One might even say you are a Merchandiser.  There to make sure your product is attractive and will catch the eye of any customer walking by it.  The only difference here is that merchandisers work on one product that their company sells.  Nothing else.

I have read articles in the forum from members saying that their CTR has been good but they have not seen any sales yet.  Which is where this analogy will come into play.  My first question would be, "Are you playing the role of a merchandiser or the retail store?"

If you are playing the role of a merchandiser, then that means you only have one product that you need to focus on.  Which would mean here, ...that you may only have one campaign in the works.  So we could consider your high click through rate as customers you see walking in the front door.  There have been a lot of them but, ...everybody is walking out the door without purchasing anything.

This is where you need to broaden your view and see yourself as a retail store that sells many products.  In this case, having more than one campaign in the works.  You have several things to focus on unlike the merchandiser who keeps his attention on the one product.

If a lot of customers come through your front door this time of season and are leaving with nothing you have to ask yourself, "Why?"  Well, maybe all those customers (CTR) who are coming in already have school supplies.  So as a retail store you have to ask yourself, "What else are they looking for?"

So let's think about that for a minute.  Several things that come to mind could be clothes, shoes, or maybe they are looking for a jacket to buy their child for the coming fall.  Each one of these representing a different campaign that you have completed and is up and running.  Not for the products I just mentioned but you have more than one campaign in the works.

I would suggest to anybody who is just starting in affiliate marketing that it is good to start out as a merchandiser.  Making sure the product / niche you are promoting looks good and fulfills the need of someone walking in the door.  After you have accomplished that, it is time to move up.

Now you have to look at yourself as the retail store instead.  As a place that has several merchandisers (campaigns) working for you all under the same roof.  When you have accomplished this I am sure you will see more of the customers (CTRs) walking out your door with merchandise (sales) in their hands.

One more point I feel is important for people starting out are the numbers involved.  Here again we can use the retail store as an analogy.  When do you feel most stores get the highest volume of business?  That is correct.  On the weekends.  The same is true here with online marketing.  You are most likely to see the highest volume of traffic on the weekend.  For the same reason as the stores.  Many people work and have other responsibilities during the week.  So they probably don't have much free time to spend online.  Not until the weekend comes.

So I do not spend any time during the week going here and there, checking the numbers.  Because you are most likely going to be disappointed with the results.  You may see some CTR during the week and yet nothing in the sales' column.  Like a store may see customers during the week and yet don't make that many sales.  But, ...."Why?"  Well, ....my first guess would be that as much as they like to shop, they are waiting for that paycheck that doesn't come in until Friday.

So your main goal during the week is not to go to the cash register and see the total sales for every hour.  The numbers will most likely be low and with online marketing will probably be zero.  So instead of doing that, your goal in the store is to make sure the shelves are full.  That the price signs are in place with everything else looking in good shape for the weekend.  Because that is when most of the customers will be buying and you will have no time to focus on anything else.

That is what you want to do here during the week.  Make sure your landing page/s and articles look good.  Go through them 5 to 10 times checking for spelling errors.  I bet you find something 40 percent of the time.  Another thing you will find as you proof read is something else.  The more times you read something you find yourself reading it as the customer.  Telling yourself, "You know, I think I am going to reword a couple of sentences differently.  There, ....that looks a little more attractive and makes more sense."

By the time you have done all that (as we did in the store with the shelves) the weekend is almost here and just a day away.  Everything looks great and you are ready for the large flow of traffic that will be walking through your doors in about 24 hours.