Affiliate marketing has always been one of those things that I wanted to know a lil more about, but have been scared of trying because of the sheer size of the unknown variable with getting it started and making it profitable.
Maybe you can tell me this: a while back I signed up for Alex Goad's newsletters. He always has some new way of making money, from black hat to Google Payload or whatever else. DO you or anyone else have any info on how easy or hard it is to get started, and if he or any of these marketers are really profitting and telling the truth? I mean, I know you have to put work in, and if that's a way to eventually make $5k/mo, then yea, I'll do it, but at the same time I'm not some kid in high school or college who is a whiz kid at these things, and I don't want to LOSE a bunch of money trying to make something work.
It sounds good, but just need some solid info. Which of those links do you recommend the most?
To get the basics down, I'd probably recommend the
Secret Affiliate Code link.
But if you have a budget and the patience to learn before you start, I definitely recommend the
Adwords Stuff link. Especially the Definitive Guide to Google Adwords. I'd almost recommend learning about pay-per-click (PPC) marketing BEFORE learning about SEO. That way, once you're ready to start getting organic traffic from the search engines, you know which keywords to target that actually lead to SALES as opposed to just useless traffic. Learn PPC and how to convert PPC traffic with decent landing pages and you'll be profiting $5,000.00 a month in no time.
I know the big thing now is using the social networking sites for traffic, and that's definitely a good avenue to pursue, it just doesn't seem like the social networking traffic actually CONVERTS as well as search engine and PPC traffic. I'm noticing that there's a big difference between the visitors who arrive from places like Stumbleupon and the visitors who come from a targeted keyword search or an ad campaign. I seriously think a lot of bloggers and webmasters are wasting their time on these sites with little return value. But hey, that's just my personal opinion, someone else may have different results. But I bet if you compare the conversion rates of those who get most of their traffic from search and PPC to those who are getting most of their traffic from the social networking sites, you'd see a huge difference.
I also recommend the following forums and blogs for learning the basics of some of this stuff:
Code:
http://www.wickedfire.com/ [B](A very aggressive bunch. Not for sensitive noobs)[/B]
http://cashtactics.net/forum/index.php
http://www.doshdosh.com
http://www.seobook.com/ [B](I'll upload his book when I get a chance. One of the few ebooks that are worth the price tag)[/B]
http://www.ppchero.com/[B] (A ridiculous amount of thorough and FREE info on PPC marketing)[/B]
http://bloggerunleashed.com/
http://courtneytuttle.com/
http://makemoneyforbeginners.blogspot.com/
http://www.cdfnetworks.com/
AFFILIATE TRADE MAGAZINES:
http://www.revenuetoday.com/
http://feedfront.com/
Sites I'd stay far away from now that I know better:
Code:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/
http://www.warriorforum.com/
http://www.johnchow.com
It's a serious business, but you have a lot of bullshit people selling bullshit ebooks full of either things that won't work or things you can just as well learn for free on sites like WickedFire. The main benefit from even reading any of the shit I posted is to get the basics, then you actually start applying some of what you learned and go to forums like WickedFire to learn how this shit really works. That's why I always say the best education is just to start doing shit. Apply the knowledge as you learn but just DO SOMETHING. Everyone looks for the easy answers from an ebook or something but it really all boils down to hard work and trial and error.
A few more tips:
Usually when you sign up for an affiliate network, you will get an introductory email from your affiliate manager. Communicate with this person. Get on the phone with them if you can. Your affiliate manager can give you so much insight on offers that are converting the best and upcoming offers. They can even work it out so that you get a higher or faster payout, but you can't be scared to pick up the phone and get to know them.
Network. Network. Network. There's a big Affiliate Summit that's going to be in Vegas this upcoming weekend. Try to make it to one of these events and meet the affiliate managers. Meet other affiliates. Pick up connections and advice that will put more money in your pockets. To me, this is even the best benefit of the social networking sites but everybody's just trying to use these sites to get traffic.
Treat this shit as a business. Get the idea out of your mind of some guy making $1,000 a day in his pajamas playing X-Box all day. Yes these guys exist, but most of them started out putting in serious hours and hard work. Don't treat this shit as a sideline hobby. There are a lot of opportunities and a ton of money to be made. I'd like to eventually work my way up to starting my own affiliate/advertising network. Either be dedicated to it or just don't even bother because you're going to waste time and money.
