Fashion Affiliate Marketing Journey 2021 (SEO Traffic)

[azgold]

“I’ve learned that the long-game is the shortcut” ― Richie Norton

I like that quote.

Been an on-and-off week as I had some health issues, mainly due to weight gain

Sorry to hear you're having some health issues! Re weight gain, yeah, I think it's pretty common because of the pandemic. I don't know if you noticed but in that timeboxing video, you can see that Elon Musk has a pretty big paunch now.

I hope you're sleeping better than you were. You need some deep REM sleep for healing.

By the way, we used to use our Daytimers for scheduling our days. Back when people used pen and paper.

banked $76 this week which is just pocket money now (pays for the wine)

You can get a pretty good bottle of vintage for $76 (or many more than one of cheaper ) Regardless, it keeps you away from the cheap beer that tastes like lake sludge.

I think I remember when you were still working your way up to earning this much from your sites. You've come a long way already.

Sounds like you have big, busy plans. Are you going to schedule some personal time in there so you don't burnout?

 

[Graybeard]

Yusuff, Honeybadger hasn't a fixed plan to get rich quick online with affiliate marketing --that doesn't really exist with the exception of stumbling into a disruptive plan that works.
That rarely happens and if it does: you have to be able to see it's potential.

 

[Honeybadger]

Are you going to schedule some personal time in there so you don't burnout?

Outdoor paintball is my favorite sport
But fatties (like me) get popped real quick
It's a vicious circle, but will get there slowly
Can't see this being an Instagram summer though

 

[Honeybadger]

By the way guys
I made a mistake with the reports since August 2020
People keep asking if I did any linking building, and I said no
Well in fact getting ranked on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go is link building (I think)
So the answer is more than 10,000 links (variable, changes over time)

 

[Graybeard]

Motorhome --> I thought of doing some marketing work for a motorhome company, and get a motorhome in return, it's a fledgling idea but I believe its got potential --> just need the right angle

Buy a short school bus used and rebuild it. $5,000-$10,000 if the engine and trans are still in good shape.

 

[azgold]

Well in fact getting ranked on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go is link building (I think)

I look at that as more like the results of link building. You build links to get ranked. Then you're in the magic loop - your site -> other site -> search engines -> your site -> search engines -> your site, etc..

Assuming, of course, upon good new and return traffic and retention.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[Honeybadger]

There's good news, bad news

Good news is I received $1,600 commission payments over past 2 days
This is for 1 fashion clothing affiliate website on 5 networks
Similar to what @SEOBlogPosts is doing
Takes payments to end of January

Bad news is I am very ill with viral gastroenteritis
Learn about it here ==>> www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/gastroenteritis
My immune system is weak because of weight gain, lack of workout and poor nutrition
For affiliate marketers illness is a huge risk
I should have started outsourcing by now
@azgold and others are correct about taking time out
It's really important (stubborn, learning the difficult way)

Click below to reveal my symptoms
(sharing for shock, this could happen to you !!)

Spoiler

Severe diarrhea (green)

Spoiler

Visit bathroom 30 times/day

Spoiler

Very sore anus

Spoiler

Chills and sweating

Spoiler

Fever

Spoiler

Headache

Spoiler

Abdominal pain

Spoiler

Dry mouth

I can tell you one thing right now
If you offer me 1 million dollars
Or perfect health until I'm 80
I would help burn the money in front of you
Good health is everything

 

[Graybeard]

Want it to look like regular work van

That's the size of a jail cell (or smaller) --no thanks.

 

[azgold]

I feel a bit conflicted about hitting the like button on that last post of yours, @Honeybadger . I don't like that you're sick, it was for this part:

I can tell you one thing right now
If you offer me 1 million dollars
Or perfect health until I'm 80
I would help burn the money in front of you
Good health is everything

You are SO RIGHT!

Nothing....absolutely nothing....is more important!

You're not going to get to enjoy those internet riches when you're sick and weak, or worse.

I'm so sorry to hear you're not well! With your immune lowered, be sure to really protect yourself around other people in this pandemic.

@azgold and others are correct about taking time out
It's really important (stubborn, learning the difficult way)

Many of us have learned that the hard way. Online work is addictive, I swear it is.

Wishing you a very speedy recovery and that you're more comfortable in the very near future, Honeybadger!
_______________
P.S. Really appreciate those detailed, descriptive spoilers. I just ate supper before I saw them.

 

[tng2411]

Hi again Honeybadger, just come here after reading from page 1-25 of your brilliant inspiring and successful journey thread in 2020!!!!

I think we have learned much from your story and I've personally never seen such a real diary like this.

However, if you have time to consider, I really love to see you build a website for long-term earning (physical or digital products, but I prefer digital ones), which is not affected by trend mostly. As I see you only do seasonal products which are on hot demand. It's like you are surfing on a huge wave (hot trend) and get cash, but when the wave goes down (that trend ends), you have to jump on another wave to make money.

OR, I also want to see if you do research, analyze for the next 6-month demand (or trend). This is like trying to predict the future demand, then start building a great website to get ready for it. I'm wondering if it's more efficient than what you are doing now (immediately build websites and sell as soon as possible)

Also, just want to send some warm words and blesses to your health and wellness. Get well soon bro!!

 

[Honeybadger]

It's like you are surfing on a huge wave (hot trend) and get cash, but when the wave goes down (that trend ends), you have to jump on another wave to make money.

@tng2411
Seasonal trends are highly predictable

Summer --> Gets Hot --> People buy sunglasses, shorts, sandals
St Patricks Day --> Gets Green --> People buy Irish flags, Guinness hats, orange beards
Fall --> Gets Cold --> People buy coats, gloves, hats
Christmas --> Starts Snowing --> People buy ski boots, skates, decorations, shovels

The waves are one after the other
All year round, even when Covid halts the planet

The challenge is to find the micro niches, and what specific products will be popular for each event
For that you need alot of tracking and to monitor the trends every day
Test as many products as possible and whatever is trending should go in your shop windows

 

[Honeybadger]

Looking forward to using my shiny new AffKit !!

 

[Honeybadger]

More about trends (Google Trends --> trends.google.com)
I'm on GT 45-90 minutes every day, it's one of the best and most undervalued tools in digital marketing and affiliate marketing
Highly recommend you take 10 minutes out to watch this video
Some of you guys have been asking this --> "how do you choose affiliate products?" or "how do you know what offers to promote?" or "what do you do when affiliate product trends die out?"
Here's the answer in this video, just posted by ClickBank

 

[Graybeard]

Bit off topic:
Try buying frozen berry mix. As fruit goes berries are lower in sugars than most other fruits --more filling than juice
Fresh berries are nice when you can find them in season --or at a reasonable price.

 

[Honeybadger]

Just wanted to say thank you to Affiliate Fix
Stoked to win the follow along competition 1st prize
I will spend the $500 prize money on my Nike Store workout gear wishlist
Yet another reason to start your affiliate journey thread !!
"You've got to be in it to win it" - David Fuentes

 

[Honeybadger]

Affiliate Business Report - Week 13 + 14 of 52
3.26.2021 - 4.8.2021

"The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you aim at it" ― Mal Pancoast

Week 13 + 14 Commission
$135 from 5 networks (1 fashion clothing site) -->

1. .. $43 (Amazon Associates)
2. .. $31
3. .. $7 (Number 1 product discontinued )
4. .. $10
5. .. $44

Project Notes

• Development work --> Back to work after 2 weeks sick, I read Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" from cover to cover for the 1st time, it's positively my favorite book of all time, also downloaded the audio book (10 hours), registered some big hitting keyword domain names (50,000 searches per month), completed my business plan on Google Drive, I've limited it to 10 pages and it's a working document

• Traffic & analytics stats --> Traffic is way down (below 200 vistors/day) because I haven't been updating the site, but once the other 9 sites are ranked and earning commission the sun will start shining again, I'm very optimistic about massive commission throughout summer and winter 2021, but I need to really become organized and fired up

• Commissions earned --> Banked $135 over past 2 weeks which is peanuts but at least it paid my food bills, plus bonus of winning $500 from the Follow Along Competition, which covers my entire workout gear wishlist on Nike.com for 2021 - thanks @T J Tutor !! so I'm calling it $635 instead of $135

• New software tested --> It's a fact that keyword domains help you rank on Google (note the work "help" as in "to assist" not to guarantee), so I've started dropcatching keyword domain names and hosting on a multihoster account, but dropcatching is tricky for several reasons, 1st you need to wait near the expiry date to register the dropcatch so that nobody else sees it until it's too late, 2nd there are many other people dropcatching so it's best to be very selective and not just go for obvious domains, I go for 2-word product related keyword domains for English-speaking audience with 50,000 searches per month and my wishlist is 30 days in front, so far none of my pre-registrations have been caught by anyone else (when this happens the domain goes to auction and I will withdraw the request, get refund), anyway these registrations are for sites I'm developing rather than being a hoarder that never develop or sell their domains - why is this frustrating, well go to Way Back Machine and see a domain that has been registered for 20 years by 10 different owners but never developed - STOP DOING THIS !!!!

• Next week --> Same old story, keep it simple and effective, clear targets and realistic schedule (using Google Calendar), also need to post Q1 report (January 1 thru March 31) to this thread which will include a SWOT analysis, also getting excited about using AffKit, I'll start testing all the tools on my affilite porftolio web sites and post feedback to this thread

 

[Graybeard]

If you are going to build a network for SEO you should have 3 servers for 10 domains with separate IP Blocks;
AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD (111.222.333.044) A and/or B.
Otherwise, it's obvious what all those domains are the same operator.

 

[Honeybadger]

Wishlist item #1
www.nike.com/t/free-rn-2018-mens-running-shoe-4VTnGqeZ/942836-100

 

[azgold]

Wishlist item #1

Nice shoes! Have you ordered them yet?

 

[Honeybadger]

Nice shoes! Have you ordered them yet?

Hopefully order them Monday

 

[Honeybadger]

Q1 Business Report (Part I)
1.1.2021 - 3.31.2021

This is 1st quarter 2021 report for my affiliate marketing business, showing commission from one fashion clothing website, promoting offers/products across 5 affiliate networks, targeting English speaking customers in US, Canada, Ireland, UK, Australia and New Zealand - To understand the type of sites I build you can read My First Affiliate Marketing Journey in Fashion thread from @SEOBlogPosts

More parts of this Q1 report will follow, including detailed anaylsis of what went wrong, and what went right, plus a SWOT Analysis for Q2

Total Commission
$2,113

Network	January	February	March
Amazon Associates	$197	$164	$95
Network 2	$281	$192	$93
Network 3	$94	$49	$193*
Network 4	$258	$313	$132
Network 5	$26	$14	$12
Total	$856	$732	$525

*Commission on Network 3 for March 2021 was $41, amount shown includes $152 commission correction refund from affiliate network

 

[Honeybadger]

Q1 Business Report (Part II)
1.1.2021 - 3.31.2021

In this part of the Q1 Report I will publish a SWOT analysis for my affiliate marketing business, which will identify 4 key areas of the business in Q2 (4.1.2021 - 30.6.2021) in order to reach the financial target of $100,000 in annual commission

• Strengths --> How the business can provide value to the customer, and gain competitive advantage over other affiliate and non-affiliate websites competing for the same customers, in order to meet its financial targets
• Weaknesses --> Current challenges the business faces that limit its ability to exploit its strengths and meet its financial targets
• Opportunities --> How the business will improve its competitive position in the market in order to meet its financial targets
• Threats --> How the business will cope with future challenges from internal sources, competitors, regulators and other business factors, which could limit the business from operating and/or meeting its financial targets

Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats

[td]Full-time operation (hours)[/td]
[td]Poor time management[/td]
[td]Follow Google Calendar plan[/td]
[td]Locked out of Google account[/td] [tr]
[td]Total control over decisions[/td]
[td]Making rookie mistakes[/td]
[td]Seek expert advice more often[/td]
[td]Legal action against business[/td]
[/tr] [tr]
[td]Up-to-date SEO skills[/td]
[td]No set learning schedule[/td]
[td]Plan regular SEO education[/td]
[td]Google algorithm updates[/td]
[/tr] [tr]
[td]Set up website in 24 hours[/td]
[td]Too many projects (no time)[/td]
[td]Outsource repetitive work[/td]
[td]New competitor websites[/td]
[/tr] [tr]
[td]Expert contacts at Affiliate Fix[/td]
[td]Timewasting (irrelevant posts)[/td]
[td]Read more, comment less[/td]
[td]Get banned or forum goes offline[/td]
[/tr] [tr]
[td]Current passive income[/td]
[td]Not making a profit[/td]
[td]Create business financial plan[/td]
[td]Not meeting financial targets[/td]
[/tr] [tr]
[td]Debt-free business[/td]
[td]Lack of focus on income[/td]
[td]Create personal financial plan[/td]
[td]Not being able to pay bills[/td]
[/tr] [tr]
[td]Very low overheards[/td]
[td]Not saving any money[/td]
[td]Begin investing profits[/td]
[td]Business goes bankrupt[/td]
[/tr]

In the next post, Part III will provide more detail on each of the 32 points identified in the business SWOT analysis

 

[Musti Moger]

I did read all the posts of your journey, appreciate what you are doing.

The best take for me was to understand: affiliate marketing is numbers game.

Thanks a lot...

 

[Honeybadger]

affiliate marketing is numbers game

You are correct @Musti Moger

My biggest learning curve, in terms of traffic + revenue, has been to focus on 3 metrics

1. Impressions --> Customer sees your offer/ad
2. Clicks --> Customer interacts with your offer/ad
3. Conversions --> Customer takes your desired action

This would be the same for any campaign

1. Get seen
2. Get visited
3. Get used

Too often I have overcomplicated what is actually a very simple process

1. Get impressions --> increase impressions
2. Get clicks --> increase clicks
3. Get conversions --> increase conversions

Both failure and success need to be quantified in order to exist, therefore both end scenarios can be explained mathematically, and understood with questions that begin with the word "why?"

• Why didn't I get impressions? Because I didn't promote
• Why didn't I get clicks? Because I didn't get impressions
• Why didn't I get conversions? Because I didn't get clicks

 

[Honeybadger]

Q1 Business Report (Part III)
1.1.2021 - 3.31.2021

In this post, Part III, I have provided more detail on each of the 32 points identified in the business SWOT analysis, in order to learn from my affiliate marketing business experience in Q1 and in 2020, with the goal of identifying actions that will revitalize my business in Q2 (4.1.2021 - 6.30.2021) and meet financial targets

1. Strengths

Full-time operation (hours)

• This business will require full-time hours (which I am able to commit to), instead of 3 hours before lunch, and the afternoon doing adventure sports and other fun things (which are important as @azgold has said)
• Action --> Take full advantage of weekends

Total control over decisions

• It's great being in charge and have the power to get things done without asking a boss, but that lack of oversight has its drawbacks, the main one is there's nobody around to say "get up you lazy bum, it's time to work!"
• Action --> Make better use of alarms and notifications

Up-to-date SEO skills

• SEO is by far my most powerful marketing weapon, as it has brought over 500,000 product page views on one website over the past 8 months, but I have a nagging desire to move to paid ads
• Action --> Focus on SEO as sole traffic source (until 2022)

Set up website in 24 hours

• Another skill I have learnt is the ability to set develop a fully-operational business website within 24 hours of domain registration, however the problem is that I have been registering new domains and half setting up new sites that never get finished
• Action --> Don't register any new domain names until 2022

Expert contacts at Affiliate Fix

• Being a member of the Affiliate Fix community is at the heart of all my success so far, but I need to treat it more like a professional business resource and less like a social network, commenting on random threads and liking every post I read
• Action --> Choose specific threads to follow and comment on

Current passive income

• While my main site was generating $2,500 per month at one stage, it's now become a passive income that I don't really need to update but still generates $500-$750 every month, however the main products I'm promoting will be out-of-season very soon
• Action --> Focus on my 2 new summer niche websites in Q2

Debt-free business

• The business doesn't owe anybody money, it has no creditors, and all legal agreements (except domains) are month-to-month non contract based, and I aim to keep it that way
• Action --> Don't pay for anything on credit

Very low overheards

• It's amazing how little money it takes to set up an affiliate website and start earning commission, my first site cost $25 (plus a heap of hours) and earned over $12,000, but there comes a time when premium versions and business upgrades just make life easier
• Action --> Choose which premium software versions to purchase

2. Weaknesses

Poor time management

• If SEO skills are my biggest strength, then bad time management is my biggest weakness, and directly the biggest threat to the business, there simply isn't enough time to be wasitng time (and I'm now fed up with all the time I've wasted these past 90 days)
• Action --> Monday thru Friday has to be on a strict schedule

Making rookie mistakes

• Everyone here knows about "shiny new toy syndrome" and I get bouts of it nearly every single day, the creative juices start flowing and I keep coming up with "amazing" new affiliate website ideas, and that distraction needs to stop
• Action --> Focus on current projects

No set learning schedule

• I found an easy way to decide what to learn from all the different sources available, it's with a simple question "does this directly help the business, or is it entertainment?" From this I was able to unsubscribe to alot of newsletters and Yout Tube channels, leaving only subscriptions I NEED to consume
• Action --> Schedule 2 hours per day for learning (1 hour learning in the morning for software, 1 hour in the afternoon for management skills)

Too many projects (no time)

• I simply took on too many projects in Q1, first becoming overwhelmed and therefore unproductive (and distracted by shiny new toys), then I got sick which meant I couldn't work - which became a depressing downward spiral
• Action --> No more new projects until 2022

Timewasting (irrelevant posts)

• Looking back I cannot understand where I got the time to post 1,815 messages in less than 1 year - and many of those messages were warring with evil spammers (which I decided was a losing battle), not helpful to running a serious business
• Action --> Ignore spammers

Not making a profit

• During the Cyper Weekend & Christmas periods I was turning a proft, since my earnings we well above my break-even figure of $2,000 per month ($2k pays all my bills including tax, above that is profit), however post-Christmas I took my foot off the gas pedal, commissions dropped and I've now entered loss-making territory
• Action --> Focus on start making a profit again

Lack of focus on income

• As @T J Tutor has said often affiliate marketing is a business, and I have found that approaching it in a businesslike way increases the chances of success substantially, because when I was focused and well-organized at the start everything went well, but as soon as I stopped treating it seriously things began going wrong
• Action --> Spend Monday thru Friday running it like a business

Not saving any money

• Luckily I haven't had the opportunity to splash the cash during all the closures from Covid-19, but I also haven't marked a specific amount of money to save each month when my affiliate commissions arrive
• Action --> Decide specific amount of money to save each month - and don't touch it !!

3. Opportunities

Follow Google Calendar plan

• Operating to a schedule is one of the best things I have learnt so far, because you can plan ahead and prepare properly for the week, conversely not following a plan leaves everything to chance - which I found it where things start going wrong
• Action --> Plan schedule Monday through Friday in advance, check at the end of each day that everything got done (if something didn't get done move it to the next available time slot)

Seek expert advice more often

• I feel bothered saying it but it's a male thing to think we can do everything without anyone else's help, but while being self-sufficient is an excellent character trait, if someone can help (and they have offered to help) then I need to just ask - it will save valuable time
• Action --> Ask experts for advice

Plan regular SEO education

• I have subscribed to a number of excellent SEO information sources, particularly on You Tube (Google Search Central, Neil Patel, Brian Deane, Yoast, Ahrefs, Sem Rush, Hubspot, Wordpress) but I never seem to get around to watching the videos
• Action --> Schedule SEO learning in my daily 1 hour morning space

Outsource repetitive work

• This one I've really struggled with as I am convinced that outsourcing work will end up with one or more of 3 eventualities, 1) Content quality will be worse (as they don't care about my business, just getting paid), 2) My clever affiliate system and niche idea will get stolen by the developer, 3) I will end up spending more time and money outsourcing than if I'd simply done it myself
• Action --> Find anything that can be automated and pay a developer to set it up

Read more, comment less

• We have all heard the saying about "having two ears, one mouth, and use them in that order" and it's a good one to remember because there's so much amazing information on Affiliate Fix that I haven't read, which is solved by using the search box more often
• Action --> Only comment with constructive and useful information

Create business financial plan

• I kinda know what business costs are coming up, like hosting, domain renewal, software licenses, telephone bill, account fees - but I don't have a definitive calendarized schedule of everything going out and coming in to the business this year, which is not good
• Action --> Add financial plan to business plan

Create personal financial plan

• Like alot of people I know roughly what I spend each month and I've never really needed to write it down and analyze it, but I think being self employed this needs to get done - otherwise I'll start confusing personal and business income/expenditure (and The Man will come along to bite some @$$)
• Action --> Create a personal financial plan

Begin investing profits

• Although I listed this (thinking about Bitcoin and gold coins) it actually isn't something to be thinking about yet - another outbreak of "new shiny toy syndrome"
• Action --> Save money instead of risking it

4. Threats

Locked out of Google account

• Google (and increasingly other companies) have a very irritating tendency to lock me out of various paid and unpaid accounts for the most obscure reasons, and not having access to email or Google Console/Analytics can hurt like a red hot poker in the back door
• Action --> Back up all important data

Legal action against business

• This was kind of a filler point, but it's a risk with 9 content websites (and no legal representation apart from a friendly accountant) that another person or business/competitor will get mad about something, which is why I try to stay updated with local, national and international regulations about affiliate marketing, ecommerce and business management
• Action --> Seek business insurance & legal cover

Google algorithm updates

• Part of ranking on Google is accepting that Google owns Google searches and despite multiple international lawsuits it basically does what it wants, the downside of this is that it can (and does) change the alogorithm on a regular basis, and as @Graybeard has often stated a negative alogorithm change could instantly derank all my sites, kill my traffic and stop the business earning commissions
• Action --> Watch weekly podcasts from Google Search Central Channel on You Tube

New competitor websites

• Another filler point because it's very difficult to know when a new competitor website will be launched, all I can really do is wait for new competitors to show up in search results, analyze their site and take appropriate actions
• Action --> Monitor Google rankings for new competitors

Get banned or forum goes offline

• This is another filler point, but I need to save both my threads in the Way Back Machine in case the forum shuts down (for any reason), I really don't want to lose my follow threads as only some of the lists are saved in my Google Drive account and I am thinking to make these threads into an e-book if everythign goes to plan
• Action --> Save my threads in Way Back Machine

Not meeting financial targets

• Although not paying bills is more important, I set a target of $100,000 affiliate commission at the start of 2021 and I really want to try as hard as I can to achieve it, despite now thinking that jumping from $10,000 straight to $100,000 was premature ($25,000 would have been a more realistic target) as it's still my 1st full year, having only started started summer 2020 in affiliate marketing
• Action --> Re-evaluate my plan to earn $100,000 in the next 9 months

Not being able to pay bills

• This is really important as paying bills (earning $2,000 per month after tax deductions) is the key to sustaining my affiliate marketing business, so it's connected to my personal financial plan and making sure I have enough money saved to cover bills for a 6 month period at minimum, which would be $12,000
• Action --> Plan how to I will save $12,000

Business goes bankrupt

• So this last point is less about preventing the business going SHTF, and more about my exit strategy to make sure I personally don't go bankrupt, this is why it's so important to keep my personal and business finance separate, the key to this last one is to answer a simple question "what job will you do if you cannot do affiliate marketing?"
• Action --> Create a simple Plan B

What's next?
In my final Q1 Report post, Part IV will state my action plan for Q2
Stay tuned !!