If you are new to online marketing, you are probably searching for ways to make money without a website. There are a few opportunities that will help you make money without investment on your part, and a store hosted on the Amazon site is one of those. There are a few benefits to using this approach and the first is that you will not need to purchase domain names, invest in hosting, pay costly design fees, or keep any stock of your own. If this sounds almost too good to be true, read on and see exactly how it’s done.
Preparation
Setting up an Amazon store is easy, but there will be preparation and work involved. You should start by doing some keyword research to find a profitable niche that leaves room for competition. This in itself may take time, but it is well worth it. You should ideally look for product keywords, because they convert better. Product keywords are often referred to as ‘buying keywords’ because visitors who search for specific items are already in buying mode.
You will also need to sign up as an Amazon associate. This means you will get paid a percentage on every sale your affiliate links generate. You will have to have an online presence of some kind to qualify for an affiliate account, so you will have to provide a blog or website URL when you apply. You could use one of a number of free websites or even your personal blog. Getting accepted is usually a breeze, and this is why it is such a good opportunity for beginners.
Setting up the Amazon Store
1. Start by logging into your Amazon associates account, and click on the ‘aStore’ tab.
2. Wait for the new page to open up, and then click on the yellow button that says ‘add an aStore’.
3. You’ll see an aStore URL with a field you will have to fill in. You could leave it on your affiliate ID, or you could give it a custom name by clicking the ‘add a new tracking id’ link. A handy tip is to include one of your keywords as a custom name. You will be asked to search for the term you selected and if that URL is not available, you will be offered a few other variations to choose from. You will be asked to click the ‘continue’ button and you’ll be able to configure your new aStore.
Configuring the Amazon Store
You will be asked to drag and drop specific categories into a list on the configuration page. This list will determine the entire structure of your aStore.
1. You will have the option to add individual items (which will be helpful if you want to focus on only a few specific items) or you will be able to add entire categories or a Listmania list. The easiest way, especially in the beginning, is to use an entire category. Once you have selected ‘add products by Amazon category’, click the yellow ‘select an Amazon category’ button.
2. A pop up window will show you all the available categories. Select one and then choose a few subcategories or click the ‘include all subcategories’ box to include all of them.
3. This is where keyword research comes in handy. You should have chosen a relevant category, so now, in the ‘keywords’ field, you can enter all your product and product-related keywords. Click the ‘save’ button to continue. You should also be able to preview your new aStore.
Completing the Process
You will be directed to pages where you are able to customize both the color and design of your Amazon store, and there’s another section to add sidebar widgets and the like. Once that’s done, you’ll be given the link for your new aStore and it should look something like: “http://astore.amazon.com/xxxxxxxx-20” You will also be given the option to use the link as a standalone site, or to embed the store as an inline frame or using a frameset on an existing website.
The beauty of this process is that you won’t need specialized knowledge or design skills to set up an Amazon store, and it’s completely free of charge.
Once your aStore is set up, all you will need to do is to drive traffic to it. You could also use backlink building techniques to rank for the keywords you have chosen in the preparation phase. Once your store receives a steady stream of traffic, it is an automated money maker and should continue to earn you revenue for as long as it receives visitors. This is a technique you could also scale up, because there is no limit to the number of aStores you are allowed to create.
