Finally cracked Amazon, pheewwww

1. 0

   ryankettposted 13 years ago

   Some may remember that I was going to publish 90 sales pages by the end of September, and I have nearly finished
   
   I finally feel as if I have mastered the art of picking a product, winning traffic to the Amazon page, and slowly my conversion rates are heading upwards.... towards one which can be described as 'pretty good'.
   
   On the whole, I am still getting it wrong. But finally I am seeing Amazon become an important revenue stream for me.... $227 last month, $162 halfway through this month, and it looks as if I will finally reach that 7% threshold for the first time (I came very close last month).
   
   And all just in time for Xmas
   
   How is everybody else getting on with Amazon?

   replyreport
   1. 64

      Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I was doing great last month for sales, and then this month my unique visitors are up more than 60%, but my sales have dropped. 
      
      I am torn on whether I should make changes to my work.  I think that the big part of my job is to get people to the amazon page through my link - and that has been rising a lot.
      
      Or, if I should quit worrying and just be patient!

      replyreport
   2. 59

      muratosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      First of all congrats to you and welcome to Amazon winners club )
      
      I had started long time ago with other income sources like Adsense, clickbank, CJ network but now almost all my efforts are concentrated on Amazon. It is the best one, especially when you reach the big sale quantities. Getting 8% or more is not a dream.
      
      Surely, Hubpages is not my only source for Amazon but Hubpages perfectly converts on some specific niches.
      
      Keep on working.. You also motivated me to write more here. )

      replyreport
2. 77

   frogdroppingposted 13 years ago

   Way to go Ryan
   
   I'd got a grip on it when I did the first 60DC. I handn't perfected the technique but now I'm fairly sure I have. My technique and one that works for me, at least.
   
   I would prefer (of course) to wring it's neck, in order that I make even more money. I still don't have 90 odd Amazon hubs but I will soon, and more. It's my current new favourite thing to do. If you take out the monotony, frustrating attempts at locating exactly what I need to showcase and so forth.
   
   Again - congrats. How's life at home in a chair suiting you so far?

   replyreport
3. 79

   iantoPFposted 13 years ago

   Got Amazon on al of my Hubs and on my blog but I haven't seen a penny from them yet. I sent an e-mail to customer support asking them to let me know if I was doing something wrong. I got a reply that said everything looked ok and they thanked me for my patience. Oh well.

   replyreport
   1. 77

      frogdroppingposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Ian you need to remember that with Amazon - you're selling a product, albeit by way of pointing your reader in the right direction. So sell ... be direct but not pushy. 'Talk' about the product or products.
      
      Describe it, make it tasty ... factor in that those reading your Amazon hubs are looking to buy. You just need to convince them that they absolutely should

      replyreport
   2. 59

      muratosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      the general tactics is to show the advantages of the product first, then a few minor cons to contribute to honesty a bit. after this, a brief re-rewrite of amazon product information. if you make a list of best, top rated etc. it works better although it takes more time to write for each section.
      
      by the way, it is very hard to sell in unrelated articles except a few luck sales. i think most of your hubs simply do not sell something.

      replyreport
4. 75

   Richieb799posted 13 years ago

   I haven't really put a lot of effort into Amazon, I have it on a lot of my hubs and have had plenty of clicks, just still haven't had a product order yet!
   I haven't really been inspired by it since I heard it takes a while to get paid? and sometimes people cancel their orders
   Your proof of hundreds a month is inspiring though, maybe you can answer some of my questions above?

   replyreport
   1. 0

      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Richie, I set my threshold to $1000 and haven't reached that yet. Although yes, I can see it takes a couple of months for money to appear cleared. I havent had many returns though, perhaps 4 since I started. Normally this is as a result of people accidentally buying 2 of the same product and subsequently returning 1.

      replyreport
      1. 75

         Richieb799posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Ah cool, I've joined Redgage, I'm hoping that will provide some kind of back up in case something ever happened to Adsense..its hard juggling them all though isn't it! lol

         replyreport
5. 77

   Garrett Mickleyposted 13 years ago

   I have not made any money on Amazon.  I'm not really trying, but I don't know what to do to be successful, so I wouldn't even know where to start.  I do make sure to put an amazon module in all of my hubs though.

   replyreport
6. 77

   frogdroppingposted 13 years ago

   Oh yeah - forgot to add ... only two products have been returned. And the payment is two months behind but once you've got consecutive months clearing the payment threshold, you receive a check (or whatever) every month

   replyreport
7. 68

   waynetposted 13 years ago

   You've certainly done a good thing then Ryan!
   
   Once you get to a level like that it's best to focus on more and I'm sure you will and the laptop series was a good example of your efforts!
   
   As mentioned in another thread, I do a lot of video reviews now, I've got 3 main Youtube accounts which do review after review on various things and of course I put an affiliate link at the beginning of the descriptions.....
   
   For me, I have a feeling I will smash my monthly Amazon record with an accumulated effort...
   
   Well done on your Amazon earnings.....life's grand when you've earnt it yourself!

   replyreport
8. 65

   Cheeky Girlposted 13 years ago

   HY folks. I am similar to mutiny92, my views have gone up and sales are going down a wee bit, but I am anticipating them going up, as I am better matching the products to what I am writing and "persuading" people to buy. Some folks don't like the hard sell. They prefer to be "shmoozed" into buying a book or other item on Amazon. LOL. Amazon is a definite winner however. If anyone has a website where they can promote Amazon goods on it, then all the better. "Blogger.com" is a peach, and it deff helps me out. But nothing beats having your own Amazon "store". Glad to see there are others ding well from the Mighty A!
   
   CG

   replyreport
9. 61

   geargirl113posted 13 years ago

   That is awesome to read. I just finally started to see some sales from Amazon so I can not wait until I reach where you are.

   replyreport
10. 62

    Miekaposted 13 years ago

    I checked my Amazon account today for the first time in about 4 months, and it said I now have 9,46. I know it sounds like nothing to you guys, but i was very happy, because before I had only a couple of cents. There is definitely progress here, time to start writing again!

    replyreport
11. 69

    Bill Manningposted 13 years ago

    Glad your doing well with them. I never had much luck with Amazon, but I think that was because of lack of traffic.
    
    I also did not know how to write targeted articles. Now that I do I think I will put Amazon links back into my hubs, at least the product type ones.

    replyreport
12. 40

    Spacey Graceyposted 13 years ago

    I am loving Amazon right now. I have already made more this month than I did in the whole of last month.
    
    Ryan - have you found a good bank account to pay the cheque into that won't charge too much for receiving dollars? I keep meaning to do some research into it but I still haven't got round to it and I should be getting a check soon.

    replyreport
    1. 0

       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       My HSBC current account charges £9, which with my payout of $1000 (when I get there) won't cause too much damage.
       
       That leaves me with £657 instead of £666, which is probably a good omen

       replyreport
       1. 58

          Mark Knowlesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Try these guys. Horrible customer service, but you can open a dollar account, pay no fees and transfer to pounds at your leisure.
          
          http://www.citibank.co.uk/
          
          Truly horrible customer service though. I despise them, but needs must.

          replyreport
13. 40

    Spacey Graceyposted 13 years ago

    I have found a few with a £10 charge - I was hoping for a miraculous £0 charge account.
    
    My first check will be around £300 so £10 isn't too painful. Wish I could've been more patient and waited another month or so but I just really needed something tangible for all my efforts.
    
    Maybe your pay-in should be £666 - your profile pic looks just like the devil dog off Little Nicky!

    replyreport
14. 74

    Anna Marie Bowmanposted 13 years ago

    Way to go, Ryan!!!!  That is awesome!  As for me, I don't really write things that are product targeted, so my Amazon earnings have been a little sluggish.  I checked it yesterday and I was at about $31.  Not bad, had a few sales recently, and so far, not a single return.  I might try some product targeted hubs, though I don't really have a passion for that sort of thing.  It might take a good deal of motivation to do a lot of that sort of thing.  I write what I want, and here and there, people manage to buy stuff that is on my Amazon capsules.  Yay for me!!

    replyreport
15. 60

    Don Simkovichposted 13 years ago

    Ryan, I'm going to look at your product Hubs. I still have only ever made one sale on Amazon and earned a 36 cent commission. I have a dozen or so pure product Hubs and I've reworked a couple lately. I looked to check my coding.
    
    But I'm going to write another dozen or so product Hubs for the remainder of this month. Glad you shared your experiences.
    
    Also, do you an Amazon astore? Do you link to that from your Hubs as well?

    replyreport
16. 66

    Flightkeeperposted 13 years ago

    Impressive! You go Ryan!

    replyreport
17. 62

    caninecrtiticsposted 13 years ago

    I hate it I write the product hubs and get trickled traffic have any suggestions Ryan

    replyreport
    1. 0

       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Not really no, I have written 472 hubs, occassionally they work. When they do work, which is not very often, you keep them secret. Thats about as far as it goes really.... keep writing... you will hit a few jackpots, when you do keep them hush. Most of my sales pages dont sell anything, I dont dwell on it, I just write another 20... one of them will work...

       replyreport
18. 60

    Don Simkovichposted 13 years ago

    Ryan, I want to say how I appreciate your enthusiasm! I often think about what you write in the forums.

    replyreport
19. 77

    europewalkerposted 13 years ago

    Very encouraging, Great work!

    replyreport
20. 57

    Andrew0208posted 13 years ago

    That's quite impressive. I made my ever first Amazon sale on the 1st of September 2010 (0.40 cents) since over 2 yrs in HubPages. May be I need to get some things right, or is it sensitive to writing more hubs? I mean the conversion seems to be very low compared to Adsense, because Adsense works pretty well for me on a steady monthly pay check.

    replyreport
21. 0

    Hovalisposted 13 years ago

    Congrats Ryan! It's a nice feeling, isn't it? I think getting the traffic is the most important part. I'm only a smidge behind you atm, at $150, and last month I almost cracked the 7% barrier, only needing 5 more, and netted just above $280. Let's hope we both make the big one this month.
    
    It can be really exciting to log in and see the orders and the total go up and up. I don't have near the amount of hubs you do, approximately 65 all targeted to Amazon (I plan to make it a clean 100 by the end of the year). So, it can be done with a little research, some backlinking, and luck helps!

    replyreport