Mike_PM
Member
Step 1: Take action
For me this started back in 2005 when I was laid off. I was given a month's redundancy pay and sat at home for a month learning how to create my own websites with Dreamweaver (LOL). Had I not been laid off and 'forced' to take time out of my 9-5 office job, I never would have started down the affiliate marketing path. I knew it worked having spoken to other affiliates, but I would never have found the time or the motivation to get going. I'm not saying leave your job to do this, you just have to find the drive and motivation to get going and take action.
Top tip: don't waste your time listening to & reading 'make money online' podcasts and blogs as it will lead to inaction and overwhelm.
Step 2: Focus on one thing
This was lead generation in my case. Not the spammy lead generation from emails, popups, surveys, co-reg, incentives etc. We are talking top quality traffic sources like Google Adwords. leads which are not the cheapest to generate (although can be if you know the tricks), but which are the highest converting for the lead buyers and will lead to long-term deals. It's far easier to sell more to an existing lead buyer than to find a new lead buyer. If you constantly deliver sh*t leads you'll never forge any long-term partnerships.
Someone once told me 'find one thing that makes you money and focus on that above all else'. For me that one thing was lead generation via PPC (Google/Bing). As affiliates we are usually one-man bands, meaning we have to do everything in our business from running the accounts/tax to finding new lead buyers to managing campaigns to chasing payments. To add to this with other areas of affiliate marketing means you spread yourself too thin and you never become an expert in one thing.
Step 3: Learn Wordpress (or pay for it)
Ideal scenario: learn wordpress and create your own websites which you can fully customise and make changes to on the fly.
Next best scenario: employ a cheap freelancer to create a fully functioning wordpress website BASED ON YOUR DESIGN, and employ freelancers to do any necessary changes/fixes to sites.
Step 4: Don't do traditional affiliate marketing
Back in 2009 I created a site promoting things that had been seen on TV. It was a 'traditional' affiliate site in the sense that it was content based and I made money by using affiliate links within articles and a few banners here and there.
Work-wise it took up a large portion of my time. Mainly in writing fresh content, but also in sourcing the affiliate links, finding images, replacing broken links etc.
Money-wise it only made decent money from the months October - December (Christmas period). Around £500 per month.
By comparison, at the same time lead generation was earning me around £30,000 per month for around one tenth of the work.
When I say traditional affiliate marketing I mean using links in content which are usually tracked by the merchant (eg Amazon) or an affiliate network. These days voucher, coupon and cashback sites have taken over the market, overwriting last click cookies and taking commissions at the last minute. I think if I started my content site again it would earn a fraction of what it used to.
Step 5: Learn about lead generation affiliate marketing
affiliatecloud dot co is a training platform dedicated to this. Built by me, an affiliate, for affiliates.
Step 6: Learn how to do PPC
I've done PPC for 13 years and now moderate at PPC conferences around the world. You don't need my level of experience but you will need to know this one key point: Google is trying to make money by encouraging clicks on your ad. You on the other had are trying to make money by getting the right people to fill out your application form so you can sell that lead. Do not listen to Google when they attempt to 'teach' you how to optimise your campaign. Seriously. You will waste money. As someone who has spent over £900,000 with Adwords over the past 10 years please believe me on this, and learn from my mistakes.
Step 7: Find good lead buyers
Good = high paying, reliable, trustworthy lead buyers. Beware that most of these buyers will have been stung by lead generation companies in the past - you are NOT LIKE THESE GUYS. You do not do email, co-reg, surveys etc. Your leads are top notch, high conversion, high quality. Because they are from PPC, someone has actively searched for the product/service before clicking your ad. Sell your value, and make sure you differentiate yourself. This is the hardest part of your job by far, convincing lead buyers that you are not another scam.
Step 8: Keep pushing
When you're earning money, don't sit back. Keep pushing to increase your lead volumes and your income. Keep tweaking campaigns. It's easy to sit back but don't. It's SO easy to lose motivation in this industry with a 'set and forget' attitude - this can earn you a decent income but will not make you the mega-bucks.
Step 9: Do not give up
If you give up at the first sign of failure you will never succeed. Just know that there is a lot of money to be made in online affiliate marketing in the right areas. True there are lots of scams out there, and it's easy to be blinded by these, but there are genuine people making genuine money out there.
Step 10: Screenshots
I don't have any bank account screenshots or anything like that. I know a couple of guys on here who will vouch for my authenticity. And at the end of the day as I've grown older I've realised that material possessions are not as important as having time spent with your family. So here's a picture of my kid having fun in our paddock:
Happy to answer any questions and hope this gives some of you the motivation and push you need to really get going in this industry.
Mike
For me this started back in 2005 when I was laid off. I was given a month's redundancy pay and sat at home for a month learning how to create my own websites with Dreamweaver (LOL). Had I not been laid off and 'forced' to take time out of my 9-5 office job, I never would have started down the affiliate marketing path. I knew it worked having spoken to other affiliates, but I would never have found the time or the motivation to get going. I'm not saying leave your job to do this, you just have to find the drive and motivation to get going and take action.
Top tip: don't waste your time listening to & reading 'make money online' podcasts and blogs as it will lead to inaction and overwhelm.
Step 2: Focus on one thing
This was lead generation in my case. Not the spammy lead generation from emails, popups, surveys, co-reg, incentives etc. We are talking top quality traffic sources like Google Adwords. leads which are not the cheapest to generate (although can be if you know the tricks), but which are the highest converting for the lead buyers and will lead to long-term deals. It's far easier to sell more to an existing lead buyer than to find a new lead buyer. If you constantly deliver sh*t leads you'll never forge any long-term partnerships.
Someone once told me 'find one thing that makes you money and focus on that above all else'. For me that one thing was lead generation via PPC (Google/Bing). As affiliates we are usually one-man bands, meaning we have to do everything in our business from running the accounts/tax to finding new lead buyers to managing campaigns to chasing payments. To add to this with other areas of affiliate marketing means you spread yourself too thin and you never become an expert in one thing.
Step 3: Learn Wordpress (or pay for it)
Ideal scenario: learn wordpress and create your own websites which you can fully customise and make changes to on the fly.
Next best scenario: employ a cheap freelancer to create a fully functioning wordpress website BASED ON YOUR DESIGN, and employ freelancers to do any necessary changes/fixes to sites.
Step 4: Don't do traditional affiliate marketing
Back in 2009 I created a site promoting things that had been seen on TV. It was a 'traditional' affiliate site in the sense that it was content based and I made money by using affiliate links within articles and a few banners here and there.
Work-wise it took up a large portion of my time. Mainly in writing fresh content, but also in sourcing the affiliate links, finding images, replacing broken links etc.
Money-wise it only made decent money from the months October - December (Christmas period). Around £500 per month.
By comparison, at the same time lead generation was earning me around £30,000 per month for around one tenth of the work.
When I say traditional affiliate marketing I mean using links in content which are usually tracked by the merchant (eg Amazon) or an affiliate network. These days voucher, coupon and cashback sites have taken over the market, overwriting last click cookies and taking commissions at the last minute. I think if I started my content site again it would earn a fraction of what it used to.
Step 5: Learn about lead generation affiliate marketing
affiliatecloud dot co is a training platform dedicated to this. Built by me, an affiliate, for affiliates.
Step 6: Learn how to do PPC
I've done PPC for 13 years and now moderate at PPC conferences around the world. You don't need my level of experience but you will need to know this one key point: Google is trying to make money by encouraging clicks on your ad. You on the other had are trying to make money by getting the right people to fill out your application form so you can sell that lead. Do not listen to Google when they attempt to 'teach' you how to optimise your campaign. Seriously. You will waste money. As someone who has spent over £900,000 with Adwords over the past 10 years please believe me on this, and learn from my mistakes.
Step 7: Find good lead buyers
Good = high paying, reliable, trustworthy lead buyers. Beware that most of these buyers will have been stung by lead generation companies in the past - you are NOT LIKE THESE GUYS. You do not do email, co-reg, surveys etc. Your leads are top notch, high conversion, high quality. Because they are from PPC, someone has actively searched for the product/service before clicking your ad. Sell your value, and make sure you differentiate yourself. This is the hardest part of your job by far, convincing lead buyers that you are not another scam.
Step 8: Keep pushing
When you're earning money, don't sit back. Keep pushing to increase your lead volumes and your income. Keep tweaking campaigns. It's easy to sit back but don't. It's SO easy to lose motivation in this industry with a 'set and forget' attitude - this can earn you a decent income but will not make you the mega-bucks.
Step 9: Do not give up
If you give up at the first sign of failure you will never succeed. Just know that there is a lot of money to be made in online affiliate marketing in the right areas. True there are lots of scams out there, and it's easy to be blinded by these, but there are genuine people making genuine money out there.
Step 10: Screenshots
I don't have any bank account screenshots or anything like that. I know a couple of guys on here who will vouch for my authenticity. And at the end of the day as I've grown older I've realised that material possessions are not as important as having time spent with your family. So here's a picture of my kid having fun in our paddock:
Happy to answer any questions and hope this gives some of you the motivation and push you need to really get going in this industry.
Mike
