Okay, this is sort of a rant so feel free to bounce at anytime. Kind of some random thoughts on things...
To start: when you decide to take the plunge into online marketing, you need to always remember - It is your business. Nobody else can run your business like you can. That's not to say you will instantly make money. The mistakes you make and the money you make are yours. You own it ALL. Good, bad or otherwise.
1. Mistakes and losing money
I believe this is the biggest fear new business owners have (read new internet marketers). Losing money is not a bad thing. Let me repeat: Losing money is not a bad thing. What is bad: spending money recklessly that you can not afford to lose. Do NOT spend your rent check. Do NOT spend your electric bill payment. Do NOT spend your internet bill payment. DO NOT spend money that you can not afford to lose.
If money is so tight that you won't be able to pay bills, don't spend it on a new business venture like PPC. Stick to SEO and other free ($-wise, not time-wise) methods. Here's a short list (very short, there are thousands of ways to build a business with $0.00):
2. Data
Data is what we are all after, conversions are secondary. What?!? Yes, you want data even more than conversions. Why? Because good, relevant data will lead you to conversions and you will make more money. If you're only focus is conversions you tend to lose site of the data. Keep your focus on the data, pay attention to conversions and you'll make money. Get as granular as you can. The more granular, the better you can slice your data. The better grasp you will have of placements that work - and why - better grasp of demos that work - and why - you get the idea.
Learn how to use Prosper202, Google Analytics, Website Optimizer to your advantage. Learn to love spreadsheets. I've got intraday spreadsheets, weeklies, monthlies, campaigns, etc. I LOVE my spreadsheets. Between the spreadsheets and analytics (P202, GA are both analytics softwares) I can tell you exactly what works and why. Which makes finding and testing new placements easier and cheaper.
Data also extends to how much you pay your advertisers. Don't just assume that what they tell you is correct. Because of my anal-retentiveness and spreadsheets I caught a $1200 charge on an account that the salesman didn't divulge originally. It was supposed to be there (as far as the ad network was concerned) but they didn't include it in their stats (it was a hidden charge). I only caught it because I had spreadsheets of daily charges and noticed a discrepancy. They ended up reimbursing those funds. AND to make things sweeter, 2 of my friends got reimbursed as well because the ad network knew I would tell them about the charges.
3. Expenses
All businesses have expenses, this one is no different. Hosting is probably going to be one of your biggest expense (besides advertising if you're doing PPC / PPV / Display / etc.). Also, hosting is one of the most critical components of your business. DON'T skimp on it. I personally believe that shared hosting is not good enough for even small time marketers. Why? Because with shared hosting you're on a box with hundreds, maybe thousands, of other accounts that could be sucking resources away from your sites and causing the page load times to be longer or in extreme cases crash the box. Get a VPS at minimum. There are less accounts per machine and you have infinitely more control. You can get a VPS account for under $50 a month. I've got one with Knownhost for $34 a month, and the sites hosted there pay for it.
Once you get to the point that you are running thousands of clicks a day to your site, get a dedicated box. It'll be the best $200 - 300 per month you spend.
4. Build a network
No, not an affiliate network, but a network of colleagues that you can bounce ideas off of, vent with, bullshit with, have a beer with, whatever. No man (or woman) is an island and just like losing weight, you need a support system. They don't even have to be other affiliate marketers, although that helps. The more people in your network, the more resources you'll have to draw from. When you get stuck, you'll be able to ask your network what to do.
Also, make your affiliate manager earn their money. Talk to them on a regular basis. Find out what the hot offers are, what's converting, where to advertise, etc. It is in their best interest to help you make money.
5. Read
Read blogs, forums (like WickedFire
), trade publications, FTC press releases, pretty much anything that can help you learn more. The flipside to this coin - and something that trips up a lot of n00bs - is getting caught up in reading too much and not DOING enough (this was the basis for the No Excuses threads).
Here's a partial list of blogs and such in my Google Reader:
6. Do Something
I've been preaching this for years now, but when you find yourself playing the "what if" game too much...STOP and just go do something. Create a new site, find a new ad network, anything, just don't sit on your ass. Again, this is the whole concept behind the No Excuses threads. To quote Dale Carnegie: "Action breeds confidence and courage". Unless you try something, you will never know if it works or not. So, eat the frog and get something done. Stop over-analyzing stuff you haven't tried.
7. Don't Chase What's Hot
Just because something is the hottest new thing doesn't mean you have to promote it. Chasing the latest craze can also be a huge time / money pit. Why? When you're new you don't have the experience necessary to make rapid adjustments. Find your niche / vertical and stick with it. There are tons of guys here and elsewhere making thousands daily and they aren't slinging berriez. OMG! Yep, it's possible and may even be easier for you in many cases.
Once you have more experience under your belt, feel free to expand into as many niches / verticals as you can handle. My only point here is: don't spread yourself too thin, especially while you are still learning this business.
In conclusion
Remember guys (and gals), it's your business. You will get out of it what you put in. There are people making millions of dollars / euros / pounds per year marketing online. Why can't you be one of them?
To start: when you decide to take the plunge into online marketing, you need to always remember - It is your business. Nobody else can run your business like you can. That's not to say you will instantly make money. The mistakes you make and the money you make are yours. You own it ALL. Good, bad or otherwise.
1. Mistakes and losing money
I believe this is the biggest fear new business owners have (read new internet marketers). Losing money is not a bad thing. Let me repeat: Losing money is not a bad thing. What is bad: spending money recklessly that you can not afford to lose. Do NOT spend your rent check. Do NOT spend your electric bill payment. Do NOT spend your internet bill payment. DO NOT spend money that you can not afford to lose.
If money is so tight that you won't be able to pay bills, don't spend it on a new business venture like PPC. Stick to SEO and other free ($-wise, not time-wise) methods. Here's a short list (very short, there are thousands of ways to build a business with $0.00):
- Free blogs - blogger, Wordpress.com, etc. Use them for your landing pages
- Yahoo! answers. Yes Virginia, there is still money on Y! answers
- Craigslist - :uhoh2: Oh noes, you didn't just go there! Yep, I did. It's free and as long as you're not a prostitute or selling drugs, it's not illegal to advertise on CL
- Other classified ad sites: Kajiji, Gumtree, etc.
- Web 2.0 sites - there are dozens out there that will let you create a site for free
2. Data
Data is what we are all after, conversions are secondary. What?!? Yes, you want data even more than conversions. Why? Because good, relevant data will lead you to conversions and you will make more money. If you're only focus is conversions you tend to lose site of the data. Keep your focus on the data, pay attention to conversions and you'll make money. Get as granular as you can. The more granular, the better you can slice your data. The better grasp you will have of placements that work - and why - better grasp of demos that work - and why - you get the idea.
Learn how to use Prosper202, Google Analytics, Website Optimizer to your advantage. Learn to love spreadsheets. I've got intraday spreadsheets, weeklies, monthlies, campaigns, etc. I LOVE my spreadsheets. Between the spreadsheets and analytics (P202, GA are both analytics softwares) I can tell you exactly what works and why. Which makes finding and testing new placements easier and cheaper.
Data also extends to how much you pay your advertisers. Don't just assume that what they tell you is correct. Because of my anal-retentiveness and spreadsheets I caught a $1200 charge on an account that the salesman didn't divulge originally. It was supposed to be there (as far as the ad network was concerned) but they didn't include it in their stats (it was a hidden charge). I only caught it because I had spreadsheets of daily charges and noticed a discrepancy. They ended up reimbursing those funds. AND to make things sweeter, 2 of my friends got reimbursed as well because the ad network knew I would tell them about the charges.
3. Expenses
All businesses have expenses, this one is no different. Hosting is probably going to be one of your biggest expense (besides advertising if you're doing PPC / PPV / Display / etc.). Also, hosting is one of the most critical components of your business. DON'T skimp on it. I personally believe that shared hosting is not good enough for even small time marketers. Why? Because with shared hosting you're on a box with hundreds, maybe thousands, of other accounts that could be sucking resources away from your sites and causing the page load times to be longer or in extreme cases crash the box. Get a VPS at minimum. There are less accounts per machine and you have infinitely more control. You can get a VPS account for under $50 a month. I've got one with Knownhost for $34 a month, and the sites hosted there pay for it.
Once you get to the point that you are running thousands of clicks a day to your site, get a dedicated box. It'll be the best $200 - 300 per month you spend.
4. Build a network
No, not an affiliate network, but a network of colleagues that you can bounce ideas off of, vent with, bullshit with, have a beer with, whatever. No man (or woman) is an island and just like losing weight, you need a support system. They don't even have to be other affiliate marketers, although that helps. The more people in your network, the more resources you'll have to draw from. When you get stuck, you'll be able to ask your network what to do.
Also, make your affiliate manager earn their money. Talk to them on a regular basis. Find out what the hot offers are, what's converting, where to advertise, etc. It is in their best interest to help you make money.
5. Read
Read blogs, forums (like WickedFire
), trade publications, FTC press releases, pretty much anything that can help you learn more. The flipside to this coin - and something that trips up a lot of n00bs - is getting caught up in reading too much and not DOING enough (this was the basis for the No Excuses threads).Here's a partial list of blogs and such in my Google Reader:
- BluehatSEO.com
- PPC.bz
- NickyCakes.com
- AdHustler.com
- Oooff.com
- Diorex.com
- SlightlyShady.com
- FTC.gov
6. Do Something
I've been preaching this for years now, but when you find yourself playing the "what if" game too much...STOP and just go do something. Create a new site, find a new ad network, anything, just don't sit on your ass. Again, this is the whole concept behind the No Excuses threads. To quote Dale Carnegie: "Action breeds confidence and courage". Unless you try something, you will never know if it works or not. So, eat the frog and get something done. Stop over-analyzing stuff you haven't tried.
7. Don't Chase What's Hot
Just because something is the hottest new thing doesn't mean you have to promote it. Chasing the latest craze can also be a huge time / money pit. Why? When you're new you don't have the experience necessary to make rapid adjustments. Find your niche / vertical and stick with it. There are tons of guys here and elsewhere making thousands daily and they aren't slinging berriez. OMG! Yep, it's possible and may even be easier for you in many cases.
Once you have more experience under your belt, feel free to expand into as many niches / verticals as you can handle. My only point here is: don't spread yourself too thin, especially while you are still learning this business.
In conclusion
Remember guys (and gals), it's your business. You will get out of it what you put in. There are people making millions of dollars / euros / pounds per year marketing online. Why can't you be one of them?
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