12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

YART (Yet Another Rant Thread)

by GeorgR.
10 replies
Well, i read somewhere that january/february are usually the months were people are most depressive, the reason given are:

1) Holidays are over
2) People don't have money because they all spent it for x-mas
3) Bills coming in in the new year (Credit Cards and such)
4) Its still too far to think about vacation in Summer
5) It's cold and the weather is horrible.

Anyway, my rant is that i increased my PPC spending this last month CONSIDERABLY in the hopes to get more affiliate sales in.

Ironically, i increased my AdWords spending *exactly* around the time of another "Clickbank glitch"....and i saw a streak of ZERO CB sales for over a week while i was literally throwing out money for PPC at the very same time.

So...Google will debit a HUGE junk of money for the past month, and lookign at my earnings from Clickbank for the very same time almost makes me wheep.
Then i tried some PDC products in the assumption that CB is not working, but i only made one sale for a sinusitis remedy on PDC.... :/

I am still lucky i didnt get in the red, but i am really, really angry that a huge junk of my recent earnings now go to Google.

I am THAT close to actually cancel my Adwords account, i already pauses most if the campaigns since i just dont understand why some things wont convert.

There are so many people out there "claiming" how this or that clickbank product is a real moneymaker.....

Example:
The Earth4, Green Energy Niche, DIY Solar Panels ... Niche.

People are supposed to make a KILLING in this niche.

So...those are products where you get like $25-$40/sale.

There is only one problem: The bids for those keywords have shot through the roof, for common keywords people bid EU0.80 (EURO!) since everyone and their mom is active in that niche right now.

Problem: There is NO WAY ON EARTH to run even halfway profitable with EU0.80 CPC for affiliate products which pay avg. $30/80 clicks. This math just doesnt WORK. This just one example.

Add:

Secondly, i always do really stupid things:

1) I release WSOs on a weekend
2) I promote a outdoor sports niche on PPC in WINTER

Things like that...
#rant #thread #yart
  • Profile picture of the author Eric Stanley
    No disrespect, but shouldn't YARTs be in the off topic thread?
    Signature
    Free Samples
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[439280].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author skydivedad
    George
    I hear you loud and clear. It's only the 19th of January and I made a huge blunder as well. Tomorrow is a new day!
    Signature

    Making Lemonaide... Skydivedad's Blog

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[439290].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    GeorgR,
    Yes this belongs in off-topic but let me say sorry for your trouble.. Solution would be to focus more on your own product and not someone elses. Yes, affiliate marketing can bring in some very healthy income but putting all that time and effort into your own product would bring you larger rewards.

    I agree many claim this and that, why I normally ignore "many" ... I do things my way...

    James
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[439292].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Gary M.
    Damn Clickbank - I've had more than a few days where I felt exactly how you feel right now.

    I personally never spend Adwords money with CB because I just don't trust them (due to the tracking issues and extremely high refund rates).
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[439507].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sylviad
    GeorgeR,

    Maybe you should have titled this something else, because I do not believe it belongs in the off-topic area.

    What you say is of value to other people using CB. Having made very few sales there lately myself, it's interesting to hear what you are going through. I do not use PPC because, as you say, it is extremely expensive - in Canada, we end up paying more for US dollars. And I, too, noticed that any decent keywords are extremely expensive. Who can afford $1-$2 per click? Well, maybe the rich folk, but that's not most of us.

    Consider, if you convert 1 in 50 or 100, that's a $50-$100 cost for a $30 commission.

    It is disturbing when CB products don't convert. Some I've been promoting for a few years were selling better than they are today, with more traffic now than then. There has been considerable talk on the Forum about CB's ability to track affiliate links and other issues, but we'll never really know for sure. I've been told that my suspicions are not feasible.

    CB should be more responsible re providing affiliate links that cannot be tampered with. If external affiliate programs can do it, why can't CB? It's way too easy for people to remove your affiliate link or swap it for their own.

    When you've put out hundreds of backlinks to your affiliate presell page, it's not possible to go around and change them all to other products from other affiliate product sites.

    We're basically stuck in limbo with the only option being to change focus, find products elsewhere and start over.

    I'm looking more towards promoting my own products in future and removing CB from the equation.

    Sylvia
    Signature
    :: Got a dog? Visit my blog. Dog Talk Weekly
    :: Writing, Audio Transcription Services? - Award-winning Journalist is taking new projects. Warrior Discounts!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[439516].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    thats what i am saying. I am paying in EURO, thats probably at least as bad as paying for clicks in CAD ...

    Theres just been SO MANY "anti clickbank" threads recently, and i myself posted various myself already

    Add:

    I also observed MANY times already that "increased spending on PPC" does NOT equally increase (affiliate) income. One would figure:

    if i spend $5 day and make X ...then i just spend $50/day and make X times 10, right?
    This NEVER applies. I see my best months with VERY LOW PPC budget, the higher i go with my budget the worse conversion/sales.
    Signature
    *** Affiliate Site Quick --> The Fastest & Easiest Way to Make Affiliate Sites!<--
    -> VISIT www.1UP-SEO.com *** <- Internet Marketing, SEO Tips, Reviews & More!! ***
    *** HIGH QUALITY CONTENT CREATION +++ Manual Article Spinning (Thread Here) ***
    Content Creation, Blogging, Articles, Converting Sales Copy, Reviews, Ebooks, Rewrites
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[439625].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author getsmartt
      Just a quick observation: Are you tracking exactly which PPC keywords provide you with ClickBank sales? If you are like most people a large majority of their PPC budget drives non-converting traffic to their page. You need to find out which keywords convert and focus your money on them.

      This is fairly easily done although it does require more work on the back end. I can post details if needed.

      Originally Posted by GeorgR. View Post

      thats what i am saying. I am paying in EURO, thats probably at least as bad as paying for clicks in CAD ...

      Theres just been SO MANY "anti clickbank" threads recently, and i myself posted various myself already

      Add:

      I also observed MANY times already that "increased spending on PPC" does NOT equally increase (affiliate) income. One would figure:

      if i spend $5 day and make X ...then i just spend $50/day and make X times 10, right?
      This NEVER applies. I see my best months with VERY LOW PPC budget, the higher i go with my budget the worse conversion/sales.
      Signature

      Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[439732].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Alice Seba
    It's the third Monday of January - apparently, the most depressing day of the entire year. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back at it!

    alice
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[440104].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author RDGatchel
      Love the thread actually ... and my comment may be tangential but appropriate (I think )

      I have had emails from some of my coaching students with the same kind of thoughts. Where I'm hearing that the time of year, the economy, the weather, the phase of the moon, the "clickbank glitch", adwords prices and so many things are just "bringing them down".

      BUT SOME OF THEM ARE COMMENTING THAT THE PAST FEW WEEKS HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE BEST MARKETING DAYS THEY HAVE HAD !!!

      When I talked to these folks (the ones NOT talking about problems), there is a common thread.

      (1) They are selling their OWN NICHE PRODUCT, and NOT just depending on selling an affiliate product through ClickBank.

      (2) They are NOT depending on Google Adwords and are using things like article marketing, forum marketing and even ... GET THIS ... direct MAIL to lists they have been building

      (3) Some of them are buying traffic in other arenas like Ezine ads (yes, they still work). Banners, and even CPV advertising.

      Again ... this thread brings up something that I have mentioned in OTHER threads in passing. When you depend on the "big machines" like Google, Clickbank (as an affiliate), Amazon (as an affiliate), Ebay (as an affiliate) etc ... YOUR BUSINESS AND FORTUNES DEPEND ON THEIR WHIMS!!!

      If they screw up ... YOU LOSE! If they change the rules to help THEM and NOT you ... YOU LOSE!

      Bottom line? The most successful folks I'm working with and talking with are NOT HANGING THEIR BUSINESS ON ANY ONE METHOD (and particularly any one method, product or system).

      I've understood this for YEARS after being burned by Amazon when they "disallowed" an almost $20,000 quarterly commission (I still feel the pain).

      When I did my OWN products ...
      Got traffic in "multiple' ways ...
      When I used OFFLINE methods to generate online business ...

      I realized I was NOT beholden to the "powers that be" and had options that most other marketers didn't think of.

      My suggestion? Emulate the folks that ARE doing well ... and change approaches and methods.

      As my old mentor said to me:

      Adapt ... Migrate ... or Perish!
      (a phrase that's on my bathroom mirror that I see every day)
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[440135].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    well i am not "depressive", just mad that a huge junk this month goes to google.

    Well..i took action.

    1) i turned down my PPC budget considerably again

    2) i checked my keywords for OCI (commercial intent value) and deleted all the ones where MSN adcenter reported its not for commercial intent.

    I dont really rely on adwords, its just for the "occasional" sale in addition to my own products. I just expected more this month since i spent more than usual.

    I also did a lot of article marketing the last couple of months and built (and a building) my blogs up for real organic traffic, article submission, press relases and things like that.

    And thank you for reminding me, i could renew some banners which i let expire.
    Signature
    *** Affiliate Site Quick --> The Fastest & Easiest Way to Make Affiliate Sites!<--
    -> VISIT www.1UP-SEO.com *** <- Internet Marketing, SEO Tips, Reviews & More!! ***
    *** HIGH QUALITY CONTENT CREATION +++ Manual Article Spinning (Thread Here) ***
    Content Creation, Blogging, Articles, Converting Sales Copy, Reviews, Ebooks, Rewrites
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[440544].message }}

Trending Topics