AMA - Affiliate Marketing + Guide "How I Made $5K w/ 1 Campaign"

[Nosferatu]

Nos have you ever tried SEO or did you only ever try direct response?

Perusing through this forum it seems that most of the IM guys are into direct response for some reason.

Seems like SEO can have a large payout if you rank moderately well for multiple xx,xxx searches/mo keywords.

I'm actually the head seo/sem analyst at a fitness franchise. i deal with SEO everyday.

i've dabbled in everything just about.



I own a few sites that generate $$$ monthly with seo.

 

[Nosferatu]

How do you increase the quality of your campaigns? Also, what is your take on the dating vertical where everybody just spies, scrapes, and modifies everyone stuff?

Hey Mate,


This is a weird question to answer.


Improve the quality how? -- Click Through rates? , Conversions? Ads? Be slightly more specific.


As to your question with dating ads, remember these words.


S.D.I. Swipe, Deploy, & Improve.


I'm a complete fan of jacking someone elses work and then modifying it to my own needs. I got a whole C: drive full of landers and opt in pages.


This is the name of the game. The fastest and most efficient marketer wins.

It's easier to take something that is existing and modify, then outsourcing a new Landing every time you want to test something.

If you ever do this, make sure you strip out any affiliate links from the guys Lander, otherwise you'll be sending traffic to his/her links, and get no conversions!


If you read my PDF up above, that campaign got pulled from under me at the end. Someone took my work and implemented better then i did. As it so happens, they were able to drive more volume, and the advertiser ended working with them directly.

That's the Shark like momentum of the CPA business.

 

[tamo42]

Since you have highlighted some of the problems with affiliate advertising, are you going to create your own products to profit using the same techniques?

If so, are you going the route of personal passion or outsource whatever has the highest profit potential?

 

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[Nosferatu]

Since you have highlighted some of the problems with affiliate advertising, are you going to create your own products to profit using the same techniques?

If so, are you going the route of personal passion or outsource whatever has the highest profit potential?

Yes. Basically.

That's my current path.

Affiliate marketing is great if your pretty saavy. My background is in IT -- so this stuff is in my blood. I handle all aspects of my campaign. From Management to setting it up, images , landers, coding. etc

I'm current using these skills to build something long term.

 

[Nosferatu]

I really like the facebook (or twitter) login. Any tips on how to search for those offers?

A lot of offers have them. There aren't any search filters in CPA networks (at least the ones i'm a part of) that let you search by that. You just have to go through some of them and see how they look.

Look at all them yourself and determine if it's easy enough for somebody to fill it out -- i posted my criteria because thats what works for me. but it's not something to be set in stone of course. Also, don't let that be your limitation -- i've made offers with no fbconnect work as well.

I was promoting an australian offer at one time that was a plain jane opt-in form and was getting 50$ a day from it like clockwork. it was uglier than sin, but it converted. And thats all that matters in this game.

 

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[Chitown]

Nice info. Speed++

 

[SIcmart]

great stuff here, thanks to the OP!!

 

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[mentalic]

Great info. Thank you very much. Do be honest I was pretty amazed by PoF targetting. I did tried one campaign, but it didn't go so well (my fault about it). Are you aware of any other ad platforms that let you target audience and are near to PoF? I am looking into Sitescout now.

 

[Nosferatu]

So let's say you find a winning ad that has a high CTR.

What is the typical "lifespan" of these ads? If you have an ad bringing you in a couple hundred bucks a day, will it continue to do so indefinitely or do you always have to change it up?

Thanks.

That depends on the Pool size of the user base of the website you're targeting.

If a website converts for you, but only has 1 million visitors a month, theres only so much you can do to capture all of those 1 million visitors - you need to expand to other websites to gain bigger shares of bites.

Think of it as fishing on a Lake or at the Ocean. You can catch fish on a lake, but you're going to catch a lot more in the ocean.

 

[Nosferatu]

Nosferatu, thanks for doing this.

Can you comment on finding great offers? If I want to find a great offer to promote, how would I do that? Are there sites that you use that have pretty good offers available?

There are offers everywhere. The guide on the first page outlines my process for choosing an offer. You can go to offervault.com and see all the offers out there on a particular network.

If you see something you like, apply at the network and run traffic.


The best advice i can give is to pick up the phone and call the network and speak to an affiliate manager about running the offer.

It took me a while to learn that, while everything is online, the fastest way from point A to point B is a straight line. Call them and ask about sending them traffic.

 

[Tom.V]

Cool thanks. And are there any other networks out there as big and provides as many targeting options as POF?

Eh, doubtful. POF is renowned for their in depth targeting. As far as I know, and from the traffic sources I have seen (dozens), the only thing close is FB. The only problem with POF is it is limited in scale. It's a great platform, but ever since FB started getting ban happy, droves of affiliate marketers began flocking to POF as a safe haven. There really are plenty of fish in a little pond now.

This reminds me of a campaign I ran for some adult stuff, pulled $6k profit back in June, but I have since moved on from AM with a TON of very valuable knowledge gained. A guy I speak with regularly was making $56k per month back in June, and is now expecting to make $15k this month. AM is just too much of a roller coaster, offers go down, traffic sources change their rules and ban you, FTC bullshit, shady affiliate networks. There are just too many moving pieces in the machine, things eventually break. And when they break, that beefy ROI starts plummeting in a downward spiral.

Now I know what MJ was talking about when he was talking down on AM, though it is still a source to make money pretty fast. Given you know the process and how to go about it.

Either way, thanks for the share Nosferatu. Quality stuff man!

 

[Nosferatu]

Hi Nosferatu, your thread has been helpful to me already. My question is this: What kind of funding would you consider adequate for a newcomer to start affiliate marketing? I mean in terms of buying enough traffic to test your angles etc and get to a point where it's possible to break even. How much did you used to spend on initial traffic when you started out?

In my guide, my initial and only out of pocket expense was $25, which i recuperated 50x times over.

all you need is the right steps, at least 100$ to test, a good image editing program and a cpa network to run offers with.

 

[LightHouse]

Jason, it's not hard to get there with the work ethic.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

 

[Phillipbro]

Totally agree with you, there is almost no control as an affiliate. As an affiliate you're just a hitchhiker as MJ likes to call it. Have you ever thought of starting your own affiliate network, considering you have quite some experience now...

 

[britnidanielle]

So with that said, is it worth the money ? hell F*cking yes. the amount of information and value you'll learn (if you're serious) is priceless!

Good to know.

To be clear, I wasn't really wondering if it's worth the money (as in whether or not $99 is a big deal, it isn't). I'm a believer in spending money on valuable things. I've invested in courses, books, and trainings that have been super valuable so far...so I'm fine spending the money.

My question was more so, as a newbie...is it worth signing up not knowing very much about it, or should I "get my weight up" first before signing up? I think you answered that, though.

Thanks for the great info!

 

[Nosferatu]

Good to know.

To be clear, I wasn't really wondering if it's worth the money (as in whether or not $99 is a big deal, it isn't). I'm a believer in spending money on valuable things. I've invested in courses, books, and trainings that have been super valuable so far...so I'm fine spending the money.

My question was more so, as a newbie...is it worth signing up not knowing very much about it, or should I "get my weight up" first before signing up? I think you answered that, though.

Thanks for the great info!

totally worth it. not only that, you can get feedback from like-minded people on there doing the same thing you are.

 

[Phillipbro]

My reply would be similar to nitro's ^.

I do have some fast lane ventures I'm working on while going to school. I've been testing out
and researching the different avenues in internet marketing so that I'll be able to use this
knowledge and expertise to help my ventures reach a bigger audience.

I feel like this is something I will be good at and something that will soon replace my current
part-time job (which takes up time that could be put into my ventures). I can't wait to get
started dude. I have to call a couple of the CPA networks that I've applied to for an interview
this week. I'm currently getting info from BHW forums for methods while also strategizing
different spins I could add on to them.

+Speed "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Nosferatu again." lool

 

[nitroheadz28]

Nosferatu... You da man!! Seriously, any spot in LI you name it- I owe you a couple cold ones.

I also download a lot of stuff off the web. If you're not learning, your not growing.

I agree completely, and trust me I've been inhaling my fair share of knowledge- its never enough!! (In fact I've never devoured books as fast in my life apart from the Harry Potter series growing up haha). I'll start reading up on the guys you mentioned for sure and do my share of digging as well as joining the forums. I need to become an INSIDERS here as well and stop being a cheapskate.

Once again, thank you so much! Its pissing me off how many times I've given you speed and your number hasn't gone up haha

Tom

 

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[Phillipbro]

Started making some $$ on POF, I'm going to scale up and join STM soon. Also; getting some ads approved on POF is a real pain. How did you get approved using your blue POF background on your ad, this must've been before they made changes to their rules I assume?

Anyways your awesome bro. Any updates, are you still using POF, or have you moved on to better methods

 

[Nosferatu]

Starting making some $$ on POF, I'm going to scale up and join STM soon. Also; getting some ads approved on POF is a real pain. How did you get approved using your blue POF background on your ad, this must've been before they made changes to their rules I assume?

Anyways your awesome bro. Any updates, are you still using POF, or have you moved on to better methods

With pof you just have to keep trying. i wrote a post a page or two back about it - they are approve-nazi's the block a lot of submissions - you just have to keep trying.. PRO TIP: Go to the POF Blog, read it -- add ben and the other managers to skype and chat with them about approvals if you have a problem. They will usually tell you outright whats wrong with your creative.


In regards to me, yea i can still bank on POF, but i focused on building a full blown business instead of chasing dollars on POF. The lack of control is a problem for me. I'm chasing Fastlane principles.

 

[nitroheadz28]

Well I've been MIA for a good few days cause of some health and life issues, going to slowly get back on track and hit it hard. While Nosferatu's guide has been SUPER helpful- its still lacking a bit for the ultra noob such as myself (I don't blame him... He can't write out everything lol). Anyways, here are some useful bits that I'm picking up and my plan to hit the CPA thing hard:

-Registered at BHW forum (necessary to see certain info). Not doing STM yet as I want to get my feet wet first.
-Go into the forum> Making Money> CPA sub forum, read the stickies. They have tips on getting accepted into networks since its not very noob friendly. The first sticky is a step by step, read through it+ the other ones.

So based on that my plan of attack is:

-Get a hostgator baby plan+ register some free domains+ learn to use wordpress and throw up some content on the site in case the CPA network wants that (many do).
-Get into a CPA network, read the stickies and do the phone interviews.
-Proceed with Nosferatu's guide in this thread.

Sound right or am I making it more complicated than it is?

 

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[Liz]

Thank you for the posts and the eBook and traffic sheet. I will combine everything to try to make my first dollar online. Fortunately I do not have to start from scratch, but just follow your methods. It will help such a lot.

 

[Nosferatu]

Hi Nosferatu,

Quick question. Is there a specific website you use to research demographics?

You had a few sample sites you researched demographics on in your ebook. Curious as to where you acquired the data from.

alexa.com
quantcast.com
google adplanner was one, but they removed that feature.
compete.com if you can afford it. (it's hella expensive)

there are a few others but i mainly use quantcast and alexa.com


---


@nitroheadz

Indeed. It is a steep learning curve. It takes into account many different functions. You almost have to become a semi-knowledgeable in a lot of different areas.

 

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[nitroheadz28]

Honestly, i would not bother with a vps unless you do mass volume. Otherwise shared hosting works great. I mean yea, shared hosting performance isn't GREAT, but as long as you use a decent provider you should be fine.

Tracking202 is a good platform to start.

I see that Tracking202 is essentially an app included in Prosper202 except self hosted. Am I missing something here though?

-Prosper202, doesn't play well with shared hosting but is free. So lets say $45/ month for VPS+ Prosper202 (free) or just do it on a shared hosting plan to start ~$7/ month.
-Tracking202 self hosted, $150+ a month and you still need hosting for your domains.

It seems that most start out with Prosper and move to CPVlab. I see Bevo has been getting a lot of praise for being user friendly, and unlike Prosper they have LP and offer rotators.

 

[Nosferatu]

I see that Tracking202 is essentially an app included in Prosper202 except self hosted. Am I missing something here though?

-Prosper202, doesn't play well with shared hosting but is free. So lets say $45/ month for VPS+ Prosper202 (free) or just do it on a shared hosting plan to start ~$7/ month.
-Tracking202 self hosted, $150+ a month and you still need hosting for your domains.

It seems that most start out with Prosper and move to CPVlab. I see Bevo has been getting a lot of praise for being user friendly, and unlike Prosper they have LP and offer rotators.

sounds about right.

i used both prosper/tracking202 and cpv lab. cpvlab is more advanced and has more capabilities

 

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[Liz]

Thanks to nitroheadz28's course of Affbeast. It was very informative and the abbreviations make sense. Maybe pof.com will work on my blackberry celphone. Thanks for the info Nosferatu.

 

[CJD]

Awesome thread.
Thank-you Nosferatu for all the tips! Speed+

 

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[ManWithABeard]

@Nosferatu, gave you some rep speed brotha! I've actually been reading your ebook every day for the past week. really great information.

I went ahead and bit the bullet and dove into the POF ads. Was kinda suprised to get 20 clicks the first day, i was actually just expecting a handful. I want more though, 0 conversions unfortunately. Day 2 is tomorrow and going to see what happens. I believe my niche is pretty decent, used the aff expert spy tool and noticed that there's not much competition, though there's a guy in the same niche who's ad is been going for the past 30 days, so I know there's money in that.

I'm taking your advice and just pumping out creatives and testing them like mad. I've made about 10 to 15 so far because you're right about POF denying every got damn creative you submit, holy moly LOL. I like to think I'm decent at writing ad-copy. so glad I have photoshop, seriously.

Also, not sure if anyone else is having trouble with Quantcast (Quantcast doesn't show me shit for some reason) but I did some digging and found this, hopefully it will help others as it helped me POF Interests by Demographics

Kind of excited, I can only hope and work my a$$ off to hit atleast $1K, but i am far from that at this point, Day 2 is tomorrow. will report back later on.

Again, I so appreciate this thread man, learned a lot so far.

 

[Phillipbro]

We should create an TMF AM mastermind group

Sent from my SGH-T999V using Tapatalk 2

 

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[Nosferatu]

Awesome AMA Nosferatu!! I'm tardy to this party, but I really do appreciate you for all the "golden nuggets" you've given out. You really clarified the php redirect for me because that's exactly where I was stuck. The site sucker software makes my lander life ea$y!

Do you have any experience with mobile cpa marketing?

Also - S/O to Nitroheadz28....you asked some great questions and I have LOTS of notes

Hi Carmen


Here is how to setup a PHP redirect:


[video=youtube;KRnoFPYe1Dk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRnoFPYe1Dk[/video]

Also, yes i have some experience with mobile marketing.