Let me preface this by saying I still haven’t profited shit, but I’m not hemorrhaging cash like I was 3 weeks after I started. Right now I’m just a hair under break-even.
1.CPM and Content networks are not for newbies.
2.Facebook/Social sites are not for newbies.
3.Don’t throw out 15 different homemade LPs for 15 different offers, all in one day, and expect them to convert. Stick to 1 or 2 sites, develop them, and control your costs. This may take 2-3 weeks or more.
4.Learn SEO by reading reading reading and testing testing testing. Avoid getting all your SEO advice from a single source. If you didn’t prove it to yourself with a test, don’t expect it to work out of the box.
5.Live and die by the numbers. Really analyze and understand what the CTR percentages and everything else mean. Have patience and let the campaigns you create run for a week or two without making major changes to your ads/keywords.
6.Google Analytics is your friend. Use it from the start.
7.Just because you have a 5% CTR after 30 impressions does NOT mean you crank up the bid. Let the campaign aggregate 2 weeks of data before making major decisions.
8.LANDING PAGES CONVERT. Don’t throw up some shitpile graphics and expect the end user to click through and buy. Hire a pro for the first few LP’s you do. Once I started using professional LPs, the conversions shot way up.
9.Get the Photoshop/Source files for anything you buy. Code, Graphics, Spiders, etc. If you do your homework and find out what things cost to have done custom, you’ll get the same product for a fraction of what some dude charging for a generic $200/LP will charge you. Get the source code even if the developer sends you the textfile/database. If you can’t get source, find someone else.
10.Have a ‘sources’ directory on your local development PC with Drupal, Wordpress, BANS, PHPBay, McJiffy, or any other off the shelf software you wish to use. This is simply an unmodified (or modified config file to simplify future deployments) version of the software. You drag/drop these files for each new domain/subdomain. Makes versioning a piece of cake.
11. Make sure any plugins or themes you download are copied to the appropriate package in (#10) ‘sources’ so you don’t miss them or fuck something up later when you FTP your new site up to your host.
12.Back up your files, nuff said. Backup your database too with phpMyAdmin if necessary.
13.Read WickedFire for about 30 hours before you execute any campaign. Write out a roadmap of where you expect your site to be in 6 months and document a strategy to get there based on WickedFire posts/examples.a
The #1 thing I have to add is this: Keep a notebook with you at all times. You never know when an idea or a weird niche presents itself.
And of course, maintain a pretty amazing stock of your favorite alcohol/drug. It’s never work if you love what you do. Hopefully my 120 day update will have a lot more successes.
So far I've spent about $1000 and have $965 in earnings, so I'm catching up. Just wish I had studied more before I began.
1.CPM and Content networks are not for newbies.
2.Facebook/Social sites are not for newbies.
3.Don’t throw out 15 different homemade LPs for 15 different offers, all in one day, and expect them to convert. Stick to 1 or 2 sites, develop them, and control your costs. This may take 2-3 weeks or more.
4.Learn SEO by reading reading reading and testing testing testing. Avoid getting all your SEO advice from a single source. If you didn’t prove it to yourself with a test, don’t expect it to work out of the box.
5.Live and die by the numbers. Really analyze and understand what the CTR percentages and everything else mean. Have patience and let the campaigns you create run for a week or two without making major changes to your ads/keywords.
6.Google Analytics is your friend. Use it from the start.
7.Just because you have a 5% CTR after 30 impressions does NOT mean you crank up the bid. Let the campaign aggregate 2 weeks of data before making major decisions.
8.LANDING PAGES CONVERT. Don’t throw up some shitpile graphics and expect the end user to click through and buy. Hire a pro for the first few LP’s you do. Once I started using professional LPs, the conversions shot way up.
9.Get the Photoshop/Source files for anything you buy. Code, Graphics, Spiders, etc. If you do your homework and find out what things cost to have done custom, you’ll get the same product for a fraction of what some dude charging for a generic $200/LP will charge you. Get the source code even if the developer sends you the textfile/database. If you can’t get source, find someone else.
10.Have a ‘sources’ directory on your local development PC with Drupal, Wordpress, BANS, PHPBay, McJiffy, or any other off the shelf software you wish to use. This is simply an unmodified (or modified config file to simplify future deployments) version of the software. You drag/drop these files for each new domain/subdomain. Makes versioning a piece of cake.
11. Make sure any plugins or themes you download are copied to the appropriate package in (#10) ‘sources’ so you don’t miss them or fuck something up later when you FTP your new site up to your host.
12.Back up your files, nuff said. Backup your database too with phpMyAdmin if necessary.
13.Read WickedFire for about 30 hours before you execute any campaign. Write out a roadmap of where you expect your site to be in 6 months and document a strategy to get there based on WickedFire posts/examples.a
The #1 thing I have to add is this: Keep a notebook with you at all times. You never know when an idea or a weird niche presents itself.
And of course, maintain a pretty amazing stock of your favorite alcohol/drug. It’s never work if you love what you do. Hopefully my 120 day update will have a lot more successes.
So far I've spent about $1000 and have $965 in earnings, so I'm catching up. Just wish I had studied more before I began.