Eric Nagel

A lot of people ask me what I do, and I tell them I build websites. Jason says, “my Dad builds the Internet.” I’ve been using that answer lately, too.

But it’s all a lie.

Well, maybe not all a lie, but I don’t build websites. I work on certain parts of websites, but I don’t do it all. And, to further complicate things, I’m getting rid of all my clients.

So, how do I run a website business, without building websites, and without having clients? Simple: I’ve shifted my efforts into affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing isn’t hard to understand: it’s a commission-based sales position. My job is to sell things for other people. When I do, they pay me.

So let’s say I decided there was an opportunity selling pet medications online. I’d partner up with 1-800-PetMeds or another online store and we’d agree upon a commission rate (12-16%, depending on the item purchased). I’d then come up with a marketing plan, and earn money whenever one of the customers I send to them makes a purchase. To be profitable, you simply have to spend less money than you make.

There are lots of people that do this as their sole source of income. I’m the “techie” for one of these guys (Paul, ShopperUK.com) so I manage the projects as they’re implemented. Paul does the marketing and idea generation.

So these days, 10% of my time is spent on clients whose projects I’m wrapping up, 5% spent on my own affiliate marketing, and the rest on ShopperUK.

So there – now you know what I do. Steve wanted me to write about some affiliate marketing tips, which I’ll soon start. The first one will be about a little feature in Google AdWords, which I found to really screw up your ROI. I was getting like 130% ROI on a project, then activated this “feature” and dropped to 30%. OUCH! So much for technology… I’m going back to the old-fashioned way to do things… I switched things up yesterday, and am heading back up, with an 85% ROI yesterday.

Stay tuned…