What is ClickBank and how does it work?
After Amazon ClickBank is probably the best-known program for affiliates. They are very popular with Internet Marketing affiliates and have many products for their niche.
They are similar in product types to JV Zoo another affiliate marketplace. Many of the products are in the health, nutrition, diet, finance and Internet marketing niches.
Is ClickBank safe to use?
ClickBank represents primarily digital or downloadable products. These typically have high-percentage payouts to affiliates. The commissions average around 50%. You do need to be careful and closely vet all products.
There are some great products, some good products, and many crap products. You need to be sure the product and the promotional methods are appropriate for your audience. But ..
ClickBank is big!
ClickBank is involved in over 30,000 sales daily on their marketplace. The total number of registered users is over 6 million.
Go to our affiliate programs page for more program reviews.
The ClickBank Marketplace – a Place for Digital Goods
Yes, there are a few physical goods on ClickBank but for the most part, the reason you go to ClickBank is for the digital and downloadable products.
These products include:
- Internet Marketing SaaS products
- Membership programs
- Weight-loss and other “systems”
- eBooks
- Plugins/Themes
- Physical products
There are products for most niches though there is a heavy concentration on weight loss, fitness and Internet marketing. ClickBank also allows you to find and setup joint ventures to share commissions. They bring everyone together.
ClickBank brings together all of the parties in an affiliate sales-flow. ..
- Content Creator – Lists their products for affiliates to select for their campaigns
- Affiliate – Finds products to present to their audience
- Buyer — Uses ClickBanks checkout system to make the purchase
- Joint Venture Participants – ClickBank lets you have multiple parties on your affiliate team. Perhaps a developer and marketer get together and create and market a product. ClickBank lets you set this up easily.
So why use ClickBank vs. others?
Why Clickbank?
ClickBank is not the exclusive marketplace for digital products. So why should you consider them?
- Products for all Niches: There are thousands of products for all niches.
- High commissions: Many products pay 70% — most at least 50%
- Easy approval: Many affiliates want to see traffic, a website, a history in the industry. ClickBank approves most.
- Total Access: Once approved by ClickBank you have access to all of the products in the marketplace. No need for individual product approvals.
- International friendly: They are very flexible with payment options including Payoneer for international affiliates.
- Quick Payments For those using paid traffic this is critical. If you had to wait 30-60 days like many affiliate programs, you would need to have the cash-flow to pay for the ads and wait for the commission.
- A Place to Analyze Marketing Tactics: One thing about ClickBank is that they have some very effective affiliates and marketers. You can learn a lot by analyzing how they create funnels.
ClickBank has their own vocabulary that is handy to know. Here are the ClickBank terms you will see as you evaluate products in the ClickBank marketplace …
Clickbank Glossary
There are some unique terms you should know about in the ClickBank marketplace.
Hops: This is your affiliate link
GRAVITY: Abbreviated as Grav in the stats window, this show’s the popularity and top-earning products.
Commission: The percent earned for the product. This is the gross before fees.
Rebill: Recurring affiliate products
Initial sale: How much you earn per sale
Initial $/sale: How much earned per product
Avg %/sale: the commission rate on the product
Avg Rebill Total: The amount typically earned on second and subsequent orders for recurring sales
Avg %/rebill: the commission rate on second and subsequent orders for recurring sales
Steps to become a Clickbank Affiliate
How much does it cost to join ClickBank?
Nothing. As an affiliate ClickBank is free to join.
If you plan to sell products as a ClickBank Vendor, you do need to pay to enroll. There is a $49.00 charge but they do not take the payment until your first product is approved. If you want an additional account it is $29.95.
ClickBank Signup
One of the great things about ClickBank is they make it very easy to signup. Just visit their affiliate enrollment page.
They except everyone with some geographic exceptions from “high-risk” countries. .
Just be sure to provide accurate information and check your email for the welcome letter. Wants you are accepted you can access your affiliate dashboard from …
ClickBank Dashboard
Once you have your account approved you can go to your ClickBank Login page to get into the dashboard. here you will see your programs, links, earnings and more.
ClickBank Payments
Payment Calculations
Here’s how much you’ll earn on a one-time purchase product with a 50% commission rate:
Retail Price: $40.00
Subtract 7.5% + $1: – $4.00
Net Sale Amount: $36.00
50% of Remainder: $18.00
Therefore, as the referring affiliate for this sale, you would earn $18.00
Additional details include:
- Recurring products are paid the same way through the seller could have different commission rates for the initial purchase and the rebill purchases.
- There is a maximum commission on a single sale of $150.
- There is also a return allowance holdback of 10% of your total balance.
- There is a payment threshold that you can set. The default is $100. You can set it between $10 – $1,000.
Payment Methods
ClickBank is very flexible with their payment options.
- Paper Check – This is the default option – they mail a check to you.
- Direct Deposit – Money is directly deposited into your account. This is the cheapest and fastest.
- Payoneer – Payoneer is often used by international affiliates.
- Wire Transfer – Mainly for countries not supported by international direct deposit.
The ClickBank Marketplace
Product selection is critical with ClickBank. You don’t want lots of returns. You don’t want to turn off your clients. You generally market ClickBank products to prospects that have arrived via a lead magnet.
Once you have the lead you don’t want to lose them to a crappy product
ClickBank is very strong in the self-help, fitness, diet etc. niches. Their top 10 selling in 2020 were led by these products – mostly in the categories mentioned.
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- Leptitox — Interestingly this is a physical product — weight loss pills
- Cinderella Solution — 28 Day weight loss program
- Halki Diabetes Remedy — Weight loss program
- The lost book of Remedies — Herbal medicine e-book
- Ted’s Woodworking — A perennial top 10, woodworking plans
- His Secret Obsession — Guide to dating men for women
- Numerologist.com — Personalized numerology report for the buyer
- Overnight Millionaire System — Learn how rich people get rich — MMO niche
- Manifestation Magic — Improve your focus, attention
- The 12 Minute Affiliate System — Automated affiliate marketing system
Finding ClickBank Products To Promote
There are many products at ClickBank. The good news is that their dashboard is very flexible and can help you quickly find products to evaluate.
Categories
You first want to select a category. This should be topically relevant to your website if you are after SEO traffic.
