Let's face it – affiliate marketing is no easy path to take nowadays. The game is constantly changing…
With all the latest algorithm changes over at Google (the latest being Panda and Penguin) and PPC becoming insanely competitive, how can we help hedge ourselves as affiliate marketers?
While there are different business models you could experiment with to steer away from search engines, pay per click marketing and all of the other methods we've been taught over the years… one method I personally teach is to promote products that pay for the lifetime of the customer.
How does this help hedge you as an affiliate marketer?
Well, if your website takes a hit in the search engines, or a PPC campaign gets slapped, the customers you have built up come back to buy more product down the road!
Folks, this is the true power of promoting affiliate programs and products that pay on lifetime commission structures.
I am going to illustrate this by showing you two examples from two of my current and active students.
For one case study, you will see me paste in several posts from a student of mine within my private forum. The student is called Lang Ngo and he is currently working as a HWA marketer (post Panda/Penguin).
I am going to reveal his passive income stream through being a member for the past several months. Although this is not a high amount like the kind of sums we often see being pimped to our emails every other day, these examples illustrate something real, ethical and long term. (These income streams are being built up customer by customer, sale by sale).
I am also going to be completely transparent and show you how both incomes recently took a hit after the latest algorithm changes at Google, but show you how that doesn't matter and why Lang and another student, Henry Zeng, are in this for the long term.
I will paste Lang's posts from my private forum for the first case study, as well as any follow-up posts to keep this real in its raw form.
Next, I will show you Henry's results. This example will show screen shots of his sales and traffic in great detail. I will show how the latest updates slapped his websites, but why he is very much still in business.
These particular students now finally “get it”. They are now both on a mission to create unique quality affiliate websites that the search engines will love. They are going to stick to the system fundamentals (and that is to promote products that pay for the lifetime of the customer).
To conclude these case studies, I will follow up with my thoughts about the power of promoting residual products, coupled with what to do when building websites that Google and the other search engines actually like going forward.
Let's get into the details…
The Power Of Residual Health Affiliate Marketing
Below is the first post, last year, from Lang on my Healthy Wealthy private forum:
Hi guys,
I've just gotten back from vacation, in Bac Lieu , Vietnam. Internet connection was scarce and very slow. I did not have time at all to do anything related to my website.
However, I just looked at my emails today to check the Xtend-Life account, and I made $56.60 in commissions. That's money they're actually going to send to me.
And in November, I've just made another sale.
Now, why is this big deal?
Because It shows that the work I've done so far is paying off. Just imagine if I had 10 of these sites , that's $560 coming in while I'm vacationing (drinking ice coffee and eating real farm bred chicken) near the Equator (by the way it was hot, and a culture shock).
I'm more determined now than ever to keep working the system, and I truly believe with the help of Johnny G and our community we can all be successful.
– Lang.
Below is a follow-up from Lang on the private forum:
Just wanted to update all you guys out there.
I'm looking at my xtend-life commissions and since August of this year, my commissions monthly have slowly started to increase.
December 2011 – $10.30 so far, the month has only just started.
November 2011 – $77.20
October 20122 – $56.65
September 2011 – $46.35
August 2011 – $15.45
July 2011 – $0.00
And remember this is only from one website. I haven't even finished all the phases for my first website. Currently still on Phase 3 of the healthy wealthy affiliate system.
Just to show you guys the power of Johnny's system.
Here's my reply to Lang:
Hi Lang,
Thanks for sharing – I really like this. It shows a real online business being built up customer by customer slowly but surely.
What can happen as well after a few years of getting new customers is, the size of the jumps in income can jump up even more significantly.
One year (after many mistakes) and when I was promoting only xtend-life, my income was jumping up by $300 to $500 every single month.
My friend Dan Ho also once told me his income jumped up $1000 each month for xtend-life! Of course, he probably focused on them even more than I did. (I promote a bunch of health products.) However, it shows what is possible with determination and the “never giving up attitude”.
Well done Lang, you are on the right path.
Best
Johnny G
Here is a follow-up from another private member on my forum who is actively working and applying my system…
This is great stuff Lang! Keep at it and your income will surely rise with time. I personally know of someone who just wrote articles for a few months and then stopped completely. They didn't even build out their site. Still every month they get at least $100 in commissions from Xtend Life. If we do not quit and keep going, the sky literally is the limit.
– Mayank
Another follow-up from Lang:
Whooo hoo, it's pretty crazy, but isn't it nice to see sales in the email
Just got one Xtend-life, and someone bought 3 bottles of bee pollen, it just feels good that I'm able to help people choose quality products and get paid at the same time.
– Lang
And another one from Lang…
Just an update for those following my progress
In fact, this December I have seen another increase in sales.
Let me show you all:
December 2011
Commission: $106.09
Visits: 520
Repeat Hits: 138
Unique Visits: 382
Actually, all the numbers have increased from previous months. If there was a chart it will show a slow progression.
In November as I showed above, I made $77.60 in affiliate commissions.
Most of my sales are for the bee pollen product, so I know that my website is doing what it is intended. Granted I haven't done any major link building yet. Just following the system that Johnny has created. Sometimes I have to go back to the blueprint because it always seems like there are millions of things that need to be done.
But, I always just take it one step at a time. I always write one headline a day and if I feel like it I'll write a 500 word article per day, and if I'm really feeling it, I'll write 3 or 5 a day. I set very low goals that I know I can do.
Anyways, it's always nice to know of other people succeeding, that's why I post this stuff.
Lang
Below is a follow-up from Carol (another private member on my forum):
Hi Lang,
Congrats on your December sales and overall progress. It is really inspiring and confirms that HWA works if you work the system. Keep up the good work and more success to you.
Carol
Now a follow up from me on the private forum:
Hi Lang,
My first goal was $100 a month. When I did it, I knew I could get to $500 and then $1000.
Once I hit $1000, the rest was history and there was no stopping me. I would write down $500 in a single month as your next goal and keep on keeping on with your plan.
Some websites will do much better than others and some may even take a hit, but the point is – together, they will all add up and add to your bottom line. Proud of you over here – small steps make for bigger steps later.
Best
Johnny G
Another couple of follow-ups from Lang:
Just an update
I made $200 in Janaury, 2012.
Affiliate marketing works, if you put in the resources and follow the system.
– Lang
Hi Guys,
So for February I made $241.18 in commissions. Again, mostly from the sale of bee pollen. I'm currently working on a new site, but I know that won't be making sales any time soon, for at least a couple of months, so no worries there, but I'm also adding content like Johnny suggested on my bee pollen site, to the aim of like 1 article a week.
– Lang
Here's a message on my private forum from Peter:
Hey Lang,
Just read about this thread today in Johnny's newsletter, you're doing well my son.
I find it fascinating to read this type of “real” information, rather than the crap that usually floats around.
Would you mind sharing when you started your site & how many pages you have?
Cheers,
Peter
Lang replies:
Hi Peter,
I received my site from Johnny on April 26, 2011.
I have about 200 articles on my site, of various lengths. I'm pretty sure I have about 200 articles on ezinearticles, goarticles, amazines, and many web 2.0 properties.
I did not do any extensive link building. It's only been recently that I have done some extra link building through Johnny's services.
If you notice, I didn't make any sales until August of 2011.
Most of the articles I wrote myself on my site, some are outsourced, however, once I get them, I read every single article, and sometimes add more content.
(P.S. I know there are lots of different ways to make money online, but Johnny's system works, and that's why I'm not worried with my new site not making any money yet, I know that if I deliver valuable articles to people looking for information and help direct them to products and services that help solve their problems, then I will be making value).
Each time I write an article or read one from one of my writers, I always ask myself, If I was my visitor, is this good? (This is how I write my articles.)
– Lang
A few more updates from Lang:
March commissions: $269, mostly from bee pollen – Lang
Hey guys,
Just want to tell you about my April, 2012 commissions …
April 2012
$372.55
1061 visitors
160 repeat visitors
901 unique visitors.
Most of these sales were for bee pollen.
However, I have 2 sites now. One for bee pollen, and the other one is pre-selling the kiwifruit supplement.
– Lang
Unfortunately, Lang's website was hit by the latest Penguin update. (Many webmasters were hit by this update including me). However, Lang is STILL in business because of the residual commissions of the products we promote.
Here is my follow-up in the private forum:
Hi Lang,
Remember; don't just sit and wait for that bee pollen site to come back. If it's been hit, it's been hit. (It may come back on a new update in the future, so keep building and expanding and you'll be better off in the long run).
You can now see how the residual factor starts to come into play from previous customers and this will hedge us as well.
When you have many websites all pulling in residual sales, if you lose websites, your business still survives. This is the power of lifetime income versus what most people do and rely on one-time sales.
Move on with new unique websites and watch out for my post coming soon. The post will cover some important internal elements that we all need to be aware of going forward.
Best
Johnny G
Finally, Lang updated the thread with his last words of motivation on how he is off to pump out new websites.
Hi guys,
Its Lang again
Commissions for May, 2012.
$144.67 (still from the bee pollen site even though it was de-ranked)
What Johnny posted … really rings true… Although my website has been hit by Penguin pretty bad, I'm still making sales. Some of these are probably from Bing and Yahoo, where my site still has some rankings. Some of these sales I'm noticing are from repeat customers.
So when Johnny says, it is good to have multiple sites on various health products, then he means it for good reason, so that you can diversify. I can now see the power of residual income just from one website. I will try and keep you all posted but I've proven this can work for me so I'm going to get busy now building my empire.
All of this only makes me even more motivated with my affiliate business. Also, if you have read Johnny's recent blog posts, his case study website is still making sales, even though it has been hit by Penguin pretty hard.
Lang.
Here's Lang's bee pollen website referred to in this thread:
www.bee-pollen-diet-pills.com
Although this has been hit by the latest changes at Google, together we are going to try to revive it. Lang is not getting fazed by this and is now building more websites following my new guidelines of what to do to stay in Google's good graces.
The main point of this journal (and the reason I wanted to share it) is, with enough websites promoting residual products, there comes a point when you no longer solely rely on the search engines for traffic because you are hedged with re-orders of products.
His new websites that he is currently working on (following my new guidelines) are:
www.natural-digestion-source.com
www.about-omega-3.com
Providing Value Is The Key To Success
A few months after I first launched the Healthy Wealthy Affiliate service, a student of mine wrote about how he had made his first 3 sales within 7 days. He then went on to say how he had made 23 sales so far.
Let me show you the thread. Henry says:
I'm very excited to let you guys know that I just made my 23rd sale with Xtend-life! On my best day, I got 3 sales in a row which resulted in $20 in commissions and I'm expecting my first $120 Xtend-life payment this month.
I also want to share my one tip to increase the conversion. Put some health facts that are related to the product on the sidebar! Something like “Qualified Health Claims for Omega-3 Fatty Acids”, “Omega 3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people”, “Researchers believe the majority of Americans are deficient in Omega 3's”. After I made some changes, I found the conversion increased and the visitors spend more time on my sites.
This is what it looks like on the right sidebar:
https://www.omega-3-fish-oil-guide.com
You can also put some product testimonials with your affiliate link on the sidebar which will bring more credibility.
Henry
https://HenryZeng.com
I wanted to follow up with him to see if he was still making sales. I also wanted to make sure he was still motivated after all the latest updates in the search engines…
Not only was I pleasantly surprised by his reply, Henry has kindly sent me detailed pictures of his sales commissions with only one particular company within my service. Henry is making over $1,000 a month now in residual passive income and is one of the top students of my service.
Before I show you the details – note that his traffic was zapped down on his two main websites, yet he continues to get sales because of the high re-order rates the products we promote receive.
Henry is now aggressively building new websites after learning what is working now (post Penguin) and I am sure he is going to be one of those special affiliates who hits $10,000 a month in residual sales in a few years.
The best affiliates never let updates and changes get them down, they keep building – expanding and pushing on no matter what. We affiliates who are in this for the long term adapt and learn to roll with the changes. No retreat, no surrender!
Below is the key for the graphs I am about to show you on the traffic of Henry's websites.
Notice below that even though his two websites were both hit in Google, his commissions are still coming in. Once Henry has new websites built up following my new guidelines, he will be taking his income to even higher levels. I know this is true because I now have 10 years of experience in promoting these types of timeless evergreen products.
(We have learned so much these past few months at HWA. I am currently in the process of updating my material to show members what is working now, what to do and what not to do going forward).
Here is the graph of traffic from Henry's fish oil website:
Notice how Panda and Penguin are attacking his website, killing off the majority of the traffic.
We now know what not to do, and exactly what to do to stay in Google's graces through the vast amount of data we have collected on websites that have tanked versus websites that have thrived.
Here is another graph for his Green Lipped Mussel website:
Henry updated me a few days ago to say the traffic of these websites is on the way back up after he applied some secret strategies that I will be revealing inside my private forum this year.
I am working on a live case study website for the private forum that will show exactly what affiliates should be doing going forward.
Now, what I am about to show is exciting.
Here are some of the sales Henry was pulling in when traffic was high…
Henry was making several new sales a day for this particular company in February 2012. However, check this out – his commissions are still coming even though traffic is fluctuating wildly on these two websites!
Henry is making consistent commissions and this example is just from one of the health companies within my private service. The fact that re-order rates are so high shows that even if websites tank, sales will still come in!
Here is another report to show the commissions Henry has earned for the past few months with this one particular health company…
These are real customers ordering natural health products that are now tagged to Henry for life!
Henry is now pumping out several new websites (as we speak) applying everything we know on what to do going forward to get ranked and get free natural organic traffic.
He understands the power of residual passive income (lifetime commissions) and is really going for it. I don't even need to wish him any luck because I know he is going to make it BIG time.
My final thoughts going forward.
When building new websites as an affiliate, you need to be careful with how you link to your pages. You also need to be aware of what one-way link ratio you should be using when trying to rank for certain terms.
Use Related Words And Phrases
Above all, your content should not be written around the keyword like what we used to do. You should be writing the articles and using terms and phrases that the search engines will expect to see within an article providing information relating to that term.
If you look at the top 10 websites for the terms you are thinking of ranking for, look to see all of the other natural terms related to the main term being used. It's all about keeping it natural with relevancy and writing for humans.
The search engines won't stop with these updates, but if you understand the concept of providing value, your promotional efforts will fare much better long term.
Link building is still very important, but if you don't get the on-page elements right with your writing, Penguin will likely nail you at some point. You don't need to be optimizing much at all for the keywords you are trying to rank for on your pages any more.
The game has changed, possibly forever in terms of SEO. However, by promoting products that pay for the lifetime of each customer, you put the odds significantly in your favor.
The way you build links has changed. The way you should write content has changed. (I will be revealing what affiliates need to do in much more detail going forward and a whole lot more within my private forum).
If you want to learn from someone who follows these updates closely and actually does what he preaches, then you are in the right hands with HWA.
Sadly, many people online try to teach what they have not yet mastered. If you choose to follow someone online, make sure they actually do what they teach.
Can they show you examples of websites ranking?
Recently, I did a quick mini-site for my blog as an example and got it ranking in the top 10 (post Panda). I wanted to show that SEO is far from dead and the game has only changed.
Build An Empire of Websites
Do you fear change?
I don't and neither do my top members. Now is the time to build an empire of websites and put the odds of success in your favor with lifetime timeless health products.
You should always look to create a business online that can stand the test of time.
If you want to learn how to make sales like Lang and Henry, then I have some good news for you. I can help you to create something very real, ethical, and a business that can be built for the long term.
UPDATE, 2013: I've closed Healthy Wealthy Affiliate (HWA) to new members so that I can focus my attention on my new elite private affiliate training service, in which I give affiliates even more training and mentoring, and I even create a new mini website for you – Niche Site Formula
This is my way of trying to reach out and help as many people as I can. I WANT to help YOU to create something that is sustainable and viable for the long term.
To Your Success
John Gibb
