Affiliate Business Unusual

I can’t get to sleep so thought I’d write down my thoughts, something I’ve been thinking about for a few days. I’m not in affiliate marketing right now, haven’t been properly for a few years since running out of ideas in 2005 and finding domains to be my niche, I dive back in now and again but have lost the majority of my websites and with me out most of the time or on holiday it’s difficult to keep them running, however I find it amazing how some affiliates, merchants and the middle man companies aren’t taking advantage of the current situation.

What’s the current situation? Well let’s look at what life was like when it was business as usual and compare it to now. Business as usual involved clever affiliates buying related keyword domains, niche and traffic so as to develop websites and minisites that could advertise merchants that were on affiliate networks either via engines or ppc, this was an easy concept for most to understand and I did good business with quite a few.

In the not so distant past, any catchy name with the related keywords in would almost certainly sell and at a price, the worth was dictated by the interest, as always, an affiliate knew with a little SEO, understanding of user searches and some good content, combined with the domain name being user friendly, appealing and directly associated that this would help with sales and CTR and make a pretty good impression with visitors.

Nothing has changed in that respect and I should try to get feedback on this I suppose but I’m getting the feeling that despite my clients in affiliate marketing still making hundreds of thousands a year, that the majority aren’t quite making the turnover required to expand their niche or domain holdings so as to increase their income, that’s what I assume.

Domain names with keywords in used to be an affiliates dream, that was my thinking when in the game. If I was doing something with ringtones, then I’d register a domain as closely related as possible and put a site up, when advertising on ppc, it’s much better to advertise a related domain in the url also rather than something tedious or not so catchy.

The situation now is that I’m still catching those same type of domains but I am finding it harder to shift on to affiliates with the same savvy and understanding that I had, reseller hosting is the same cost, more merchants are online than at any other time in history, datafeeds are the easiest to use, more software on hand to make the job simpler, yet for the life of me I am unable to match domains to affiliate needs and requirements… or is it that they just don’t have the hundreds to spend with me at the moment? And right now they don’t even need hundreds as I’m lowering to compensate. Shhhh.

Not always lowering as some are simply too good to let go. I have even started catching specifically for certain affiliates and merchants to cater for their needs, I’m no longer appealing to the masses for sales and instead chasing after the more focused business, smaller but regular business to ensure I stay in business, so how’s about all these other affiliates? When did they get off the boat and when will they get back on?

Only time will tell I guess or is it a matter of education? A thousand domains drop every day and for the likeminded they’re paradise in a box, I pick out 50 a day that are good for minisites, if I was catching for a client with a more specific tangent, I could probably match a dozen of them with twenty related domains a day without any trouble.

In my book and obviously the way I see it, a merchant would get all the domains related to their business and put minisites on them, an affiliate manager or agency for that merchant would buy up all related domains and pass them for use to affiliates to utilise solely or mainly with their client, one of mine does that already – he’s a great affiliate manager, not always fair to say solely as not always easy building a site with one merchant in mind but asking for 60% coverage isn’t wholly unacceptable.

Then we have SEO companies, they would benefit hugely from having a wealth of domains at hand to aid in their marketing and keyword use as would any ppc company. Likewise the networks. And affiliates, for there are thousands, their investment in a keyword related domain would return and if they’re good, give them £50 to £100 minimum a month from a weeks work and within a reseller package… it’s a no brainer.

So how’s affiliate marketing for you? the affiliate, the merchant, the agency, the ppc and seo company, did you all lose a lot of money, have sales dropped that much that you dropped the ball on domain names as well? So now for the current situation and taking advantage, a thousand domains drop every day, some of these will be perfect for working with many merchants on affiliate networks, the clever affiliate would be looking to get these domains, the clever agency would be too, as would the savvy merchant. Are they? Not many I can assure you as I am at the very front of the domain industry.

Education required or just money? A lot of my clients have grown with the domains I have sold them, grown in knowledge, in income and have started buying more specific general domains, those I supply as well and with the catch of kitchenappliances.co.uk and sale of within two days, that’s clear to see, however lower down the chain, domains like flightshotels.co.uk still do a good trade and is looking very nice these days.

I think there’s a point when you have to realise that as a domainer I am still doing the same job and I’m better at it but the demand has slowed right up, no doubt there’s more competition these days in landing domains, I’ll admit there’s more going in for them, however they all have their own ideas on domain worth and appeal and I still chase the ones I have always gone after, I clash with a handful of others in that aspect but not many of the them.

So if I haven’t changed, then affiliates have, recession is a likely effect, alternatively many of those I dealt with have been in the game a long time, amassed a wealth of .co.uk and probably have their operations at a nice smooth flow, so I need new customers, to get new customers I need to advertise the potential of having the domains I can catch for them or sell on so when I wake up, I should start the class and get together the right tutorial for mass affiliate, merchant and agency education. Amen.

Are you the new client? do you need sourced domains caught in miliseconds from the previous registrant, can we work together to find what you need? If so then email me at domaini@hotmail.co.uk and let’s see if we can. Now is the time to take advantage of the lull and get ahead of the competition, use your skills in tandem with the right name and make loads of lovely money now and in the upturn.

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