Justin do you specialize in Facebook and POF?

What type of initial investment to you recommend to get started?

Do you derive most of your income from direct ads or from your email lists?

For someone who knows very little, where is the best place to start? CPA?
Clickbank?

Do you create your own products?

One thing that holds me back is the thought that it will take me weeks to
start making a profit. Is there a good way to get to at least breakeven rather
quickly?

Hi Justin,
Congrats on your affiliate marketing success. I would just like to know whether any beginner should start with CB or with companies selling physical products.

If you feel confident in selling, go for it. I prefer leads as they're easier for anyone new in the industry, but sales are typically a no scrub no shave area which is great for getting accurate information

It depends. How much money are you losing. Are you seeing consistent conversions or not? That is what I like to look for. If I am seeing 1 out of every 15 - 25 clicks convert, but I'm still unprofitable but at a decent level (lets say I'm losing 50%), I would stick to that campaign. If its inconsistent, where I might get 3 conversions really fast, then another 100 clilcks to another conversion, then 20 clicks for another, then 5 conversions in the next 10 clicks, I might test a bit longer, but inconsistency is the main killer of campaigns for me.

It also depends on the scale of a campaign. I try not to make my campaigns to small. If I have to make 100 small campaigns to make $100, I would kill myself. Smaller campaigns are easier to get profitable, but harder to manage and track. I shoot for medium to large target ranges.

For you, if its a considerable amount of money that you are making from the other campaigns, focus on optimizing those. You may learn some lessons that you can use to then go back and scale your previous failed campaigns with.

This pic is from last year on the Integrate platform.

Landing pages, blogs, squeeze pages or direct to offer. I have a whole plethora of ways I send traffic.

If I had nothing but a computer and internet access to my name, I'd start how I did originally. Freelancing - whether that be writing, managing campaigns, design, etc, its a great source of money and people always need things done that they don't want to do.

It is limited in that sense, but there are a lot of people with the software on their PC.

I know campaigns get stolen. They get stolen across every traffic source and niche. Not much you can do to avoid it, other than just staying ahead of the pack. I know LeadImpact has made "direct deals" on campaigns they've seen do well, at which point they don't allow anyone else to promote that offer. But the only reason I've seen people banned is because they were doing something they shouldn't have been doing.

I hear most B2B is done through search. You could also consider retargeting on display as a good option.

Linkshare is physical products with percentages paid on sales, I believe, so pick a high value/high percentage payout offer and start there. These could be promoted on any traffic source.

Mobile is obviously the biggest grower and mobile net usage is starting to surpass pc net usage. I expect networks to start getting their crap together and make targetting and usability on thier self serve platforms up to shape over the course of this year making it easier for everyone to jump in. Facebook is a flopping fish after they decided to go public, so they've had to squeeze every penny they can. PoF is innovating nicely and growing at a steady rate. They're the new FB. PPV isn't doing much these days, and display will always be strong.

I've had weeks where 9/10 campaigns will go my way, and weeks where 10/10 flop miserably despite my best efforts. There is no average. I do find though, that the more time I put into understanding my targets, the better I will do.

a good advice

I do most if not all of the creative thinking work and outsource what I can like design, and sometimes managing campaigns.

Wow dude. I hope you keep this thread going but now that I know where your blog is I have more good reading ahead. I am a stoked newbie. I have studied full time IM since last December and was mostly looking at those 'turn key affiliate businesses' or network marketing platforms. I got a little sick of the hype and pumping-up and recently started looking into ClickBank as a more direct way to earn. I am a little bummed about the word on the street - CB just aint what it used to be.

As far as advice goes for new marketers, would you recommend something other than CB to get started? I noticed Wolf Storm is promoting their own in house training.

I have some, although it isn't a huge focus for my business. I've had a couple good PPCall campaigns before.

You can scale it out by a higher login count, although you might not get too far. Higher logins are alright when you get the right CPMs for them. Higher counts, lower CPM, but lower CTRs. It's a balancing game. Another technique to get a good amount of money from a couple converting ads is to just recreate the ads tens/hundreds of time to multiply the amount of impressions you can get. PoF ads can die quick if you don't rotate them, so you either bleed them dry fast or rotate to keep campaigns alive longer.

Thai beer is crap. Beer Lao is better, but I'm not much of a beer guy. I much prefer a nice prosecco or cocktail.

Affiliate Marketing is never what it used to be. Adapt, Evolve or Die.

I focus mostly on short lead gen CPA offers like what you would find at WSM.

No idea. In the billions I would imagine.

You can't just try one campaign and expect a magic bullet or an instant conversion. How many ads did you put up? How much research did you put into the campaign? How many landing pages do you have rotating? Basically, how much have you really tested?

It can take weeks for many of my campaigns to be profitable, but if I'm not seeing conversions on something I would expect to convert at least once within the first few hours of launching it, I would probably look for other offers or a new niche.

IM is not a get rich quick scheme, and if you think it is, you're horribly mistaken.

Probably my blog at justindupre.com. I'm mostly a pure affiliate marketer through direct advertising.

Start with whatever you have the most interest in or the most knowledge in. Find an offer that fits. Doesn't matter where you get it.

Using words like FREE when its not really free. Targetting the wrong demographic, especially targeting too young.

I moved out of the US when I was 18. Only ever worked in restaurants and an amusement park back home.

I've answered the first question a couple times, but I'll say again, relationships, health and money are the big three that you can take a slice of.

The big search engines, Facebook, places like SiteScout, adult on exoclick, mobile on buzzcity or jumptap are good places to start.

I honestly don't do SEO, ever. I let my content generate traffic on its own through word of mouth. I'm sure some of it is through search, but it's been months since I've checked analytics.

If things aren't converting for you, these are the things I nail it down to:

- Poorly Targeted
- Ad Copy isn't hooking into the target or not enough presell
- Crap offer


And again, SEO/organic traffic is not my main focus, so I really know very little on the subject. 95% of the money I make is from buying traffic and sending it to CPA offers.

Just starting out in internet marketing. mainly focusing on cpa offers. I currently don't have the budget to purchase any software. Is there a method that will have good results where I can redirect potential leads from my own domain to the cpa offer?

i have a lot of exp in ppc but affiliate stuff is new but thanks for the helpful info.

Relationships
Money
Diet

with $3000 to test what are a few good CPA ad networks you would recommend to start?

do i need to buy a domain related to the product that i am choosing to drive traffic to?
ie: jewishgirls4fun.com and then design 5-10 simple targeted ads?

should i have numerous domains or just design different landing pages to test on one domain until i find a winner?

test ads until i find a winner and then max out the volume to the winner and wash rinse repeat to other networks?

reinvest in cpvlabs and do it again?

I can't answer that question. Could it be possible? Sure, anything is possible.

Will it be profitable for sure? Depends how you market it, who your targeting, what you copy is.

One thing you need to note is PPV pop sizes. Max around 700 x 500 and smaller depending on browser and how a user has it laid out.


CPVLab is a tracker. It's the one I use and recommend for general testing outside of mobile, which there are better trackers for. I don't know any side-by-side comparisons of them, but going to each tracker page and figuring out for yourself should take you less than an hour to decide what you need.

Yes.

Depends on the offer. A 5 dollar payout or lower will get around 50 - 100$ of testing. Here, I'm not looking for profit, but more so consistency in conversions.

A higher payout offer around 30 - 50$ would get at least a couple hundred to test. Offers in the hundreds would take around $1k to get a good test on.

I don't have a formula, but it averages out to around 5x the payout with a minimum of $50.

A couple days minimum, usually during the middle of the week where conversion are better for most of what I do. However, this changes niche to niche, technique to technique, source to source, etc to etc, so test them a few different days of the week and track days and times of day that you get the best cvr.

It's best to buy a domain for every niche you want to run. I have broad niche domains, then for campaigns that do well, they get tested on more specific domains. Believe it or not, it can make a difference on your CTR and conversion rate.

You have to be careful with this. Facebook cracks down on affiliates running pages plastered with mostly just affiliate spam. If you can create a legitimate page and every once and a while drop in links to a blog post you wrote about a great new book or product in your niche, that's usually the best way to circumnavigate those issues.

I hadn't heard of it. Been to a couple meetups in Bangkok, but they were poorly run and most of the people there weren't really the successful entrepreneurs I'd expect from a meetup.

Cookie stuff is blackhat and illegal in many areas. I don't do SEO and I don't cookie stuff.

Demographics, first, usually. Broader reach than targeting specific niche sites.

I don't reply for several reasons:

A) I have no idea what you might want. Saying Hi and then expecting a quick reply is not the way I do business. State what you want, give me some details, and I'll be more likely to reply.

B) If you are an unfamiliar name or in an area known for its spam (India included), you really have to push to reach me. Sorry, but I can't spend time reading and replying to everyone that comes to me to ask a question like "How can I PPC!!>!>!!>!!<!<!<!!?!?!?!?????". I also get a bunch of freeloaders asking for free indepth coaching advice and SEO service spammers message me from India, China, Russia, etc. I've also had the highest chargeback percentages from these areas on my services, so its really hard to do business.

Yes, I discriminate, but in order to keep my business and time on track, I have to.

C) If you have poor English skills, I might be less likely to reply. I typically don't coach those that can't string together a good English sentence. If you can't write a basic English sentence without a glaring grammar issue, you won't be able to write to English markets without extensive assistance, which I can't help anyone with.

D) I might not be in front of the PC. I leave my 3 PCs on 24/7 to aggrigate data and scrape information. Power going out can wipe any Skype logs, and I tend to only check Skype a few times a day unless I have a scheduled call. I am not a robot and don't have the ability to check Skype 24/7.

If you really need to reach me and have a specific question or need specific information from me, you can email me and be as direct as possible, please.

I'm a guy that just likes to get down to business without the BS and formalities of typical conversation. I appreciate when people are frank, open and straightforward and down to the point with me.

TrafficVance. I've listed several times throughout the thread the biggest niches you can look to hit. I don't focus on any one niche. When I think something can be profitable, I go for it.

Attend conferences.

Both these are exactly the same questions. Most of my traffic goes to a landing page of some sort. Some are squeeze pages, some are blogs, some are direct linked (but not many). It all depends on the traffic source and the offer I'm running. Some offers perform better without an LP, some need an LP. If you plan on getting into AM, be sure to test both, but I can tell you that in 80% of all campaigns I've run, they do best with a landing page. Sometimes you may have to test 10s of LPs until you find one that works with your offer.

I wouldn't get into any paid advertising until you have a couple thousand ready to go. You can always start with blogs, I suppose. Or you could learn a new skill while you save up. Programming skills will help you go much further if you can pick some of those up, or write your own automation programs.

Most networks just want to know that you're not going to be a scammy blackhat scumbag. Create more or less a marketing agency website for your business. On it, talk about services you provide to clients like PPC Campaign Management on multiple traffic sources like Google or Facebook. What gets me in is my blog. It shows I'm knowledgeable and have the ability to purchase and drive traffic to a networks offers.

And the biggest thing you can do to get accepted is be persistent. Call on a daily basis. Send emails daily. Come off like a knowledgeable person, and let them know your intent on how you plan on driving traffic. With some basic research this isn't hard.

I find it funny how many people complain about this, then complain that they don't want to call a network, so don't be one of those people. This is not an independent, do it all on your own industry like some might make you believe. Relationships are a huge part of making it big here.

I would probably recommend PPV. They're the most open to health, but it really depends what you are doing. SiteScout could be an option, too.

I said flipping burgers or pushing papers for another person as they are 10x easier than trying to start a business for yourself in IM or any other industry for that matter. I wasn't calling people stupid - I was letting people know what they need to know before they think getting into IM thinking it is "easy". I know a lot of "gurus" tout that their products and services are all push button, 1 day profit systems. Those don't exist. It doesn't matter if you are flipping burgers or have a position at a big, steady company - those jobs will always be an easier way to make money and part of that reason is, yes, the stability.

I wouldn't say it doesn't have major risks, though. Businesses close down left and right, competitors get squeezed out, downsizing, etc.

I think you read too far into that whole statement. I wasn't calling people stupid nor did I call out educated vs uneducated people. Just that IM is harder than anything else I've done in my life.

Sorry, I don't use Fivrr all that often.

probably need to highlight that word there...ASSET

I agree, having a list, it doesnt matter if you CPA offer dies, get cancelled, your website goes down, banned, sandboxed or delisted from the engines...you still have your number 1 asset, your list.

People do not understand it even years after I started I did not build a list. When i did, things changed very fast.

Absolutely True.

You're welcome!

I don't find anything I do "easy". The competition these days is very high. Time to time I catch onto a campaign that flukes out and has an amazing ROI with my first ad, but it isn't as simple as it used to be when I started 5 years ago. Basically, if you are looking for easy guaranteed money, it isn't going to be in paid advertising.

PPC = Pay Per Click. This term is very broad. I'm going to guess you mean search PPC. But you could also say social/FB PPC, display PPC, etc. Use proper terms like SEM (Search Engine Marketing) or Search PPC, or the name of the platform you want to advertise on.

I don't do a whole lot of search, but I know its very similar to PPV campaigns where you only target keywords or keyphrases. PPV might be a bit more simple and forgiving, but neither is better than the other. Spend a few hundred on both and see which one gives you the better impression.

At that point, your best bet is to either get something that you need automated custom made for you, or get employees to run more instances of this software for you. Sounds like you are doing SEO which is something I don't do.

Test a ton of images. You're not going to get a .07% up to .09+ easily. My biggest campaigns burn through about 50 - 100 images per day, and not many do well, but the ones that do easily make up for the losses generated on the poorer performing images.

It was really like - Alright, I'm done reading about it, I know the risks, and I'm ready to take them... I just need to do it. I was a freelance writer for a good few months that helped me build capital and knowledge. I then turned to writing for my own blogs and when I wasn't satisfied with the results of SEO (I was honestly tired of writing with 0 immediate results), I spent a month or so reading about social marketing, ppc and just dove in one day. When I started making $100+ a day I really dug in and saw the potential and it was almost like I would lock myself in 10+ hours a day.

I would start with something broad that could be applied to any niche for a testing domain. Something like "SuperDuperGreatDeals.com" - just an example, not one I use, but as you can see it can be used for almost any niche as its very general.

When you have a campaign that starts to stick out above the rest, buy a more specific domain, maybe one related to the offer specifically or your top performing target/keywords.

Once you start optimizing and making a major profit, but up 10 more domains and split test your best landing page across them all.

I'm guessing you're asking if you get a keyword profitable, will it be stable? Well, that is up to the offer and it is why you should use tracking. This allows you to see over a period of time when you convert, whether conversions go up and down, etc. But generally, if I find a winner, I continuously work on it. No reason not to!

Most likely search. PPV is a possibility if you can interupt on checkout pages with things like "WAIT! We have a better deal for the same holiday/travel package!" You want people that are already sure to buy if you go this route. I think this would be a harder to do on places like Facebook where I would go if you are going for branding/reach.

The idea behind a landing page is that you "pre-sell" the offer before the user is sent to the email submit form.

This is where your job as a marketer comes in.... you have to add value to the sales funnel.

I do not use iFrames. Using iFrames is only okay if an advertiser allows it, as it can be a simple way to create fraud. Think about using an email submit offer for free mcdonalds, but iframing just the submit button and email field on to a page to see free pornography or really anything you want to bend that to.

Both can be great. Try them and find out which one gives you a better ROI. If they both give positive ROIs, use both.

Hey Justin - just sent you a skype request.

thanx
-Dave

Don't forget to test your landing pages and keep optimizing your ads!

Your best bet would be to put together a seperate blog or another web page and link to that. A direct link to a known affiliate link would probably trigger alarms.

What's your system for setting up/testing new creatives on PoF? How many images/templates/copy's do you start out with or how do you go about that testing process?

Some campaigns I collect emails, some I don't. I test it on most campaigns eventually.

Does it really worth it, so many people spend countless hours and so few get real reward from it.

Thanks for this awesome thread Justin.

I'm interested in your dating venture. Are you going super-niche, or broad strokes on your new dating site? Are you pre-seeding the site with members somehow prior to publicly launching?

Speaking of dating -- ever heard of FarmersOnly? Some comic relief here.

These ads run in rural parts of Texas -- hilarious. FarmersOnly.com commercial - YouTube

Hi,

Thank you very much for your answer. Yes, i am willing to spend $50-100 a day. But, i am not good at creating good landing pages. So, should i just redirect the traffic to affiliate links instead of my own landing page?

What a huge money to spent.
$50 - $100 per day is a huge money for me.
Not to mention that i only get most $10 per day..

Sorry for the late replies! Been super busy lately with new businesses and clients!

They're really no different from each other. Use whatever one you like more.


It's usually best to start off with landing pages. You don't have to be amazing at writing HTML to make a basic landing page that works. With 10 hours of HTML training you should be able to put something together that works.

Around 1 - 3 dollars per each ad when just testing. Some images don't get clicks and I run CPC so they don't spend anything. But it averages out to about those numbers for quick tests.

There isn't much guarantee if you don't have any previous experience. I dove in head first when I got started with AM and was lucky to build up campaigns early before AM was as competitive as it is now. The only real thing that's changed then from now is that you have more traffic sources ready for advertisers now, which is a good thing so I think now is a great time to get started in it. You can always dedicate that time to free methods of promotion until you've got a better base capital built up, or use that time to freelance for other marketers. I know doing freelance writing back in the day is what helped get me to my level now.

I was wondering for the big earners how does your "portfolio" look like.

Do you have a few campaigns which brings in about 80%+ of your income?

Or do you have a more balance mix of a lot of smaller campaigns bringing together a lot of money.

Is it a matter of quantity (a lot of campaigns to earn a lot) or a few very good ones ("optimal" optimized) campaigns?

Do you still go country's which not so much traffic because it all adds up. Or you focus on those few which can bring in a lot?

Justin, do not forget about topic
We are waiting for you, take a minutes to answer our questions, thank you a lot!

i agree with you montozza ,
there is alot to learn from other people q & a
and for sure to learn from guys like justin and some other good marketers .

I agree...look for guys who are in the field and doing stuff...not just selling stuff.

As for me...I'm actually doing less CPA now than I ever have, but William, Justin and others are still very active so absolutely follow them!

Not to hijack Justin's thread, but check with your affiliate manager on your CPA network

If for some reason you lost everything and had to start all over with nothing tomorrow, what would you do? In other words, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently than when you first started out?

If you can PM me I'll let you know where to find more details. I don't think this thread is the appropriate place to cover it.

I'm sorry but this is just to broad of a topic to cover. There are so many ways you can get started with affiliate marketing. Read these forums, read my blog, read others affiliate marketing blogs and pick a traffic source or method you want to get started with. Focus on it until you master it. I'm not sure what else I can tell you.

I'm not sure what you are asking. Do you want to know about developing your own app or advertising on them? What was working before is still working as far as advertising.

Can't you scale by finding other similar sites and buy inventory from them?

Hey Justin - are you going to respond or not?
I am waiting for you to reply..

@nessa11 - dont waste your time with him,
He has not refunded the 'lifetime membership' fees of his forum and didn't respond appropriately when I asked him about it.
There are more reliable marketers out there. eg charlesngo.com