It's YOUR Business.



Just here to post my thanks to WF to get my shit to order.
I've been very small time player in IM in my country for a couple of years. Then I started reading WF and do things with some own strict habits learned from here WF. Write articles 1 hour a day etc...
Now I'm getting four number figures from CPA networks.
Thank you WF!
 
Re: expenses. What other expenses will arise besides hosting and advertising? If you're running display ads and paying $200-300 on hosting, what can you expect to pay monthly for your ad server? Are there other major expenses to expect? I assume most marketers are self employed. how do you cover insurance costs?
 
SEO_Mike said:
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):

  • 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
If you can afford to lose some money and want to try PPC, that's great, just keep in mind that you WILL lose money in the beginning. Think of it as paying for your education. If you want to be a doctor and make $100,000 a year, you'll need to spend 11 years in college / training and it will cost you at least $100,000 in tuition / books / etc. You can make so much more than any doctor or lawyer as an online marketer and there is no tuition requirement. Sure it's frustrating to put hours and hours into building a landing page, getting keywords together, creating ads, finally launching it and then losing $100 because there were no conversions. Be frustrated, that's fine, but bear in mind that you now have data to analyze and hopefully get you closer to the golden egg. The only time that a losing campaign is a true loser is when you learn absolutely nothing from the data.

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 :D), 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
Basically, I have most of the WickedFire blogs in there and a bunch copywriters, like Bob Bly, Michel Fortin, Clayton Makepeace, and then press release stuff like the FTC and various other consumer releases. I don't read everything that comes through. Usually I skim the headlines, read the posts that interest me and come back to the others when I get bored.

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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Very good tips for newbies, but also for others who is missing some part. Thanks:stonedsmilie:
 
Thanks SEO Mike, it was a nice sharing, i am new in here but i am almost aware of all those things since i am new in here but not new in this business it will be really helpful for those real newbies.. :)
 
The fact is that you can budget and plan all you want and nothing will happen. What I have been trying to do lately (it is hard and you have to keep reminding yourself) is to do things quickly. Set short timeline for projects to be completed - 3 weeks max. That way you can see quickly if something will work or not, without wasting a year or two. I am in product development, but the same applies for affiliate marketing.

BTW, good to be here. What is the ratio of affiliate marketers to "own product/service" marketers? The affiliate section has a huge number of posts, so I gather it's mostly affiliates?
 
roark said:
What I have been trying to do lately (it is hard and you have to keep reminding yourself) is to do things quickly. Set short timeline for projects to be completed - 3 weeks max.
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Like this. Even lurking on this forum I can feel some life draining out of me - it's so tempting just to read what people are doing.
 
If only I had read this post 12 months ago!

I think something else I've learnt is that doing detailed business plans can be more detrimental than running off a business plan written on the back of a dirty napkin. I'm sure not everyone has the same experience, but I ended up getting stuck on my first business plan because it was so detailed and I clung onto it to try to see all the details come into fruition.

What I should have done was realised that the plan was just that.. just a plan. 101 things change by the time you're halfway through what you thought you were going to do.

Dirty napkins are the way to go now.
 
Very true. No one is (largely) responsible for the failure/success of your business other than yourself.
 
Good post Mike. It's ashame they didn't teach things like this in school preparing us for life instead of the same old irrelevant garbage year after year. They taught me to take orders from someone higher up at a job, not to think for myself and go after what I really want. Silly the educational system sets people up to live an average life. Oh well, at least we have opportunities to not go that route. I'm certainly off my butt and looking for my way.
 
i think it is funny that this sort of business has a forum... selling sodas at the corner would never have the people supporting them like this... sometimes i think i like this just because i like to read the sense of motivation and drive people doing this have. i don't think that there is a comparable endeavor.
 
thanks

thanks for a great review. I am totallly new at website bussiness building so all your info has given me the confidence to start. so here i go, first post. thanks
 
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