Frustrated newbie to affiliate marketing

[Laurence]

Howdy folks!

I have been at this affiliate marketing thing for years now with very VERY little success.

Possibly the reason for so little progress is because I seem to give up on an idea after I see it isn't making money and I'm spending lots of time on it.

I seem to have trouble sticking to a niche also. I've tried ppc because marketers say it's the quickest way to build an email list and an audience. However, I usually spend about $100 with zero results.

That leaves me running off with my tail between my legs. Licking my wounds, but shortly after trying to find a better way to break into affiliate marketing.

I feel like there are so many folks out there offering courses that never really change people's lives. Usually the courses only satisfy an information addiction in my honest opinion.

For example, in the past 5 years I've spent around $5,000 on courses promising to finally help me quit my day job and work as a full time online marketer.

Courses I've tried:
Blog That Converts - Derek Halpern
Video ROI - James Wedmore
48 Hour Film School - James Wedmore
Business by Design - James Wedmore
Guest Blogging - Jon Morrow
A few Adwords courses on Udemy
Kopywriting Kourse - Neville Medhora

As you can see, I've spent lots of time and money on courses. I've made a few affiliate sales giving advice to a few people here and there and recommending products I use. That usually comes from friends that need help with building websites and stuff (I'm a web developer in my day job).

I'm building a website so I can teach people how to quickly build websites. I feel like this is my best option since it's what I do for a living, but I feel like it will take so long to build and audience.

I can keep putting effort into this, but I want to find a way to get more measurable results quicker. That's why ppc is so enticing. Do people actually find success starting off with ppc?

SEO and YouTube marketing seem like really long and tedious processes, but it builds trust. Have people been able to establish trust with ppc campaigns?

I'm tired of feeling like I'm banging my head against a wall. I WANT RESULTS! I often feel like I'm just fantasizing and chasing unicorns.

 

[Sephrata]

Have you tried CPA offers with Bing?

 

[Laurence]

Have you tried CPA offers with Bing?

No, I haven't. I suppose it could help to give it a go. I have an account. Just have yet to test it out.

Would you recommend it?

 

[Sephrata]

Well it's a fairly quick and simple way to get involved in affiliate marketing.

What have you been doing up until now?

 

[lumeire]

Hey there, don't give up!

The thing is you spent a lot of resources in those courses when you should've tried to learn things by experimenting first hand. Experience is the best teacher here, not those courses.

If you want to see results, try CPA. Bing is costly if you don't have experience, so better get involved first in cheaper traffic.

I'm building a website so I can teach people how to quickly build websites. I feel like this is my best option since it's what I do for a living, but I feel like it will take so long to build and audience.

This is gold already. Hosting products have pretty good payouts. Do you maintain a blog? I'd recommend you start one if you haven't.

 

[Laurence]

Well it's a fairly quick and simple way to get involved in affiliate marketing.

What have you been doing up until now?

So far with ppc I've tried a few Clickbank products, and tutoring services. Most recently I have experimented with pay per call for a tutoring service. At first I thought it would be promising (pay oer call). Then I found that it can actually be more difficult to acquire leads than regular affiliate programs. I even use spyfu to get competition info. I would get folks that click on my CALL ONLY ad, but they never actually go through with the call. I think most people aren't familiar with this sort of marketing yet. I thought about free traffic sources like Craigslist, but I can't find decent tracking or ways to post enough ads to get the volume I need to make any real money.

 

[Laurence]

Hey there, don't give up!

The thing is you spent a lot of resources in those courses when you should've tried to learn things by experimenting first hand. Experience is the best teacher here, not those courses.

If you want to see results, try CPA. Bing is costly if you don't have experience, so better get involved first in cheaper traffic.



This is gold already. Hosting products have pretty good payouts. Do you maintain a blog? I'd recommend you start one if you haven't.

Yes, I have a blog where I host mostly YouTube videos (vlogging & Star Wars media reviews).

I have found that if I buckle down and follow SEO strategy, I can actually rank for some valuable keywords. I probably can use this strategy for my website for teaching web design and development.

I'm curious though...where can I find cheaper traffic sources? Google, Bing, and Facebook seem to be the best. I could give CPA a try since it pays better for actions, but every network I've applied for rejects me.

I'm thinking that going all in on this teaching website is my best bet, despite how long it could take.

My strategy is to give a free course teaching people how to quickly build a website that will get a return on their investment. I recommend affiliate products in the course and at the end offer my consulting services if they need extra help. I also make short tutorial videos on YouTube to get people interested in the free course. I just need to complete the course and make more videos so my funnel will be completed.

 

[lumeire]

Yes, I have a blog where I host mostly YouTube videos (vlogging & Star Wars media reviews).

I have found that if I buckle down and follow SEO strategy, I can actually rank for some valuable keywords. I probably can use this strategy for my website for teaching web design and development.

I'm curious though...where can I find cheaper traffic sources? Google, Bing, and Facebook seem to be the best. I could give CPA a try since it pays better for actions, but every network I've applied for rejects me.

I'm thinking that going all in on this teaching website is my best bet, despite how long it could take.

My strategy is to give a free course teaching people how to quickly build a website that will get a return on their investment. I recommend affiliate products in the course and at the end offer my consulting services if they need extra help. I also make short tutorial videos on YouTube to get people interested in the free course. I just need to complete the course and make more videos so my funnel will be completed.

That's a great idea, but I'd still suggest you do CPA, especially if you have a lot of free time. Cheaper traffic sources means other ad networks like pops, banners, etc.

 

[Laurence]

That's a great idea, but I'd still suggest you do CPA, especially if you have a lot of free time. Cheaper traffic sources means other ad networks like pops, banners, etc.

Are solo ads any good as traffic sources? I've looked into some ad networks that allow banners and pops, but they seem a bit expensive as well. If I can find a resource that will help me break even, then that would be great. Then I can optimize to make a profit or make more on the backend after they join my email list. The issue is, I can't even get email optins. So that leads me to believe that I'm not getting people to trust my offers.

 

[vapepenuk]

Howdy folks!

I have been at this affiliate marketing thing for years now with very VERY little success.

Possibly the reason for so little progress is because I seem to give up on an idea after I see it isn't making money and I'm spending lots of time on it.

I seem to have trouble sticking to a niche also. I've tried ppc because marketers say it's the quickest way to build an email list and an audience. However, I usually spend about $100 with zero results.

That leaves me running off with my tail between my legs. Licking my wounds, but shortly after trying to find a better way to break into affiliate marketing.

I feel like there are so many folks out there offering courses that never really change people's lives. Usually the courses only satisfy an information addiction in my honest opinion.

For example, in the past 5 years I've spent around $5,000 on courses promising to finally help me quit my day job and work as a full time online marketer.

Courses I've tried:
Blog That Converts - Derek Halpern
Video ROI - James Wedmore
48 Hour Film School - James Wedmore
Business by Design - James Wedmore
Guest Blogging - Jon Morrow
A few Adwords courses on Udemy
Kopywriting Kourse - Neville Medhora

As you can see, I've spent lots of time and money on courses. I've made a few affiliate sales giving advice to a few people here and there and recommending products I use. That usually comes from friends that need help with building websites and stuff (I'm a web developer in my day job).

I'm building a website so I can teach people how to quickly build websites. I feel like this is my best option since it's what I do for a living, but I feel like it will take so long to build and audience.

I can keep putting effort into this, but I want to find a way to get more measurable results quicker. That's why ppc is so enticing. Do people actually find success starting off with ppc?

SEO and YouTube marketing seem like really long and tedious processes, but it builds trust. Have people been able to establish trust with ppc campaigns?

I'm tired of feeling like I'm banging my head against a wall. I WANT RESULTS! I often feel like I'm just fantasizing and chasing unicorns.

can completely relate to this - i also have been looking at affiliate marketing but just seem to come to a dead end when i dont see any results - the thing i struggle with is keyword research and seo - all i can say is the waiting should pay off aslong as you have the right seo on the sites such as keywords and backlinks from high Domain rated sites

 

[T J Tutor]

Howdy folks!

I have been at this affiliate marketing thing for years now with very VERY little success.

Possibly the reason for so little progress is because I seem to give up on an idea after I see it isn't making money and I'm spending lots of time on it.

I seem to have trouble sticking to a niche also. I've tried ppc because marketers say it's the quickest way to build an email list and an audience. However, I usually spend about $100 with zero results.

That leaves me running off with my tail between my legs. Licking my wounds, but shortly after trying to find a better way to break into affiliate marketing.

I feel like there are so many folks out there offering courses that never really change people's lives. Usually the courses only satisfy an information addiction in my honest opinion.

For example, in the past 5 years I've spent around $5,000 on courses promising to finally help me quit my day job and work as a full time online marketer.

Courses I've tried:
Blog That Converts - Derek Halpern
Video ROI - James Wedmore
48 Hour Film School - James Wedmore
Business by Design - James Wedmore
Guest Blogging - Jon Morrow
A few Adwords courses on Udemy
Kopywriting Kourse - Neville Medhora

As you can see, I've spent lots of time and money on courses. I've made a few affiliate sales giving advice to a few people here and there and recommending products I use. That usually comes from friends that need help with building websites and stuff (I'm a web developer in my day job).

I'm building a website so I can teach people how to quickly build websites. I feel like this is my best option since it's what I do for a living, but I feel like it will take so long to build and audience.

I can keep putting effort into this, but I want to find a way to get more measurable results quicker. That's why ppc is so enticing. Do people actually find success starting off with ppc?

SEO and YouTube marketing seem like really long and tedious processes, but it builds trust. Have people been able to establish trust with ppc campaigns?

I'm tired of feeling like I'm banging my head against a wall. I WANT RESULTS! I often feel like I'm just fantasizing and chasing unicorns.

Welcome to AffiliateFix!

you summed it up. You are not sticking to your plan until you master the plan. Instead, you move on to something else and end up with the same results. This happens to the majority of those entering our industry. the best thing you can do is devise a single plan and keep executing it until you find the success in it.

Use this forum as a mentor. It's full of members at every level of experience which makes for many balanced perspectives for a Newbie to learn from. Take the time to read through the forums here and see for yourself that the Newbies achieving success have actually dedicated themselves to success in this industry and reaping the rewards by following the advice of fellow AffiliateFix members, being dedicated to success, putting the time in, and making the necessary investments. You cannot shortcut the learning curve. It goes slower for some and it goes faster for others. Everyone has their own intellectual absorption rates, skill development pace, commitment level, and budgets.

You are a FIX'er now and that means you have the world at your feet with IM. Here are a few suggestions:

Read and learn through extensive reading in this community. Select one vertical. one tracker, and one traffic source. Learn from your fellow members here to master each one of them (a couple of months). Then you can expand and replicate your successes.

As a Newbie, you need to read, study, invest, and implement. Perseverance, dedication, and taking action are the cornerstones of the success you will obtain.

Read
Read through the various areas of the forum to learn about the types of marketing available for your new business. Make a list of all the types of marketing and take some notes along the way. Then determine which area of marketing with which you will start your journey.

Do this to select an area of marketing to start, as well, do this to select a tracker, a traffic source, and to select a vertical.

Then read up on the affiliate networks and select two to begin with that will serve your needs and the types of offers you would like to promote. Put your application in and they will call you for an interview. Be professional and be prepared to answer some questions about how you will promote offers, do you have a website, are you a Newbie, etc. Please note, if you join the Dojo, we have a thread there that can offer assistance in getting accepted to some of the networks.

Study
Now that you have selected a basis to begin, read all of the threads in this forum that relate to your initial selections so that you have a rudimentary understanding of their features and benefits.

Invest
You will require some investment. A VPS server, domains, traffic, landing pages, etc. You will need a budget for daily, weekly, and monthly expenses. This will change over time and you will need to update it often so that you know exactly what your costs and earnings are.

Implement
This is where it all starts to earn. You must now begin to implement what you have established as your foundation for your business.

Here is some advice and guidance that will help you establish your initial goals:

Make sure you complete the following first.

Every business needs:

1. a plan
2. a schedule for research, learning, and execution
3. a budget.

Remember to read through our WIKI and get to know the basics as well as some of the buzz words in the industry.

I also recommend reading the following thread:

As a Newbie, What Stops You From Getting Started

Here is a set of immediate goals:

1. Get a VPS
2. Select a vertical
3. Select a tracker
4. Select a couple of networks and get your approval
5. Select a traffic source
6. Create a schedule for researching, learning (training), and working. This is a business, treat it as such!
7. Create a budget for every expense (daily, weekly, monthly)
8. Be very active in this forum by researching, asking questions, helping others when you are able.

Check out the new enhanced membership option here as it is full of great tools and features.

Remember This! : Nothing has to be perfect before you start. Read & study, but invest and implement at the same time. You cannot learn all of it from reading and studying. A great deal of your learning comes from implementing!

Good Luck!

T J