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In the last part of the Make Money from Your Blog series, I covered the ins and outs of Amazon Associates. Today’s contribution to the series covers the popular ClickBank affiliate program.

What is ClickBank?

ClickBank has become a very popular marketing program for publishers and affiliates alike. Because most of the products found on ClickBank are electronic (such as e-books), the commission rates are often as high as 50-75%! This is very exciting as an affiliate marketer, which truly drives the promotion and sales through this site.

What are the benefits of using ClickBank?

Because a large proportion of ClickBank’s products offered for affiliates in their marketplace tend to be electronic, and because e-books and similar electronic products are simpler to produce than physical goods, there are often new products available for promotion.  This means there are always new opportunities for additional revenue.

Additionally, ClickBank is very popular due to its high commission rates, often between 50-75%. The reason that the rates are often so high is due to the lack of costs required in producing electronic products compared to physical goods.

Finally, just about anyone is accepted into the ClickBank affiliate program.

Are there any drawbacks from using ClickBank?

Because the commission rates offered by ClickBank are very high for so many products, the competition can be fierce. Marketing a product for successful sales can end up being costly if you are attempting to advertise with AdWords or a similar service and are not fully acquainted with minimizing costs while maximizing CTR.

Numerous affiliates have also encountered issues with receiving credit for sales that are completed as a result of their marketing efforts via affiliate links. Problems can be encountered where the tracking cookie is somehow deleted or modified between a user clicking the affiliate link and reaching the checkout page. This can occur with poor (or flat-out thievery style of) scripting on a publisher’s page, or through malware that modifies tracking cookies prior to completing a purchase on an end-user’s system.

Finally, another slight annoyance is that ClickBank provides a password during the registration process that it does not allow you to change. This may make it difficult for you to log in, and could potentially pose as a security concern since it simply creates a need to write down the assigned password in order to remember it.

So how do I get started?

Once you have joined ClickBank, visit the ClickBank Marketplace to find the products offered for affiliate marketers. Products are listed in categories and sub-categories, and a search form is also provided for locating products relevant to your niche.

After narrowing down your search, a list of products are provided with links to view the publisher’s pitch page and to create a “hoplink”.  The hoplink is what will allow you to create a custom affiliate link using your ClickBank username and an optional tracking code for reporting, as per the screen shot below.

While browsing through the marketplace, take note that there are various numbers below each product description. The our pieces of information provided include $/sale, %/sale, %refd, and grav. Getting Started in Affiliate Marketing provides details on what these codes mean and how to select the best products based upon the combination of numbers.

How do I track my earnings?

ClickBank provides a basic reporting interface for tracking earnings. By specifying a date range, the transactions report will provide specifics regarding each sale made through your affiliate link, including date and time, the tracking ID if used, the item sold, the amount earned, and the name and email of the customer.

ClickBank has a minimum payment threshold of $10 before a payment is made to an affiliate, and payments are made by check.  Additionally, transactions from 5 separate credit cards must be made for an affiliate prior to releasing any payments.  (PayPal and e-check purchases made by customers do not count toward the minimum.)  The reason for this is that it helps to prevent abuse of the program by customers simply attempting to receive discounts on products.

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