Over time I have proven to myself that there are many ways to make money online. I started my online money making career by doing surveys online and created my first website to offer for free those survey sites which were proven to work. I designed The Elusive Pot Of Gold without any experience in web design so you can all stop laughing 
After a while I expanded it offering other services and even tried other ways of monetizing it.
It was in an attempt to improve the SEO of that site that I got into blogging and now blogging has overtaken my online life as I hardly ever update my Elusive Pot Of Gold site. It’s also through blogging that I have shared many of the ways that I make money online, but out of all my online money making efforts the one site that I haven’t been able to crack is Amazon.com. Sure, I’ve made some small sales, mainly on my Top Sexual Aids site, but nowhere near enough to reach my payout level. That being the case I thought I would try using a WordPress plugin to see if I could increase my Amazon revenue. As usual I went for the free version because I know most of my readers would prefer to go that route. The plugin I settled for is WordPress Amazon Associate because it fulfilled the three things I expected from it.
Three Important Criteria For An Amazon Plugin
- It was free
- It was easy to use
- It had Geo localisation capabilities. By that I mean that it doesn’t matter if the buyer was from America, England or Even Germany, as long as they bought the product from my site I would get the commission
WordPress Amazon Associate fulfilled all those requirements
WordPress Amazon Associate
Just so you know you can download this plugin from within your dashboard. Once you’ve activated there are a few things you need to do so as to utilise all of the plugins features.
- First you need to start an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account. You sign in by selecting the I am a returning user and my password is option.
- Once in you click on the Security Credentials link on the left and when that page opens you click on the Access Credentials link which scrolls down some so that you can access your access key and secret access key. You will need that information for the plugin so that you can validate the credentials. Once validated the warning message disappears from the top of the page.
- Once you have that out of the way you need to join the relevant Amazon country sites so that you will be paid when visitors from that country buy any of the products you are offering. Once you’ve joined you enter the associate tag into their relevant spot.
Getting Amazon Products Is Easy
Once you have the plugin up and running all that remains is using it to implement Amazon products into your posts or pages and I’m happy to say this is extremely easy to do. I’m sure that the main reason a lot of people fail to post Amazon products into their posts is because it is all too hard, logging into Amazon, searching for a product and then copying the code, and so they don’t bother. I know there are a lot of times when I didn’t bother because it was such a pain. Now it’s a piece of cake. If I want to paste a link to a mobile phone I simply do a search for mobile phones and then select whether I wanted the product to appear as;
Amazon Affiliate Link
Amazon Affiliate Image
Amazon Enhanced Link
Then again I may want to include one of the many available widgets like my personal favourite, the carousel.
All in all this plugin makes it extremely easy to place Amazon products into your posts and pages and also lets you select from several widgets to place into your sidebars. Perhaps now making money with Amazon will be more than just a pipe dream, especially now that I’ve increased my customer base form one country to several.
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I use a Reviewazon plugin but I cannot recommend because it isnt updated much and developer is still promising a new version but still doesnt deliver.
I will definitely try the WordPress Amazon Associate plugin. It looks promising.
D.
Twitter: AussieSire
Hi Daria,
I was thinking of purchasing a review plugin for Amazon so that I could write a review on a paid plugin. I will have to keep that one in mind.
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I’ll have to give that one a try. I’ve been using a plug-in that produces just the carousel, but is essentially hand coded into the page as a tag containing product numbers that have to be extracted from the Share This function of my Amazon account. This is all quite time consuming. At first I was including related products in almost every post, but when these carousels produced no hits whatsoever I stopped. If this one allows me to include an affiliate link and image for a single product in the post that could be beneficial to the discussion as well as helping to generate some extra pocket change.
Twitter: AussieSire
If that’s all the plugin that you’re using now does Allan you’re absolutely going to love this one. Once set up it is extremely easy to use, so much so that you’ll probably want to put Amazon products in all your posts.
Sire recently posted…Five Best WordPress Plugins For Affiliate Marketers
I snagged it, installed it, chased my tail for a bit trying to figure out how to make it go. Then I saw it – DUH!
I’ve gone back and added products to some posts that lend themselves to that sort of thing… and we’ll see. So far the carousels I use to promo books have not once born fruit. Yah, I know,,, they’re for books not fruit.
Twitter: AussieSire
How did you find it Allan? Was it easier ti install Amazon products than your last one?
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At first I was searching their support forum looking for the line or tag I’d use to place an ad in a post. Nothing. Then I remembered trying another Amazon plugin that put a widget in the side bar of the dashboard. Found it there, but it was waaay down on the bottom. I moved it up. Yes, this one is quite easy to find products to insert although the search gives no information about pricing. Also I’d be happier if it would allow me to left or right align the Amazon link/photo/enhanced thing so text could flow around it. But that’s just me being picky.
The carousel dohicky I’ve used – actually I use two, one of from Amazon, one is a third party plug in. The one from Amazon means I have to log into Amazon, go to a special control board, search for products to add, copy and paste the resulting code into a widget. The 3rd party one means I have to hand code the tags with formatting commands and product IDs from Amazon. This one is much easier.
I haven’t figured out how to do a carousel with this one yet.
Twitter: AussieSire
Hey Allan, I’ve just deleted a comment from someone who cut and pasted your previous comment. Man, these spammers can be pretty dumb.
Apart from the widget in the sidebar there is also a new Amazon icon on the editing bar in your visual editor that makes it really easy to install those Amazon widgets.
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Hi Sire. Ironically, I was preparing a post today about free Amazon plugins. There are so many of them that it is complicated to choose the right one. The plugin you mention above is new to me, so with your permission I might just include this one on my post and link here to you (easier that way), lol.
Anyway, I have been using a premium one myself (Zon Builder) as the strategy I am using for niche sites are different from that of blogs. The one thing I can assure though is that if you can find the right niche and products to sell via Amazon, you can make money fairly easily.
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Twitter: AussieSire
Sure, I’d be crazy to knock back an offer like that DiTesco. I’ll make sure to come on over to your site to take a look at that post.
I would also like to take a look at your review of Zon builder if you have one.
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For me there are 3 websites that have significant potential for a blog:
Google Adsense, Clickbank and …… AMAZON! :)
I think these are the best 3-channel to monetize a blog
Especially if you have a blog about reviews or talk about new technologies
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Twitter: AussieSire
Out of the three you mentioned Clickbank is by far the worst performer and Adsense the best.
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Any suggestions for someone in a State where Amazon won’t allow affiliates, such as California? I’ve been interested in setting up an affiliate account but I’ve had no such luck so far. Any tips?
Twitter: AussieSire
Jordan, I would recommend joining as an Amazon affiliate from any or all of the other countries other than America.
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Twitter: BlogStashdotcom
Sire, Could you elaborate on this point a bit please. Does amazon allow you to register as an affiliate from a country other than yours?…
Thanks in advance.
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Twitter: AussieSire
Hey Satrap,
I’m an Aussie and I joined the following countries.
The only one that knocked me back was England and unless they reply to my email soon I will write a post explaining what happened with them. I hope that answers your question.
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Twitter: BlogStashdotcom
Thanks Sire, Yes it does.
I have to get serious with Amazon. I feel like I am leaving a lot on the table.
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I use Blogger platform for my blogs. Blogger has a built-in option for including Amozon products on any blog. Several month ago I enabled this Amazon gadget on my blog which focuses on Indian readers. I thought that, there would be good sell for books but after few months I realized that selling products is not as easy as it seems. I am earning good money from adsense and I am happy with that.
Thanks for this post.
Twitter: AussieSire
Selling products online is never as easy as one would hope. It’s all about getting targeted traffic. If you can do that then you have a greater potential for making a sale.
Do you have any idea on what Amazon is doing in California and other states that have tried to enact sales tax on internet purchases?
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Twitter: AussieSire
Yep, it’s a bit rough but they can still sell to the other Amazon countries.
I have to agree that the carousel is awesome, but for a post, I’d recommend sticking with the Amazon Enhanced link.
Do you know of the Shopp WordPress plugin, that basically sets up an e-commerce platform on your wordpress site? You might like it as a simpler alternative, but it also depends on why you want to sell your products through Amazon specifically.
Twitter: AussieSire
I still like the carousel because it gives the potential customer a greater selection of similar products. There is no reason why you can’t use both. You could even place an Amazon link within the post.
I already had a bitter experience with online money making but I trust Amazon. I will certainly give a try and make use of them. I will get AWS account and try them. To avail this service, I need to have a self hosted blog ?
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Twitter: AussieSire
Nope, apparently it works on Blogger blogs and I assume it will work on other free platforms as long as they allow you to insert their code into your post
Hey Sire,
First, take a look at your second sentence for this post; kind of misses the mark somehow. lol
Second, you’re going to have an issue with Amazon even if you reach the big sales figure. Darren Rowse wrote on his blog a couple of years ago how he reached this high figure and then had to wait 6 months for his money because he was in Australia; they actually told him that. Not sure if they’ve fixed it, but I hope for your sake they have.
And, for the record, if someone is in a state that Amazon has decided they’re not allowing affiliate programs in anymore, you can’t even sign up for another country, since that’s not what the issue is. The issue isn’t who people are selling to but where they’re selling from. If the address of the person is in California, North Carolina, New York and a host of other states, they’re not allowing us to sign in at all.
Weasels!
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Twitter: AussieSire
Hey Mitch, I remember Darren complaining about that and honestly, if I could make that much money I wouldn’t mind at all waiting for 6 months to get it. Heck, most people have to wait longer than that to get their first Adsense check!
Didn’t know that about you guys not being allowed to sign up for any Amazon sites, I thought it was just the States. Seems a bit rough to me.
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It’s certain states, Sire. I’m in one of those states, although I never really considered signing up for their main program anyway.
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Earning with Amazon is 100% possible. It can be used just an additional stuff in a post or solely for a person to concentrate in marketing amazon products. The good thing about amazon is even those who doesn’t have their own blogs can make money with amazon.
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Twitter: AussieSire
Hey Marie,
I reckon all those people making money with Amazon will agree with you.
Actually, I’m seeing lots of niche sites now. I wonder how really successful they are with this strategy. I should try it for myself I guess. So far, I was able to earn only thru squidoo…
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I am not sure but I have read somewhere that the combination of Amazon and Adsense work best. Can you please share your views and experience on it?
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Twitter: AussieSire
I haven’t had much luck with Amazon Robin but I just bought a new plugin that may change that for me. Expect a post on that soon
This would probably work wonders for my hobby niche website. Last month, pulled in about $700 but I think there are still barriers because it’s hard to constantly go back and update pricing on older posts since there are quite a few on the blog – I need something dynamic, like this, that pulls from Amazon to reduce the annoyance of editing.
Twitter: AussieSire
Murray,
if you think that plugin was good you should see what the latest one I got my hands on can do
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So if we are in California then we are SOL? Unless we can somehow set up an account at a different out of state address. I am going to ditch my amazon affiliate in favor of ebay affiliate. Does anyone have any advice on that on?
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Twitter: AussieSire
I feel sorry for you guys but it’s not all bad. There are a lot of things that you can join that I can’t because I am and Aussie so it looks we’re all constrained to work under certain limitations.
Becoming an Ebay Affiliate sounds like a good alternative.
Well I think if you have traffic less than 3000 you cannot make money through affiliates…
Twitter: AussieSire
I have less than 3000 visitors and I still make some sales. What really matters is what you’re selling and how you market those products.
Twitter: SNPlanet
I’m also trying to get some bucks from Amazon like biggest Internet Marketer, but till now I’ve received only clicks without sales :(
Twitter: AussieSire
I’ve only just started converting clicks to sales and it’s all due to WP Zon Builder
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