What If…
Most people are skating on thin ice: on the one hand, they’re banking high 3-4 figs per day but on the other hand, everything can go downhill in a matter of days or even hours. Here are just a few examples:
-the offer itself is shady and you just never know when the advertiser decides to let greed takes over and starts “overlooking” leads or sales like there’s no tomorrow
-the network you’re dealing with is the only one (out of the networks which aren’t private, so out of the networks you have access to) running a certain offer and those folks may also decide to let greed take over at one point or another
-laws which make pushing a certain offer too much of a risk make their appearance: nobody wants to get sued, so it’s only a matter of time until networks and/or advertisers pull the plug
-the only traffic source you’ve managed to make work starts screwing around
Have you ever asked yourself a few “what if” questions? It sounds strange but the vast majority of affiliate marketers would have no idea what to do if they experience problems such as the previously mentioned ones.
What would you do next?
Would you leave everything else aside and spend a few days brainstorming?
How would you put food on the table? Would you rely on savings? How much money have you managed to set aside?
Would you start liquidating some of your assets? Domains? Precious metals?
If so, would you be taking a loss?
What percentage of the money you’ve set aside or the money you’ve secured after liquidating a few assets would you use in order to fund your new project(s)?
Would you just focus on one project or try all sorts of approaches and see what sticks?
Do you have enough time and/or money to fight on more than one front? Or would you be better of limiting yourself to just one project?
Asking yourself some of these questions would definitely not hurt. Being prepared is always something smart. You know what they say, expect the best but prepare for the worst. Maybe you’ll be able to milk your current project/campaign for years to come but what if that will not be the case? Always take as many possible scenarios into consideration as possible because being unprepared is never smart. Never ever. EVER!
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I Want Me Some TRAFFIC!
What’s your attitude towards scaling? So you have a landing page which converts, you have a great relationship with the network/merchant and a traffic source. Great! There’s just one problem: most people limit themselves to milking that one traffic source for all it’s worth and then that’s it, end of story.
Why would you do something like that? Don’t you like money? Would you have liked money more if the bills were blue instead of green? Why just that one traffic source? There’s a lot of money on the table, why are you limiting yourself to just that one piece of the pie?
What Scaling REALLY Means
Ok, so you’ve milked traffic source A for all it’s worth? Alright, then move on to traffic source B and then to traffic source C. That’s scaling. Keep the engines running and don’t take your foot off the pedal when it comes to the traffic sources you’re already on top of but on the other hand, always be on the lookout for more traffic.
It’s a never-ending process, expression such as “ok, I’ve scaled, now what?” don’t exist unless you trick yourself into thinking that they do. New traffic sources emerge on a daily basis, why not be there with your wallet open?
Polish Your Negotiation Skills
One word: Facebook! If that’s not a love-hate relationship, nothing is. This is what happens when people depend on just one traffic source: you’re in no position to negotiate. Lots of people were/are earning a living exclusively on Facebook and given their track record, those folks are definitely skating on thin ice.
Once you realize that there’s not just one website which controls everything in terms of traffic, you’ll start being in a far better position to negotiate. This is extremely important when it comes to media buys. Get ready to negotiate everything, absolutely everything. Think everything through carefully before spending your first buck: if they want your money, they need to make the deal worthwhile for you as well. If not, you’ll simply move on and never look back. End of story.
This much is certain: we’re marketers and as a result, hunting down traffic sources is what we do. Depending on just one traffic source is a sign of weakness, plain and simple. If you don’t up your game and start demanding the most bang for your buck as an advertiser, traffic networks can and will take advantage of you.
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