Focus, Focus, Focus
If you’re a person with an above average IQ, you probably have several amazing ideas each day. On the one hand, it’s a huge advantage but on the other hand, it’s also something that can work against you if you’re not careful.
No matter how successful or well organized you are, a day still won’t have more than 24 hours and your budget will probably never be limitless either. Yes, it’s true that you need to diversify but that doesn’t mean that you should go overboard. Spreading yourself too thin is just as bad as keeping all of your eggs in one basket.
In Case You Forgot: Focus, Focus, Focus
Most people get really excited about a project at the beginning but end up being distracted at one point or another. The brainstorming process is almost always a lot of fun but when you start implementing everything, things tend to get a bit boring. It’s like that for everyone and it’s perfectly understandable.
While it is understandable, that doesn’t mean that you have to start finding excuses. So you have great ideas? Well, what good will it do if they don’t materialize? Writing stuff on a board or on a piece of paper is great and everything but making money would be kinda-sorta nice too, wouldn’t it? If you always jump from one idea to another, you’ll end up with a lot of “concepts” but no money in the bank. So, what’s the solution?
You’ve Guessed It: Focus, Focus, Focus
Keep your eyes on the prize and be sure to set goals. Reaching a goal always gives you a nice little boost, probably more than enough in order to make it to the next one and so on. Don’t forget to reward yourself, keep it fun!
Ok, so focusing is important. But does this mean that you should let ideas with a lot of potential go to waste? Of course not, be ready to always write a great idea down. Be organized, you’ll thank yourself later on. Notepad is your friend, seriously! Why complicate things? Create a folder, call it “ideas” or something and whenever you think that you’ve discovered the best thing since sliced bread, open notepad or an editor of choice for a moment and let your imagination run wild. Then get back to work, rinse and repeat. That’s really all there is to it.
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A Little Bit of Paranoia Helps!
You’ll cross paths with a lot of shady people as an affiliate marketer, there are always folks who want to make a quick buck and this industry definitely doesn’t represent an exception. It’s even safe to assume that a day never goes by without someone trying to cause trouble in one way or another.
Maybe it’s an advertiser who’s shaving like there’s no tomorrow, maybe it’s the owner of a network, maybe it’s someone who’s trying to intimidate your host, maybe it’s someone who wants to hack one of your websites and the list could go on and on.
Ready to Put Your Tinfoil Hat On?
Well, you should be. A little bit of paranoia definitely doesn’t hurt and it all boils down to this: watch your back! Let’s analyze two possible scenarios:
- You blindly trust the people you do business with
- You don’t trust anyone
Now in the first case, it’s only a matter of time until you’d end up being disappointed and possibly even broke. It happens time and time again. Do you think that blindly trusting an advertiser and/or your AM is the smart thing to do? Let’s assume that an offer converts great today and that your AM is insisting that you invest as much money as possible “until it’s too late”. Let’s also assume that you’re just starting out and only have $5,000 at your disposal. Should you invest everything you have? A lot of people do and end up being disappointed. There are more than a few advertisers who lure you in with an offer which converts great, only to start scrubbing like maniacs as soon as they see some serious volume. If you have a huge budget at your disposal then sure, you can afford to lose $5,000 or even more but if not, don’t get carried away!
What about Scenario #2?
Now as far as scenario #2 is concerned, one thing is certain: if you don’t trust anyone, you’ll never end up being disappointed. That doesn’t mean that you should treat the people you do business with like criminals, not by a long shot. Don’t start burning bridges, be rational.
Paranoia can work in your favor as long as you don’t go overboard. Be polite and professional but not naïve, that’s basically all there is to it. Do everything you can to generate win-win situations but don’t forget to watch your back!
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Here is the compiled list of all the networks that are going to be on our interface come launch day on November 15th. If your network is not listed here, please let me know ASAP and I will get my programmers on it before launch day. Please note that we will be consistently adding networks after we launch, but for the time being we are going to focus on perfecting our interface rather than adding more networks until launch. For more information on what Bevo Media is, please shoot me an IM on AIM at screenname “BevoRyan”. Likewise, you can email me as well: ryan@bevomedia.com
Offical Network List for Launch Date:
Ads4Dough
Affiliate.com
AzoogleAds
ClickBank
ClickBooth
Comission Junction
Convert2Media
Copeac
CPAStorm
EliteComission
FluxAds
MarketLeverage
Maxbounty
Adfinity
AdDrive
AdEx
AdFish
AffiliateWise
Amped Media
Aqasis Media
BlinkAds
Commission Empire
CPA Fuel
CPA Jolt
CPA Valley
CPARev
CXdigital
Eagle Web Assets
eComLeads
EliteProfits
EpicCenter Network
Express Revenue
FireLead
Glipsa
Hydra Network
Jar Media
Karaktr
MarketHealth
MediaTrust (Advaliant)
Millnic Media
Motive
OfferWeb
PepperJam
PrimaryAds
RevenueLoop
Rextopia
ShareASale
Tatto Media
Unique Leads
Wotogepa
YEP!
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Time Management 101 – Outsourcing
Remember the first site you’ve ever published? You know, that ugly template-ish thing you spent so much time putting together and which never converted (then again, you probably didn’t even know what conversions are back then)?
The beautiful thing about having money is that you will never ever have to go through something like that again. You have an idea, then pay a designer and a writer to make things happen: bam, there’s your site! There’s so much competition out there that freelancers are working for practically nothing these days.
Finding Freelancers Who Know What They’re Doing
It’s perfectly natural to want things on the cheap but seriously, don’t go too far. If you always chase after bargains, you’re going to end up working with people who don’t have a clue and that’s always bad for business.
Think about it: let’s assume that a decent designer (lots of positive testimonials, an impressive portfolio and so on) charges $100 for a fully coded landing page and that lots of beginners (no portfolio whatsoever and maybe a couple of testimonials) only charge $40. If you go with the person with a great track record, you’ll probably receive a landing page which converts (we can assume that based on the fact that the reputable designer in question has worked with a lot of affiliate marketers) but if you want to save a buck and choose to go with a beginner, it’s hit or miss.
Good Case Scenario, Bad Case Scenario
If the beginner does a great job, you’ve saved $60 but if not, you’ll probably lose a lot of money. Aside from the fact that you’ll have to pay for another landing page at the very least (if you continue to work with the beginner, you’ll probably have to order a handful of landing pages until he finally gets it right), you need to also take the money spent on traffic (probably a good chunk of change) into consideration.
Is it really worth it? Sure, you can save 60 bucks but you’ll probably lose hundreds of dollars as well as time by not working with people who know what they’re doing. Do yourself a favor and learn from the mistakes others have made. You’re better off hiring freelancers with a proven track record, far less variables involved. Given the fact that you probably have a lot on your mind as it is, the last thing you have time for is babysitting a beginner.
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The Art of Creating an Attractive Ad which Appeals to the “Right” Audience
Did you think that if your ads have an impressive CTR, the campaign(s) will automatically end up being profitable? Wrong! Think about it: the most important thing is convincing the people who click to perform a certain action. Maybe you’re selling something, maybe you want them to sign up for something.
Even if you have a brilliant landing page, convincing the “wrong” audience to perform the action(s) in question is so hard that it’s just not worth it. Most people think that it’s your job as an affiliate marketer to convince as many people as possible to click on an ad. Well, it’s not.
Do You Want Lots of “Curious Clickers”?
Here’s the thing: even a complete beginner can come up with an ad which is so “different” (weird, interesting, maybe even shocking) that lots and lots of people end up clicking. But there’s just one problem: most of them would be “curious clickers” who have no interest whatsoever in what you’re offering. They would click that shiny ad of yours, drop by and then leave.
In other words, you’d practically be throwing money away. While it is true that you will get cheaper clicks if your CTR is high (after all, networks display ads based on how much money they make from each of them – they make more money from people with low bids but a huge CTR than from people who are willing to pay a lot more per click but have an ad which nobody wants to check out), it still just won’t be worth it in most cases.
Exact Science + Art = $$$
Affiliate marketing is an exact science as well as an art and in this case, you have to find the right balance between creating an attractive ad and not making it appealing to the wrong crowd. It sounds complicated but it really isn’t. If you have at least some basic understanding of marketing, you’ll be fine.
All you have to do is make the ad “different” but still make it perfectly clear what you’re offering. The potential visitors need to know exactly what they’d end up finding if they choose to drop by. Show them what your site is all about in a unique way. Tweak, tweak and tweak some more. Find something that works, scale. Rinse and repeat. Have fun!
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