It's always good to talk about blogging when things are going well but sometimes it isn't always a smooth ride.In the course of making money I try various programs and affiliate ventures. Some are going well but I thought, for a change, I'd mention two that I haven't done very well with this year: ClickBank and Amazon.
First ClickBank. Over the last 30 days I've had 908 clicks to products and this has made me absolutely nothing. Even at a 0.5% response this should have given me 4 orders.
And it's not much better with Amazon for either the UK or USA sites. All I've managed in the last month is one order which has made me $1!
To my mind, in some respects, ClickBank and Amazon are similar. You'll probably say, "No way. Amazon has quality products whereas ClickBank has a lot of old tat."
I'd agree with this but I mean in the way they need to be promoted. Neither work well by slapping a banner on a blog and crossing your fingers. Yes you may be lucky but generally this doesn't work that well.
Instead they need the personal touch. The products need to be included in blog posts as recommendations or reviews. So, if you do it right, the reader thinks, "That looks worth investigating, especially as Mr. or Ms. Blogger has written about it."
In other words you use your reputation to sell the product. And this is what I've personally failed to do this year with either Amazon or ClickBank.
For both it takes some pro-active effort: a review, perhaps a special Squidoo lens devoted to a range of products and so on. A little effort pays. It has for me in the past but, as I've seen this year, hoping that things will take care of themselves isn't a good strategy.
Now, about being successful with blogging, have you seen all of the excellent information on Blogging Good Blogs? Okay, okay it's an Amazon aStore I set up ages and ages ago ... but you have to do what you preach ... especially if you want to make money ...Good luck,
Mike
Other Reading:
How To Get Up To 90% Discounts On Amazon
