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‘Tis the Season for Affiliate Earnings! Posted: 19 Nov 2012 10:33 PM PST Who doesn’t love Christmas? And referring shoppers to Christmas presents? Each year as November rolls around, you might notice many affiliate marketers begin to get a certain spring to their step.  They smile at the neighbors, tip more generously at restaurants, and surprise significant others with fresh flowers. Is it just the magic of the holiday season?  The crisp air, idyllic decorations, and plentiful sweets? Or… Maybe it has something to do with this: One client’s earnings from the Amazon affiliate program. You see, as it turns out, people buy a lot of stuff online in late November and December. A LOT of stuff. So for internet marketers who make their living as a retail affiliate (product reviews, coupon sites, deals sites, price comparison, etc.), November and December can sometimes constitute half of their total earnings for the year. This is particularly true of sites that affiliate with major retailers like Amazon, where you may refer a customer to a $0.99 ebook who then goes on to purchase $700 of Christmas presents or Black Friday deals, which Amazon generously shares with you. In fact, November and December are so good for ecommerce affiliate, that you should look for ways to add an ecommerce affiliate component to your content during these months, even if it’s not your primary business. Just look at everyone from TechCrunch to Surfer Magazine touting their Holiday Gift Guides. Does the world really need thousands of articles telling us how to choose the right Christmas present for our kid’s math teacher, which brand of diaper cake new Moms are hoping to see under the tree this year, or which passport holder frequent business travelers will truly cherish? Christmas gift idea lists are so popular with media because they are hugely important to advertisers (or affiliate revenue), not readers. Now that you know how much is at stake this season, here are some tips for how you can carve out a chunk of the holiday spending bonanza this year, and bring yourself a sweeter New Year in 2013: Choose to affiliate with a large ecommerce store that is likely to attract a lot of Christmas shoppers. Your goal is not to sell one product; it’s to get a piece of buyers’ gift-buying sprees. More is better. Again, because you’re trying to get a piece of holiday shopping that’s happening anyway, you want to reach as many people as possible. You’ll do much better promoting $5 products to 10,000 people than you will $500 products to 100 people. What are your readers’ unique needs during the holiday season? For example, if you own a site that offers reviews of yoga DVDs, perhaps you can offer a list of eco-friendly gift ideas for yoga enthusiasts. If you run a parenting blog, consider advising parents on educational toys they can put under the tree. Remember, most of the online shopping happens on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the several days before and after. Make sure your content is in place before Thanksgiving, and that you continue to post content with affiliate links right through the first week of December. For those whose revenue is primarily ecommerce-based, now is a great time to splurge on some extra promotion. AdWords will be expensive, but why not boost your organic SEO with a free month of category sponsorship at BOTW, or up your guest posting? Who spends most on Christmas presents? Middle-upper income American moms. That’s your key target demographic Look for ways to expand your audience. Even if you don’t have a popular website, look for ways to integrate your affiliate links into content you share with your email list, Twitter followers, or even Facebook friends. Volume of purchases are so high around key shopping days that referring a small number of people can still generate reasonable revenue. One final tip: if you’re going to be doing any holiday shopping this year, please don’t forget to use my Amazon link

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