08.01.07
30 Days of Blogging Money Making Tools - Day 2 (Amazon Associates)
Amazon Associates
Payments are rolled out every 3 months, but the beautiful thing is that once a reader clicks on your ad link, Amazon will remember they came from your reference for the entire day. So if someone clicks on your link and then leaves Amazon and returns later that day, you’ll still get credit.
I find the most useful applications of Amazon Associates
Advantages of Amazon Associates
- It’s free and relatively easy to use
- Great variety of ad types and display options
- Ability to setup multiple tracking ID’s to monitor results of various strategies
- Access to millions of products
- Brand recognition - most people trust Amazon
Disadvantages of Amazon Associates
- Quarterly payout schedule - if cash flow is a concern, this may be an issue
- It’s very product focussed, so your content may not necessarily drive relevant ads
- Commission rates are around 4%, which some might see as relatively low.
Here are two examples of how I’m currently using Amazon Associates content within my site:
Overall, it’s a great program and something worth integrating into your blog or website to generate addition income and serve up relevant products to your readers.
Sign up today at Amazon Associates
Easily access all 30 tools in my “30 Tools” category.
Bruce Pilgrim said,
August 4, 2007 at 6:59 pm
I’ve also used the Amazon Associates program on my blog. One thing you must keep in mind is that the amount of revenue you get from Amazon is directly proportional to the traffic to your blog.
N.Jagannathan said,
August 5, 2007 at 3:17 am
The clause that payment will be rolled over 3 months is tough.
cara press said,
August 5, 2007 at 6:08 am
Amazon affiliates does sound like a good affiliate program to earn an extra couple of bucks, and I like your ideas on how to use it. Now I know that when I click an ad on a site and it leads to Amazon they are using it as an affiliate.
Bryan said,
August 5, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Amazon can get away with quarterly payments and relatively small commission rates because it is pretty much the best online superstore around. It’s much easier to generate a sale for a company that your audience has already shopped from than for a company that is new to them, and Amazon’s huge selection of products means that all kinds of sites can become very effective Amazon affiliates. I fully agree with you that Amazon has a great affiliate program!
Jim said,
August 5, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Amazon Associates just makes sense as a tie in for small business. Amazon can compliment your business in ways other affiliates either can’t or don’t. While the revenue from Amazon may seem small, generating enough traffic through your website will pay dividends with little or no effort or expense on your part.
Michelle said,
August 6, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I think amazon is great that it is free and available to the public to use. I also can not believe that amazon is easy to use which is a good thing because sometimes it is hard to have things easy to use any more. I also think that amazon should pay out more. I also think that is great that amazon is trying to help people out everyday to earn some extra cash.
Molly said,
August 6, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Amazon associates sounds a good and easy idea. It would be better to have an itemized comparison of Amazon associates with other similar programs. It’s so funny. With internet, we just have to do research and compare everything before we decide what to use, even for something that’s used just for the purpose of researching and comparing!
Andy said,
August 9, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I’ve been an Amazon associate for many years, and have found it the best of all the affiliate programs. It’s the only one that consistently generates income for me. Don’t forget to sign up for amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk as well to maximise your earnings in the international market.
Anonymous said,
August 9, 2007 at 7:45 pm
This is the first I’ve heard of the Amazon Associates program. Amazon seems to have several useful avenues for producing income that are independent of its bookstore sales. I find that fascinating! The comments people left in response to this article add to the information provided by the article. That is useful additional information to have.
san said,
August 10, 2007 at 6:56 am
I’ve been an Amazon associate for many years, and have found it the best of all the affiliate programs. It’s the only one that consistently generates income for me. Don’t forget to sign up for amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk as well to maximise your earnings in the international market.
ND said,
August 15, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I’ve heard of Amazon Associate, but I have not tried yet. Does it really work? It just seems like not reliable enough income source for me… For those of you who are Amazon Associate already, how much do you normally get paid?
altoona said,
August 16, 2007 at 10:56 am
Amazon associate is really a wonderful program. It is really so easy and fun working. I also think that is great that amazon is trying to help people out everyday to earn some extra cash.
Sam said,
August 20, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I never new amazon would pay people. I thought it mainly was a sight just for selling. I think I will have to sign up for that soon.
Jess Sightler said,
August 21, 2007 at 12:17 am
I have used Amazon’s associates program in the past. The downside of the program is that it does take a fairly significant amount of traffic to get enough conversions to be worthwhile.
The upside is that the conversions that you do get tend to be fairly high dollar compared to many other affiliate programs. As a result, I am continuing to experiment to see where Amazon associates can fit into my sites.
Tina said,
August 21, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Wow, Amazon Associates sounds really cool. I especially like how you get credit even if someone doesn’t immediately order, but comes back a little later and places an order. The quarterly payments from Amazon are spaced a little farther apart than I would prefer, but looks like a good program.
Scott said,
August 22, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I always wondered why my friend’s blog always links book titles to the Amazon site. I get it now. He has a small but fairly regular readership, so he is probably seeing some income from being an Amazon Associate.