Make Money with CyberMonday Shopping Deals!

Yep, it's just about that time again folks. You might be familiar with those ads on TV with a male voice joyfully singing "it's the most wonderful time, of the year!". However, the current economy just might be casting a dark cloud and raining on many people's Christmases & Holiday shopping. The Monetizer is far from Mr. Grinch though, so to put a positive spin on things, you can still make money online with this. CyberMonday is considered the official "day after Thanksgiving for online shopping". According to CyberMonday.com, the online shopping day falls on December 1, 2008, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving. This day was set in anticipation of all those people back to work or home after the holiday who decide to shop online.

It's an understatement for me to say that people are cutting back this year, due to the economy, but we all know many people still want to give gifts and still save money. Some homes/offices may decide to do Secret Santas for their families or works in the interest of not having to buy everyone a gift. One area people are less likely to do away with completely is in giving gifts to their children, or possibly a significant other. This gives you a great way to capitalize on some online sales. Of course, this is the sort of niche site or blog to set up months ahead of time, but now you can begin to add in various merchants with affiliates to your blog mix. You can see just some of the CyberMonday participants in the image below to get an idea of how you might them into your blog content.



Many online retailers are simply offering free shipping, and with good cause. People would rather not fight with crowds or wait in lines, or go through the hassle of finding a parking spot at the malls. Some retailers such as Home Depot, Sierra Trading Post & Office Depot are offering percent or cash off discounts to online shoppers. So there's bound to be some sort of affiliate related to your blog or website material that you can promote on your blog for CyberMonday. Start now, because being accepted by affiliates can take a few days (sometimes longer).

Also consider that Amazon Associates works well around the holidays. The great thing with their associate/affiliate program is you just need visitors to click on a link, and buy something from Amazon within so many days. No matter what item(s) they purchase, you'll receive commission. Consider setting up Gift Wishlist posts on your blog or creative gift ideas related to your niche, then use the Amazon links (using the code they give you) as the item titles. eBay Partner Networks and ShoppingAds are two other programs to tinker with on your site as people look for great deals online.

So while the economy looks bleak, turn it into a great opportunity, as consumer interest and deal shoppers just might help you make extra money this holiday season!

The Monetizer recommends CommissionJunction and/or Linkshare.com for affiliate programs in addition to Amazon Associates. Find out more about these and other programs at Monetizer's Recommended Moneymakers!

Make Money with Commission Junction!

The Monetizer already belongs to Clickbank, an affiliate program which features e-books, downloadable software and various registration based programs. You earn large commissions based on people going through the link you supply and buying or signing up for the product/service. I saw the drawbacks were that people could request refunds (meaning you lose the money you make), and also that they had some strange rules on when and how to receive a payment.

Well I have to admit I held off on really investigating another affiliate program, Commission Junction. With all the programs Monetizer already participates in, it was just an afterthought. Boy was I wrong in not looking into this one sooner! Commission Junction offers 100's of legitimate companies and advertisers who are looking to pay you for promoting them or their products. You can be payed for two things via the extensive list of advertisers and companies:

(Above: Just a few of the MANY companies CJ lets you promote for $!)

1)Leads - In many instances you can earn from a company just for someone signing up for a free service. For example there's the Screensavers.com:
Free Screensavers and Wallpaper!
promotion. Just for someone downloading either of these, you would earn 80 cents. But that's just a small example. RealNetworks offers $15 per each person you refer to download their free 14 week trial music player. Some companies such as lenders, and banking institutions offer even more for signups! Not a bad deal at all! And there's plenty of these opportunities, so you're bound to find something that fits your blog or site.

2)Sales Commissions - There's all sorts of advertisers, from Citibank to NBC to Apple to WWE. They each offer various commission rates (from about 1 or 2% on up), based on you referring people to their sites and those people buying merchandise. There's plenty of companies too as mentioned before, so you will find something appropriate to your topic or niche.

Bonus Incentives: There's also bonus incentives which vary by company or program. For example if you generate over $1000 in sales for a program you're promoting, they will raise your percent commission rate (say from 5% to 10%) and so forth. So each program varies in how you can profit from them, but there's plenty of opportunity!


(Above: A view of some CJ product selections for the GameFly promotion)

Commission Junction is free to join and provides great monetization ideas. To get started, you will need to sign up with Commission Junction and provide the usual details (name, address, SS#, checking info for auto deposit of payments, etc). Once you're accepted into CJ you can add your websites or blog URL's along with their descriptions. This will allow you to pick and choose where you advertise which products (depending on how many sites you own). After this, it's time to search for the products and services you'd like to promote! Type in a keyword related to your blog or site niche and let CJ provide you with all the resulting offers and programs you can apply for. Remember, you'll need to apply for any program you choose individually, and some may not accept you instantly.

Once you're approved for an advertiser you can Create Links. These come in the forms of all types such as 125x125 buttons, 468x60 banners, the 728 length banners and text links. CJ also allows you to generate code in HTML or Java for your site, encrpyt your links and more. It's a nice interface and seems like yet another great Money Maker!

The reason I'm kicking myself about now is that they have so many products available that are related to other blogs the Monetizer authors. Knowing this months ago would have given a nice additional revenue stream. So learn from my hindsight, and sign up with them ASAP to help monetize your own site. Trust the Monetizer, if you type a keyword term there, you will most likely find a compay that fits that topic which you can promote on your site.

I feel anyone looking to Monetize a blog or website in almost any niche can truly benefit from using Commission Junction. The minimum payout is $25 to receive a check or auto-deposit. So head over, sign up, and start selecting products and companies to make money from!