Back in the IM game and better than ever!

by 19 replies
24
Hello Warriors,

It was back in 2000 when I launched my 1st IM site and I admit it was a total failure! I closed the site in 2003 packed my bags and moved to California to start a new life. However the failure of that small business of mine always gnawed at me...I hate failure! So I started an affiliate dating / PUA blog (2006) however that too failed.

Strike 2!!

Starting in 2010 I started a review blog for a sub-niche of dating / PUA that I was really passionate about!

That is when things began to change and I saw results. I was making good 'pocket money' but I wanted to take it to the next level. I hired (from Odesk) a web designer to totally revamp my blog / site and also started a newsletter (using Aweber).

Within 2 months my sales began to double and I was getting subscribers (slowly but surely). Scouring the net I learned a boat load of information and took my business seriously. It was only this year that I started using pay-per-click adverting (mainly POF and Hexagram) and my income began to double month-to-month.

Now my brain is pumping out ideas seeing if 'content adverting' is the way to go? There are so many networks to choose from I was wondering if there are any Warriors using 'Native Ad Adverting' with great success?

Just wondering what are your favorites? Also which do thing would convert better for dating type traffic?

I guess my real question is - should I stick with PPC or go for native ad adverting as well? Just wondering what the experts think?
#main internet marketing discussion forum #back #game
  • Banned
    What is native ad advertising? You have some examples?
    • [1] reply
    • Sorry for not making myself clear - ever read an article on the web and you see at the bottom "From Around The Web" or something like "Recommended for You"?

      That's native ad advertising - an ad disguised as content that's recommended to you...click on any article on Yahoo news and you'll see what I'm talking about.

      Those are sponsored (paid) ads that revolve around the content you are already reading..but it's takes you to a different site all together. They don't look like traditional banner ads, they look like relevant content that you are already reading.

      Networks like RevContent, Hexagram, Taboola, Outbrain and AdBlade all service this type of marketing style.
      • [ 3 ] Thanks
      • [2] replies
  • As a webmaster am just like Oliver Twist, more and more.

    I want more and more traffic if PPC and native whatever is what brings it.

    You are the CEO of your company, remember, every new successful discovery you make is two step forward for you. Keep the ball rolling.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Hey Andrea's love the brutal honesty here - two "opportunities to learn" :-)

    Unfortunately I've not got a clue about native advertising or content advertising. I've built my business through the usual content + value + support method.

    Darren.
    • [1] reply
    • Yep, they were two hard lessons indeed but hey I didn't give up. By no means am I a raging success now. But for part time income I think I'm doing okay :-)
  • I always wondered about those adds. I think you should try it, I always click on them. I know they're ads but they provide useful information related to what I'm reading. If you ask me, I would say they are the future of online advertising.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
  • Banned
    just redo it and make it look good and rewrite the pitch
    • [1] reply
    • That's pretty much what I am attempting to do. Fine tune the message and make it look good. In its core they are banner ads that fly under the radar ;-)

      Well allow me to give you Tip 1 - don't use AdBlade! They are an 800 lbs gorilla however they (at least my rep) used a bait and switch tactic to fund my account only then to tell me my landing page wasn't compliant. Total b.s. because I emailed her before to make sure my page was good to go. Piss poor customer service, luckily I got my money back with paypal's help.

      Tip 2: Hexagram - they are okay and really nothing to brag about. The biggest drawback is that it's not self-serve. You need to email them your creative with graphic, text, geo targeting and expenditure per day. That is ridiculous in my opinion but they are supposed to move to a self-serve platform "soon".

      Tip 3: Next time to see a cloaked banner ad, click on it and see where it takes you. Study the page and see what they are doing right. <b>Competitive intelligence</b> is something we all do here in one form or another.

      Tip 4: None of them allow for adult type content so forget it if you're in that niche. They all have fairly strict guidelines on ad sizes, # of characters allowed and also some won't allow for vids on your landing page.

      P.S. I am 100% sure there are warriors reading this but keeping mum so they don't give away their secrets :-)
      • [1] reply
  • Taboola and Outbrain both demand hefty deposits. The traffic seems legit but there's no guarantee it will succeed. If you have the budget you can always give them a try.
  • I agree, Taboola is a heavyweight and they demand a minimum of $2000 a month. However their links seem to hit more "mainstream" type sites. They are all over the web so they must be drawing in traffic for their customers.
  • It sounds like you are making most of your profit from your 'Aweber' List.

    If that is the case, and you want to use 'Paid' Advertising, then why not just send paid traffic directly to your 'lead capture' pages?
    • [1] reply
    • Hello Rory,

      Here is where you and every other Warrior will shake your heads and laugh at me.

      I don't have a lead capture page. I am working on it in fact, the PPC campaigns I have been running go directly to my site but to different pages.

      I know - you must me saying to yourself "what's wrong with this guy" but on a minimal budget I'm doing well. All my sales until 2 months ago were all from organic traffic. I optimized all my pages (SEO) for certain product reviews I was doing. I placed those keywords into the slug, title, h1 & h2 tags and in the copy.

      By mid to late January I'll have my lead capture page set up. Funny thing is that for 3 years I didn't even have an email list. Crazy to think I ignored that funnel for so long missing out on the long term profit center.

      As I mentioned before it was only in the last 6 months I really took my business seriously and I'm seeing the reward finally.
  • [DELETED]
  • Maybe Earnify can help you - theres is a CPA network so you won't pay for clicks, but real actions like a lead capture.

    Pretty much everyone these days is using Facebook ads to capture leads as it can be VERY cost effective, if you know what you are doing around FB ads. No minimum budget, highly target leads, and great A/B testing.
  • I would stick with PPC until you've pumped out the maximum amount of profit that you can, and THEN try native advertising. Keep doing backend marketing, and test native advertising *slowly* before throwing a ton of money at it.
  • Thanks guys for the advice really appreciated!!!
Join the discussion

Next Topics on Trending Feed

  • 24

    Back in the IM game and better than ever!

    Hello Warriors, It was back in 2000 when I launched my 1st IM site and I admit it was a total failure! I closed the site in 2003 packed my bags and moved to California to start a new life. However the failure of that small business of mine always gnawed at me...I hate failure! So I started an affiliate dating / PUA blog (2006) however that too failed.