The Basics of Affiliate Success: Running a Business (Top Secrets of Successful Affiliate Marketing) [Kindle Edition]

Billy Kay (Author), Liz Fogg (Editor)

Book Description

Before I even get into the nuts and bolts of making a website, choosing merchant partners, picking products, etc...

The first and most important thing you need to accept is that Affiliate Marketing is a BUSINESS.

No matter what niche you decide to get into, there will be 1000 competitors. If THEY are acting like a business and you're not... who will succeed?

You need to objectively look at the list in this book and decide what you are capable of, and what needs to be farmed out.

You need to accept that EVERYTHING on the list is necessary to succeed. Think of any successful business... I'll be using online giant Wal-Mart in my examples, but it can be a company with no online presence like Denny’s.

Is there anything on the list they do NOT excel in? No!

Read the list. Accept the list. Do the math. Soul search.

The list is NOT designed to scare off noobs. It's a list of what you'll need. I didn't know any of them when I started. YOU will have to decide what you can learn and what you will need to farm out.

Product Details

• File Size: 137 KB
• Print Length: 57 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0073YTUPM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #475,591 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Will not help you with affiliate business March 14, 2013

By Francesca CH

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was so interested in the subject and very happy to have found this book while it was free.

Still, instead of understanding affiliate marketing as a business I got a list of questions to think about that could apply to many different businesses or business in general. There are questions that relate to the functioning of a CEO, a secretary, a business phone, having an attorney, an accountant, a graphic designer, a copywriter, a company spokesperson... you get the picture. Altogether 20 of them, but this will not get you an insight into the affiliate marketing business. Nothing really to do with the title.

My recommendation is - if you want to learn about affiliate marketing look for another book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great business advice for affiliates! February 28, 2013

By Dave Cupples

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Billy is an industry veteran has been involved in Affiliate Marketing for years and explains the top secrets of Successful Affiliate Marketing and how to run your sites like a real business.

1.0 out of 5 stars Good Title... very poor content! August 28, 2012

By HKings

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When i saw the title i found it very interesting, but after the reading i'm very disappointed. The text es very poor.. a waste of money and time. Be careful!

1.0 out of 5 stars If this was given away for free I would not take it June 27, 2012

By Carlos

Format:Kindle Edition

The book has general information. No details on how to do anything. It talks about how you have to be the secretary for your business, the CEO of your business, etc.... A bunch of diff positions for your business and what each position does. If your looking to make money with Affiliate Marketing this book will not provide that info.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No Nonsense Affiliate Help February 23, 2012

By Jim Kukral

Format:Kindle Edition

Billy has written the real-deal manifesto for learning about how to start a REAL affiliate-based business. I highly recommend anyone who wants to understand affiliate marketing should read this book first. Billy tells you how it is, from a guy who has done it well for years and years. I wish I had this book when I first started in Affiliate Marketing over 10-years ago. Buy it now.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Very basic April 21, 2012

By Anthony L. Vandyke

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This had some information... but it was very basic. this was not what I was looking for. there definitely was no "Top Secrets".

More About the Author

Billy Kay (B Knoblach) was marketing online since the Commodore 64, dial-up and DOS days! He learned his craft by trial and error. He would take apart other websites to see how they worked - to see what each line of code did - and then tinker with the scripts and try out the results on his own. Without realizing it, he became what we now call a "coder".

He started by scanning catalogs he would receive in the mail, placing similar products together, and creating niche websites for them. Truth be told, in the early days of the Internet, the only websites around were porn sites, and those were the sites he would spend all day at - looking at code instead of pictures! Without realizing it, he became what we now call a website developer.

Word quickly spread about his website skills and he was offered several high paying jobs in the adult industry, where he learned what we now refer to as Search Engine Optimization. Adult sites all used the same girl pictures at that time, so to be successful, a site had to rank #1 in the search engines.

Billy's parents owned a Trophy Shop on Long Island. When they passed, Billy inherited the business. So he developed a keen sense for personalized products. There was a company in New Jersey called Mail Order Associates that had an engraved gifts catalog. They would put YOUR company name on the catalog, and would drop-ship items for you. Over time, Billy became an expert on drop-shipping.

When name brand stores jumped on the Internet bandwagon, Billy no longer had to wait for monthly catalogs to arrive in the mail. More products then he could ever need were now available 24/7 online. He no longer had to scan catalogs - product images were just a right-click away!

Billy made a website for all his drop-ship products from Mail Order Associates, then added products from the brand name stores... and The Mail Order Shoppe was born!

Since he spent years reading code, he watched what the big brand stores did as they developed their websites, and he incorporated their ideas into his own sites. For example, the ability to search within a site wasn't around in the early days.

Affiliate marketing was invented. Rather then re-selling a stores products, all we had to do was place a special link to a store's website and we'd make a commission on any sale. So Billy spent a year swapping out links to change them from going to his own shopping cart to the merchant's website.

When his sites were ranking higher in search engines then the actual merchant's names, we was hired as a consultant to teach merchants how search engines work.

When he retired two years ago, Billy had over 200 domains. He now keeps no more then twelve. Billy's been an affiliate, a merchant, a consultant, a speaker, a blogger, and a frequent podcast guest and an article and forum contributor.

Billy became a Foster Parent 18 years ago, eventually adopting. He made a promise to himself to not have to go to an office so he can stay home and raise his child. And online marketing fit that bill to a tee! His son just turned 18, and will be going off to College this year, so Billy plans to move to a VERY small town in the hills - with a stream - and pursue his love for music.

Within the online industry, most people know who Billy Kay is. No one ever heard of Billy the songwriter. He used his online skills to promote himself, and in less then a year, fans all over the world have downloaded his songs! It's been a great run, and he looks forward to the next adventure!