One Last Attempt At Affiliate Marketing

[lafredet]

Just one week ago I was looking for a place, exactly like this, to chronicle my step-by-step progress as a make one last attempt at affiliate marketing.

My name is Lyle. I'm a computer programmer living in Canada. I've actually got it pretty good already because I currently work full time from home. I want more, of course. I want to be my own boss.

I've made many attempts over the years. I've looked into and tried all kinds of things ways to earn a living from home. I've tried affiliate marketing through PPC, organic traffic and "turnkey" programs. I've also tried private label sales. I failed pretty miserably in all attempts.

To be fair, I have never really taken a very methodical approach. I don't know why. Lazy I guess. Or maybe I just thought I'd figure it out as I went along. Nope!

I came across a blog and a free course that has inspired me to give it one last try. This time, I plan on being very methodical, and I plan on following the course pretty much to the letter.

The course I'm following is Charles Ngo's Ultimate Guide to Affiliate Marketing. It's free in case anyone would like to join me. It's also well written, and very thorough.

It really is just a chronicle of my journey, but I would welcome any feedback or questions of any kind.

Good luck to everyone else that's giving it one last try!

Lyle

...

As I mentioned at the top, I was looking for a place to chronicle my journey about 1 week ago. Since I couldn't find anything, I ended up creating a Facebook page called "One Last Attempt at Affiliate Marketing", just like this thread. This forum seems like a more suitable place to do this, but I'll maintain my Facebook page as well. At least for the time being.

 

[lafredet]

Day 1

I read the first email from Charles Ngo and the first 3 chapters of his online course - Introduction, What is affiliate marketing?, and FAQ. I also read a few of the linked blog posts he referenced in the email and course, and bookmarked the rest for tomorrow. This is what I came away with so far:

1) it’s not going to be easy - there is an insane amount of stuff to learn!
2) I’m definitely going to lose money at first - part of the learning process
3) in the beginning, I need to focus on only 1 traffic source, 1 affiliate network, and 1 product vertical
4) Don’t quite!

 

[Anthony.]

Just one week ago I was looking for a place, exactly like this, to chronicle my step-by-step progress as a make one last attempt at affiliate marketing.

My name is Lyle. I'm a computer programmer living in Canada. I've actually got it pretty good already because I currently work full time from home. I want more, of course. I want to be my own boss.

I've made many attempts over the years. I've looked into and tried all kinds of things ways to earn a living from home. I've tried affiliate marketing through PPC, organic traffic and "turnkey" programs. I've also tried private label sales. I failed pretty miserably in all attempts.

To be fair, I have never really taken a very methodical approach. I don't know why. Lazy I guess. Or maybe I just thought I'd figure it out as I went along. Nope!

I came across a blog and a free course that has inspired me to give it one last try. This time, I plan on being very methodical, and I plan on following the course pretty much to the letter.

The course I'm following is Charles Ngo's Ultimate Guide to Affiliate Marketing. It's free in case anyone would like to join me. It's also well written, and very thorough.

It really is just a chronicle of my journey, but I would welcome any feedback or questions of any kind.

Good luck to everyone else that's giving it one last try!

Lyle

...

As I mentioned at the top, I was looking for a place to chronicle my journey about 1 week ago. Since I couldn't find anything, I ended up creating a Facebook page called "One Last Attempt at Affiliate Marketing", just like this thread. This forum seems like a more suitable place to do this, but I'll maintain my Facebook page as well. At least for the time being.

There should never be a last attempt at it, never give up! Yeah I have that guide too, I've been following charles about 2 months now and I actually met him in Bangkok at his private party with Advidi. Never give up man, never stop trying. I've been doing FB all year but due to the inconsistency I've moved over to pops, well, to give that a shot. But theres still more sources I'd like to try before I settle on mastering something. Took me months to hit 4 figure days with FB on my own, saved up quite a bit and got sick of the bans, setbacks and going back to square 1 etc.
Goodluck with your journey. If you want, pm me and we can skype for back & forth tips/advice now and then. Not got many people who are doing the same as me on there, or are in the same position. Ofc someone who is earning consistently wouldn't want a newbie haha but as we are starting we can progress faster

 

[lafredet]

There should never be a last attempt at it, never give up! Yeah I have that guide too, I've been following charles about 2 months now and I actually met him in Bangkok at his private party with Advidi. Never give up man, never stop trying. I've been doing FB all year but due to the inconsistency I've moved over to pops, well, to give that a shot. But theres still more sources I'd like to try before I settle on mastering something. Took me months to hit 4 figure days with FB on my own, saved up quite a bit and got sick of the bans, setbacks and going back to square 1 etc.
Goodluck with your journey. If you want, pm me and we can skype for back & forth tips/advice now and then. Not got many people who are doing the same as me on there, or are in the same position. Ofc someone who is earning consistently wouldn't want a newbie haha but as we are starting we can progress faster

Thanks for the reply. It's awesome to hear that you were able to make it to 4 figure days. That's fantastic!

I'm definitely considering myself to be a newbie, given the way I approached things in the past. No discipline No plan. I was just winging it. This time around I don't plan on having a reason to consider quitting. I'm gong to do this!

 

[Anthony.]

Thanks for the reply. It's awesome to hear that you were able to make it to 4 figure days. That's fantastic!

I'm definitely considering myself to be a newbie, given the way I approached things in the past. No discipline No plan. I was just winging it. This time around I don't plan on having a reason to consider quitting. I'm gong to do this!

Yeah, if only it was consistent! Well, I've done AM for years, yet I'm a newbie to pop traffic, there is just so much out there. Goodluck!

 

[JamesLeeOnline]

It has been many years i failed in affiliate marketing but i never gave up.Keep on trying and trying.

 

[game333]

Glad you landed on Charles Ngo, he's a good one.
Anyway, pick just a single traffic source, a single product, yep

Quotes: "3) in the beginning, I need to focus on only 1 traffic source, 1 affiliate network, and 1 product vertical"

That gives you a better picture what you're doing. If you're afraid of losing money, do it in a small scale.

 

[lafredet]

Day 2

Since yesterday, I have read some of the material that I bookmarked from the first email and first 3 chapters of Charles Ngo's guide. I know it's only day 2, but I'm definitely getting the impression that the following areas are pretty much key to success, or at least extremely high on the list:

1. advertising angles
2. split testing and optimization
3. ad tracking software

A lot of today's reading revolved around angles for promoting ads. It looks like this will be a huge topic, and will take a lot of work and practice. This is what can set you apart from other affiliates and their ads.

Split testing and ad optimization are also going to be gigantic. They are what fine tune your ads' images, headlines and copy-text towards your target audience.

This brings us to the next important piece, tracking software. The ability to split test and optimize accurately depends heavily on the ad tracking software's ability to accurately measure the most pertinent data. The recommended tools seem to be pretty expensive, but with a quick look I found some alternatives. This is definitely something that will have to be researched quite a bit more.

So much to do.... So much to learn...

 

[T J Tutor]

Please DO NOT EVER GIVE UP!

If you were opening a pizza shop, or a sub shop, or becoming a lawyer, or a doctor, no matter the business, you will have a learning curve and a need for investment. In this business, just like these examples, you must spend money to earn money.

In the beginning you are not "losing" money. You are buying data! When investing in a VPS, a tracker, and paid traffic, you will use them to acquire data from your tracker and traffic source(s). You must buy data to learn how the processes and tools work. Then you will have a set of brains that will allow you to formulate winning campaigns!

 

[lorenzo]

Yeah, don't ever give up. Sometimes it only takes one campaign to get back all the money you've "lost" with all your tests and to be confident you can make it. It's not easy, but if you stick to it you will eventually figure it out. One good offer, one good LP, one good banner and you'll move from red to green.

Happy split testing and good luck!

 

[lafredet]

I'm going to post a couple days at a time until this thread gets caught up with the actual day that I'm on.

Day 3
Today I read through 3 more chapters: Mindsets, Affiliate Networks and Free vs Paid Traffic. I also read through any linked blog posts I came across.

My takeaways for today are mainly motivational:

1. just get started, and keep moving forward!
2. don't get stuck trying to pick the best traffic source - there is no best
3. the best way to learn is to "launch a campaign, learn from it, and repeat"

Today's action was to sign up with Advidi and contact account manager. I've signed up, and am waiting to be approved.

Day 4
I read the chapter on Paid Traffic Sources. As usual, there was a tonne of information.

Main takeaways:

1. Pick a traffic source then understand the kind of audience it has
2. Paid traffic's advantages over free:
   • instant results (hours vs months)
   • not dependent on a single company (google)
   • “free” sources aren’t really free - requires a lot of time and effort
   • potential for more money, faster
3. Pick a single traffic source type: social, mobile, search, native, PPV/CPV or adult, I'm going with mobile since Charles Ngo recommended it as one of the good ones for newbies

Today's actions is to find and sign-up with a traffic source, make the minimum initial deposit & contact your affiliate manager for tips on this traffic source. I'm still waiting for approval from Advidi, and I'm still researching mobile traffic sources.

 

[lafredet]

Day 5 of me following Charles Ngo's Ultimate Guide to Affiliate Marketing

I read the Offers & Verticals chapter, and a whole pile of linked blog posts. It is becoming increasingly clear that Affiliate Marketing isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. It requires a lot of knowledge, skill and practice.

I still haven’t picked a traffic source for my action from day 4. Unfortunately, being so near the holidays and our big move, life has been getting in the way. So far, all I can say for sure is that I'm going to start with mobile traffic.

I got accepted by Advidi, and I got in contact with my affiliate manager. So far so good.

Biggest take-aways for Day 5’s studies:

1. As a newbie I should pick an offer with high click-through-rate (CTR) and low payout, in order to get as much practice as possible.
2. Types of offers: cost-per-sale (CPS) or cost-per-action (CPA) , CPA is easier to convert, so apparently I'm starting with that.
3. Task order: pick a traffic source first, then country, then a vertical that works well with that traffic source, then finally an offer.

 

[CPA.Stdnt]

Give up, but never quit.
If you really have the passion, one day you will be successful for sure.

 

[AffiliateDude]

I wish you all the best on your journey. Persistence is key in this game. You make success inevitable by never giving up.

 

[xlovecash]

Man, I love this thread, keep on going. through you we will all learn, give adult vertical a try as well.

 

[badboy_nick]

Hey Lyle

Just stumbled across this thread and couldn't help but think I need to chip in my 2 cents worth to cut down your learning curve. I've been where you are at and can see you are at the bottom of the mountain, so might as well nudge you up a few steps

If I were to start all over again, this is what I would do:

1) Stick to Adwords search PPC as your main traffic source, but also give Facebook PPC a shot as the click costs tend to be a bit cheaper. But both traffic sources work very well. Anything else I would stay away from right now, as it either doesn't convert or will only upset your buyers.

2) Pick a product that pays at least $15 to $20 bucks, either "per call", "per lead" or "per form submit". Stay away from anything that will only earn you a commission if the user needs to buy or install something. Also don't waste your time on cheap zip submits, surveys and other small fry. Go after the easy to convert, high end products.

3) Start by focusing on sending some FB traffic to the landing page of a buyer. Anything in money, health an investments is good. Generally, you can ask them to set you up with one so you can test the water without too much tech work. Then, once he likes the results, you can ask to whitelabel his site and throw some PPC Adwords traffic at it too.

Hope that helps for starters
Nick

 

[Sanshez]

Wish you all the best on this, never give up, or quit! success is always yet to come after hard work!

 

[lafredet]

Hey Lyle

Just stumbled across this thread and couldn't help but think I need to chip in my 2 cents worth to cut down your learning curve. I've been where you are at and can see you are at the bottom of the mountain, so might as well nudge you up a few steps

If I were to start all over again, this is what I would do:

1) Stick to Adwords search PPC as your main traffic source, but also give Facebook PPC a shot as the click costs tend to be a bit cheaper. But both traffic sources work very well. Anything else I would stay away from right now, as it either doesn't convert or will only upset your buyers.

2) Pick a product that pays at least $15 to $20 bucks, either "per call", "per lead" or "per form submit". Stay away from anything that will only earn you a commission if the user needs to buy or install something. Also don't waste your time on cheap zip submits, surveys and other small fry. Go after the easy to convert, high end products.

3) Start by focusing on sending some FB traffic to the landing page of a buyer. Anything in money, health an investments is good. Generally, you can ask them to set you up with one so you can test the water without too much tech work. Then, once he likes the results, you can ask to whitelabel his site and throw some PPC Adwords traffic at it too.

Hope that helps for starters
Nick

Thanks for the advice Nick. I appreciate it.

I'm almost half way through Charles Ngo's course right now, so I'm going to finish that before I really go all-in with my marketing. I feel like I need some real-world practice coming up with angles, creating ads & landing pages, and split testing & optimization. That's what I'm hoping to get out of his course.

Thanks again for the tips and advice!

 

[lafredet]

Day 6 of me following Charles Ngo's Ultimate Guide to Affiliate Marketing

I read the "Ads" chapter. This was quite a daunting chapter. Not only because of all the information and techniques to learn, but also because, to me, this is the actual selling part - convincing someone to click, buy or do something.

I have never been good at selling anything in real life. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I can't help but be completely up front with people. I'm pretty much incapable of exaggerating or twisting the truth. So, I think I’m going to have to learn to be very creative, and find a way to use that to my advantage - I just don't know how yet

What I got out of today's studies:

1. know your audience and product - slang, jargon, related events...
2. appeal to the "Life Force 8" from the book "Cashvertising"
3. be detailed and specific with your ads
4. sell benefits, not features - tell people exactly what's in it for them
5. fear, dread and panic about whether or not I'll be able to do this :O
6. oh, and spy tools! Learn how to use them.

One of the actions for today was to create an ad. This is what I came up with. I can definitely tell that this is going to require a LOT of reading and practice.

 

[Moretrafficandleads.com]

You should remove from your head the sentence: "GIVING UP"!

Why would you? Even if it takes years to make a steady, monthly income, it is worth the time. It is the futur!
Be your own boss and work from anywhere in the world and be pretty big without having a single employee! Well at least before thinking about getting some.