Now this is exciting.

My Son just made his very first Affiliate Commission!

No, the commission he earned wasn’t an enormous amount of money.  (Hint: It was $2.)

This single commission is not going to put my son through college, nor will it pay for a single college course — nor will it pay for a single college text book.

Heck, it won’t even pay for a Grande Mocha at Starbucks today!

What this commission lacks in quantity, it makes up for in so many ways:

  • It’s his very first affiliate commission!
  • This commission was earned in a highly competitive niche.
  • This commission was earned selling a product in a hot category.
  • This commission was earned after launching the site roughly one month ago.
  • …and it’s the first of many commissions!

The website I’m making for my son, VideoGameKid.com just earned a whopping $2.00 commission, on a $20 sale of an Angry Birds Tshirt.

Evan's First Affiliate-Referred Sale, as Reported in ShareASAle

Evan was so excited when he learned that his site generated this commission!  Of course, he sees the big picture, and that single $2 commission is simply a milestone — and proof that a “newbie” can make a website that generates affiliate commissions.

If you didn’t know, I’m documenting this entire process in an affiliate marketing video training series for free AffPlan members.  If you were watching along the way, you’d have already known that I created a section of his Video Game website for “Angry Birds Merchandise“, including a sub section for “Angry Birds Tshirts” and “Angry Birds Plush Toys“.

If you’d like to see these videos, and watch “over my shoulder” as I build this website for my son — you can join AffPlan for free, and access all the videos now, if you’d like.

Have I mentioned that I’m so excited that Evan’s website made his first affiliate commission today?

Oh – and here’s another rather exciting component of this tale:

The page that promotes the Angry Birds TShirts was (a) found in google under “Angry Birds Tshirt”, and (b) was created with ShareASale’s “Make a Page” Tool.  (I document process using ShareASale’s Make a Page Tool in this video, and just wrote about it the other day in a different blog post about datafeeds.)

So, not only was the page found in google under a relatively highly competitive “hot” term, the page that I made was created by using ShareASale’s “Make a Page” tool — so I didn’t have to actually create it by hand!

What an exciting day…  ;)

 

Datafeeds don’t have to be difficult

by Todd on January 5, 2012

Affiliate Marketers build a lot of websites for their respective niches, and one powerful way to build a website chalked full of merchant products and content is by using datafeeds.

“But datafeeds are so complicated!”

Yes, they can be.

If you want to use data from multiple affiliate merchants across multiple affiliate networks, then yes – it can be complicated.  Great solutions for this need are provided by DataFeedr, Popshops and GoldenCan.

And, if you’re trying to pull in discounts, deals and coupons from multiple merchants across multiple networks, datafeeds can be even more complicated!  Luckily, ForMeToCoupon is a great solution that powers most of the major players in this space.

…but what about a simple datafeed?

How can Affiliates use a datafeed that doesn’t cost a dime, and is super easy to impliment?

The answer:  ShareASale’s tool called, “Make a Page”.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I am documenting the entire process of how I’m making an affiliate site for my 11 year old son, Evan.  The affiliate website he’s making is all about Video Games, and is found at VideoGameKid.com.

On this site, we decided to display some products related to Angry Birds.  (He loves Angry Birds.  I kinda do, too.)

During the documentation process, I needed a super simple solution that allowed me to pull in some Angry Birds Merchandise (from multiple merchants) and show video game enthusiasts some cool Angry Birds stuff, as well as great gift ideas for gamers.

I turned to ShareASale.

I simply logged in, and found products with “Angry Birds” in the name.  I added them to a ShareASale “basket”, then simply used the “Make a Page” tool to build me a nicely formatted page with all the Angry Birds items I wanted.

That’s pretty much it.

Datafeeds can be complicated.  They can be messy.  They can take time, energy and money to implement.

But, if you’re looking for a simple way to use datafeeds on your affiliate websites, then check out ShareASale’s “Make a Page” tool.

I have documented exactly how I implemented this on VideoGameKid.com, as part of my free video training series here at AffPlan.

Please check out the video, and let me know what you think!  And, give the “Make a Page” tool a shot. 

Related:

AffPlan Strategies Session Podcast:  “DataFeeds Galore” with Eric Nagel and Deb Carney

What the hell is Content Curation (and how does it help Affiliates)?

December 15, 2011

The term “Content Curation” has baffled me for months. When I first heard “content curation” used as it relates to internet marketing, I assumed the name would have to change in order for regular folks like me to understand what the hell it is. For me, the word “curation” seems to conjure images of some …

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Content Curation is Hot (Part 1)

December 15, 2011

It seems that right now the hottest thing in the world of content is curation. Curation is a useful way for anyone to pull together great content for a variety of sources, add their comments to that content and publish new content. Curated content can supplement the content you already have; it can be used [...]

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TweetAdder – A great twitter tool [promo code inside]

December 10, 2011

I learned of TweetAdder type twitter marketing and automation tools in late 2008. With all of the spammy DM’s and @messages from marketers who created twitter profiles and used twitter marketing and automation tools to grow their follower numbers and promote certain products, I thought these twitter tools were going to be a fad. I …

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Watch me build an Affiliate Site for my 11 Year old son

December 9, 2011

As I announced earlier this year, my 11 year old son, Evan, wants to make an affiliate website. Initially, it was quite a battle of wills to get him to simply write a couple basic articles that I could use for the site.  The summer came and went in a flash – and he still …

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Announcing the AffPlan Video Training Series

December 8, 2011

There are many different learning styles. Some people learn best by reading and studying. Some people learn by watching lectures and taking notes. Some people learn by being told what to do, or watching as someone else does it. Over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that most people learn best when they (a) …

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AffPlan’s got a new look!

December 7, 2011

If you’ve been around for a while, you may have noticed some big changes (and growth) here at AffPlan.com. The most obvious of these changes is the new look of the website. It was quite an undertaking, as the original AffPlan.com was a simple, under-utilized, rarely-filled blog.  I had originally used Thesis Theme for this …

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It’s official – I’m a Legend.

November 16, 2011

…and not just in my own mind! Affiliate Summit (the premiere Affiliate Marketing Conference) honors a few select professional Affiliate Marketers every year, in their “Pinnacle Awards” ceremony. I like to think of them as the Oscars of Affiliate Marketing.  (Don’t agree with me?  I don’t care, darn it. This year, the awards ceremony took …

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I was on the “Affiliate Marketing – Then and Now” Webinar [replay available]

November 15, 2011

This was a ton of fun. My good friends and I were on a webinar (recorded as a podcast to replay) recently, where we all talked about how we got started — and we shared a few fun memories to share. “Who are these good friends of yours, Todd?”, you ask? They are: Brian Littleton …

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