Shed.com Success Story
(As originally published on www.X10affiliate.com)
How does Shed.com get traffic and earn commission with the X10 VIP Program?
X10: How long have you been involved with Affiliate Marketing?
Shed.com: X10 is my first affiliate relationship. Although I do have a couple of other affiliate links, none has proven to be as simple as the X10 relationship.
X10: How long have you been an X10 VIP Affiliate?
Shed.com: I joined one year ago, but didn't establish web links until February 2005.
X10: What is your marketing strategy?
Shed.com: www.shed.com is a first-page Google hit for "home automation", and is a content-rich site for information about home automation products and techniques.
X10: What website(s) do you promote X10 products on?
Shed.com: www.shed.com and www.machomeautomation.com
X10: How would you rate X10's VIP support?
Shed.com: Actually I was very impressed from the beginning by the affiliate staff, their helpfulness and attentiveness. (seriously)
X10: How easy is it to retrieve links/banners?
Shed.com: I had no trouble whatsoever in getting started, and setting up a complete catalog.
X10: Please provide a brief synopsis of how your affiliation with X10 came to be (1000 words or less).
Shed.com: www.shed.com has been on the web for over 9 years now and has never before had any sort of third-party advertising, other than a few links to related home automation sites. A year ago I received a call from an X10 affiliate representative who suggested that www.shed.com would be a good candidate for the X10 link-thru program.
I was doubtful because I didn't want to suddenly disturb my website visitors with pop-ups and ads. So I chose the simplest front-page link to the daily special, and re-wrote my 'ordering' page to include links to the X10 product catalog.
I can only say that I am very gratified that while I have not received any complaints about the 'advertising', I have maintained an average of a 20% 'click-thru' rate from these simple links. Obviously my visitors and customers see the links and do not feel that they are an intrusion.
The rich content of home automation tutorials and articles on the site is why they come, and being able to easily order the products referenced, is a seamless function.
X10: What would be your #1 tip for success (in one sentence)?
Shed.com: CONTENT...CONTENT...CONTENT... It really makes a difference when you find a site that contains time-proven articles and tutorials with pictures and how-to's. The 'buy-me' links should appear as just a value-added feature.
X10: What advice would you give to a new affiliate, who may be skeptical about Affiliate Marketing in general?
Shed.com: I could not be happier with the whole system. The representatives stay in touch with me without being a bother. And I don't have to change the way I have done business for years... The difference is that now I get a check every month!