Public Domain Treasure Hunter

This is going to know your socks off…  I promise.

I wrote about Julie exactly 12 months ago… Julie Has A Brand New Public Domain Images Gig.   Well things have changed… her business has changed and grown and I wanted to share what’s going on with Julie!

Many new and exciting things are happening all at once with Julie – I’ll try to cover them all here in detail. (This is an example of coaching from Debra):

Image Deal With Major Publisher

Hey Debra,

I received an e-mail from (major publishing firm name not shown to protect Julie) marketing dept today. They want to use some of my images (in addition to images from other sources) to create a book that will be sold exclusively by (name removed).   She asked if I can re-size the images to 11” x 14”, 300 dpi (that’s not a problem). They will run 250 printed copies of the book.  My huge dilemma is…what do I charge? The images are only $2 each in my Etsy shop but I’m sure she expects to pay more because she asked me what I would charge per image – after she told me what they want to use the images for. They want 8 – 10 images.

I had one customer pay $150 for a $3 digital collage sheet (they made the offer otherwise I wouldn’t have known what to charge in that case either – and I was shocked when they offered that much) for certain permissions but I’m not expecting to ask that much per image in this case. Do you think $25 is fair to ask for a $2 image, for my bit of work to re-size the images and for the purpose they want it for?

I’m sorry to come running to you but I have nobody else to run to with this kind of thing. I’ve learned tons since starting this venture but I still have so much more to learn. J

Congratulations Julie! Your hard work is really starting to pay off!

My questions would be -

Are they going to credit you in a way that will lead back to one of your websites or stores or some other way for people to easily find your work???

If they are (and it’s a huge deal) then you can go cheaper… if they are not then you should get more because it’s a one time deal.

If you are charging $25 per image without restrictions and they are NOT giving you any credit  then it looks like a good deal to me.

$250 is a nice chunk of change and seems reasonable. Who knows…

I would also ask if they have any other new products in the works as you might be able to “fill” some of their needs without them having to search out the images.

This could be an ongoing income stream if a variety of publishers start coming to you.

I know that a publisher of blank journals came to us once for public domain images… we didn’t have what they needed.  That was a long time ago… LONG as in 2 years or so.  Anyway – I’m not an ‘image” person  and it’s your specialty… Work It Girl!

Debra

I mentioned that the deal with the (publisher name removed) didn’t go through. Little did I know that they were only on a different schedule than I expected.  Today I sold them 10 images for $272 (cost of images plus a $25 licensing fee for each) AND they are going to credit my shop name  in the book!  I am soooooooo thrilled!

Brand New Look To Blog

Cindy Bidar has been helping me with a complete blog ‘reno’. We’re almost completely finished and I LOVE it!

I did the new graphics myself…but now I have the Thesis theme with three columns and a bunch of other sweet stuff – the image galleries are my absolute favorite new thing! I am so thankful that you recommended Cindy to me. If you’d like to check it out: www.olddesignshop.com

How Do You Make A Profit If You Are Giving Away Your Stuff?

Hi Debra,

I love learning new things! I just learned how to put Amazon affiliate stuff on my blog! Hooray! Do you know if there are any rules about not putting Amazon affiliate stuff directly above or below AdSense blocks? Is there a limit for how much Amazon stuff we can have on our blogs?
 
Do you know how many AdSense blocks I can have on my blog?  I found this: “According to our policies, you can place up to three content units, up to three link units and two search boxes on each web page. My problem is that I don’t understand the difference between content units, link units and search boxes. Would you be able to tell me what the two AdSense blocks are that I have on my blog now?  http://olddesignshop.com/  Content units? Link units?

I have only added ads to my sidebars so far. Have to eventually find out more about adding some ads within posts.
 
I’ll be adding more advertising/affiliate links but otherwise, my blog makeover is finished! I am thrilled with the changes! 
 
Julie

As far as I know… I don’t see any rules of Affiliate links for Amazon and Adsense conflicts.  The two Adsense units you have are “content” units.

I added where to find link units in Adsense and what they look like.

The most profitable adsense placements for me are “IN Blog posts”

With Adsense – it’s better to have less Ads showing… the further down the page the less value of each click.

With Amazon – Go for MORE!  More links in content is GREAT.  Sidebar Amazon stuff never ever pays off.  EVER.

For instance:

On this page http://olddesignshop.com/2012/08/strawberries-vintage-image-1894/

I would link to http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-Cookn-Summer-Scent-Apron/dp/B002RT870C/ref=sr_1_11?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1345512181&sr=1-11&keywords=vintage+strawberry

Here I show you how to make images into affiliate links:

Trust me… side bar stuff is a waste of time.

Links across the top do well…

I put Adsense content ads in blog posts.  I have a maximum of 3 blog posts that show on my home page all with adsense adds showing.

In each blog post I take the time to insert a cool amazon image and link and a bit of text as to “why” the customer might like this product. It works!

Pre-selling for Amazon products is always going to make you more money.

Debra

Wow, Debra, this is great information!

Since I’m giving away public domain images, I thought every Amazon product I add to my blog should be linked to more public domain stuff (like the Dover royalty free books I added to a sidebar today) or
perhaps to crafty things that readers could do with the images they get from my site.

I never would have imagined that a strawberry apron may sell through a strawberry PD image! That’s a huge eye opener!

With the strawberry image example, would you “talk” about the apron at all or just insert the Amazon picture and link?

I’m really excited about all of this and anxious to get going with it but I’ve learned a few other things today and at the moment this feels overwhelming. When my mind is fresh, I will walk through your video
step by step as I add a new Amazon link to a post on my blog.

Thank you sooooooooooo much!!
Julie

Hey Julie…

I think you can link to “anything” on your blog.

I’ve had someone buy a grand piano through my amazon link.  Not that I’ve EVER had a link to a piano… but every link is “cookied” for 24 hours.  That means if someone clicks on your link and then buys anything on Amazon… you get the credit.

The most successful Amazon affiliates have entire articles that talk about something they can “wrap” an Amazon product within.

So… on your Strawberry page…

You could talk about how much you love the look of vintage strawberry graphics and why Strawberry images are so great in country kitchens. And how you can just see making strawberry jam while wearing a
strawberry apron… just like Grandma used.

Remember we are talking about people who love “vintage” and probably love Nostalgia as well.  Your mind will start going a million miles an our when you start thinking about it.

Also remember that Amazon commissions and Adsense click income isn’t fantastic when you look at it one at a time. But all those little dimes and nickles can add up fast.

The fact that you are loading so much into your blog is a huge bonus. Every image you load in is on a separate blog post. Every blog post is an opportunity to get a click.  And… it’s fun! You can have some fun shopping on Amazon for some unique products.

Remember to link to things on Amazon that are NOT one of a kind – when I was searching for vintage strawberry on Amazon I found lot’s of Strawberry shortcake – but that didn’t seem to fit.

This might fit in
http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Ephemera-Strawberry-Pendant-Necklace/dp/B008LQQ1US/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1345524710&sr=8-16&keywords=vintage+strawberry

BUT NOT THIS:
http://www.amazon.com/Strawberry-Fields-Vintage-Style-Tablecloth/dp/B005Z3FY5I/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&qid=1345524802&sr=8-35&keywords=vintage+strawberry

only one in stock. NOOO NOOOO nOOOO.

Keep in mind that you should link to some very expensive things once in a while…

If you ever have the cash – pick up this product:
http://debraconrad.com/Amazonian

I’ve purchased a ton of products on the subject over the years… and this one is the BEST!  These two gals are NOT internet marketers. They got talked into creating this one product a few years ago (Amazonian)
and still sell it and blog every so often… but they are committed to earning through Amazon affiliate links.

The blog will teach you a great amount of info:
http://www.affiliateblogonline.com/

This is one of the blogs they started that is just amazing and I know makes them bunches of bucks. LOL

http://www.only-cookware.com/

Anyway – that is my recommendation… pay attention to what these gals do and share – you will be far ahead of most Amazon affiliate marketers.

I’m so happy to see you have a real direction that you feel confident and comfortable with.

Very very cool stuff going on with you … I’m excited to see what happens next.

Debra

Hi Debra,

A grand piano? Wow!!

All of this information is HUGE and I appreciate it greatly! This isn’t what I had in mind for advertising at all but this opens up a whole new world of opportunity and I am very excited about it. A little intimidated about getting started – but anxious to learn! The biggest thing I am intimidated by is the writing, trying to sell a product and not appear phony and turn people off.

There are a few blogs out there that give away PD graphics but I don’t recall seeing any of them using their blog as a base for Amazon affiliate sales, at least not to this extent. I think you’re right though, I think this kind of blog subject really has potential to link to almost “anything” and that my readers do love vintage and nostalgia. I think those types of items could be very successful!

Do you think it’s best to put Amazon affiliate links into my posts as I upload a new post or do you think it can work on old posts – popular posts that people continually come back to (usually because someone on another blog has created something with that PD item and they’ve linked back).

When I applied for my Amazon affiliate membership/code, I checked off that I mostly planned to link to books and CDs. Do you know if I have to go back in and change that somewhere or can I go ahead with links to “anything”? What happens when an item that you have linked to sells out?

Do you get some kind of notification to remove it from your blog or do you have to continually be aware of how many of any one item is left? You said NOT to link to an item if there is only one item left and that makes sense but what’s the lowest you will go? What if there are 5 of an item left, or 10?

I love your paragraph about the strawberry image – that basically is true and I do LOVE vintage strawberry graphics.

Where can I read more about what the successful Amazon affiliates say about wrapping an Amazon product? I’m going to start by gobbling up whatever I can on the website you recommended and I will also purchase their ebook – today – because I am dying to learn more!

Probably since this is a brand new concept for me, my mind keeps going to products potential buyers could use with free images – scrapbooking supplies and other crafty things, maybe frames to frame them, royalty free clipart books (for the graphic designers especially), etc. I need to practice opening my mind to the other possibilities, like your apron example.

My goal is to upload at least one image per day because I’m hoping to increase my number of blog visitors. It’s working and I think it’s because adding a new image or two every single day keeps the blog fresh and interesting. I notice that some readers are beginning to add my blog into their list of favorite blogs and that helps bring new readers too.

Ultimately, it seems to make sense to increase my views as much as possible because the more people that stop by, the more chance I have of making a sale.

When I started reading your blog a couple years ago, I never ever EVER would have guessed I’d be here now, doing what I’m doing. Back then it felt completely overwhelming to learn how to get a blog going, to maintain it and to learn how to add advertising to it! I love blogging! Perhaps it’s because I LOVE all my vintage goodies and this gives me a chance to play with them every single day!

Julie  

Hi Julie…

I think doing something “different” on your own blog is fantastic. Not following the pack – but taking ideas from several different directions and combining in your own unique way is the way to be “different” and yet perfect for your readers.

Adding personality to your blog posts is the “best” way to endear yourself to  others… and the best way to keep ‘em coming back for more.

BTW – are you using Pinterst – I think you are, just can’t remember.

You don’t need to “sell” a product.  Ever.  Never think of using your affiliate links as selling.  You are “helping” and “sharing”.

I sell more amazon stuff by “helping’ and “sharing”… than “selling”.

You have the personality and you can write. Just write like you do an email and you will be fine. I KNOW this to be true… you have written many emails to me that are perfect “blogging” content.

You can go back to any post and ADD in anything.  Just don’t change what you have already put into the blog post at the top. I do this all the time.

In fact I would recommend adding affiliate stuff to the popular blog posts ASAP.

You don’t need to change anything in your Amazon account. They don’t really care what you link to as long as your blog isn’t spammy or yucky stuff.

————
Broken links

I have a few blogs that are “seasonal” (only about 10 posts)- I go into those blogs once a year and check every link to make sure it goes to a product that is available. No.. Amazon doesn’t let you know.

I also have have huge blogs and never go back to check the links… too much effort!

I have a plug-in on my blogs – something like “Broken Link checker”.  It often alerts me to broken links which are links to amazon products that are not longer available.

I don’t look for qty available unless it’s something like that one product with only 1 available.  You will get comfortable eventually when you are shopping on Amazon.

The Amazonian product will give you lot’s of help in this regard.

——————-

Linking to products

I have learned to link to “search results” on Amazon.  I do this when I can so that the link will always go to “live” stuff on Amazon. I don’t do this often – but when I can. For instance:

You might do a search on Amazon for “Strawberry Aprons”
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=strawberry+apron

and Amazon will let you create a link for that (see attached image).

The difference is that you are creating a link for “products catalog style” instead of a specific product.

If I am suggesting a certain specific product – I will link to the product and have an image of that product in the content.

If I am just yacking about “stuff” -  blah blah blah – cooking with grandma and she wore a strawberry print apron blah blah blah. I would use the words “strawberry print apron” as a “link” to that search on amazon.

I hope that makes sense.

You are amazing and have grown so much! I am so proud of where you are headed.

Debra

Using Pinterest For Marketing

I am a huge fan of using Pinterest for marketing.  Julie has been using Pinterest like a mad woman!

http://pinterest.com/julieannjj/

Etsy Shop and Julie’s Own Shop “Sells” Images

Never fear – Julie IS selling images. She has an Etsy shop:

Julies Etsy Shop

and here own shop:

http://www.theolddesignshop.com/index.php

Why “GIVE” Away Images?

One Word! Traffic!!! 

Learn To Use Images For Profit

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