ClickBank Review

ClickBank is an online digital marketplace that connects digital content creators with affiliate marketers and publishers. ClickBank is a top 100 online retailer with an estimated 200 million customers. ClickBank sells mainly digital products created by entrepreneurs. From advice for getting in shape to healthy cooking recipes and dating advice, ClickBank delivers digital lifestyle products to customers in 190 countries.

Company

ClickBank was founded in San Diego, California in 1998 by Tim and Eileen Barber. By 2011, the site had attracted over 1,500,000 affiliate marketers, approximately 100,000 of whom were designated as 'active' at that time. ClickBank has now been in business for over 20 years, and has built a reliable reputation with over 200 million customers. Additionally, they’re classified as a top 100 online retailer.

Tools

Affiliates can search the marketplace to find out more about particular products and vendors—including their available promotional materials and sales statistics. ClickBank provides a range of powerful and useful product insight, research, and reporting tools.

Products and Categories

The ClickBank Marketplace simplifies the process of finding products to promote. Using the specialized search function, affiliates can browse a multitude of products searching by language, category, type, etc. 

When an affiliate finds a product they want to promote, the affiliate generates a HopLink (also known as a referral tracking link) that combines the affiliates account nickname and the vendor’s account nickname. Any sales made via this link are tracked and the affiliate will receive commission according to the product’s commission percentage. 

ClickBank products are sorted into categories and subcategories when they are listed in the ClickBank Marketplace. Below, find a comprehensive list of current categories and subcategories:

Arts & Entertainment

• Architecture
• Art
• Body Art
• Dance
• Fashion
• Film & Television
• General
• Humor
• Magic Tricks
• Music
• Photography
• Radio
• Theater

As Seen On TV

• Auto
• Backyard Living
• General
• Health and Beauty
• Kitchen Tools and Gadgets

Betting Systems

• Casino Table Games
• Football (American)
• General
• Horse Racing
• Lottery
• Poker
• Soccer

Business/Investing

• Careers, Industries & Professions
• Commodities
• Debt
• Derivatives
• Economics
• Equities & Stocks
• Foreign Exchange
• General
• International Business
• Management & Leadership
• Marketing & Sales
• Outsourcing
• Personal Finance
• Real Estate
• Small Biz / Entrepreneurship

Computers/Internet

• Databases
• Email Services
• General
• Graphics
• Hardware
• Networking
• Operating Systems
• Programming
• Software
• System Administration
• System Analysis & Design
• Web Hosting
• Web Site Design

Cooking, Food & Wine

• BBQ
• Baking
• Cooking
• Drinks & Beverages
• General
• Recipes
• Regional & Intl.
• Special Diet
• Special Occasions
• Vegetables / Vegetarian
• Wine Making

E-business & E-marketing

• Affiliate Marketing
• Article Marketing
• Auctions
• Banners
• Blog Marketing
• Classified Advertising
• Consulting
• Copywriting
• Domains
• E-commerce Operations
• E-zine Strategies
• Email Marketing
• General
• Market Research
• Marketing
• Niche Marketing
• Paid Surveys
• Pay Per Click Advertising
• Promotion
• SEM & SEO
• Social Media Marketing
• Submitters
• Video Marketing

Education

• Admissions
• Educational Materials
• Higher Education
• K-12
• Student Loans
• Test Prep & Study Guides

Employment & Jobs

• Cover Letter & Resume Guides
• General
• Job Listings
• Job Search Guides
• Job Skills / Training

Fiction

• General

Games

• Console Guides & Repairs
• General
• Strategy Guides

Green Products

• Alternative Energy
• Conservation & Efficiency
• General

Health & Fitness

• Addiction
• Beauty
• Dental Health
• Dietary Supplements
• Diets & Weight Loss
• Exercise & Fitness
• General
• Meditation
• Men’s Health
• Mental Health
• Nutrition
• Remedies
• Sleep & Dreams
• Spiritual Health
• Strength Training
• Women’s Health
• Yoga

Home & Garden

• Animal Care & Pets
• Crafts & Hobbies
• Entertaining
• Gardening & Horticulture
• General
• Homebuying
• How-to & Home Improvements
• Interior Design
• Sewing
• Weddings

Languages

• Arabic
• Chinese
• English
• French
• German
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Italian
• Japanese
• Other
• Russian
• Sign Language
• Spanish
• Thai

Mobile

• Apps
• Developer Tools
• General
• Ringtones
• Security
• Video

Parenting & Families

• Divorce
• Education
• Genealogy
• General
• Marriage
• Parenting
• Pregnancy & Childbirth
• Special Needs

Politics/ Current Events

• General
  

Reference

• Automotive
• Catalogs & Directories
• Consumer Guides
• Education
• Etiquette
• Gay / Lesbian
• General
• Law & Legal Issues
• The Sciences
• Writing
  

Self-Help

• Abuse
• Dating Guides
• Eating Disorders
• General
• Marriage & Relationships
• Motivational / Transformational
• Personal Finance
• Public Speaking
• Self Defense
• Self-Esteem
• Stress Management
• Success
• Survival
• Time Management

Software & Services

• 3D Printing
• Anti Adware / Spyware
• Background Investigations
• Communications
• Dating
• Developer Tools
• Digital Photos
• Drivers
• Education
• Email
• Foreign Exchange Investing
• General
• Graphic Design
• Hosting
• Internet Tools
• MP3 & Audio
• Networking
• Operating Systems
• Other Investment Software
• Personal Finance
• Productivity
• Registry Cleaners
• Reverse Phone Lookup
• Screensavers & Wallpaper
• Security
• System Optimization
• Utilities
• Video
• Web Design

Spirituality, New Age & Alternative Beliefs

• Astrology
• General
• Hypnosis
• Magic
• Numerology
• Paranormal
• Psychics
• Religion
• Tarot
• Witchcraft

Sports

• Automotive
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Coaching
• Cycling
• Extreme Sports
• Football
• General
• Golf
• Hockey
• Individual Sports
• Martial Arts
• Mountaineering
• Other Team Sports
• Outdoors & Nature
• Racket Sports
• Running
• Soccer
• Softball
• Training
• Volleyball
• Water Sports
• Winter Sports

Travel

• Africa
• Asia
• Canada
• Caribbean
• Europe
• General
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Specialty Travel
• United States

Easy-to-Understand Analytics

Each ClickBank Marketplace Listing displays a panel of statistics that provides data about the vendor’s sales, commissions, and product category. 

General Stats 

• Initial $/sale :
  This number is the average amount that an affiliate earns in commission for each sale of one of this vendor's products, including the initial price of any upsells or order bumps that result from the first sale. This number takes into account refunds, chargebacks, and sales tax, but does not include rebill payments. Since vendors may offer products with different prices and commissions, each affiliate will have different results, but this number gives you a general guideline.
  
  
• Avg Rebill Total:
  This number shows the average amount an affiliate makes in commission on all of the rebilled sales of a recurring product, not including the initial sale. This number is only shown if the vendor offers recurring billing products (that is, products such as memberships and subscriptions that regularly bill customers over time).
  
  
• Avg $/sale:
  This is the average amount that an affiliate earns in commission for each sale of one of this vendor's products, including initial and rebill payments. For vendors with rebill products, this number gives you an indication of the additional amount you can earn by promoting those products. For vendors with no rebill products, this number is the same as the Initial $/sale.
  
  
• Avg %/sale:
  This number shows the average commission rate earned for all sales of a vendor’s products, including one-time purchases, rebills, and upsell purchases. Since vendors can offer different commission rates for different types of products or for different affiliates, this number may not exactly match the commission rate you earn on any given sale.
  
  
• Avg %/rebill:
  This number is only shown if the vendor offers recurring billing products, and shows the average commission rate earned only on rebills. Vendors can offer different commission rates on the initial sale and the rebills.
  
  
• Grav:
  "Grav: is short for the GRAVITY™ performance statistic. This number represents a unique calculation by ClickBank that takes into account the number of different affiliates who earned a commission by promoting this product over the past 12 weeks. Since more recent transactions are given a higher value, this number can give you an idea of what products are “hot” at the moment, in terms of being promoted by many affiliates and making a good number of sales. However, high gravity can also indicate that there will be a lot of competition in promoting this product.
  
  
• Cat:
  "Cat" is short for "category." This section provides information about the ClickBank Marketplace category and subcategory of the product. 
  
  
  

Affiliate Stats 

• Hops Generated:
  This number represents the total number of Hops you have generated through your promotional material. A Hop is an instance where a potential customer has followed your HopLink (a referral tracking link generated when you promote a product) to the ClickBank Vendor's pitch page. For information on why your stats may indicate that you have Hops, but you have not made any sales, click HERE to check out a helpful article. 
  
• Earnings Per Hop:
  This value represents your total earnings divided by the number of hops that you've generated.
  
• Refund Rate:
  This value represents the percentage of customers you've referred who have received a refund.
  
• Chargeback Rate:
  This value represents the percentage of customers you've referred who have charged back their orders.
  
• Initial Sales:
  This is the dollar value amount that you have earned from initial sales of recurring products and from sales of standalone products.
  
• Rebill Sales:
  This is the dollar value you have earned from rebills of recurring products.
  
  
• Upsells:
  This is the dollar amount you've earned from upsell products.

How to get paid

Payment Methods 

• Check:
  When you choose to receive payment by check, ClickBank mails a paper check to the address listed in your account. The check is made out to the payee name listed in your account.
   
• Direct Deposit:
  When you choose to receive your payment via direct deposit, ClickBank transfers your payment directly to your bank account. 
  
• Wire Transfer:
  When you select this payment method, ClickBank transfers the payment to you by wire. This option is available for countries not served by international direct deposit. 
  
• Payoneer:
  When you select this option, ClickBank sends your funds via Payoneer, an international money transfer service.

The “Payment Threshold” is the amount of money that you must have in your account before a payment is issued to the payee of the account. The default payment threshold is $100, however, you can set your payment threshold for any amount between $10 and $1,000,000. 

Note:

• Every January, ClickBank sends 1099 forms to ClickBank users who earn more than $600 in commissions. If a ClickBank user has not earned over $600, they will not receive a 1099 form.  
• US-based affiliates making more than $600 must provide a taxpayer ID. This ID is either a social security number (SSN) or an employer identification number (EIN) that has been issued by the IRS. 

Setup is simple:

• Step 1: Go to ClickBank.com
• Step 2: Click on create account.
• Step 3: Enter your details.
• Step 4: Submit Your Account Registration.
• Step 5: Confirm Your Email.

Conclusion

ClickBank is a great option to try if you’re interested in affiliate marketing. Explore the vast repository of the site for products to promote and to fully understand what it offers and how it works. Take the time to carefully choose your niche, grow your customer base and then promote the products and you WILL have success. When using ClickBank, picking products can be a bit complicated. Your success will depend on the product you promote, the way you promote it and your traffic source.