Earning a living from CPA marketing
- Thread starter Rvfamily
- Start date
Hello, thank you so much for your journey. I like it. 
Do you consider to use Bing Ads? I am planing to..
Do you consider to use Bing Ads? I am planing to..
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
Hello, thank you so much for your journey. I like it.
Do you consider to use Bing Ads? I am planing to..
@FrederickSEO,
First, thanks for taking the time to read my follow along. I know everyone is busy, so I appreciate those who take the time.
Bing will be the next traffic source I work on. There are some differences that I will have to get used to when making the transition from 7Search. The first, would be having to focus and understand quality score and how it effects your ad placement. I've been reading on it some, because I plan on making the move as soon as I can get to a profitable campaign on 7Search.
I will be posting here as I always do how that goes, and what I am learning along the way. I hope that through this follow along others might see that they can do it. If I can do it, anyone can.
As always,
Here's to your success!
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
Well, another campaign paused as I try to analyze the small amount of data collected. So, I have come to a few conclusions over the last few weeks. They are:
As always,
Here's to your success!
- I really need to focus in on a vertical, or a couple that compliment each other (coupon/freebie and surveys). I know I have mentioned this before (so that you really get to know the demo of the people who might complete offers in that vertical), but thought it was worth mentioning because, like so many, I have somewhat limited time. I work a 50+ hour a week job, and am pursuing this on the side, so I need economy of motion. If I focus on a single vertical (or a couple that compliment each other), I don't have all kinds of creatives to come up with. Much like the landing page I posted a link to, I can simply change some of the wording on the LP and use it for coupons/freebies or for surveys, etc.
- Since CPA is much like direct sales (it's a numbers game), if I want to succeed faster, I need to start more campaigns each week. I am setting a new goal of starting at least 3 new campaigns per week (more if I can keep up with it, but at least 3). I love the words of Robert Kyosaki here: "If you want to double the rate of your success, double your failure rate." I will do my best to keep everything posted here.
- In order to have a better range of offers in a selected vertical, I need to expand the number of networks and offers I have access to. I have applied to two new networks in the last week or so and I plan on using offervault or odigger to look for offers and then applying to the networks that have the best offers in that vertical. It is worth mentioning that you shouldn't have too many networks you're running traffic to when you're new and figuring it out. Because of minimum payouts, you might wind up with money sitting on the shelf at several different networks, waiting a few weeks until you can collect.
- After reading many blogs of successful CPA affiliates, it has become clear that it's normal to run many offers that don't work/convert. Again, something that really should be self evident, but if your new, it's seems easy to second guess when you don't have immediate success (especially if you bought a course promising instant success). I am still trying to figure out where to draw the line when testing offers, but I'll just keep trucking along until I find one that hits. Many very successful CPA affiliates mention that you might run 10 or 15 campaigns that don't work, but if you keep at it, you'll hit the one that works and you'll make it all back and then some.
As always,
Here's to your success!
I am working with a few networks, but I try to concentrate most on one network at the time. I am on more or less all the bigger networks out there. And I cannot get myself to log in and check how much money I have sitting in them... I mean $100 there, $150 there, $200 there etc etc etc... each waiting to hit payout.
So I decided to try to focus on one network at the time, and blow up output with one network, get a decent payout.
Even move up to weekly payments once you start scaling, harder to do if you spread your income over many networks.
Also sending more volume to a network gives you a much more motivated AM, they start reaching out to you with new offers and you will get a much better working relationship with them.
All networks (pretty much) have good and not so good offers. So I suggest you stick with one you are comfortable with and ride it like a stolen pony.
So I decided to try to focus on one network at the time, and blow up output with one network, get a decent payout.
Even move up to weekly payments once you start scaling, harder to do if you spread your income over many networks.
Also sending more volume to a network gives you a much more motivated AM, they start reaching out to you with new offers and you will get a much better working relationship with them.
All networks (pretty much) have good and not so good offers. So I suggest you stick with one you are comfortable with and ride it like a stolen pony.
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
@TheDane,
Thanks for taking a look at my follow along and giving some valuable feedback. I always appreciate the insights of those who are better than I am and who have more experience. I really like MB so far, PF is good too, but I haven't had much success with them yet. I have heard lots of good things about both ClickDealer and NeverBlue, but my apps were denied to both of them when I was getting started.
I agree, especially if your budget is small, you've really got to limit the number of networks your promoting on at one time. Something for me to think about.
As Always,
Here's to your success!
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
OK folks, so the campaign I recently paused was for an offer from G4 Offers. It was a sweepstakes offer (I recently read that they had been performing well in 2015). As I stated in a previous post, I just really wanted to try promoting an offer through the P202 interface and it's DNI. The offer was for your choice of either a Samsung Galaxy 6 or 6S. The landing page was pretty clean and it was a survey style page (where it asked you a "qualifying" question, designed to get you engaged with the page).
In the past, when I promoted the offer for the Madden16 game, I used pretty straightforward headlines, while trying angles that probably could have used some more thought.
I think this is probably the first time I've taken the approach of really working/analyzing angles before I set up the campaign. It hasn't been successful, and I'm not sure I am going to pursue it further.
So, here is the small amount of data I collected. We'll start with CTR% for the keywords that were getting clicks.
As we can see here, the best click through rates were for the keywords:
Next comes the bids for the keywords:
So we can see that the four keywords actually getting clicks are priced at:
Cell Phone- .17 CPC for the #5 placement
Phone- .13 CPC for the #4 placement
Samsung Galaxy S6- .24 CPC for the #3 placement
Android Phone- .07 CPC for the #1 placement
My thinking here is that if I were to continue promoting this, Ii would drop Samsung Galaxy S6 from the list. It has the highest CPC and the 3rd best CTR%. It seems if you were promoting this on a bigger network (Bing, Google) you could get enough traffic from the other keywords with high CTR% but much lower cost. Based on my angle, I also included some other keywords like cell phone charger and mobile phone charger.
The Angle:
So, the offer is a chance at winning a Samsung Galaxy S or S6 for completing certain requirements. I went to google and looked up "Samsung Galaxy S6 Features." There were several features that made the phone somewhat unique, but the one I chose to focus on for my angle was the quick charging. The phone has the ability to charge up to 4 hours of usage from just a ten minute charge.
Since most of us are familiar with the frustration of having to constantly charge our phone (and many times carry our charger with us wherever we go), I thought it was easily relatable and something I could use as a pain point. The solution of course is the S6 you could win in the offer. Here is the ad I was using:
I think with some practice, I will get better at coming up with angles. The next trick is to test multiple angles with different ads in rotation. @lrs1995 mentioned in a previous post that this needs to be done through your tracker. I'll have to work on that, but this has got to be an important piece of the puzzle that I've been missing. Because I didn't understand how to do it, I have been running about 50-100 clicks on an ad and then going in and manually changing it. Then I track CTR% by first half and second half. This is simply too inefficient to be a successful method of optimization.
The campaign generated a total of 113 clicks, with no conversions. This was however the first campaign I've set up directly in the P202 interface for tracking via the DNI. I like the feature, so I'll probably be doing some work to improve the aforementioned areas and then look to promote another offer in the coming weeks.
Hope you've found value here. I'll post the details of my next campaign in the next few days. GOAL OF 3 NEW CAMPAIGNS PER WEEK.
As always,
Here's to your success!
In the past, when I promoted the offer for the Madden16 game, I used pretty straightforward headlines, while trying angles that probably could have used some more thought.
I think this is probably the first time I've taken the approach of really working/analyzing angles before I set up the campaign. It hasn't been successful, and I'm not sure I am going to pursue it further.
So, here is the small amount of data I collected. We'll start with CTR% for the keywords that were getting clicks.
As we can see here, the best click through rates were for the keywords:
- Cell phone- 3.20 CTR%
- Phone- 1.67 CTR%
- Samsung Galaxy S6- 1.35 CTR%
- Android Phone- 1.05 CTR%
Next comes the bids for the keywords:
So we can see that the four keywords actually getting clicks are priced at:
Cell Phone- .17 CPC for the #5 placement
Phone- .13 CPC for the #4 placement
Samsung Galaxy S6- .24 CPC for the #3 placement
Android Phone- .07 CPC for the #1 placement
My thinking here is that if I were to continue promoting this, Ii would drop Samsung Galaxy S6 from the list. It has the highest CPC and the 3rd best CTR%. It seems if you were promoting this on a bigger network (Bing, Google) you could get enough traffic from the other keywords with high CTR% but much lower cost. Based on my angle, I also included some other keywords like cell phone charger and mobile phone charger.
The Angle:
So, the offer is a chance at winning a Samsung Galaxy S or S6 for completing certain requirements. I went to google and looked up "Samsung Galaxy S6 Features." There were several features that made the phone somewhat unique, but the one I chose to focus on for my angle was the quick charging. The phone has the ability to charge up to 4 hours of usage from just a ten minute charge.
Since most of us are familiar with the frustration of having to constantly charge our phone (and many times carry our charger with us wherever we go), I thought it was easily relatable and something I could use as a pain point. The solution of course is the S6 you could win in the offer. Here is the ad I was using:
I think with some practice, I will get better at coming up with angles. The next trick is to test multiple angles with different ads in rotation. @lrs1995 mentioned in a previous post that this needs to be done through your tracker. I'll have to work on that, but this has got to be an important piece of the puzzle that I've been missing. Because I didn't understand how to do it, I have been running about 50-100 clicks on an ad and then going in and manually changing it. Then I track CTR% by first half and second half. This is simply too inefficient to be a successful method of optimization.
The campaign generated a total of 113 clicks, with no conversions. This was however the first campaign I've set up directly in the P202 interface for tracking via the DNI. I like the feature, so I'll probably be doing some work to improve the aforementioned areas and then look to promote another offer in the coming weeks.
Hope you've found value here. I'll post the details of my next campaign in the next few days. GOAL OF 3 NEW CAMPAIGNS PER WEEK.
As always,
Here's to your success!
You always post gems.
Here are my thoughts...
Let me start by saying that I am no expert, so feel free to totally ignore what I'm about to say.
May I make a couple of suggestions about your ad?
Firstly, you have a spelling error in the title (you should be your).
I would replace the word, 'four' with the number 4. Why? Because a mix of alpha and numeric is more likely to catch the eye of a person skimming a page. You already have the 5 and 6 in there, I think it'd be good to leave TEN MINUTES as it is.
You are solving a problem with the ad but try to swing the focus to the benefit, rather than the feature. The fact that people can 'charge and go' in just TEN MINUTES on one of these hip new phones that they might win, just by filling out a survey to enter. They'll be one of the cool kids,
peer worshiped and always ready to rumble on 10 mins' notice. That's just an example but feel free to use it, if you want to. Might also work to stress emergency preparedness - parent or child forgot to charge phone before the school bus/ride comes; nasty storm, yada, yada. Then there's the, "Which is Better - GalaxyS5 or GalaxyS6, vote here" routine.Point is, you have options for different angles. Just remember to tell them how it will make their life better, or make it something fun and I think you'll get some more clicks. Not easy with such a limited amount of word allowance, I know but I have a feeling you'll figure it out. Pretend you're on Twitter when you write it.
_______________________________________________________________
I'm afraid that I can't help with P202, know pretty much nothing about it.
Re your keywords - are they broad, exact, phrase or combo?
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Congrats for your hard work. Your journey inspire me. You have mentioned in the beginning of your affiliate diary, you have bought some courses. Do you mind tell us what they are, how much of these courses? I think it might be helpful to have some courses and mentor to guide while taking action. Once again, thanks for the wonderful posts
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
You always post gems.
Here are my thoughts...
Let me start by saying that I am no expert, so feel free to totally ignore what I'm about to say.
May I make a couple of suggestions about your ad?
Firstly, you have a spelling error in the title (you should be your).
I would replace the word, 'four' with the number 4. Why? Because a mix of alpha and numeric is more likely to catch the eye of a person skimming a page. You already have the 5 and 6 in there, I think it'd be good to leave TEN MINUTES as it is.
You are solving a problem with the ad but try to swing the focus to the benefit, rather than the feature. The fact that people can 'charge and go' in just TEN MINUTES on one of these hip new phones that they might win, just by filling out a survey to enter. They'll be one of the cool kids,
Point is, you have options for different angles. Just remember to tell them how it will make their life better, or make it something fun and I think you'll get some more clicks. Not easy with such a limited amount of word allowance, I know but I have a feeling you'll figure it out. Pretend you're on Twitter when you write it.
_______________________________________________________________
I'm afraid that I can't help with P202, know pretty much nothing about it.
Re your keywords - are they broad, exact, phrase or combo?
@azgold,
I sincerely appreciate your feedback. The insights on angles, get me thinking about how to better approach the process of working angles. I would say this is another area critical to success, and one where I have much room for improvement.
I love the insights I get from others here. I would contend that one can almost always learn from others, no matter where they are in relation to you on the "skills scale." Sometimes even a pro in a certain area gets locked into a way of thinking on a particular issue and just needs a fresh set of eyes on the problem. So, I'll always take the feedback constructively as it's intended .
As to the keywords, I have been using broad on all of them. Do you have some insights on the best way to go about setting those? Thank you for taking the time.
As always,
Here's to your success!
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
@eBoki,
I purchased several courses from Udemy, when they were on sale for $10. They run those sales all the time, so just look for them. I purchased two different ones, and they were both pretty good. They were certainly worth more than $10, but certain aspects are a little dated. The two courses were:
- HOME BUSINESS: CPA SECRETS- HOW I MAKE $6000+ A MONTH
- AFFILIATE/CPA MARKETING: PROVEN HOW I MAKE $10,000 A MONTH
What's good about them? They give you many over the shoulder videos for doing certain things involved in CPA marketing. They can provide (along with MUCH reading and study in other places like this forum) a decent foundational understanding for how this business works. Hope this helps @eBoki.
As always,
Here's to your success!
Wow. I actually fell asleep doing k/w research last night. So, didn't get back here until this morning, sorry.
@Rvfamily - I think that sometimes, we pour so much of ourselves (time, effort, mental) into a project, that it's good to have a fresh pair of eyes look at it, like you said. It can get some new creative juices flowing. If you ever want/need some help or an uneducated opinion , ask away - here or PM.
Re your kws, I'm not the best one to ask for 7S because I never did get mine profitable but just at first glance...if it were me...I'd cut the more generic terms, i.e. phone number.
I'm just thinking about tightening the list and making it more targeted. Yup, you will get fewer clicks likely but they'll be targeted and you won't have to pay for tire-kickers and the merely curious.
I would consider taking the best kws (read most relevant) and making them exact. It will save you money and let you know if anyone in the 7S audience is truly interested in the offer.
I agree with you about Udemy courses. I've taken some that were quite interesting, learned from them. Then there were the others.... but it's a great place, I like taking the courses there.
Re "they seem to suggest that if you implement these simple (buzzword) strategies the money will begin to flow" - yeah, simple for them, maybe. Everything's easy if you know how.
On that note, I'm going to make coffee and wake up.
You're doing an awesome, job @Rvfamily ! I'm excited to watch your process and see this work for you.
@Rvfamily - I think that sometimes, we pour so much of ourselves (time, effort, mental) into a project, that it's good to have a fresh pair of eyes look at it, like you said. It can get some new creative juices flowing.
If you ever want/need some help or an uneducated opinion , ask away - here or PM.Re your kws, I'm not the best one to ask for 7S because I never did get mine profitable but just at first glance...if it were me...I'd cut the more generic terms, i.e. phone number.
I'm just thinking about tightening the list and making it more targeted. Yup, you will get fewer clicks likely but they'll be targeted and you won't have to pay for tire-kickers and the merely curious.
I would consider taking the best kws (read most relevant) and making them exact. It will save you money and let you know if anyone in the 7S audience is truly interested in the offer.
I agree with you about Udemy courses. I've taken some that were quite interesting, learned from them. Then there were the others....
but it's a great place, I like taking the courses there.Re "they seem to suggest that if you implement these simple (buzzword) strategies the money will begin to flow" - yeah, simple for them, maybe.
Everything's easy if you know how.On that note, I'm going to make coffee and wake up.
You're doing an awesome, job @Rvfamily ! I'm excited to watch your process and see this work for you.
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
Well guys and gals, I just found out that I won one of the "Pay it forward" scholarships that Affiliate Summit gives out for each convention. I applied for it by submitting a 300 word essay, which was due in early November, and was notified yesterday that I had won. The scholarship is for one VIP entry into the summit, and I am very excited to attend my first convention for affiliate/performance marketing.
If you are planning to attend to the Affiliate Summit West, from January 10-12, please let me know. I am interested in networking with other like minded individuals. I hope to meet some of you in person at ASW16!
As always,
Here's to your success!
If you are planning to attend to the Affiliate Summit West, from January 10-12, please let me know. I am interested in networking with other like minded individuals. I hope to meet some of you in person at ASW16!
As always,
Here's to your success!
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
I decided to post this video, as I thought the principles inside were applicable regardless of your online pursuits. I realize it's not a "how to" on a particular aspect of CPA, but I felt it was applicable to success in pursuit of an online business. Hope you might find some value. I'll post information about the next campaign shortly.
As always,
Here's to your success!
As always,
Here's to your success!
Rvfamily
Well-Known Member
Awesome video, Casey!
I agree with K. You can even put me on your email list in advance.
YOU are a product, my friend. Your knowledge and presentation. I think you'd do great with a blog (which can be monetized, of course).
You write amazing, detailed posts here, so you've had practice with us.
@azgold,
I always enjoy your kind words and thoughtful responses to my post. Thanks for taking the time to read. Oh, and I'll put you on that advance list!
PS. If you liked this I have set up a new YT channel under the moniker of "The Nomadic Marketer," which is tied to the blog nomadicincomeexperiment.com (which is still a shell and incomplete). I have two vidoeos there now, but will have several more up in the next few weeks.
As always,
Here's to your success!
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