Are You Confused About PPC Affiliate Marketing?

May 9th, 2008 by Amit

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I’ve recently taken on a one-on-one coaching student. He’s doing very well, he has 2 profitable campaigns right off the bat!

There’s something he said that really struck me : One of the reasons that he wanted to work with me on a one on one basis was to avoid getting confused.

What did he mean by that?

Think about all the enormous amount of information about ppc affiliate marketing out there, let alone affiliate marketing in general.

Just to list a few courses/membership sites : adwordmentor.com, googlecash.com, payperclickformula.com, wealthyaffiliate.com, ppc-coach.com, ppcclassroom.com, quityourdayjob.com, etc, etc, etc!?! These are just a few I remember off the top of my head.

All of the above courses (more or less) teach different strategies for doing ppc affiliate marketing. So which one do you follow?

On a related note, I was sharing some of my ppc strategies with Anik Singal and he told me flat out that me and Jeremy Palmer have totally different strategies for doing ppc affiliate marketing. Both Jeremy and I are both very successful affiliates, so who do you follow?

Here’s the deal…

There’s more than one way to slice and dice an onion and there’s also more than one way to do ppc affiliate marketing successfully. The worst thing you can do is buy 5 different courses and try to follow all of them - especially if they have conflicting advice - i.e. bid your add to the top, no keep your bid prices low!?! That’s where confusion kicks in.

Overloading yourself with information and getting confused will paralyze you and your business. Follow ONE system and try your best to make it work before you jump to another system for doing ppc.

Once you find a system that works for you, run with it. In time you’ll develop your own system for doing ppc. In my opinion that’s the mark of a true super affiliate, someone who has reached a level of expertise that they are coming up with their own techniques and strategies.

Posted in Super Affiliate Mindset, PPC Marketing, affiliate marketing | 9 Comments »

Affiliate Marketing : Science + Art

May 8th, 2008 by Amit

Here’s a quick thought for you :

PPC affiliate marketing is an much art as it is a science .

I talk a lot about :

  1. Optimizing your bids
  2. Split testing ads
  3. Split testing your landing page
  4. Setting up your campaign properly
  5. And tracking your metrics

This is the scientific, or analytical, aspect of affiliate marketing. And as a former scientist I, no doubt, really like this aspect of the business.

Now here’s what I’ve realized : you can be a quiz at the analytical left brain aspects of this business and still struggle to make it work!

Why?

Because there’s a right brain creative aspect of ppc affiliate marketing that’s just as important as the analytical one.

So what’s the creative right brain element to ppc affiliate marketing?

  1. Understanding the USP (unique selling proposition) of the offer you’re promoting
  2. Understanding what the emotional hot buttons are in your niche
  3. Understanding consumer buying patterns in your niche
  4. Writing your copy so it speaks the language of your demographic, whether they’re new moms, single male yuppies, or whatever. Do you even know what your target demographic is?
  5. Overall, understanding the psychology of your niche and getting into the frame of mind of the customer

By really doing your homework before hand (5 point above) you’ll be able to write really effective Google ad copy (that will get a high CTR) and landing page copy (that will get a high conversion rate), and even do much more effective keyword research. Just doing this will often spell the difference between success and failure.

Have YOU been doing your homework before you promote a new affiliate offer, or are you like most affiliates who just jump in a niche and throw up a campaign as fast as they can hoping it will convert?

Posted in Super Affiliate Mindset, Market Research | 6 Comments »

Special Report : Why 2% of Affiliates Rake in 95% of the Profits…

May 6th, 2008 by Amit

Have you ever wondered why only 2% of affiliates completely clean up, bring in 95% of the revenues and profits, while everyone else is fighting for table scrapes?

In this special report I answer this question.

Click Here to Download The Special Report: “Why 2% of Affiliates Rake in 95% of the Profits…”

This is the first report of a 3 part series which will cover :

  1. Your Thinking (this first report)
  2. Time Management (second report)
  3. Building a Team/Outsourcing (third report)

Everything I share in these reports is based on my personal experience and NOT theory. It’s what ACTUALLY worked for me.

The information in these 3 reports will change your business and your life if you take IMMEDIATE action and apply what you learn.

Posted in Super Affiliate Mindset | 30 Comments »

Hillarious SEO Cartoon Quiz!

May 3rd, 2008 by Amit

Check out this very funny SEO Cartoon Quiz.

I only scored a 67%, just missed the passing score of 70%!

LOL

What can I say, I’m a PPC guy.

Posted in Industry News, General Internet Marketing | 18 Comments »

Jeremy Palmer’s Black Ink Project is OPEN

May 2nd, 2008 by Amit

If you’re following me on twitter then you already know that I’m helping Jeremy with the Black Ink Project. In fact Jeremy has been gracious enough to let me do 2 modules: “Pay Per Click Mastery” and Outsourcing - The Key to Growth and Sustainability.”

I can remember back when I was a newbie affiliate struggling to make this business work, I had bought Jeremy’s Ebook QuitYourDayJob. I learned a lot from that ebook, it was just one more piece (a BIG piece) in the puzzle that helped propel me to success.

So as you can imagine it’s a big honor for me to have the opportunity to work with Jeremy, who in my opinion is one of the top affiliate marketers in the world.

So some of you may be asking what is the Black Ink Project?

The Black Ink Project is a 100% Free, no strings attached comprehensive course on affiliate marketing. It’s 4 weeks long with 5 one hour modules a week.

Here’s some exciting news…

Many of you may have heard that the black ink project is ALREADY sold out, all 1000 seats are taken. It turns out that 1000 people is as much Webex, the company hosting the Black Ink Project webinars, allows at one time on a webinar.

Well, I just got off the phone with Jeremy and he shared some exciting news with me :

After some negotiations and arm twisting, Webex has agree to open up an additional 2000 seats for the Black Ink Project!

This is a first come first serve opportunity, if you haven’t signed up for the black ink project then this is your last chance. The Black Ink Project promises to be the #1 COMPLETELY FREE affiliate marketing training ever offered.

Chances are that Jeremy may never do anything like this again, so sign up for the black ink project as soon as you can before those 2000 seats are gone too!

PS There really is NO catch to this, no upsell, no nothing - just solid content on how to grow your affiliate marketing business to the super affiliate level.

Posted in Industry News | 20 Comments »

Fighting Google with Poetry

May 1st, 2008 by Amit

Here is an awesome poem about the July 2006 Google Slap, written by David Guggenheim, “Ocean Doctor”, one of my top coaching students.

David is a marine biologist and founder of 1Planet1Ocean, a non-profit organization “founded to explore, restore and sustain the oceans through strong international partnerships, offering solutions to the problems our oceans face.”

What’s cool is that David is using his affiliate profits to help fund his organization.

Anyway, check out the poem he wrote :
“An Open Poem to Google AdWords
by Ocean Doctor
July 17, 2006

A decade ago, from the hallways of Stanford,
came a new way to find things, just using a keyword.
Two grads used their noodles,
built something called “Google.”
It’s a verb now in Webster’s — who figured?

It was different, superior – a gem.
We bookmarked and embraced it back then.
Six colorful letters,
it really worked better.
“Do No Evil,” they said. We believed them.

In 2000 many web sites were dying.
But Google knew soon folks would be buying.
They launched a product called “AdWords,”
though pay-per-click then still seemed absurd.
Google knew it was a risk, but worth trying.

Of course AdWords went on to success.
With this tool we could build strong business.
Selling local or other nations,
stay-at-home moms or corporations,
we quit our day jobs to do this, no less.

But in the darkness something sinister lurked.
They monkeyed with something that worked,
and gave us “Quality Score,”
“user experience” it was for,
but clearly explaining it was something they shirked.

In selling and marketing we’re well-versed,
skills we needed to get rising click costs to reverse.
Sometimes we’d get by,
though we never really knew why,
but then in July of ‘06 things got much worse.

We went to bed without warning,
and awakened ripped from our mooring.
A terrible lurch
Our best words “inactive for search,”
what was a penny last night cost ten bucks in the morning.

So many found their campaigns in ruin.
Even hit those who knew what they were doing.
Not newbies, but veterans,
now addicted to acetaminophen,
which Google mails out if you boo ‘em.

Our reward for loyalty, millions spent?
We’re suddenly broke, can’t pay our rent.
We believed at the IPO,
but now live in Google Gitmo,
Without a clue as to why we were sent.

We plead, “Google, just tell us what to do.”
But the response is unhelpful and cool.
Their vague ramblings of a madman
belie “Quality Score” is no more than
a black box, contents shielded from view.

But perhaps most serious among this wreckage?
Google’s judging for itself what’s quality vs. garbage.
It’s the hallmark of ivory tower,
of a corporation drunk on its own power,
trying to reshape the web in its own image.

But assuming that Quality Bot’s airtight,
and for “user experience” it has insight,
please explain – and this is critical –
how it’s not plain hypocritical
that poor quality’s OK if the price is right?

Google, please put yourself in our shoes.
Say you bought a new car for your business to use.
It runs faithfully day and night,
then one morning, only turns right.
But to fix it, the dealer gives you only vague clues.

We understand selling’s risky, often dangerous,
but the tools that you sell us should be helping us.
Large and small business alike
saw loss of fortunes overnight.
If that’s not evil, than really, what is?

So the next step isn’t hard to construe.
We’re frustrated and angry with you.
Larry and Sergey might be deafened,
inside their 767,
‘cause that sucking sound is adCenter and Yahoo.

Don’t underestimate the web “marketeer,”
Whose resilience and spirit will persevere.
Big changes are underway.
Every Empire has its day.
But, Google, it’s not too late for you to reconsider…

We thought you were different, not like the rest
We trusted “…No Evil” I guess
And though naïve and extraordinary,
to fight corporations with poetry,
frankly, it’s all I’ve got left.”

Posted in Industry News | 2 Comments »