Tips for making sales with Amazon

[MommyEnterprises]

Can anyone give any tips on how they get sales with Amazon.

I have had there links up for years and don't seem to get
sales from my links. I read where some people make a
substantial income from Amazon. Any tips???

[Jennifer Hadorn]

If you figure it out, let me know. However, I doubt anyone who IS making mega bucks will divulge their secrets for free. KWIM?

I've had much better luck with my gardening stuff than I have with anything else.

[Lynn Terry]

[Lynn Terry]

About their links:

I really dont like the "product links" that they offer. These are the little iFrame boxes - I assume you know what I am referring to. Often if you put that code on your site, it will show up as a generic orange Amazon box instead - unless you refresh the page a couple of times. If you've had this happen on your own site, or seen it on others, it's just tacky (in my opinion).

I like the "recommended product links" section better - this is where you can put in a keyword and have "blocks" created... much like the sizes and layouts of Adsense blocks. In fact, I replaced Adsense on most of my pages with "Amazon ad blocks" of a similar size just recently.

Also, I like to use text links and actual images - which takes a little "manual work" - but the result is much nicer when displaying specific products or putting images & links with specific reviews.

So instead of using the little iFrame code they offer, I would copy my affiliate link from that... and then go to the landing page and grab the URL to the actual product image. For example, on a Black Eyed Peas CD, I would click through and get the actual picture URL:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg

And link to that with my affiliate link:

[url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00096S3RC]

[/url]

(that's not actually my affiliate link - just a direct link - but you get the point, I am sure)


p.s. I have sold 42 items in the last 9 days through Amazon

[Jennifer Hadorn]

[Hock Ng]

I also do manual product links. One strategy I've used is setting up a blog to promote seasonal stuff. For instance, I've got a Christmas gifts blog where I write about gift ideas and include links to Amazon (and other retailers).

Without any SEO efforts, this particular blog gets on average 60+ uniques per day and has a nice christmas term at #3 in MSN which is where most traffic is coming from. This is a WordPress blog. I started out using Blogger but I find Blogger to be deficient in certain areas. In particular, I can never find a place where you can manually set sites you want to ping.

Made quite a few sales through Amazon too. Some items that are over $100 pay nice commissions.

Hock

[Lynn Terry]

[Rose]

Just wanted to through in my two cents worth:

This was a little tidbit I had read on the Amazon.com forums (about a year ago) that was discussing the use of direct links versus any of the other types of linking systems. It seems that using direct links such as:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... azonidhere

it will pay at a higher referral percentage rate than any of the other types of links that are available. That's because the other links, such as the iframes, keyword links, etc. are considered "indirect links".

Anyway, that's more or less the gist of how the guy explained it (and from what I can gather, he makes mega-bucks using Amazon), so I just thought it might be something other folks might be interested in knowing. I haven't actually tested it out as I tend to make all my links direct links.

Another tip he gave was to add /ref=nosim to the end of that link code. That ensures that the visitor is taken directly to the product and not to that page where you see the product at the top and other "recommended" products below it. (I've noticed that happens a lot with book links)

[Rose]

Thought I'd clarify that amazon direct product link thing above.

I just copy and paste the code into my web page, then go to the product page on Amazon, scroll down until I find the ASIN # (ex: ASIN: B0002BJQDY) and copy and paste the number into the code directly.

Then log into your associates account, click Build Links >> Product Links.

Enter the ASIN number. Click the Get HTML button.

Where is says "Customize Link" click SHOW.

Click on the Basic Display radiio button - your iframe will now change to a regular product grahic. You can then select either a small or large graphic size to use.

Sve the graphic to your images directory and add the image to your web page.

[Lynn Terry]

[Kevin Robb]

Personally I have not bothered with "Amazon" up until recently when some of their program changes sparked my interest.

Traditionally their payout percentages have been low and with almost everyone in the world having an "Amazon" book link on their webpage I just didn't see the value in being an affiliate for them.

However "Amazon" have moved forward in recent times and not only expanded the products they offer but they also provide a huge range of options for affilates to use to promote them, no longer do you have to display links that are the same as a million other people.
You can actually create your own ads...And with better returns offered all of a sudden "Amazon" is an attractive option to consider if you are looking for a potential revenue earner for your site.

I have a new found enthusiasm for their program now and intend to include them into one of my sites...

Oh how things change...It just goes to show that one should always keep an open mind!!!

Cheers

Kevin Robb

[A. Smith]

I know that this thread is a few months old, but...

First, thank you Lynn for directing me to it, I had not found it with the Search function.

Second, I am looking into having my products listed in an Amazon store. From the posts here, it seems that you all do things differently from what I thought I might do (yes, clear as mud LOL). It seems that you all have links on your own sites that promote/send customers to products on Amazon. Am I understanding this correctly?

So then, my question is. Which way is more desirable, and why? Having my products on Amazon, or having other folks' products on my site? or both?

TIA!

Agnes Smith

[Lynn Terry]

[A. Smith]

[Lynn Terry]