Hello,
This is my first post. I’ve spent the last few weeks lurking and trying to absorb as much information from these forums as possible. I’ve been trying to secure funding and set up relevant bank accounts (needed a dollar account since i’m from the UK to prevent getting screwed in the exchange rates).
You can look at this as a sort of ‘Noob diary’, much like many of the others in this forum. It’ll help me track my progress as well as (hopefully) gaining some useful advice from those with more experience than me.
A bit about myself <-Skip this if you want to get to the point
I’m 21 and I have recently graduated from university with a degree in Business Administration. The months prior to graduating were spent attempting to start up a business selling via on online store. I attempted a few simple things such as selling headphones on eBay as well but never really had much success; however I wasn’t really focusing on it at the time.
I found out about Affiliate marketing as I read more into advertising online. As I looked more into it, the industry seemed to be more attractive than what I had already planned. It would allow me to narrow my focus and improve my online marketing skills without having to also worry about; supply chain management, inventory, warehouse storage etc. It also required lower starting funds which was a big plus!
I had planned to attend the Affiliate Summit East in August, but wanted to make sure I had some experience actually running campaigns before going so I could get the most out of it and find out answers to relevant questions.
My plan of action
So initially I set out a target monthly income of £1000, this is more than I need and I don’t expect to be making it overnight, or even in the first few months of operating, although from what i’ve read this figure is very achievable.
This week has consisted of buying a domain, setting up tracking using prosper202 (which seems to be taking longer than it should) and sending out applications to COPEAC, Neverblue and a few others.
My problem is that I don’t have an existing website set up and I plan to design landing pages that are specific to each offer that is being promoted. This is an issue when it comes to the applications. I’ve followed some of nickycakes advice in explaining i’m new and stating I plan to do direct to offer PPC etc. But I didn’t want to come across as a con man. This is part of the reason i’ve started writing here.
After this obviously comes picking offers in niches that I can compete in, which is easier said than done; then designing landing pages and creating campaigns.
For the campaigns I plan to start with either MSN adcentre or Yahoo. Google have seemed a little slap happy as of late, so I didn’t really want the risk. I want to focus on getting to grips with one advertising platform first before trying others, as I understand MSN tends to have lower traffic volumes but they generally convert better.
I’ve set aside a daily budget for my campaigns and at the moment i’ve given myself a high (for me) target of £100 per day, I realise many of you are earning more than this. But i’m using it as a sort of benchmark to work towards and then later increase once I’ve achieved it.
I’ve been looking at landing page design aswell, I did find an okayish textbook (published aswell, not just an ebook) on the subject which I managed to get in PDF format. I’ll link it if anyone is interested. I’ve also been looking at advise from wickedfire and some blogs. But I figure that i’ll learn more when i’m actively designing the LP’s.
As i’m doing this i’ll be split testing adverts/domains names/landing page styles etc.
I’ve tried to give myself a decent foundation in each area listed but clearly i’ll learn more when I actively need to find out specific pieces of information.
In terms of timescale, work etc.
At present I am not in work, but I can easily get a part time job to cover expenses in addition to funding my campaigns. I am looking at this in the long term and although i’d like to make a profit in the first month I will work at this as long as is necessary. I plan to be doing this ultimately as my primary source of income.
So, there you have it. Watch this space, i’ll be on wickedfire each day. In return for your patience, have some epic bewbz!
This is my first post. I’ve spent the last few weeks lurking and trying to absorb as much information from these forums as possible. I’ve been trying to secure funding and set up relevant bank accounts (needed a dollar account since i’m from the UK to prevent getting screwed in the exchange rates).
You can look at this as a sort of ‘Noob diary’, much like many of the others in this forum. It’ll help me track my progress as well as (hopefully) gaining some useful advice from those with more experience than me.
A bit about myself <-Skip this if you want to get to the point
I’m 21 and I have recently graduated from university with a degree in Business Administration. The months prior to graduating were spent attempting to start up a business selling via on online store. I attempted a few simple things such as selling headphones on eBay as well but never really had much success; however I wasn’t really focusing on it at the time.
I found out about Affiliate marketing as I read more into advertising online. As I looked more into it, the industry seemed to be more attractive than what I had already planned. It would allow me to narrow my focus and improve my online marketing skills without having to also worry about; supply chain management, inventory, warehouse storage etc. It also required lower starting funds which was a big plus!
I had planned to attend the Affiliate Summit East in August, but wanted to make sure I had some experience actually running campaigns before going so I could get the most out of it and find out answers to relevant questions.
My plan of action
So initially I set out a target monthly income of £1000, this is more than I need and I don’t expect to be making it overnight, or even in the first few months of operating, although from what i’ve read this figure is very achievable.
This week has consisted of buying a domain, setting up tracking using prosper202 (which seems to be taking longer than it should) and sending out applications to COPEAC, Neverblue and a few others.
My problem is that I don’t have an existing website set up and I plan to design landing pages that are specific to each offer that is being promoted. This is an issue when it comes to the applications. I’ve followed some of nickycakes advice in explaining i’m new and stating I plan to do direct to offer PPC etc. But I didn’t want to come across as a con man. This is part of the reason i’ve started writing here.
After this obviously comes picking offers in niches that I can compete in, which is easier said than done; then designing landing pages and creating campaigns.
For the campaigns I plan to start with either MSN adcentre or Yahoo. Google have seemed a little slap happy as of late, so I didn’t really want the risk. I want to focus on getting to grips with one advertising platform first before trying others, as I understand MSN tends to have lower traffic volumes but they generally convert better.
I’ve set aside a daily budget for my campaigns and at the moment i’ve given myself a high (for me) target of £100 per day, I realise many of you are earning more than this. But i’m using it as a sort of benchmark to work towards and then later increase once I’ve achieved it.
I’ve been looking at landing page design aswell, I did find an okayish textbook (published aswell, not just an ebook) on the subject which I managed to get in PDF format. I’ll link it if anyone is interested. I’ve also been looking at advise from wickedfire and some blogs. But I figure that i’ll learn more when i’m actively designing the LP’s.
As i’m doing this i’ll be split testing adverts/domains names/landing page styles etc.
I’ve tried to give myself a decent foundation in each area listed but clearly i’ll learn more when I actively need to find out specific pieces of information.
In terms of timescale, work etc.
At present I am not in work, but I can easily get a part time job to cover expenses in addition to funding my campaigns. I am looking at this in the long term and although i’d like to make a profit in the first month I will work at this as long as is necessary. I plan to be doing this ultimately as my primary source of income.
So, there you have it. Watch this space, i’ll be on wickedfire each day. In return for your patience, have some epic bewbz!
. On another note, managed to get prosper202 installed. Looked like the domain wasn't pointing to the host, and took 24 hours to update, so that's set up atleast.