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What Is Skimlinks & How to Use Skimlinks to Effortlessly Monetize Your Content

Last Updated on January 28, 2020 84 Comments

Are you a blogger or editorial content site? Does your site contain product-related links and keywords? Then Skimlinks is the perfect partner to help you with your affiliate marketing strategy.

(DON’T hold this against me… 😳🤪 I am [allegedly] too busy and too important to notice things like MONEY… Or too financially scatterbrained…)

A few months ago, I noticed I was getting monthly deposits from a payee I didn’t recognize…

Skimlinks payments: this is why I believe in SkimlinksDon’t you wish you had that problem?… 🤩🥳

Well, with Skimlinks, you just might!

Even though I forgot ever adding Skimlinks code to Traffic Generation Café, it never forgot to quietly work in the background and send me an affiliate commission paycheck each and every month – without me lifting a finger.

What, on earth, is Skimlinks?

FULL DISCLOSURE

I DON’T write about making money online. EVER. For various reason.

Yet, I wrote this post. And stand behind it.

What Is Skimlinks?

Skimlinks is a content monetization network that allows you, the content creator, to passively and effortlessly monetize your content.

What is Skimlinks? Here's what you need to know about Skimlinks

How does Skimlinks work?

You do what you do best – create content.

Once your content is published, Skimlinks does what Skimlinks does best: turns any product, brand mention, or merchant link into its equivalent affiliate link.

With Skimlinks, you get instant access to over 24,000 merchant affiliate programs without the hassle of network sign-ups, approvals, or creating affiliate links.

Let me show you how Skimlinks works step by step.

How does Skimlinks work: STEP 1

Add normal product links to your content.

How does Skimlinks work: step 1

How Skimlinks works: STEP 2

Your links look normal – your readers see exactly where they are going and trust the link.

How does Skimlinks work: step 2

How does Skimlinks work: STEP 3

Skimlinks automatically turns your links into their equivalent affiliate links on clicked, via a brief redirect to the Skimlinks servers.

How does Skimlinks work: step 3

How does Skimlinks work: STEP 4

Every time your readers click through a product link that Skimlinks is able to affiliate and make a purchase, you’ll earn a commission on the sale.

How does Skimlinks work: step 4

How does Skimlinks work: EXAMPLE

What is skimlinks: how Skimlinks works with an Amazon productLet’s say, I want to mention my favorite Nespresso coffee maker in a post.

I don’t have to log into my Amazon affiliate dashboard and convert that link into an affiliate link – Skimlinks will do all the work for me.

I simply copy and paste the Amazon product link (https://www.amazon.com/Nespresso-Espresso-Machine-Breville-Aeroccino/dp/B01MZCQBY4/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1521489754&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=nespresso+machine&psc=1).

As far as you, the Reader, is concerned, you see an (ugly?) Amazon product link.

However, if you click the link, Skimlinks will automatically code it with my Amazon referral code and, should you end up buying the product, I get the commission.

Pretty sleek!

Skimlinks is free and easy to use. Join and start earning today!

SIGN UP

How Much Can You Earn with Skimlinks?

Hmmm….

  1. How much comtent (COMmercial conTENT – content with links to products / retailers) do you write?
  2. How compelling is your comtent? Is it click-worthy?
  3. How much traffic do you get? How click-happy are your readers?

Take Traffic Generation Café, for instance. Not much comptent here, but even with a few sporadic mentions of merchants and products, I still get some passive income, as you saw from the screenshot above.

If you, however, run a website that lends itself nicely to publishing comptent (COMmercial conTENT)… well, the sky’s the limit!

…Or 75% of the sky, to be more accurate. 🧐🤣 Skimlinks keeps the other 25%.

Entirely fair, if you ask me – ESPECIALLY, if you are earning a big fat ZERO without Skimlinks, right?

Let’s take a closer look at your potential earnings with Skimlinks. Or without Skimlinks, I should say.

How much could you earn WITHOUT Skimlinks?

Many publishers ask, “Why use Skimlinks, if I could create affiliate links on my own?”

With Skimlinks, you earn up to 110% of what you would’ve earned if you managed your affiliate links yourself.

And yes, Skimlinks does take 25% of that.

However, with Skimlinks, you have access to Preferred Merchants – merchants who have agreed to pay Skimlinks their cut above and beyond your commissions.

Stick with promoting Preferred Merchants and you’ll maximize your earnings potential.

Plus, you get your foot in the door with many Merchants that wouldn’t give you the time of day without Skimlinks, like Nordstrom, Macy’s, Canon, HP, Sketchers, Target… you name it.

PLUS, the affiliate behemoths like Commission Junction (CJ), ShareASale.com, LinkShare.com are also a part of Skimlinks network.

But wait… you can use Skimlinks on social media!

That’s right – Skimlinks lets you monetize your content on other platforms.

No matter where you post, whether on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, you can use Skimlinks browser extension link shortener to connect your audiences across channels and earn from your product and brand recommendations.

How does Skimlinks work in social media

Just one of Skimlinks WOW factors… 😉🤩

Skimlinks saves time. Time = money.

Let’s face it, you won’t tediously code each and every link you could on your own… not to mention the links you couldn’t since you don’t have access to their affiliate programs!

And even if you do make a bit less with Skimlinks, the amount of time it saves you, plus the automatic addition of affiliate links when you forget, pays for the difference above and beyond.

Skimlinks is free and easy to use. Join and start earning today!

SIGN UP

IMPORTANT: Affiliate marketing and disclosures

FTC regulations state,

When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product which might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, such connection must be fully disclosed.

Monetizing through affiliate links? Disclose. Disclose. DISCLOSE.

Here is an informative guide from the FTC regarding endorsements.

Since disclosure laws may vary from state to state, country to country, comply with the local disclosure laws from your state/country of residence.

How to Add Skimlinks to Your Site

Once you are an approved Skimlinks publisher, integrating Skimlinks with your site is a breeze.

Your options are:

1.  For any website: JavaScript

Grab JavaScript code (will be given to you by Skimlinks) and paste it into the footer of your site.

That’s what I use at Traffic Generation Café.

2.   For forum owners

If you use vBulletin for your forum, they have a dedicated vBulletin plugin.

3.   For self-hosted WordPress blogs

There’s a plugin for that!

4.   For any other platforms

Skimlinks offers a range of simple implementation guides for everything else in-between, like TypePad, Blogger, Tumblr, and so forth.

5.   For social media

You’ll find out how to use Skimlinks with your social media accounts in your Skimlinks dashboard under “Tools“.

Skimlinks and SEO

Would the oh-so-evil Google punish your website for using affiliate links?

Short ‘n simple: no.

Google is NOT against you making money, trust me.

It just wants to make sure that you:

  • create websites with original content that adds value for users;
  • choose a product category appropriate for your intended audience;
  • use your website to build community among your users;
  • keep your content updated and relevant.

Per Google:

The more targeted the affiliate program is to your site’s content, the more value it will add and the more likely you will be to rank better in Google search results and make money from the program.

For example, a well-maintained site about hiking in the Alps could consider an affiliate partnership with a supplier who sells hiking books rather than office supplies.

Skimlinks no-no: DON’T try to sell a burger to a vegetarian

How do you make money with Skimlinks without turning off your readers? 🤨🤔

With over 24,000 active merchants, it should be a breeze to find the right products for your audience.

However, after observing so many blogs trying to sell a burger to a vegetarian, “common sense” might not be all that common after all.

Here are some (not-so-creative?) ideas to get you going.

1.   Go the ‘DUH’ way

If you are in a cooking niche, look up products under “Food, drink, and dining“.

If you run a mommie blog, you might want to go for “Babies, children, and parenting“.

If your blog is about fashion, go crazy and pick the “Fashion and accessories” category. 😅😍

Find that common sense and hold on to it, in other words.

2.   Catch’em by surprise

Look for products that your readers might enjoy even though they aren’t exactly in your niche.

Have fun with it and go for curiosity factor.

For instance, this blog has a “Café” in the title for a reason… ☕☕☕

So why not allow my readers to kick back and sip that perfect cup of coffee to keep themselves awake while sifting through hundreds of ways to generate traffic to their sites?

Here’s another thought: most of us have a coffee addict in the family or among friends.

How’s this for “Catch’em by surprise”?

***********

Time Release Caffeine Capsules

buy coffee capsules with skimlinks

Sometimes it is fun to drink caffeinated beverages or eat caffeinated candies to stay awake. They are tasty and fun.

But what happens, say, if you have to suddenly fly into space to deal with an alien invasion?

You won’t have time to eat or drink on the flight because you’ll be busy with strategies and counter-xenophobe planning.

Be lucky, then, that you have some Time Release Caffeine Capsules on hand. Just pop one in the morning, and you’re alert for the next 8 hours.

***********

Highly Caffeinated Brownies and Cookies

skimlinks coffee snacks And we don’t call them Highly Caffeinated Brownies and Cookies for nothin’!

Each one is loaded with 200mg of caffeine!

The hardest part of these is not eating too many, because they really are that good.

And because they are so tasty, you’ll eat them fast – and that will get the caffeine in your blood with a powerful rush.

Trust us. Get some Highly Caffeinated Brownies and Cookies for a heaping helping of wake up for dessert.

***********

Shower Shock Caffeinated Body Wash

skimlinks shower shock Some folks like imbibing their caffeine in coffees and sodas and energy drinks.

Others like eating it in candies and mints and “magic” brownies.

But if you ask us, the most enjoyable way to get caffeine into your system is to rub glowing gel all over your body and let it seep into your pores.

And if you just happen to get cleaner in the process, even better!

And tingling (unless you are being electrocuted by mutant eels) is always fun.

***********

Has nothing to do with traffic generation, yet goes with Traffic Generation Café perfectly well, don’t you think?

Skimlinks Marketing Takeaway

No more signing up for a bunch of different affiliate programs.

No more multi-site tracking.

No more wondering if you made any sales you haven’t been paid for.

Skimlinks is free and easy to use. Join and start earning today!

SIGN UP

Have fun monetizing your content!

From Ana with

What is skimlinks and how could it help you monetize your content => https://tgcafe.it/skimlinks-monetize-content

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84 Intelligent comments · espresso yours below

  1. sumit says

    January 1, 2021 at 10:08 pm

    Wow this is an amazing content monetization network great happy to see this

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      January 6, 2021 at 10:43 am

      Indeed it is, Sumit – hope you put it to good use.

      Reply
  2. Michelle says

    November 10, 2020 at 3:26 am

    This is great, I was already looking into this programme. Could you tell me, do you need so many monthly viewers for skimlinks to accept you? My travel & leisure blog is 2 months old. Going well so far. Also which plug for self hosted wordpress were you referring to? Yeost? Thanks Michelle

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      January 26, 2021 at 6:32 pm

      There are criteria to meet to use Skimlinks on your blog, Michelle. So go ahead and monetize your new venture, and all the best of luck with it!
      🤩👍👍

      Reply
  3. Jennifer Hillman says

    November 4, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    Yay me for finding this post!! Thank you for so much detail about Skimlinks! I’m excited to see what it’s all about! I just added the script to my blog 🙂

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      January 26, 2021 at 8:53 pm

      You certainly put a smile on my face, Jennifer! 😜👍👍

      Best of luck!

      Reply
  4. Harshil Barot says

    December 17, 2018 at 12:55 am

    Hi Ana,
    Good evaluation! I believe, I am going to do some much more investigation upon skimlinks and find out in case the some thing I would really prefer to include in my blog.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      December 17, 2018 at 8:12 pm

      Good plan, Harshil!

      Reply
  5. Virtunis says

    May 24, 2018 at 2:27 am

    Hi Ana,
    You just saved me. I was tired of logging into my Amazon affiliate account & then searching the product codes. It was too cumbersome.
    Thanks a lot.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      May 24, 2018 at 4:30 pm

      Yay – glad to hear that, Virtunis!

      Reply
  6. Donna Merrill says

    May 14, 2018 at 11:27 pm

    Hey Ana,

    Skimlinks is indeed one of the best options to monetize, I have been using it on many blogs, it just needs installation of plugin & with auto approved list of affiliates, everything is ready to go.

    By the way, Great review Ana.

    ~ Donna

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      May 24, 2018 at 8:53 pm

      Thanks for the thumbs up, Donna!

      Reply
  7. Murtaza says

    March 22, 2018 at 11:51 pm

    Wow, Skimlinks looks exciting, I have been using INfolinks to earn extra from in-text ads but it has limitations and no affiliate Camgiamns.
    I was aware of another company called viglink, but as i see Skimlinks sharing more revenue and have more affiliate Programs, Its great to give it a try..

    BTW, Nice article ANA.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      March 23, 2018 at 4:20 pm

      I did briefly look into VigLink, but Skimlinks looked a whole lot better to me as well. 😉

      Thanks for coming by, Murtaza!

      Reply
    • Delora Chotipradit says

      May 13, 2018 at 8:30 am

      you mean infolinks that looks as nasty as the stuff it links to? it is really a low-profile ad agency.. in no way you should compare skimlinks process to infolinks company..

      ps. great article, Ana!

      Reply
      • Ana Hoffman says

        May 25, 2018 at 9:21 am

        I am sooooooo with you, Delora – infolinks is out of the question for any reputable website.

        Thanks for chiming in!

        Reply
  8. Freddy G. Cabrera says

    March 20, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    Hey Ana!

    What a genius idea!

    This is the first time I’m learning about Skimlinks. And they live up to the name – they skim links! 😀

    I think this is a smart way to earn from your blog if you are a passionate blogger sharing valuable content almost every day. It can really help you start earning affiliate commissions in such a simple way.

    I’m definitely adding skimlinks to my marketing arsenal!

    Thank you for sharing your helpful review here!

    Have a wonderful week! 😀

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      March 21, 2018 at 12:03 pm

      Yay – so glad you found this Monetization Hack useful, Freddy!

      Have a great week as well. ☕️☕️☕️

      Reply
  9. Nigel says

    May 26, 2016 at 5:16 pm

    When a customer buys through my skimlink Amazon (for example) link – if the customer buys other products at the same time do i get sales benefit of all products purchased or only the original one?

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      August 16, 2016 at 8:36 pm

      Each site has its own time limits on when affiliate cookies expire. For instance, with Amazon it’s very short – I believe 24 hours.

      Might be good for you to check with each platform you are an affiliate marketer with, Nigel.

      Reply
  10. Danielle Parsons says

    April 4, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    Ana, Thanks for turning me on to Skim Links. I see the potential already. Looking forward to being approved. We can never get too much exposure for our businesses!

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      April 6, 2013 at 1:27 pm

      My pleasure, Danielle!

      Reply
  11. Nizam Khan says

    April 3, 2013 at 11:16 am

    Excellent and very informative resource on Skimlinks. You have made it very clear and easy to follow. Sounds good, it turns normal links into affiliate links. Well, I’m using VigLinks, however I will try this out, it seems to be yet another good way to earn some extra income. Thanks Ana for this wonderful review and tweeted 🙂

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      April 4, 2013 at 11:32 am

      Yes, it’s very similar to VigLinks, Nizam – I think the main difference is in the kind of merchants you have access to through either system. I know VigLinks pays a lot faster. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Anne says

    December 21, 2012 at 5:30 am

    Hi Ana, even though I’ve taken a break off blogging, I’m just stopping by to say Happy Holidays to all my blogging friends. Thanks for all the support, comments, visits etc. I hope you have fun with your loved ones and I wish you all the best for 2013.

    Reply
  13. prabhat says

    December 12, 2012 at 11:55 pm

    hello ana,
    i am a publisher of skimlinks but i dont display their ads. i was using viglink and i managed to make some money with that.can you please tell me which one is best? viglink or skimlinks…

    Reply
    • Smaz says

      January 7, 2013 at 3:51 am

      Hi Prabhat,

      Glad to hear that you’re on of our publishers.

      Please feel free to get in touch with us at: support@skimlinks.com if you want to find out more about how we can help you make the most of Skimlinks.

      In the meantime please feel free to read our blog post on the ‘Skimlinks Advantage’: http://bit.ly/QFU8XC

      Thanks!

      Smaz

      Reply
  14. Sunil - Wealth Building says

    December 7, 2012 at 1:31 pm

    Thanks for the Mention Ana

    Solid suggestion – this is a constant battle affiliate marketers encounter

    Reply
  15. Juan says

    December 3, 2012 at 5:31 am

    this is first time i heard and know about this. Thank for sharing the nice entry. I will look into this matter for my blog

    Reply
  16. Astro Gremlin says

    December 1, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    The most exciting news is not having to keep track of multiple affiliate links, which I don’t really do, except for Amazon. The second most exciting piece of news is discovering that I can caffeinate myself by rubbing a glowing gel all over my body.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      December 4, 2012 at 5:24 pm

      Yes, I was very excited about that one as well. 😉

      Reply
  17. John Banks says

    December 1, 2012 at 2:26 am

    This looks great – also, another fantastic post Ana!

    I will certainly be checking this plugin out – I have written a few posts that contain links to Amazon books and although its fairly simple to construct this way looks a lot easier and a big time saver.

    Thanks!

    John

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      December 4, 2012 at 4:59 pm

      You are very welcome, John.

      Reply
  18. Prakash says

    November 30, 2012 at 2:50 am

    Yes, it is good that we don’t have to bother about the affiliate link of individual product. And skimlink itself create all the links for our blog.

    Reply
  19. Thomas says

    November 30, 2012 at 12:57 am

    I think integrating deeplinks takes forever in a blog post and can be so tiresome, I almost want to stop publishing! Instead, I will take your exceptional advice and integrate skimlinks instead, thanks a lot for sharing.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      December 4, 2012 at 11:40 am

      Definitely a great solution, Thomas.

      Reply
  20. Priya N says

    November 29, 2012 at 11:53 pm

    Its really good to use Skimlinks if they genuinely pays even the 75% commission for all the sales made through affiliate links on my content. We dont have to worry about maintaining the affiliate account & managing the different products on my website. Thanks for explaining all about Skimlinks.

    Reply
  21. Justin Young says

    November 29, 2012 at 12:14 pm

    Extremely thorough review of Skimlinks. It sounds like a very powerful resource. I have heard of Skimlinks before but I haven’t really looked into it. After reading your post, I am definitely going to have to give it a shot. Thanks Ana.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      December 4, 2012 at 11:06 am

      You are very welcome, Justin. Saw your email; will take a look at your post.

      Reply
  22. Loren says

    November 23, 2012 at 4:11 am

    Wow! This was really interesting! (like all the articles I’ve read of yours in the last couple of days!). I’ve never realised how easy it was to implement.

    I agree with Lisa, integrating deeplinks takes forever in a blog post and can be so tiresome, I almost want to stop publishing! Instead, I will take your exceptional advice and integrate skimlinks instead.

    Same links, same money, less time! Fab!

    Reply
  23. Tom says

    November 22, 2012 at 4:02 am

    Hi Ana,
    do you think this kind of program coulnd be use for french website ?
    Regards,
    Tom

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 25, 2012 at 2:20 pm

      Definitely, Tom – you can select Skimlinks merchants by country and they’ve got quite a few in France and in Europe generally.

      Reply
  24. Scott says

    November 20, 2012 at 9:22 am

    Ana,

    I just have to say first of all. This is an excellent article. I can tell that you spent some good time and research on putting this together for us. Thank you.

    I just filled out the application and cannot wait to get started with it. I think this is going to be AMAZING!

    I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas!

    Scott

    Reply
  25. Ileane says

    November 20, 2012 at 9:40 am

    Hi Ana, Brilliant idea to start taking advantage of the holiday shopping frenzy by using Skimlinks.
    I don’t shop for gifts during the holidays like you – but I do like to cash in on the those deals.
    I first heard about Skimlinks when Pinterest was using them but I know that partnership ended a few months back. They are great people to work with though and they offered a free ebook called Monetizing Online Forums written by Patrick O’Keefe that was pretty awesome.

    Thanks for sharing all the steps needed to sign up!

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 25, 2012 at 1:55 pm

      I’ve downloaded that ebook, but am yet to read it, Ileane 🙂 – blame it on the day job?

      Thanks for coming by!

      Reply
  26. Ana Hoffman says

    November 20, 2012 at 8:23 am

    All of my income currently comes from affiliate sales, Philip, and although it’s hard to track precisely which links lead to the most sales, here are my best candidates:

    1. An occasional email to my list about a recent product I bought.
    2. My tools page: https://trafficgenerationcafe.com/internet-marketing-tools/
    3. Appropriately mentioning my products in posts.
    4. Posting my latest reviews in the sidebar.

    Reply
  27. Sheila Bergquist says

    November 20, 2012 at 3:49 am

    If you have already joined Commission Junction and Amazon (or other affiliates) can you still use Skimlinks and do you need to cancel the ones you joined? I hope that makes sense!

    Reply
    • Smaz says

      November 20, 2012 at 5:54 am

      Hi Sheila!

      Smaz from Skimlinks here. Good news- you can still sign up and use Skimlinks! No need to cancel the networks you’ve already signed up with- we don’t touch the links that you’ve already affiliated, we ‘ll just convert the ones that aren’t.

      You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/AaaZJl

      Anymore questions, please do not hesitate to ask: support@skimlinks.com

      Look forward to having you on board!

      Smaz

      Reply
      • Sheila Bergquist says

        November 21, 2012 at 3:42 am

        Thanks so much Smaz! I am definitely going to check it out and join!

        Reply
  28. Alain Schlesser says

    November 20, 2012 at 1:15 am

    Hi Ana,
    Great in-depth post! Do you know whether the Amazon links are geo-targetted? I mean, does it replace amazon.com by amazon.co.uk for someone visiting the site from the UK?

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 20, 2012 at 8:25 am

      Good question, Al – I don’t know. Let me see if I can find out.

      Reply
    • Smaz says

      November 21, 2012 at 3:59 am

      Hi Alain,

      Smaz from Skimlinks here. We are able to geo-target Amazon links with our SkimWords technology as we are detecting the product references and creating the links ourselves.

      However with SkimLinks we are unable to geo-target Amazon links for two reasons:

      1) With our Skimlinks technology we simply convert the products and links as defined by the publisher (or content creator)

      2) Amazon operates on a location basis and each location is treated as a separate merchant so some products which you can purchase through Amazon.com are unavailable on Amazon.co.uk for example.

      Hope that answers your question and if you have any more then we’ll be more than happy to answer them: support@skimlinks.com

      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Ana Hoffman says

        November 25, 2012 at 2:15 pm

        Thanks for the answer, Smaz.

        Reply
  29. Jim Zboran says

    November 19, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    Thanks for taking the time to do this in-depth review, Ana. I wouldn’t have taken the time to look at the service on my own but I appreciate having an understanding of it and how to effectively implement it.

    For myself, I don’t want to be distracted away from some other irons in the fire right now. But Skimlinks would be an excellent idea for some of my small business coaching clients to use right now. I’ll point them in the direction of your affiliate link when I mention it.

    On the other hand, that Datafeedr Random Ads plugin you mentioned is something I can make use of right now. I’ve been looking for something for awhile and haven’t been happy with what I’ve found so far. I’ll give it a look. Thanks for pointing it out 🙂

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 19, 2012 at 10:26 pm

      I know what you mean, Jim; it’s not for everyone.

      I do appreciate you taking your time to make a comment though – as always.

      Reply
  30. Melly Schug says

    November 19, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    I am new to this SkimLinks and I think this is a great technology concept.
    Thank you for this!

    Reply
    • Smaz says

      November 20, 2012 at 7:42 am

      Thanks for the #skimlove Melly, glad you are enjoying using Skimlinks!

      Please let us know if there’s any other ways we can help you make the most of Skimlinks by emailing: support@skimlinks.com

      Smaz
      Skimlinks

      Reply
  31. Harleena Singh says

    November 19, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    Sounds wonderful indeed Ana!

    But yes, being a freelance writer also, I somewhere do agree with Anne that we earn more through our writing projects than the affiliate links and other stuff we have on our blog (though I really don’t have very many). I agree, we really don’t and get down to doing the selling or promoting the products the way it should be done, but that’s because some of our blogs aren’t that ways. But I love your idea of having a separate shopping page for that.

    Thanks for sharing, and you surely made me re-think and gave some wonderful ideas here as well. 🙂

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 19, 2012 at 10:30 pm

      I am always game for anything that makes money without me trading my time for it, Harleena. 🙂

      Reply
  32. babanature says

    November 19, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    seriously! this is the first time i am hearing the word “skimlinks”. i guess i will have to do some more research and get back to you

    Reply
    • Smaz says

      November 20, 2012 at 7:51 am

      Hello!

      Smaz from Skimlinks here. As you’re going to be researching our products and services, I thought you might want to check out this short slideshow which summarises the advantage of choosing to use Skimlinks: http://slidesha.re/RQZeRC

      We’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have: support@skimlinks.com

      Thanks!

      Reply
  33. shan says

    November 19, 2012 at 2:52 am

    Hi Ana
    Excellent evaluation! I believe I am going to do some much more investigation upon skimlinks and find out in case the some thing I would really prefer to include.

    Reply
  34. Jason says

    November 18, 2012 at 5:22 pm

    Nice work on this post Ana. When I think of in content affiliate links, I always think of links like Kontera and it causes horror. Perhaps things have evolved 🙂

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 19, 2012 at 7:47 am

      This is definitely nothing like Kontera, Jason. lol

      Reply
  35. Lindsey Rainwater says

    November 18, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    Slick! Thanks for sharing this, Ana. I’d never heard of this.

    I’ve got ideas for a couple of niche blogs/websites that I would like to get going in 2013, and I really wasn’t sure how I was going to go about monetizing them without having to spend a lot of time researching products in those niches.

    I think this may have solved that particular issue. 🙂

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 19, 2012 at 7:46 am

      Yes, Skimlinks are GREAT for niche sites, Lindsey.

      Reply
  36. Tanya says

    November 16, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    This year already I have been in a money saving mode. Anyways, I think I will do a little more research on skimlinks and see if its something I would like to add. Great review!

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 17, 2012 at 2:31 pm

      Thanks, Tanya; let me know if it works for you.

      Reply
  37. DiTesco says

    November 16, 2012 at 7:34 am

    Well done Ana. Quite a thorough review about Skimlinks. I actually used Skimlinks and Viglink in the past, but unfortunately did not really work for me. I do have a friend who is quite happy with it (SL that is) and as you said, it is pretty much an excellent alternative for the lazy people, lol.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 17, 2012 at 2:29 pm

      Readers weren’t clicking on the links?

      Reply
      • DiTesco says

        November 17, 2012 at 3:10 pm

        Clicks yes, but no sales 🙁

        Reply
        • Ana Hoffman says

          November 17, 2012 at 3:34 pm

          So… loosing traffic, but nothing in return. I’ll see if I get any better results.

          Reply
  38. Ravi Ahuja says

    November 16, 2012 at 5:42 am

    I have used skimlinks on one of my blog but not got any good results may be because of traffic and niche but I liked the concept which can help you increase your earning without using any space on your website. It can be much better then PPC intext advertisements.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 17, 2012 at 9:49 am

      For Skimlinks to work well, you do need a lot of traffic, Ravi.

      Reply
  39. Anne says

    November 16, 2012 at 3:26 am

    I usually get a catalogue towards the end of the year and tell the kids to look through it and come up with 10 of the things they most want. They know they’re only going to get 5 of the items (each), so what they get is still a surprise. This works very well for us. We don’t necessarily get the pressies from that catalogue either – as long as the items match, that’s the important bit.

    About skimlinks – I found out ages ago that I’m really not good as an affiliate. I used to have loads of them on my blogs and made no money whatsoever. I still have Amazon links/widgets. The plan is that as soon as I make their payout limit ($100.00), I’ll remove all their links from all my blogs.

    The irony is that I’ve been an Amazon affiliate for about 4 years – and still haven’t made the limit! I can now make $100.00 from two hour’s editing/writing work. I so can’t wait to have a clean, clear blog, free of all affiliate links!

    I know that affiliate works for thousands of bloggers. I know that they work for you as well, Ana. And good on you for that! For me, however, nothing happens. I’ve accepted this now 🙂

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 17, 2012 at 9:47 am

      Well, I’ve never seen a check from them yet, Anne, but at least Skimlinks limit is only $10, even if it’s Amazon earnings.

      I do understand what you mean though. If it doesn’t work for your readers, then you need to come up with a better monetization model. You’ve got plenty of traffic; there’s got to be a way to monetize it.

      Reply
      • Sally Jo says

        February 24, 2013 at 5:40 pm

        Well….

        I started using SkimLinks on the weekend after Thanksgiving last year. Today is February 24 – so it’s been almost exactly 3 months since I started.

        My Skimlinks total is just a tad over $1,000 in total earnings since I started (but I’m expecting 25% of that to be taken for their commissions). I’m a bit annoyed that it takes up to 4 months to get paid. I haven’t been paid, yet, either. It appears that money earned in November gets paid at the end of February.

        I think there’s potential there – but trying to make your way through their system and finding out what merchants pay is downright time consuming and energy-sucking, IMO.

        I found one merchant that paid 25c a click for quite awhile.. but now my reports still show lots of clicks (hundreds) but I’m not seeing commissions on them.

        Then I had a different merchant that paid about $4 a sale (on a $25 item) so I promoted that all over the place and made a good chunk of that $1,000 from them … ONLY to get an email a week or two ago that said it was against that merchant’s rules to promote them on forums (which I legitimately did- I used forums that I participate in for a certain niche as a hobby). So they told me that my links made that way wont be monetized – so not sure I’m even getting half or even 25% of that $1,000+ that I thought I earned.

        So even if you do find the right things that seem to work- it sure seems that there are lots of potholes to fall into on the journey. 🙁

        Just thought I’d add my experiences for you. 🙂

        Reply
        • Ana Hoffman says

          February 24, 2013 at 8:40 pm

          I hear your frustrations, Sally, but $1000? That’s great! I hope you’ll be paid soon.

          It’s certainly not much fun to be told that all your hard work was for nothing due to marketing guidelines. However, the same goes for any merchant out there; even if we go through their own affiliate program, we are still obligated to read, understand, and follow their rules.

          Reply
  40. Alexis Marlons says

    November 15, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    I want to give something to my daughter that she will be able to use and keep with her for a log time. (Also something that will not kill my budget..:))

    Hey Paul, nice one. Give me an update if your kid notices.

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 17, 2012 at 9:40 am

      When you come up with something like that, let me know, Alexis. 😉

      Reply
  41. Paul Forcey says

    November 15, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    I am thinking of just buying my 5 year old some cardboard boxes in various sizes this year to see if she notices she didn’t get any “real” presents from us.

    She spent more time playing with the empty box from our new TV than she did with any toy that anyone got her..

    Oh and I agree skimlinks are a good way to monetize just about any site..

    Paul

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 17, 2012 at 9:34 am

      Someone in a comment above wanted to know how your little Christmas present experiment goes, Paul… 😉

      Reply
  42. lisa says

    November 15, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    wow! thats all i have to say…

    Kidding!

    I will for sure be adding Skim links to 2 of my smaller review type blogs, those darn links take ages to add, expecially when trying to build deep links through affiliate window and CJ.

    I’ve noticed a lot more clicks on my ads now that I am giving my readers what they want instead of what I thought they needed – big difference!
    Just as you can’t sell burgers to vegetarians or salt to slugs, be very wary of going too far the wrong way and trying to sell Ice to Eskimos or potatoes to the Irish!

    A note on the affiliate links – pinterest will strip any attached to images, and you will also loose all google image searches, I learnt this the hard way last week….
    I was getting around 200 hits a day on an image of a lightbulb on showmesomemoney, but it wasn’t targetted traffic and they were just putting my bounce rate up, so I had a little play with it and linked it to a clickbank graphics package – the image disappeared from Google search within about 12 hours!

    And with that I am off to hang my head in shame LOL

    Reply
    • Ana Hoffman says

      November 17, 2012 at 9:25 am

      That’s another thing I like about Skimlinks, Lisa – you can track which merchant attracts the most clicks from your readers and offer more products from them.

      I like your little trick with images; I hate getting random traffic…

      Reply

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