Frustrating days selling online

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   lynnechandlerposted 14 years ago

   Do any of you have any experience with Commission Junction?  Found it while looking at GoldenCan.

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      lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I've never had any luck with CJ.

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         Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Me neither, never made a cent.

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      Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Yes I have had a lot of luck with them. I use Linkshare, Commission Junction, Shareasale, Google Affiliate Network, Affiliate Future and independent merchants like Betty Mills. And some other smaller networks as well. I like to diversify as much as possible. Because sometimes networks have failures too! It's more about the merchants that you select on any network.

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   John have you ever tried Webmerge from forthworld.com? I actually use all three. But it's funny most days if I'm working on Sharasale I use Make a Page as a shortcut to making multiple links and then just write copy. Or I use the feature to make a link to any page.
   
   I don't use Amazon anywhere but Hubpages, so I don't know how it's handled elsewhere.
   
   I get nervous about using popshops or even goldencan exclusively, what if they go out of business? Yes I diversify EVERYTHING!

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      johnr54posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's exactly why I was looking at goldencan.  If popshops were to go out of business I would be scrambling to replace about 1/3 of my income right now.  I need a good plan B.
      
      As for experience with CJ, it's definitely a function of the merchant.  I've got a couple on there that are working out great for me right now, but until I found them I was getting ready to dump CJ completely because I never got any sales.
      
      I've had decent results with merchants on Linkshare and a couple of good ones on Google (Target is not bad and has a wide range of products, but their data feed is really unstable so you need to use popshops or something that will generate a dynamic link for them)  I've yet to find a great converter on Shareasale, I've got a few that are just OK.
      
      But, note this, that I have very little luck with typical affiliate banners.  The way I search for merchants it to find a keyword I think I can rank for, go to popshops and look for related products, and if my current merchants can't cover it, look for a merchant that has a good offering, and apply to join their program.  If a merchant on one of the networks extends an offer for me to join their program and they don't have a data feed through popshops, I take a pass.

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   mystixspringsposted 14 years ago

   I can understand your frustration.  I haven't got a pay out yet from any of my advertisers but my hubpages seem to get hits even though I only have eight of them and only ten fans.   I'm one of the fortunate people who is blessed to have a full time job.  I hope that your slump will end very soon.

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   lynnechandlerposted 14 years ago

   Thanks guys. I will have to take a look at all of these next week and see what I am going to do. I wish there was a way to bookmark this thread to my favorites here.

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   Aya Katzposted 14 years ago

   Nelle, it's amazing to me how accepting you are of such arbitrary treatment! Do you think this a business paradigm that works for Avon? Shouldn't there be consequences for them?

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      Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's the way this industry works. And I make a great deal of money every year. I can leave a merchant anytime I want to as well.
      
      The trick is never to become dependent upon any single merchant. The consequences are, if Avon made a bad decision by letting affiliates go, then they will make less money. If they asked me back tomorrow, I would reverse the script, put back the links and make more money.
      
      There are thousands of merchants to work with. I love the fact that I started a profitable business with only a computer and very little money and now it provides sufficient income so that it's by contribution to the family budget.
      
      The only barriers to entry and success is a person's marketing and writing ability.

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         Neil Ashworthposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Great response Nelle - all round, you're proving to anyone wondering about making money online that its possible. I agree totally that its about multiple streams of income - good writing - and ongoing marketing as well as a positive approach to learning new skills.

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   Aya Katzposted 14 years ago

   Nelle, what you say makes sense. I'm just not sure I could ever be that level-headed about it!

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   A positive approach to learning new skills - I love that phrase Neil. Yes, that is a very necessary skill in affiliate marketing.

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