The Evolution of an Anime Otaku

Just like the ever-changing landscape, our tastes change. Nothing makes that clearer than when I look at my anime list.

For the purpose of this reflection, I'll leave out the anime that I watched as a child. That was, after all, before anime became big in North America. My otaku story really began with Pokémon and Card Captor Sakura. Thus began my stint watching shonen and magical girl anime. Mostly coming of age stories with a hint of supernatural, like Fruits Basketand Magic Knight Rayearth.  I even started buying Furuba messenger bags and plushies!

At the time, anime provided a nice way to escape the stresses of the day and reconnect with my inner child.

Next came more shonen like, Bleach, Kekkaishi, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi and Samurai X. This led to me finally picking up the martial art Iaido. I joined the Calgary Iaido Club (now "Ka Muso Kai") and worked my way up to Ikkyu and publishing three articles in The Iaido Journal.

My next big shift was towards "spirited away" tales, such as 12 Kingdoms, Spirited Away, Magic Knight Rayearth. Escapism once again.

Actually, one of the reasons I started to study the Japanese language is because there are some light novels that haven't been translated into English. Or, they are being translated at an extremely slow pace. 12 Kingdoms is one of them.

I think mecha came next: Neon Genesis Evangelion(because everyone has to at least once, right?), RahXephon, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040. One of my favourite shows as a child was Battle of the Planets (AKA "Gatchaman"). Between G-Force and the Transformers, I guess I've always been a mecha fan. There's something fantastical about these humungous machines.

I even delved into a bit of horror (to my own horror). However, it was the story that drew me in. However to this day, I still wish they told us who the murderer was in Umineko no Naku Koro Ni.

After that, the shifts came in terms of storyline. Sure, there were still elements of shonen or magical girl, mecha or being spirited away, but the stories were getting deeper.

One season, I watched only post-apocalyptic shows, such as Shinsekai Yori. Another season featured strong female leads (Soul Eater, Moribito). Anime with a bit of mystery and intrigue, as well as samurai ones remain a hit with me.

One thing that remains constant is that this otaku seeks a balance, a balance between light and dark, funny and serious, fantasy and reality. My otaku bookcase spreads across my home (anime and manga in one area, plushies and figurines in my office - because I want a cool workspace).

And wow, have I ever watched a lot of anime through the years! すごい です ね？

Levelling Up My Affiliate Marketing

Two months have passed since I started this affiliate marketing business. It has been an interesting ride so far. Enough time has passed to do a cursory review, make some tweaks and set up an affiliate store.

Lessons I've learned so far:

• Review a variety of products: Pro bloggers recommend that you review a mix of expensive and inexpensive items. After all, Amazon's affiliate commission starts at 4%. That's not a lot if you are recommending a music book, but it sure adds up if you recommend a digital keyboard. However, more people will purchase the lower ticket items.

• Space out your product reviews: If all you are doing is writing product reviews, you and your readers will get tired quickly.

• I've read other pro-bloggers recommend that you promote popular products, such as those on the Amazon Best Sellers lists. That gets you more traffic to your website. However, it is important to help out the up and coming artists and companies too. They need the exposure, you need the traffic. Thus, you both win with a sale.

• Be honest. I don't know about you, but the "sleezy-used-car-salesman-who-does-anything-for-a-sale" tactic creeps me out. My mom can spot a lie a mile away. I trust that many of my readers are the same. Lying doesn't pay.

• Do your SEO Keyword research: I am so grateful to Suite101.com for training me on SEO optimization. It is important to incorporate words that people actually use in their searches. Some are even worth significantly more than others.

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket: Not everyone shops at Amazon. No one store carries all the products you wish to promote. Some offer different (*cough* higher) commission rates and rewards. Sign up to be an affiliate for more than one place.

• Social Networking is golden: Yes, they suck up a lot of your time, but those online social networks are great for promoting whatever information you wish to share with your family, friends and colleagues.

• Be patient: I am seeing a steady increase in traffic to all of my blogs. The sales are starting to trickle in. However, this is a long-term game. Reviews and posts will move up the search engine results as more people search for products or information. Ditto for when they share your posts.

• Diversify operations: Vary your reviews so they're not just a standard product review. For instance, I've posted a few comparison reviews, as well as "Popular Items" lists. However, this is not enough. That's where stores come in.

This weekend, I took my neophyte affiliate marketing savvy to the next level. I set up stores for each of my blogs. At least, that's what Amazon and J-List calls them. Once you have set up your affiliate account, some places let you set up a storefront. You select the products you wish to make available. At the moment, I have six niche blogs. The three music-related blogs can have the same store, but my other three cater to different audiences.

You are still shopping and paying those companies. The difference is that an affiliate, who has narrowed down the search for you, has become your virtual sales clerk.

The nice thing is that once these are set up, I just need to tweak them periodically based on how they are performing.

One last thing: Most companies with affiliate marketing programs prohibit affiliates from ordering products using their own affiliate links. Therefore, it would be good to have some "affiliate buddies". That is, Friend A will shop at Friend B's Amazon store and vice versa.

We'll see how this addition to my affiliate marketing strategy works. I'll report back to you in another couple of months or so.

Kaimonoshimasu!

I've set up a page with links to all the fun otaku stores that I've teamed up with (and frequent whenever possible). There's CD Japan, J-List, RightStuf and of course, the online powerhouse, Amazon. You can reach the page by clicking on "Otaku Shopping" on the main menu or clicking here. Mitte onegaishimasu! I've picked a good mix of books, study aids, figures, messenger bags, plushies, anime and more. Of course, once you're in, you can browse and shop from any department within the store.

It's a win-win situation: you get your otaku fix, while contributing to my Get Out of Debt and Play More Fund. Happy shopping!