Affiliate Marketing vs. Paid Ads

I've finally decided to phase out most of the affiliate advertisements and AdSense on my site and its subdomains. I've been basically giving away the space for the last nine years. I kept thinking that as I got bigger and with more traffic, affiliate ads would start working for me. I am going to start approaching companies I like to place ads on the site, or start leaving the ad space empty.

That being said, are there any affiliate programs that work for you? Do you do more than just place the ad in your sidebars? Do you try selling what ever the product is in other ways, like writing about them? Do you approach companies to place ads on your site, or do you wait for them to come to you?

This is probably the channel of running a site that I am least confident in managing.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jody Halsted on December 10, 2009 at 3:55pm

I've had the same experience with affiliate ads. Rarely do they pay out for me. I've had companies come to me for advertising but what I do now is just work with companies that I actually use.

Permalink Reply by Leyla Arsan on December 10, 2009 at 4:59pm

I've had good luck with Amazon "Associates" (same thing as affiliates). Since almost everyone shops on Amazon. And, I have heard that Shareasale pays out well. I have yet to try Shareasale.

Permalink Reply by Brian Peters on December 10, 2009 at 6:14pm

I actually started an affiliate program for my ebook @ http://www.nodebtworldtravel.net

Ads in sidebars, as well as emails and product reviews on the blog/website. This works if you have a trusted relationship with your readership. If they don't trust you, they won't buy.

If you're in America you have to clarify your relationship with the vendor (i.e. did you purchase the product or did you receive it as a comp) when you refer products.

Permalink Reply by Heather Cowper on January 3, 2010 at 2:46pm

My experience as a small blogger is that Ad Sense is a bit of a waste of space - fill your blog with ads and get peanuts back. Once a site's got any reputation, then direct selling your ads has got to be the way to go.

Permalink Reply by Craig Martin on January 4, 2010 at 12:27am

We get around 10,000 visitors a month to http://indietravelpodcast.com, but affiliate programmes don't work well with sidebar ads. Widgets are more successful, but banner ads work for BRANDING not SALES. And studies show that people choose search engine results they recognise, so branding is still important and worth money ... but you won't see it as an affiliate.

We have found very little connection with sidebar ads, while reviews work well. We respect our audience more than a quick buck (we're trying to build a brand rather than make money quickly) so we review cautiously, but that's when we make sales. Sidebar ads ... not so much.

Permalink Reply by kimba on January 4, 2010 at 1:14am

Thanks Craig! I get a few more unique visitors per month than your site and I always thought it was "just me" that affiliate ads don't really work for. I just spent the last few days taking all of the Kayak widgets of of the site because I don't want to sign up for their new program. I replaced Kayak with my CafePress eco-friendly canvas totes and if I sell only one of those I will make more from that one sale than I have from my entire relationship with Kayak.

Could it also be the size of our sites that are not working with affiliate advertising? Maybe it takes a million visitors per month for the system to work?

I want to keep amazon only because I really like to recommend books and dvd/s ... makes no sense to not have a link to the product and a potential sale.

Permalink Reply by katie f on January 8, 2010 at 2:14am

hey kimba, i dont know too much about the how tos to affiliate marketing but im in the same boat as you about not wanting to succumb to google adsense and preferring to find advertisers myself. i think it is appropriate to contact businesses yourself giving them a short profile of traffic what sort of topics you are writing about and offering them a suggested price for different sized ads. you have more control this way to choose who supports you and who you are supporting also by hosting their name on your site. just some thoughts, i am open to new strategies and ideas though since i am just starting out on all of this..
-k

Permalink Reply by Heather Cowper on January 8, 2010 at 3:20pm

I agree and I recently set up my advertising page & wrote a post about how I approached it. This is a first step to getting some direct advertising, now I need to put in some effort to actively selling the advertising. Can't say the advertisers are flooding in but at least I've put up the 'Open for business sign'

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/set-up-advertising/

Permalink Reply by Heather Cowper on January 8, 2010 at 3:25pm

I recently set up my advertising page & wrote a post about how I approached it. This is a first step to getting some direct advertising, now I need to put in some effort to actively selling the advertising. Can't say the advertisers are flooding in but at least I've put up the 'Open for business sign'

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/set-up-advertising/

Permalink Reply by Heather Cowper on January 8, 2010 at 3:27pm

Permalink Reply by Corbin Fraser on January 18, 2010 at 12:51pm

Hey guys,

have any of you had any luck with commission junction or linkshare? I use a couple 125x125 ads in my sidebar and have noticed how little attention they get. I assume it has something to do with people becoming blind to those types of ads. I know when I'm reading through blogs I rarely look at the sidebar unless I know there is some navigation aspect that can only be reached from there.

http://ibackpackcanada.com

Permalink Reply by kimba on January 26, 2010 at 1:04pm

I use them both and I do get a lot of clickthroughs, but rarely a purchase.

I've concluded that my readers have either cookies either disabled, or they delete them on closing their browser for the day. If they go back to the advertiser's site on their own within the allotted time frame allowed (say within 30 days for a 30-day cookie) I'm not getting the commission because the cookie was deleted. That's what I tell myself anyway.