What Affects Your Affiliate Revenue

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Amit

Ever wondered why some days are good (we don’t think much about our good income days, we just assume that we are great marketers) and some days (and may be weeks) are bad. What drives those ebbs.

There are many things that may be working against you when you have long days of low conversions. Affiliate industry is plagued by adwares, cookie overwriting, toolbars and others. If we forget those elements for a moment, there are a few macro conditions that can also work against you. There is nothing that can be done about them, but an awareness of what may affect affiliate income will definitely help you set the right goals and may be prepare for it.

Some of those conditions, in my experience, are

Weather

Weather affects a lot of people in many ways. If your market is USA, where a larger population lives in the east, any major weather trends may have an effect on your sales. Why? Well bad weather brings with it many friends, like power outages, school and office closures. Many of us still make online purchases from their office computer. So fewer people in the offices means there are fewer purchases. Plus a major power outage will leave many at home without a live computer with an internet connection. That will also affect online browsing.

Events

When there are major events going on, like say a presidential election, a nfl playoff championship, olympics many are glued to their tv sets and nobody is thinking about what they can buy online. This may affect your sales also. Though the aftermath of a major event can also see a surge in online activity which affiliate marketers can prepare themselves to derive some benefits from. Will write about it in my next post.

WeekEnds

Yes, weekends, they come every week, two days of it. When most take a break from their regular work weeks, spending time with their families, going out on dates, going to restaurants, malls, movies, online activities cool down. So its normal for affiliates to see a drop in sales during the weekends.

Tax Season

March and April are the months when most in the US prepare and file their taxes. The tax season is expensive for those who owe the fed. This causes a dent in the expendable income for many and will in turn affect you, the affiliate marketer.

The Economy

If the macro economic condition is not very rosy, everything takes a nosedive. In a bad economy coupon and cash back affiliates may be less affected, but the overall negative effect is inescapable.

Well, there may be many more. I will appreciate if you post your experiences as to what other conditions may affect your sales.