Confessions of a non-tracker

34 replies
I'm what most would consider a very successful CPA marketer. I make a comfortable living promoting CPA offers full time. You might call me crazy, but I don't use any tools to track stats.

The reason I don't is that I haven't found an effective tracking platform. I experimented with Tracking202/Prosper202 back in the day (both hosted and non-hosted version), but I found that it slowed down my link serving, which I feel causes people to abandon the links that they click on.

I also found it tedious to convert my links to Tracking/Prosper links every time I set up a campaign (has this changed?).

I just eyeball my campaigns. At any point in the day, I'm not really sure exactly how much money I've made, though if I take a minute to check out each network, I can get an exact amount.

My approach is that if I can't get a campaign to perform to an extent that I know it's making good money, I don't pursue it. I'm not going to invest $100 to make $105, so none of my campaigns are so close that I need to closely track them to see if I'm squeaking by with a profit.

I'm recently experimenting with Bevo Media, which is a free stats tracker (I'm not promoting this - I have no relationship with them). There is some delay in reporting, and it's not entirely accurate because I'm running traffic to a couple networks that aren't available on Bevo. Besides that, it's working well.

Eventually, I will integrate better tracking -- I have a feeling it will happen when I hire someone to help me with it. I just wrote this to say that you don't necessarily have to be obsessive about stat tracking to be successful. Then again, my messy approach probably isn't for everyone.

I've been able to scale my campaigns up without tracking, and I know I'll be able to continue to do so. I'm not saying tracking doesn't help -- just that you can be successful without being an obsessive tracker.
#confessions #nontracker
  • Profile picture of the author bravo75
    Interesting. How do you know where your conversions are coming from, though? Do you use mainly URL or keyword campaigns?
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  • Profile picture of the author Quatrel
    Freeman77,
    Prosper202 was upgraded and I installed it with Mysql 5.1 (big performance jump) on a cloud server and it is lightning fast. Since Mysql is coming out with 5.5 now, that will bring another speed boost.

    A warrior StanGracer here knows the system and offer help & training. I bought his WSO and is good info.
    Best of luck
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  • Profile picture of the author williamrs
    We all know that you are a successful affiliate, but I must admit that I'm surprised that you don't track your campaigns. I can't imagine my life without Prosper202. The problems that you mentioned are very real and it's something that I struggle with in a daily basis, but I still think that I can't "afford" not using a tracking software.

    Different people have different ways to run their businesses and it seems that you can do something that I can't. However, if I had to bet I would say that you numbers will get better now that you're using Bevo. I don't know what traffic sources you use, but I think that tracking can be very useful with any type of traffic.


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  • Profile picture of the author CPATrendPhil
    I'm in the same boat as you man. I find dealing with tracking platforms so tedious that I don't really use them. I don't recommend it to most affiliate marketers, but it's obviously something some people are able to get away with.
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  • Profile picture of the author CPATrendPhil
    I don't use it, but I recommend affiliates using 3rd party tracking tools. FOR THE RECORD lol. I've dabbled around with it -- but I'm so incredibly anal when it comes to certain things, that I literally sit there around the clock watching things so intently and constantly adjusting campaigns and such that I personally don't need the tracking. I understand it may not be the best way of running campaigns, but I'm not really running lots of campaigns myself anymore, so doesn't really affect me personally much anymore.
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    • Profile picture of the author Freeman77
      Originally Posted by CPATrendPhil View Post

      I've dabbled around with it -- but I'm so incredibly anal when it comes to certain things, that I literally sit there around the clock watching things so intently and constantly adjusting campaigns and such that I personally don't need the tracking. .
      I have to admit that I suffer from this too. It can be hard to walk away from our precious campaigns. Speaking of which, brb..
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  • Profile picture of the author Quatrel
    Well it certainly has a lot of steps - and if you are not careful, the chances of making errors are high.

    I remember reading somewhere that a very large percentage of spreadsheets have errors ... extrapolating that to tracking makes me wonder how many errors are lurking inside ... lol ...
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  • Profile picture of the author jeffrey73
    Originally Posted by Wise Grasshopper View Post

    Bevo Media is super simple. Much less steps than 202. I recommend if you guys are just starting off for sure (and even if your not).
    BEVO looks INCREDIBLE, to be honest. The problem is that the free tracker leaves your stats completely open. Not sure if that's really a problem, but there is still potential.
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  • Profile picture of the author nowk
    Hey,

    It's great to see you say your opinions on bevo media. I need a tracker and soon Been thinking prosper 202 or Bevo Media

    Any suggestions guys?!

    And do they install the same way?
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    • Profile picture of the author Geoffrey Freedom
      Sometimes all the software we use for IM reminds of the scene in caddy shack when Rodney Dangerfield pulls out the golf club with a million gizmos and gadgets attached to it.
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      • Profile picture of the author bravo75
        Yeah, and Chevy Chase floating around going: na-na-na-na and winning all the juicy prizes.

        Originally Posted by Geoffrey Freedom View Post

        Sometimes all the software we use for IM reminds of the scene in caddy shack when Rodney Dangerfield pulls out the golf club with a million gizmos and gadgets attached to it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Quatrel
        Well said ... lol ...



        Originally Posted by Geoffrey Freedom View Post

        Sometimes all the software we use for IM reminds of the scene in caddy shack when Rodney Dangerfield pulls out the golf club with a million gizmos and gadgets attached to it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Flaura78
    Yep, I tried Tracking 202 did not work for me.... However I still use trackers, therefore when one of the offers is withdrawn, I can actually replace the link as well. Stops me losing money
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    • Profile picture of the author jeffrey73
      It's amazing how so many affiliates can talk up this tracker ( P202 ) for so long as it being the greatest invention on the planet. Yet from the other side, you can also hear so many other affiliates talk about how bad it sucks.
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      • Profile picture of the author Freeman77
        Originally Posted by jeffrey73 View Post

        Yet from the other side, you can also hear so many other affiliates talk about how bad it sucks.
        P202 probably works great for some, and I'm sure many feel that it's awesome. It's just too time-consuming for me.

        Like I said, I've currently added Bevomedia into my stat-checking routine, and so far it's doing a nice job. Very user-friendly, and the owner, Ryan, has been very responsive. Though I still need a couple of network owners to get on the ball and get their networks available on Bevo.

        I urge network owners to establish contact with the admin at bevomedia.com if their network isn't yet available!
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
    Does bevomedia work with PPV?
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  • Profile picture of the author Cash37
    I just use good ol Microsoft EXCEL.

    Ive experimented with EVERYTHING currently on the market and nothing works better than logging in the morning, and copy and pasting my spend and earnings to a good ol excel sheet.

    My excel sheet calculates every little thing I want, I can see ROI of my total spend at a glance, and its hosted on my PC not some server or some cloud. There really isnt a better solution.
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    • Profile picture of the author Quatrel
      Hmmm ... just ran across this: Warning: Bevo Media PPC Tracking = Lame Duck
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    • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
      Originally Posted by Cash37 View Post

      I just use good ol Microsoft EXCEL.

      Ive experimented with EVERYTHING currently on the market and nothing works better than logging in the morning, and copy and pasting my spend and earnings to a good ol excel sheet.

      My excel sheet calculates every little thing I want, I can see ROI of my total spend at a glance, and its hosted on my PC not some server or some cloud. There really isnt a better solution.
      Would you mind if I asked if you could send me a copy of that excel sheet with the formulas? I used to be good with excell years ago now it's been so long I can't remember how to do any of the stuff I used to lol
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      • Profile picture of the author Cash37
        Originally Posted by QuickSurf View Post

        Would you mind if I asked if you could send me a copy of that excel sheet with the formulas? I used to be good with excell years ago now it's been so long I can't remember how to do any of the stuff I used to lol
        PM me your email address
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        • Profile picture of the author Boolade
          i always actually enjoyed tracking. i felt like if i was tracking i was able to actually get the most out of each of my campaigns and it was almost like a game, almost. but if you start tracking right now i feel like you would realize how worth it it can be to your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    The big reason why so many people love p202 and t202, is it was pretty much the first free tracker, and it's open source..

    It's going to be interesting once Bevo catches on...
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  • Profile picture of the author johnkn
    I'm starting to test some PPC campaigns and I'm using prosper202. It seems to be very good and easy to use (at least until now). However, I noticed that sometimes it takes too long to redirect me to my landing page. I don't if it happens only to me (not to other people who click on my ads), but I'm afraid that it will make me lose conversions.

    Now that I know that some big guys don't use a tracking system I'm more confident to make some tests without prosper. I think I will just use subIDs and see what happens...
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  • Profile picture of the author Juan-Pablo
    I use P202, but I don't really like it much. Setting up campaigns takes much longer than it should, and there are some annoying bugs. Might try Bevo soon.

    I'll admit I was very shocked to read people are making good money without tracking. Can't imagine doing it myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author badboy_Nick
    Originally Posted by Freeman77 View Post

    I just eyeball my campaigns. At any point in the day, I'm not really sure exactly how much money I've made, though if I take a minute to check out each network, I can get an exact amount.

    My approach is that if I can't get a campaign to perform to an extent that I know it's making good money, I don't pursue it. I'm not going to invest $100 to make $105, so none of my campaigns are so close that I need to closely track them to see if I'm squeaking by with a profit.
    I used to do that as well, and I can tell you it works.

    Most people cant do that so, and if you are playing in high risk industries like finance you cant afford NOT to have tracking ... you are simply playing with too much money and it would be like gambling. you know, spending £500 per day without tracking would be suicide.

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