Today I’m going to talk about the meaning and the usage of the ClickBank earning factors, such as $/sale and %/sale.

1. The definition of the ClickBank earnings factors

As said in the ClickBank FAQ:

$/sale: Average net amount earned per affiliate per referred sale. Note that this is the net earned per actual sale, and so it is impacted by refunds, chargebacks, and sales taxes. Unfunded sales, such as returned checks, do not impact this number.

%/sale: Average percentage commission earned per affiliate per referred sale. This number should only vary if the publisher has changed their payout percentage over time.

2. How to interpret $/sale graphs?

CBGraph builds graphs of historical values of $/sale.

2a. If a vendor sells only one product and he doesn’t change its price

His $/sale graph gives you a clue to the refunds rate of the product:

• If the graph is represented by a straight (or almost straight) horizontal line, the rate of refunds of this product is low. You can promote such product without evident risk.

  

• But, if you see a jumping and prancing $/sale graph, you should not promote this product. Many customers are not satisfied with its quality and ask for a refund. You’d better choose another vendor.

  

Sometimes there are gradual rises or falls on the $/sale graph of a vendor with one product. It is normal and it happens when such vendor changes his product price or the %/sale value.

There are a lot of vendors who have many items but sell only their main item for a long period of time. In this case the above considerations are acceptable.

2b. If a vendor sells many items (different products, one-time offers, discounts, etc.)

In such case, the $/sale graph won’t show you any information about refunds, BUT:

• It can suggest which item is in the biggest demand
• It shows the average revenue per sale received by affiliates promoting the vendor

Here is an example. On the website of OKRULIK a customer has 3 options:

It is a screenshot of OKRULIK’s "Items + Refunds" report with estimated affiliate earnings.

If we look at OKRULIK’s $/sale graph, we can conclude that the 3rd item is being sold more often.

3. Some important tips on how to use ClickBank earnings factors

It is easier to sell cheaper products. Combining $/sale with %/sale, you can find inexpensive products with good affiliate payouts!

You can use my ClickBank Search tool to find ClickBank products with at least $20/sale and at least 60%/sale at the same time:

Also notice that top ClickBank vendors have big %/sale values. Today, all top 20 vendors provide at least 60%/sale (and in most cases 75%/sale).

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It was another post from the series "How To Find The Best ClickBank Products To Promote". To be continued…

I think ClickBank Gravity is the most important factor you should consider when you are choosing products to promote. But comprehension of other ClickBank factors gives you some additional information about products.

Another notable factor is ClickBank Referred (%/refd). Combining it with gravity you can guess actions of any vendor’s affiliates.

%Referred is a fraction of a vendor’s total sales that are referred by affiliates.

• If a product’s Referred is more than 80%, there is a huge competition among affiliates who promote this product.
• Low Referred (< 25%) means:
  • It is hard to promote this product (or)
  • The product is new and there is still a lack of competition (or)
  • This product has low quality
• If some vendor has Gravity more than 30 and Referred less than 50%, it means that this vendor generates a lot of sales without his/her affiliates’ help.

You should know:

• Rising ClickBank Referred means that more and more affiliates start to promote the product.
  
  
  
• Decreasing ClickBank Referred means that affiliates stop promoting it. Check whether it is a good product or you should stay away from it.
  
  
  

This is the second post in the series "How To Find The Best ClickBank Products To Promote". Stay tuned. I’ll cover earnings factors in my next blog post.

You have to understand what ClickBank gravity really is to choose profitable ClickBank products. In this post I’m going to answer these questions:

• What is ClickBank gravity?
• How does ClickBank calculate it?
• How to understand and use gravity correctly?

Note: In this post I use the words "vendor" and "product" as synonyms because a lot of ClickBank vendors have only one product.

The Definition of ClickBank Gravity

First, let’s look at the definition of gravity in the ClickBank FAQ:

Gravity: Number of distinct affiliates who earned a commission by referring a paying customer to the vendor’s products. This is a weighted sum and not an actual total. For each affiliate paid in the last 8 weeks we add an amount between 0.1 and 1.0 to the total. The more recent the last referral, the higher the value added.

This definition tells us that a vendor’s gravity represents a number of affiliates who have sold the vendor’s products in the last 8 weeks.

But!!! It doesn’t show us how ClickBank calculates the gravity.

Here is an interesting point.

It is possible that a vendor’s gravity was "500" two weeks ago. And today this vendor’s gravity is only "275". According to the above definition, about 275 affiliates have sold this vendor’s product(s) in the last 8 weeks.

You might think that it is a great product to promote… But don’t hurry!

There has been a very rapid drop in the gravity (from "500" to "275"). As likely as not, nobody has earned any commission in the last two weeks promoting this vendor’s products!

It is very desirable to know how ClickBank calculates gravity — to feel a vendor’s sales volume and the level of competition among his/her affiliates.

But don’t be upset if you can’t understand computation behind the formula of gravity. By following the tips below, you will be able to wisely choose good ClickBank products.

How does ClickBank calculate gravity?

It seems to me Antone Roundy’s assumptions about the ClickBank gravity calculation are correct. He guesses that:

• ClickBank recalculates Gravity every day
• Any vendor’s gravity is a sum of scores of distinct affiliates who have sold this vendor’s products in the last 8 weeks
• An affiliate’s score can be:
  • "1": if he/she sold at least one copy of the vendor’s product yesterday
  • "0,96": if this affiliate’s last sale was the day before yesterday
  • 3 days ago: 0,96^2 = 0,9216
  • 4 days ago: 0,96^3 = 0,884736
  • n days ago: 0,96^(n-1)

Here is an example.

Two affiliates have been promoting a product of some vendor.

The first affiliate sold 3 copies of the product yesterday and 7 copies of the product the day before yesterday. He adds "1" to the vendor’s gravity.

The second affiliate sold only one copy of the product the day before yesterday. He adds "0,96".

So, the new value of the vendor’s gravity is 1 + 0,96 = 1,96.

How to use ClickBank Gravity?

I think you should not promote products with gravity less than "5". Such gravity tells us there are only few affiliates who have sold this product. It signals us that either the product’s sales page doesn’t work well or too few affiliates have tried to promote this product.

When you see a product with gravity "5-20", you should check its activation date. If it is a new product, start to look after it. Such product can become popular very soon.

A gravity level "20" is a definite proof of a great sales page.

When some product’s gravity is reaching "20" and you are using PPC advertising, you should bid on brand keywords ("product’s name" and [product's name]). Such approach has the next logic:

• Brand keywords have an enormous conversion rate (sometimes 1 in 10 and even more!)
• You pretend to get extremely targeted visitors
• You can begin to promote great ClickBank products until they become popular (your PPC campaigns will have advantages over new raw campaigns of your competitors)

You should use this approach only with the search traffic. Don’t use it on the content network.

Products with gravity between 20 and 100 are the most appropriate to be promoted. Be sure these products are successfully sold and plenty of them provide value to customers (a low refund rate).

To have a successful PPC campaign with such product, you should create a landing page.

• Write your own review of the product (There is a necessity for you to check it personally)
  
  
• Add some very useful bonuses (This step is important if you bid on brand keywords. Many people are looking for additional information about the product before they buy. Imagine how they will be amazed and ready to buy when they see your review and bonuses)
  
  
• If you are an expert in the product’s topic, you should write a free report and a series of follow up messages. Exchange this information for a visitor’s name and email address. When you send free tips to your subscribers, they start to trust you. Your subscribers will listen to your advice and buy products you recommend.

You should not promote products with gravity more than "100" unless:

• You can spend a lot of money on PPC experiments
• You have subscribers who respect your opinion

But such products can make you a lot of money. You have to apply all the above tips (bonuses, newsletter, etc.) to succeed. You should also invent your own methods, be unique.

Gravity Graphs

My free ClickBank analysis tool can produce graphs showing historical trends of ClickBank products’ gravity.

When a product is gaining the popularity, its gravity graph is climbing up.

Otherwise, when a product is losing its popularity, its gravity graph is dropping down. Stay away from products that have a very rapid drop at the end of their gravity graphs.

There are many factors that have an influence on gravity graphs:

• When a vendor decreases his product’s price, this vendor’s gravity can increase
• When a vendor releases a new product and asks his affiliates to promote it, this vendor’s gravity can increase
• When affiliates start to promote another similar product, gravity of the original product can decrease
• And a lot of other factors

That’s why you should regularly check the gravity graphs of the products you promote. Recognize if there are any significant changes. If so, realize the reasons of those changes and take proper actions.

It is the end of my first post in the series "How To Find The Best ClickBank Products To Promote". I’ll publish information about other ClickBank factors very soon. I hope you enjoy this series.

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What do you think about ClickBank gravity? How do you use it?

I’m going to publish a series about the ClickBank factors, such as gravity, referred, $/sale, %/sale, future $, total $/sale, ClickBank rank. You need to understand their meanings to choose ClickBank products wisely and efficiently.

In this series I will cover:

• What these factors mean
• How they are obtained
• And which role they play in the selection
  of the best ClickBank products to promote

Update:

1. What Is ClickBank Gravity?
2. How To Evaluate A Competition Level By Looking On ClickBank Referred?
3. How Much Money You Will Earn Promoting ClickBank Products?
4. ClickBank Movers And Shakers
5. ClickBank Jumpers

The Easiest ClickBank Products To Promote

In fact, for any ClickBank product you can determine:

• Efficiency of its sales page
• Its sales volume
• How much you will earn by referring a paying customer to this product
• The competition level among ClickBank affiliates who promote this product
• If there are many refunds (Is it a SCAM?)
• And many, many other things…

You should use a free ClickBank Analysis tool CBGraph. It can generate charts with historical values of the ClickBank factors.

Stay tuned. I will start publish this series very soon. You should subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed.

Have you ever spent a lot of time looking for good products in the ClickBank Marketplace?

I’m sure you said "YES!"

Watch this short video.

What additional options do you need on the "ClickBank Search" page? Which of existing options would you remove?

Please, leave your comment below.