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Need alternative to Amazon for links in emails.

by Edward W Smith
10 replies
Hi, I want to send out emails to subscribers and include affiliate links in the email for the books discussed in the emails. Amazon will not let me use links in the emails, just on the website. Any suggestions as to what company I could use in place of Amazon in order to make money from affiliate links in emails? Thanks, Ed.
#alternative #amazon #emails #links
  • Profile picture of the author Entrecon
    I don't know about other book resources, but you can get around the affiliate link in an e-mail by providing the resource list on your website and then link to your website from the e-mail.
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  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    If you have a website edsbooks.com, use a redirect (like Pretty Links) to make your Amazon affiliate link edsbooks.com/book-link, or edsbooks.com/recommends/book-link.

    Then use those links in your email. Amazon will see the affiliate coming from your site which is what they want.

    Amazon does not want direct affialite links in email like amazon.com/id/link/product/etc because they cannot attribute it to a website.

    But if you redirect from your own website, Amazon can see the traffic coming from there.
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    Originally Posted by Edward W Smith View Post

    Hi, I want to send out emails to subscribers and include affiliate links in the email for the books discussed in the emails. Amazon will not let me use links in the emails, just on the website. Any suggestions as to what company I could use in place of Amazon in order to make money from affiliate links in emails? Thanks, Ed.
    There are literally hundreds, just google "affiliate networks" then sign up for the ones that have companies you want to promote. Also, if you have a WP site get a plugin like "Pretty links" then the link will go to your site but then get redirected to Amazon, or better yet send them to a "Review/Information" page on your site to presell the Amazon product

    al
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Originally Posted by Edward W Smith View Post

    Hi, I want to send out emails to subscribers and include affiliate links in the email for the books discussed in the emails. Amazon will not let me use links in the emails, just on the website. Any suggestions as to what company I could use in place of Amazon in order to make money from affiliate links in emails? Thanks, Ed.
    What about putting links to your website in the email?
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    • Profile picture of the author Edward W Smith
      Thanks ChrisBA, That would work for sure, my issue with that is that it puts one more step into the process and as you know, there is a drop off in the click through rate the more steps I add, but thanks for the suggestion, Ed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Edward W Smith View Post

    Any suggestions as to what company I could use in place of Amazon in order to make money from affiliate links in emails?
    There are plenty, Ed (some mentioned above), but this wouldn't be my solution to the problem.

    I promote Amazon stuff by email marketing. I make sure that all my subscribers understand why the links are to my own site rather than directly to Amazon sales-pages.

    (I promote plenty of books, too, from Amazon: the commissions are absolutely tiny, but they keep my sales volume high, so that I qualify for 8.0%/8.5% commissions on the expensive stuff I also sell from Amazon.)

    In general, I've always found (in a large range of different, unrelated niches) that the more information I give my subscribers about what affiliate marketing is, how it works, and why I'm using it, the more sales I make. People understand, if you explain it to them. They love honesty and directness: that earns respect and trust, and respect and trust are what produce affiliate sales. It's a win-win. And it's not as if you're allowed (under FTC regulations) to conceal that you're an incentivized affiliate anyway - so there's no downside to doing it this way.

    You can do this as part of the reassurance you provide that nobody will ever pay more by buying through your link, and that the affiliate's little commissions come from Amazon's profit and never from your subscribers' pockets. (And some will mistakenly assume that, if you don't clarify it to them, so it's essential to deal with that potential "objection" up-front.)

    It also helps - in general - even when you're not promoting something, to get subscribers used/trained to click on links that go back to your own site, so that they're familar with "the system".

    .
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    • Profile picture of the author Edward W Smith
      Thanks Alexa, it sounds like you do not have an issue with the click through rate dropping due to the extra step of going on your website before going to Amazon. I wonder if that is due to the fact that you are so thorough in explaining how the system works. OK, thanks again Alexa, Ed.
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      • Profile picture of the author kilgore
        Originally Posted by Edward W Smith View Post

        Thanks Alexa, it sounds like you do not have an issue with the click through rate dropping due to the extra step of going on your website before going to Amazon. I wonder if that is due to the fact that you are so thorough in explaining how the system works. OK, thanks again Alexa, Ed.
        If you're measuring the "click rate" as the number of clicks to Amazon, absolutely the click rate will drop if you follow Alexa's advice. But how can you avoid that? If even one person clicks to your website then does not click to Amazon, you've lost a click.

        But so what? It's not the clicks that count, it's the sales.

        And I doubt you're losing many -- if any -- sales by following Alexa's advice. In fact, it's exactly what I do, and my experience is that it actually helps sales. After all, if they don't like that particular product, I've got a lot more things on my website that they may like. And the fact is that despite all of Amazon's fancy algorithms, I know my customers better than they do. Moreover, my customers trust me and my recommendations and besides that, it helps to train my users to come to me first when searching for the types of products I promote. The end result is that overall I'd rather lose a few clicks to Amazon, but have them shopping on my site than on Amazon's site. It works out better for me, Amazon and the customer.
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        • Profile picture of the author Edward W Smith
          Thanks Kilgore, I am so glad I asked this question, looks like another vote for the "direct" approach, Ed.
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  • Profile picture of the author JTBivens
    Hello,

    Have you checked out Smashwords? They may not have exactly what you are looking for.

    But they do let you link to other eBooks for affiliate purposes. But I really think Alexa Smith hit a home run with her suggestion. That is how I promote wedding and baby registry's through amazon. I just link to my site.

    I often will make the page hidden. That way I can reserve it as a special offer they can only get by following the link I send them!

    That is my two cents!
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