Benable Tips and Tricks and Questions

[PenguinPower]

Seems like as a community we've 'discovered' Benable...  As with any platform there's definitely going to be a learning curve with how to please the algorithm... 

Two things I've noticed so far - a list I had that was not 'optimized' for a few days - it was my first and I needed to add more items has not earned an optimized badge, even after I updated it. I tried to avoid this with a very large list I was making by hiding it until it was all done and that list has also not earned an optimized badge. Neither of these lists are in  the "Tune up" section of my dashboard, so I'm wondering if a list doesn't earn optimized right away, if it perhaps never will. If that is so, I'm going to have to be very organized and make sure I always have at least 15 items queued up and ready when I decide to make a list. The other possibility, I guess, is that my second list is too large - it contains 146 items, they are separated into sections. 

And a question - has anyone earned a referral from Benable yet? I'm in the promoter2 program and of the two I'd rather get my promoter referral than the referral offered through the Benable site... but the links list look like my clean ones that I need. Should I switch the Benable "auto affiliate link" off on all of my Z items or is is possible to earn in both places.. 

[VibesOfColor]

Bailamor, I have 4 companies so far, And 3 Badges I have 2 that have used my invite but have not built any boards so I am not getting companies till that is started  From Benable sales I have made 2 and a total of $4.95 mostly on Furry Friends, ( pet products}

[VibesOfColor]

I have an idea if you build a board using some products you made for Zazzle and name the board list and under that  add your home page link or store links for attentional sales I am going to give it a try myself  on my main Zazzle Board on Benable and see if it works for any new sales . My sales on Zazzle have dropped so much I got no payment for the month of March I didn't reach my $50. payout. that's a first for me. Maybe it would help get you noticed and generate more sales

[DesertSky]

Has anyone besides me actually searched Benable to try to find your recommendations? Even after being optimized, it’s still not easy to locate your own lists or recommendations. When you click "Discover" and use search terms you think should bring up your list or items, it usually doesn’t (it only worked a few times), and the search produces a very short list. So, I’m curious—what are they using to determine what shows up in the search? Since we don’t add tags, is it the title, the note, metadata from the link, or something else? I’m honestly really confused about this. There’s a note that says an improved search is coming soon, but I hope it’s much more refined compared to what I’m seeing now. I’m getting some views—I’m just not sure how. Your thoughts? I’m curious what everyone else is finding and thinking about this.

[Barbara]

I'm still gathering the things I want to list and so not quite ready to sign up, but seeing your question about searching, I went to Benable to run a search or two. I discovered I couldn't do it unless I sign up there. This means that visitors can't run a proper search, something they must have done on purpose, though I wonder why. They're seriously reducing traffic.

Anyway, looking through their example lists, I noticed that members are using key words in all their text. It must be how Benable is indexing things. Are you given a place to create tags of any kind? If so, did you find them working even just a little?

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[DesertSky]

Thanks for trying to search and check it out. It is very odd that you have to be signed up to search, I don't see the point in that at all, like you said, it seriously reduces traffic.  

Regarding tags, there is no specific place to add tags. You simply put in a link, a title and a note about what you're adding. Based on what I read on the site, I got the impression they want "recommendations" not just simply lists of products you want to make money on. Based on that and what I was seeing in other people's posts, I was under the impression it should be more of a personal approach rather than just a product description. Maybe that's the problem, maybe it has to be some combination of both. If that's the case, I guess I have to rethink and maybe redo everything I've already done. It seems odd that they would give optimized badges to lists that won't be searchable since it doesn't contain the right text they need to search by. I don't know, it's quite confusing. 

[PenguinPower]

As far as I can tell there's no specific place to add tags - they must be indexing from your titles, descriptions and 'notes'

[JLynnW]

Benable's short slide show on optimization gives a hint: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1heT5PYWdpz4lsT9i0wmmAIX2h4OOQZj-ToO2Llvi5hA/edit?pli=1#slide...

[DesertSky]

Thanks for the reminder, there's a lot of really good tips in it, it's one of the first things I read when I signed up. I've read everything on their site and watched every YouTube video by Maria the Benable community lead, but nothing addresses how the lists and recommendations are found once the list has been optimized. I have five public lists, three have the optimized badge, one doesn't have enough items in it yet, and I have no idea why the other one hasn't optimized considering I've tried to follow all of the tips. My main concern though, is why an optimized list or recommendation doesn't display when you use search terms that should display it. Also, it seems every search result displays only one page of sixty recommendations, that's it. It's confusing that items that didn't match the search criteria were displayed even though my items that should've displayed didn't, so it's clear they have enough valid items to display, they just didn't display them. So, that's why I'm wondering what they're using to create a search result since we don't enter keywords. It would make sense that it's the title and maybe the text in the notes, but even when I used exact titles or text my items didn't display most of the time. It makes me wonder, is it like Zazzle, do they have their own version of "Top Picks"? Do they have certain creators they favor because they have more followers? What will get you displayed in those sixty results? What are the odds of the list displaying to anyone when they only show sixty results? They present it as though once your list is optimized your list will automatically display, but it doesn't seem that way to me. It seems a lot like Zazzle in that you can add as much as you want, but the odds of it ever being seen are not very good. I enjoy curating lists, but it makes me wonder, is this just another thing where the odds are against us, and it may not be worth the time and effort. It seems like nothing is quite like it appears anymore.

[JLynnW]

I don’t have any answers, but I’m happy to share that all but one of my lists have the 'optimized' badge, and I’ve already earned a 'cash back'—even though it wasn’t related to a Zazzle product, which is what I’m really aiming for. My goal is to promote my Zazzle designs, though I’ll admit, I’ve not been much good at it. But I stay hopeful and true to myself. I truly believe you’re on the right path with your research and perseverance. Don't give up and good luck!

[DesertSky]

Congrats on your first cash back! I'm so happy for you, that's fantastic! Thanks for sharing, that gives me hope that somehow it does work! My goal is the same, to promote my Zazzle products even though right now most of my lists have mostly other things that don't produce cash back. I don't expect immediate sales of Zazzle products or even other products that produce cash back, I mainly just want to understand the criteria for the lists to be found so that I know that it's worth the time and effort. You've given me hope, so thanks for that and the encouragement! If anyone reading this has any thoughts or tips from their own searches, I'd still appreciate your thoughts and ideas, more insight and info is always helpful.

[Bailamor]

I think it's only visible in the search if you have a badge earned for the list. But it's really annoying, i had a badge for a list, changed one thing and suddenly didn't have the badge anymore...

[Barbara]

I hope they're working on making the back end friendlier because I currently find myself spending too much time just sitting and staring at the screen. I've managed to add just six items to a single list when it should have taken me half the time to do it. Granted, I'm new to the site, but it's way too minimalist.

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[DesertSky]

Thanks for the reply. The items I was searching for are from lists that have the optimized badge, so that's why I'm confused. I also don't understand why they only display 60 search results when clearly there have more items they could display, but don't. Regarding the disappearing badge, I'm sorry you lost your badge. Last week I saw that someone mentioned the missing badge here in the forum, so when I was asking Benable some questions, I asked about it. I was told that a badge is not permanent, any change you make to a list causes the algorithm to reevaluate the list and it's possible to lose the badge. So, I guess it's like ZRank, it's everchanging. Like you said, it is frustrating, especially since you don't really know exactly what caused the removal. One thing Benable keeps saying in all of their info is the algorithm doesn't like lists that are too product heavy and "salesy", which is helpful info. Despite the confusion and uncertainty, I still enjoy Benable and am hoping for the best. Good luck with everything and I hope you get your badge back! 

[Badeesie]

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@DesertSky wrote:

One thing Benable keeps saying in all of their info is the algorithm doesn't like lists that are too product heavy and "salesy", which is helpful info.

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But I thought it was about recommending stuff I love. Yeah, there are some services and sites I might recommend, but probably more products.

[Barbara]

I've the feeling it may all depend on the subject of the list. Maybe they mean a single type of product, though even that confuses me because isn't a list just that?

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[DesertSky]

I'm with you, it is confusing. All we can do is make some assumptions. @Barbara may be right, it could depend on the subject. I think the main thing is to have a variety of things in your list. It's hard to know what the algorithm is looking for, just like it is here. I think it's a matter of trial and error, but stick to things you're interested in and enjoy, don't just add things to get the optimization badge. Their theory seems to be that even if your list doesn't get optimized, the optimized list will draw people in and your unoptimized lists will be seen. Let's hope they're right!

[Barbara]

Their search is not at all commendable. It's extremely slow and, yes, the results are sub-par. They claim it's in beta, so let's hope they're being busy little beavers about improving it.

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[ColsCreations]

@MOM  and I are in the process of real-world testing.

Can confirm so far that if you use your own regular link w/ RF#, not Benable's auto-affiliate link, it goes thru as a normal self-referred sale where you get the standard 15%. You just have to be sure to toggle-off the default "auto-affiliate" link and paste in your own instead.

Second test: I ordered using Benable's link on 3/11 and payment to @MOM showed up in her Bendable account 3/13. She got 4.25% of the sale total from B. They say "up to 6%" for Zazzle, no idea how they determine the actual amount, but on this very small purchase, MOM got 4.25%. She checked with the person whose invite link she used to join and they did not receive anything for it.

[Barbara]

Excellent work, @ColsCreations and @MOM !

4.25% proves that Benable's claim about keeping the entire amount has some if's, and's, and but's involved.

Now the question is what happens for someone who's in the Promoter program. Does the clean link actually work or is it better to use the referral number?

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[Windy]

I can report that I am now getting followers who don't appear to be Zazzlers. So apparently after a week or so of creating lists and adding to them little by little, I may be achieving a little bit of reach.  Beyond that, I am not entirely sure why my newest list has not earned the optimized button. I tried to follow all the recommendations. https://benable.com/Windy/exploring-the-world-through-postcards

[Barbara]

I wandered through your offerings and landed on books for artists and museums, which I'll try to keep in mind because I've read several suitable good books, the names of which are currently in my brain's root cellar. As soon as they come out of storage, I'll recommend them to you. I've written myself a note to that effect; otherwise, that, too, will land in the root cellar.

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[Windy]

Thank you! I would really appreciate that!

[Barbara]

@Windy 

I've signed up, done all the preliminaries, and want to do my first list but am lost because it's a book list. Amazon's description for becoming an associate has me downright perplexed. Did you apply to Amazon? If so, were you able to do it before adding your book list?

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[PenguinPower]

I followed the link from Benebable... I had an Amazon account, just to buy stuff and it brought most of my info over fine. It was throwing fits over not accepting my phone number for some reason, but eventually it let me register and gave me an associate number. I have not given them any of my personal info to be paid yet... I figure that can wait if/until I actually need it.. 

[Barbara]

@PenguinPower 

Thank you! Finding information on Benable isn't easy, and it never dawned on me to just click the link and see what happens.

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[Windy]

I did, as part of creating that book list, become an Amazon affiliate. I don't remember it being difficult. What is the part of the process which is giving you pause?  EDIT: Now that I am reading the info from PenguinPower, I do recall that my phone number was a big issue with the Amazon sign up process. I really don't know how I solved that. I kept trying every single iteration I could think of, and nothing worked. Then I guess I did something entirely different to fix that, but I can't remember what.

[Barbara]

I finally made it through and became an affiliate. The trick with the phone number came to me on the second time around because of a recent similar experience: They don't want any hyphens in the number, and it's marked top secret, but I'm a natural-born dissident and am telling the world. NO HYPHENS!

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[PenguinPower]

People seem eager to have/be followers - I expect that most of it is just because it's usually algorithm pleasing to have lots of followers and following others is an easy way to get your own. I've been getting probably 6-20 a day and I'm now up to 100. 

[ColsCreations]

I am not getting that many but I am getting random followers with no connection to Zazzle, like this person:

These are obviously people who follow everybody and anybody hoping for follow backs I guess. But the question is, tying in to @DesertSky 's wonderings about search - how are they finding my account to follow me? I have only one list, it specifically pertains to Zazzle, it is not "Optimized", and it doesn't come up in search.

[PenguinPower]

Wow - I honestly didn't expect anything out of this... but I already got a referral from a non-Zazzle posting.. 

[Windy]

Nice!

[DesertSky]

Congrats! That's really exciting! I'm really glad to hear that several people are already having success. Can you (or anyone else who signed up for the Amazon affiliate program through Benable) provide more info on what they want to know when you apply? I was reading about the requirements, and it said you have to have your own website, and they want to know how you drive traffic to it? Another thing I was reading mentioned needing over 500 followers. I don't have a website and I'm not big into social media, so I'm just wondering if it's even worth applying. Thanks in advance for any info you can share and good luck with everything! 

[Windy]

I do not have any of those things, and none of that was mentioned when I used the link within Benable to sign up for the Amazon affiliates program. My "acceptance" was immediate. 

[DesertSky]

@Windy and @Barbara

Thanks so much for the information, it's very helpful. It's nice that they've reduced the requirements when signing up through Benable. I'll give it a try...and remember not to use hyphens, thanks for the tip, Barbara!           

[Barbara]

@DesertSky 

@Windy  is correct about the ease and quickness of applying to Amazon. If you already have an account with them, all the better because they auto-fill the basics for you--name, address, etc. I suspect the ease of applying has to do with being on Benable, which ticks all the usual requirements, so make sure to use Benable's link for applying. Oh, and when you enter your phone number, make sure to leave out the hyphens. Not 123-456-7890, but instead, 1234567890.

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[Barbara]

I'm currently working on lists of specific types of books, and inherent in this is that there's just one product: books. But the variety in books is extreme. Eventually, I'll have a list or two of related products (like from Zazzle), none of which would have any business being in the other lists. Unfortunately, algorithms can be a bit stupid, so we'll see.

I'm still perplexed about lists being too product heavy and "salesy." I sort of know what's meant by "salesy," but what is or isn't "product heavy"?

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[Windy]

With regard to the "too salesy" I wanted to start a list which simply showed photos of cool postcards I have received through Postcrossing. But when I went to add the first photo, I was reminded that the first step in the process is to add a web link........and those postcards won't have that. So then I abandoned that particular idea for a list. Who has a website and is not trying to sell something, I wonder? 

[Mariholly]

@Windy 

But you can upload your own photos from your computer. Start a new list. Add any link. Do not write anything in the link section—you can press the space bar. Select that "nothing" as if there were a link; it will appear gray. Enter the title you want. On the right, in "Upload," upload your own photos. I hope this helps.

[Windy]

I did not think of trying that! Thanks.

[Barbara]

@Windy 

Could you do a list on postcards in general (history of, vintage, handmade, etc.), and then for those without a specific web site, link to the Postcrossing site?

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