Finally Had A Clickbank Breakthrough

I've been writing and submitting articles for about 6 months now with very little luck. I've made about $1200 total from Clickbank up until today.

I have, I'd say, 180 or so articles (on average I submit at least 1 per day) on about 20 different directories for a total of about 3600 articles floating around on the internet. I probably also have 15-20 press releases that I managed to get listed on Google News.

Up until today, I'd get a sale here and there, with my best day coming about a month ago (3 sales). I also have a premium account at USFreeAds that really doesn't give me too many commissions.

I'm always hearing about how people can submit 1 optimized article and make $50-$100 per day from it. I never really believed it. Until today, that is.

My method has always been to find a Clickbank product I like, set up a .info domain redirect, and submit at least 30 articles around keywords that I think I can rank for.

Well, the results haven't been so great, and it's not that I wasn't getting traffic. I usually average 100-150 hops per day for the products I promote.

After analyzing the situation, I figured I just wasn't promoting the right products. So, I decided to experiment.

I looked around through the dog and cat niche and found a product about dog separation anxiety. It had a nice sales page, so I gave it a shot.

I wrote a sales page-like article with some decent content (around 600 words). I get articles approved immediately at Articles Base so I submitted there. I also submitted to Article Snatch and Snipsly (because they index quickly and rank well).

I submitted the article this morning around 10 am and when I checked my CB account 30 minutes ago, I had 138 hops to the sales page and 3 sales!

Now, I also did something else differently. I did some careful keyword research and targeted 3 long-tail terms with around 3000 searches per month each and competition of less than 20,000 search results when searched in quotes.

I managed to rank in the 8th position on page 1 for one of the terms and in the 2nd position on page 2 for the other. I didn't rank at all for the third term (or it was so far back I couldn't find it).

My questions are:

Is this a flash in the pan, one-time thing?

Will the results continue, or will the search results drop without SEO?

Is this a normal occurence for experienced article marketers?

I'm just puzzled that people would buy anything from Clickbank that you can google.
For example: "dog separation anxiety" yields: 6.2 Million results, enough to read and learn without having to pay for a PDF ebook on the subject.

videobroker said:

I'm just puzzled that people would buy anything from Clickbank that you can google.
For example: "dog separation anxiety" yields: 6.2 Million results, enough to read and learn without having to pay for a PDF ebook on the subject.

Click to expand...

There is a sense that information that is free, doesn't mean its credible. As a consuming society, we hold greater value to things which are paid for. If people have a problem, they believe that the solution can be bought.

As long as what is being presented shows that it will solve their problem, they will pay the price.

It is stunning isn't it, but that is human behavior.

@ OP - congrats on your success.

videobroker said:

I'm just puzzled that people would buy anything from Clickbank that you can google.
For example: "dog separation anxiety" yields: 6.2 Million results, enough to read and learn without having to pay for a PDF ebook on the subject.

Click to expand...

I agree, but as long as people are buying money should be made off of it instead of questioning it

To answers OPs question.. you will have your answer by next week.

Just observe and report.

videobroker said:

I'm just puzzled that people would buy anything from Clickbank that you can google.
For example: "dog separation anxiety" yields: 6.2 Million results, enough to read and learn without having to pay for a PDF ebook on the subject.

Click to expand...

I know. I've said that for a long time. People like myself who are into internet marketing and belong to forums like this often think that way, but consider the average person.

They have no idea what a "sales page" is. Most people don't even know what affiliate marketing even means. Still, there are many people who have no idea how to navigate and seek out specific information on the internet. They think they've hit paydirt when they land on the sales page!

Also, lots of people won't download anything they didn't pay for. I'm not saying that anyone who does is wrong, but many people consider it piracy.

Personally, I'd never pay for an ebook or Clickbank product, but I'm still awfully glad that many other people will

If you don't mind me asking. What type of products were you promoting previous, and what made you decide to ultimately try the cat and dogs?

OP, just a good advice (for the future), don't reveal the exact product you promote, it's enough if you say that is a product from the cats & dogs niche

edited: even if MisterGemini asks

cjmo75 said:

My questions are:

Is this a flash in the pan, one-time thing?

Will the results continue, or will the search results drop without SEO?

Is this a normal occurence for experienced article marketers?

Click to expand...

Based on your effort put into this, I'd say that this is not a one time thing. You've been working at it for a long time and you saw that it was not working, therefore you did something different. Voila, now you have results. I know it's not that simple but good job, that's how IM is done. Keep it up and you'll create much success for yourself.

Theoretically, if you've done the work and your site has some authority then this should be a long lasting result. However, there are factors such as competition, and algorithm updates. What I suggest is to try to submit a few more articles on your number 8 spot keyword. If that works keep using that method. If not, try SEO. A word of warning though, changes in coding and pages in a site may results in drops in rankings. I can't begin to tell you how many people were ranking well, and they updated their sites to the latest standards, but their page dropped. It's a case by case thing, so experiment.

Finally, I don't do much article marketing, but it's only logical. You're playing by google's rules and doing a very good job at it. All I've got to say about this is that hard work always pays off and don't stop what you're doing. I expect to see you back here within a few months posting your success story about your new found riches

Cheers

HoNeYBiRD said:

OP, just a good advice (for the future), don't reveal the exact product you promote, it's enough if you say that is a product from the cats & dogs niche

edited: even if MisterGemini asks

Click to expand...

I didn't mean tell us the products exactly.. I meant the subjects/category of products. The guy isn't a tool, of course he won't say which products exactly.

OP shifted from promoting some type of product to cat and dog product. I'm just curious as to the types of products that were not working for him before, and why he decided to make the shift into cats and dogs.

MisterGemini said:

I didn't mean tell us the products exactly.. I meant the subjects/category of products. The guy isn't a tool, of course he won't say which products exactly.

OP shifted from promoting some type of product to cat and dog product. I'm just curious as to the types of products that were not working for him before, and why he decided to make the shift into cats and dogs.

Click to expand...

Let's see. I started off with a popular blogging product (I'll bet you can all guess). I did a few sales with that. I promoted some article marketing software. Good sales but lots of returns (the product obviously didn't deliver). Did some weight loss, child anxiety, and bass fishing products too. All with minimal success.

I've come to believe that it's not the product, it's about the keywords and the article directory you use and the way you optimize the article. I used to submit to 20 different directories. I've since stopped that and now only submit optimized articles to 4 or 5 of the most popular ones.

It's a hit or miss thing. I hit today. I'll probably miss a few times before hitting again. I've come to find out you need to promote less popular niches more often. I actually made some sales selling food recipe ebooks a couple of months ago, but got away from it.

I had one day when I made 3 sales about a month ago, and that was for a work from home product. I did a press release that got picked up by Google News and got 1400 hits in one day. Tried repeating it, but the closest I came was 360 hits (no sales).

cjmo75 said:

Let's see. I started off with a popular blogging product (I'll bet you can all guess). I did a few sales with that. I promoted some article marketing software. Good sales but lots of returns (the product obviously didn't deliver). Did some weight loss, child anxiety, and bass fishing products too. All with minimal success.

I've come to believe that it's not the product, it's about the keywords and the article directory you use and the way you optimize the article. I used to submit to 20 different directories. I've since stopped that and now only submit optimized articles to 4 or 5 of the most popular ones.

It's a hit or miss thing. I hit today. I'll probably miss a few times before hitting again. I've come to find out you need to promote less popular niches more often. I actually made some sales selling food recipe ebooks a couple of months ago, but got away from it.

I had one day when I made 3 sales about a month ago, and that was for a work from home product. I did a press release that got picked up by Google News and got 1400 hits in one day. Tried repeating it, but the closest I came was 360 hits (no sales).

Click to expand...

Ok.. with your method, I can totally understand the lack of success in attempting to market IM products and MMO. That is all really informational. Odds are good they will bounce off the page, start hitting forums, or even searching for reviews before they purchase.

You are right about getting into less popular, that way your stuff becomes the only source for them to get it from. It's just difficult to find that and know when a product is a good seller too.

Have you considered maybe submitting your articles to these directories.. then autopligging the articles you submitted? You would get better rankings, but also more traffic. There are some what.. 6000 digg like sites out there? Certain to bring you some extra traffic and get that article up there :bling:

Sweet advice MisterGemini. @cjmo75, what made you choose those previous products? I'm curious how IM'ers decide on what products to test their methods with. With CB most people say to use Gravity of 75%+. While another guy on the forum here (he started a "ask a question about CB" thread but can't remember his/her name) said he had some success with low gravity products also.

I've stayed away from CB generally these days because I know that the stats can be relatively easily manipulated, including the gravity. I guess you just have to look at the offer and landing page yourself and decide if you think its a good sell or not.

Lower gravity I imagine just means that there are not a lot of people selling it basically. I am guessing it would really come down to the sales page itself and judging for yourself.

I would be interested to in knowing how you decided.

cjmo75 said:

My questions are:

Is this a flash in the pan, one-time thing?

Will the results continue, or will the search results drop without SEO?

Is this a normal occurence for experienced article marketers?

Click to expand...

I would hit up some forums that seem to specialize on the topic, do some reading, throw some advice at people, once you have some decent posts throw the link in your signature, etc.
People will pay for things that they think will make them happier.
If it has to do with someone's emotions, you can make money off of it :/

cjmo75 said:

My questions are:

Is this a flash in the pan, one-time thing?

Will the results continue, or will the search results drop without SEO?

Is this a normal occurence for experienced article marketers?

Click to expand...

I would hit up some forums that seem to specialize on the topic, do some reading, throw some advice at people, once you have some decent posts throw the link in your signature, etc.
You could definitely keep submitting articles and backlinking since you're doing well with it to start with. I would try to scale it asap though in other niches you can find incase this flops.
People will pay for things that they think will make them happier.
If it has to do with someone's emotions, you can make money off of it :/

cjmo75 said:

Let's see. I started off with a popular blogging product (I'll bet you can all guess). I did a few sales with that. I promoted some article marketing software. Good sales but lots of returns (the product obviously didn't deliver). Did some weight loss, child anxiety, and bass fishing products too. All with minimal success.

I've come to believe that it's not the product, it's about the keywords and the article directory you use and the way you optimize the article. I used to submit to 20 different directories. I've since stopped that and now only submit optimized articles to 4 or 5 of the most popular ones.

It's a hit or miss thing. I hit today. I'll probably miss a few times before hitting again. I've come to find out you need to promote less popular niches more often. I actually made some sales selling food recipe ebooks a couple of months ago, but got away from it.

I had one day when I made 3 sales about a month ago, and that was for a work from home product. I did a press release that got picked up by Google News and got 1400 hits in one day. Tried repeating it, but the closest I came was 360 hits (no sales).

Click to expand...

Let me give you a tip...

You don't need to expose the vendors you were promoting.
BUT,

Go back to each one you did promote - open notepad and note each and every one of them that had an optin form in their websites, and the ones that didn't have.

Now; I'll take a wild guess:

The new products you had success with had no email squeeze page. Only a sales letter that was clearly written well.
Go back, check and let us know.

If I'm right here - think how many sales you missed by providing vendors with leads, and pick another strategy. (90% of vendors steal traffic, my personal verdict.).

I know I have done so and the difference is radical.

Bross said:

Let me give you a tip...

You don't need to expose the vendors you were promoting.
BUT,

Go back to each one you did promote - open notepad and note each and every one of them that had an optin form in their websites, and the ones that didn't have.

Now; I'll take a wild guess:

The new products you had success with had no email squeeze page. Only a sales letter that was clearly written well.
Go back, check and let us know.

If I'm right here - think how many sales you missed by providing vendors with leads, and pick another strategy. (90% of vendors steal traffic, my personal verdict.).

I know I have done so and the difference is radical.

Click to expand...

You are probably right about this. Let see if he can go back and look to see if this theory matches with his results.

Took your advice and went back to check on the email capture. It was about 50%. One of the products I was promoting heavy did have an email capture. I learned a long time ago not to promote pages with opt-in forms on them.

There was a product I really wanted to promote a while back but it had an opt in. I wrote the vendor and explained I wanted to promote it but the opt in kept me and other affiliates away (just to see what he would say). Thought maybe he had an alternate sales page with no opt in (some offer that).

He came back and told me it was my loss because there were cookies that would make sure I got the commission that lasted for 6 months.

That's true, I told him, but only if they come back to the sales page and buy from there. If he contacts them through his autoresponder (Why wouldn't he? I would), and they buy through his link, I lose out.

I told him I thought he would make more sales by getting rid of the opt in and focusing on recruiting more affiliates to do the "dirty work", and he wrote back telling me I was an ass and he didn't want "idiots like you" (meaning me) promoting his products anyway.

After that, never promoted a page with an opt-in again, and never will.

BTW the article traffic died off this morning and no more sales Going to see if i can duplicate today.

cjmo75 said:

Took your advice and went back to check on the email capture. It was about 50%. One of the products I was promoting heavy did have an email capture. I learned a long time ago not to promote pages with opt-in forms on them.

There was a product I really wanted to promote a while back but it had an opt in. I wrote the vendor and explained I wanted to promote it but the opt in kept me and other affiliates away (just to see what he would say). Thought maybe he had an alternate sales page with no opt in (some offer that).

He came back and told me it was my loss because there were cookies that would make sure I got the commission that lasted for 6 months.

That's true, I told him, but only if they come back to the sales page and buy from there. If he contacts them through his autoresponder (Why wouldn't he? I would), and they buy through his link, I lose out.

I told him I thought he would make more sales by getting rid of the opt in and focusing on recruiting more affiliates to do the "dirty work", and he wrote back telling me I was an ass and he didn't want "idiots like you" (meaning me) promoting his products anyway.

After that, never promoted a page with an opt-in again, and never will.

BTW the article traffic died off this morning and no more sales Going to see if i can duplicate today.

Click to expand...

Wow quite the story. That guy sounded like a real winner. Guess he will be keeping his job at McDonald.

When it comes to article marketing, you really need to keep turning it out to keep it up, unless of course you find other ways to keep those articles you created working for you. Like my autopligg suggestion.