Affiliate marketers promote and sell all sorts of things, depending on the niches they are in. I’m no different.

In the Internet marketing niche, for instance, I promote WordPress themes, hosting, traffic generation tools and other products/services that I believe would help in my audience’s online business.

The affiliate networks that I promote for vary depending on the niches, of course. These networks include Clickbank, Health Trader, JV Zoo, ShareaSale, Marketplace and Peerfly.

How I Got Started?

I started with IM-related products when I began online, thinking that it was going to be a breeze with the expected volume of potential customers.

I was thinking that there are many people out there who are fed up with their jobs and are turning to the Internet to generate an income, be it on the side or doing it full-time. These people would be looking for products, services, training courses that would help them achieve their goals. And they would be eager buyers whom (I felt) would be easily persuaded (to buy).

Boy, was I mistaken! Sure there are hordes of potential customers in the IM niche.

What I fail to realize was that there are also lots of marketers on the other side of the spectrum who are as eager to promote their products as I am!

Challenges With IM Products

What I am going to share below is purely based on what I personally experience and therefore the views are mine and mine only.

Products That Offer Free Trial

In the beginning, I always thought that it would be good to promote products or services that provide free trial so that buyers have the opportunity to try them without having to pay for something that they may not find useful later. 

From a buyer’s standpoint, the chance to try something out without the obligation to buy is certainly attractive. However, such option that’s available to buyers is not necessarily lucrative to the marketer.

Lets take the example of the keyword research tool that I use, Jaaxy. Now, I have found that getting referrals to start using the tool for free is not much of a problem.

If you explain to your audience how a tool is used and how it has benefitted you personally, it should suffice to attract them to at least try the product/service.

The REAL challenge is to get them to go for the paid option and to stay as a paid customer for an extended period of time.

A lot of factors could be at play when a customer wouldn’t commit to a paid option. It could be that :

1. They are generally sceptical about whatever you recommend
2. They are not willing to commit to a regular payment/subcription (some might not even be serious enough to allocate a monthly budget for their business)
3. They are more willing to buy from seasoned marketers they are familiar with. (This would pose a challenge for marketers who are starting out in the IM niche)

Thus these factors can impede a potential buyer’s transition from going for the free trial to actually buying the product.

And because of these issues, I have referrals who remain ‘free’ customers without ever getting into the ‘paid’ mode.

Customers’ refusal to go for the paid option = Zero commissions for the marketer 

Selling IM vs Amazon Products

In contrast, I have found marketing Amazon products to be relatively easier, in terms of :

1. The time it takes from the start of your promotion (starting your website, researching and creating content) to the time that a customer actually buys from your affiliate links.
2. Convincing the potential buyer to make an actual purchase.

Working Your Charm

I’m not going to talk about a magic potion or trick in convincing a potential buyer to buy from Amazon. 

Not much persuasion is needed given that Amazon is one of the largest reputable online retailers with reviews from actual buyers. This is particular so if you target potential buyers who already have the intention to buy but are still at the research phase.

So as marketers, we want to be part of that research phase to be giving them value in terms of the information they seek. If you have a comprehensive content that tackles issues such as pros and cons of the product, where to get them at the best price, then all you need to do is to exert a little nudge to turn a potential buyer into a real customer.

 

How to sell Amazon products on your website?

Honestly, there is no difference in the way that I promote digital products from say, Clickbank, and physical products from Amazon.

I start by choosing a niche and affiliate products in that niche.

Then I would create a website, hosting it in Siteground, (which I mostly use now).

As I work with WordPress, I choose themes from MyThemeShop because it has a wide selection of free and premium themes to suit any kind of niche. I usually go for the simple, clear, reader-friendly with easy navigation.

The next (more challenging) task is to fill the website with content that would, first and foremost, help your audience make an informed decision prior to purchasing something.

Sure you can outsource content writing in Fiverr or Upwork but with content, I have not come to a stage where I want to outsource.

The reason is I want to have control of my content with my chosen keywords. Most of the traffic that I get for my Amazon-related websites are organic traffic – people found my website as they type particular keywords in the search engines.

I believe my audience already have an intention about buying a particular product. However, they are at a stage where they need assurance – if the product they are considering is worth the money or if there’s an alternative.

So I don’t do much pushing with my review posts. I just tell them the kind of benefits they would get if they have the product. Of course, I don’t always paint a glorious picture of a product. You need to strike a balance …. you must present yourself as authentic, genuine because your audience are not fools!

How to Make Money as an Amazon Affiliate?

The above is a brief explanation of how I made money as an Amazon affiliate.

If you have your sights on promoting Amazon products, just bear these in mind :

• Try your best to provide a great user experience, engage your visitors. You don’t want to be too sales-pitchy

• Make your website reader-friendly with easy navigation so visitors will not be scrambling to find what they are looking for
• Use ‘Call-to-Action’ within your posts to get your audience to click on your link. For instance, you can use a line like “Check out what other users have to say about XYZ product”.

Amazon Affiliate Program Commission

Amazon’s affiliate commissions that starts at 4 percent may not appeal to everyone.

However, that commission increases if you sell more products.

While some marketers may turn away from promoting Amazon products, I find it fun as I could choose any niche as Amazon would have some product for me to promote.

In addition, I find that the time to achieve success from the creation of website to actually seeing commissions is shorter compared to digital products.

Would I continue to promote as an Amazon affiliate? Well, yes. I just have to work my way through another niche!