Time to start PPC I Think!

cheaper keywords ? implying some are dear ? all a misconception , dear keywords are only those keywords where people choose to pay to much as google does not set the price people pay.

-PPV can be great once you figure out what converts/what works well. Then again, PPC and media buys are great also - once you figure out what works and what doesn't. They can ALL be great.

The fact is, there are a lot of people that are making a killing with PPV, and/or PPC and/or media buys. -They can all be extremely lucrative/profitable.

HOWEVER, there are even more people (probably) that are losing their money everyday on all of the above. The thing is, you're almost always going to lose money at first because you have to test out your campaigns, test some more, then test some more. Tweak, optimize and scale. Some people get lucky and find a winning campaign on their first go - but that is rare.

Regarding PPV - it can be really great. First of all, it can be 100x cheaper than PPC - especially for really competitive keywords. You have to figure out what kind of offers work best and on which networks - because some offers work better on other networks (depending on the demographic of the traffic). Take a look at where the network is getting their traffic - if it's an install that you think is more probable for older people or younger, more tech-savvy people, you can get a better idea as to what kind of offers will fly etc. You also have to look at what offers perform better depending on the presentation method - pop-up/pop-under/new tab etc.

Most people will probably tell you that lead generation (free insurance quotes, free catalogs, free registration dating offers etc. etc. etc.) and list building are the best options for PPV. That doesn't mean that you can't find success with other offer types etc.

Regarding PPC - there are other networks (2nd tier networks) that are available - in lieu of Google/Yahoo/Bing. More research may be required for this type of advertising because you'll have to figure out where the traffic is coming from (US/UK/CANADA or OTHER/INTERNATIONAL). You may also have to research each site that you decide to advertise on (unless you decide to do RON) - look not only at the site's demographic data, but look at the traffic stats - unique visitors/day vs. non-unique visitors etc. The good thing is, however, that these 2nd tier networks usually provide a lot of this information for you to aid you in your selection. 2nd tier PPC solutions are usually cheaper and less competitive than the 1st tier solutions (Yahoo, Google, Bing etc.) - but you're usually going to see less traffic, and, again, you have to see which offers work better by researching demographic and mindset of visitors etc. You may see better/worse conversion rates depending on which network you use also - be it via Google, Yahoo, Adbrite, Miva, or Facebook (to name a few) - all for the same offer. One downside to 2nd tier networks may be the availability of websites for your niche (if it is an unusual niche, that is). What I mean is, one network may have 8,000+ websites to choose from, while another may have 40,000+ websites to choose from - depending on your niche, you may or may not find a good website that you think will give you the best return based on your minimum expectations etc. It's not very likely, but you may have a hard time finding a website that is related to your offer/niche. Again, it's VERY unlikely that that would happen, but I mention it just as evidence of possible limitations.

No matter which IM method you choose, do your research first. Investigate and get opinions on the networks and the offers that you will be choosing. Lastly, start small, be smart/be creative/look at what your competition is doing and focus on one method at a time until you have mastered it.

Good luck and take care,
-M