If you have read my last thread, we will have already run through the basics of affiliate marketing. This time around I want to switch the spotlight onto the differences between Clickbank and other affiliate marketing sites and how this can affect sales and advertising.

As some of you may already know, Clickbank is used for digital products products only and does not sell real items (for obvious reasons such as postage and handling fees, insurance of products etc…). Although clickbank is the best affiliate system in the world, it’s products can be hard to advertise and are usually very competitive. Many people prefer to sell real world items, such as the items available through the affiliate website; Commission Junction. CJ (Commission Junction) offers affiliate marketing of wide variety of real world items such as clothes or ipods etc… But why would you sell real world items over digital items? Simply because they’re worth more and you can advertise real world products very easily.

Real world items are usually worth more than digital items because:

• Digital items can be infinitely produced.
• Digital items be downloaded illegally.
• Real world items take manual labor.
• Real world items need to be delivered, which means a delivery fee.

Advertising real world items can be considerably easier for a number of reasons, however I’ll go over the main ones:

• Real world items are desirable to more people. For example, why would a mother working full time need to download PSP games? That mother might want new shoes or some new pants, these are things that everyone needs.
• Real world products can be shown in action. For example, you could make a video of someone listening to an iPod in order to advertise your website.

This information is hardly surprising when you think about it, however it may not be as obvious to most people who promote an affiliate link. Most people simply rush in and advertise the first product they see. This may seem like a good strategy for a short while, but if you really want to reap the rewards of affiliate marketing then you need to know how to advertise on the web very effectively using many different methods and techniques. A lack of advertising skills will result in a waste of time for those who want to advertise any product over the internet.

Although I have talked about real world products being “better” so far, this is not always the case, it really depends on your situation. For example, if you have just started a site that reviews different clothes companies (using affiliate techniques desbribed in “Introducing Affiliate Marketing – Part 1), then you may not get sales until you have fully optimized your site, advertised on Google Adwords, worked on your site’s SEO etc… It also depends on how well the product (that you’re advertising or reviewing) converts, if your real world product doesn’t convert as well as a digital ebook, then you may get more money out of the digital ebook for the next few months. However if you have established a good site based on real world products, which is properly SEOd and converts well then you are almost certain to make more money out of this, than out of a site advertising cheaper digital products.

Just a quick note: Remember that word of mouth is a very very very important advertising tool. If you provide people with a helpful affiliate site, with lots of information about different products, then you might just find that your site will grow rapidly.

I hope that you enjoyed this post and I hope that I’ll be writing again soon,

Chris from Money007.

Because PPC markets are so popular, they are mostly used by webmasters to generate revenue. Although this is a smart move, you could make an even smarter move by going over to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing (as many of you may know) is a market where you earn money by targeted advertising. Targeted advertising means targeting the audience that you think will buy a specific product, most of whom are adults with Credit Cards. The way that affiliate marketing works is simple: You sign up to an affiliate marketing site (i.e. Clickbank or CJ) and search for an online business that sells a certain product. You then create a “hoplink” to the business’s website and start getting visitors to visit the site. If the visitors then go on to purchase a product from that site you will earn a percentage of the sale. The percentage of the sale varies from product to product, however on Clickbank the going rate is usually 75% of the sale.

The advantages of affiliate marketing:

• Targets a specific product based on your site’s niche. For example, if you own a site that reviews Playstation games, you can show ads linking to business’s that sell Playstation consoles and games.

• Pays very well, usually in the area of $10 – $30 per sale OR more.

• Brands the site a lot more and makes it look professional and targeted.

The disadvantages of affiliate marketing:

• Unlike PPC advertisements you are not guaranteed to make any money, even if a visitor does click on your affiliate link.

• Advertising your affiliate based site may be a complete waste of time and money.

An example of a targeted affiliate marketing technique is a site that I built which provides information and reviews hydrogen car kits. Three different products are up for review on the site, and I provide a link to each product through my Clickbank hoplink. When people click on the link they receive a cookie from Clickbank that can track the products they purchase. So after people have read the review on my site, they then choose a product and (in some cases) go on to purchase something. I use various techniques of advertising to get people onto the site, however more specific and in depth advertising techniques will be published as part of a Money007? eBook in the future.

My earnings from this site were actually quite good considering that I put hardly any effort into creating and maintaining the site. I would like to share my earnings with you by providing a screen-shot of my Clickbank earnings during that specific period:

As you can see, affiliate marketing can turn over quite a profit and can be very useful for webmasters who run sites with a healthy stream of traffic and a selling niche. In part 2 of ?Generating extra revenue from your site?, I will talk about different affiliate marketing sites, as well as the differences in selling electronic and real products online.

Hope you have a good day,

The team at Money007.

Why does the 125×125 pixel ad rock?

• A growing amount of affiliates are offering these ads to publishers
• Due to their bright and diverse colors they can give your website a charismatic appeal as well as maintain an impression of livelihood.
• When positioned correctly, they are not intrusive to your readers yet they still uphold their presence effectively.
• These ads tend to be very well accustomed to the traditional sidebar thus explaining their popularity with bloggers.

However, are these ads appropriate for all blogs?

You should first consider the following before making a decision.

• Not all advertisers are yet at the stage where 125 x 125 pixel ads are being taken into their consideration and they tend to prefer the traditional ad sizes.
• They can counter the intended effect of your web design. For example, these ads may oppose the effect of a more minimal, passive web design. This can be harmful to your blog’s appeal.
• These ads do not work well for all industries. Each industry has a certain set of preferences when it comes to advertising. These may not always include 125 x 125 pixel ads.