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Amazon Affiliate Tip for Tracking

January 15, 2008 1 Comment

I am an Amazon affiliate and I promote their products quite heavily. The payout out for me is usually 7.5-8% and considering that the conversion rate is high I can get past that. Well, except for maybe at years end when I see that I directed over $24,000 in sales to them and I compare that with my cut.

I made some big boo-boos in regards to properly tracking where my sales come from though. Until very recently I never really took advantage of their tracking codes so that I can see which sites, Squidoo pages, blogs, etc are pulling in the sales. Depending on the product I can pretty much guess some of the time but not all. The need to use these tracking codes became really apparent after I received several offers to buy one of my sites. I am not ready to sell for personal reasons but I realize that since all offers were nice 5 figure sums I would need to demonstrate the site’s ability to turn a profit and it is kind of hard to do that when all of your sales from your large network of sites all get pooled together. So I have started using Amazon tracking codes and will begin the tedious task of replacing existing links very soon.

It is actually pretty easy to do. When you log into your Amazon affiliate control panel you will see a blue box at the top that shows you are logged in under your affiliate ID. Beneath that it says Tracking ID and hyperlinked next to that it says “Manage”. Click on that and you will see a listing of all your tracking codes. You should have at least one. Then click on Add Tracking ID and you will get to add a custom tag that describes whatever site, page, blog, etc you will be creating links for. I just created one recently for my Squidoo pages so it had the word Squidoo in the tag.

Once you have your new tracking code you use the drop down box (inside the blue box) and you select you select the tracking ID of your choice and start building links with it. Easy as pie….if only I had done this from the beginning.

amazon tracking

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Filed Under: Affilate Marketing, Internet Marketing, Stuff I Love

Can You Make Money With a Blog?

January 5, 2008 7 Comments

womanonlaptop2.jpgTowards the beginning of the year I remember a conversation at Mom Masterminds about how much money could be made with a blog. Now of course we know some people are making a fortune with blogging…like Darren Rowse or John Chow…but those are the big dogs. So I think the question was more about whether or not a mom marketer with a comparatively small sphere of influence could make any money blogging.

Several moms shared their experiences and most felt that the profits from blogging were pretty dismal….myself included. At that point…let’s say January 2007, I was making about $50.00 a month from my green living blog. I was making about $10.00 a month from Google Adsense ads and the rest from affiliate sales. Despite the lack of money it was drawing I decided to really bust my behind blogging on that particular domain. I concentrated on adding 4-5 pieces of new content every week, monetized with affiliate links. For the most part I did green product reviews and book reviews mixed in with personal stories and newsworthy items. In addition, many of the products I reviewed were sent to me gratis by the companies who sell them. I got yoga mats, organic teas, board games, sippy cups, books, jewelry, DVDs, lotions, soaps, clothing, bedding, towels…you name it! My nearly two year old’s bedroom is decked out with organic everything.

But back to blogging….halfway through the year I added Text Link Ads and sponsored posts from ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews.  Toward the last part of the year I added more Adsense ads, and I started displaying BlogHer ads. I got smarter about ad placement too. Simply displaying an affiliate banner in my RSS feed brought an immediate profit. I  was having a lot of fun writing for the blog but I was starting to make money too. 

I am being conservative when I say that I made $500.00 for last month (Dec. 07) and that is just the cash part. The holidays brought many free products too, as businesses were hoping for a review or a mention before Christmas. That portion could easily be another couple hundred dollars. So all in all…not bad. From $50 to more than $500 per month in a year from one blog on a sub-domain of one of my larger sites. I no longer think blog profits are dismal. ;) On a related side note my RSS feed subscribers jumped from 46 to 365 during that same time.

I also look forward to seeing how things look next year as my readership and my profits increase. :) I don’t think I will ever be making the kind of money John Chow’s blog is (think $180,000 annually) but hey I am not complaining.

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Filed Under: Affilate Marketing, Blogging, Making Money

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2007 Leave a Comment

I think just about everyone is making goals and resolutions during this time of year. I know I did. I even made a couple vision boards to direct my success.

I just closed out my books for 2007 and I was dancing on clouds as I did. December 2007 was my best month ever…6 times what I made in December 2006. I was excited to get new affiliate commissions checks in the mail (GreenFeet & BlogHer) and one I don’t get very often (Clickbank). I like getting actual checks in the mail since most of my money comes to me via direct deposit or PayPal….there is just something exciting about it. :)

2008 looks like it will be an awesome year for business. I don’t really have a whole lot of resolutions for my business other than to keep doing what I am doing! I hope to increase profits from my own products this year, work on my Squidoo lenses a little more, do more article marketing, and get a few new blog channels going on my NatureMoms site. Oh and stop negelecting some of my other blogs…including this one.

Here is an overview of where my earnings came from last month:

Amazon: 25.5% – Woot! Amazon unseated Google!

Google: 24.2%

Advertisements purchased directly on my sites: 18.5%

Misc Affiliate Commissions: 12.5% (lumped into this category are monthly earners like Text Link Ads, AuctionAds, Mom Masterminds, Aweber, the Natural Moms Business Guide, Moms Talk Network, etc. 

My own products: 11.7%

Shareasale – 7.6% (I earn commissions primarily from about 4 different companies that use Sharesale to manage their affiliate program).

Here is to an awesome NEW YEAR!!!!

Filed Under: Affilate Marketing, Making Money
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