Affiliate sales is this blog’s biggest moneymaker, accounting for $4,344.82 of last month’s $12,406.76 blog income. Many readers have emailed me asking which affiliate program was making me the most money.
I deal with affiliate programs the same way I deal with blog advertising – use as many as you can while still providing a good user experience. Currently, I am using eight different affiliate programs to drive income for this blog. Of the eight, the most profitable is Text Link Ads.
The Text Link Ads Affiliate Program
The TLA affiliate program pays you $25 when you refer a new publisher or advertiser to them. The best thing about the program from the publisher side is you get $25 when the publisher is approved. This is far better than the Google AdSense affiliate program that pays you $5 only after the referred publisher makes $5.
In July, I signed up 81 publishers to Google AdSense but got only eight conversions for a total Google affiliate income of $40. By comparison, I signed up 87 new TLA publishers and made $2,175. Yes, I made more money with the TLA affiliate program than I did with the TLA text links. With the TLA affiliate program, you don’t have to wait for the new publisher to make money before you make money. You make $25 once Text Link Ads approves the publisher.
The reason Text Link Ads can afford to do this is they only accept high quality sites that meet the PageRank, Alexa and other ranking requirements. Google will pretty much accept anybody.
Here’s a little tip. If you sign up for Text Link Ads and they don’t approve you for selling text links, they will still let you into the affiliate program. Considering the affiliate programs makes more for me than the text links, I would take advantage of it while working to improve my site rankings. Of course, it’s best to have both but one out of two is better none.
Worst Affiliate Program – AuctionAds
AuctionAds gives you 2% of whatever the site you referred makes. I love these types of deals because it offers passive income potential. However, it seems that most publishers have problems making money with AuctionAds.
I have signed up 311 sites to AuctionAds and my 2% cut has made me a grand total of $61.67. That means entire network of 311 referrals earned a grand total of $3,083.50 or $9.91 per site. This isn’t per month either. This is since AuctionAds started. Hopefully, things will improve now that Media Whiz brought the company.
One To Watch – AzoogleAds
I started using AzoogleAds this month and the results has been very promising. The offers are very high paying and there are tons of them. I’m still trying to find some good ones to use on this blog. So far, the only offer I’ve posted has been the free 250 business card deal which has made $91.10 so far. Not bad for one post and one offer. I can see using AzoogleAds with PPC advertising and custom landing pages. I also like their net 15 day payout.
The key to making money with affiliate marketing is targeting the offer to your readership. I do well with Text Link Ads because most of my readers are bloggers trying to make money online and TLA is a great option for them. I wouldn’t make anywhere near as much if I try to promote a dating service. Then again, you never know. Lots of lonely bloggers out there. 
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{ 103 comments }
Great job!
you are really a strong blogger ^_^
I will second your recommendation for Text Link Ads. If your site is not approved initially for selling ads, that is okay. . . just work on your site for a month or two, build up the links, improve the pagerank and the Alexa rating and you’ll be accepted in no time. And you can submit as many of your sites as you wish for the same account.
Another greta post. I agree in putiting my money maker eggs in more than one basket. TLA is a very good one, so is Kontera. I didn’t see them mention in this particular post. Why not? You are clearly still using them.
I hope to be as evil as you one day
The multiple sites feature is great. I set up accounts for clients pretty regularly, and if they have a few sites in the same niche, they will often have the same advertiser on all of them. Once you prove that the links on one site convert well, advertisers will dig deeper to see what else you have offer. If not, you already have a point of contact to sell more adspace.
DevDad
Canon SD750 Giveaway on DevDad.Com
I wrote a blog entry about comments like this.
If John Chow has his man missile virtually gobbled any more, it will fall off! It’s on Digg, too!
DevDad
Lol that’s easily the best line I’ve read all week. I subscribed to the blog on that alone lol.
Yup John Chow is a Strong Blogger
It’s good to try different advertising to find what works for each site. All ads don’t work everywhere!! The key is still attracting readers to your site. And make them want to return!!!
wish i were you john! I’ve only managed to get $5 for the whole month from avideoaday.com
I have just downloaded your PDF, and I will learn learn learn ~~ kakakka ~
totally i got 600% from Google AD and I even have a very good traffic of my site.
I am really hardworking on blogging, but I think there would be somewhere to improve.
yep, the ebook should help
it’s just difficult to monetize a video blog
Interesting. I will try to incorporate TLA into the blog. Thats a bunch of money to refer someone!
Ya i also will write a post about TLA
Hope to make some money with TLA
But for affiliate programs to work, one needs a dedicated readership and huge traffic. In my last blog, I used TLA Affiliates but not a single conversion.
that’s true
I don’t think you need to have huge traffic. You just need to know your readers. If you are offering a good product, for a good price, and you have properly presold your readers, you will convert a much higher percentage than you may think.
DevDad
Top 5 Reasons Why Bloggers Have Become Whores
serious.. I’m bout to sign up tomorrow
I’m already signed up and accepted but I didn’t realize that people signing up from my link would be such a huge plus.
i will try to get one too
I also didn’t realise that you could still join the TLA affiliate program even if you weren’t approved for selling text link ads.
That’s a great feature – both for TLA and the end user … could even be called evil!
Perhaps I should put some effort in promoting TLA but probably everyone will jump on that now you’ve posted that the TLA affiliate program does really well
Even if everyone jumps in, there will always be new bloggers looking for ways to make money with their site. I’d say a bit of effort would be well spent, IMHO.
OK, so you love Text Link Ads then? Any other one?
One Man. One Year. $100,000 online. How’s he doing it?
http://www.oneyeargoal.com
See, this is why I find signatures annoying. One line of comment, two lines of signature. Granted, you usually offer up quality comments and don’t just spam like some other commentators but still, doesn’t that just look like overkill?
Also, do you have it worked out that the signature is automatically included or do you type it out each time?
Automatically? How to do it?
Not possible……I think He type manually.
Yeah not possible to include automatically. But such people must be keeping such sigs in a notepad open so they can copy paste in each comment they post. Too Bad.
hmmm
Maybe
I have been having some payment problems with Auction Ads.
I did not realize about the TLA referal program!
I’ve heard that others have been as well, while the majority have no issues (most likely because they aren’t generating any income). Care to share specifics for those of us who are interested?
DevDad
Canon SD750 Giveaway on DevDad.Com
The problem is that they pay on the first of the month. The revenue numbers fluctuate for a few days before your true numbers come in. Because of this I was underpaid $10 last month.
I contacted their support team and was told it would be added on to this months check, it was not.
Oh well… You have always motivated me with your blog of how you managed to make so much and continue making…
don’t we all want to be john chow nowadays
I’m still waiting to be approved by Azoogle. Am keen to try them out though.
They just approved me
they will approve faster if you call them. worked for me
Ah, I will try that. Thanks for the tip.
And u need to send them the letter ASAP
I got approved but now they banned me…maybe because I forgot to reply to their survey mail.
Can I signup again or contact them to revive my account?
I would give them a call before signing up again. It’s always a good idea to be a voice on the phone, when possible, instead of just a row in a database.
DevDad
Top 5 Reasons Why Bloggers Have Become Whores
John, now THAT’s what I’m talkin about! A legitimately useful and helpful post about making money online. Keep up the good work and maybe you can UnJump the Shark.
Ah, Happy Days!
i forgot AuctionAds for a long time, thank you for mention the worst affiliate program.
AA is the worst affiliate program
But how about Auction Ads as a advertising tool? Does its normal program gives good earning?
And yet I’m sure Shoe made a nice bit of profit from selling the AA business.
Thanks for clearing that up and being so specific!
Very informative John. I’m looking at Azoogle Ads too, just have to grin and bear the sign up process.
well good tips.
John, I know you’ve often talked about not having all your eggs in one basket (especially Google’s basket) which I agree with whole-heartedly. Do you worry that you might have too many eggs in TLA’s basket as (if my math is correct) they account for more than a third of your blog’s income?
I mean, there’s not as much risk with them as there is with Google but I’m just wondering whether there’s a certain percentage you’d start to worry about and maybe try to diversify even more?
I try to keep an ad network at no more than 30% of total income. However, I consider Text Link Ads and TLA affiliate two different networks. They pay separately and from two different PayPal accounts.
Good point. With the recent MediaWhiz acquisition of AuctionAds, that’s actually another program that falls under the same company but I wouldn’t consider that as one source so I guess it makes sense to separate the Affiliate side from the Ads as well.
Thanks for the input, John!
I’m interested to know if your stratgey has evolved with regards to affiliate advertising and if so how you see it continuing to evolve in the future.
Is it something that you think will just get bigger and bigger?
Sorry I meant *strategy*
Affiliate marketing is definitely one of the best ways to make money, but its not like adsense where what works for one site works for many others. Affiliate marketing requires a little more work, but when you find out what will work for your site it can pay out very well.
I agree. I think affiliate deals are the best way to go, provided you don’t throw every line in the water. I think it’s all about selecting the best offers, and the ones that apply very rigidly to your readership.
DevDad
Canon SD750 Giveaway on DevDad.Com
Great Job
I’m curious what John Chow and others think about Chitika.com ad service? I have a friend that does well with it.
Its totally crap. Doesn’t work at all nicely. Works ok if you have good traffic from specific countries.
which countried do not perform well? I’ve read that traffic from Asia is not counted.
Yeah they banned India and since then I stopped using them.
Actually TLA accepts almost anyone. My mother’s recipe site which is BRAND NEW there is NO PR and she’s got like 1 million alexa .. was accepted. as well as other sites who have no pr, get signed up easily too.
I have had $225 total in affiliate signups for TLA so they are starting to accept anyone it seems. Which is fine I enjoy making money.
That’s interesting. My blog is PR 4 but less than 20 visits a day. Let’s see what TLA thinks about it…
I don’t think TLA cares all that much about traffic. That’s part of what makes them such an attractive option.
Even more interesting, then
They haven’t accepted me yet which is really starting to suck. I think I’ll try to promote them a little harder though since it seems like some good potential money.
Simon
They accept you join the Affiliate but not selling the text links ads
Not in my case. My site’s about to turn a month old and has no visable PR (it has links but not the PR yet) and it was accepted to sell links immediately.
Are you talking about signing up or site being accepted? Both are different things.
I have heard that the TLA affiliate program is a great way to earn. Obviously you have confirmed this notion!
Yea I love azoogle too. them and copeac = worth a try.
thanks for point out that the TLA affiliate program will also work if you don’t get yourself approved for the text links.
keep up the good work john
good to know you don’t have to be approved for the TLA affiliate program. thx.
and keep up the good work john
Great information. Thanks for sharing! Very revealing, too, demonstrating why it’s harder for the “little guy” to make the big bucks online.
It’s kind of like the old Amway–the ones at the top tier signing up new sellers are the ones making the big bucks.
I think this is true in all aspects of business. Ingenuity goes a long when when you are selling or promoting anything, but it is especially important when you are selling information, which is effectively what John does.
DevDad
John has got the right mix and match for his revenue earning streams. He will be soon on No. 1 and will soon hit $20,000 in September
George @bigbrands.blogspot.com
Hey John – that’s good advice on the affiliates. I’ve actually got a question to ask:
I read your ebook a while back, and since setting up my site and getting it the way I want it, I’ve signed up for Kontera under your name. In your ebook you said that it’d give bloggers a better chance of getting in, as Kontera only usually deal with big blogs.
Well that was almost 2 weeks ago, so I’m wondering whether or not you’ve approved me? Will I be emailed or not?
I don’t mind if you’ve viewed my site and decided not to go with it, but either way, I’d like to know.
Cheers dude.
John doesn’t do the approvals, if I understand correctly. Kontera still decides, but they do not consider traffic a bit factor when determining whether to approve one of John’s affiliates.
DevDad
Wow, never knew TLA affiliates could earn so much money, thanks for the info. I will have to look into it.
Great job John, I hope to have my revenue to even half of yours per month. And of course more after I reach that. Your posts are inspiring and your page is as common to type in as google.com now.
On a similar note, I always find myself typing in wp-admin at the end of everything. When you look through my address bar’s history, there is ebay.com/wp-admin, digg.com/wp-admin, google.com/wp-admin, etc. It’s just force of habit now.
DevDad
Top 5 Reasons Why Bloggers Have Become Whores
You are an inspiration. I have a question.. When was this site launched?
you are an inspiration to me to really take blogging seriously John.
Don’t let John’s money be your inspiration — inspire yourself. None of us will get anywhere if we always have our heads in the clouds.
Very well said! If you’re blogging solely for money, chances are you will never have anything to offer to your visitors. You will be copying those who did it already, instead of using your own abilities to your advantage.
DevDad
Top 5 Reasons Why Bloggers Have Become Whores
very true indeed
I just signed up with text link ads this week and have been approved so think I might join their affiliate program now. I agree that AuctionAds is crap.
Bringing home the bacon hey!
Some nice tips and inspiration for getting a blog monetized
nice stuff! letting the readers know whats up?!
Thanks for the tips about TLA! How to you manage to track all your clicks and conversions on your blog with so many programs? Do you have it centralized?
I’ve been waiting for 2 days now for Azoogle to get back to me. Looking forward to hearing something from them.
Glad I’m not the only one who wasn’t to impressed by Auction Ads. Different reasons, I had 23 clicks and no sales at all. For some reason it was the highest clicked ad I had running on my site until I took it down a few days ago.
I’ve given up on TLA placing any adds on my blog, but the affiliate program sounds like a pretty good idea to start promoting.
Thanks for the great advice you nearly always give!
These all seem to be very good. Thanks for the info i will put it to use!!
thanks for sharing…
I’m still a newbies and there is lot to learn..
very nice information, i think i have missed this all in my past, i never tried anything in past but definately i will try all this.
thanks
TLA is realy the best to have. But I dont see any program using contextual advertising. I would like to suggest http://www.webmaster-money.org/out_MediaText.html
It is new promissing sponsor trying to beet Kontera and similar companies.
I don’t know how anyone every makes any money from auctionAds. This should show eBay what they need to do in their affiliate program. There is great money to be made by adding eBay auctions ads to blog posts, but the auction ads format not only sucks – it’s barely customizable at all. It’s just a cheap adsense knockoff written against the eBay API (like Chitika does against shopping.com)…I’ll never understand why a talented coder hasn’t built a better eBay affiliate tool and rocked the blogging world with it.
I’ve signed up on TLA, but they don’t approve me, yet
Hope it would change, in the near future
BTW thanks for the tips I will try them
Getting into dating? Now, that’s a good idea! A lot of bloggers need help with socialization.
Do sites like http://www.gpfsurveys.com work?
Following your post which i have found really interesting, i have subscribed to Text Link Ads on my blog (http://dollarjames.com) but only for the affiliate program for the moment. I will also soon give Kontera content link a try once i am approved. Thanks for all this useful info John!
Thanks for the info on TLA. I’ve been interested in starting to use them. What is the minimum ranking you talk about in the post?
The TLA affiliate program seems to be money for jam – you can’t argue with US$25 for each sign up!
will be nice to get to the point where I can use text link ads.