I am getting decision locked, need advice.

[Giggan]

Good afternoon everyone! I appreciate all the welcome posts and helpful advice in the introduction forum. I have been reading and rereading the WIKI and it has some great information there. That said, the reason I am here in the help desk is because I am stuck in a decision-making cycle, unable to proceed.

I have add, and it has been a constant struggle to keep it in check. It leads me to hyper fixate on things and over research and over think, never getting started or taking way longer to start than needed. I am on meds but it is not a cure-all but it does help some.

Currently I have Joined Clickbank and am looking into other networks to join, though I am not sure which others are good for newbies. I heard some of them require extensive applications. One to get in, and then every product requires application.

What is causing me to not be able to move forward is deciding exactly where to start. I have a co-worker that is successfully making money with affiliate marketing via a blog and doing top 5 products. I didn't ask what networks she is on. She is making a few Thousand a month with it, which is exactly what I want income wise.

How ever when I look up affiliate marketing blogs and guides on making them, it seams very complicated. Apparently not all content should be marketing content, and should be regular informative content. I am not keen on the whole writing thing. I once did a 178,000 word Fan fiction and that was like having a second full time job. I can write, and a not against doing it, but I don't want to put in novel levels of effort again. Then I see things about creating links between articles and then backlinks and It feels overwhelming. Ahrefs youtube channel had a great series on Affiliate marketing via blogs and laid out how the content schedule could/should look like. IS there a good way to use paid ads to drive traffic to the blog? Do I drive traffic to the marketing posts or information posts, keeping in mind Google/Bing ruls?

I really just wanted to sign up to Getresponse, and have a pro on Fiverr build me a good Seo optimized website, and just use individual landing pages for the affiliate products I want to promote. I would be using paid traffic for that. This path seems like a simpler way to get started but has its own things causing me doubt. For one, setting up the landing pages so they are acceptable to Google/Bing adds is a bit daunting. It can't just be a redirection or simple bridge page but must provide value.

Do you guys have any tips and advice for setting up landing pages that are acceptable to Google/Bing ads rules?

As an absolute beginner, I know I just need to do it, fail and learn. It's just my mind is locked and I need a push. I want to start with the approach that is easiest for a newb to accomplish and build from there. I know at some point, I will be doing both ways but I just want to start with baby steps. So should I start with a blog or Review/best of landing pages?

Also, what about native advertising? Taboola and Outbrain and such. Are those worth the effort? They don't seem that expensive. Has anyone had luck with them?

Thanks for reading my wall of text, I greatly appreciate the assistance. I will keep poking around the forum to learn more.

 

[T J Tutor]

I am stuck in a decision-making cycle

This is normal. It happens to most at the beginning. I like to tell about my first experience at the Smithsonian institute. I walked in and was immediately overwhelmed on where to start. I nice lady, dressed in a blue, walked up to me (I was 19) and said; "Are you deciding where to start?", and I blushed while telling her I'm overwhelmed. She then said; "It will take you more than a couple months to see everything, and that is if you sprint. I suggest starting in an area of great interest to you and plan on coming back as often as you can over the years to see and learn more". She then explained, she first came when she was just 12 years old, and still hadn't seen everything.

I have add

That's just a lame medical term that is over used and abused. The truth is that more than half of those diagnosed with ADD are actually multitaskers that are unorganized. A multitasker must have several things going on at once. For example, i had that diagnosis until I discovered and mastered multi-tasking. Turns out I am not ADD, just a multi-tasker. This business is perfect for multi-taskers.

Currently I have Joined Clickbank and am looking into other networks to join, though I am not sure which others are good for newbies. I heard some of them require extensive applications. One to get in, and then every product requires application.

I once did the ClickBank thing, many of us have, but I am not certain that is an ideal place for a newbie to start. As for how extensive an application may be, well determining your needs is where to start, not how long or extensive an application may be.

What is causing me to not be able to move forward is deciding exactly where to start.

This industry is huge. It has loads of entry points and the one you select is likely not the one you will settle into long term. It's like trying on suits or picking a car. you have to test drive, try them on, kick the tires, see how the comfort and fit are. you have not done that yet.

You say you joined Clickbank, but have you attempted selecting a product to promote? have you acquired a tracker ? Have you determined what traffic sources to use? If the answer is no to any or all of these, then you have not attempted to make ClickBank work for you. Why would you look for more networks without first trying to make the first one succeed by you? I am in favor of all newbies initially starting with two networks, but that is plenty for a newbie. Your initial foray into affiliate marketing is about learning to use the necessary tools, learning about angles, hooks, and triggers, learning about your server, about how to have your creatives, landers, and sites built and maintained. Etc., etc., etc! You will settle into the business in a very different place than you start.

How ever when I look up affiliate marketing blogs and guides on making them, it seams very complicated.

That's a matter of perspective. It isn't as complicated as building a piece of software. It far easier than learning to be nurse or Dr. It is extremely easy compared to being a pilot, or a chemist, or a an electrician.

This business can put you in the millionaires club faster and much easier than any of those professions, yet you claim that having a website or two built and learning to market them successfully is complicated? Be real, you are trying to sabotage yourself with that kind of thinking. This is not a complicated business and it has the potential to be a life changing experience.

I am not keen on the whole writing thing. I once did a 178,000 word Fan fiction and that was like having a second full time job.

This is a business, and you MUST treat it as such! You MUST be willing to develop new skills. you MUST invest in the business.

I just want to start with baby steps

No such thing, that does not exist in any business!

I want to start with the approach that is easiest for a newb to accomplish and build from there.

Youa re assuming all newbies are created equal. I have a protege that started 8 months ago and is already earning $300 net per day. He followed the exact instructions I gave you in another thread.

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.

Until you can say you have done this, you have not prepared.

You have touched on a load of topics in your post above, more subjects that can be addressed properly in one thread. You need to stop looking at all of the those at once for solutions. It is good to have them outlined so you can address them one or two at a time, but trying to get answers to all of them at once is just nuts and self defeating.

have you acquired a server, acquired a tracker, joined a second network, selected one or two traffic sources to start with, created a schedule, and created a budget? THAT IS WHERE YOU NEED TO FOCUS NOW! you cannot learn by reading only. At least 80% of what you learn in this industry is by taking action!

 

[Graybeard]

AI dog barks:

You don't need SEO for paid traffic. That is fundamentally incorrect.

You need to tell a story to your referrals that would create a reason to convert into a CPA `event` for you.
You will never get any SEO on a series of landing pages not on the domain that offers the product.

As for paid SEM / or native social and network (Google ads, Bing ads, other):
ads do not require "some mysterious added value" --they need to meet the requirements;

1. safe content
2. a listed privacy policy
3. whatever trackers are allowed this week
4. not be just a doorway redirect
   but an actual web page on a advertiser's own domain that meets the minimum policies
   that they publish + the myriad of moderation standards that they do not publish (or pull out of their ass this week).

Have you read and understood the policies and TOS that advertising sources like Google, Bing, Facebook publish?
That is a lot more important to implement your stated tactics, rather than wasting time on a lot of SEO for affiliates internet bullshit.

IMO ClickBank is 99% huckster bullshit and the big ad networks like Google, Bing and Facebook are going to put you into a moderation hell-hole right away if you are promoting those. Forget about Google, the others might accept some offers that are "questionable."

 

[Giggan]

This is normal. It happens to most at the beginning. I like to tell about my first experience at the Smithsonian institute. I walked in and was immediately overwhelmed on where to start. I nice lady, dressed in a blue, walked up to me (I was 19) and said; "Are you deciding where to start?", and I blushed while telling her I'm overwhelmed. She then said; "It will take you more than a couple months to see everything, and that is if you sprint. I suggest starting in an area of great interest to you and plan on coming back as often as you can over the years to see and learn more". She then explained, she first came when she was just 12 years old, and still hadn't seen everything.



That's just a lame medical term that is over used and abused. The truth is that more than half of those diagnosed with ADD are actually multitaskers that are unorganized. A multitasker must have several things going on at once. For example, i had that diagnosis until I discovered and mastered multi-tasking. Turns out I am not ADD, just a multi-tasker. This business is perfect for multi-taskers.



I once did the ClickBank thing, many of us have, but I am not certain that is an ideal place for a newbie to start. As for how extensive an application may be, well determining your needs is where to start, not how long or extensive an application may be.



This industry is huge. It has loads of entry points and the one you select is likely not the one you will settle into long term. It's like trying on suits or picking a car. you have to test drive, try them on, kick the tires, see how the comfort and fit are. you have not done that yet.

You say you joined Clickbank, but have you attempted selecting a product to promote? have you acquired a tracker ? Have you determined what traffic sources to use? If the answer is no to any or all of these, then you have not attempted to make ClickBank work for you. Why would you look for more networks without first trying to make the first one succeed by you? I am in favor of all newbies initially starting with two networks, but that is plenty for a newbie. Your initial foray into affiliate marketing is about learning to use the necessary tools, learning about angles, hooks, and triggers, learning about your server, about how to have your creatives, landers, and sites built and maintained. Etc., etc., etc! You will settle into the business in a very different place than you start.



That's a matter of perspective. It isn't as complicated as building a piece of software. It far easier than learning to be nurse or Dr. It is extremely easy compared to being a pilot, or a chemist, or a an electrician.

This business can put you in the millionaires club faster and much easier than any of those professions, yet you claim that having a website or two built and learning to market them successfully is complicated? Be real, you are trying to sabotage yourself with that kind of thinking. This is not a complicated business and it has the potential to be a life changing experience.



This is a business, and you MUST treat it as such! You MUST be willing to develop new skills. you MUST invest in the business.



No such thing, that does not exist in any business!



Youa re assuming all newbies are created equal. I have a protege that started 8 months ago and is already earning $300 net per day. He followed the exact instructions I gave you in another thread.

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.

Until you can say you have done this, you have not prepared.

You have touched on a load of topics in your post above, more subjects that can be addressed properly in one thread. You need to stop looking at all of the those at once for solutions. It is good to have them outlined so you can address them one or two at a time, but trying to get answers to all of them at once is just nuts and self defeating.

have you acquired a server, acquired a tracker, joined a second network, selected one or two traffic sources to start with, created a schedule, and created a budget? THAT IS WHERE YOU NEED TO FOCUS NOW! you cannot learn by reading only. At least 80% of what you learn in this industry is by taking action!

Thanks for the helpful reply. You are correct, myself sabotaging attitude is not helping me succeed. So I will Change it. I understand that I must treat it as a business, thank you for the reminder. I had never considered that I was a multitasker, thanks for the new way of perceiving how my brain works. Multitasking is something I can do.

I am going to be getting Adsbridge as recommended in the wiki. However, I am unsure about the VPS. I am not sure what that is for. I know it is Virtual Private Server, but I thought that if I had a site built on Get response, I wouldn't need a VPS? Or IS the VPS route more affordable than going Get response? You mentioned selecting a budget and I don't have more than $150 a month to spend right now. So I will take that into consideration during website construction.

I have selected a Niche, two of them. Weight loss and fitness. That is what I spend the most time on in my day to day life as a hobby.

Regarding Traffic source, I was going to use Paid search ads, but as Graybeard pointed out, Google/Bing/FB are likely to heavily moderate that, so they may be out. I am currently considering Outbrain native ads. Their website and related articles were very informative and helpful to me. Besides native ads, I am going to do YouTube ads. I know that no matter the initial source of paid ads, I need to be collecting emails so I can do email marketing. I will be using Solo ads for my email marketing.

The reason I mentioned that Google required ads to provide value is, that was what was mentioned on their rules page for ads. The ad couldn't simply be a collect email and send to product page. At least as I interpreted the rules. Maybe I read too much into them and made an incorrect assumption?

My schedule for working and researching for AF marketing is going to be every morning after my work out.

I want to thank everyone for the honest advice. I will go back to the Wiki now, to get recommendations for the VPS. I assume WordPress will be the best bet for a website.

 

[T J Tutor]

I thought that if I had a site built on Get response, I wouldn't need a VPS

NO, NO, and NO!

per GetResponse:
What about domain hosting? Will GetResponse provide free hosting—or will I need to coordinate this elsewhere?
"So here’s the thing… we can provide free hosting for websites created with the GetResponse Website Builder!
These free domains will appear as YourCompanyName.grwebsite.com."
This is not real hosting

I don't have more than $150 a month to spend right now.

That won't cover your cost of tools, server, or any form of advertising.

Explain to me what businesses you can form, start, and succeed by at $150 per month.

I will be using Solo ads for my email marketing.

Solo ads are a paid advertising option which sends your offers to another companies email list. No one with a valuable and targeted list will permit you to send ClickBank offers to their lists. Solos are typically used for promoting your own offers or an affiliate program offer you represent, not an affiliate network offer. Network offers and program offers are not one in the same.

The ad couldn't simply be a collect email and send to product page.

Google and FaceBook are not fond of affiliate landing pages, and Google won't index them anymore in most cases. This why people build content sites and update them with valuable content at least weekly.

I don't see how you can afford any paid traffic at the moment. Your total budget is at $150 a month and won't even get you 10 minutes of ads on Google if they did approve your ad and lander.

recommendations for the VPS

LiquidWeb
BlueHost
Hostgator
Cloudways
NameHero

and soooooo many more!

I assume WordPress will be the best bet for a website.

Maybe for a content site, but a combination of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP is always better.

WordPress is too heavy for landing pages which have to load "lightening fast"!

 

[Giggan]

NO, NO, and NO!

per GetResponse:



That won't cover your cost of tools, server, or any form of advertising.

Explain to me what businesses you can form, start, and succeed by at $150 per month.



Solo ads are a paid advertising option which sends your offers to another companies email list. No one with a valuable and targeted list will permit you to send ClickBank offers to their lists. Solos are typically used for promoting your own offers or an affiliate program offer you represent, not an affiliate network offer. Network offers and program offers are not one in the same.



Google and FaceBook are not fond of affiliate landing pages, and Google won't index them anymore in most cases. This why people build content sites and update them with valuable content at least weekly.

I don't see how you can afford any paid traffic at the moment. Your total budget is at $150 a month and won't even get you 10 minutes of ads on Google if they did approve your ad and lander.







Maybe for a content site, but a combination of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP is always better.

WordPress is too heavy for landing pages which have to load "lightening fast"!

Thanks for the reply.

1. Ok. Getresponse is not real hosting. Got it. So I would need to buy a domain name, and have my website hosted on the VPS.

2. Regarding solo ads, I don't recall anyone on Udimi's various vendors saying no Clickbank offers. They all said that you must have a good landing page and no direct linking to the offer.

3. When you say content sites, are you talking about blogs?

4. Your right, I don't have much money right now, but that is not a permanent problem. It is just what is currently available. I have no problem not doing paid ads till I have more. I noticed last night that the wiki suggests a minimum of $500, I will start paid ads when I get that.

5. Thanks for the list of VPS providers. I have been checking out Hostingers VPS service. I like that it comes with Hpanel and preinstalled OS. I will look into the others. I am also reading up about Cpanel with whm.

6. Can you recommend a website and landing page builder to use with the VPS? An article in the Wiki recommended Optimiserpress, but I think they only do landing pages. I'll try searching again on here, I likely missed any recommendations the first time I looked.

I truly thank you for your advice, sir, and showing me how wrong my assumptions about Affiliate Marketing were.