I'm working on my new website and I was going to add a section with books from Amazon (signing up for their affiliate program). And I was curious if you any of you have tried this before?

Is it worth it? Is there a chance to make any profit from this? Should you have a big selection or small? And also should I branch out and have other products than books? Software, etc?

By the way, my site will be for graphic design, web design, business cards, typography, etc.

Thanks in advance.

There's a script out there called "AWS" (Amazon Web Services?), which automates the entire process. Get a template, slap the AWS script in it and get visitors.

A few of my friends have quit their jobs thanks to this :)

Niche is better. Niche is always better. Find a niche that you either know really well, or know that nobody else is fulfilling.

Jeremy,

Thanks for the help. Is it possible to find free AWS scripts or do you have to purchase them? I'm a pretty good programmer so if I could find some simple scripts I could probably modify them to my needs. Great idea man! =)

They're definitely around, I just don't know where. Never looked. The guys over at www.sitepoint.com/forums use them all the time though :)

Jeremy,

Good call, I'll check out the forums to see if I can find any cool AWS scripts. Not sure when I will finish my website though.

I wonder if the interest would be big in graphic design, photoshop, typography, and photography books?

I was actually going to buy some domains a few months back with names of some authors that I like that weren't taken...but I thought that when they saw the sites they would just snap them up.

The key is to create a relevant website that attracts people who would buy the books you are suggesting, and you would also have to promote it. But, yes, it is a good idea. In fact we are planning on adding that to one of our websites as well.

IAFPO,

Cool, thank you for your input. =)

IAFPO,

Cool, thank you for your input. =)
You're welcome. :)

I think I am going to make one eventually to compliment this site.

That would be a good way to make some money off the site and help pay for things.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking.

Antiphrasis,

Maybe you could have some basic tutorials on graphic design and web design for your website. That could possibly entice visitors to purchase books on these subjects.

Scarlet,

Thank you. That sounds like a good idea. Hmmm... I have to think of something cool... =)

Antiphrasis,

I used to have a Amazon store. I didn't make much money though. I think I made something like 12 dollars in three months, so it was not worth it at all.

There's people with scripts that have everything from amazon's site on their websites, they must be making some big money, I think.

James,

If you don't mind me asking, how many books did you have to sell to make 12 dollars?

It all depends on your site and your traffic. If you have no meaningful traffic, it doesn't matter if you have the best website in the world, noone is going to know about it. Also, the affiliate links must be relevant to what readers want. I have an international website that has a lot of traffic, and all of the affiliate programs that are either general in nature or country specfic. Most affiliate programs don't pull very well if it doesn't match the content of your pages or if most of your visitors or from overseas but all your affiliate programs are U.S. only.

Antiphrasis,

I can't remember that well, but I think it was only 2-3 books or so that people bought by clicking on links on my website.

Something I've always wondered about when having a book store on your website: can you use Amazon's images of the books, or do you have to get them elsewhere? The cover art is also copyrighted, so is there some fair use clause that applies here?

Thanks!