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Engineering student takes on a harder problem (31)

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Hey guys,
So im finally starting my first campaign. These last few days have been hectic with midterms, so im just now getting around to starting this thread.

Heres where im at so far:
Offer: Psafe Suite
Device: Android
Geo: Brazil
Payout: $0.64/Install
Traffic: Mobile

In terms of what ive got setup for this campaign;
Traffic source: Decisive
Aff Network: F5M
Tracking: Decisive
VPN: HMA

I just ordered the VPS starter package from Beyond Hosting, so that should be up and running here in a bit as well (current issues with possible fraudulent order, LOL). So i havnt tested any LP's yet; plan to get on this by tomorrow!

Anyways, here are the stats for first 15hrs or so (I paused all the campaigns this morning, I want to wait until i can split test vs. LP's):
Spend: $31.89
Revenue: $8.32
ROI: -74%

My creatives: I kinda just went all over the place with like 4 angles haha, just wanted to get some data for which ones would convert best (This was probably a bad idea, feel free to chew me out...)


something like "is your androids speed slow? Click here"(This one actually got rejected lol)


"your phone may have the droid3x.ed virus!! clean now"


"Turbo charge your phone!! Install now"


"Brazil's #1 google play app with over 16mil users >>"


""Excellent app. Light and effective" >>" (quoting a 5-star review)


"Party with your android. Tap here" LOL


"Is your battery always dead? Ressurect now"


*pic of douchebag* "Calling. Block calls now" I could literally not stop laughing while making this banner.

And finally the goodies:

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The rest of the data: Had to duck out for a bit to take another exam...





These are from the report generated from decisive for all four campaigns. I was running straight out of the mobile cookbook appetizer - seeing as i am still extremely noob haha
I also almost immediately blacklisted apps like gridr and the such. Also periodically blacklisted placements with >x3 offer payout spend and no conversions..

Heres the data for the 4 seperate campaigns:


(I just unpaused these to get a decent non-grayed-out screenshot)

I will work on some LP's tonight, and hopefully get another set of campaigns running tomorrow. Cant wait to see the new data!

Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Its 11pm, and the day is now drawing to a close.

Update on the day:
- Campaigns are still paused
- Set up VPS stater package from BH along with domain
- Set up FTP service
- Made Lander template (Big thanks to caurmen!)
- Reviewed initial run's results

All in all not a bad day, time to sit back and enjoy a cold one, knowing i earned every drop - no better feeling in the world.
Ill kick up my achievement meter by tomorrow, now that i have got most of my exams out of the way (for the week lol) i can fully focus on AM.
4am wakeups, clear goals, and laser-focus; time to get stuff done!

Now lets set some goals,
Then Demolish them:
- Brainstorm new banners and landers around top CVR creatives
- Analyze data for chance of breakout campaign
- Pump out a few landers and new banners
- Submit a few new campaigns (hopefully to be approved by the weekend)
- Set up STM Mobile tracker v4

Well good night, looking forward to tomorrow. "Never stop improving" Lets GO!!!

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Looking GOOD! You've got some very promising breakout possibilities there already - nice!

I'd also recommend adding "get the offer on a few more networks" to your list. PSafe is an offer that's on absolutely every network out there at this point - it's always worth split-testing between them to see whose system converts the best.

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So i did have a question about that, as ive read the same advice across many different follow along threads:
It is my understanding that the offer, regardless of aff network, is just a URL used to direct traffic to the offer page. So essentially the only difference in using it on various networks would be the payout, correct? Unless the speed at which the offer page loads is somehow affected by which network you go through..

I do however, plan to add a few more mobile traffic sources to my list, I just want to get a grasp of Decisive first, before i start screwing around with other unfamiliar sources and just end up confusing the hell out of myself haha

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Who needs sleep lol

Weekend's finally here! Get to focus on AM for once - looking forward to working my ass off for the next few days.
Im so glad i actually started my campaigns and am following through with everything; i could never learn this much, this fast, just from browsing this forum.
Like they say, everybody has dreams, the only thing separating you from everyone else is the action you take from the moment you wake.

Well another day is almost over, and once again, i have accomplished everything i set my mind to:
-Optimized the hell out of my campaigns and unpaused (almost to the point where i was worrying they might not get any traffic lol. Im actually currently in an engineering statistics course, so i know all to much about confidence intervals... But i just said fuck it used my better judgement. Im not too worried about losing money on these, just want to get some more general data.)
Data so far: not doing so hot yet. Oh well lol ill fix that with these landers

Spend: $11.96 (just unpaused like an hour or two ago..)
Revenue: $0 lol
ROI:-100%
yaaaaa, cant be having any of this -100% crap.

- Made a few more banners:

"Save me... Please..."


"Give your android POWER!! POWER"

And then i started just tweaking already existing banners, making copy and image changes.. This is probably where the rest of my banners will come from. I just finished one so far - have a few more open in photoshop. Ill get it done in the morning tomorrow (hell ya, weekend = get to sleep in till 6! Should probably start waking up earlier on the weekends tho...)

"The virus ODaD.aS.N KILLS Andriods!! Clean now"

... more coming soon

As for LP's I got one done, with 2 copies. Wanted to split test one where i ripped most of the text off the appstore listing vs. one where i outline short and concise benefits. We'll see how that plays out.

Copy one (right): App store rip
h1 = "4.4 stars with over 16 million users."
"Protect your Android ™ with the best AV "
"Have more BATTERY longer "
and some thing about "increase your androids speed"
button = "tap here"

Copy two (left): My version
h1 = "Solve all your mobile problems"
"never have another virus"
"battery is like new"
"make your phone FAST"
and at the bottom of the screen, below the CTA, "*Offer ends tomorrow" figure that should get the lazy bastards to click haha
button = "do it NOW"

I will work on another lander version, and get it done before i go to bed.. will probably post tomorrow.

Oh and i finally got my prosper202 set up, and my server properly hooked up to FTP, which took aloooooooooot longer than i expected (mainly the prosper). Had to go back and reread a bunch of the guides, but i think i got it down now!

Having VPS issues on my phone so cant do a full conversion test yet, but the landers look good, and the click registers and redirects me so i guess thats a good sign. Ill have to fix this issue asap.
Oh and a question: to make sure everything is tracking properly, would i just navigate to my LP and complete a conversion? Or do i have to start at my banners? In which case, not entirely sure how to

do that...

Well, time to quit killing time and get back to work. Have a productive weekend ahead of me! Cant wait to put some real time into this!

As always, any advice is appreciated!

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So im staring at my campaigns, and i cant figure out why my numbers are so low... too low
I start poking thru the stats to do some early optimization, and LOL its an android only offer, and of course i forgot to set that in my campaigns.... There goes 75% of my money down the drain.

Well, at least now i can confidently say, thats never happening again

I got 3 conversion with ~60% of my days budget ($45/$70), dont even make me do that ROI... too painful
Ill see how many conversions i can get with the rest of my budget. Maybe ill even crank up the limit for a bit just to get some data. In any case, tomorrow is a new day.

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Final thoughts: Ill have to keep an eye on this throughout the day to see how the seperate campaigns are doing - even tho i sabotauged most of my initial data...
Will try to optimize it out further by tomorrow and see how high i can get that ROI.
Maybe brazil wasnt the correct initial geo choice for me.. im usually winning <40-50% of bids.
Might be time to give another offer a shot in a different geo

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You'd think.

This is a common misconception amongst technically-minded folk. Back when I started doing AM, I resisted split-testing networks for ages because I couldn't believe it would make a difference.

I was very, very wrong.

ALWAYS split-test offers across networks if you can. I've seen CVR (conversion rate) variance of +- 50% between networks.

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It is as much as sending a package from A to B is the same regardless of whether you use FedEx, DHL, or UPS.

Different affiliate network =

1. Different DNS
2. Different end server location and connectivity to users
3. Potentially different tracking system
4. Different server speed in terms of click redirect time
5. Different redirect hops to the offer, could be brokered, some hops use JS to redirect, etc.
6. Tracking domain may be blacklisted by some services

Just check out this - http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?17816

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Actually while making this ad, I got an idea - have there been any case studies on "reverse psychology" ads? Kinda curious as to how they would perform - i guess ill see how this one does.

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The Google app store will localise to a users language provided it hasn't been hard set in the URL (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1...in-google-play).

If you just change your IP, it won't change if you are logged into Google, or if the URL you are loading has &hl=en in it. It should be IP-based though, if you are logged out and the hl query isn't there.

For some affiliate offers the URL might... so you should check that. If an app is in another langauge then ideally the affiliate URL wouldn't redirect to the app store with the hl=something string in it.

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Do focus on your exams rather than this.

Failed campaigns you can just move on from. They are of little consequence. Exams, not so much.

Definitely test out other traffic sources, even if just to find the one you are most comfortable with. They aren't all cut from the same cloth. Just don't spread yourself too thin - it's important to master a platform.

Rackspace CDN = easy, as is Voluum. Definitely put those in your to-do pile.

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Thanks for the advice, and you are defintely correct.. Ill probably be studying for my thermodynamics exam for most of tonight.

An update: I havent really had much time to allocate to my campaigns simply because of a hectic school schedule, but i have done a few other things:
- Continued optimizing campaigns. They have no promise, but i am just curious as to how high i can optimize my CTR. So far ive doubled it. Im only losing few dollars a day, so im not too worried about it.
- Setup Rackspace (still need to poke around and get things figured out)
- Setup Voluum (also still need to invest some time into it)
- Printed up LLC paperwork. Actually just talked to my econ proffesor (21yrs CPA background) who unfortunetly couldnt help me out with some advice. Directed me to small business development firm downtown. Setup and appointment, so should have that figured out fairly soon.
- Registered for Popads

- Oh and got a date with the hottest girl in my classes LIKE A BAWS haha more of a personal achievement i guess, just felt like i should throw that out there to feel like im actually getting some things done hah

Well I gotta get back to studying, ill try to screw around with my new "toys" later tonight haha lets see if i can get something going on a different source before i go to bed

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Thats a good foundation you're building there man, the foundation is vital to get all those skills down.

Looking forward to seeing some campaign progress, and good luck with your date bro haha

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Another exam raped.

Ive also set up tracking in Voluum, and resubmitted my campaigns to decisive. I uploaded my top CTR campaign to TapIt as well, just to compare the stats. Now ill just let em run for a bit while i make some new banners for my new offer:

New Offer: Dolphin browser
Payout: $0.56
Geo: RUSSIAN FEDERATION (fuckyes, my heritage and native tongue can finally be of use haha plus i already know of the bastards love for vodka hah)
Network : MobVista
Traffic Source : Split testing Tapit and Decisive

Will update once i finish everything up. Time to get back to work..

Ill leave ya with a dope quote: "The only limit to what you can achieve is set by the level of your imagination and your dedication to making it real" - Tony Robbins

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Yes. You should get your priorities aligned properly. IM/AM is not going anywhere. It is not as if you invented something new that needs to reach the market in the next 4 weeks. You are not going to close off any options for you or your future if you don't work on these even for a few months.

Messing up in school, on the other hand, definitely can close off a lot of options for you ... especially if you are in a field like engineering.

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@cmdeal haha thats funny, i was actually doing chemical engineering last year. Transferred 2 states over to do petroleum eng, i dont think thats even on that list there..

But I also feel like i cant half-ass this. If im doing this, im going All-In.

AM isnt going anywhere, but the skills i can glean from this are of utmost value, even in my continuing education

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Here are some of my personal favourites from my notes:

• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?746-A-Great-Beginner-PPV-Guide!-%28Unemployment-Submits%29
• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?753-Full-Walkthrough-of-30pd-Campaign-%28Requested%29
• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?23-%28Guide%29-Promoting-Mobile-Offers-With-PPV
• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2539-phoenix-does-a-campaign
• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2891-Finding-Offers-that-make-YOU-Money
• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?3577-Does-Direct-Linking-Really-Work-Cash-bonanza-round-2!
• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?8015-How-many-PPV-landing-page-do-you-generally-test
• http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?8754-Taking-Advantage-of-Extreme-Traffic-PPV-Style!

p.s: purposely make the url un-clickable

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Hell, I suffered through a degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas from 1989 to 1994 with a 3.05 gpa and I can tell you this...the skill of selling, marketing, and money-getting is far more valuable than any engineering degree. Yes, engineering can teach you to solve problems, and getting an engineering degree is an accomplishment, but I learned far more at my first 3 day direct marketing seminar in 1998 from people who had no degrees, than I learned in 4.5 years in engineering school from what was known as a "prestigious program." Honestly, when I look back at it, I'm still not sure what I learned and at the time, and it certainly gave me no advantage in the world of business and marketing.

And as far as Petroleum Engineering goes, well, I worked in the oilfield on the North Slope (Alaska) and that experience makes me very, very thankful that I discovered direct marketing a few years later...when it comes to the oilfield, run away as fast as you can....just a little perspective from a 43 year old fart who will be eternally grateful for discovering direct marketing in my 20's...marketing (leveraged selling) is the most valuable life skill you can learn.

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Nice, ill have to get in contact with each of my account managers. Wouldn't want to be adhering to more restrictions than required to

And ya, of course. I think only something like 10% of the population speaks english. The pic was just something i came across in my google searches that cracked me up. Started making banners last night and realized that none of my current fonts work for cyrillic; spent the better part of the night browsing for fonts - about as exciting as it sounds..

Perfect! Ill read thru these in the next few days. Cant believe how much more there is to learn; never stop seeking knowledge.

And thats just evil man..

I could not agree with you more. The biggest skills one learns in engineering education is solving problems, and how to learn; but give credit where credit is due, because those are two HUGE skills that you begin taking for granted after completing school, but it does set you apart from the bulk of the population. But yea, im definitely learning alot more in the marketing sphere, and the knowledge is heavily applicable to many areas of life (Couldnt sell my car for $5K - started AM, rewrote the ad copy, and had a line of buyers bidding over each other to get the car at $6.5k)

Oilfields are definitely not the most appealing thing, but thats why we're getting $30-$50/hr job offers... as sophmore and junior interns

@jonah, how long did it take you to decide to leave your career for full-time pursuit of AM? I have some EE buddies, and i know they are making hefty salaries, especially with companies like Micron

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Another fellow engineer here who fell for the AM lifestyle!

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Finally the weekend Get to put in some serious 'work' time

An update on the day:
Things are kinda going slow, thanks in major part to the fact that apperently China has a 7day national holiday, so my mobvista AM cant get back to me till mid next week. And i need her to approve me for the offer before i can start testing.

I was supposed to be approved for a Mundo M account this week, but after playing phone-tag with my account manager for most of the week, she missed our set time for the call earlier today, so that has been postponed till monday..

I guess ill see what other networks i can apply to...

I have however finished up a set of 7 banners and a kickass landing page (@400ms), that ill upload once i get my campaigns launched.

Have also been actively trying to figure out this Voluum tracking system. Cant do much yet, even the one offer that i was approved for (thru F5M) has a bad offer URL, so i cant really do much of anything at this point until some AM's start getting back to me..

Got ALOT of shit done today, which is great because i blew off a night of drinking with my friends who were less than pleased haha

Time to go pass out. Feeling that nice little brain numbness you get after a good day

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Sounds good! Looking forward to hearing your next results.

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Yo stackers,
Sorry ive been neglecting this thread, just because i feel it has kinda outlived its original purpose: to keep me accountable, and just to vent my thoughts in general.

Well, heres an update on whats been going down these last few days:
- launched Dolphin offer in RU thru several traffic sources (Decisive and TapIt)
- Cut TapIt for high cost and poor conversion
- launched offer on zeropark
- Got into Brus Media and Mundo Media
- Noticed 60% clickloss from Voluum --> F5M (so far the only network im running it on, plan to test a few others within next few days)
- rerouted offer back thru prosper202 tracking (was told by rep the clickloss is due to the fact that the trackvoluum domain is flagged on many sourced). Other option would be to CNAME a domain, but i still didnt want cheap decisive and zeropark traffic eating up my 100k events within a few days
- FIRST PROFITABLE PLACEMENTS !!!! (at a decent 1900%ROI lol) campaign still in red
- Relaunched offers with new tracker, split testing 2 sources and DL vs LP

I think that pretty much covers it.

I am starting to feel like i am actually getting a better handle on things and how they work. I think i can get this offer profitable!

But about to choose a few more offers as well, thinking about trying sweeps offer.

Im also looking into PPV, and hope to test that out soon as well. Although i may wait until ive gotten at least one campaign profitable on my current sources lol
But in any case, i will probably start a new follow along when i get to that.

Well, peace! Gotta get back to work haha

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@bennkon
Hahahahahahaha, you have filled me with mirth…ah, the oilfield never changes. I presume they haven’t told you about the 48 hour days, the “sliding scale” when it comes to hours you actually get paid for and the fact that you ain’t getting paid for every hour you work. So, if you wish to hear my entire story about why I left the oilfield, let me know and I shall write it up and post it…it is a rather amusing one, I must say, like being hit in the funny bone.

Here’s what the recruiter told me when I interviewed for a junior field engineering position with Atlas Wireline Services in late 1993 (since bought and sold and divvied up):

“Oh, it’s a great job. You work 4 days on, then you get three days off, then you work 3 on and 4 off. On your off days you can go wherever you want, and since you’re the engineer, you get to work in a high tech truck, carry your briefcase up the steps, while your hands rig up and rig down. Sure, you work hard while you’re there, but you can earn a lot of bonus, you get a 401k, and you get to work with some real professionals.”

Now, he said this to me with a straight face, and looked me right in the eye when I did so. And even though I had a lot more experience than most people he was recruiting (US Navy), I fell for every word of it because he was so….sincere.

Looking back on it, it was one of the most valuable business trainings I ever received because I got fixed in my mind exactly what someone looks like when they have deliberately planned and rehearsed “The Big Lie.” I also got a rude awakening to the real world, realizing that yes, people actually will deliberately and cunningly plot to lie their asses off to you for their own personal gain. Now I know what someone looks like and sounds like when they do such a thing, and that experience has served me very well.

The reality after I readily signed on the dotted line and arrived in Alaska?

One of the General Operators looked at me, fell to the floor laughing and said, “man, are they still telling that 4 on, 3 off lie?” The reality was, if you were lucky, 12 on, 2 off (but you had to stay in town and wear a beeper in case a job called in), 18 hour days with shoddy equipment, and very dangerous manual labor under conditions of intense fatigue with no time to eat right, work out, stay in shape, sleep or enjoy life. Oh, and the hands you worked with were constantly pissed because they got paid on the “sliding scale” not their actual per hour work. A lot of them were missing fingers from preventable accidents, and almost everyone I knew had been injured on the job at one time or another.

Equipment, shall we say, was not “properly maintained.” Hell, when that BP well blew in the gulf of Mexico a few years ago, my only thought was, “what took so long?” And BP (British Petroleum) was one of the better companies we did jobs for.

Soooooo, if you want to hear the specific story of why I left the oilfield, why let me know fellas, and I’ll write it up and post it. Not a lot of marketing lessons there, but some human nature lessons, and it will give you an appreciation for being involved in direct marketing.

As far as problem solving skills, I’ll give credit to the US Navy submarine force for teaching me how to solve complex, technical problems under extreme duress and time constraint when your ass is on the line, but I assure you I did not learn this skill in an engineering classroom…to quote Clint Eastwood from Heartbreak Ridge, most of my fellow, civilian engineering students “couldn’t make a beer fart in a whirlwhind” after they graduated, and 22 years later I still wonder how some of them get out of bed in the morning (still know a few of them).

If’n you fellas want to hear my oilfield story, why then weigh in and let me know, and I’ll take a trip down bad ol’ memory lane that led to some very valuable life lessons that have served me well in business where my only risk of injury is fatigued fingers from typing too much….

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@johna . . . wow

Well, glad i still have 2yrs till i graduate - plenty of time to get profitable and start my own thing.

Would love to hear your story as to why you left the industry, although i think you touched on it pretty well there ^^

I actually have yet to hear that side of the story, so i find this very interesting. Will make for some interesting talks with future recruiters

As for sliding scale and not getting paid for the hours you work, im not sure this applies as Pet.E's are salary positions. Something like ~100k to start. Ive heard 2wks on 2wks off, 1wk on 1 wk off, even 1mth on 1mth off lol. While on youre working 12hr shifts, and on call for the rest of the time.
My buddy actually just graduated in december and he got a got in Penn. working for chevron. 2wks on 2wks off, 110k to start, 20k signing bonus. He comes back here every 2wks, so i know they definetly aint calling him out haha

But ya man, would definetly like to hear your story, this is great motivation to commit to success in AM

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ha id like to hear the oilfield story.

never been myself but knew a few people who went off to the tar sands in Alberta. not exactly a good place to go.

actually there's a good movie about 2 guys doing just that. its a comedy

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1555747/

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I'll get around to writing it up soon....it's a long one, but while there's not any specific marketing advice in there, it is certainly a lesson in human nature, and while I hated my time there, there's no doubt I learned a lot of things that have really helped me in business over the years...and I'm eternally thankful I got out with all my fingers, else it would have been a lot harder to type....

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Would like to hear that story too johna5150 you posted anywhere?

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I do need to sit down and write it up....it's long, but it actually does have some pretty good business lessons in it.

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