Internet & Affiliate Marketing Blog - Market Yourself off the Streets » hard work

A Real Start…

The Bum — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:35:29 +0000

Ok ENOUGH screwing around. The whole point of this blog was to document a money making journey from start to finish. Have I done that? NO… I had the idea, but didn’t have a plan. Which is a good lesson for anyone who is reading this blog right now. All of us have a lot of ideas, god knows I have had a LOT of ideas which I have thought up and left on the back burner. The idea is not nearly enough. We all have ideas, but the only way to make an idea reality is to sit and plan out all the proper steps to complete your goal.

I’ve just blown your mind with inspiration right? No? Well I am going to try a little harder. I was working at a job I didn’t like much and finally got away from it. Now, I find myself in a unique situation where I have a little freedom to take a little time and get things rolling for myself. I have some time, but not a lot of it and need to make sure that I use it wisely. See if I can’t figure out a way to make some money on my own, then I will have to go and find a job that I really don’t like…again lol.

I spent the last week reading and came across a few helpful articles. One article I read in BlackHatWorld.com was extremely helpful to me because it mapped out a plan over the course of 2 months and answered a lot of questions people had about the plan he was attempting ( READ HERE ). He is a guy who already knows what he can do and knows what it would take to achieve his goal. Over the last couple weeks he has answered questions that other forum members asked and has given updates on his results. Seeing his plan got me to think about this whole idea that I have tried to get across to all you readers. This is a guy who is running a side project just to see how it goes. He isn’t doing this to make a living, so I know its not out of desperation. He knows what it takes to get going on the internet on his own. So, over the next few weeks I am going to follow his lead where I actually DO and not just talk. I promise you all that I am going to have a FEW different things going on over the next couple weeks and we are all going to experience them together. Stay Tuned

To Be or Not To Be…Legit?

The Bum — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:17:26 +0000

     I have a dilemma. I might be afraid of making money. I said MIGHT BE. It is either that or my pride is getting in the way of earning an income with CPA marketing. In my case, I have been trying to start legit and by the book in order to make a nice steady income, but the truth of the matter is that its tough as hell to do that when you have no cash to back up your mistakes. Coming to the realization that my lack of funds is ultimately causing me to be scared to test the market, I ask myself I should start smaller and cheesier. In order to make a few bucks now, should I go and try E-Whoring or run Craigslist Job scams? This questions has been nagging at me for some time now and I feel like my pride is basically the only reason why I haven’t been subjecting myself to a less than respectable means of making money.

     First I would like to describe my thoughts on why it is so difficult to remain honest with no money to back it up. Real marketing consists of tests, research, leads, and statistics. You have to be able to use all the information given to you and put it to use for you in such a way that would give you the best opportunity to make a little profit. testing takes money and time. If you believe what they say then time also equals money so you are just getting hit twice there too. You may have a flawless method that has a lot of potential to make you money, but if you don’t put it to use in the right niche then you are screwed! Takes time to fine out what niche will serve your method the best and time is expensive. Now I feel that knowledge is a use factor in this time equals money formula. The more knowledge you have about marketing then the less mistakes you will ultimately make in the long run. Less mistakes equals less time spent looking for the right formula to make money. I kinda like to think of this like how I was in high school knowing I had pretty good grades so a good SAT score wasn’t as important to me as it was to a person with sub-par grades. Knowledge and money kind of counter balance each other. More knowledge you have less cash you need and vice versa. I fall in the category of needing a little cash to get something going.

     Now that I have identified myself in the “need cash” category, I have to make a choice. Do I stay legit and struggle or do I make a sacrifice and go after horny people for a living? It’s a good questions right? well maybe its not. Maybe there is something I am missing in all of this. Well there is. What is blackhat? My definition of blackhat may be different from yours and I may be lumping a lot of things into one category. Think about it when you read these blogs from “superstar” marketers. You think they are blackhat guys? Do you think they are totally legit? HELL NO! These guys are for the most part fallowing the rules, but they are stretching the rules as far as they can without getting caught. Some people like to call this grayhat marketing. Over the past year I have come to the realization that nothing is really as nice and clean as it seams. There are always little loopholes that people use in order to take advantage. This is where I need to be. There is a line between fraud and legit. Luckily that line is really thick and isn’t straight because different companies and different people have conflicting views on where the line is drawn. Most affiliate networks will look the other way as long as you are bring them some cash. If the advertiser comes to the network then there may be some disiplinary action, but until then you can get away with the little stuff that may give you a nice edge.

     You might have just read this and thought,” Is he done yet?” or “If you knew this was the case, how come you wrote about it?”. The simple answer to that question is this. We read the success stories about people making five grand a day and they think one of 2 things. Either the guy is cheating his ass off or he is a genius with a great network of methods. Truth is that most of these guys are no smarter than you or me. They just grew a pair and took the extra step. They learned the rules and figured out how they could be skewed in such a manor that would help their cause. Anything wrong with that? not at all. You aren’t sitting there talking to half naked 50 year old men trying to get them to fill out leads all day and you are not stealing from innocent people. Simply using the system to your advantage and raking in a little extra cash.

     So, I guess the question has changed. To be or not to be…legit? No… more like, when you gonna get off your ass and just do it?

Hard to Get…Hard to Satisfy

The Bum — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:59:35 +0000

     Well it has been a few weeks since I last wrote a post and I was thinking… IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!!! HAHA … I’m Kiddinggggg, I promise. I have been a little bit wusy starting up my last year of college. Trying to get into all my classes and get settled. I haven’t been doing too much marketing, but I haven’t totally ignored it. I have kept up with the Twitter stuff. I now have 10 accounts and a total of 25,000 to 30,000 followers. Making about 3 bucks a day with that only promoting RevTwit and gettiong like 30 clicks a day or something like that. Not a lot of money by any means, but it’s posting the ads for me so there isnt much work involved.

     I began writing this post as an update to what io have been up to. I wanted to make sure that all 9 of my faithful readers didn’t feel like i forgot about this and forgot about them. I realized a lesson I learned as i was about to write down the next thing that I had been doing the last few weeks. I bought an E-Book a few days ago ( I KNOW! I said don’t waste your money on E-Books, but it was 10 bucks and promised it wasn’t a blown out method) and well it was a good Idea. I went with it for a few days and I actually made a few bucks without putting any money into the method at all. I was only testing it, but i made $27 in 2 1/2 days. I thought I found something to hold me over for the next few weeks which was nieve of me to think. After 2 1/2 days it seems that the website that had the loophole that I exploited FIXED THE LOOPHOLE and rendered the method useless. I am not giving too much detail to the method for a few reasons. I bought the book and don’t have permission to give information about it, it is very blackhat, and it doesn’t work anymore so why bother LOL. The point I am trying to make is that affiliate marketing is not stable or steady. You may find a method that will always work and not get saturated, BUT you will always have to adjust the niche or the lead in order to keep your conversions up and the money the same. Always moving on to the next best thing and keeping up on what is popular now. Don’t get comfortable and don’t be satisfied with anything that makes you a couple of bucks at the start because it will most likely become saturated and non-profitable in the long run.

     I hope that isn’t being interpreted as me saying there is no method that will ever work for long periods of time. That is not what I am saying. For example, PPC/keyword advertising is something that will always be popular and be a money source. What i am saying is that those people who do PPC for ResV ( Diet Pill ) will fail in time when the ad has been out there for a while. Those people need to take advantage of the method with that niche for a while and then use that same method and find a new hot lead in order to make good money. See the method is good, but the product gets old. There are methods that are long term, most are not, but either way you must not become satisfied. Try to remember how long it took for you to find the current method you are using and then imagine if it became totally non-profitable and you had to look for another method. Get the start on it when you are making money. This will allow you to do more research and more experimenting rather than waiting till you don’t have a method or money and not having the funds to find a new method to go with.

     Ok I am done rambling on. I really try to make these posts entertaining for my readers. I have a feeling this one may be one of the less entertaining, but I think it is one of the more important lessons I have learned in all the years I have been in the internet business.

Easy Tweety No No : V-Blog #4

The Bum — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:02:54 +0000

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkPJGUguJDA

Here is a little video getting you caught up with the things I am working on right now. AdWords giving me headaches, Adcenter making me pull my hair out, and I refuse to say anything bad about Twitter anymore.

Marketing Update : V-Blog #3

The Bum — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:35:13 +0000

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFKnyPx8h40

Well I was just letting you guys know what I have been up to lately with all the stuff i have been trying out. Twitter is working ok and I can see the advantages of creating these accounts. I don’t have many followers yet and the sites have seen a rise in traffic. This is good since I am able to target the people I am following.

False Start : Hearing the Gun Go Off

The Bum — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:29:00 +0000

     Well it is Saturday and you know what I realized. I need a life. I’m kidding though. I am just frustrated with Affiliate Marketing right now because I am having trouble finding my niche and my method. I realize that I am going to need many different methods to be successful in the future, but when you are starting with no seed money, you need to take it one step at a time….and I’m tripping!

     This brings me to a little motivation or advice for people who are in my current position. Frustration is a big part of the process. We are going to fail a lot before we get to something that works. The important thing for us to remember is that you pay attention to what fails and what works. Don’t look at it as you failed, but look at it like “why did this fail”. When you can do this sort of thing, you will be able to take positive things that did convert well, continue with them, and put a twist on the things that failed to see if you can make them work. I am currently failing a lot and not finding things that I am willing to do. I have a few morals and at the time being I can’t afford to be sued – HA! So I am sticking to things that are legit and not “scams”. Of course I do feel there is a difference between scams and tricking people. I’m not trying to E-Whore or tell people on Craigslist that they have a job waiting for them.

     I guess the real point of this post is to encourage people to keep going and not give up. The start is the hardest point, but once you are able to generate money with one method then you can start scaling it and make tons more. It gets easier once you have an idea of what direction you are going. It also allows you to take more risks when you have something steady going. Your method will be bringing you cash while you are out trying other methods that may or may not work. Unlike when you started, if something fails then you won’t be so pressed to make something happen with it. You will already be generating money with your first method and all the are purely extra money revenues. Sounds nice doesn’t? NO? Well think of it this way then… Ever have a girl you know really likes you, but you are able to keep her around without committing to her. Friends with benefits I would say. It’s just like that. Go play the field with other girls to find a girl you really like and if you hit a dry spell with the ladies then you got that one girl you can always call up and chill with. Always nice isn’t it. Get a method and make it steady. Go out and gamble on other bigger methods that may end up bringing you twice as much money. You will lose some cash in the process, but you won’t worry about it because you know you have a steady method running every day.

Affiliate Movie of the Week : Pay It Foward

The Bum — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:06:29 +0000

“Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.“( imdb.com )

Yes… I am being serious. This is my Affiliate Movie of the week. I was up at about 4 a.m. this morning and this movie came on showtime. I watched it because I hadn’t seen it in a while and Helen Hunt was strangely attractive as an ex-drunk single mother (don’t ask). As I was sitting in bed fighting off sleep deprivation, I for some reason thought of affiliate marketing and making money in general. It was because of the boys Idea to change the world by doing 3 nice things for three random people then have those people do three nice things for three random people. This trend would go on and on until the world has been changed by good deed, theoretically.

You might be asking where I am going with this or you have already figure it out. The Tier System people. Yep referral programs at their most complex. You refer someone to something and earn a percentage, then the people that person refers earns you a smaller percentage. It works in levels and each level will bring you money at a lower price than the previous. This is kind of cool if you can get it rolling and get people to sign up that are interested in getting other people to sign up as well. It will only work to your advantage if you can get dedicated people to sign up and follow through. So, don’t tell your buddies to sign up and leave it to die. It might be some extra commision for you, but nothing to make a living off of unless you find a quality program and you have a great avenue to get people to sign up. Otherwise you can send your referral link out and just hop it catches on.

In conclusion, you should watch Pay it Forward. its a pretty decent movie and you might even shed a tear at the end. But while you are snuggled up on the couch alone with you ice cream and Victoria Secret magazines (because you like the articles,right?), pay attention to what is going on and you will see that his method can apply to you and your marketing journey.

Here Are Some Sites That Run This System:

Good People… Good Company: AdvantageCPA

The Bum — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:15:07 +0000

Okay, so i think I am ready to write my first entry about CPA marketing. I am picking this particular topic because it’s recent to me and I think that others will benefit from knowing about this company. I am talking about AdvantageCPA. This is my 3rd company that I have joined for affiliate marketing, but the first company that has actually tried to make me money rather than shove meaningless leads down my throat with no guidance. So, far I have been off on and with some of my methods in some months. One month ill make 65 bucks and the next I will make 5 bucks. This is to be expected since I am just starting. What I have Liked about AdvantageCPA is that I have been given some building blocks to start promising campaigns that can earn money in time. My Account Manager, Brandon Hall, has to be the calmest person I have ever met. I really don’t know how he has put up with me and my non stop IMs on AIM. I think he handles it so well due to the fact he ignores most of them, but he’s busy. ONLY KIDDING, I know he will be reading this and that would get his blood going a little bit. Truth is that I talk to the guy daily and have recently started to have webcam conferences with him via Skype. I suggest noobs, like me, to join AdvantageCPA for the sole purpose of learning. They know that if you make money then so do they. This is nice because they teach you and give you advice. Bigger companies don’t take the time, and why would they when they have to kiss up to the 5k a day CPA Pros.

This world of Affiliate Marketing can be dirty. People don’t share and if they do they don’t tell the whole story in order to satisfy but keep their money making secrets. Trust is a hard thing to come by and that is really the main reason why I am writing about AdvantageCPA today. A few weeks ago I decided I would go to BlackHatWorld.com Forums and tell people about my experience with AdvantageCPA. Within the first day I had 19 people sign up to this Affiliate Company. Brandon saw what I wrote to members and how I responded to questions about the company. Since Brandon and I have been talking for a while he knew that I played Madden on X-Box 360. As a present for doing a good job and saying nice things about the company without being put up to do it, he sent me the NEW Madden 10 video game. I think this is pretty cool because he didn’t have to send me anything and I could have just been happy with my 4% per month referral percentage FOR LIFE. This type of thing builds trust and truly makes me want to make more money.