Oct 05 2009
Accounting Screwup Leads to Site Improvement Ideas
I have been a member of the TradeDoubler affiliate network since 2006 when, that year, it earned me a whopping $0. It didn’t do much better the year after and in 2008 it stopped accepting my password for some bizarre reason and I completely forgot about it.
Well I managed to log in today and was amazed to find that the affiliate programs I’ve signed up for through TradeDoubler have actually been producing to the tune of $900 so far in 2009. I haven’t noticed the money because I don’t get any payment emails and the cash is transferred into my UK bank account that I don’t get statements for. It’s been a very nice surprise though!
These sales have come from one of my websites that focuses on a particular type of travel insurance aimed at a specific group. It is a good example of how focusing on a niche, becoming number one in Google for a specific search term, and offering product options for what people are looking for can pay off.
My site offers five insurance products in total. I have two of them running on the TradeDoubler network, one on ClixGalore, and two have their own private affiliate programs. One of these has yet to earn me a cent so I’m going to scrap it.
Affiliate sales are a funny thing and, until I see the first sale, I am rarely convinced that I will be able to sell anything. My website is sort of crappy and I have been meaning to try to set it up better to make sales but keep putting it off. This little accounting discovery has inspired me to make an update of this site a priority. I am happy with the search traffic I get but think I should have more conversions. I’m going to see what I can do to make that happen and keep an eye out for other insurance affiliate programs that will fit into the mix.
I need a change of pace from my futile pursuit of higher Adsense earnings and affiliate sales is where the real money is, so I’m curious to see what a focused effort will produce. I have lots of ideas for how I can improve the site and I will report back in more detail once I put them into action.
I’m curious about how many o you have managed to make affiliate sales work for you. Any tips on how to make a website that sells would be great!
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Thats a nice find
I have started to dabble with affiliates with little success, I have consistently done ok to well with clickbank nothing spectacular but steady, I like Amazon also and have had a little success straight away, with all its products & ease of integration it is probably the one i will work with most. No luck with CJ or the likes.
I totally agree that there is much more money in affiliate programs vs adsense. Several years ago people were making really good money with adsense but since then Google has been gradually clawing back a higher percentage of that advertising money.
Congrats on finding out about that unknown income source. It must’ve really made your day. Good luck on ramping up your website to convert customers better.
I’m thinking your sites might do very well for travel books, backpacks, power adapters, etc. Things you’ve found you need on your travels that you could review for those of us who are wishing we could travel all over. Should be able to incorporate Amazon products into your pages, posts, and make money off of those without making them eyesores for your readers.
I’ve tried the air travel, hotels.com, etc. affiliates before, but I never really got much from promoting those; sounds like it’s the same for you. So, maybe go more toward the “dreaming of travel” that you get from books rather than the “I’m definitely going to travel” you would have to expect from the “easy to book” ad I see here on this page.
Anyways, that advice is completely free and might just be worth what you paid. Love the site!