Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
IMPORTANT NOTE: The process outlined in this article is no longer possible. Amazon has now discontinued their listmania service, and the ability to add affiliate links. I’ll keep the article up as the concept is still sound, however.
“Piggybacking” off another persons success is a common practice in the real world, and it’s actually something that you can apply to online marketing as well.
Actually it’s something we already do to some extent – when we promote a trustworthy online store like Amazon, we are piggybacking off the success of companies like these in promoting their brand name, and becoming a reputable place.
Of course there’s a much more direct way to piggyback off these websites, which can really help when it comes to the search engines.
Amazon Lists: What Are They?
Amazon lists, or Listmania!, are user created lists which list items on Amazon. These lists are specific lists, and are set up to help potential shoppers with additional purchases, or provide recommendations based on the shoppers interest.
For example, I just finished reading the “Mitch Rapp” series of novels by Vince Flynn. If you’ve seen the Bourne Identity movies or Taken then you’d know the drill here – an ass-kicking machine that takes crap from nobody.
I really enjoyed them, and want to read more. So I can do a search on Amazon Listmania for “Mitch Rapp”, and I find many user generated lists. I find this list by Murray:
And he has a list of the great action hero books, so I click through and there is a list of “action hero” books that I might like. Basically if I liked the Mitch Rapp novels, then I will like these.
Amazon Lists: How They Make Us Money
When you create a list and people purchase items off it, you make a percentage of the sale, or a referral fee. Simple as that.
Now you could create your own website based on recommendations. You could go for a very specific domain name like mitchrappbooks.com or actionherobooks.com and hope to dominate the SERPS with that. However…
5 Reasons Why You Should Piggyback Off Amazon:
#1: Convenience. People are already at Amazon, and all they have to do is click one button and they add one of your list items to their shopping cart. People like convenience.
#2: Impulse Buys. Lists are very quick and short – it can take just a minute or two for someone to add all your items to the cart, and purchase them. However by having a separate website it means they then have to visit another website as they have to visit that item listing directly, and then they are confronted with reviews and information on the item. This can distract people, and cause them to have second thoughts.
#3: Better SERPS. Surprise – Google trusts Amazon, and treats it as an authority website. By putting a list on there, you stand a very good chance of being #1 or any keyphrases related to that list. You also don’t have to buy 100 exact match domains and build websites in an attempt to compete with the mighty Amazon. You just add your own pages to Amazon, and rank higher thanks to Amazon being an authority site.
#4: Trust. People trust Amazon. If there is a list of recommendations on Amazon, then that person will trust Amazons judgment. They don’t have to do any work and find out for themselves – due to excellent customer support and overall great prices people trust Amazon.
#5: Real People. Consumers trust a real persons opinion more than they trust some random website. This is why one of Amazons big selling points is “people who bought this also bought these items” because consumers trust a real persons opinion. Lists don’t look like marketing – to the average consumer it just looks like people have went out of their way to make a list for the convenience of the consumer, and they trust that persons opinion, not thinking for one second that the person who made the list is out to make money.
I Made $250 In 5 Minutes With Two Lists:
And both those lists were based on books, where the profit you receive can be very low.
You can make money with Amazon lists, however when it comes to making a LOT of money, you have to put more work into it. You have to research, and you have to think about what people are searching for.
A few years ago, the movie Shooter was released. This movie was based on the novel Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. There were more books in that series, with the hero being “Bob Lee Swagger”.
I theorized that people would see the movie or hear about the movie, and become interested in the books. So I made two lists.
List #1: Order of the Bob Lee Swagger books
List #2: Books like Point of Impact
With list #1, I was ranked top in Google for phrases like “Bob Lee Swagger book order”. With list #2 I was ranked top in Google for phrases similar to “Books like Point of Impact”. This isn’t counting the internal searches on Amazon or any links to my list when people went to the Point of Impact book.
Both lists took me about five minutes to make, and in the first month of the movies release I made $250 approximately.
Going That Extra Mile:
I’m a big fan of going that extra mile – putting that little extra touch on something that others don’t, which turns it from “good” into “great”.
When you create these sort of lists, focus on quality lists. Quality over quantity is key, and make sure you know the subject at hand.
Two of my favourite movies are the Bourne Identity(and the two sequels) and the movie Taken, starring Liam Neeson.
If I search Google or Amazon for “movies like Taken”, and I find a list of movie recommendations based on the liking the movie “Taken” – seeing the Bourne movies on the list would instantly give it credibility.
I’d read that and think “this guy knows what he’s talking about”.
That little extra touch is what can take someone from being on the fence, to fishing around in their wallet for their credit card so they can purchase the 10 items you made a list about.
The commissions may seem low – but if you have people purchasing all 9 or 10 books in a book series, simply because they googled “order of ______ novels” and found your list, then it begins to really all add up.
And remember – you aren’t restricted to books. You can make lists about everything. “Top 10 Computer Must Haves”, “Top 10 Playstation 3 Games for Kids”. If it’s on Amazon, you can make a list about it. I see people going even further into the niche now, with lists like “Order of Mitch Rapp books in Kindle Format”.
If you know anything about internet marketing, you know lists are gold.
Piggybacking those lists off Amazon will turn them into Platinum.
This article was written on October 29, 2010 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
