Retail site idea of mine, what do you think?

[rcgibbons]

I am new to affiliate marketing and the first idea I have had, and put some considerable time into, was developing a retail web site for women's clothing and apparel. I joined LinkShare, Commision Junction, and Google Affiliate, but the advertisers they have listed don't seem to provide what I wanted for my site idea. I wanted to display images of clothes just as if I were selling them myself and then have clients check-out on the advertisers web site for my commission. I am not sure though how to do all the linking and redirecting to make this happen, or even if this is a good idea, or if in fact it is affiliate marketing. Any opinions out there on this idea and/or suggestions.

[jcdean]

I don't know about this. Don't know how you could compete.
What key words were you thinking to target?

[rcgibbons]

I wasn't trying to compete necessaily but sell their product and receive my commission for doing so. I would only earn commissions from each sale the same as if I linked to them through a banner. I am beginning to think it will be too much work to make it worth the effort. What started the idea was that I have friends and family in Europe that want to order clothing from the U.S. and they suggested I create a site and they would use it. The problem is more technical in nature, but I would only be working for 7.5 to 12 percent commissions and if makes me wonder about the time versus profit issue.

[stargate66]

If I were you I would rather keep to a niche product. Or target one or two products from their line, so you can try and dominate the market in that specific niche e.g. "born in the USA t-shirts". As jcdean said, it is about relevant keywords. Try competing for the keyword "clothing" - very difficult.

Good luck whatever you decide to do!

[rcgibbons]

Last night I watched the free video sent to me by Mark Ling, and now I understand more about what you are saying. I now think my original site idea was way too broad and I wasn't using a proper strategy for operating an affiliate site. I have put that project aside for the moment and will be pursuing a more profitable affiliate idea. Thanks for your help though, I am learning.