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It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my blog, but I’m back with some learning lessons since the last time I wrote.

In my last post, I provided insight regarding the steps I took on putting together my first ClickBank experiment. The general idea on some of the research was justified, but overall it was lacking. Furthermore, I approached it the wrong way, jumping in head first without doing the research on the topic of affiliate marketing that was absolutely necessary beforehand.

After putting up Home Wine Secrets and logging no affiliate purchases, I posted on my favorite business forum seeking aide and input. I received some information from several of the board members who I consider to be the most knowledgeable based upon their previous posts and participation in the forum. There was a general consensus among the posts that I feel obligated to share here, as now that I know the information, most of it seems fairly obvious (especially the first point):

1. Build a squeeze page, including an opt-in list and no AdSense or other means by which the visitor can be drawn away from the opt-in form. If I’m not building a customer base, I’m building someone else’s. This will only help me in the short run. One of the members was kind enough to throw together a sample of what this should include, as can be seen in the image to the right.
2. Include several links in the footer; included should be links to relevant information, a privacy statement, and a disclaimer. This is to prevent being Google slapped.
3. Build an auto-responder sequence using a service such as AWeber (aff). Specifically, create one email for each product. Within the auto-responder email, include the bonus info they’re signing up for (as mentioned on the opt-in page), and make sure the affiliate link is set up to track that the sale is from the email. The bonus information within the opt-in emails can basically be article content rewritten from sources such as GoArticles or Ezine Articles.
4. Reduce my spending on my AdWords campaign such that I’m spending no more than $0.05-0.15 per click-through.
5. Perform A/B testing on my AdWords campaign, similar to what is explained in Perry Marshall’s conference lecture video.
6. After building a list of 500+ opt-ins, begin building my own product that I can market to existing mailing list members.

I began to follow through the list of changes I intended to make, reconstructing my site to include a single opt-in page to be reached from my AdWords campaign. This reconstructed homepage can be seen below.

I also set up several emails for the AWeber (aff) automated correspondence. Below is an example email, the first that is sent through signing up on the site.

Hi {first_name},

I hope you’re excited to get started on making your first home batch
of wine. I know I was!

Here’s a little known wine making tip that I thought you might find
interesting.

——— WINE TIP #1 ———

In making wine, all the products and ingredients you’ll need can be
purchased from the local grocery if you do not already have them in
your home. Water, yeast, and the various fruits are at the heart of a
batch, along with several other ingredients such as roots and wheat
varying by recipe.

You may think to yourself that any old water will do for your wine.
But if you want the best flavor, that is not the case!

The type of water used in wine is best determined by how soft it is.
Surprisingly, rainwater is one of the best sources of water you can
use. However, due to chemicals found in rainwater today it cannot be
used in its natural form. As such, sterilization is required to
utilize it as an ingredient in your wine.

——————————-

Pretty intriguing, isn’t it? If you haven’t already, you should take
a look at “Making Great Wine.” It contains over 150 pages of
extensive information and recipes to get you started on making wine so
incredibly flavorful that it will be hard to resist a second glass!
Download it today and get started IMMEDIATELY!!

[+] http://www.homewinesecrets.com/making-great-wine

I’m sure you’ll be enjoying your own wine in no time. Good luck!

Matt Huggins
HomeWineSecrets.com

——————————-
Warning: Removing yourself from this list will prevent your from
receiving wine making tips, secrets and expert advice. (You’ll miss
out on a lot!)

Despite my efforts, I found that I still was not getting any sales. I decided it’s time to really go back and look over what I did wrong from the start. Because I simply selected a topic that I personally found to be interesting without focusing on the affiliate sales percent and dollar figure in conjunction with the affiliate sales percent compared to overall sales (the “gravity” value on ClickBank (aff)), I left myself needing a high sale-to-visitor ratio to simply break even.

Looking at the numbers, those wine products that included sales statistics on ClickBank (aff) had an average dollar earnings per sale for an affiliate ranging between $9.77 and $16.29 (see image). Using these numbers as an example, and given that I was previously spending upwards of $0.50 per click-through, I would need somewhere between 1/20 and 1/33 visitors to complete a purchase in order to break even. After adjusting my site, I was still spending $0.21 per click-through on average, meaning that I would need between 1/47 visitors and 1/78 visitors to complete a purchase for the same results.

After allowing my AdWords campaign to run for several days, I had approximately 80 clicks at a total cost of about $17. During this time, I acquired seven opt-ins, one of which opted out after receiving the first email. Of these 6 opt-ins, no purchases we made.

While these numbers are small and not necessarily the end-all be-all of what would happen if I continued the campaign, it does not appear that I have any chance of breaking even by letting it continue to run. I spent more on advertising than I could potentially profit on from my most profitable product, and I made no income in the process.

Despite my loss from my first attempt at affiliate marketing, I did learn a thing or two along the way. I picked up some basic knowledge about how to go about attaining contact information to keep visitors coming back. I also gained some valuable knowledge about product selection with regards to advertising expense. Furthermore, I learned a lot about the AdWords advertising process.

Since my “failure”, I’ve since read several meaningful ebooks and articles on the topic that have helped me focus for future attempts. In fact, I’ve even gone as far as putting together another site entitled Home Profiteer in an effort to make revenue from sales on affiliate marketing products that will hopefully aide others in the same way they aide me.

If you have a similar experience, I’d really like to hear it. Feel free to leave a comment here or contact me directly through email.