5 Things I Would Do If I Were Starting Affiliate Marketing Today
“What would you do if you were starting from scratch in affiliate marketing today?” This is one of those questions that pops up on forums, and lands in my inbox often. It’s difficult to answer. Mainly because it suggests we should be able to predict where our future money lies. I don’t think there’s a single affiliate who doesn’t wish he broke …
How Much Could I Pay You to Quit Affiliate Marketing?
There was an interesting poll up on the STM Forum this week: What guaranteed monthly salary would you accept to quit affiliate marketing for a job in the corporate world? Just under 50{57b8cc37fd24bce1cf64c8b05d9407ce9171516056c1f5e762677747187a0de4} of the affiliates who replied said you’d have to pay them at least $500K per year to quit affiliate marketing. That’s pretty remarkable. Anybody who works in affiliate marketing knows that there’s no such thing as a fixed income. To turn down a guaranteed …
5 Things I Would Do If I Were Starting Affiliate Marketing Today
“What would you do if you were starting from scratch in affiliate marketing today?” This is one of those questions that pops up on forums, and lands in my inbox often. It’s difficult to answer. Mainly because it suggests we should be able to predict where our future money lies. I don’t think there’s a single affiliate who doesn’t wish he broke in to the industry a year earlier. The ‘industry one year ago’ is a rosier place. It always is, and always will…
New Premium Posts, Plans for 2015 and Good Reads
Christmas is coming. I can tell because the seasonal fatty in me aches for Gingerbread latte and industrial-sized buckets of mulled wine. Now is a great time to be an affiliate marketer. Mainly because it’s a bad time to be anybody else. Take the rest of the workforce, for example: Wake in the darkness, spaz at the cold, wrap in seven layers, power-walk through the black ice to an overheated tube where the chances of catching a nice, hearty flu increase fivefold with every station passed. Rinse …
Melting in Dubai at Adsimilis Meetup 2014
September was a busy month. I’ve just got back from the Adsimilis Dubai Meetup, which was bookended by two weeks in monsoon-lashed Krabi and Phuket. A bunch of social commitments (or as I only half-jokingly refer to them: “going outside”) meant that by the time I reached Dubai, my campaigns weren’t so much suffering from banner blindness, but paralysed from the neck down by weeks of neglect. The churn in this industry is absolutely insane. Alas, I’m back in the trenches. Energised and motivated. Ready to…
“Deeply Insolvent” Banners Broker to Surrender Assets
It looks like justice is finally catching up with Chris Smith, Rajiv Dixit and the men behind Banners Broker. Two years ago, I wrote a series of posts exposing Banners Broker, a so-called ‘online advertising broker’, as a sordid ponzi scheme. I received all kinds of threats, smears and public verbal bashings. You can read the 2000+ comments from…
The Scaling Fallacy: Life As An Affiliate Whack-a-Moler
Jack creates 10 campaigns in 10 countries on TrafficJunky: Here are his morning stats: Germany: +$45 France: +$10 Switzerland: -$5 Netherlands: +$20 United Kingdom: +$12 Australia: +$25 Canada: -$21 Belgium: +$42 Turkey: +$20 Sweden: -$10 JACK’S TOTAL PROFIT: $138 Bill creates 1 campaign in 1 country on TrafficJunky. Germany: +$90 BILL’S TOTAL PROFIT: $90 Which affiliate would you rather be? Come on, it’s a no-…
Dude, Where’s My Margin?
Feeling the squeeze? Ever get the impression that your affiliate campaigns are having to work twice as hard for half the profits? If you work in any of the major verticals — dating, gaming, adult, apps, etc etc — on any of the major traffic sources — Google, Facebook, POF, BuzzCity, Decisive, Exoclick — you have surely seen the effects of an explosion in competition, and the rising costs that it entails. There is a swelling crowd of hungry affiliate marketers, and most of them are armed with the same weapons: The same banners same…
My 2 Weeks in Bangkok and Hua Hin
Want to feel energised, more productive and ready to take on the world? Take a holiday. My advice: Go to Thailand. I am freshly returned from a 2 week hiatus spent lolloping on beaches, soaking in the blistering heat of a subtropical summer at the peak of its powers. Some random observations: Jesus Christ, it’s hot Thailand in April is hot with a capital HOT. I should have remembered this from living there. Given zero chance to acclimatise by London’s damp fart of …
Your Daily Schedule vs. The World’s Greatest Achievers
How does your daily schedule compare to those of history’s greatest achievers? Info We Trust has gone all kinds of viral with this intriguing visual breakdown. It spotlights the daily rituals of Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Benjamin Franklin and several other legendary pioneers. Whose schedule does yours resemble? (Click for a larger version) Famously Creative Charles Darwin excelled in short bursts, his primary work ticked off before noon. This was accompanied by a final surge of productivity as he lay…
When Working From Home Becomes Hell
I just read a blog post from Mark Rofe, fellow Internet Marketer and creator of the ingenius Wank Sock, who has just made the decision to return to work. It’s an interesting topic. (Although I bet you’re now thinking about wank socks). Is the 9-5 really such a bad thing? Is there a time to forget the false paradise …
How to Learn by Osmosis: The Traits of a Successful Affiliate
There are many blogs, forums and ebooks where you can learn the intricacies of online marketing. Some are great, some are poor, but nearly all are inferior to the process of learning by osmosis. Osmosis is the art of unconscious learning. It is where we stop studying materials, and start absorbing them. 1) Park balls on knowledge 2) … 3) Profit $$$ Learning the Facts vs. Learning the Meaning Imagine…
The Rise of the Content Marketing Moron
In case you didn’t hear, there’s a new craze in town. It’s called Content Marketing. There’s a serial site-killing Google Penguin on the loose, and he seems to be eating bad SEOs for breakfast. Many of those bad SEOs have been reincarnated as bad Content Marketers. It goes like this: Stage 1: “Hmm, I sure would love to rank highly on Google. It’s a shame the Penguin had to munch…
Good to Great Copywriting in 24 Hours
David Ogilvy, the godfather of advertising once wrote, “Never send a memo or a letter on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning – and then edit it.” David Ogilvy: One of the greatest ‘Mad Men’ that ever lived. We may have abandoned the letter, but we shouldn’t abandon common sense. Before sending an …
How to Become a Guru (and Dominate Any Market!)
Anybody can be a Guru on the Internet. And unfortunately, nearly everybody tries. The Internet Guru has become a caricature figure tainted by laughable self-promotion, boundless ego and really poor end product. Some of the ill-sentiment is driven by jealousy, and most of it is entirely justified. It’s depressing for a new blogger…
How to Learn by Osmosis: The Traits of a Successful Affiliate
There are many blogs, forums and ebooks where you can learn the intricacies of online marketing. Some are great, some are poor, but nearly all are inferior to the process of learning by osmosis. Osmosis is the art of unconscious learning. It is where we stop studying materials, and start absorbing them. 1) Park balls on knowledge 2) … 3) Profit $$$ Learning the Facts …
Banners Broker Scam – Don’t Let It Affect You
Banners Broker is one of the most popular MLM programs of recent times. It also happens to be one of the most sophisticated and bloodsucking ponzi schemes I have ever come across. Banners Broker is based around an industry we know a lot about – online advertising. Before I continue, let me point out the obvious. …
Change of Plans: I’m Moving to America
By now, you are surely familiar with Finch’s twice-a-year, “I’m Moving to…” post. I change plans faster than a badger in a honey maze. The latest twist should therefore come as no surprise. Only a few months ago, I revealed that I was trading London for Bangkok (where I lived in 2010/11). Much has changed since then. For a start, I got engaged to an American girl. Engagement raises a lot of ‘life questions’. Questions such as: Should I houseban Pinterest until the vows are exchanged? Does she really think …
Neuromarketing: The Weapons of Mass Conversion (Part 2)
Note: This is the second of a two-part series on Neuromarketing. Read the first part here. Previously we looked at how social proof can lead to more conversions, more sales and more money in your bank account. Social proof is a cornerstone of neuromarketing. But it’s not the only child. In this post, we’re going to look at three of the most powerful selling techniques known to man. Some might call them the twisted twins…
Neuromarketing: Social Proofing on Landing Pages (Part 1)
Neuromarketing is one of those buzz terms used to describe a recent infatuation with new technology. It’s promise is simple. Consumers make buying decisions based on unconscious factors that are out of their control. The purpose of neuromarketing is to anticipate unconscious reactions and provide the ultimate sales platform: an emotional and logical boot in the direction of your checkout cart. It is a…