Does it get any easier?

**prowmed** · 25-07-11

I've known about and been interested in affiliate marketing for some time but been watching from the sidelines. I have a well paid job so have never felt inclined to take the plunge. More recently though things have been getting more difficult/stressful at work so about 2 months ago, I decided to have a crack at putting an affiliate website together as a test to see if there's any way I could possibly carve a living out of it.

I started with a background in electronics/technology but have had no experience in web design. I've had to climb an enormous learning curve over the last 2 months but in that time I've:

Registered some domain names (actually got a bit overzealous and since realised many of them are probably worthless!).
Found a host.
Learnt a fair bit of HTML & CSS
Installed wordpress & customised a theme to my liking.
Read loads about SEO
Registered with Affiliate window & Amazon
Created my website. It now has about 20 pages - about 5 of them have >1000 words of quality content in my niche.

Also in that 2 months I've:
Tried to put as much time in over weekends as I can - difficult though with a wife & 2 kids who demand continuous attention.
Been toiling most evenings until at least 1am in the morning (the only time I can get peace & quiet to concentrate)
Tried to keep the day job in order despite reduced motivation & lack of sleep.
Been grumpy around the family, mostly due to tiredness.

Having now got the website up and running I've been a little disappointed in how well it's rating in Google. I've just about scraped on to the first page for some of my key phrases but it was not as plain sailing as I had hoped. Traffic levels are very low - but to be honest it's very much a winter niche so I shouldn't expect too much at this stage. I also think my niche is perhaps not quite niche enough.

I have learnt a huge amount over that time and I have enjoyed the challenge of learning something new. In the 6 weeks since my website has been live I've made the grand total of £3.23 from 3 sales. Yep, that's it! All I have to show so far for all that hard work. I clearly need to see what happens through winter and try some alternative niches to work in but I would be intersted in hearing about anyone else's experience in their early days of affiliate marketing. And the real question, does it get any easier?

**AWH-Gemma** · 25-07-11

Most affiliates do not make any money in the first 6 weeks so well done! You definitely sound like you are on the right track, one of the greatest assets to have in this industry is patience.

**warren_p** · 25-07-11

It can be quite disheartening in the early days but it does sound like you are on the right track, so just keep doing what you are doing, I have quite a few niche sites and the latest of which I launched in May and it was yoyoing in Google for ages but I kept adding content and links etc. and a couple of weeks ago it landed at number 1 for the main search term and looks like staying their (fingers crossed). If you would like any more specific advice about your site or you are unsure about which niches to target next drop me a PM and I can take a look for you.

**prowmed** · 25-07-11

Thanks for the encouragement folks. Interestingly I've just noticed I've started getting some traffic directed my way from Bing. I've checked and it seems Bing are being far more kind to me than Google and I'm getting to page 1 for lots of terms, and many of my key phrases rank at position 1!

It's just a shame that Google are giving me a relatively hard time. I'm surprised because some of these pages do contain some pretty good content - even if I do say so myself!

**warren_p** · 25-07-11

Originally Posted by prowmed

Thanks for the encouragement folks. Interestingly I've just noticed I've started getting some traffic directed my way from Bing. I've checked and it seems Bing are being far more kind to me than Google and I'm getting to page 1 for lots of terms, and many of my key phrases rank at position 1!

It's just a shame that Google are giving me a relatively hard time. I'm surprised because some of these pages do contain some pretty good content - even if I do say so myself!

Yeah Bing and Yahoo do tend to be easier to rank on but obviously with less searches, however, traffic is traffic and in my experience it is usually a good sign that if you keep up your efforts then Google rankings will follow and then traffic will be more traffic.

**gadget** · 25-07-11

"Does it get any easier?" It depends on which direction you take. Many new affiliates take the wrong direction, they try to look for quick wins, and then realise that's not going to work.

IMO stick to a subject you know something about, and one that you are passionate about. That way you won't get bored of writing page after page of fresh content - 'cos that's what's needed to become an authority on that subject. Google aim to put a site at #1 for a term because they believe it's credible, not because they want an affiliate to make money.

Good quality, well researched and well written articles will also attract good quality links.

Keep writing and perhaps spread the word on what you are doing via Facebook & Twitter, do that and people will link to you.

**accelerator** · 25-07-11

Affiliate marketing can be a fun learning experience, but it is a demanding industry where only a small percentage of those that try will make a real success of it. One of the most important skills is working out what is worth promoting. Try and work smarter rather than harder.

Rgds

**MollyHunter** · 26-07-11

Does it get easier? Erm... sadly not.

Been at this for a few years now and it's hard work, it takes a lot of time and in the early days there is very little reward.

As everyone else said stick with it though, most people give in and never make anything of all their hardwork, it's the ones that stick with it and keep going regardless that find that little bit of success.

I think they say "the harder I work, the luckier I get".

**ucasiii** · 30-08-11

"Smelling, what's selling" is the name of the game.

Finding what is selling best and expand/develop in those areas.

**winsoar** · 31-08-11

Amazon pays a very low commission. I made £58 this month from auto-blogs with Amazon links which is pretty nice but I've made a lot more on high ticket affiliate programs. So perhaps its a better idea to concentrate your time on programs that pay upwards of £50 per sale or £7 or more per lead.

**findlite** · 02-09-11

You earn't some money... Thats actually a really good start!

Just keep doing what your doing and have faith! If your persistent you'll get there in the end.