Cultural Trends Equal ClickBank Success
Cultural Trends Equal ClickBank Success
Are you thin enough? If you’re American, odds are you have given that question serious
thought – or at least a snap judgment in front of the bathroom mirror. American culture, if
not Americans themselves, is obsessed with weight.
Supermarket checkout stands are lined with magazines displaying pictures of half-naked
celebrities and models vying for our attention, along with headlines pitching the latest
tips for losing the beer belly, pregnancy weight and the hottest diet that some washed up
diva used to shed 20 pounds and lose 10 years. Odd, none of these mention Botox
treatments or Hollywood plastic surgeons. Such magazines are placed directly above the
candy bar rack, next to the soda pop cooler. It makes it easier to buy the magazines and
enjoy it with a Butterfinger and Mountain Dew.
Understanding a culture – what people want and need – is one of the keys to becoming a
successful ClickBank affiliate or product vendor. “People go to the Internet to get
information or to solve a problem,” said Bob Dunlap, ClickBank’s director of marketing.
“If you manage to make the right offer with the right product, it can pay off handsomely.”
Take Mike Geary, for example. Geary is a smart guy, earned a degree in science at a
small college in Pennsylvania and got a good job working for an environmental
consulting firm. In his spare time, he became a certified personal trainer and nutritionist.
Now, with help from ClickBank – the largest online retailer for those engaged in
developing, selling and promoting digitally downloadable products and services – his e-
books and Web site on working out and fitness gross $6 million a year. He hit it big, as a
first time author, because his books tapped into a real need and demand in the market.
ClickBank manages all of the purchases and financial transactions Geary needed to
launch his online business. Not only does ClickBank facilitate customer transactions, it
provides the guaranteed tracking of sales and state-of-the-art fraud protection Geary
needs to focus on writing and customer demand, rather than worrying about the back end
of the business.
Working with clients as a personal trainer gave Geary a front row seat to the American
obsession with weight and its love affair with supersized meals. Both factors have been a
boon to the health club industry. In 2007, with more than 29,000 fitness clubs in the
United States with 42.7 million members, the industry was pegged at nearly $18 billion.
That doesn’t count the hundreds of millions spent on supplements, diets, magazines and
books.
2009 ClickBank | 917 S Lusk Street | Boise, ID 83706 | www.clickbank.com
Geary’s experience as a trainer and nutritionist gave him insight into what was and
wasn’t getting people the results they wanted, so he wrote a book.
“I never thought I would be an author,” Geary said. “I wrote scientific and technical
papers at my old job. In 2004, I got the idea and since then it has taken off.”
Before he wrote his first book, The Truth About Six Pack Abs, Geary researched the Net.
“I looked at what people were searching for on the Internet and nearly 90 percent of the
questions were, ‘How do I get six-pack abs, flatten my stomach and lose fat?’ So I knew
there was a demand. And, I thought there were a lot of misleading products out there such
as the infomercials about ab belts. I wanted to cut through all this false information and
show people the truth. That's how I came up with my first product that sells so well.”
When Geary was ready with his book idea, he didn’t go the traditional agent to publisher
to market route. He went to ClickBank to help sell his e-book. “I like self-publishing
because I make $35-$55 per book, opposed to $.50 or $.25, or whatever you get from a
traditional publisher,” Geary said. “Using ClickBank for my e-book has been very
financially lucrative to me. If I had gone through a traditional publisher, the chances of
getting approved and becoming a best seller would have been very slim. With an e-book,
there is a much greater chance that it will actually make money. If you are not a celebrity
or well known in your industry, it is very hard to go to the traditional publishing route
and get noticed by a publisher.”
In publishing an e-book, Geary has the ability to control every aspect of the book: from
what is written, how it’s written, when it’s produced, how much it costs and what
commission he pays ClickBank affiliates for promoting the book. Everything is under the
discretion of the product vendor.
Another advantage e-books have over the traditional publishing route, Geary notes, is the
ability to update the book based on customer feedback. “I have probably done it every
couple of months and I'm always looking at reader feedback and how to improve the
book. I can pretty much change it and upload a new PDF and there is my new version. If
I went a traditional publishing route, there would be thousands of hard copies that I
couldn’t change.”
Helping Geary sell his book is ClickBank’s network of over 100,000 active affiliates.
“One of ClickBank’s greatest benefits is the product Marketplace. Affiliates find me and
they help drive a lot of traffic and sales to my site.”
“I also like the fact that ClickBank automatically pays affiliate commissions,” Geary said.
“With the volume of sales I have now, if I had to pay commissions myself – as some
companies require – I’d have to hire someone full-time to manage that.”
With ClickBank as his partner, Geary has greater flexibility in his life. “The great thing
about my ClickBank business is that I can go anywhere. I spent three months in Colorado
2009 ClickBank | 917 S Lusk Street | Boise, ID 83706 | www.clickbank.com
skiing. I spent a couple weeks in Mexico and just worked from my laptop. I do a lot of
adventure trips. My success on ClickBank has allowed me to work from a laptop
anywhere in the world.”
With his success, Geary offers some advice for e-book writers: passion for a subject is
important. “If you come across as just going after money, the book will show that and
won’t be as successful. You need to be really passionate about it and that will come
through to customers and make that much more money.”
2009 ClickBank | 917 S Lusk Street | Boise, ID 83706 | www.clickbank.com
