I have never earned a cent from Amazon in 4 months. Not a single cent. Also I see conflicting advice from the experts here, some say dispense with Amazon altogether, others seem to make money from Amazon.
So, just before I go and delete the Amazon capsules from all of my hubs, I thought I would at least ask the question.
Read this:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Making-Money-On … t-hubpages
You either need to write a page specifically to attract sales or not bother adding a capsule. I make good money with Amazon - but you have to work at it. Just throwing a capsule up will be a waste of time.
It's better to have then not to have even if you haven't sold a thing yet.
At least this way you have the potential to make money with them instead not a chance without it. I didn't make anything from Amazon for about a year.
One day I one hub started making a lot of sales and then sales across the board seemed to go up. I should mention too that just because you put up links to specific items doesn't mean that is what people will buy.
I have sold some random things that have nothing to do with anything on any of my hubs but I still make commission.
They are best used in hubs with titles that start "buy......", so decide whether your hub is a sales page or not.
Sanny, I'm getting clicks but haven't sold either. Only up for two months running so far though.
Ok, Mark I read the article and get what you are saying but still have one question.
If I understand you right, then the articles where I reviewed movies and included links to amazon for the movies would work, but an article on say relationships with books about relationships it would be pointless. Is that right?
Not necessarily pointless, but I doubt very much you will make many sales. I mentioned the skillets in that one - I used to add things like skillets and knives to my recipes - I made the odd sale, but not worth the trouble.
I have not tried movies, but that might work. I do pretty good with books, but they are book reviews.
Marks hub has great advice. I might add that in order to earn money with Amazon you have to write compelling sales copy. Amazon has a one session cookie which means if the person clicks on the ad then navigates somewhere else to make comparisons then goes back to Amazon to purchase, you will not get credit for that purchase. They must make a purchase before they navigate away from Amazon.
Write copy that is informative but also short, leaving the reader wanting more. Direct them to read the reviews on the Amazon product page and above all...ASK for the sale.
Ryan, your hubs don't have to start with the word buy to make Amazon worthwhile. But if you want to sell products, your hubs should be set up to do that. With lots of related sales and marketing copy and lots of products.
You also have to research micro niches carefully and have an idea of what you can successfully sell in a hub versus your own website. Then you have to create a series of hubs to dominate that micro niche.
I have also tried softer sales hubs, that I saw many hubbers using when I started here. Those hubs have yet to produce a sale. Although they do contribute to the adsense earnings.
Amazon can produce a lot of revenue, but you have to write a lot of sales hubs and you have to make an effort to convert. I would really recommend writing at least one sales hub a day for the next six months, if you really want to sell stuff.
That way you'll learn what works for you personally and what doesn't. Online marketing requires a lot of personal experience to learn what you can personally convert and what you can't. It's not something you can learn from others or out of a book.
But it is very possible to make a good living at it.
I've sold a few items but haven't really pushed the products on my hubs. I may try doing some especially for Amazon products but I write for enjoyment more than financial gain. I'm sure Nellie and Mark's advice will be sufficient if the subject is worthy.
I know Sanny started this and I want to thank him for doing so cause this has really helped. I certainly can see where the hub needs to be more specific to the item.
Thank you all and Cosette love the new avi.
oh haha, thanks. my Halloween avatar....the cropping made it all blurry though
Thanks to everyone for your advice. I hear what you are saying. In my case, I write about what I want to write about, and then, as an afterthought, in the vague hope of making a few dollars, I add a few Amazon capsules with what I think to be relevant products. From what you are saying, this won't produce income, and my experience bears this out.
I will never be (nor do I want to be) a commercial writer, and I am hopeless at sales and marketing. So perhaps it is time to say "adieu" to Amazon and stick to writing for pleasure.
Thanks to you all for your straight, honest advice. May you all become Amazon, Adsense and eBay millionaires (if you aren't already)
You are right. But it is possible to combine the two. I could not survive without being able to write about what I want to write about. And if that means making fun of the sales pitch used by some electronic gadget company...........
Well, making money is sometimes fun too!
Yes, it can be, but making money just for the sake of it is rarely satisfying. I spent many years in the corporate world, doing exactly that. I have since vowed that I will do it the other way round. Do what I like to do, what gives me pleasure, and make money, or not, as a result.
Do you know the saying "The way to succeed is to combine who you are with what you do". I am not a sales oriented person, and never will be.
LOL
I am very familiar. If you do not need to make money you are good to go - have some fun and don't worry about the amazon capsules. I got the impression you were hoping to make some money by adding them. And if you do decide you want to - now you know what you need to do.
Well, I went in and took about half the articles and removed their amazon ads from them to see what would happen. Amazingly enough some have already increased in rank. How weird is that?
Still a little slow, but I am starting to make a little money from Amazon - I have a lot of higher price items on my hubs (just sold a $200 dollar item, yesterday), so don't need a high click conversion. Nothing major, but it is all going into the pot for treating myself to some books next year
I hope to double the number of Hubs when I have a spare few days - things should tick over nicely after that.
Ebay has always been a much more consistent performer for me, even before they changed their payout system. But I very rarely target anything towards sales.
Honestly no and I rarely ever use them. The 4% commission your going to earn is really pure crap I think. Id rather go more on the digital product road and earn 50%
well the 4% is only if you fail to sell what 5-6 items? my rate is usually between 6-8% (diff rates for diff categories)
Amazon is worth the minimal effort it takes to implement, are there better affiliate programs? Absolutely..is their cookie time down right insulting? yep
Is ebay better for me? yep
can you do both, sure why not, some people click and are drawn into ebay by low bid prices, some people make instant purchase and trust he amazon format better
eBay vs Amazon
* If you sell eBay products, those that bid through your blog need to have the winning bid for you to get paid. With amazon, you are awarded the commissions as soon as they buy the product. You don’t have to worry about them winning a bid for you to get paid.
* If the items you sell are more than $75 or so in value, you will receive higher commissions selling them on Amazon than you would on eBay. Amazon pays a flat minimum of 4% on the sale price, whereas eBay pays on a minimum of 50% on the fees collected for the listing.
Example
Sale Price Commissions
eBay $150 50% of $8.57
($2.00 listing fee + $6.57 sale fee) = $4.28
Amazon $150 4% of $150 sale price = $6.00
* You can sell digital products on Amazon (downloadable music, video games, videos, books, etc.) and receive 10% commission on those sales.
this isnt quite accurate now that epn changed to a click model...but it pretty much makes the case for amazon even stronger
Amazon also has the "performance" structure.
If you sell six or less items per month, the comission is 4%
7 - 30 items is 6%.
This is 6% on all the items that month. So ithe more you sell the better you go.
This makes it worthwhile to sell lots of low value items. It makes sure you get a higher comission if you sell a big ticket item.
You'd be surprised what people buy by clicking through you. I've had people buy crotchless panties from clicking through one of my ads and I don't have any hubs about panties. I have one bra hub and the Amazon ads are for bras. But, I don't care what they buy once they get to Amazon.
Someone mentioned relationship topics. I sell a lot of books from relationship issues. Don't discount things just because you think you're not selling anything.
by eculligan 14 years ago
I can see contextual advertising being a source of income but wouldn't think that hubs would be making a lot of revenue from ebay and amazon. If people are really making money then perhaps I'll give it a try.
by Sarah 14 years ago
I don't think I ever set up Amazon right. I have not made a single cent in the 2 months I've...been here, is this normal? I have through Adsense, so I'm wondering what I've done wrong with Amazon?
by LetitiaFT 12 years ago
I have: 10 hubs 30 highly pertinent Amazon products (3 per hub on average)1300 page views427 unique visitors and many returning visitors1:18 min average page durationBUT ONLY 1 AMAZON CLICK, which I got the day I signed up!What's going on?
by Sharilee Swaity 13 years ago
I have a question for those of you who use Amazon in your hubs. Let's say that you are writing a hub with a list of different products. Do you think it's better to put all the amazon stuff at the bottom of the hub, all in one place, or to spread the ads throughout the hub, with one ad per product?...
by Randy Godwin 12 years ago
I'm trying to expunge my account of all EBay products since I just realized they don't pay a commission and instead only pay pennies on large sales. Is there an easier method than going hub to hub and deleting them? ...
by Kelley Marks 16 years ago
I'm thinking of adding Amazon.com capsules to my hubs. Is anybody making money doing this, or am I wasting my time? Please respond ASAP.
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