Who are you and what are you currently working on?
Hey I’m Andy Feliciotti and I primarily work on my Amazon affiliate blog AwesomeStuffToBuy.com. Awesome Stuff To Buy is a massive curated list of cool products. Additionally I run a handful of other niche affiliate sites that range from photography to funny pool floats.
It took me a while to realize I wasn’t monitoring affiliate links to other regions despite getting international traffic. This is where I started using Geniuslink which over the years has increased my Amazon earnings by about 9%.
How did you get started in affiliate marketing? What keeps you excited about it?
Ironically I Googled “awesome stuff to buy” one day in 2012 and saw a slew of sites with big lists of affiliate links to Amazon. This made me think wow I could probably do this and I checked if the domain awesomestufftobuy.com was available and it was! At the time of starting the site I had made a few WordPress blogs and was learning the ins and outs of making themes. This made it an easy fit since I could build my WordPress skills while at the same time working on affiliate income. At this point creating the ultimate resource for a search visitor is what gets me excited when making content.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to a newbie affiliate marketer? And what is one piece of advice they should ignore?
First I want to admit that I was lucky with finding the “cool stuff” niche, which is oversaturated at this point. That being said I really want people to focus on a topic area that they are interested in. Writing descriptions for products that you don’t care about just hoping for traffic can be a grind. I also work on a photography blog where I review cameras and recommend gear. Since I love photography writing for this site is way easier and the niche is a bit more narrow. So finding what you’re interested in and sticking to it would be my advice!
I think a lot of new people getting into affiliate marketing think they need a giant site that looks like Amazon. This couldn’t be further than the truth, start small just writing a few simple articles. As long as you include the right information you’ll succeed over time.
What has been your favorite mistake? A mistake that in retrospect led to a great lesson and progress in your affiliate marketing?
When I was around 15 years old I had a blog with Adsense ads. After a few months I was banned for “clicking my own ads”. I never did this nor did I know why this was triggered but it quickly made me realize everything we built is on borrowed land. Read the rules, know how affiliate networks you’re in work, and never be shocked if it’s taken away from you.
What is one piece of software or a web service (besides Geniuslink) that allows you to be more effective as an affiliate marketer?
First I just want to note a site I learned about from Kraig Adams called Payoneer. This service makes it easy for you to get paid from international affiliate programs. That being said Ahrefs has been a tool I use almost daily to track my SEO efforts.
How do you continue to educate yourself as an affiliate marketer? What are some of your favorite resources for learning?
I love YouTube as a learning resource, there are a lot of people selling snake oil but you can find plenty of useful information for free. Some YouTube channels I find helpful are the Ahrefs, Income School, Neil Patel, and Brian Dean. Additionally I love the Backlinko blog, Ryan Robinson’s blog, and the BigSEO subreddit.
If people wanted to connect with you, where should we point them to?
Feel free to ask me anything on Twitter or follow my photography on Instagram. Additionally if you’d like to learn more about WordPress I run a blog with WP tips and tricks called SmartWP.co.