn’t much competition that is even better! ~ Steve
@trade show display booths
Of course it is
Hi,
I do agree with you that internet marketing is a lonely business. To be able to reach our goals we need to bury our head a little deeper and sometimes a lttle longer. The sweet taste of success is never easy but it is best that whenever we feel exhausted to a never ending saga of building our business we should reflect why we are doing this. After such great realization everything will be crystal clear again and this will drive us more to work harder and smarter.
Legitimate Work from Home Incomes last blog post..Great Internet Business Opportunity Checklist
@Legitimate Work from Home Income
I agree completely! Often for me anyway, even one sale, reinstates my faith and drives me to keep going.
great writeup!! I wouldn’t say i’ve given up – but I’m damn close lol!!
Taris Janitenss last blog post..Hope to do Business with You!!
@Taris Janitens
why?
@JR, I guess it just seems like its very difficult to implement correctly – unfortunately I don’t have the time right now to be able to figure out exactly hwo to do that considering the launch of OnePoke.com is very soon – I guess I’ve just been weighing the “time invested” vs “potential return” factors against one another for affiliate marketing
Taris Janitenss last blog post..Going Down to One Post Per Day
@Taris Janitens
That makes sense, and I am sure that OnePoke is keeping you very busy!
actually every time a friend of mine tells me they’ve just started aff. marketing, I always know they are going to quit someday. And that tells a lot about how people used to lose patience so quick
theaffiliates last blog post..Affiliate Marketing With No Startup Cost
Follow Me on Twitter @: yansusanto
(3 comments)
I’ve been playing with affiliating for the last 3 months or so and I can pretty much vouch for the fact that its success (read:sales) doesn’t come overnight. I guess it all boils down to your mindset. If you jump into AM thinking that you could make it BIG fast, you are most likely to fail as quickly.
JR, I love your article on “building an affiliate website”, you’ve covered lots of ground. mySimon is a real gem I wish I’ve discovered it earlier. Nice sharing, JR.
Yan
Yan@Blogging Tipss last blog post..You’ve Only Got 10 Seconds
@Yan
Thanks, I love MySimon too, it’s really great and can bring so many ideas.
JR you are so right, you can never give up and you have to love it. I have two blogs with adsense and so far have made $16.66 in two months. Nobody in my offline world has a clue as to how great that feels. I am now an internet marketer and can’t wait every day to write my next post or article.
Thanks for the pep talk.
Andy@Best mlm leads last blog post..Christian Work At Home Jobs
@Andy
Congratulations Andy, that is great! And you are right no one can appreciate the feeling except your fellow IM’ers, keep it up!
Glad I found this site – I’m finding the content very useful – thanks!
A lot of people give up thinking they’ve already failed when they dont see any results from what they’ve started. More less if you’re in it in hopes of making money online, then you’ve gotta learn that most things start to pick up when you’re at the tipping point of what it may seems to be like you’re failing. (i dont think i word that right)
I’m new to affiliate marketing and I’ve did a few campaigns, no sales as of yet, but I’m still learning, you can pretty much say im failing to succeed at this point. Good advice and motivational story on your post.
Pheak Tols last blog post..Real Fight is Back – Ong Bak 2 starring Tony Jaa
@Pheak Tol
I love “failing to succeed” that is very suited for this biz!
@JR, all credit goes to Ian Fernando, his blog inspired me to keep going through his trials, but yet it is true, you have to fail at what you do in order to succeed. you have a nice blog and i went and followed your affiliate marketing strategy blog as well. i really like the read, im new to affiliate marketing so any info is a big help.
Pheak Tols last blog post..Real Fight is Back – Ong Bak 2 starring Tony Jaa
@Pheak Tol
Thank you I appreciate the support, I too read Ian’s blog, good stuff there.
i have made it to the top ten for the very competative search phrase web hsoting cheap am now working on cheap web hosting phrase I am going to update my site I am getting about 10 to 20 clicks on the ads a day but no sales this month out of about 400 clicks What do you think I shoud do with my site I am trying to learn program so I can build a uptime monitoring program so I can track what host have the best up time and performance I should be able to make good money if I can get in the top 5 almost there
Web hosting cheaps last blog post..Web hosting and SEO
You just continue as you have been, that is great work for the top 10, hosting is very competitive. As far as conversions, 400 clicks is not that many, make sure that you are promoting those ads correctly.
Very nice pep talk. I’ve realized recently that the sites I’ve been trying to market just aren’t monetization friendly, so I’m thinking of starting another. Not that I exactly have the time. But these sites are a labor of love, as well as money.
Self-Publishing Reviews last blog post..The Past, Present, and Future of Ebooks
@Self-Publishing Review
Great point, it is crucial to make sure the niche is monetazation friendly for site primarily made for money.
Follow Me on Twitter @: colleenlane
(9 comments)
You are right JR, definitely some slow times in affiliate marketing and patience is required. We’ve started doing some affiliate sales and every month our sales creep up by few dollars.
~ Colleen
Kennewick Real Estates last blog post..I Love Jesus But I Drink A Little
I have read so much about affiliate marketing and there are actually so many things you can do.. So I guess you just gotta keep working ya?
Ben Peis last blog post..Top 10 Facebook Games Of The Year
I’ve been an affiliate marketer for around 8 months and the same thing happened to me. I was promoting ebay and did not see any sales. One day I just check my stats and saw sales. Ever since then, I get sales ever day. You have to be very patient and keep at it.
we don’t have to worry about ROIs (Returns on Investments) as we only pay for the performance.
Affiliate programs are just great for getting side money for doing what you love, blogging.
Alberts last blog post..Top 21 Article Directories Worth Submitting
Follow Me on Twitter @: wlrahilly
(1 comments)
I think this is one of the best posts I’ve read on the subject of affiliate marketing. The key to this type of business is you need to set up a campaign, add some backlinks and move on to your next campaign for a while. This will allow your first campaign to “simmer” so to speak and build up backlinks on its own.
Wendy R recently posted..Work From Home Ideas – 20 Ways To Make 100 Per Day Online
I would agree, JR. IM really does require patience and diligence.
And not everybody’s cut out for this work. I would say it is a “calling” just like every other job.
You were meant to do this kind of work or not.
Steve Balliett recently posted..Chris Farrell Membership Site Review – Build A Successful Web Business
Follow Me on Twitter @: bizmoneybasics
(1 comments)
I agree I have a long way to go.
Thanks for the encouragement! My theory is nothing good ever comes easy. Hard word and dedication 100% commitment to success.Keep on keeping on.
Rozalia Mayne recently posted..“Payroll Tax Cut”
Affiliate Marketing – Seize the Opportunities and Don’t Give Up.. http://bit.ly/augvOv