Is PPC the best way to get started in Affiliate Marketing?

[jzapin]

I've been dabbling with Affiliate Marketing for the last 5 years. I have tried various methods but always come back to PPC as my method.

The reason? It is quick and gives you some results albeit not terribly great. I have a full time job and a family and little time to really spend quality time building sites and a strategy around it.

I've also read some gurus who say the best way to break in is to do PPC first. Create several PPC campaings a month (i.e. 4+). You'll end up having a lot of misses, but eventually you'll hit a winner that will outweigh all the losses.

What do you think?

 

[mlevenhagen]

Yes, that approach works and many people have broken into the affiliate business starting with PPC.. to this day.

But it sounds like to me you are looking for something that doesn't take a lot of time and effort; that's where you'll run into a problem with PPC.. because, like most things that work, it takes time, effort and commitment (it's not a business startup for the lazy)..

..it also takes a shift in thinking - a psychological leap of faith that some are better at than others. It's not an easy thing for some people to understand, much less execute, the numbers game model. That you'll need to go through 'x' number of losers to get 'x' number of winners.

It's just like being in sales.. you have to get used to the no's to get to the yes's... and not mind the no's because you know each brings you one step closer to the sale (assuming you have a solid, proven system you are following).

Good luck with your decision and business!

 

[Linda Buquet]

I agree with Matt, plus with some of the PPC guys you've listened to. PPC CAN be a good way to get started, but it's also really hard especially with all of Google's recent changes. You'll find there are several schools of thought and several methods people swear are the best.

The reality is, I think everyone has to find their own way and figure out what works best for them, based on their personality, risk tolerance, skills and available time.

I wish I could say that I know for sure XYZ method is best, works for everyone and here's how to do it.
If I had the magic bullet, I'd probably write an ebook and get rich - NOT! (Hate eBooks)

 

[edosauyi]

For me i've concluded that Pay per click affiliate programs are the best because i've had greater succes with these kind of affiliate program when compared to other forms of affiliate programs.

 

[jzapin]

These are terrific replies. Thank you to all. Encouragement is key for someone starting out. I think I'm going to stick with it for longer. I do want to do some other types of affiliate marketing, but PPC is what I have time for now.

I've been using MSN Adcenter (vs. Google). The rules for PPC Affiliate Marketing seem a little bit more relaxed for now, the competition for keywords is less, and the search engine (Bing) is growing.

Does anyone have thoughts on how long to stay with a program? I've heard a week is a good amount of time to understand if there is potential for positive results.

Thoughts?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Does anyone have thoughts on how long to stay with a program? I've heard a week is a good amount of time to understand if there is potential for positive results.

Do you mean how long to stay with an affiliate program or with an advertising program like AdCenter?

In either case it's not the length of time but the # of clicks. You could be with a program for a week and only get 10 clicks which would not give you enough data to make a decision.

 

[jzapin]

Do you mean how long to stay with an affiliate program or with an advertising program like AdCenter?

With the affiliate program itself. I believe that AdCenter (and most paid search services) will probably work.

In either case it's not the length of time but the # of clicks. You could be with a program for a week and only get 10 clicks which would not give you enough data to make a decision.

That makes perfect sense. Still, if I'm only getting 10 clicks in a week, then it's probably not the best program (not enough volume).

 

[Linda Buquet]

Actually the low amount of clicks could your ad or your keywords so is not necessarily a reflection of the affiliate program.

 

[jzapin]

Actually the low amount of clicks could your ad or your keywords so is not necessarily a reflection of the affiliate program.

Actually, I don't think it's the ad as I've been getting 8-12% CTR which I've been told is a good percentage.

But to your point, there might be better keywords out there too.

 

[JumpNJack]

Re: Starting with PPC Marketing...

I've been dabbling with Affiliate Marketing for the last 5 years. I have tried various methods but always come back to PPC as my method.

The reason? It is quick and gives you some results albeit not terribly great. I have a full time job and a family and little time to really spend quality time building sites and a strategy around it.

I've also read some gurus who say the best way to break in is to do PPC first. Create several PPC campaings a month (i.e. 4+). You'll end up having a lot of misses, but eventually you'll hit a winner that will outweigh all the losses.

What do you think?

Hi,

First, let me say that I am one of the "new guys" in the forum.

Having said that I would advise anyone to steer clear of PPC marketing unless they have deep pockets and lots of time.

Everyone makes PPC marketing sound so easy. It is not.

It requires hours to manage campaigns and do proper research.

I would suggest you spend that time doing article marketing instead. Lots of videos on YouTube about how to do this.

A PPC campaign can cost you .25 cents or more per click.

If you wrote a free article you can get hundreds, maybe even thousands, of clicks for no out of pocket expense. Just a fraction of the PPC time you will spend.

I pray that I can save you the time and money I wasted years ago doing this.

Thanks for listening.


Jack

 

[jzapin]

Yeah. PPC Affiliate Marketing has been a mixed bag. I have a close friend who does it full time and makes a killing. But he's also been doing it for a quite a while.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[JAmieF]

I think a possible trap for new affiliates trying out PPC for the first time is not knowing exactly what the potential ROI you will get back from a campaign.

Things to consider when evaluating whether it is worth doing PPC?

1. What is the conversion rate of the landing page or pages you will use for the campaign
2. What is the average sale for that merchant
3. What is the commission for merchant
4. What is the average cost of the keywords you will bid on?
5. Do an ROI calculation based on those metrics

This information will give you a rough idea of whether you are going to make a profit. There are other factors to think about like ad copy etc but it gives you the confidence of undertaking that particular PPC campaign.

 

[matthewzinda]

I agree with Jack. PPC is not my thing either. There are so many ways to get tons of FREE targeted traffic, it doesn't make sense to pay for traffic, to me anyways.

It does take time though. That is why I'm having a tough time responding to this thread, because you said time is not on your side.

There are only 3 ways to get rich quick:

1. Win the lottery
2. Inherit the mother load
3. Marry into money

Everyone else has to work for it, me included.

However, internet marketing is the fastest way to make the most amount of money, with the least amount of expense.

But, owning your own online business is alot like owning your own offline business. It takes time, effort, and dedication, lots of each.

If you ask me, if I were you, I would concentrate on 2 or 3 FREE traffic techniques:

1. Article Marketing - Write articles and submit them to article submission sites like goarticles.com or ezinearticles.com.

2. Social Media - First start with the main ones, twitter, facebook, linked in, etc. Then start looking for specific social networking sites in your niche. You can do this by going to ning.com. Ning.com connects specific social networking sites to people that are looking for specific social networking sites.

3. Forum Marketing - Find specific forums in your niche. Complete your profile with as much detail as possible. Join in on the conversation.

With all of these techniques, it is vitally important to provide value first. Be yourself. Be conversational, not promotional. People want to know what is in it for them, not what is in it for you.

You are not alone. Traffic is something everyone in the internet marketing world is trying to get more of. Everyone is constantly trying to come up with a strategy to get more traffic.

Like other people have mentioned. Try out a few. Then when you find one that you like, and works for you, stick with it, and explore that particular traffic technique.

Good luck.

Matthew Zinda