Presidential Elections and Affiliate Marketing

by Shawn Collins on September 12, 2008

Politics are a big niche now and they will be for the next two months – just have a look at Google Trends.

So, it’s a great time to focus on affiliate programs that tie into politics, such as Sticker Giant, CafePress, and tons of products on Amazon.com.

And from the Where Are They Now file, we’ve got Shmuly Tennenhaus, once nominated Most Eligible Hassidic Bachelor at Shmais.com and a former affiliate manager for Ice.com.

Shmuly is riding the political wave with his site, VanityKippah.com, a Kippah/Yarmulke/Skullcap shop with special political versions for John McCain and Barack Obama, as well as Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama.

Here is a picture of affiliate Mike Allen sporting the McCippah…

Vanity Kippah has been featured on ABC, as well as many newspapers, and Shmuly has gotten a cast of characters, including Al Sharpton, Jon Voight and Mitt Romney to check them out.

But Shmuly, where is the affiliate program?

You can hear more about these Kippahs and other subjects on a recent podcast from myself, Shmuly, Mike Allen and Tim Jones. Check it out on GeekCast.fm.

{ 10 comments }

Jeff November 22, 2008 at 2:20 am: We have a winner of our election. I think Obama is great
Barbara September 18, 2008 at 8:41 pm: Elections are sound very interesting
Barbara September 18, 2008 at 6:41 pm: Elections are sound very interesting
Angel Djambazov September 17, 2008 at 10:38 am: Trying to get Jones to do so, because it will sell. But so far they haven't budged.
Shawn Collins September 15, 2008 at 1:40 pm: Hey Angel -

ANy VP sodas?
Angel Djambazov September 15, 2008 at 3:01 am: Jones Soda has Campaign Cola for sale currently with Obama, McCain, Clinton, and Ron Paul (by popular on line demand) for sale currently. Affiliate program is live in ShareASale.
Shawn Collins September 12, 2008 at 5:57 pm: > Btw, Shawn, where is the photo of you with the McCippah?

I didn't get it, yet. Do you really think I'd hesitate to post a picture of me wearing it?

It will be the first time that I have such a handsome fashion piece on my head in a decade and I will be sure to milk it.
Shmuly September 12, 2008 at 5:24 pm: What is affiliate marketing? Never heard of that term. LOL.
Here's the dealio; the Kippah market is VERY niche to begin with. Then, the political Kippahs have a small window of “retail opportunity”.

Makes sense?

Btw, Shawn, where is the photo of you with the McCippah?
Shawn Collins September 12, 2008 at 2:42 pm: The RNC had an affiliate program on CJ in 2004 – I didn't notice one for the DNC, but there may have been one.

I think the trends will show that McCain and Obama surpass Bush and Kerry when we hit mid-October.

I think VP searches will be more prominent this time around, too.
Lavelle Collins September 12, 2008 at 2:33 pm: Didn't the Republicans and Democrats have an affiliate program for donations back in 2004? Wonder why they don't have it in 2008. Or do they?

Also check out trends for “Obama, McCain, Kerry, Bush”. Compare the searches for 2004 elections to 2008. Did Bush vs Kerry really get a larger piece of the search pie than McCain vs Obama? Doesn't seem like it.

http://tinyurl.com/43la8j

Maybe the difference is that folks generally have their news sites picked out more so than back into 2004 so don't use search for politics as much? I dunno.