when did you make your first sale?

**couscous99** · 16-12-04

Hi guys

To all the affiliate gurus out there, how long did it take you to make your first sale after you publish your very first site. I am a newbie at this game and just wanted some frame of reference.

**Dynamoo** · 16-12-04

I joined Amazon.com at the end of October 1999, and had my first sale 6 days later, selling 7 items for $3.63 in earnings. Sadly, the next couple of years were not exactly big earners. In this case, the site actually came first, and it had been around for a few years. I finally decided that it was about time that I earned some money from my massive visitor base of 40 uniques per day.

It took me a couple of years to work out that I needed to make some "pure" affiliate sites. I started off with expired domains which in those days was a quick-and-dirty way of getting a site PLUS traffic PLUS link popularity without the hassle of actually doing any hard work. In those days that was quite profitable (it isn't really now), so that was a quick start.

However.. these days I create new sites and still sometimes wait in vain for them to convert. Some sites will never earn any money.. I think the key thing is to know when to try something else, and *keep* trying until you find something that works.

So the answer is vague.. it depends. Sometimes getting traffic is easy, some times it's darned hard. You should convert normally at about 0.5%-2.0% depending on product. You've just gotta get the traffic!

**ProCash** · 16-12-04

ahh the first sale is the hardest one

After that, it keeps better

**nethost** · 16-12-04

Flippin eck what a question, mine was in 2001 april 7th i know because the cheque for £1.30 is framed on the wall

thank god it's gone up a bit since then, stick at it the sales do go up.

**999gi** · 16-12-04

I think I had a tiny one in December 2000 for Amazon

EDIT- Actually just went to check and it was 4 years ago tomorrow - I should celebrate really

**angelabx** · 16-12-04

He He ....... Just looked back ....

I made the grand sum of £20.12 back in the whole of Sept 2000. I was well chuffed with that!!

Who ever thought ....................... eh? Amazing.

The first sale came pretty quickly after first getting some traffic and discovering TD and YOURCHEQUE!! (Who?)

I remember seeing an advert for TD in a magazine and thinking - is this a scam?!?!

**Keith** · 16-12-04

1st sale was sometime in 2000 Amazon although I never hit payment threshold until 2001.

First Cheque was CJ Jan 2001.

Lightbulb moment when I realised money could be made at this game came at end May 2002 when I discovered that the last day I never earned even 1 penny was the 15th of May 2002 and it still is the last day I drew a blank.

**Jeff** · 16-12-04

I first put Amazon ads on my website in October 2000, but it took two months before I got my first sale, on December 6th.

**John** · 16-12-04

Originally posted by nethost
Flippin eck what a question, mine was in 2001 april 7th i know because the cheque for £1.30 is framed on the wall thank god it's gone up a bit since then, stick at it the sales do go up.

I've got an even more permanent reminder of that time... 7th April 2001 was the day I got married, and whilst I was on honeymoon, my first ever affiliate cheque arrived - £13.41 from AW. It had only taken me 9 months to earn that first cheque!

As it turned out, the cheques kept coming and got bigger... the wife stayed with me and I quit my job in December of that year (3 years ago on Sunday was my last day!)

Ah, if I knew then what I know now....

I wouldn't have got married

only kidding dear in case she's lurking!!

**loquax** · 17-12-04

Think we got a Burstnet or Uproar cheque in 1999 - may even have been in 98 though (oh when i were a lad when you could put banners on your site and be paid just for that!).

Mind, the prizes we picked up pre-Loquax and for a few months after more than "paid" for the site and the dial-up phone bill during those days when things like Tradedoubler and DGM didn't exist.

Jason

**chrisk999** · 17-12-04

Got a colour copy of my first one for £23.95 in July 2000, from Engage Media, who subsequently went bust a year later... (ironically the cheque was made out to one of Fraser's domains... a very annoying mispelling

)

I was pretty upset to lose the £100 or so that they owed me when they went into liquidation - thank god Fonetastic wasn't around back then, or I'd have had a heart attack

It's certainly amazing how quickly web revenues can increase from the first cheque to the levels of only 4 years later.