• Home
  • About Us
  • Advertising opportunities
  • Contact Us

Associate Programs

  • Articles16 Yrs of Expert Advice
    • Advanced Articles
      • Branding
      • Business Partnerships
      • Conversion Rates
      • Datafeeds
      • Employees
      • Geo-Targeting
      • Interactive Websites
      • List Building
      • Membership Sites
      • Outsourcing
      • Super Affiliates
      • Visitor Created Content
      • Web Video
      • Your Own Program
        • Affiliate Program Management
        • Recruiting Affiliates
    • Affiliate Resources
      • Affiliate Blogs
      • Affiliate Networks
      • Affiliate Tools
      • Affiliate Training
      • Books And Courses
      • FREE Marketing Courses
      • Free Software
      • Merchant Resources
      • Recommended Newsletters
      • Research Competitors
      • Residual Commissions
      • Tracking
    • Beginners Articles
      • Affiliate Marketing Success Stories
      • Affiliate Training
      • Building A Website
        • Web Content
        • WordPress Plugins
      • Business Training
      • Getting Started
        • Business Ideas
      • Getting Traffic
        • Link Building
        • PPC Advertising
        • Search Engine Tips
        • Social Media
      • Goal Setting
      • Monetizing A Site
      • Motivation
      • Time Management
      • Writing Tips
    • Intermediate Articles
      • Blogs
      • Buying Advertising
      • Ebook Publishing
      • Ezine Publishing
      • Getting Publicity
      • Improving Sales
      • RSS
      • Squeeze Pages
      • Video
    • News
    • Product Reviews
      • AdSense
      • Affiliate Manuals
      • Autobiographies
      • Blogging
      • Content Packages
      • Keyword Research
      • Link building
      • PPC
      • Product Creation
      • Search Engine Optimization
      • Site Building
      • Traffic generation
      • Useful Newsletters
      • Useful Tools
    • Newsletter Archive
      • 1998 Newsletters
      • 1999 Newsletters
      • 2000 Newsletters
      • 2001 Newsletters
      • 2002 Newsletters
      • 2003 Newsletters
      • 2004 Newsletters
      • 2005 Newsletters
      • 2006 Newsletters
      • 2007 Newsletters
      • 2008 Newsletters
      • 2009 Newsletters
      • 2010 Newsletters
      • 2011 Newsletters
      • 2012 Newsletters
      • 2013 Newsletters
      • 2014 Newsletters
  • Recommended ResourcesThe Actual Tools and Resources I Use
  • Affiliate Program DirectoryFind Affiliate Programs to Promote
Home Travel Affiliate Loves His Affiliate Lifestyle

Travel Affiliate Loves His Affiliate Lifestyle

Affiliate marketing is not a way to get rich quick – that was one of the biggest learning curves for successful affiliate marketer John Ellis.

John, who used to work in IT in the travel sector, was driven by a desire to be his own boss and to earn a bit of extra money each month when he decided to try affiliate marketing. Now he loves his affiliate lifestyle – earning a full-time income running several websites, mainly in the travel sector, promoting a variety of holiday types through multiple holiday providers.

The bulk of his income is generated from UK-Holiday-Shop.co.uk, Villa-Choice.co.uk and Cottage-Choice.co.uk.

John says his background in the IT industry has been invaluable in starting and running his business.

“I spent 22 years working in IT, in the travel sector before giving up my full-time job,” he said.

“Using technologies such as classic ASP, .Net, MS SQL Server and T-SQL gave me a good start when setting up my first website. I’ve always fancied working for myself, and as I was getting on a bit I decided that I’d just go for it and see what happened. The day before my 40th birthday was my last day at work.”

That decision was a birthday present to himself that John says he has never regretted.

JohnEllis.jpgDespite his experience, John (pictured, LEFT) found initially that affiliate marketing was a steep learning curve and it took him six months to achieve his first sale – a moment which, rightly, he is very proud of and still raises a glass to on occasion.

With travel being relatively seasonal, John finds that traffic to his sites is highly dependent on the time of year with December being very quiet. January, however, is often one of his busiest months – last January his travel websites had 85,000 unique visitors, all generated through organic methods.

“All traffic is driven by organic searches – ie, we don’t use any pay-per-click (PPC),” he said.

“We have tried PPC a few times in the past, but have never got it to financially work for us. I know several people can generate an income with PPC, but it’s a skillset I don’t possess yet. Most affiliate programs also have lots of rules governing what keywords you can and can’t bid on, so you have to be careful there.”

While it seems John is definitely passionate about his work in the travel sector – he and his family are keen travellers – he doesn’t believe passion is essential to success in affiliate marketing. Knowledge, however, is.

Above all, John believes putting the time into your business, educating yourself and not giving up is the key to success.

“Keep trying… work out what you want from life and go for it.”

Here’s the interview…

Hi John, and thanks for agreeing to speak with us today. Can you please start by telling me a bit about yourself and what you do?

I’m 41 and live by the coast in East Anglia in England with my wife and two children (8 and 12). I’ve been working in affiliate marketing for about 8 years, with the first 6 years working evenings and weekends, until finally making that big decision to give up my proper job and work full-time on my affiliate marketing. I work mainly in the travel sector, with my original site www.uk-holiday-shop.co.uk. I am now a joint director (with my wife) of our own limited company.

What led you to try affiliate marketing?

I first heard about affiliate marketing around 9 years ago and thought it sounded like a good idea to try, but having a 3-year-old at home took up a lot of time! After about a year of mulling things over, I decided to set up a website to promote holidays.

The key factor for me was that a site can be set up for £10 a year, so I figured what have I got to lose? I might spend several hours and achieve nothing – but at least I won’t lose the house. It took 6 months to achieve my first sale. That first £60 gave me the hope that I might generate some income.

I never thought affiliate marketing would provide me with an income to support my family, just a couple of hundred quid a month to pay for a few extras.

Now you run UK-Holiday-Shop. Can you tell me about your site, please? How does it work in terms of generating income?

With UK-Holiday-Shop.co.uk I try to feature as many holiday types as possible, with “featured” holiday resorts, cottages, hotels, etc being written to generate that all important unique content.

All income is generated by the various affiliate programs… I think the travel sector is very accepting of affiliate marketing as in the olden days – before the internet – travel agents were used to generate a large percentage of bookings, so paying commission to get a booking has always been a way of life. As an affiliate we don’t get anywhere near the commission that travel agents would get but we don’t have the running costs either.

Why did you choose to work in the travel sector and how did you go about determining it was the right niche for you?
    
I went for the travel sector as it was an area I knew very well. I don’t think I realized how much I knew about the sector until I started marketing holidays; I’ve always been in IT in the travel sector, so haven’t had much to do with promoting holidays. But, I guess after 22 years of being around travel something must have sunk in.

I know this is a contentious issue within affiliate and internet marketing circles, but do you think it’s important to be passionate about the niche you’re working in?

I don’t think you necessarily need to be passionate about your chosen niche, but you need to be knowledgeable. You also have to be interested in the niche, as that’s what you’re going to be living and breathing to make a good go of it. If you choose a niche which has absolutely no interest to you, you’re going to struggle to write anything about your subject. Choose a niche which you find interesting, and has some affiliate programs. If you’re interested in your niche, the knowledge will follow.

How many unique visitors do you get a month?

Traffic can fluctuate quite drastically in the travel sector, with January being the busiest month. Traffic gradually drops off as the year goes on, with December being particularly quiet. While everyone else gears up for that pre-Christmas shopping rush, all us travel people are thinking to January. Last January our travel websites had 85,000 unique hits.

What kind of income are you earning from affiliate programs?

We make enough to keep the bills paid and savings topped up – can’t say fairer than that.

In terms of income, was there a particular point where it all fell into place? What did you do that was different from what you had been doing?

I’d been working for about 5 years at affiliate marketing, and during that time discovered what worked and what didn’t – it’s the kind of knowledge you can really only build up by experience. By the fifth year I was thinking I could make enough to live on. I decided to start saving with gusto so that when I decided to go it alone there would be some savings to fall back on.

How many affiliate programs do you use?

I haven’t counted all the programs we use, but I try to promote all the available travel programs out there. Some programs may only generate a couple of sales a year but, in my opinion, it’s still worth promoting them.

If, for example, I promote a package holiday and get two sales in a year, that would be about £100 commission. Assuming it takes a couple of hours to get the page created to promote that package holiday, that’s an income of £50 per hour. That’s the principle I always work to. And, if I’m wrong and there’s no commission generated, at least we haven’t lost any money!

How do you go about finding affiliate programs? Have you had any problems in this area? For example, signing up for programs that turned out to be a flop? Any advice for newcomers about this?

The affiliate companies (Trade Doubler, Affiliate Window, etc) send out emails with their new travel companies, so that’s how I find out about the new programs. I don’t like to think of any programs being a flop, although I don’t make commission from all the programs I’ve signed up to. This could be because I haven’t promoted them very well, or it could be the program doesn’t track sales very well. I always spend a few hours setting up content about the new program, and see whether any sales are generated. If I get a sale or two I’ll put more effort into promoting them. If no sales are forthcoming, I probably won’t go too much further. As I’ve said before, all it costs is time; that’s the lovely thing about affiliate marketing.

Was there anything you wish you knew before you got started in affiliate marketing?

It’s a steep learning curve. Depending on your current knowledge you’ll need to learn how to create a web page, promote that page (using SEO), use the various applications needed (like image design tools), and when you become successful there’s the tax and VAT (or whatever sales tax applies to your country of operation) to think about. If I had to pick one thing I wished I’d known about, it would be the advantages of owning a limited company rather than being a partnership.

What were the three most important things you learned along the way?

Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich scheme.

It takes hours (and hours) of work to start making money.

Working from home is as good as I thought it would be!

Tell me a bit about your other websites.

We have several websites featuring specific holiday types. https://www.villa-choice.co.uk/ to promote villas and https://www.cottage-choice.co.uk/ to promote cottages. We try to generate income from various holiday types, websites and holiday providers.

What do you do in terms of marketing? Can you share your top three marketing tips with us?

Marketing is always a tricky one. I have a natural tendency to not spend any money so I stay away from PPC. In the past I’ve written articles for article publishing sites, but I’m not sure this has any great benefit. I think it’s more a case of what not to do – don’t spam. I don’t like it, you don’t like it, Google doesn’t like it. Try to add content to websites in your niche – although this isn’t always easy. In my opinion marketing is one of the trickiest things to master. And I certainly haven’t mastered it yet.

I’ve noticed on your site you’ve got a lot of places and holidays featured from all over the UK. How do you find the places to feature and keep up with the deals to promote on your site?

I write about the places we go on holiday ourselves, and the towns and attractions near where we live. For me, this affiliate marketing lark is a 7 day a week job. It’s not like I have to work from 9 to 5 every day, but I do some work every day.

So, on holiday, I’ll take photos and write about the attraction we’ve just been to with the kids. This could be seen as a downside to the business, but I never switch off from it. After all, it’s my company – if I didn’t do it there’s no one else who would.

Do you have any particular programs or tools that you couldn’t work without? Why are they so useful?

I use .Net as my programming tool. Although most of the pages are static, which means the content isn’t retrieved from a database online, there is an awful lot of work going on behind the scenes to process the data. I’m a programmer by trade and love getting stuck into some coding to process some offers or interrogate my content management system.

I use GIMP for my image processing tool.

All the HTML is written by hand too (part of programming upbringing – I don’t want a machine creating my code), and for this I use HAPedit. It’s all about keeping costs down, so Visual Studio Express can be used for free, GIMP is free too and so is HAPedit.

Do you have any products of your own and if not is this something you’re planning to do in the future? Why/why not?

We don’t have our own products, although I wouldn’t rule this out. The joy of affiliate marketing is that you don’t have to carry stock, deal with complaints, process payments etc.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in affiliate marketing?

Keep trying. It may take months before that first commission is earned, but what a feeling it is. I still remember my first commission and often have a little toast to it!
    
Take on as much information as you can about your niche and about website promotion. Make use of all the free stuff out there – you can’t necessarily directly influence the sales you’ll get, but you can directly control your expenses.

How has your life changed since you made the change to affiliate marketing as a full-time career?

I love what I do for a living now. When I had a proper job I was blessed with having a short commute to work, but I still had those formal hours to keep.

Nowadays I can come and go as I please, although that doesn’t mean I spend my afternoons watching daytime TV. I still get up early to help get the nippers out of the door and then I can get a good few miles on the bike. I can also pick the youngest child up from school when needed.

This flexibility means I can work longer hours in the winter and shorter hours in the summer. I can also take a day off when we want to go out for the day, and I’m here when one of the children has a day off school.

It’s all about doing as I please and fitting round family life. The computer gets switched on at 6am and doesn’t get switched off again until 10pm – that kind of working day may not be to everyone’s tastes, but it certainly suits me.

Is there anything else you would like to add/say?

Work out what you want from life – then go for it. I decided I wanted to spend more time cooking for my family, being here when the kids came home from school, and riding my bike (I love starting the day with a bike ride). That’s not to say it’s an easy option, I would guess I work 50 hours a week now – but, crucially, I love it!

KEY POINTS

  • Use knowledge you already have.
  • It takes time to earn a decent income.
  • Build up savings before you go full-time.
  • Create your own company.
  • Save money by using free tools.
  • If something works, do more of it.
  • Keep trying. Keep learning.
  • The affiliate lifestyle rewards make it all worth it.
Jan 2, 2013Kate
Cousin Lizzie Has 2013 SortedPersevere, says gambling affiliate Cameron Diamond
Comments: 26
  1. akhil
    12 years ago

    great article, knowing i work in the travel industry too. and it is always. i can only say, that SEO was much easy a year ago then now and Paid marketing i.e. like PPC will only benefit affiliates to a limit. after which even strategic PPC will get expensive. 

    ReplyCancel
    • Sandramunty
      9 months ago

      cbd sleeping gummies have been a game-changer for me! They're convenient, toothsome, and a extensive way to get off on the benefits of CBD discreetly. I've ground that they aid me unwind after a want day and undisturbed ground my drop quality. Plus, sagacious exactly how much CBD I'm getting in each gummy makes it simple to make it my dosage. If you're irregular about taxing CBD, gummies are a gifted starting point. Just be certain to choose a reliable maker with high-quality ingredients inasmuch as the best savvy!

      ReplyCancel
  2. Saiful
    11 years ago

    Hi John,

    A very honest interview, I must say. I really like what you said here. I own a website. It's not about travel but it's about IM. My plan is to promote the webpage with affiliate links in it as I have no other ideas yet for now. Soon I will try to incorporate Google Adsense too. 

    I am very new in this field. But very interested to be successful. I know interest alone is not fit as knowledge is more needed towards success. I know that experience and patience are 2 major components in this field. 

    Lastly, I do enjoy reading this interview and I did checked on your webpages. They are awesome. 

    All the best. 

    ReplyCancel
  3. Jeff
    12 years ago

    Great interview with John, nice to see an honest assessment of what it takes to build an online business.

    Question I have (hoping John is able to respond) - I noticed he has a TON of pages on his sites with different properties, is this automated in some way (via a script that automatically updates the properties available) or is this all manually created and maintained?

    I have my own products, but on a few of my affiliate sites one of the challenges I have is maintaining them as products change frequently (availability, description, newer models, etc..)

    Thanks

    Jeff

    ReplyCancel
  4. Phil
    12 years ago

    Excellent interview, nice to hear someone explaining that affiliate marketing does actually take a lot of work and time.

    Thanks for the tip on keeping the costs down with the HTML and image tools. All the best for the future with your websites.

    ReplyCancel
  5. John
    12 years ago

    Hi Jeff,

    There is a lot of automation behind the scenes with most of the products we feature. Most holiday companies will provide us a list of their accommodation, which we then hold in a central database to build the pages for that accommodation.  As well as key info about the accommodation in question, the database also allows us to mention other accommodation which is nearby, or has the same features (eg. allows pets, has a hot tub).

    Keeping the database updated is a mixture of manual and automated processes. Once a week we get the latest accommodation and update our database with new accommodation and mark any accommodation which has been withdrawn. As the years have gone on, more and more is becoming automated; although Monday is still “new accommodation day”!

    Cheers
    John

    ReplyCancel
  6. Fara
    12 years ago

    Hi John,

    Great interview there. I hope 2013 brings happiness, health and more business to you and family. Cheers.

    ReplyCancel
  7. Alan Kirke
    12 years ago

    Hi,

    Thanks for another great article.

    I like the other one about the ecommerce guy also.

    It is nice to have real people give their insights.

    very Much appreciated and inspiring.

    Cheer

    ReplyCancel
  8. Mark McKnight
    12 years ago

    I also like the affiliate marketing method. I have been working online since 2008 but have never had the courage to go fulltime.

    Just as my sites were building up enough revenue for me to go full time, the dreaded Google algorithm changes took place and reduced my income back to 'good part time'.

    I am now working on a new project to share my knowledge of affiliate marketing and running an internet business as I think the time has come for me to prepare again for a full time online business career.

    If I have learned anything over the last 4 years in affiliate marketing, some advice I can share is:

    Quality content rules above all else, and

    Gain credibility within your niche.

    Hope this helps,

    Mark McKnight

     

    ReplyCancel
  9. John
    12 years ago

    Hi Fara,

    Thanks for that – good luck to you in 2013 too.

    Cheers
    John

    ReplyCancel
  10. John
    12 years ago

    Hi Phil,

    I'm very keen on keeping the costs down. So much can be accomplished without spending too much cash!

    Cheers
    John

    ReplyCancel
  11. Greg Jeffries
    12 years ago

    Not giving up is key. Some people just can't see how close they are to success, but then they fail because they give up. If you hang in there, you WILL be successful, it's inevitable.

    ReplyCancel
  12. Tissy Joseph
    12 years ago

    Hi, Very interesting! A little more effort on SEO side, your sites would perform much much better.

    Regards / Tissy

    ReplyCancel
  13. John
    12 years ago

    Hi Tissy,

    I’m always open to new ideas. Is there anything regarding SEO you could mention on here which could be worth me looking into.

    Cheers

    John

     

    ReplyCancel
  14. Bradley Anderson
    12 years ago

    I've never had a travel blog YET, although I did do some research about a year ago regarding the niche.  I can't believe that the big travel companies don't yet have APIs (or at least XML!) available that will populate your pages automatically.

    I do know that TripAdvisor has been talking about it for a while, but I do not know whether they have anything working yet.

    ReplyCancel
  15. John
    12 years ago

    There are various XML feeds and APIs out there (with each company having its own format), so pages could be generated automatically. I’d rather hold the information locally, and generate the pages from the data I hold. That way if one of the feeds stops working it won’t affect my live site; I’ll just have to re-populate my local DB when the feed works again.

    ReplyCancel
  16. Noelh
    12 years ago

    Great interview and some great pointers for anybody starting out in affiliate marketing. It's not about getting rich for me also but the lifestyle. It allows me to spend 2-3 months per year travelling all over the world. John, you have inspired me to finally think about starting a travel site as I have the knowledge and the photos etc. Thanks

    ReplyCancel
  17. John
    12 years ago

    Hi Noelh,

    Good news! Good luck with your new site.

    Cheers
    John

    ReplyCancel
  18. Ian
    12 years ago

    Great article Kate Buckland, and good luck with your new site.

    ReplyCancel
  19. rambofen
    12 years ago

    Hi! John that was a great effort.

    SEO is really a good option to become famous if you don't want to waste money on advertising... hire an SEO expert he will do the job.

    Good luck

    ReplyCancel
  20. perfectessaywriter.com
    12 years ago

    Awesome interview! It is nice to learn)) Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyCancel
  21. David
    11 years ago

    I totally agree with everything that John says in this article.

    I also have a website in the travel industry, and it's nowhere as easy as getting a few links in place and hoping for the best.

    You have to constantly be assessing your work, and never be too precious to say "Right, this page sucks... I thought it was my best work to date, but something isn't right with it".

    Keep on chipping away, and ultimately the trickle, becomes a torrent and the torrent becomes a tsunami.

    And when that happens it is almost impossible to turn the flow of profits into your bank account off.

    ReplyCancel
  22. ivy michael
    11 months ago

    Being a travel affiliate allows me to merge passion with profession, promoting destinations and experiences I genuinely love. It's rewarding clinical rheumatology to inspire others while earning through partnerships. As an advocate for responsible travel, I prioritize authenticity and quality in recommendations, fostering trust among my audience.

    ReplyCancel
  23. heaves
    9 months ago

    This highlights the rewarding lifestyle of a travel affiliate. It showcases how combining a passion for travel with affiliate marketing can lead to a fulfilling career. The personal experiences and success stories offer valuable insights into the benefits of location arthritis medication independence and financial freedom. It's an inspiring read for anyone considering a similar path.

    ReplyCancel
  24. Registrati su binance
    2 months ago

    Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.

    ReplyCancel
  25. 123bet slot
    8 days ago

    Your article has left an indelible mark on me, and I am grateful for the experience.
    123bet slot

    ReplyCancel

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Kate
12 years ago 26 Comments Affiliate Marketing Success StoriesAffiliate Marketing Success Stories140
Recent Posts
  • When to Use Black Hat Marketing (Almost Never)
  • How Much Money Do You Need to Start an Online Business?
  • 3 Emails You Need to Send When You Have an Ecommerce Store
  • How to Start an Ecommerce Business 24 Hours
  • Drive Targeted Traffic using The $5 Facebook Ad Strategy
Latest Directory Listings
SG Health

Make money with multiple health affiliate programs and unique offers. This is a two-tier program paying residual commission of 30% on the first tier plus 5% on second tier sales. no minimum payout, unlimited cookies, get paid every 2 weeks. Sign ...

Exotic Nasal Spray

Exotic Nasal Spray is an advanced new technology uses a tried and tested unique blend of 9 herbal ingredients, which work together to help combat erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. Affiliates earn 50% commission on sales.

Never an Outbreak

Never an Outbreak offers a proven, all natural treatment to prevent cold sores and genital herpes outbreaks caused by HSV 1 and 2. With over 65,000 satisfied customers already, Never an Outbreak's protocol has shown itself to be effective in all...

Audio Book Fest

Thousands of audio book titles across various genres from well known publishers such as BBC, Simon & Schuster, Time Warner and Harper Collins. Instant download after purchase. MP3 format available. Free samples available. No monthly subscription f...

Moonshadow Rainmaker

The Moonshadow Rainmaker is a free book browser with tens of thousands of books. You can plug it in to your website or blog. The Rainmaker will generate referral fees for you by sending customers to Amazon and other vendors. Add a free Rainmaker t...

Other Pages
  • Create an Account
  • Directory Dashboard
    • How to submit an affiliate program
    • Add an Affiliate Program
  • Advertising Opportunities
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclosure & Other Legal Stuff
  • Privacy Policy
Proudly hosted by Cloudways

We wanted the fastest WordPress hosting, so after tons of research, we picked Cloudways and couldn’t be happier.

Copyright © 1998 - 2020 AssociatePrograms by Bedrock Co. All rights reserved. View our Privacy and Disclosure policies.