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.. 

[Barbara]

I simply entered Benable as the place where I'd promote Amazon products, and it worked just fine. As for not producing referrals, I figure if I don't produce any, that it won't be worth it anyway. You aren't in the wrong place. By the way, I don't remember now if used my exact list location or if I simply said it was Benable.

Colorwash's Home

[DesertSky]

@Barbara Thanks for the reply and for letting me know I was in the right place. I completed the application and received my Amazon associate number. I also put down Benable as the place where I'll promote Amazon products, and I listed it as www.Benable.com/Kayt since that's the specific link to my lists. I read somewhere in the Amazon info that generic listings like instagram.com were not sufficient, the link has to go to your specific account. So, you might want to check to see if when you listed Benable as your site, you listed the specific link to your Benable lists, just to be safe.

When we add an Amazon product link to Benable, do we just copy the URL from the browser and let Benable auto-affiliate it, or do we use the Amazon Influencers & Associates "Site Strip" (just below the browser URL) to get the link? I'm assuming let Benable auto-affiliate it...? 

Also, good point regarding the Amazon referrals. I guess if the account gets closed due to an insufficient number of referrals, we're really not out anything. Honestly, I'm really not expecting much—if anything—from this. My goal is to just get more eyes on my Zazzle stuff, and if listing other things I like draws people in and I make a little money from it, that's even better. Plus, I enjoy making the lists. It can be a nice change of focus, and it makes me think about the things I enjoy and appreciate in life.  Thanks for all of your info and help, I really appreciate it! 

[Barbara]

Glad it worked for you. You're right, I'll have to take a look to see if I used my exact address.

Colorwash's Home

[Windy]

I use the link I find at the yellow button on the SiteStrip. I am not sure how to check what link I might have used. This is in response to your comment about "the  link has to go to your specific account. So, you might want to check to see if when you listed Benable as your site, you listed the specific link to your Benable lists, just to be safe.". 

How can I get to where I need to be to check that out? 

[Barbara]

I'm on the wrong computer right now, but I'm pretty sure you'll find your associate's account listed in your Amazon account drop-down, and with fingers crossed, I assume you can look at your settings when you click the link.

I'm now on my own computer, and though there have to be other ways to get to the associate account settings, I found the link in one of the emails that Amazon sent. The site is so darned huge that it's no always easy to get where you want to go.

Colorwash's Home

[DesertSky]

@Windy Thanks for the reply. Do we still need to enter our Amazon Associate number on Benable and toggle it on if we're using the link from the SiteStrip? I guess I'm not sure if we still need to let Benable auto-affiliate it or not.  

Here's how to check to see how you listed Benable:

1. Go to the affiliate page and sign in if needed:  affiliate-program.amazon.com

2. Click on the hamburger menu in the upper right

3. Click on Account

4. Click on Account Information 

Your website will be listed.  Edit it if needed. 

Thanks for all of your help!

[Barbara]

I was just coming here to give the route to one's affiliate account, but you did it first.

What is the "SiteStrip"?

Amazon products should have the auto-affiliate toggle turned on. They said so somewhere, but darned if I can remember where.

Colorwash's Home

[Windy]

This yellow button appears at the top of my page now, when I am shopping at Amazon. This is the SiteStrip. When I click the yellow link I get an amazon code I can paste into Benable. My stats show that people have clicked 66 times on the books I am showing on my Benable lists. 

[Barbara]

I'm downstairs on my husband's computer. Mine is upstairs. First thing when I go up, I'll look for that yellow blob because it might make it easier to do what I've been doing, which is to copy the link (w/o all Amazon's gobbledygook that tells them where I've been and what I've been doing).

I just learned my one new thing for the day. Finally!

Edit: Upstairs now, and sure enough, there's the yellow link. I randomly picked a book, checked the link supplied by Amazon, and it was way easier! I also saw that the link will track to my associate ID. I hope all the links I added in manually will work properly.

Colorwash's Home

[Windy]

I found it! For me, it's under ACCOUNT/ACCOUNT SETTINGS/EDIT YOUR WEBSITE MOBILE APP AND ALEXA SKILL INFORMATION. 

Am I in the right place, because the language they give is about Top level websites, so that makes me think I should just put Benable.com, and not my page at Benable. 

Here's a quote from the page where I found to edit my website:
QUOTE: List all the top level websites and/or mobile apps on which you plan to display banners, widgets, Special Links, or other ads from Amazon Associates. You need to add at least one website or mobile app. You can add up to websites or mobile apps.

[PenguinPower]

I've been trying my hand at a book list from Amazon.. I read a ton, but it didn't really occur to me at first, as I get all of my books from the library.. It's an easy thing for me to get together some substantial numbers of items that I actually can personally recommend though.. I really do like to read. 

I believe manual links work just fine from Benable - I haven't been using the associate link thing on Amazon, but I'm showing 'clicks' on my Amazon earnings dashboard, presumably from the things I've put up so far, as they couldn't come from anywhere else. Nobody has bought anything from there yet though. 

[Barbara]

Some years ago, I started getting confused about which books I'd read or not, so I developed an Excel spreadsheet of author, title, rating system, and subject/type of book. As I remembered books from long in the past, even those from childhood, they were also added to the list. It's now a boon when adding books to Benable.

I, too, have had a number of visits, some obviously from Zazzle people, but there are a lot from unknowns. They could be from Zazzle, but unless they have a Benable account, there's no way of knowing.

Yeah, and Amazon just took full notice of me and my older Kindle and is waving temptation in my face, sending me email about the newest Kindle and that they'll give me a discount if I trade in my old Kindle. Pure evil.

Colorwash's Home

[PenguinPower]

😂We decided we wanted a little chest freezer, so I figured what the heck, I'll give a try out to see if I can make a link on Benable and buy through it. It did work and my big prize....... 80¢  🤣  We did get a little baby one - just 5 cu ft, so it wasn't super expensive at $160 in the first place, but I'm going to say Best Buy appears to not have the best percentages. Target on the other hand seems pretty good - I got a second referral from them today. Lots of clicks on Amazon, but no one buying. 

[Barbara]

An entire eighty cents?! Wow!

I can't imagine why Amazon would get the clicks but not the sales. However, there's Kindle Unlimited, which costs to subscribe, but the books themselves are "free" and there may be no referrals given for them, though I don't actually know. I doubt I can test it myself since Amazon has this uncanny way of knowing who and where you are.

Colorwash's Home

[Windy]

All of my Amazon links are directly to books I have recommended. And the 66 clicks are reported from Amazon, not from Benable, so it seems like people were interested enough in my book recommendations to click through and take a look. So that makes me happy. I don't really care if they buy or not.

But here's a point to consider: my Amazon links seem pretty specific. I can choose to link to paperback, at a certain percentage, or Kindle at a different percentage, or hardback sometimes. I think it unusual that out of only just 66 clicks that any of those would lead to a sale, but it's possible that where I  have linked to Kindle,  someone actually bought paperback. I this case, I don't know if there would be any commission to me.

[Barbara]

I don't know if it's still true, but when I was first looking at Amazon several years ago, you earned a referral when you brought in a customer, not necessarily only when the customer purchased what you were "pushing." Even if it no longer holds true for other products, I should think it does for books.

I looked it up and found this on a site devoted to affiliate marketing:
"Let’s say you’re an affiliate for an online retailer like Amazon. You promote a specific book through your affiliate link. A user clicks on your link but decides not to buy the book. Instead, they browse the website and purchase a kitchen appliance. Because they initially clicked on your affiliate link, the sale is still tracked to you, and you earn a commission on the kitchen appliance, not the book."

Colorwash's Home

[Barbara]

One more thing about Amazon's affiliate program: Their cookie lasts only 24 hours unless the customer has put the item in their shopping cart. It's possible, in that case, for the cookie to last 90 days, though there seem to be ins and outs to it that I didn't study too well because we've no control over it. Whatever. The reality is that it's so easy for customers to simply click and buy that they generally do it within the 24-hour window.

Colorwash's Home

[Windy]

Question about using Benable as a SHOPPER: 
How can I, as a shopper, memorialize what I LIKE? I can't see a way to later view all the things I have favorited, and I don't think it's convenient for a shopper to make their own list. I assume that at Pinterest, people shop for a long time, weeks, or months, and then one day go back in and browse through their own likes, and then maybe make a purchase. 

Can this happen at Benable? If not, what the heck is the POINT???

[PenguinPower]

I think what you want to do is bookmark rather than (or in addition to) like. You can view your bookmarks in your profile menu. 

[Windy]

Oh! Yes you are right and when I bookmark something I can create a special folder for that type of thing. If I ever get back into Facebook I will tell people they can use Benable this way, in hopes of increasing shopper engagement at Benable in general.

[Barbara]

I just watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYWoTDzkUdI and, if you haven't seen this how-to video, you might find some good tidbits. She goes a bit too quickly for my taste, and so I had to back up a couple times to both hear and see what she was doing, but it's good nevertheless. One thing I pulled from it was the ability to add documents. I had no idea!

Anyone else with good tutorial videos to recommend?

Colorwash's Home