I'm very excited to take on affiliate marketing, and before I'd discovered STM in the last week, I'd gotten traffic using a very crude SEO tactic, one which is not scalable and uses an incredible amount of computing resources. I'm very interested in exploring paid traffic, as every beginner guide on this forum suggests.
I'm already comfortable with the design aspects of creating adverts, and have a history of web development. Math and statistics are also studies that I'm passionate about.
From the half-dozen beginner guides I've read here, that puts me in pretty good shape. However, every guide also says to select one traffic source, and stick with it.
Thus far, selecting a traffic source is the one thing I haven't been able to successfully complete.
Is POF still recommended present-day?
If image/video advert creation isn't a problem, am I better selecting a certain traffic source over a text-based one such as Bing?
tldr; Why does selecting a traffic source seem so daunting?
All advice is welcome; I'm hoping to move forward ASAP.
Haha I think you will find that everyone struggles picking their first source, based on the fact that all sources are making affiliates money. There is no wrong source here. POF is still solid for a newbie. It's affiliate friendly, and we have a lot of guides and case studies that can help you a long the way. I wouldn't recommend Bing to start with as there are a lot more moving parts that you have to work with than POF.
Perfect, this is exactly what I needed; Thank you Mr. Green!
Since reading your post I've created a user account on PoF to explore how users input their information to be targeted and how ads are placed, and also created an advertising account.
Following along with caurmen's Getting Started guide - Part 4, I've messaged my AM:
Selecting a traffic source is never fun when starting. You have no information on which source makes the most sense for you to yield the fastest results.
Almost all types of traffic make people money. There honestly no correct answer. I'd sign up for a few, and just choose whichever UX feels friendly. Test it for a bit, and see how you feel.