Antoine Walker - How I Made $10 Million From Internet Affiliate Marketing

Antoine Walker

Visit my website at:

http://www.dotaffiliate.com

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Antoine Walker

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form orby any electronic or mechanical means including information storageand retrieval systemsexcept in the case of brief quotations inarticles or reviewswithout the permission in writing from itspublisher, Antoine Walker.

All brand names and product names used in this bookare trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of theirrespective holders. We are not associated with any product orvendor in this book.

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

This book is dedicated to the people whostood by me during the court proceedings. You know who you are.

I believe that its important to highlightthat I have no special skills. As youll learn, I probably knowless about computers, technology, web design, and programming thanthe average person. Odds are that I know less than you. My focushas consistently been on the internet and, eventually, searchengine optimization. I just outsourced the rest.

Youll learn about how I struggled to createa successful business and made quite ridiculous mistakes. Youllalso discover how I failed miserably, lost everything, and then hadto win it all back. Youll learn how my most profitable ideas werethe simplest. How I created a small four-figure income for monthson end from less than five minutes of work.

Youll uncover how I found small loopholes inorder to rank well in Google, only to have those loopholes plugged.This resulted in having to find a new secret recipe to receiveGoogle love.

Whats most important, and that I hope youlltake away, is the mindset. You dont have to settle with working ajob that you detest. It is possible to earn a second income fromthe internet...or even make it your exclusive income to then quityour day job.

I made many mistakes and still managed tosucceed. Its not because I am more intelligent than the averageperson nor is it because I have access to more tools. Its simplythat I was more committed. I hope that you can learn from mymistakes and my achievements.

I also hope that you will gain a small nuggetof wisdom, or perhaps a eureka moment: Something that will enableyou to combine some of my experience with your own to generateincredible internet wealth.

I tried promoting my own products, but for meI had far more luck with affiliate programs. How you decide to goabout your business will be up to you. Try not to shake your headat some of the early easily-avoidable errors I made. In my defense,I was nineteen years old when I started.

Also, some of the screenshots were used fromthe internet archive, which will explain any broken images that yousee. Another important note is that many of the websites that arediscussed are no longer operational.

Thank you for reading. May all of your dreamsbecome realities.

Before continuing you should be aware of whataffiliate marketing is. Its simply a way for a merchant, whichis a company with a product or service, to generate cost-effectivemarketing.

The merchant pays an affiliate a share ofrevenue or a fee for sending over visitors that purchase a productor service.

Almost every large on-line retailer has anaffiliate program. For instance, Amazon allows affiliates to signup and send traffic from their own websites. This traffic is sentfrom a unique referral URL that tracks the affiliate responsiblefor a sale.

Commission size is dependent on the merchantas well as the type of product. It can range from 1 to 3% forelectronics, all the way to 50% for dating or even 75% for e-books.At the end of this book, I will highlight which affiliate programsare the most profitable and which industries offer the highestreturns.

It was a cold winter day in 1999. To myrelief, Walmart had just rejected my job application. My father hadpressured me to apply but I had no desire to actually be employedat a Walmart. I was a high school dropout, trapped in FortMcMurray, the northernmost part of Alberta, Canada. My jobprospects were nonexistent. The problem was that I was beingpressured to work at an oil rig.

Oil is the big economy in Alberta, especiallyin that section of the province. Working in an isolated, coldcommunity, with almost no women, was not what I wanted out of life.My options seemed limited. I had tried my hand at novel writingbut, being nineteen, I lacked the life experience.

I had a purchased my first computer less thansix months beforehand. Since owning it, I had accessed the internetto frequent Yahoo Chat Rooms, which were popular at the time. I hadnegligible computer experience, zero programming knowledge, andabsolutely no experience with web design. I had no clue what htmlwas, an FTP program, or any of the other things that comprised theinternet.

What I did know was that the internet wasrevolutionary. It was flourishing, with newscasters raving abouthow it was going to transform the world. I figured the internetoffered the best means of escape. I could create something out ofnothing: my previous work experience, my lack of education, it allmeant nothing. On the internet, everyone has an equal footing. Aperson could make something out of nothing and create unlimitedwealth. It seemed like a no-brainer.

My first foray into earning money wasaccidental. I was browsing a Coles book store in a local mall.Coles was one of the largest book chains in Canada, and it waslater acquired by Chapters to become the leader in Canada.(Comparable to Barnes and Noble in the USA.) As I was browsing thebookstore, I couldnt help but notice that the bargain bin hadbeautiful hardcovers selling for between $1 and $5. A light bulbwent off in my head. It seemed logical; surely someone somewherewould find more value than $1 in these books. The books had coverprices of up to $40 and were on various topics, such as chessstrategies and a biography of Stalin. I purchased $50 worth ofbooks and returned home.

That night I listed all of the books on YahooAuctions. At the time, the auction service was free andsignificantly less competitive. I listed the books at the sameprice that I had paid for them, with a reserve set to $9.95 withbuyer paying shipping. Before I knew it, the books were being bidon. The return on investment was anywhere from 1000 to 2000%. Intheory, the return was high, but this involved a lot of work.

This technique of earning money was limitedand faced several obstacles. The first problem was Canadas being asmaller market, with few Americans wishing to purchase books fromnorth of the border. This limited my audience exponentially.

The second problem I had is that this wasbefore PayPal or e-payments were invented. Buyers were sendingchecks via snail mail and it could take three weeks or more toreceive a check. After all, who would pay express delivery for a$15 book? Unfortunately, sometimes I would deposit a check and itwould bounce after I had shipped the book. I did not want to havebuyers waiting a month for a book to be shipped and it took exactlya month for a check to clear. I tried stating that I only wantedmoney orders, but half the time, it was still checks that werereceived.