Politics and Affiliate Marketing

May 18th, 2008 · Comments

Thanks for visiting the Affiliate Tip blog. Subscribe to my RSS feed or enter your e-mail on the top right to get updates by e-mail.

The U.S. Presidential election is heating up and it will only get more intense as we near November. Have you thought about how you can work affiliate marketing into the political mania?

On the weekly GeekCast show that I do with Jim Kukral, Lisa Picarille, and Sam Harrelson, we were occasionally touching on how politics and the Internet were intersecting, but we didn’t want it to take over the show.

So we started a new podcast called RedHatBlueHat, which is essentially a bunch of Internet marketers mouthing off about politics.

I also just launched a blog about Barack Obama called Obama 2.0. With this project, I am testing out the new Amazon MP3 widget, Google AdSense and affiliate links for companies that feature political items like CafePress and Sticker Giant.

Based on the initial traffic after being live for three days, this is a niche you shouldn’t ignore over the next 5 or so months.

That’s taboo, right?

Common etiquette says not to talk about politics, sex, religion, or money. But these are the only things interesting enough to discuss!

Well, I talk about money all the time here, and I’ve touched on religion here and there.

But you can count on my steering clear of sex, unless there is a reference adult topics with regards to affiliate marketing.

Follow Shawn on FriendFeed.

Tags: Affiliate Opinions · Affiliate Tips

Viewing 9 Comments

MarkMitford 5 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

You had me worried for a second. I thought you had put together a blog supporting Obama.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

1 /people/MarkMitford/ /people/MarkMitford/following/ http://www.shinyplastic.com/ 633157607 in/markmitford shinyplastic

Tim_Jones 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Nice blog, Shawn. Really touches on some great points. Especially, the one about Carter and Obama -- I hope to talk more about that on this week's podcast. BTW, is that the free Revolution theme or one of the other ones?

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

3 /people/Tim_Jones/ /people/Tim_Jones/following/ http://www.therealtimjones.com Timothy_Jones

Shawn Collins 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Thanks Tim - yes, this is the free Revolution theme. Very easy to set up and it's compatible with WordPress 2.5 for widgets and stuff.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

13 /people/affiliatetip/ /people/affiliatetip/following/ http://blog.affiliatetip.com 504429203 in/shawncollins affiliatetip affiliatetip affiliate affiliate

Mike Allen 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Your blog is very well done and I'm sure will get lots of national attention. Very impressive.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

1 /people/mikeallen/ /people/mikeallen/following/ http://www.shopping-bargains.com/

Shawn Collins 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Thanks - some of the topics have been discessed extensivly, but I wanted to get them as part of the archive, since the blog is new.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

13 /people/affiliatetip/ /people/affiliatetip/following/ http://blog.affiliatetip.com 504429203 in/shawncollins affiliatetip affiliatetip affiliate affiliate

Fred @ Newest on the Net 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Shawn,

Do you think that this type of website can make some money? I love politics, but I have stayed away from it because I did not think that I would be able to monetize the traffic. What is your monthly earning goal for this website?

Thanks,
Fred

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

http://newestonthenet.com

Shawn Collins 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Hey Fred -

Definitely - there searches for political terms will just increase over the coming months.

I just launched the site at the end of last week, so I haven't had enough days (especially week days) to get a fel for the projections.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

13 /people/affiliatetip/ /people/affiliatetip/following/ http://blog.affiliatetip.com 504429203 in/shawncollins affiliatetip affiliatetip affiliate affiliate

Travis 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

This is an inspiring post for me. I am a political junkie and and of all the niches I have a super strong interest in - it's politics (on specific issues).

I have always wanted to start a blog but my main concern has always been - how do you monetize it? For example, I'm passionate about reforming the public school system. I'd love to start a blog eduating people on what's wrong with our public schools and what needs to be done.

How the heck would you monetize something like that? I can see how you could monetize a political niche during an election, but what about specific political issues that will be around longer than the election?

Travis

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

http://hoodiaandweightloss.com

Shawn Collins 4 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

For started, try Google AdSense, and also perhaps some magazing subscriptions and books that are relevant to the posts.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

13 /people/affiliatetip/ /people/affiliatetip/following/ http://blog.affiliatetip.com 504429203 in/shawncollins affiliatetip affiliatetip affiliate affiliate