Well the CPA in my example shows a quick and dirty example of conversion rates and values. A lot of businesses will factor in the cost of acquiring a new customer and the lifetime value of a new customer. Considering that you can continually email them through your newsletters, repeat orders etc. Even though the CPA might be $30 on the surface, the lifetime value of a new customer could be something like $100, which makes it worth acquiring new customers at a much higher cost.

As for different niches and performance across the engines, I’m not too sure. Very generally I’d say people who use Google are more likely to do their research more whereas Bing users are probably more impulse buyers.

Assuming a limited budget, would it be possible to reach the click volume of Adwords on Bing?

Granted, in your example, you did not profit on Adwords or Yahoo, though I’m wondering if some advertisers, with nearly unlimited budgets, would take a lower profit margin and conversions in favor of more revenue generated from more volume?

Also, are there certain niches that convert better on one network vs another? Even better question…which niche focus would not convert as well on Bing than on Adwords?

in my experiences, msn traffic converts the best(lowest CPA). you will always be wishing for more volume with MSN… Adwords on the other hand, can blow through any budget you specify, but it will usually be at a really high CPA more often than not, losing you money… you need to keep an eye on it and optimize/improve, especially in the beginning. Yahoo more or less fits in between the two, I haven’t gathered enough data yet on yahoo, but CVR is better than google, not quite as good as MSN, but acceptable!

For example, look at what’s happened to Acai berries. The only guys that I’ve seen running them explicit state they do not operate in the US. The only other rebill I consistently see anymore is for Force Factor, which is known as one of the most compliant merchants out there.

In short, I think the downfall of the rebill has really hurt the affiliate marketing world (obviously), but it will actually make for more opportunities in the future. There are still lots of keywords out there which have prices grouped around the $75-$85 dollar rebill model. As rebills become more scarce, the cost of advertising, as a whole should decrease as expected revenue drops. As the costs decrease, the opportunity for less scammy products to advertise themselves increases.

I saw your posts on wickedfire and after that I read your blog. Great info about how to take IM to the next level. Thank you for that

I am still in the starting phase of my IM journey and I want to finish my current projects first, which are also the first sites I have, so that makes me a real beginner at SEO. And after that I want to go the “physical goods” way, because I think it’s the best longterm plan online. No fear of adsense account banning or searching for new cpa companies because the offer isn’t available anymore. But building a real company.

I have to learn a lot, adwords, facebook ads etc, shoppingcart software and learn more about marketing in general. I have a long way ahead of way, because I am a big time noob
But that doesn’t matter. Step by step I will get there.

But the reason I make this comment is the hardest part of getting your own shop/brand is to find the right product. Every extra information you can give on this blog about finding the right product to sell will be very helpful for me…hint hint

I understand the stuff you already layed out, like:
-low production costs and high sell price
-competition analysis
-small products–> less shipping costs
-and the other stuff you mentioned.

I can understand why you went with the contact lenses, because it has all the main benefits you mentioned.

But somehow I still find it hard to get ideas for good products which fall in this categorie.
But I still have a couple of months before I start that part of my IM journey so I have to keep my eyes open and look on alibaba for ideas. But somehow I just don’t get it at the moment….damned.

Great lifestyle you have and have fun in South America. I subscribed to your blog. I don’t want to miss your IM tips and your travel posts.

cya

Dennis