How Amazon Built its Associates Affiliate Marketing and Got Big Fast | Shawn Haynes

Invent like an Owner with Dave Schappell

Today, in the Invent Like An Owner Podcast, Dave speaks with Shawn Haynes. They discuss how the Amazon Associates team built and grew the affiliate marketing program. Shawn grew the team from several hundred initial affiliate marketing websites to more than 500,000 by the time he moved on. He shares how the learnings from early Associates economics, such as focusing on cost per new customer rather than margin on individual sales, helped inform the Premium Associates and Megadeals that Amazon pursued later.

Shawn Haynes was the first Amazon Associates Program Manager and later was a Director of Product Development for Electronics.

Episode Resources:

• Shawn Haynes’ LinkedIn
• Subscribe to our Newsletter
• Find Dave on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Several of Shawn’s favorite products of late
  • Spade L Ranch Beef Marinade
  • Vanatoo Transparent Zero Powered Speakers
  • Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:39 Amazon Associates Affiliate Marketing
• 04:07 Why work at Amazon?
• 07:51 Hired to grow the Amazon Associates program
• 10:57 How innovative affiliate marketing was back in 1996
• 13:09 Commission rates third party sites could earn
• 17:24 Amazon Associates Getting Big Fast
• 21:15 Initial challenge after joining Amazon Associates
• 25:35 Seemingly simple components that needed a new system
• 31:30 Associates Central is still working and serving customers
• 33:31 Different types of Associates site
• 36:32 Crohn’s Disease specialist leaving a review on their own book
• 39:19 How the Associates program supported megadeals
• 43:07 Promoting Amazon’s Best Seller list drove huge customer demand
• 44:37 Tips for new entrepreneurs to be more innovative
• 46:24 Many early deals were based on ad impressions
• 49:20 Amazon’s Core Values that stood out for Shawn
• 52:02 The David Breashears story