Amazon Associates is one of the original affiliate programs. I know that it is more than likely that you have heard about Amazon Associates and probably even used it, but I still want to talk about it anyways.
Amazon is one of the first online businesses to have an affiliate program. It has been around for an extremely long time, at least since 2000 based on what I can find. Some associates make upwards of $10,000 a month. However, this requires an enormous amount of work.
Get People to Amazon
Amazon does not do a CPC program, rather, they pay for a product being sold to a customer. The more customers you reffer to Amazon, the more they buy, then more money you receive. Amazon offers 4% for your first 6 sales and then a progressive scale based on the volume of items shipped. It is worth noting that Amazon has a classic refferal scale of 4%, but the performance scale will benefit your earnings much better.
There are a few exceptions to the progressive scale. First, you can only receive 4% on consumer electronic items such as T.V.’s, computers, etc. Also, their is a cap of $25 of refferal fees per item for computers.
Links
Amazon could make their linking system much simpler. You have to read through all the choices to find how to make a quick link, not a problem for experience users but for new members it can be a hassle. Also, you have to experiment to see which Amazon widgets work best for your site. It really depends on your site what will work well.
Payments
Amazon will ONLY payout to you if you receive $10 in refferal fees(for direct deposit and gift certificates). If you do not receive them your first month, they will carry over until you do receive $10. Amazon does not payout with a check until you reach $100. Another fact of note is that amazon pays out 60 days after the end of the month you earn $10 with them in.
Amazon is encouraging it’s associates to use direct deposit. They are levying a $15 fee if you can use direct deposit and choose a check. Direct deposits are also more secure and reach your bank faster than checks. If you are concerned with your bank details being disclosed, Amazon has secure http connection for your banking details.
Amazon is a great affiliate program. They have really gotten it right. You would expect it to be, after all they have been online for more than 10 years!
December 20th, 2007 at 2:56 am
Psst! That links to photobucket.com instead of amazon!
December 20th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Yep Collin, however, that is the image.
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I’m an Amazon Associate and I have seen only pocket change from my loads o’ links to their products. I like the affliate program, etc, but it doesn’t seem to generate much for me. Thanks for the great info, though!
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:50 pm
It’s really hard to get Amazon Associates to work well for you without having a heavily focused niche. You have to really push it and have several ads to get strong sales as well. Their might be better programs out their for your niche, but Amazon is nice and easy to use compared to many others.
Your more than welcome, thanks for stopping by!
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:52 pm
The key is to just run it for a long time. Eventually people will just be drawn to it after visiting your site thousands of times, it works in the numbers game very well.
It takes a lot of ground work, some clever friends and family, but eventually you’ll start seeing the stream.
Give it time…like all online businesses it takes time.
December 22nd, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Bottom Line: The more you work at it, the more you will make.
Same bottom line in all internet marketing!
December 24th, 2007 at 9:14 am
I did my very best to write good stuff and I finally saw a pay off yesterday.
I wrote a huge review on “The Sandman” and there were 2 orders in Amazon Affiliates yesterday for the Absolute Sandman. The books combined are $120 in price.
I also noticed an increase in links to cds, books, and movies when you place the classic link that allows a user to buy directly from Amazon.
I had 33 clicks on a dvd yesterday from my dvd review blog. No conversions, but if you continually plug away at it, those clicks will turn into conversions to casual and impulsive shoppers.
December 24th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Congrats Jorge! Glad to see that someone got the Amazon Affiliates to pay off for them!
December 26th, 2007 at 9:26 am
2 more orders last night too…this thing is starting to snowball…we’ll see how long it lasts
December 26th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
now only if itt would increase exponentially….right Jorge?