Forum

[gen1antigua]

Hello Everyone,
I recently decided to change my "gifty" website to one that list affiliate products "only".
As a result, it is now clear that I need to remove my cart page, store policy page, shipping page and anything else that gives the impression that an item can be directly purchased from me. Frankly, I don't know what else I need to do to turn this into more of a product shopping mall. The way I see it, when a customer visits the site, it will be a one time visit only because they will then continue shopping through the vendor I am associated with ; they will not become repeat shoppers with this model. Any input is appreciated. theRuffledRibbon.com

*Thanks in advance to those who respond.

 

[newstart]

I know my response does not fulfill your request, but I feel I should provide it.

This is a good site established to market customized products. I would keep the site active and increase your marketing efforts. Establish yourself on Amazon and eBay. Use eBay and Amazon to build a list. Ebay's classified advertising will produce traffic.

Off-page SEO - Social bookmarking, commenting on relevant forums etcetera. Your product niche is probably seasonal however with a little effort it should be quite productive (profitable).

Regarding "Pages without Products" - I would temporarily move pages that you do not have corresponding products to populate the page to make the page invisible to your visitors. The pages currently give the impression the site is unfinished under construction. By removing a page from view you correct that problem yet it is available as soon as your inventory has added the new product line.

As to your statement regarding an affiliate site I believe you should establish another domain name building a complete new website. For information on building an affiliate site I would recommend AffiloBluePrint. AffiloBluePrint is an excellent step-by-step program to build affiliate sites using either WordPress or X-Site Pro as the building platform.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Margene Smith

 

[michellerana]

If you provide relevant information (ie articles about occasions like weddings, how birthdays are celebrated differently all over the world, history of Hallooween, etc) , then your customers will be interested and keep coming back to your site.

Sending newsletters will also help build your relationship with them.

Hope that helps! :)

 

[gen1antigua]

Thanks for responding Marlene and Michellerana!
Both of your post help tremendously!!
Marlene, are you suggesting I continue to use my site as it was intended where I would purchase items wholesale, post photos, and then ship myself or drop ship? Please forgive me if I misunderstood. I re-read again until I fully understand: )

Oops! I'm wondering if I should have mentioned that the products I currently have listed are affiliate products that I just recently added. Unfortunately, because the site is a general "gifty" store, it was difficult to maintain inventory. I considered deactivation, but since I invested time and money I didn't want to shut the site down. I thought affiliate marketing might be an alternative.

 

[newstart]

Yes, I feel it is best to keep the website operational using affiliate products and dropshipping or establishing your own inventory.

On our product site we use dropshippers to confirm our research. After a product line has proven itself we then move to acquiring inventory. Usually we can acquire product inventory at a lower overall cost than we are provided when the item is dropshipped. In this way our risk level is minimized so that we do not end up with inventory that we cannot sell.

With personalized products your profit margin should be sufficient allowing you to use PPC to acquire traffic to your website. This is not always productive when you use a dropshipper as the profit margin is often quite less. If you are considering PPC marketing move slowly monitor activity making corrections as needed in your PPC campaign.

Your site has several categories that are conducive toward high mark-up luxury purchases. The wedding sub-niche would be a good section for a wide price range of products. Oddly high priced luxury products often sell better than lower priced items. However, unless you are manufacturing these luxury products your luxury product line should all be dropshipped from the manufacturer.

Over the years I have found eBay to be very productive. However, in the last few years eBay has lost quite a bit of market share to other online concerns. Presently their main competitor is Amazon. If you have not already done so I would establish a presence on both sites.

Mark Ling is involved in a eBay support site called SaleHoo. This is a good site if you are involved with marketing physical products on eBay or Amazon. Another of his products is "Auction Inspector" which provides additional product niche research information in addition to what is available at SaleHoo.

I hope this information is helpful.

Margene Smith

 

[michellerana]

Unfortunately, because the site is a general "gifty" store, it was difficult to maintain inventory. I considered deactivation, but since I invested time and money I didn't want to shut the site down. I thought affiliate marketing might be an alternative.

Have you tried to do drop shipping? In Salehoo, you don't need to keep goods in stock. You just need to transfer customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer or a wholesaler, who would then ship the goods directly to the customer.

 

[gen1antigua]

Thank you Marlene! I will temporarily remove the Cart, Store Policy and Shipping pages until I can decide which drop shipping company I will use. As you mentioned, I will take a look at wedding products, afterall, I did work as a bridal consultant for Macy's some years ago: )

Thanks for the tips Michellerana! You have both been extremely helpful! Your suggestions have taken a weight off my shoulder!

 

[gen1antigua]

Hello again Marlene and Michellerana,
I JUST had to come back to tell you that I received my first affiliate order!! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!It's not much, but it's a start!

 

[newstart]

It all begins with that first sale.

Congratulations!

Margene

 

[newstart]

I just came across this service. It looks very promising. It may also help you in locating products for your website. The service is VigLink. There are over 12,000 merchants included under their umbrella.

The service is able to avoid the problem created by California and Colorado as to sales tax for affiliates of major retailers such as Amazon. This appears to be the answer for affiliates in those states to keep their Amazon sales growing.

Just thought this might be beneficial.

Margene

 

[michellerana]

Hello again Marlene and Michellerana,
I JUST had to come back to tell you that I received my first affiliate order!! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!It's not much, but it's a start!

Wow! Congratulations! :) The first sale is the sweetest.

Keep promoting your site in forums and I'm sure you'll get more sales. Try to save part of your earnings so that you could reinvest them to your site.

All the best!