Ask An Uber Affiliate – Round 12

Wow, so this is the end of the list. I didn’t get to 100% of the questions in the Ask Me thread (which is now closed to comments :)) because a lot of you guys asked like 10 questions each lol. There’s probably another 100+ questions in each individual Q&A post, but I stated numerous times to ask all questions in the original thread. So sorry if you can’t pay attention. I got to almost all of them though, here’s the last batch. It’s been fun.

 

Kerry asks…

I know that its probably a numbers game where 70% of you income comes from one website while the other 30% may spread across your other sites.

But how many websites do you have active now for you to be able to make that money? 10,20,100?

 
Right now it’s about 3 websites. I used to have some really big sites, those tapered down a little bit so I worked on developing some other sites to pick up the slack. Now I should be having a couple massive ones emerging soon that I’m hoping can make a decent coin. You certainly don’t need 100 sites making a little bit each, read one of my earliest articles here at UA, Diversification or Domination?

 

David asks…

1. Do you use Google’s conversion tracking on your own site or the merchant’s sites?

2. How do you handle a situation where the merchant already has Google’s conversion tracking code installed (as they run their PPC in house) but you also want them to place your own Google tracking code because you also promote through PPC?

 
1) The pixel is placed on the “thank you” page of the merchant. I have my own software planted on my sites.

2) Each affiliate ID will have it’s own page, and they should be able to pop your Google pixel right onto your specific landing page.

 

iPhone Hub asks…

1. can you comment on other people’s landing pages?
2 .will show us how you go about how you pick a product to promote? in other words, what do you look for in a program prior to spending time in testing it?

 
1) Not really sure what you mean, you mean show a random persons landing page and critique it? I’ve kind of done that before and it’s a little crude I think, so nah.

2) I’ve talked about that many times in previous posts. For your sake, I look at stats on the affiliate network overall on the offer, search volume of the top keywords, how the offer page looks, the potential I have to make money on the offer, and searching the offer and finding other affiliates promoting it. If there’s volume, other people promoting it, and good conversion rates I’ll give it a shot.

 

Mike asks…

How do you track the conversion per keyword or even per ad when you’re sending traffic to cpa or other offers? With the inability to place conversion tracking on the page where the conversion takes place, how can you measure this? How can you even measure which keywords lead visitors to click from your landing page to the offer page? (assuming you use landing page)

Everyone is always talking about the importance of tracking, so some insight to this would be of great help!

 
Where can you not have a pixel placed? I’ve never run into a problem where the advertiser won’t place a Google pixel on your page. That’s the easiest and quickest way. If they really won’t place it, there are ways to do it in PHP. Basically you write your ads like http://www.yourlandingpage.com/key={keyword}. When the user hits your page, it passes the keyword via PHP and can store it in a database or log file. Then you embed that keyword into the subid of your affiliate link, which you can then check in the affiliate network. It’s pretty simple PHP, but I still recommend using Adwords.

Learn how to do it via PHP here

 

askalotofquestions asks…

If you had a programmer build you a keyword conversion tracking software what were the writer specifications you gave your programmer? What would you say So us newbs can get help at elance :)

 
Just use the Adwords pixel.

 

J Dizzle asks…

What is the most important technical skill you consider yourself having that has helped you become successful? Is it your ability to find unexploited campaigns, find unexploited keywords in popular campaigns, discover creative ways to market a campaign, create effective landing pages, or create effective ad copies?

 
None of the skills you described are technical. They’re all correct and influence my success, but they all have to do with mental power…brain power. That’s where it comes from, to be a successful marketer you have to be smart, or lucky. I like to combine both of those and the result is usually pretty nice.

 

Toki Tover asks…

What was the time effort you put in from the beginning? People still have 9-5’s with kids… what would you tell them on how to start with hardly no time, which you had plenty of?

Did you ever buy any info products to teach you how to do anything of the things you are doing now?

I am getting flack from people that I tell about how I want to get into this, they tell me to steer away because to play the ppc game i need a ton of money and time. What advice would you give me about that issue?

 
1) Not going to lie in the beginning I spent 8-10 hours a day EVERY day on the computer. For the time challenged, just get in as much time here and there as you can. Managing your time is a skill, trust me. Shift things around here and there and fit an extra hour in every day to just spend hardcore on a computer learning and testing.

2) Zero info products, I’m not a sucker :).

3) Just ignore them and keep plugging away. Affiliate marketing takes time in the beginning yeah, but you can spend an hour setting up a campaign, then you test it for 24 hours (in which time you do no work), and then spend an hour the next day optimizing what you just tested.


21 Comments

  1. May 1, 2008

    I love these question and answer things… it’s where I get most of my tips because it covers a lot of the little details of ppc marketing not just the big picture. It’s also interesting to read about somebody firsthand and what they do in the same field. It throws out a ton of ideas.

    Nick

  2. Toki Tover
    May 1, 2008

    yeah these always give me motivation and light a fire under my butt… thanks for answering these for everyone to benefit from…

    Thanks Paul :)

  3. Pyjammez
    May 2, 2008

    this is great stuff :)

  4. Frychiko
    May 2, 2008

    Wow, only three sites.. that’s relieving.. I kind of had an image of 10-50 sites in my mind because I read that you took only a few weeks to get sites up (perhaps I misread). I’ve spent about 8 months coding up my site.. hopefully I’ll be finished soon and ready to rock with PPC!

  5. May 2, 2008

    8 to 10 hours a day on the computer I find is averagish for me if I’m working on a project, but honestly usually it’s longer….

  6. May 2, 2008

    I agree..this is where we learn most. Q&A is always the best method to understand things. Hope you do more of this. Thanks!

  7. Matias
    May 2, 2008

    Ok, here goes the newbie question of the day…

    ¿What is “Adwords Pixel”?,¿Where i can info about it and how to implement it?

    Thanks a lot Paul

  8. May 2, 2008

    A lot of extended time on the computer can suck after awhile… but I tend to enjoy it, it’s a whole different “social atmosphere” online. I talk and socialize with a whole different group when I am working on the computer. It always seems to keep me entertained along with the actual work I’m doing so it never really gets to me. I usually have to take a big break like once a year though.

    Nick

  9. May 2, 2008

    Some pretty good questions….

  10. May 2, 2008

    I love these Q&A posts. Really has a lot of information which may not usually be covered in a full post and broken down into smaller bits so that I can understand them. Thanks :)

  11. May 2, 2008

    Finding time is my hardest thing. I am not working 12 hours shifts, rotating. I can work 3 days on days, then 4 on nights. Be off 3 days, then work a few days, nights.. off 7 days. I work 6 out of the 7 days in the week, then I do have one week off. On top of that, I have a 2 year old little girl, and have been working on my wedding because I am getting married the 7th of June. Between work, my daughter, fiance, and the wedding.. My computer time is limited.

    It takes a lot of effort to make money off of your site. I am not at the very bottom (site making no money), but I am no Uber Affiliate either. It would be amazing to be able to work from home on the computer like Paul does. I could have someone watch my daughter for a few hours while I got some “work” done on my site/campaigns. Then spend the rest of the time playing with her, taking her outside in the yard. her wagon. I would be the happiest person alive. Then to be able to pay off our house, jeep, student loans… As you can see, the end result can be rewarding. Most of the people that don’t make money, is because they give up. You have to actually work for it.

    Once you start making decent money, you can then just buy your traffic :P

    And yeah, I agree, 99% of MMO books/e-books are just a way for the author to make even more money. People don’t see that most of the information is already available for free!

  12. May 3, 2008

    Nice article – got me thinking about having a site, and maybe I’ll make it better thanks to some tips from this article :)

  13. May 3, 2008

    I love reading your ‘Ask An Uber Affiliate’ posts.

    In reference to the Toki Tover question – You have to sacrifice something to appreciate it. I have learned that the more time I allocate to my affiliate marketing projects, the more value I find in them. As far as listing all the reasons that you don’t have time, or can’t find it, follow Paul’s advice and make it work. Limitations are all in our minds…

    Thank you Paul for another insightful post

  14. May 3, 2008

    This is pretty good stuff.

  15. Toki Tover
    May 3, 2008

    Thanks Jason and Paul for the advice…

    -Jason, you are right about sacrificing somethings to appreciate your work more. I can always set my alarm for early mornings… who needs sleep, four hours is enough :)

  16. May 3, 2008

    yea thats great stuff…me like this idea so so much you get to leaRN ANYTHING WHATSOEVER! lol

  17. Kerry
    May 3, 2008

    Thanks for answering my questions. and congrats on just 3 sites that amazing!! i have many more that rank highly in organic search but nothing compares to what your making. DAMN!

  18. Matias
    May 4, 2008

    Abybody??

  19. Ray
    May 15, 2008

    Paul,

    You mentioned that you have 3 sites…do you promote 1 affiliate program per site or multiple offers per site?

    Thanks,
    Ray

  20. May 18, 2008

    Great informations you’re offering.

    Thank you

  21. July 4, 2008

    Great info.

    I was also wondering if you have multiple offers per site or 1 offer per site?

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