Amazon Affiliate Earnings Higher this Month

My Amazon affiliate earnings are not generally very high--usually about $25-$35 in a given month. Since the recent economic turmoil, they've been on the low side. However, my Hub Pages article on Economic Collapse and my eHow article on Total Economic Collapse have generated dozens of Amazon book sales in the last few days, bringing my monthly Amazon affiliate earnings to over $53 so far. And what are the hottest sellers? Four copies of The Great Bust Ahead, three copies of Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook, and two each of Crash Proof, among several others that sold multiple copies. Someone also bought a fishing tackle set and rechargeable batteries, and another customer chose a $50 Swiss Army pocketknife.

The book topics reveal why I've seen such a jump in sales--the relevant, timely topics pertaining to the economic uncertainty facing the United States and the world.

This sudden jump in Amazon earnings shows that relevant affiliate links in timely content can increase your revenue as a writer and provide your readers with further resources on the topic they are researching--a true win-win situation. While I am sure the economic downturn and financial woes will have a negative impact on over all retail sales, certain niches will still see growth. Market those as you continue to offer your readers quality, relevant content.

This WAHM is headed to California!

I'm going to California!

One of the companies I write for invited me and about a dozen others to join them in sunny California for a couple days in October. The company is paying for airfare and accommodations, and we'll be spending time learning more about the company and website and new things to come, as well as providing them feedback from a user standpoint.

Of course, there's always a dilemma involved when you're a work at home mom. I love the writing work I do, and am thrilled to be able to produce an income while staying at home with my kids. But when it comes down to it, I'm a mom before I'm a writer, these days.

As thrilled as I was to receive the invitation, and all the while realizing what an honor it is, I still had a hard time deciding about making the trip. Since I'm on the East Coast, the travel time will be lengthy and my kids will certainly miss me (and I them).

Having decided to make the trip, I am really looking forward to the experience and and will certainly post updates here on my blog as time goes on.

Free Affiliate Masters eBook Giveaway

Are you interested in affiliate marketing as a way to increase your online income? Would you like to build a passive income stream by selling other people's products online?

Affiliate sales have boosted my residual income over the past few months as people click my Amazon, Implix and Site Build It links and make purchases. I posted some of these links almost a year ago, and many more recently, but am always pleasantly surprised when a sale is made.

I am currently reading the Affiliate Masters Course, which I received as a SiteBuildIt owner. Would you like to have a copy? This eBook is really an eCourse, as it is over 100 pages long (but an easy read with lots of space and pictures!) chock full of helpful information.

Sinply drop me a note at eireitaliaATgmail.com and I will email you your copy.

I'll also post when I am finished reading the book and let you know my thoughts and the highlights.

My eHow Payment for August: $600+

My eHow payment for August 2008 will be $617.35 USD, the highest eHow earnings I've ever received. I currently have 191 published eHow articles (and 7 pending approval). However, 12 articles were published the last week of August and have not yet earned anything. Thus, with 179 earning articles in August, they averaged $3.45 each this month. That number should keep going up as recent articles from June, July and August are indexed by Google and begin to receive more views.

There is some debate as to whether eHow earnings can be considered truly "passive," or whether promotion and continued work is necessary to create and maintain earnings. My experience shows that, because of eHow's superb search engine rankings, its daily traffic and the social aspects of the site itself, little or no promotion is necessary to yield high earnings assuming basic keyword optimization, search engine optimization and quality content.

I am planning a test of this residual income stream, this December and possibly beyond. I'll take the entire month of December "off" eHow to focus on my other writing, and see how it goes. I predict my articles won't even miss me.

Until then, I'll be researching keywords and writing more articles.