My Passive Income Online Blog

Over the past couple of years, I’ve had moderate success with affiliate programs through Amazon.com, ClickBank and a few other smaller programs, but one huge affiliate network I’ve never been able to do well with is the Commission Junction network. In fact, although I’ve had an affiliate account with them for nearly two years I have yet to make one sale!

Now, to be honest, I haven’t actively pursued Commission Junction either as I have generally found their entire system confusing – everything from selecting products to creating hoplinks seems super complicated to me compared to the other affiliate programs I use. Still, I know a few internet marketers are doing quite well with Commission Junction. In fact, I would wager they are doing so well with the program in part because so many find the whole CJ interface to be complicated and confusing!

One of the internet marketers I personally know is doing very well with Commission Junction is James Hussey (a.k.a. “James the Just”) from TheAverageGenius.net. I know a lot of you who read my blog read his blog as well, and I have to say that there are only a few people I correspond with on a regular basis when it comes to internet marketing and James is one of them. I have always found him to be very generous with his information and extremely helpful when I’m seeking advice, and I trust his advice completely.

James and I also started in internet marketing around the same time – but he has left me in the dust in terms of earnings over the past year or so due largely with his success with Commission Junction. Although he no longer provides income reports on his blog, I know that he regularly earns between $5,000-$7,000 a month from Commission Junction alone.

And now James has written a massive book outlining his entire system for selecting a Commission Junction product and then promoting it on a website. By massive, I mean a nearly 300 page book that anyone who is seriously interested in promoting CJ products  needs to read: CJ Tactics.

In all honesty, I think this book is a must even for people not interested in Commission Junction – his sections on how to build a website that converts and then promote it will be valuable to any internet marketer, regardless if they are promoting a Commission Junction product or not.

Still, James also makes a compelling argument as to why Commission Junction is one of the best affiliate networks today. To start, it has low affiliate competition when compared to networks like Amazon.com. (It seems like everyone and their brother, sister, cousin, aunt and uncle is promoting Amazon.com products these days -  if they aren’t living in one of the states Amazon has banned from it’s affiliate network).

For me, however, the biggest advantage are the long-lasting tracking cookies most programs use – 30 days or more, versus just 24 hours for Amazon. But there are many other reasons as well that he outlines in his book that I wasn’t fully aware of – such as the performance incentives offered by many different programs and the superior tracking CJ offers. In short, Commission Junction rocks – if you can figure out how it works!

Here is a brief summary of what you’ll find in James’ new book:

Introduction – James starts out by discussing his background in internet marketing, the format of the book, and then makes a compelling case for promoting offers using the Commission Junction system instead of Amazon, ClickBank or similar affiliate networks.

CJT Step 1:  Pick A Winning Niche – Here James shows you how to determine whether a niche is going to profitable and popular, including how to assess the potential traffic and your competition in the niche. In this section, James also makes a compelling argument to eschew the traditional method of picking a niche solely based on profitable keywords and to instead focus on niches that you personally will be passionate about (and then do the keyword research you need to do – which he discusses how to do).

CJT Step 2:  Finding Converting Products – This was the chapter I really wished I had read two years ago. Commission Junction actually has a great tracking system – it is just extremely complicated to navigate (or at least I think so). However, once you understand the system it will give you so much more detail then what you will get with Amazon.com or similar affiliate networks. James shows you in this chapter how to find out not only which programs convert the best, but which links for these programs convert the best as well. He also has some great advice about how to get a “First Strike Advantage” with new advertisers, and how to take full advantage of the “performance incentive” system offered by some CJ merchants.

CJT Step 3:  Build An Easy Site That Converts – Here James outlines the nuts and bolts of setting up a website that converts traffics into sales. Tracking performance is something he really emphasizes here, but the chapter also covers the basics of setting up a website, doing on site SEO, writing copy that converts well, how to set up your affiliate links, how many posts to write and much more. He also points readers in the direction of the best free resources out there for those who have never set up a website before. I think James’ discussion of getting the right traffic is a must read even for those who don’t end up promoting Commission Junction products. There is also a nice section on how to protect yourself against competitive espionage.

CJT Step 4: Get Buying Traffic – James actually discusses some of his link building tactics in step 3 of his book, but in step 4 he goes into even further detail on how to promote your blog successfully and safely. James’ discussion of content marketing is one of the best I’ve read lately. But his whole discussion of link building is a gem, and great for anyone looking to improve their rankings for their websites.

CJT Step 5: Profit Optimization – I think this chapter is one of the most important in the book, and one that is often neglected by other marketers. In this chapter James spells out how to multiply your profits once your have discovered a successful niche, both in terms of multiplying your “doorways” into the niche and multiplying your time and money in a certain niche. There is some great stuff in this chapter on how to outsource, and what to outsource as well. This is another valuable chapter for any internet marketer, regardless of whether they are promoting Commission Junction products or not!

How To Use Commission Junction – This was a great chapter for CJ dummies like me who have trouble even figuring out how to correctly create a CJ hoplink. In this chapter James clearly explains things like how to add your website to the CJ system, how to correctly use the system and track your efforts and understand the trend graphs, how to run both transaction and performance reports (and understand what you’re seeing) and more.

After reading this book, I’ve decided to try James’ step by step plan out on a new niche I’m trying to break into. Hopefully I’ll soon be adding “Commission Junction” to my sources of income during my monthly income reports!

James has priced the book at $67, which in my opinion is a really good deal given the quality of content in this book (I’ve paid more for similar books in the past dealing with the Amazon network and such).

However, he has also launched a WSO on the Warrior Forum for a limited time that is offering the book at a heavily discounted price. He (and partner Sam England) started offering the book at only $7 yesterday, with the price rising as more and more copies sell.

Edit 3/26/12

* Sorry Folks: The WSO Offer is now over! However, James is currently offering a $50 discount on his book if you use the code: TAGTeam *  Simply go to CJTactics.com – and then enter in the discount code on the checkout page.

I don’t normally due book reviews, but this really is a book I sincerely believe belongs in every serious internet marketers library, and I recommend it without reservation to my blog readers. At $67 it would be a really good deal, but with the coupon code, it’s an even better one!

Looking Back At 2011

This past year was tough for many internet marketers, especially those who rely on Google for the majority of their traffic. There were several major algorithm updates that were meant to improve the quality of search results, and while they may have had some benefits in improving the results, many good sites were also affected and major brand sites definitely seem to be favored as well. I could get into a rant about Google’s hypocrisy in regards to emphasizing their own paid ads and shopping ads in their results, but that really is not my focus right here.

What I take out of 2011 is the following:

1. Internet marketing is not easy. If it was, practically everyone would be making money at this.
2. It is possible to make a living through internet marketing. However, it takes time, effort and patience.

2011 actually turned out to be a good year for me in terms of my overall earnings. I started dabbling in this business in May, 2009. 2010 was my first full year of working online in this business. When I compared what I earned in 2010 to 2011, I saw a nice increase in earnings.

Here are some of the comparisons by program:

AdSense Earnings 2010: $4,141.44
AdSense Earnings 2011: $9,092.26

ClickBank Earnings 2010: $4,805.30
ClickBank Earnings 2011: $8,070.42

Amazon Earnings 2010: $795.98
Amazon Earnings 2011: $2,986.66

And here are the big numbers:

- In 2010 I had $8,927.88 in gross earnings. My expenses and investment in my business came to $6,680.99. My net earnings for 2010 was $2,246.89.

- In 2011 I had $23,139.57 in gross earnings. My expenses and investments in my business came to $6,771.64. My net earnings for 2011 was $16,367.95.

So, for 2011, my gross earnings were about 2 1/2 times what I earned in 2010 (while my expenses were about the same) and my net earnings (“take home”) were nearly eight times what I earned in 2010!

This has meant huge changes in my personal life. To start, we moved into a much larger house mid-year (we are now living in a beautiful two-story four bedroom house where I have my own office, and where I can see us staying at for a long time). I am also now “holding my own” in terms of paying my own bills and supporting my son (although I am still living with my mother, this is not out of necessity, but mutual convenience).

Sure, earning about $1363 a month isn’t that much. But given I only work “part time”, I’m not complaining. I work around 20 hours a week, which means I’m personally earning around $17/hour from my internet marketing efforts. And I get to work in my PJ’s (when I want), don’t have to worry about a commute each day, and can take a day off (or several) whenever I feel like it or just plain need to.

I should also note that my figures above don’t include any income tax that might be owed. From what I can tell, this year I would have owed around $2010 in self employment tax as well, although because of my low income I qualify for an earned income tax credit so I won’t actually be paying any taxes this year (the state I live in doesn’t have a state income tax either). Next year, however, I’m actually hoping that I will be earning enough to be paying some income tax! .

However, for me, the most important part to this is that I have had the ability to earn a living working part time from home while still caring full time for my son (who now four years old). The value of this achievement is truly priceless to me!

Still, I’m hoping to do even better in 2012!

I’m still pretty new at internet marketing, and I’m certainly still learning the ropes of how to do this business effectively. And given that it is an ever changing business as well, I assume I’ll be learning things for a long time to come (or for as long as I’m doing this business, realistically).

In that vein, I think it’s worthwhile revisiting some of my goals that I had for 2011, before setting my new goals for 2012. Looking back at 2011, I see that some goals were met, but many weren’t. Some of my goals were realistic, but many weren’t. Here is a brief summary of my eleven goals for 2011:

1. Earn six figures in 2011. Well, I didn’t even come close to reaching this goal, but I do believe there is something to be said for reaching high and setting big goals. I did nearly reach 1/4 of this goal, in terms of my gross earnings.
2. Build my website empire to 200 sites. In retrospect, this goal was a bit poorly conceived. For 2011, I only increased my money site inventory by about a dozen sites (at the end of 2010, I had about 70 money sites). Currently I have 19 AdSense sites (although this includes several older blogspot blogs that earn very little), 39 Amazon sites (including five new ones I was just given last week and several that I haven’t fully built out or monetized yet); 22 ClickBank sites (three of which are incomplete), and three geared towards other affiliate programs. That gives me a total of 83 “money” sites. (I also have several dozen other sites that I use for backlink and indexing purposes, but not to earn money).
3. Become a vendor. I haven’t done this yet, which is disappointing since I still consider it a very important goal. Unfortunately, I got distracted from this goal after moving houses and dealing with Panda related stuff late this year.
4. Treat this as a real business. I think I made some real strides regarding this goal this year. I’ve formed a LLC (although I still need to finish setting up my bank account),  and I’ve also sorted out things like doing my estimated tax payments, setting up accounting files, and so forth. I imagine my business paperwork is only going to get more complicated in the future, and I feel like I have a good basis to move forward.
5. Purchase a new business computer. Well, I got a “new to me” computer after my old laptop died  earlier this year. However, I still want to purchase a much more powerful and truly new computer later this year.
6. Provide more useful content on this blog. I’d say I largely failed on this one. There are a few posts I  am particularly proud of this year, but in general, it’s been a struggle just to get my monthly income reports up. Hopefully these reports are useful, in that I aim to show the true costs of running my business for those who are contemplating doing the same. But there is a lot more useful tips and content I want to provide here in the upcoming year.
7. Improve my list building techniques. I would say I made some progress on this front this year. I set up email lists for several of my ClickBank websites, although they aren’t converting horribly well. I do consider the list I set up for this blog to be huge success, however.  I definitely think I still have a lot to learn about list building in the future, but I am moving forward on this one.
8. Build my own blog posting network. This has been largely a success, although it isn’t nearly a large as I wanted it to be at this point. Right now I have about 25 blogs in the network (generally PR1-PR3 blogs), and I have seen some great rankings movement from my private blog posting network.
9. Expand on my high PR homepage network. I have added a few PR3′s and PR4′s to this network, but not nearly as many as I had hoped because of the high costs involved. I still believe this to be a very powerful method of backlinking your sites, but right now I simply don’t have a lot of cash to purchase PR4 or PR5 blogs.
10. Put together an efficient team of outsourced employees. I largely failed at this. In part, because I didn’t have the money I needed to keep a full time employee (or more) employed. But I’ve also moved more towards outsourcing projects rather than expend the energy into hiring and then training a full time person who may or may not work out. I might change my mind about this later on, but for now, I’m using services like Freelancer and Odesk to meet my outsourcing needs.
11. Reduce my own workweek to 10 hours a day. Didn’t happen, although there were several periods (such as when I was moving, and during the holidays) when I didn’t work at all for a week or two. But in general, I’m still putting in around two or three hours of work a day -  or around twenty hours a week.

MY GOALS FOR 2012

For 2012, I decided to narrow my focus and my goals a bit. I’ve only come up with five main goals for 2012, based on my experiences last year.

1. Double my income for 2012. I believe this to be a completely realistic goal (unlike last year’s goal). In terms of gross earnings, I want to earn at least $50,000 for 2012. I expect my expenses will be about the same as they have been for the past two years (around $6000 a year, or about $500/month), meaning my net income goal is to earn around $44,000 this year after expenses (and before taxes).
2. Build at least three mini-authority sites out this year. This year, much of my content writing will be focused on building out three sites that I think are very promising. My goal is to write one post a week for each of these sites, of excellent quality content – meaning that by the end of the year each of these sites should have between 50-100 posts.
3. Build multiple sites in profitable niches. There are a couple of niches that I’ve done really well in in the past year or so,  and I want to protect these niches by building additional sites in them that can capture additional traffic and provide a level of protection against future algorithm updates that might take out one of my big earners.
4. Become a vendor. Still a major goal for me, hopefully I’ll reach it this year.
5. Outsource effectively and consistently. If I want my business to grow, I’m going to have to outsource more plain and simple. Working more hours is simply not an option for me. I’m planning on spending at least $200 a month on outsourcing this year, and hopefully much more than that by the end of the year.

One other big thing I’ve learned about this business this year is that you really need to be flexible and always be willing to learn and try new things. But you also need to focus on what is working for you at a certain time and not be overcome by information overload.

I believe finding a balance between focus and flexibility is really difficult for many (including me, at times), especially in this business where every day there are a dozen new gurus or WSO’s promising you riches overnight if you just follow their method.

For me, what this means that for right now, I’m focused on building out a few sites, adding great content to them on a regular basis; backlinking methods that are currently focused on building more high PR links to my sites (through a combination of the BuildMyRank network and my own private blog network); and outsourcing more work given the few hours I have to work on a daily basis.

I am not sure what really lies ahead in 2012, but I do feel confident that I will be able to continue to grow my business and roll with the punches as they come. I seek support when I need it (I find the private community at The Pond forum particularly stimulating). But I also try not to get to distracted from what I know is working for me right now (based on my own personal experiences).

The biggest lesson I’ve learned this year is that you CAN earn a living in this business, even when the economy sucks and Google is clearly not your friend. For those of you who are struggling, I hope that this post can serve as some evidence in that regards and help keep you motivated and moving forward.

Happy New Year! I wish you all success and happiness in the coming year – and thanks for reading and visiting my blog!