Please help, can't get this Alex Becker trick working at all...

[MarvinCO]

Hi,

I'm completely new in the field. Based in Germany. Actually, not really intending to do this for a living, just making some experiments out of curiosity, maybe to generate some long-term passive income if it really works. Just watched Alex Becker's video on this phone tracking trick that I want to try:

"How To Make $200 A Day At 15 Years Old (Or Broke Beginner)"

Can't post any links here yet, so please Google that.

Lot's of it still very unclear to me. Did some additional reading on Affiliate Networks and Call Tracking.

So far, I gather this:

• You find some company on OfferVault that wants customers to call them, i.e. that is looking for some affiliates to make that happen for some money.
• You go to the homepage of the affiliate network that this company is using and create an account there.
• You create some Videos on Youtube and have them ranked quite at top level on Google Search. You must also include the number that customers should use to call the company. But now the important part: Not their actual number. Only some kind of "fake" number that gets redirected to the companies real number through some call tracking server.
• For this, you must also register at some call tracking/redirecting server that does this redirecting. You create an account, e.g. at CallRail, where you generate that fake number and also enter the company's real number to which it gets redirected. Once you've done that, the number is somehow also available in the telephone network but channeled to the call tracking server by some agreement between network operator and phone tracking company (dedicated number ranges etc.), so anyone that knows and calls that fake number through a normal phone will end up at the company.

So far, I get that. That is, right, hopefully. What I don't get at all is how the company, let's say the water damage repair company

• would have proof that someone actually called them by dialing my fake number.
  
• would automatically have this call registered on the affiliate network's server in a way that makes that call uniquely traceable to my own marketing efforts.

I could only come up with the following ways to explain this:

1. The affiliate network server must have an interface to the call tracking server, which means some kind of normalized interface standard for this exists. And the call tracking server must be trusted by the affiliate network. Every time a call to the fake number is made, the call tracking server not only redirects the call, but also informs the affiliate network server that company X has been called through target fake number Y and for how long. Seems like too much knowledge for some call tracking server to me. It would also mean that I would have to register all my fake numbers on the affiliate network server, just for them to know who (me) owns those fake numbers. So that the automated system on the affiliated server can actually book the provision money to my account.
2. The only other way I could imagine, is that the calls to the company show my fake number as the official "caller" instead of the actual customer's calling number. Even so, I'd still have to register all my fake numbers on the affiliate network server for the automated proof and payout to work.

But in any case, it's already a huge hurdle to even get registered on any of these affiliate networks found by OfferVault. I thought it would just be a simple matter of instantly creating an account on the affiliate network's page independently just like on some forum, and once signed in, rediscovering the company's offer on some list, adding it to my tasks, typing in my fake numbers for the company to know, looking up their own number (hopefully provided there) and entering it on my other account on CallRail for the phone redirecting to work.
But: Not that simple! There's always something that doesn't work properly:

• Aragon Advertising:
  • Yesterday: Database error.
  • Today: No https on signup page with password field!
• eLocal:
  • Forced to enter business information. I'm just an individual!
  • Some "landing page that generates my call"? What should I say, I'm just using Youtube video pages that contain numbers. Some customer "generates the call" with his real phone. Or should I provide the CallRail page? Using what exact URL path?
  • The whole thing's just some Google Form, no automatic registration. Someone will have to "get back to me".
• Addiction Recovery Now:
  • Again, just some Google Form. After completion I good an email requesting a date for some 15-minute "interview". Whatever that means. I thought the whole point of those affiliate network thing is to make such things unnecessary, smooth, and largely anonymous.

• LeadGiant:
  • Phone number SMS verification with my Germany-based mobile phone number not working. Any chance of getting trusted?
  • Form asks me to provide website and profile URLs. Again: Youtube?
  • Again, have to wait for approval after review, possibly for weeks.

• Palo Media:
  • Again, that waiting manual approval thing...

• Better Addiction Care:
  • Access to read terms of service PDF is blocked for my country.

I could go on and on, probably all the same problems with all the other affiliate networks.

But even if - miraculously - I should actually get approved by any of these affiliate networks, there's absolutely no guarantee if that phone redirection and fake numbers registration thing will even work as smooth and straightforward in one of the two ways I described.

I also created a test account on CallRail, only to find out that I cannot even redirect to any number outside the US after creating my pool of fake US numbers. That means, no testing the phone redirect to my mobile cell phone in Germany. Would have to bother some US guy with a test call, so that's already the next thing. Not to talk of so far having found no way of linking my CallRail account to an affiliate network for the automatic billing.

Gradually getting tired of this. Spent my whole weekend trying to get this all done, so far achieved nothing but trying to setup a dozen or so affiliate accounts without a single approval. Except on "Clicksure" (thank God), only to find out about its bad reputation later. Haven't even started getting a Youtube video high-ranked yet, not even created one, since no fake number yet.
This whole thing seems to be way, way, way more complicated and lengthy than it is presented in that video. All the complicated parts left out there, millions of questions unanswered.
And that's what some "15-year-old" is supposed to accomplish, making "$200 a day"?? Give me a break!
I mean, I love the idea and the great hints Alex provides, so thumbs up for that, but the ease at which this is to be done seems totally exaggerated.

Anyway, would be very glad if anyone here could help me out with my confusion and let me know how it's actually done.

Thanks in advance

 

[squeak]

Hey Marvin,

I’ve just watched the video you were talking about. Hopefully I can clear a few things up for you.

In terms of affiliate networks – most (if not all) will require you to have an interview. This is just an informal 5 minute chat asking about your experience, and how you will promote their offers. Be honest. Then if accepted you will be able to start promoting their offers. Most will ask for your skype details, so no problem if you are in Germany.

I’d recommend trying Ring Partner. Check out their Youtube Channel for more videos. They also accept new people in pay per call probably easier than most other networks and have a large selection of offers to choose from.

Call tracking is provided by the affiliate networks. Once approved for an offer you will generate a unique number to you for which ever campaign you are running. When someone calls this number there is a dashboard with all the call details, and you will get to see if it meets the criteria in being a paid call (call length, key presses, etc).

You can use external tracking such as callrail, but this will increase your costs. All callrail will do is transfer from the number you created in callrail to the number created in your affiliate network. The network server won’t connect to callrail to determine if the call should be paid or not – as I mentioned before, they have their own tracking.

If you are using youtube videos as your traffic then there are advantages to using callrail, such as being able to swap out affiliate numbers easily if the offer is paused or if you find a higher paying offer. Instead of having to edit every single video and description, you could just change where the callrail number was transferring to. To test the tracking number from Germany you could use skype to see that it is transferring to your affiliate tracking number.

It really isn’t too hard once you get your head around it. First step is being accepted by an affiliate network.

Good luck.

 

[MarvinCO]

Hey Marvin,

I’ve just watched the video you were talking about. Hopefully I can clear a few things up for you.

In terms of affiliate networks – most (if not all) will require you to have an interview. This is just an informal 5 minute chat asking about your experience, and how you will promote their offers. Be honest. Then if accepted you will be able to start promoting their offers. Most will ask for your skype details, so no problem if you are in Germany.

I’d recommend trying Ring Partner. Check out their Youtube Channel for more videos. They also accept new people in pay per call probably easier than most other networks and have a large selection of offers to choose from.

Call tracking is provided by the affiliate networks. Once approved for an offer you will generate a unique number to you for which ever campaign you are running. When someone calls this number there is a dashboard with all the call details, and you will get to see if it meets the criteria in being a paid call (call length, key presses, etc).

You can use external tracking such as callrail, but this will increase your costs. All callrail will do is transfer from the number you created in callrail to the number created in your affiliate network. The network server won’t connect to callrail to determine if the call should be paid or not – as I mentioned before, they have their own tracking.

If you are using youtube videos as your traffic then there are advantages to using callrail, such as being able to swap out affiliate numbers easily if the offer is paused or if you find a higher paying offer. Instead of having to edit every single video and description, you could just change where the callrail number was transferring to. To test the tracking number from Germany you could use skype to see that it is transferring to your affiliate tracking number.

It really isn’t too hard once you get your head around it. First step is being accepted by an affiliate network.

Good luck.

Hey Squeak!

Cool, thanks for your detailed reply!

Not sure if and when I'll have the time to try all this. Just great to know how this would work in theory. Will have a look at those things ;-) Just an experiment, anyway.

Thanks.

 

[Tariq Ben]

YouTube to me have not gotten success whatsoever.

AdWords and bing yes.

 

[izonshock_king]

YouTube to me have not gotten success whatsoever.

AdWords and bing yes.

View attachment 10039

Hey,

Just to confirm this is your PayPerCall cpa network stats right ? If yes, how's it going on with you ?

 

[no2pencil]

Hi,
I could only come up with the following ways to explain this:

1. The affiliate network server must have an interface to the call tracking server,
2. The only other way I could imagine, is that the calls to the company show my fake number as the official "caller" instead of the actual customer's calling number. Even so, I'd still have to register all my fake numbers on the affiliate network server for the automated proof and payout to work.

A place that I worked at (& this is how I imagine that it works) registered hundreds of numbers. We then sold advertisements on behalf of our company (ie, the data) to the client. When they setup their campaign they got to choose domain (they got a subdomain of their company name off any of our hundreds of domains) & they got to choose a phone number. Then any call that came into that number was recorded by our asterisk server, & the call was re-routed to their configured number. At any time they could then review the statistics of those calls, clicks, or whatever based on the fact that all interactions were filtered through our company.

 

[Ray0213]

Hi,

I'm completely new in the field. Based in Germany. Actually, not really intending to do this for a living, just making some experiments out of curiosity, maybe to generate some long-term passive income if it really works. Just watched Alex Becker's video on this phone tracking trick that I want to try:

"How To Make $200 A Day At 15 Years Old (Or Broke Beginner)"

Can't post any links here yet, so please Google that.

Lot's of it still very unclear to me. Did some additional reading on Affiliate Networks and Call Tracking.

So far, I gather this:

• You find some company on OfferVault that wants customers to call them, i.e. that is looking for some affiliates to make that happen for some money.
• You go to the homepage of the affiliate network that this company is using and create an account there.
• You create some Videos on Youtube and have them ranked quite at top level on Google Search. You must also include the number that customers should use to call the company. But now the important part: Not their actual number. Only some kind of "fake" number that gets redirected to the companies real number through some call tracking server.
• For this, you must also register at some call tracking/redirecting server that does this redirecting. You create an account, e.g. at CallRail, where you generate that fake number and also enter the company's real number to which it gets redirected. Once you've done that, the number is somehow also available in the telephone network but channeled to the call tracking server by some agreement between network operator and phone tracking company (dedicated number ranges etc.), so anyone that knows and calls that fake number through a normal phone will end up at the company.

So far, I get that. That is, right, hopefully. What I don't get at all is how the company, let's say the water damage repair company

• would have proof that someone actually called them by dialing my fake number.
  
• would automatically have this call registered on the affiliate network's server in a way that makes that call uniquely traceable to my own marketing efforts.

I could only come up with the following ways to explain this:

1. The affiliate network server must have an interface to the call tracking server, which means some kind of normalized interface standard for this exists. And the call tracking server must be trusted by the affiliate network. Every time a call to the fake number is made, the call tracking server not only redirects the call, but also informs the affiliate network server that company X has been called through target fake number Y and for how long. Seems like too much knowledge for some call tracking server to me. It would also mean that I would have to register all my fake numbers on the affiliate network server, just for them to know who (me) owns those fake numbers. So that the automated system on the affiliated server can actually book the provision money to my account.
2. The only other way I could imagine, is that the calls to the company show my fake number as the official "caller" instead of the actual customer's calling number. Even so, I'd still have to register all my fake numbers on the affiliate network server for the automated proof and payout to work.

But in any case, it's already a huge hurdle to even get registered on any of these affiliate networks found by OfferVault. I thought it would just be a simple matter of instantly creating an account on the affiliate network's page independently just like on some forum, and once signed in, rediscovering the company's offer on some list, adding it to my tasks, typing in my fake numbers for the company to know, looking up their own number (hopefully provided there) and entering it on my other account on CallRail for the phone redirecting to work.
But: Not that simple! There's always something that doesn't work properly:

• Aragon Advertising:
  • Yesterday: Database error.
  • Today: No https on signup page with password field!
• eLocal:
  • Forced to enter business information. I'm just an individual!
  • Some "landing page that generates my call"? What should I say, I'm just using Youtube video pages that contain numbers. Some customer "generates the call" with his real phone. Or should I provide the CallRail page? Using what exact URL path?
  • The whole thing's just some Google Form, no automatic registration. Someone will have to "get back to me".
• Addiction Recovery Now:
  • Again, just some Google Form. After completion I good an email requesting a date for some 15-minute "interview". Whatever that means. I thought the whole point of those affiliate network thing is to make such things unnecessary, smooth, and largely anonymous.

• LeadGiant:
  • Phone number SMS verification with my Germany-based mobile phone number not working. Any chance of getting trusted?
  • Form asks me to provide website and profile URLs. Again: Youtube?
  • Again, have to wait for approval after review, possibly for weeks.

• Palo Media:
  • Again, that waiting manual approval thing...

• Better Addiction Care:
  • Access to read terms of service PDF is blocked for my country.

I could go on and on, probably all the same problems with all the other affiliate networks.

But even if - miraculously - I should actually get approved by any of these affiliate networks, there's absolutely no guarantee if that phone redirection and fake numbers registration thing will even work as smooth and straightforward in one of the two ways I described.

I also created a test account on CallRail, only to find out that I cannot even redirect to any number outside the US after creating my pool of fake US numbers. That means, no testing the phone redirect to my mobile cell phone in Germany. Would have to bother some US guy with a test call, so that's already the next thing. Not to talk of so far having found no way of linking my CallRail account to an affiliate network for the automatic billing.

Gradually getting tired of this. Spent my whole weekend trying to get this all done, so far achieved nothing but trying to setup a dozen or so affiliate accounts without a single approval. Except on "Clicksure" (thank God), only to find out about its bad reputation later. Haven't even started getting a Youtube video high-ranked yet, not even created one, since no fake number yet.
This whole thing seems to be way, way, way more complicated and lengthy than it is presented in that video. All the complicated parts left out there, millions of questions unanswered.
And that's what some "15-year-old" is supposed to accomplish, making "$200 a day"?? Give me a break!
I mean, I love the idea and the great hints Alex provides, so thumbs up for that, but the ease at which this is to be done seems totally exaggerated.

Anyway, would be very glad if anyone here could help me out with my confusion and let me know how it's actually done.

Thanks in advance

Sorry about your frustration.
This is not such an easy task as these guys like alex becker make it sound, ranking youtube videos is not as easy if you don't have the right tools, affiliate networks do not approve people that easily.
If you don't have a reputation or experience.

The best way to go about this, is set up a nice looking blog around the niche you are interested in.
Post some interesting content and add as much content as you can possible can.

Get numbers from twillio, which they have numbers in all countries almost.
Get a call tracking account from kallzu, this way you can use your twillio number ported from any country to any offer you want.

Then once you have enough data on your blog, try to apply to cj commision junction pay per call affiliate.
They are not so strict.

Good luck there.

 

[TechTube]

Thank's, very usefull.

 

[Ray0213]

I see someone here is telling you to use the tracking system from the affiliate network, that's fine and you will need to do that anyways, but is always good to have control of your number, this way you can direct your calls to any offer you want. therefore I recommend buying numbers from twillio, they just cost $1 per month.