There is so much misinformation floating around the affiliate marketing and PPC universe, I thought I would take the first post of 2009 to dispel some of these myths. Of course – mine is just one more opinion, so take it for what its worth.
- There is no one secret niche you don’t know about that “super affiliates” are making a ton of money from. Everyone has access to basically the same offers.
- There are no secret paid traffic sources that will make you a killing. Just versions of the basic 3: PPC, social networks, and media buy (display) networks.
- There are no ebooks that you can buy that will instantly make you money. Ebooks sell hope, not information.
- There are no forumulas for quality score that you can apply to every campaign to get perfect quality scores.
- There are no landing page templates that you can apply to every offer to be successful.
- There are no keyword lists that you can steal from your competitors to instantly make you money.
- There is no one technique that works between search and content.
- There is no one technique that works as far as direct linking vs landing pages.
What PPC and affiliate marketing all boils down to is one word: testing. That is the only truth in this industry built on gray areas.
Every niche, offer, landing page, keyword group, and tactic is different and the only way find out what works is testing. The reason I have been successful over the last 3 years is because I didn’t believe a word I read, and tested everything for myself.
There is one other common factor for success and that is hard work. Every person I have met who does well in affiliate marketing has put in countless hours getting to that level.
Want to make it big in affiliate marketing in 09? The only secret you need is start working hard and testing.
There is no way everyone who takes these courses will make 10,000 a day so it really is just hype. I agree.
and money if you plan on using PPC
Great post. I like to think I know a secret or two, but the biggest secret is exactly what you just posted. Sign-up on all the networks and Always Be Testing.
You forgot learning and growing. I guess that comes from testing. But there are some learning steps (keyword insertions in adcopies or strong call to action in landing pages) that you need to learn from breaking even to making profits. I guess those learning steps become your secrets.
Amen. This was nice, simple, concise, and most importantly, truth. Thanks for spreading it.
Great info.
What about the risk? To be successful do we need to take risk of being banned from traffic sources?
Yes, there is risk in all PPC activities.
There is risk in everything.. even in having a day job there is risk… it is all about mitigating your risk
Refreshing to read the truth, thanks for your honesty.
A Happy and Successful New Year to you
I agree 100% with this post. It should be required reading for anyone starting out in Affiliate/Internet marketing. I have bought way too many info products that just rehashed the same basic info. I did learn a few tricks along the way but nothing earth shattering. Thanks for telling it like it is. If this was more widely known there’d be a few internet marketing gurus needing a gov’t bailout.
Affiliate marketing will be very hard for newbies to make any real money because they will be competing with super affiliates who have been in the game for a while. It takes time to develop a successful affiliate strategy and then using it over and over again to make your profits.
Hi Chad,
While I agree with the majority of your post, I disagree with one point.
This one …
There are no ebooks that you can buy that will instantly make you money. Ebooks sell hope, not information.
I would suggest that Ebooks sell hope and information, but it is taking action on the information that gives the Ebook value, not just reading it.
So by taking the information and actually using it, by taking action, an Ebook can instantly make you money.
So I would suggest that what PPC and affiliate marketing all boils down to is taking action and testing.
Eoin
The one I disagree with is that everybody has access to the same offers. This is simply not true.
At the most basic level, you can see this in action on CJ where certain merchants won’t approve you without a decent track record.
On a more advanced level, major product launches by “gurus” for information products will typically look to hand out their offer exclusively to a few of their better performing affiliates first to test the waters. These people who have reputations are also able to command higher commission rates if they have a proven track record, which can make promotion methods that once had a negative ROI suddenly swing the other way.
So to say that a beginner has the same access to offers as a proven expert with a large personal network, well…thats just not the case.
Of course they could certainly have access to those offers in the future if they can prove they are successful.
I am generalizing. I was saying everyone has access to the same types of offers and niches. Sure there are white labels, special programs, and exclusives for high volume affiliates, but they are in the same general niches that everyone can access.
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Hey Chad,
You reminded me of something when I read your bullet about landing pages. In one of your older posts about a “winning PPC campaign” you’d mentioned that you tested about 3 domains. Were these simple landing pages or were these domains actual sites with each domain having unique content (the type that google likes)?
Another quick questions, what are your thoughts on niches with very high PPC keywords? Do you stay away from them or do you simply stay away from bidding on those and go for long tail keywords in that niche?
regards,
V
I agree with the “testing” comment. So many people in this industry have their opinions on what works and what doesn’t, but the people who are successful test things for themselves. Great post!
Hi Chad,
I think a useful post would be one describing how you go about choosing a niche to push.
I think this is where most affiliates have the main problem, that is knowing how to find which niche to push.
Great post. Really opened my eyes in terms of looking for the one “secret forumala” that works for everything.
Could you perhaps do a post on what tools/methods you use for testing. Do you start testing 4-5 different styles of landing pages first? Ads? Offers? All of them simultaneously? And when would you consider a test to be conclusive? i.e do you stop testing after x number or clicks or after you’ve spent x times an offer payout.
It would be extremely useful to have more info on the specifics on how you go about doing testing.
Thanks again for the wonderful post
Any example of media display network?
Hi Chad,
If you dont mind me asking, do you think it is better spending time and money on the content network or the search network?
thanks,
Marc
[...] I like the post Chad over at CDF Networks wrote about the myths of affiliate marketing. Go read [...]
True true, hard work and testing are playing the important role in marketing world and i agree with Sushimaster, there’s no one in the world who can make that huge income even for pro blogger itself
[...] No secrets to affiliate marketing – This was kind of a ranting post, but I think it effectively conveyed the point. [...]
It really helps when you are a noob to online marketing to take an online marketing course to keep from getting quickly overwhelmed.