affiliate targetting the US or UK

site based in UK, are better results to be had in the US?

[wibble]

as someone just dipping their toes into affiliate schemes, which would generate the best returns?

I'm based in the UK, but the theme of the site is not UK specific.

Obviously taking into account payment and all that type of thing, is staying in the UK (and maybe europe) a better option?

Or doesn't it really matter

As you can tell... my toes are still not quite in the water.

[Michael Anthony]

If you live and work and were brought up in the UK, start with the UK. Here's why..

I work in both the US and the UK. The entire language of selling is different in each country, as are product descriptions. A UK "Remortgage" is a US "Home Refinancing Loan", for example.

By working in the UK, you stay with familiar selling messages and understand both your buyer and the product. This means that you can pull the right emotional strings with your marketing messages, be they ads, onsite content or the keyword terms you rank for.

I've only succeeded in the US after using direct product and copy advice from merchants, whose very different approach to selling was a surprise to me.

So stick with the home market until you have a steady income stream, then use your newly learned skills to address the US market later, and from a position of more experience and financial stability.

That's what I'd do anyway :)

[Penguin]

How would one be able to find the terms UK searchers use when they use the search engines? I'm based in a tiny country away from both the UK and US and I'm relying on $%^& for keyword counts. I'm pretty sure I'm missing a few geographic specific terms, any ideas on how to find them?

[johnnie]

I wish I could do this kind of thing... My home market (the Netherlands) is so small, I'll have to expand my reaches almost instantly...

[ska_demon]

I am from the uk. My first aff site was targetted purely at a US audience. The site did well. I am now concentrating on mainly UK sites as it really is a lot easier.
Johnnie-the netherlands has a very nice market for affiliates if you are prepared to dodge the crap. Most of the products sell worldwide so there are no worries about geo targetting. My newest site utilises aff programs from entirely dutch merchants and does ok at the moment.
Wibble-get a US dictionary and take a look at US sites in your field for grammatical marketing spiel....remember there are a hell of a lot more people in the states than the UK.
Ska

[KarenHudgins]

I would recommend looking at the demographics of your audience. You should be able to get a sense of this from your web logs or create a member signup database where you collect age and location. If you find more US residents visit your site or you have a healthy number of US visitors, than promote some US offers. We have serveral affiliates in Europe that promote our programs and do well. It just depends on your audience. Know your audience choose programs best suited for them and you'll do well.