Affiliate Programs - Crunching The Numbers & Conversion Myths EARN ONLINE
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HOME >> Affiliate Programs - Crunching The Numbers & Conversion Myths YOURIMAGEHERE3 Affiliate Programs - Crunching The Numbers & Conversion Myths By Carole Nickerson, WealthAddict.
com = 300;ad_height = 250;adAll too often, many affiliate marketers discover that anaffiliate program's promises of high converting sales simplynever materializes.
They followed all the instructions, used allthe affiliate marketing tools & tips offered by the program, andlearned everything they could about profiting with affiliateprograms but still ended up losing - both money put intoadvertising and faith in the concept of making money online.
Sowhat went wrong?
Let's say you sign up for an eBook affiliate program where youcan earn $20 per sale.
If the average conversion is claimed tobe 1 out of 35 visitors to the site, then you know you'll haveto refer at least that many people to make a single sale.
Thismight be ok if you are simply putting a banner on your site orwriting an article which doesn't cost anything, but if you usePPC engines to drive traffic, you might find that it's just notworth it.
So off you go to Adwords, find a few keywords to bid on and seethat you have to spend $0.
25 per click in promoting that eBookaffiliate program just to average 15 clicks per day.
That rightthere is $3.
75 per day you'll be spending.
But wait, that wasonly 15 visitors.
Because the average conversion is 1 out of 35visitors, you're likely going to have to spend $8.
75 more tomeet that number.
Add it all up and you've spent $12.
50 to sendthose 35 visitors.
Your actual profit is knocked down to $7.
50per sale at this point.
But that is only if you get that steady1 out 35 people converting into buyers.
Not as exciting as itfirst sounded right?
But that's not all.
What do you do when you realize that itactually takes 45, 50, or even 100 visitors just to make thatone sale?
You'll end up losing more money than what you'd evermake in commissions.
This doesn't even include the amout of timeyou've invested just in tweaking your ad copy for the campaign,testing different keywords, etc.
Now I know there are some nutswho will dump $1000 into a campaign just to make $1200, earningthem a profit of $200, but for most people (especially thosestarting out) it's just not realistic or financially feasible.
It's a huge gamble.
What a lot of people don't realize is thatwhen an affiliate program is claiming very high conversions,they aren't basing it solely on affiliate conversions (that isif they are being honest and basing it on anything at all).
These "conversion" figures are often used to manipulate newaffiliates into signing up.
Another form of manipulation is the claim of top affiliates whoearned $10,000-$30,000 or more in a single month.
Sounds good,but what they aren't telling you is that only a very smallfraction of affiliates ever make that much, and of those thatdid either had websites directing 1000's of visitors every day,or they spent $1000's in advertising.
The affiliate programowner isn't going to say "The affiliates who earned $30,000 lastmonth had to invest $25,000 to make that much, equating to anactual profit of just $5,000".
Are there really people whoinvest that much money?
I'm afraid so.
I personal am not thatbrave nor rich.
I would rather take that money and put it intodeveloping my own products, which is far more rewarding and hasmore profit potential any day of the week.
Hype is hype - and it sells well.
That's business, nothingpersonal.
Whether it's hype about the product itself, or hype torecruit affiliates - it's all part of the game.
Of course,nobody really wants to talk about this because it sheds anegative light on these affiliate programs and discouragessign-ups, but for those who already have trouble making endsmeet and hoping to find riches online, these are things theyneed to consider before jumping into the affiliate marketinggame.
In conclusion, these low-ticket items really need someevaluation and the conversion claims need to be taken with agrain of salt.
It is wise to test affiliate programs first usingfree methods of promotion like writing articles or putting abutton on your site.
Get those first 35-40 targeted visitorsrolling in and see what happens.
If the sales do start toaccumulate, then you know it might be something worth investingin.
If you want to try out PPC advertising options, set a budgetand stick to it.
Crunch the numbers yourself and figure out whata reasonable investment would be.
This little bit of timequality spent with a calculator can go a long way in not onlyhelping you work smarter, but helping you realize your goalsmore quickly as you can dump the poor performing programs andfocus on more profitable ones.
About the author:Carole Nickerson has been a successful internet marketer since1998.
To learn more about internet marketing, affiliate programsand making money online, visit: WealthAddict.
com or visitthe new High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing Blog at: ://best-internet-affiliate-programs.
blogspot.
com .
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