Jon

Alright boys and girls.. the Lightning Round is OPEN!

Keep your questions brief and to the point. Don't ask anything too stupid, and keep it to the topic of internet marketing. I'm not a genius, so if I don't know the answer, I'll tell ya.

LET'S GO!!!

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Ataraxy

Many people agree that starting with adwords PPC using a brand new account pretty much means that you are in the position where Google doesn't yet trust you. This tends to result in not recieveing any traffic and having your ads displayed low down on the chain.

It's a fairly competitive niche, and the CPC is fairly on target. The 'estimated positions' are total bullshit.

With a campaign that already has lots of focused ad groups, a highly relevant landing page for all keywords/ads, and just an overall high quality score for keywords, how would you go about breaking the 'new account' barrier to start recieving your fair share of traffic?

Thanks.

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trigatch4

Suppose I have a few hundred dollars to spend on having “automated tools” developed for backlink building and traffic generation. What are some specific methods/directions you would suggest employing for custom forum spammers, blog commentors and other similar tools?

Are there any other specific tasks you would recommend having automated as a priority?

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ScottDaMan

If you had to start all over and given your experience in the finance market, what type of site would you launch right now to capitalize on the excellent finance offers online? Examples?

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Stanley

How do you find writers for a very specific niche?

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@soluh

JamesH

Whats the first thing you do when looking for your first product to push. I understand that there are areas to stay away from due to saturation (ring tones etc). Also, should you start with a low payout product or high payout, or does it really matter? Finally, short lead or long lead for your first affiliate attempt.

kaveman

OK, I'm starting a forum that i think has great potential. I'm trying to think of ways to grow and grow fast. One of those ideas is a basic refferal contest with prizes. Heres the thing, i really want to approach a company in my niche about sponsering the contest with their product/s. How should I approach this company ie. what kind of things should i talk about/ offer them to make it so they know they are going to get enough exposure to be worth thier donation

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Jon

Excellent first question..

With any new Adwords PPC account, you're going to start off at the bottom of the barrel. This is a good thing if you are NOT a new account, but sucks if you are one.

The only way to be able to get cheap clicks for your ad groups for it is to start off by bidding HIGH. Yes, I am telling you to bid high. The other thing to do is to only have your keywords in [exact match] and "phrase match". Using this will increase your CTR like mad, will also set you apart from someone serious, and will improve your overall QS. After about a week or two, usually less though, you will be able to bid much lower for the same keywords and traffic. Thus increasing your overall ROI and decreasing your investment burn rate.

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maximus

If you had a PR 6 + 100k alexa domain sitting empty, what monetization method or type of site would you start to get it's full value?

mason

what other ppc sources/engines do you recommend other than adwords, yahoo, and msn adcenter?

I know it depends on the niche... but I want to know generally speaking. thanks!

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Jon

I'm not a fan of any of those things for the sake of traffic, or really as a primary way to get traffic. If you were doing it for something like BH SEO and having it as a form of getting your pages indexed and ranked, then fine, but to get traffic, they are really dumb ways that can do more harm than good for you in the long run. Sorry.

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ffblueocean

If you had one trick to share for SEO, what would it be?

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lerchmo

whats this red, itchy spot on the underside of my penis?

CoLL1eR

Lol what the hell

jelf

If you could choose between having dr. dre or snoop dogg perform at a party who would you pick?

Jon

I'm still and will most likely always be a firm believer in mortgage leads. I say this because even back in the early 80's when rates were at something like 18%, people were still getting mortgages. There is an unlimited demand for them. Sure, it may not be as high as it was in the last few years, specifically for refinance loans, but new purchase (when someone buys a house) will always be there as a back up.

If I were just starting off, I'd make a lead gen site for mortgages, no doubt about it.

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tob

If you were to give out Affiliate Summit tickets, when would that be?

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kaveman

i told you not to do lemonaden

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Dar

Ever you ever thought about doing stuffing on CJ for revenge for them fucking you out of money?

kaveman

are you serious? hes already giving away buttloads of uhm

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BlondeTM

If you were just starting out in affiliate marketing, and you had a strong domain that ranks well for the niche you've chosen... BUT you have only $300 to spend...

would you go with google adwords or msn adcenter to start out?

trigatch4

No need to apologize... let me rephrase... automization can increase efficiencies a buttload. What are some things you would recommend having automated right off the bat?

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barman

How much do you leverage your current AM campaigns on new ones? Basically.. are you always picking out new niches to try, or do you try to saturate a niches that have been successful for you until you can saturate no more? And is there a breaking point where the time isn't worth the effort anymore for a niche if your strategy is to saturate?

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tob

ahhh.. yes, but a much better question than some of the above...

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Jon

Great question!

There are two good ways to go about this.

1- The high quality route - Find current writers who know their shit on the niche topic. They can be bloggers, journalists, forum members, article writers, etc. What you can do is contact them individually (takes time, I know, but it's quality). Ask them if they'd be interested in writing on that topic, let them know that it's mutually beneficial (if it is), etc. If they aren't interested, DON'T hassle them, just ask them if they can provide any references for people they may know who may be interested in it. Sometimes you can find the best writers this way, without even having to know them in the first place.

2- Less quality (usually, but not always) - Outsource it with a freelance writer or buy the content from a content company/freelance writers company. Sure, you may not be getting writers who's job or passion it is to write about the niche topic you want, but they will generally do the research that takes time, and write you an exclusive article or whatever it is you need done. The only thing that sucks, is it will cost money. Very rarely you will find one of these guys or companies willing to barter, but on the other hand, the content is yours forever and you can do whatever you want with it.

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Laura

Ditto that.

Edit: I thought you were responding about referral contests on forums. Don't mind me. I think I need to sit in the corner and learn how to read properly. (For the record, I am not a huge fan of those. )

CLKeenan

What is the the definition of "now"?

Oh, you would like me to use it in a sentence? Here you go:

"Affiliate Summit Passes Free Right Now!" posted 7:28am 5/21/07 but yet none of the 25 free ASE tickets were given away?




.... just messing with you Jon. Well.. sort of.

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jelf

Hey the writer tip is good!

engaged

abcd

Laura

Is that really something that someone just starting out could do? Seems like a tough market given competition...

kaveman

efgh

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Dar

That should stump him. +REP

barman

ROFL @ "OH SNAP" The recent slew of OH Snap pics is cracking me up

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echo

How do you go about finding the correct niche to get into? How are you choosing i mean i know every niche can be made into a success but there are some that are easier than others.

CLKeenan

Happy to oblige!

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engaged

ijkl

trigatch4

Lightning Round now equals: "Hold on a minute I have to take a dump Round"

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Jon

Another good question..

When looking for ANY product or service to push via an ad network or marketplace, I focus on three things.

1- Conversion rate
2- Payout
3- Competition

For conversion rate, it's so overlooked now and for years already. Most everyone focuses just on the payout and they judge the product/service based on that. WRONG. I mean, you can do that if you really want, but you're most likely missing out on something great. Conversion ratios are so important. It tells you if the damn thing is going to work, and how well or badly it's converting at. Sometimes that all depends on the landing page and the type of traffic that's hitting it. The payout part, shouldn't be used as a way to dream about being rich. For example, if you find something with a piss poor conversion rate, but a really high payout rate, there is a reason for this. The advertiser is aware it's a lot tougher to convert on so they jack up the payout rate to attract idiots that don't focus on anything else, and in turn all you're doing is branding for the advertiser for free if nothing converts. Also, when focusing on payout rates, sooooo many people, big and small affiliates alike, hell, even I do it sometimes, will add up how much they CAN potentially make, and focus on that more than anything. You're just giving yourself false hopes.

For competition, this is also important because you don't want to jump into a market that's dominated by tons of people who have been doing it for a damn long time only to waste a ton of cash and fail. It can make or break you. Even if you have one hell of a creative and unique idea, just remember, there is a reason why there are so many people in that niche, because it converts well, has a decent payout, an even better profit margin, and they know what's working and what's not, while all you may know is that it does okay and pays out pretty good. Their upperhand over you is pretty solid, and they are betting on the fact that it will scare you away after you fail the first time.

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kaveman

mnop

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Dar

01000001010000100100001101000100010001010100011001 00011101001000010010010100101001001011010011000100 11010100111001001111010100000101000101010010010100 11010101000101010101010110010101110101100001011001 01011010

kaveman

damn you suck, missed a few

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Jon

When approaching potential advertisers as a new forum with not all that much popularity or activity you don't have the upperhand to really make demands. So what you need to focus on is working in the longterm with them and building a solid partnership where later on when you hopefully do have the userbase, activity, and popularity, they will continue to sponsor contests for you and advertise with you as well. It's really a tough question, because every niche, especially within forums can be either really easy or fucking tough. Sometimes they appear easy to approach, but aren't at all.

In the end what you need to do is give this potential advertiser an incentive on why they should sponsor a contest. Aside for the obvious reasons, your job is to show them what they HAVEN'T considered yet. Give them more than just a contest, let them put a banner up, use them in a newsletter, and just keep offering them deal after deal because they are the first to have invested in your concept and community. I can assure you, their competitors will take notice and start approaching you later on as well.

This better not be a webmaster forum, otherwise I'm going to kick your ass.

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Dar

HAHAHAHA

Ataraxy

Not sure if more than one question is allowed but what the hell.

Say that you have a good idea for a new web application.

You don't have the means to fund it yourself but know the industry fairly well and know that it can be monetized.

How would you go about getting funding to develop this project.

I know this question is probably in the grey area of 'internet marketing' but the product itself would be just that.

__________________
My lateral marketing thoughts.

I am just an atom in an ectoplasmic sea without direction or a reason to exist.
The anechoic nebula rotating in my brain is persuading me contritely to persist.

kaveman

haha no worries, it has to do with my other love in life

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CLKeenan

~!@#$%^&*()-=+_<>?:"{}|\][';/.,

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Jon

Depends what the domain is. PageRank has absolutely no bearing for me. It's just got a bigger green bar than a different site. Alexa also kinda sucks. Remember, they can only track and rank their data based on people who use their toolbar. Sure, they are owned by Amazon and there are millions of shoppers from them, but I'm an Amazon shopper and I never used their lame toolbar. There's actually a very small percentage of people using it. Don't depend on those two factors to trick yourself into thinking it's more valuable than just being a domain with pretty colors and stats attached to it.

If it's just sitting there, and doesn't get much traffic.. develop it and sell it. Think of it as a real estate property that you don't really want or need. So instead of letting it sit and rot, if you have the cash and time for it, develop it into something that has a lot of potential value, and sell it to someone that can take it to the next level. You should be able to get at least $100 for it instead of letting it expire. Also, keep in mind that more than 90% of the webmasters out there DO count PR and Alexa as VALUABLE, so by adding that to your sale, you can probably fetch even more cash than you would have before. Whatever, if they are dumb enough to not listen to what people say about those two sources, then let them pay you for it.

It's just business.

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Jon

Ask.com and Looksmart.com are two that not many people use. They aren't great for everything, but they do serve their purposes for specific campaigns as a form of cheaper but still targeted traffic sources. The conversion ratios are okay too, but again, depends a lot on the type of campaign and landing page, etc. From what I have heard, it sucks for things like finance leads, ringtones, etc. The super popular and competition saturated shit. But for other stuff I've heard good things.

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Jon

There are no real "tricks" per se.. everything anyone needs to know has been posted about, blogged about, written up in articles, magazines, etc. It's everywhere. It just depends on what YOU want to believe and actually put into action. A lot of them take time to do, so people try and find shortcuts. The more shortcuts you use, the worse you'll do in the longrun.

Here's what you need..

1- Good titles
2- H tags (people may disagree, but they still hold value, even post-Florida)
3- Relevant one way links from relevant sources that have some type of TRUST. Getting links from every site in the world related to your topic is good, but it's a quality over quantity game.
4- Unique content with keywords. This doesn't mean to sprinkle a few or bombard it with tons of keywords, it means keep whatever the topic of the content is ON TOPIC, not on something else.

Those are my favorite 4, and probably all you really need in the long run, in spite of any crazy changes. This will work on Google, but also on many other important engines both nationally and internationally.

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Jon

The white one.

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