How to write a sales hub?

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   WryLiltposted 14 years ago

   I've decided to do another 30 day challenge writing ONLY sales hubs. Yes I've read some by top hubbers such as Nelle and seen how many there are about topics such as parties, kids and decorations.
   
   For those hubbers who spend lots of time on sales hubs... any tips before I go in head first?

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      Kangaroo_Jaseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Good luck on the 30 days challenge and good idea on writing a blog to keep tabs on it all!
      
      Have you privately contacted those top hubbers? I am of the belief that they are helpful to some if they are contacted. If not, Im sure they will correct me here

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         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Jase, Nelle Hoxie was very generous with one-on-one help at one time, but she got so overwhelmed, she had to switch off her "contact" facility on HubPages or she'd never have got any work done.
         
         I think it is appropriate to contact a "top Hubber" direct for help, but only after you've done your own research as far as possible.

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            Kangaroo_Jaseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I agree with your comment Marisa, when you have hubbers that have been here quite some time, if they are receiving vast amounts of requests from newbie or those hubbers that haven't been here long, it is understandable if one switches off their contact button.
            
            I have seen alot of these Veteran hubbers, including Nelle, still pop in the forums and are helping that way as well.

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   2. 64

      netlexisposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      WryLilt, great challenge for yourself. I wish I had time to join you, but not this month. I'm still testing the waters on sales hubs myself and I think (hope) I'm beginning to find my style. Now whether it works or not is another another story. I'm going with the approach of providing ways to use the products, adding more product details and user recommendations. But like I said, I'm still at the beginning stages myself.
      
      Anyway, good luck and keep us posted.

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      Adult Contentposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      WHY would you want to do that?

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         Susana Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         WHY? Maybe so she can make lots of money?!

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            Adult Contentposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            If she wanted to make LOTS of money that wouldn't be the way to do it.  From what I hear no one makes LOTS of money here.

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               Susana Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               
               
               It depends what you call lots I suppose. Some people make a good full time income, especially from amazon sales.

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               WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               AC are you really qualified to comment when you obviously spend more time on the forums than writing hubs?
               
               From what you hear? I certainly hope you never end up in a court of law. If you listen to hearsay all your life you probably won't achieve your best.

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                  Adult Contentposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Look, you will just have to trust me.  I know what I am talking about here, OK?

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               brettbposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Not true!
               
               There are plenty of people here making LOTS of money.
               
               I'm not making lots of money yet, but assuming my hubs stick around as long as my existing sites do then I'm making well over $50 an hour writing about all kinds of junk I know something about.
               
               My best hub has made $85 in 3 months, and it only gets 10 visits a day.

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                  Adult Contentposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Well, I guess it depends how you define "a lot".
                  As far as HP is concerned though you are not getting paid for your actual writing per se but from the advertising.
                  50.00 an hour would be good if you were actually making that for 40 hours a week.
                  I would not say "plenty of people" either since it's difficult if not impossible to prove specifically how much anyone makes.
                  I would go along with "some" money but not "a lot" especially when the OP made it clear she wants to do nothing but write "sales" hubs.  The label itself turns off some people.
                  I just think everyone should write for the enjoyment and enjoy--but not expect--to make money from the advertising associated with their hubs.
                  Enjoy yourself!

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                  1. 85

                     WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     This is my third hub challenge. I've written over 100 hubs about what I enjoy - and some have been hits.
                     However I want to do thirty sales hubs because I've been avoiding them up till now. Someone with a similar amount of time and hubs here as me told me how much they were making from sales hubs and I was impressed.
                     I write for myself and for money.
                     And I think very few people get paid for their "writing." For a magazine the editors want good articles so that magazine sells which makes the advertisers happy. Other than publishing a best selling book which stands in its own rights, not a lot of work can be claimed as just "payment for the writing". More often it's "payment for what that writing sells, how it will raise traffic, how it will promote something."

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                        netlexisposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        WryLilt, it ultimately comes down to finding your style and what works for you. I truly believe there is no one right way to do anything, be it the Internet or life. I never discard a piece of advice, but I don't take everything I hear as gospel. I use what I think makes the best sense and I test and test and test. Who really knows what makes a reader click and ad or buy something from an affiliate. It might be the way you turn a phrase or the images you add to your hubs. The point is, you'll never know what works unless you put something on the page. I think your challenge is a terrific idea and I know you'll do well.

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                        Adult Contentposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        I am glad to hear you're having fun.  I have not seen the paychecks or paypal account of this person you spoke to so I don't know what to say about that.  Just know that there are exceptions to every rule and no two accounts are exactly the same.  A word of wisdom from Ben Franklin: Hope for the best but expect the worst and that way you will never be disappointed.
                        I suppose you could argue everything is connected to money.  I sadly have to disagree with you regarding payment for writing.  I work for companies that let me write whatever I wish and they pay me for my actual articles.  I also work for a couple of companies that give me a specific subject.  I write the articles.  They BUY the articles.  I get paid no matter what sells or doesn't sell.
                        
                        I am flattered you think that these companies have advertisers that care about what I write!  (They DO here at HP but that's why HP is HP and NOT a company that pays writers for their actual articles.)
                        I have also been compensated for contributing to actual books (now that you reminded me).  I cannot believe I am the only one out there. . . especially since I just stumbled upon most of this.  I guess my point is that I do not specifically write ad copy . . . although I DO have someone trying her best to get me into that. If she suckes me into all that I will be sure to check out the whole "sales hubs" angle.  I don't know though since it really ticks me off when I see commercials using hit songs.  LOL!
                        Good luck and please remember what Franklin said, okay?

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      wvierraposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think it is a very good idea, and a good way to not only to draw traffic but will also up your ranking on hubpages as well as Google, this in turn will help it go viral. But I will give a little bit of advise to those who are going to do this or plan to in the near future. However, how you take this advise is totally up to you.
      
      I suggest you make your articles a month ahead before you start your campaign in a word editor such as Microsoft Word or whatever you use. Once you have all 30 or so articles done, then you can go back threw each and everyone and tweak them for SEO purposes. This way you have already done all the keyword research, and comparison google search to make sure your content is unique.
      
      This will help you save a lot of time down the road, then all you have to do is post one article per day until you have them all up. also this will give you time and allow you to continue writing on other things that you normally would be having to spend in creating your sales article. 
      
      Hope this helps you all out a bit.
      
      W. Vierra

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   englightenedsoulposted 14 years ago

   Good luck on the challenge WryLilt and I am sure you will find this hub useful. 
   
   http://hubpages.com/hub/amazon-affiliat … cts-online

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   Mrvoodooposted 14 years ago

   Some will tell you that you need to write 'compelling sales copy', but as far as I can tell that's bollocks.  Read a few descriptions from sites like Amazon, regurgitate, stick the Amazon/eBay capsules right at the top so nobody ever has to read it, and as long as there is not too much competition HP will take care of the rest, problem solved.
   
   By far the easiest way to make cash at HP (IMO), but very very boring.

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4. 61

   brettbposted 14 years ago

   Maybe we should all have a ClickBank challenge.
   
   But PROBLEM > SOLUTION works quite well for both ClickBank and Amazon products.
   
   It helps if you've experienced the problem yourself, as it really shows in your writing.
   
   What I really want to know is how to shift a boatload of plushies via Amazon.

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5. 82

   Whitney05posted 14 years ago

   If you're reviewing, try to give pros and cons. If you just do the pros, it'll seem too much like a sales pitch. 
   
   Write using an assortment of products, styles, etc.:
   Teddy bears, for instance, include care bears, baby's first bear, traditional teddy bears, etc.
   
   Don't stick with one brand, either. Offer variety. It's ok to mention more than one product by the same brand, but make sure that you do offer other varieties.
   
   Try to include more than just affiliate capsules. I have found a lot of my best selling hubs include a good bit of text. But at the same time, some of my other best selling hubs include mostly amazon capsules with a good length introduction, but I use the description field to write a small paragraph description about the products within that capsule. It's not only appealing to look at but quick and easy to do.

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      Research Analystposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      These are great tips Whitney, thanks for sharing how to develop product hubs. You rock!

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      Instant-Immersionposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I would love it if someone could point out an example of a very well designed sales hub.  But, I suppose that any author of such a hub might be reluctant to share it?

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         Susana Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I have a few links to hubs with a good sales layout for amazon on my recent amazon hub. Link above...

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6. 85

   WryLiltposted 14 years ago

   Thank you every one for the great advice. Susanna your hub is awesome.

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7. 60

   mcbeanposted 14 years ago

   Basic Amazon Tip:
   
   Amazon has a single session cookie. For you to earn anything the reader has to visit Amazon following your affiliate link and buy the item before browsing away from Amazon.com
   As soon as they leave, even if they return straight after to buy, you lose the sale. The reason they can do this is they are so huge and have no shortage of people willing to sell for them.
   
   
   So ask yourself this...
   
   Will you spend $100 or more online without shopping around first?
   
   Big ticket sales are few and far between. I have found that readers are happy to drop $20 without spending the extra time to shop around but the sales drop off rapidly above $40 - $50.
   
   The advantage of selling lots of cheap rubbish on the performance structure is that when you do make a big sale you get paid well.
   
   Forget about the Rolex people, plastic crap rules!

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      lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Sure, most people shop around. But in my experience, when they find something they might be interested in, they don't leave the page and risk losing track of it--they just open a new browser window. And most of the people that make up my sales aren't even buying things I'm selling. So they're comparison shopping alright, but they're doing it all on Amazon.
      
      I tend to agree with you about forgetting the Rolex. I do pretty well on Amazon considering the number of hubs I have devoted to it, and I do keep track of my stats. Less than 25% of my sales this year were $10 or less, and I promote those sales solely to bump up my commission percentages. About 60% of my sales are in the $10 to $50 range, and the remaining 15% are $50 and up (split pretty evenly between under $100 and over $100 sales).
      
      I think I do fairly well because when I push purple widgets on a hub, I go out of my way to offer a choice of price ranges on purple widgets from, let's say, $20+ up to several hundred bucks. I also make sure to select only the "bestselling" Amazon products so the ready has plenty of reviews to read when they get over to Amazon, and I offer them the good, the bad and the ugly on each product on my hub so they know they're not getting scammed or reading a hard-sell. I started using this tactic when Amazon switched to the one-session cookie rule, and it seems to have helped.
      
      I may not always be selling Rolexes, but I'm sure selling lots and lots of plastic crap to make up for it!

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   mcbeanposted 14 years ago

   I agree with pretty much everything you have listed here and my stats are remarkably similar to yours.
   I generally sell something in the > $200 category every month but am happy for all the little sales that make this worthwhile.
   
   There is always the possibilty that people have been shopping around when they stumble on to your hub and recognize a good price at Amazon and snap it up then and there.
   If Amazon had a 30 day cookie I would be a happy little hubber indeed!

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   girly_girl09posted 14 years ago

   I recently wrote a hub discussing tips for Amazon affiliates that truly serve me well.
   
   Aim for low priced merchandise (but good stuff that you would actually want to buy!). A few 50 cent commissions doesn't seem like a lot at first, but 30 hubs each producing several 50 cent commissions a month can begin to add up! Plus, Amazon rewards you for the volume you sell, not the revenue. So, sell small and when you do sell big every once in a while, those small products will gain you more commission.

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    TheQuestionposted 14 years ago

    it is true that no one gets paid for articles here but they can and do elsewhere.
    i think the lady is saying that she wants to to do both.
    she wants to write for herself and she wants to write ad copy as well.
    i wish you good luck and add that it is good advice to not expect much but hope for the best.
    you are taking that advice to heart, right, wrylit?

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       WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Oh yes. I've learnt the hardway that you never get what you want.

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    Adult Contentposted 14 years ago

    I must agree.  I, too, think it's a good idea to be prepared for the worst BUT hope for the best.  That way there are no letdowns.
    There is also the Rolling Stones: You can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need!

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