Amazon 2k Stream

​By- Raju Bhadra

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Welcome to “Amazon 2k Stream”

I test things.

I test a LOT of things.

I'm ALWAYS trying new things.

It's a nasty little habit - but it's a habit that has served me well
over the years.

As I enter the end of another year and find myself jumping into
the holiday shopping season (again! Already!), I'm doing what I
always do at this time – I review and analyze all the crazy little
tests I've run throughout the year to see what's working for me.

That way, I can take the successful and profitable ideas I've
tested and go tweak my other web pages with those tactics to
help them convert even better through this year's holiday
season...and beyond.

I've tested a LOT of things this year and have accumulated a

long list of things that are working really well for me when it
comes to converting my web pages to Amazon affiliate sales.

I'd like to share those tactics with you in hopes that you will find
an idea (or 2 or 5 or 10) that will help YOUR Amazon affiliate
web pages convert better for YOU.

Anyone can get content online – but getting that content to

convert to clicks and sales is a whole different story, isn't it?

That's what this guide is for: to share what works for me – what
works NOW – to help YOUR conversions improve.
Before we jump in to all this... a few disclaimers. These things
should be obvious, but I'll say them out loud anyway.

First off, these are MY results from the tactics and tweaks I have
tested. I'm not claiming to have invented these ideas... I simply
implemented the ideas to test them (ie, I took action).

The things listed in the guide have worked for ME – I make no

promises that they will work for you as well.

This guide is a simple “brain dump” of my results from this year

and strategies/tools/tactics I plan to use going forward.

The things listed in this guide are not the ONLY things that
work for me – they are simply the most prominent things I've
tested and done that have improved my Amazon earnings.

I do not work for Amazon... I'm just an affiliate for them like
you are. I can't guarantee that Amazon 'approves' of any of these
strategies today...or will tomorrow.

I've been using the strategies outlined in this guide on all kinds
of sites – from my own Wordpress sites to other free sites. I test
them everywhere.
Some things I'll be mentioning can only be done on your own
Wordpressbased site – but all of them can be tweaked to fit your
own situation.

My ultimate hope by sharing this guide is that everyone that

reads it will have at LEAST one “Hey, that's a cool idea!”
moment and go use that technique on their own site and see
better Amazon sales as a result.

I simply want to share my results to help us all be better, do

better, and earn more.

Got all that?

Great! Let's dig in!

1 - Text Links

I am sure you are NOT impressed with this first technique. Text
links have been around since the beginning of the internet.

But to this day, in content links work better than any other type
of link,banner, widget, tool, gizmo, plug-in, etc.
Simple little text links, like the one in the screenshot above, do
VERY, VERY well for me. That's not new... and it's not
something I 'tested' this past year, but it is so worth pointing out
the obvious when it seems we are constantly being bombarded
with tools and gizmos. Text links are money.

Text links anywhere in your content are always good – but there
is one place that they do exceptionally well for me.

I started testing this wayyyyyyyy back in my early Squidoo days

(for those that remember Squidoo). We had what was called an
'intro module' where we'd add a picture and type our opening
paragraph for our web page.

It's such a simple thing, but WOW, what a difference it makes.

After your first few sentences of a web page, do this:
Simple, right?

Write a little, and then link them out. I thought that this tactic
would stop being so effective over the years, but it sure has
NOT.

If anything, it's gotten better.

I truly think that's because the internet users of this world (like
myself) have gotten painfully impatient – they want something
to click ASAP.

If you have a web page that is getting decent traffic, but just
doesn't convert to clicks and sales as well as you would like, try
this.

You just might like it =)

2 - Images

Wow, this one drives me crazy – both as a marketer AND as a

consumer. You see an image on a page, it appears to be
clickable...you click it and.... it links to the image file.

WHY do that? I either don't make it clickable at ALL – or best

yet, it links to Amazon.

We are getting more and more mobile traffic – images are big,
people want to click them – make those clicks work for you.

No, this isn't a news flash, but I see it SO often that I have to add
this to this years guide.

Speaking of images....here's a neat tactic I've tested that works

really well…

3- Buying Tips

Make an image that lists out a couple buying tips for whatever
you're promoting. Then make some sort of call to action at the
bottom of the image that looks like a text link.
Here's an example:

I tripped over this idea. I had some powerpoint slides I made for
a slideshare test and needed an image for a blog post – so I used
the one above.

It works ​extremely​ well.

Note for Reverse Attack Marketing members: Think of all the

sites we use that pull images from a web page. These type of
images get clicked a LOT.

Don't skip this idea because you think it's too hard to implement.
It's not! I have horrible graphic skills and I still managed to
make something that was useful, helpful, and clickable for my
readers.

This tactic is one that I WILL be adding to my web pages to

amp up my sales this year and will be using on many web pages
I create it the future.

I was a bit shocked at how WELL it worked when reviewing my

stats – who-da-thunk it?

4 – Twitter

I've talked about this before in some bonus training of mine, but
it really is worth repeating.

Twitter is good for lots of things. Sure, you can get out there and
build a following and be 'social' and all that good stuff...but
that's not how I use it when it comes to my Amazon stuff.

I really could care less if anyone follows me...lol!

I like Twitter because.... it's so easy and so effective to embed

tweets.
You simply tweet an Amazon product, add a sentence, publish
it, then click on the date of your tweet.

Then you can click on the little dots at the bottom and grab the
embed code.

Take that embed code Twitter gives you, and pop it into your
web page.
It's really a beautiful and effective way to monetize your web
page without it LOOKING and FEELING monetized.

When the tweet is embedded on your web page, it's

clickable...and it's all your Amazon affiliate link =)

Try it out some time.

5 – Embedly

I'm one of those that gets annoyed playing with code, that's why
I love this little tool I'm about to tell you about.
With this tool/plugin on your Wordpress site, you don't have to
mess with all that embed code and stuff.

You just put the url of the tweet (or any web page) into your
edit/create post screen and the embedly plugin automagically
turns it into a pretty preview link (or full embed – depending on
the web property).

For example, for my tweet, I'd just put the url of that tweet, and
since I have the embedly plugin installed on my site, it
automatically embeds the tweet for me.

You can test out how it works here: ​http://embed.ly/code​ (that

tool will give you embed code for virtually ANY web page).

If you want embedly to work on your site, get this plugin:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/embedly/​ btw, embedly makes
really nice embedded Amazon links too =)
note: ALWAYS check to make sure your affiliate tag “stuck” in
the url – sometimes they disappear.

6 – Speaking of Images

Images are more important now that EVER for your web
content.

You may have already heard of a free image design tool called
Canva? (if not, check it out – it's pretty awesome and makes it
so easy to create good-looking images).

But did you know that Canva has a free wordpress plugin?
Once installed and activated, you will see a button like this
whenever you are creating a new page or post:

Just click that, design your image, and then click 'publish' and
canva will save your image to your site and put it in your post.

Here's a really fast example I made to show you (really rough

but should give you the overall concept)
I can mess around with the image size and alignment, but when
done, it works just great!

I bet that example post above sure makes you want to buy a blue
widget, doesn't it? Lol!

Now that's a really, really rough (and quick) example, but since
we already talked about the power of images for Amazon
affiliates, I thought it was important to show you one of the
easiest ways I know of to create them and get them in your posts
very quickly (without leaving your site).

Now let me show you my next technique that works REALLY

well... remember that post example above.

7 – Yellow

This is so not my own original idea. I had seen it done on a few

non Amazon affiliate type sites so thought I'd give it a test.

Turns out, it's very effective =)

Remember that post example about blue widgets from above?

If I simply turn it into something like this... it gets even better.

See that yellow box? Of course you do... anyone and
EVERYONE that comes to that page would see that yellow box
– and the link inside it.

Now that's a really rough and fast example. As I said, it's not my
unique invention – I just tested it on my Amazon affiliate pages
and it works really well.
I borrowed the idea and the code from Brian Dean that he shared
in his post here:

http://backlinko.com/increase-conversions

It's about 2/3 of the way down on that page... under the subtitle
of:

Pro Tip: The Power of the Yellow Box

The whole article is really great, but that part made me go

hmmmmmmm.... and off I went to test it.

And here is one of my reviews where I use the Yellow Box –

and it works very well:
http://involvery.com/nutri-ninja-with-auto-iq-blender-review/

In fact, you will see a LOT of my “conversion tactics” on that

one review page.

So, let's talk about each one.

8 – Table of Contents

When you first look at that page, you'll see my intro paragraph
and my image (which is clickable, of course). Then you'll see
the Yellow Box...then, in this particular review, my immediate
call to action link is a bit lower.

Then, you'll see me using a Yellow Box to let people know that
all images are clickable – then, a clickable Table of Contents
that link to specific parts of the content on that page.

I can not stress enough just how AWESOME that Table of

Contents is.
It's all done automatically with a free little plugin called Table of
Contents Plus:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/table-of-contents-plus/

It really helps with click-thrus from Google.... because it helps

to make your listing in Google search results to look like this:

See that little “jump to” link inside the Google description for
my web page?

Yep, those really, really help!

Great for SEO, for ranking, for better CTR from the search
engines.... and super useful and helpful for my readers.
9 – Screenshots

I am BIG with screenshots of web pages.

I don't copy their text content (no one wants the text of their
page copied), but I do take a 'snippet picture' of what I'd like to
share from another web page and have that image be clickable
(with my Amazon link, of course).

You'll see lots of examples of these screenshots in action all

over that web page – like the one to the right.

Yes, people love to click those. Did YOU try and click it? =)
There are lots of free tools to make these screenshots of an area
of a web page. Jing is one of them.... I use that and I also use
one called DuckLink Screen Capture.

They each have some options to edit the screenshot – add

arrows, some text, etc.

10 – BIG Images

Along with my screenshot images, you'll also notice some

bigger and really nice Amazon product images.

These work great for clicks and sales... and for making your web
page LOOK really great as well.

I'd love to say I coded all them myself, but I most certainly did
not.

For that, I use an unbelievably wonderful tool/plugin called ​Easy

Azon.

EasyAzon allows you to search for Amazon products, get their

links, AND some great images right from inside your wp-admin
dashboard while you're writing your post.
It is not only a HUGE time saver, it is very effective for
improving my CTR (clicks) and commissions.

I started testing “in the picture” links and had great results... like
this:

The picture is clickable as well, but that 'in the picture' text link
seems to really help. If I was reading this guide, I believe I
would test 'in the picture links' in a Yellow Box (like we talked
about earlier).

EasyAzon is one of the most important tools in my toolbox –​ ​see

the demo video here.
11 – Reviews

According to the Amazon Associate Terms of Service, we

affiliates are not supposed to copy/paste customer reviews on
our sites.

Amazon wants all that unique user-generated content for their

web pages – which makes sense, doesn't it?

But – those reviews can really help convert our traffic to clicks
and sales.

I have tested a few ways to get that 'real review' content on my

web pages.

I've copied a sentence or two (a short snippet) or a review with a

text link that says 'read more' or 'read the rest of this review' –
and that does ok.

Problem is, online consumers are now almost 'trained' to

recognize and trust the way Amazon reviews LOOK.
So based on that, I also tested something I did on that blender
review page –

a screenshot of a couple reviews, uploaded to my site, and made

into a clickable image.

Like the image to the right.

Works great...and people totally click them.

Those gold stars are what consumers are looking for...

and those blue 'read more' links really stand out and make
people want to click and read more =)
As a consumer, I like when web pages do this.... it let's me see
some reviews that help me decide what to get or if I want that
particular thing, etc etc.

And since it's an image, there's no issue with those crazy fears of
duplicate content or anything like that.

Now, there is yet another way to get Amazon reviews on your

site and it works really great.

It's done with a free plugin called 'ScrapeAzon'.

It uses your Amazon advertising API credentials to go through

the Amazon API and literally frame in the product reviews on
your site... AND... all the links in the reviews are your affiliate
links.

These are real reviews with tons of active links. Here's an

example:
Every single link in those reviews is your affiliate link to that
product page (or to that specific review).

Once the plugin is installed and activated, all you do is add a

shortcode to your web page that looks something like this.

[scrapeazon asin=”FG78123”]

That FG78123 is the spot where you put the ASIN number of
the product you are working with (I just made that number up).
Then, on the live published version of your post, you'll see the
live Amazon reviews for that product framed in.

You can tweak the height and width and some other things, but
that's the gist of it.

Very simple and very effective.

Only issue I've had with it while testing it was on mobile view
of some of my sites – it did some weird things. The plugin has
been updated recently which seems to have fixed the issues I
had before.

The ScrapeAzon plugin is here:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/scrapeazon/

Speaking of mobile…

12 – Mobile

I had been noticing more and more sales come through from
mobile traffic in my Amazon sales report so I set out to take a
good look at just what people were seeing on my sites when it
was loaded in a mobile/phone browser or a tablet, etc.
It was a VERY eye-opening experience!

It's not just about having a responsive website...it's about what

people SEE when your web page first loads...and when they
scroll.

The biggest problem I saw on many of my pages was that the

call to action links weren't really clear and friendly to someone
using a cell phone or small device.

Subtle little blue text links just didn't 'pop' when viewed that
small.

So a big change I made was to really look at my web pages –

especially those that seemed to convert well with desktop traffic
– and make a few tweaks to make the clickable stuff more
obvious.
The Yellow Box sure works well for helping mobile traffic. See
the image – that's how that blender review page looks on a
mobile phone.

I am still working on and testing more ways to help my mobile

traffic, but just adding a clear call to action with a Yellow Box
or a good image or a button has really helped.

Just a little tip... remember those Twitter embeds I talked about

earlier? They work great and look great in these situations.

Here's an easy way to see how ANY web page looks on ANY
kind of device.

For PC users, simply push and hold Ctrl+Shift+M all at the

same time and you'll get a screen just like the one I showed of
my blender review page above.

You can change it to all sizes of screens and browsers so you

can see what THEY see.

When you're done, just click the little x at the top left and you'll
be back to your normal view.
That one little trick of ctrl+shift+m has really opened my eyes
and helped me to be better able to convert my mobile traffic.

I'm not a Mac user, but from what I've read, you push
Cmd+Opt+M to see any web page in mobile view and other
screen sizes.

And while we're talking about mobile traffic...

13 – Mobile PopOver Ads

I don't hear many Amazon affiliates talking about this pretty

awesome option inside our Associates dashboard, but I've been
testing it, and it's working pretty darn well.

Amazon calls them their Mobile PopOver Ads.

It's a simple piece of code that you add to your web site and
once installed, when someone is on your web page via a mobile
device only and they are scrolling past an Amazon link on your
page, something like this pops up at the bottom.
These ads only show when you are truly on a mobile device,
but they work pretty darn well. And it's so easy... just pop a little
code on your site and forget about it.

When you're logged in to your Associates dashboard, go to this

url to get more info and your code:

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/mo
bilepopover/main.html

I can't think of any reason to NOT have that code and those
mobile popover ads on all your sites – sure doesn't hurt
anything, but it absolutely helps.

Note: you can also ad this code to Blogger/BlogSpot blogs as

well
Instructions to add the code and some FAQ's:

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/mo
bilepopover/faq.html

Something I've noticed when testing on my own phone.... it

seems that when you use those Amazon short links, those
mobile popover ads may, or may not show.

Go ahead and install the code on at least one of your sites and
then pop on your phone and check out your web pages on that
site.

It's a total attention getter when, as a consumer, you're on a page

reading about some product and a little pop up shows telling you
that thing has been found on Amazon with the current price and
sale price and review stars and count. Good stuff!

Speaking of stars…
14 – Stars!

Not too long ago, Amazon came out with what they call their
Native Shopping Ads for affiliates.

The tool to make these is inside your Amazon Associate

account:

I fell in love with these ads as soon as I saw them- what a simple
way to add relevant, targeted, and up-to-date products to my
web pages!

There are 3 kinds of Native Shopping Ads:

1 - Recommendation Ads: in these ads, you pick the specific

products to show OR the ad code will pick the most relevant
products to show based on your page content.

2 - Search Ads – these ads show products for a search you

define.
3 - Custom Ads – these ads show the specific products you pick.

I've played with them all, but I am big fan of the Search Ads.

Why? Because they also have an active/usable search tool

included. Here's an example of how they look:

The tool settings to create the ads is on the left and a preview of
the ad is on the right.

VERY effective... has all that stuff that online shoppers have
grown to know and trust – the Amazon logo....the Prime logo...
very clickable.

BUT.... there USED to be the stars and ratings count in the ad

code when the Native Ads were first introduced to affiliates....
now the stars are gone.
That did NOT make me happy so off I went to figure out how to
get the stars back. And yep, I figured it out =)

It's a simple line of code you add to the Native Shopping ad

code Amazon gives you.

amzn_assoc_rating = "true";

I just add it to the bottom of the code like this:

That makes the ad go from this....

To this:
WAY better... and has that extra piece of magical social proof
that consumers need...want... and trust.

Affiliate marketing has become somewhat of a 'fine science'

these days.

Once upon a time, you could type ​this is awesome, check it out!
And people would click...and buy.

Not so any more. Consumers are smarter..they don't blindly

click like they used to, they want the info they are looking for
right N-O-W - and if you give it to them, THEN they will click.

They (consumers) really do NOT want to read, but we affiliate

marketers have it beat into us that our reviews have to be long
and thick and full of tons of amazing content in order to have a
chance at ranking in Google.
That's so not true.

Listen: the longer your content, the more chance your content
has of ranking for multiple longtail phrases based on all the
words on your page.

If you're honest with yourself (as an online marketer), if you

didn't think you had to type that much for Google, you wouldn't
do it, would you?

People don't read..they really don't. Think about what YOU read
as a consumer of online content.

As for me, if it doesn't grab me right away, I MIGHT scroll and

scan... but usually it's the back button.

And it's so so SO much worse these days!

I'll be scrolling through Facebook, see an article link that looks

interesting, and bless my heart, I click it....and it's yet
ANOTHER ad-loaded heavy useless webpage that takes forever
to load.

I've been around this business for quite some time – you'd
think I'd learn by now...lol!
Internet users these days, myself included, are impatient, and
well... we've got a BAD case of Technology ADD. Keeping our
attention is super hard to do.

One of the best 'tests' I've run to help my Amazon earnings is a

test I am constantly doing on my own personal 'guinea pigs' –
my family and friends.

I watch them while they search online. Click, click, scan scroll,
click, scan, scroll.... on and on and on.

It's exhausting to watch...lol!

And it's really hard to market to if you believe you have to have
tons of expert WORDS on a page to make sales.
People don't want experts (in most cases – there are some
exceptions) – they want to hear from other PEOPLE – people
like THEM.

That's why Amazon reviews and those darn stars are so

effective.

Those stars represent what other people like them have to say.

Heck, I know all this and **I** am a victim of the stars quite
often myself...haha!

What's really scary is that even for medical reasons, people trust
what other 'like them' folks have to say.

This is kind of hard to see since I had to squish it up some, but

look at the query typed into Google:

how much ibuprofen can I take for back pain

now, look at these results:

Yahoo Answers? For medication advice?!?! Ack! Makes my
'Mom Brain' shiver...ugh!

Sadly, that's what people trust.

It's also what they want – a ​quick answer from a 'real person'.
A quick answer/solution to their problem from someone else
who had that same problem.

That's all Google searches are... people looking for solutions.

That brings me to my final – and best tip – for making more

sales.

15 – Keywords = Problems

When I first started online, it was all about having an exact

keyword phrase on your page and you could rank for that
phrase.

You'd rank, people would come... see a link, click it...and a good
bit of them would buy.

I'd simply make a web page about the Best Blue Widgets... link
to the “best” blue widgets... they'd click, the sales page would
tell them what problem that widget would solve for them, and it
was another sale.

In essence, our web pages were the 'social proof' back then –
Amazon changed all that.
The review section on an Amazon product page is POWERFUL
stuff.

Not very long ago, we could just link to an Amazon product

page and that's all we needed to do – Amazon would do the rest
to convert them to at least one sale.

For the most part, for medium to low-ticket items, it still works
that way... unless people aren't sure which product solves
THEIR​ problem.

If they knew which product was 'the one' – they'd just go straight
to Amazon, right?

Seems everyone knows Amazon. Seems everyone trusts

Amazon. I sure do – I am a Prime-aholic....lol!

But what do I do – what do YOU do – when we need a

'something' to be a solution to our problem?

Here's an example:

Recently, one of my cats was diagnosed as being diabetic.

Not to be crude but diabetic cats pee – a LOT.

I needed a new GOOD cat litter box for her.
So off I go... straight to Amazon (like many folks do these days)
and type in:

best cat litter box

and I get this:

Holy Reviews, Batman!

5,837 reviews on the first “best” one.... next has 2,434 and then
the next has 1,352 reviews?!!??!

I don't have time to read all those reviews!

So, I refined my search to: best litter box for diabetic cat and get
this:

ONE litter box returned as a result... and it's not even a helpful
product. (it's a special litter box that allows you to collect the
urine from your cat to test for Ketones. While that's helpful, it's
NOT what I'm looking for).

So there I am, stuck back with those original Amazon search

results with thousands and thousands and ​THOUSANDS​ of
reviews.

Now, keep in mind that I'm a normal internet user and I have
Technology ADD... so what do I do next?

READ all those reviews? Oh heck no!

I go to..... GOOGLE.

That, my friend, is where we affiliate marketers fit in.

Specific product solutions to their problems.

As a consumer, I was already presented with thousands and

thousands of reviews – I want an ANSWER.

And my answer is a product.

If I Google'd what I needed, and found YOUR web page... you'd

make a sale =)

So, as the affiliate in this example, let's talk about how you'd
make your web page on the Best Cat Litter Boxes.

The only real “keyword” you need is just what your title is: Best
Cat Litter Boxes But in your content, you need the problem
phrases so you can offer the solution.

READ through some of the reviews. Look at the words real

people use when reviewing the product.
Their apartment doesn't stink like a litter box anymore. Trust
me, that's a big solution for many cat parents out there =)

You should have that in your content – something like, “...those

that live in small spaces, like an apartment, will love the odor
control from this litter box. No one even knows we have cats!”

The reader who is looking for the 'best litter box for an
apartment' will read that on your page... click through to your
product solution... probably scroll a few other reviews and see
that others have said the SAME THING about that litter
box...and it's click – Add To Cart =)

And would ya look at this... people are really LOOKING for a

solution to that problem:
Seems people have many litter box 'problems' and are looking
all over Google for a solution:
Starting to see what I'm trying to say?

You don't need a keyword tool for this part. Just head to Google
and start typing.

Just fill in the blank with your 'thing'

best ______ for

best _____ that doesn't
best_____ that has
best _____ with
best _____ without
which _______

Just keeping doing searches like that making a list of the

problem words.

And look at that, others are searching for a litter box for their
diabetic cat, too =)
If you really want to use a keyword tool to make this faster, here
is a great free one:

https://serps.com/tools/keywords

It gives you all the Google suggest phrases very quickly.

It also gives you search volume, but do NOT get hung up on

search volume.

It's the biggest myth in our business these days – don't even get
me started on all that..lol!

Yes, some phrases are searched for more than others, but do not
focus on supposed search volume. My best results have come
from 'problem phrases' that show NO search volume.

But regardless of search volume, the tool is very handy:

Now, you keep a little list of those problem words.

Multiple cats
odor control
for kittens
large cats
for apartments
disabled cats
diabetic cats
etc etc etc

Remember the Table of Contents plugin I told you about in

section 8?

Yep, that's where this comes into play =)

Starting to see how it all comes together now?

Everybody and anybody can do, and IS doing, “review” sites,

but here's the thing that I realized – there are MILLIONS of
reviews ​already on Amazon.

If someone has a problem and they don't KNOW which product

solves their problem, then those thousands of reviews on each
Amazon product page are overwhelming.

So they go to Google... they want a quick answer to point them

in the right direction on Amazon.

Enter: YOU.

Your one thick web page has quick links to all kinds of
problems litter box buyers have with product solutions for each
problem. And because you used a table of contents plugin (or
html coding), you get nifty little 'jump to' links in your Google
description that address the searchers SPECIFIC problem or
question.

For example,​ I'm thinking of buying a Nutri Ninja blender and

not quite sure I want to spend all that money on one. I COULD
read ALL the reviews, but...

Yikes, over 1600 reviews to read? Uh, no thank you!

So, I'll just go to Google because I trust Google to give me the

best answers.

(People really, truly believe Google only gives the best answers
at all times. The thought that web page owners could manipulate
their way to the top never crosses their mind).
So... off to Google I go and I ask Google:

I look at the Google results, and would you look at that? That
3rd result has a link right to the answer to my question – I
should click that! And I end up here on that web page:
Well that helps... so I scroll a little more on that page, read little
snippets of more info on that page that truly helps me... click
their link... and go buy me a new blender =)

See how that works?

And the beautiful part is... you don't have write some 1,000
word masterpiece on 'The Best Cat Litter Boxes”.

You break it down into problem words...then write a few

sentences under each subtopic/problem … then link them out.

Yes, you will have to do a little research FOR them in order to

write these kinds of articles, but that's what you SHOULD have
to do in order to earn the sale.

Be USEFUL – save them time. It pays off big time =)

Now, that's one way to do this with a single page of content (ie,
one article that has answers to multiple problems).

You can also do this in a “mini site” type of concept – each

“problem” has it's own short page with the solution.

And yes, that DOES work =)

Make your home page one thick article that talks about litter
boxes and mentions each of the problems...and when you
mention the problem, link it to a short post on your site that is an
answer to that specific problem.

If you've read ​Erica's One Hour Affiliate​, think about how

she talks about doing those fast little posts.​ Now, think about
a site that has a home page that has one thick “overview” article
and then the rest of the site is those quick little solution posts.

I LOVE making these kind of little sites –

and it's one the biggest reasons I love being a ​member of

Wealthy Affiliate​ – I can make unlimited amounts of those sites
(or any type of site) as I want.

GREAT for testing niche ideas!

I just pick a url for my site, give it a name, pick a theme, and
then click “build my site” - and I'm off and running!

As I was typing this, I thought, “Heck, just go make an example

site real quick for readers to look at”

So, I did =)

http://bestcatlitterboxes.siterubix.com/

That is just a rough outline of what I'm talking about.​ I just

used an Ezine Article for my home page article, but added my
own unique opening paragraphs.

This is totally allowed as long as you leave the links in tact. The
only reason there isn't a link to the author's site is because the
site no longer exists. I use EA articles a lot.

Also, the individual posts would have more content than just
those Amazon Native Shopping ads =)

But that's the general idea of how to set it up.

I did each “problem” as a post, but if you think you might grow
the site out, make the 'problem' content as pages...and then use
your posts for anything 'cat' related.
That little demo site took me oh, maybe 20 minutes. Most of the
time was spent looking for a remotely decent article to use for
the home page.

Having access to a really quick way to make sites is priceless to

me. So much better than using something free, like
Blogger/BlogSpot – Google owns those and can (will) shut your
site down in a heartbeat if they even THINK you might be
over-marketing.

WA doesn't do that to sites... AND you get the boost of being on

a strong main domain. I have some VERY VERY strong earning
Amazon affiliate sites there – love it! Plus, I don't have to pay
for a domain name, or pay for the hosting, or DEAL with the
hosting issues.

If you're serious about your affiliate marketing exposure,

amping up your knowledge, and building your toolbox, ​join
Wealthy Affiliate for free here​– SO worth it!

Bonus Tip -
This tactic to improve your Amazon earnings will sound so
obvious, but it's amazing how many affiliates don't take the time
to focus on it – and do it properly.

It's also a tip right that Amazon gives in their Associate

Performance Tips found towards the bottom of the left side on
your main page inside your Associates account.

One of the pages in their Performance Tips area is titled

Selecting the Best Products to Feature on Your Web Site.

It's just five quick bullet point tips: pick products that match
your site content, consider cross-merchandising (ie, related
products), discover additional products from the product page
(people who bought this also bought, similar products, etc),
review your orders report (look for related things you are selling
but not linking to directly)....and this gem:
Promote higher-priced items.

Makes ya wanna say, “Gee thanks, Captain Obvious!”

hahaha!

Even though it appears to be so 'obvious', there's a right time –

and a wrong time – to start promoting high-priced products.

In my opinion, the wrong time to do it is when you are a new

Amazon affiliate and you make a few sales a month or none at
all.

First off, if a new Associate account doesn't make a sale within

it's first 180 days, the powers-that-be at Amazon can (and
usually do) close your account.

And I have to say, I don't blame them. If Joe Affiliate is sending

tons of traffic/clicks to my site – a site that converts better than
any other ecommerce site online – and doesn't make a sale at all
in 180 days? 6 Months!?!? There's something wrong there and
that would make me believe that the traffic that Joe Affiliate is
sending to my site is BAD traffic.

There's just no way to send traffic to Amazon for 6 months and

never make a sale – unless something is really wrong.
Amazon takes their site, and their conversion stats, VERY
seriously. And even with a half-assed affiliate effort (real effort),
it's close to impossible to not make a sale in 180 days.

So based on all that, if your Amazon affiliate account is new, or

you're making very few sales, don't go rushing off to try and
promote high-priced products. Stick with products that are $50
or less – in consumer's 'impulse range' – they are much easier to
convert to sales. And by using a few tips from this guide, you
can send those people to Amazon thru your link in a better
mindset so they make that purchase more often and much easier.

That will get your conversion rate up AND your payout

commission percentage will go up based on your volume of
sales.

My general rule of thumb is that you need to be selling about

300 items per month before you start working on high-priced
items.

If you are having a hard time converting impulse-priced

products through your affiliate promotions (web pages, etc),
then it's going to be extra hard converting high-priced items.
High-priced items don't convert as easily – and there is a lot of
“looker” traffic. You have to really prepare the reader for that
purchase before you send them over to Amazon.

That means, you will have a LOT of clicks and very few sales.
Your conversion rate will plummet and Amazon will start taking
a look at your account. That's no good.

If you wait until you are selling 300 or so items a month, you
will have those sales to cushion your conversion rate AND you
will have learned how to convert traffic to impulse-priced
product sales.

Yes, you can promote high-priced items via one-page “reviews”,

but my best results have come from making full sites – in-depth,
answer everything, types of sites.

It's a whole 'nother training guide for another day – if there is

enough interest, maybe I'll do a “brain dump” on promoting
high-priced items and all the little tips and tricks I've learned
that have worked for me.

Bottom line, it REALLY helps your overall Amazon earnings

when you start really focusing in on and working high-priced
items.
It takes your daily earnings report from looking like this:

To looking like THIS:

It's makes a MAJOR difference in my bottom line to have such a
drastic increase in my commissions.

Between the monthly volume of items I have already built up to,

plus the added promotions and campaigns and web sites for
hand-picked highpriced items, Amazon went from being some
nice extra money each month, to being a serious income stream.
It's also my favorite income stream.

No clients, no products, no phone calls, no schedule...just me

and my content – and once that content is out there, it's hands
off unless I want to add or tweak something.

Yes, I have a LOT of Amazon content out there... a LOT. In

fact, there's stuff I forgot I even have out there. Such is life as an
Amazon affiliate =)

Do I Write All My Content Myself?

No, I do NOT write all that content myself.

I hire out a good bit of my content. When it's written, I post it,
add my tweaks and stuff, and also add bits and pieces of
“problem” words to the content to make it more as I want it.

I find hiring someone to write the initial big chunk of the content
to very helpful. There's many times I'll look at a blender (as an
example) and start to write about it...and my mind goes
BLANK.

Having the big base piece of the content written FOR me really,
REALLY helps me be more productive overall.
I don't pay a lot for my content to be written either.

I've used ​this article writing service a ton​ since it first opened
and I really, really like it.

If you'd like to see the quality of the articles they write, well,
you already did. That blender review was written by ​this service​.

I just started using this service​, and the first batch of 15 articles
or so have turned out really, really good and the price was
exceptional (AND the turnaround was SUPER fast!)

Do I have ALL my content written?

Oh no, absolutely not. For example, it's really ME writing THIS

guide =)

(note: anything with my name or PotPieGirl on it was absolutely

written by ME. I don't outsource ME... I outsource tasks)

The higher the price of the item(s) I am working on promoting,

the more likely I am to pay for that content to be written.

If the content is for a $10 product, I'll just write it myself. It

would take a LOT of $10 sales commissions to recoup the cost
of that article.
However, if the product is about $100, paying $10 for a really
good article to be written FOR me makes perfect sense.

WHERE the content is going also comes into play.

If it's MY site, I'm more likely to hire out the content.

If it's MY site and a high-priced product 'niche site' – I totally

get all the starter content written for me.

I spend a lot of time picking which high-priced product to

promote – which keyword angle to focus on – picking the right
products to recommend – and good chunk of time picking and
reverse-engineering the right keywords/problems to target.

I do all those things, then turn in my article requests based on

what my research shows me to target, and then work on setting
the site up the way I want it while the content is being written. I
have a pretty set certain way I set high-priced product sites up
based on what works for me so I like to be the one to do that
part. I COULD outsource all of it, but well, I don't think I'm
capable of being THAT hands off =)

Then, in about 24 hours, all my articles are ready and then I set
about getting them all formatted and tweaked and inter-linked
and published.
Then I say, “Come and get it, Google!” haha!

Gee, wish it was THAT easy...lol! Actually, I get Google in to

start indexing and I set about off-site promotion of the new site
(I almost always use Reverse Attack Marketing sites for this –
works great).

If you're interested in having content written FOR you at really

good prices, I highly recommend both of these services:

–​ iNeedArticles
– Hire Writers

So this wraps up this edition of What Works NOW.

I sincerely hope you read at least an idea or two in this guide

that made you say, “Oh cool idea! I'm gonna try that!”

And you DO try it...and it works great for you as well.

Best of luck!

Raju Bhadra.