The affiliate program – Amazon Associates; was the first way that I made money online.
I wrote an in depth post a while back, showing you one way you can make your first affiliate sale online and the program I talk about is Amazon.
This affiliate program can sometimes be bad mouthed or even overlooked, by bloggers who believe the commission per sale, is too small.
But I look at it in quite a different way!
I barely use the Amazon program on this blog, but I have another one that I started years ago and, have really barely added too for years.
Nevertheless, it still made me a small amount of affiliate sales every single month.
And this is when I was barely making any posts, (erm… does a few in a YEAR count…?!)….
Or even logging into the site for months at a time…. I’m not saying that is what you SHOULD do by any means, (don’t do it!),
If you want to grow your blog, you do need to work on it. But I’m just explaining what happened to me, so you can see the potential here.
Anyway…. That aside I made these sales with Amazon and Etsy affiliate program combined.
I barely made more than $30-$100 per month with it, but that’s with a site pulling in only about 30-100 visitors per day.
So, if you had a website pulling in 500, 1000, 2000 visitors a day, you could make a really nice extra income with that blog and only from just a couple of affiliate programs.
What’s more, getting your first affiliate sales with Amazon has to be one of the EASIEST ways to make a sale!
Here are a few reasons why….
1/ Everyone knows Amazon!
They’re trusted, they’re HUGE!
You will have a much higher conversion rate sending people to Amazon than a vast number of other websites.
This is such a bigger perk than you may imagine because, so often with blogging you need to develop a relationship with your reader before they trust you enough to purchase something from you.
How often do you see something linked to via a blog and then immediately make a purchase?
In my own case, I know I’ve sometimes spent several months going back and forth to blog posts before finally deciding to buy a product or course.
And without a doubt, this is always from bloggers that I have become familiar with over time and trust their judgement.
Trust and affiliate marketing often go hand and hand – as does, building relationships.
But with Amazon, that doesn’t need to happen.
You send someone to Amazon, they already know and trust the platform – they will usually have their payment details already connected and may even have 1-click ordering set up!
2/ Amazon are GREAT at selling and upselling:
You know when you go on Amazon and they show you all the things you last looked at but didn’t buy and then show you that….
“people who bought this, also bought…” suggestions?
Of course they do that because it works very well.
People may go on Amazon for one thing, but end up buying something else entirely.
3/ Amazon will pay you a commission for ANYTHING ….
…That your referral buys within 24 hours.
Yes the 24 hour window is a downside for sure, but you can still make sales.
Because, doesn’t matter what they buy.
If they go via your affiliate link to a mug, (for example;) and buy a wide screen TV, YOU get the commission.
As a result, MOST of the sales I make, are not even through my links!
People have just landed on Amazon from me and then bought something completely different.
Take a look at some of the recent sales I made in the screen shot below – take note that only ONE of these 10 orders was made via my affiliate links.
All the other sales were for items people just ended up buying after they got there.
This is probably one of the top reasons that I love the Amazon program!
So many times, you’re sending people to one product or course and there is one option – if they don’t buy, there is no sale.
But with this, it’s like you get an extra chance there and it’s not unlikely people will buy something, because so often people will already have something they want to buy in mind.
4/ Amazon will work for a LOT of niches.
My niche with this blog is a bit of an exception, which is why I have barely any Amazon links on my blog here.
But, even in a make/money, business or entrepreneur based niche, you can include things such as book recommendations for entrepreneurs, or link to particular equipment that you use and recommend.
However, in a majority of your popular niches, you’re going to be able to find SOMETHING that you can recommend.
In the cooking niche? Think of all the equipment you use that you can recommend.
In the parenting niche? There is an abundance of all things child related on the platform – anything you can think of.
In the home decor niche? Amazon has been gradually expanding for years and you can now finds a vast amount of home decor items, furniture and much more.
5/ AMAZON PRIME!
Amazon Prime makes delivery free for Prime members and this is another reason that Amazon has become such a huge monster power.
When people need something tomorrow and can’t get out of the house to the shops, it provides a quick and easy solution.
So many people with Amazon are now Amazon prime, (including myself) and they’ve made this a great deal by including Amazon Prime video – which includes their own exclusive shows.
6/ Selling Across Multiple Platforms:
Amazon allows you to apply to multiple affiliate programs, across multiple countries.
So, at one point, I was with the US, UK, Canada and France, (because that’s where a majority of my traffic was from in Google analytics).
However, I am now just sticking with the US and UK for the affiliate program right now.
You can also set up geo-targeting on your blog, to direct people to their correct store – which ensures you will make a commission.
Amazon have their own tracking options now, (which I haven’t personally tested out) but there are other programs you can use, such as Genius Link.
So, Why Don’t People Like The Amazon Affiliate Program?
In my experience – most people that try it, do like it.
There are various reasons why some put it do – some people have had a negative experience that has put them off.
For starters, the program does have strict rules and if you don’t carefully follow their recommendations, you can risk having your account shut down in an instant.
For blogs and sites that almost entirely rely on Amazon commissions for their income, you can imagine how devastating this can be!
For some people making tens of thousands a month with Amazon, some have claimed that once you are making too much money with their program, they’ll find some way to shut you down.
Now, I don’t really believe this is true; because think about – by shutting them down, Amazon themselves will also be cutting themselves off from many thousands of dollars in sales.
I think what you need to be cautious of, is there are rules you need to follow and not everyone fully understands them exactly.
Spend some time carefully looking into this prior to signing up and get your blog set up correctly following these guidelines from the beginning.
I’ve heard horror stories about people having to change hundreds of pages of a site after being told their site didn’t correspond with the Amazon guidelines.
Also be aware, that Amazon does change the rules from time to time and you need to keep up to date with that.
The other main reason people put the Amazon program down is the commission structure – you will often get 4-5% commission and at best 10%.
When you’re only selling low-cost items, this can be peanuts, so you need to sell a lot to get a decent amount of money.
While this is a downside, I don’t think it should put people off.
When people are getting started, just making a SALE is the goal. To go many months without making any money at all can get quite depressing.
The Amazon program provides new bloggers with an easier opportunity to make those initial sales.
And making your first affiliate sale is such a buzz – I remember feeling like I was just walking on air and I think I’d only made $5.
It’s not like you start with Amazon program and are stuck with that for life – you can always change, grow and branch out over time.
But if you’re a new blogger and you aren’t signed up to the Amazon Associates program – you could be leaving money on the table!
Have you signed up with Amazon?
What is your experience with Amazon and Amazon associates in general?
Let me know in the comments below.
If you’re brand new and looking for affiliate programs, check out my best affiliate programs for new bloggers.
If you’re looking to learn more about affiliaite marketing, internet marketing in general, SEO, keyword research and more….
I highly recommend you start with the free training here!
All the best,
Pin Me For Later – to your blogging/affiliate marketing board!
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