Situation Report! We are starting out again and we need guidance to hit X,XXX days (12)
Situation Report! We are starting out again and we need guidance to hit X,XXX days
Hi all,
Going to try to make this as concise as possible and not too boring, bear with me! I'm sure my story sounds a lot like many of you out there, but I feel like the tide has finally turned!
Take a seat by the fire ... (for those who want to go straight to the part where I need help, skip to the bolded title below).
Been in AM since 2009 and was doing lots of different stuff (PPC/PPV/SEO), but SEO was my main skill and it worked good for a while. I made a bit of money, had a small biz, had clients, etc... I figured I didn't have to work for anyone, so I had it good. Little did I know, life was about to hit me in the face like a semi.
In 2014, I began to realize how clients were holding me back and are increasingly difficult to convince. One even wanted to sue me because his site was down (except he blacklisted himself in my VPS' firewall, nuff said!). I knew this wasn't going to skyrocket any time soon, unless I partnered up or hire people to work with. Ugh, no thanks.
Truth was, I really didn't want to go that route and have to deal with people that are becoming more and more incredulous, especially since I was making money on separate projects with SEO + AM literally in my sleep with very little work. I wanted to expand on that, as clients were taking up literally all of my time.
Then I hit rock bottom: No more $$$, bills stacking, divorce, angry clients, no job, no guidance, etc... We've all been there and I believe I needed to hit that to rebound like I am right now.
I decided to end the bleeding; I closed doors, and it felt surprisingly good, almost cathartic.
My next move however, wasn't as clear as I wanted it to be. My bread and butter (SEO) wasn't what it used to be. It's a LOT harder now and you need a lot more $$$ to make it happen, so I decided to quit cold turkey as well. Dropped all my money sites, even my entire PBN, which had costed me a few thousands.
Fast-forward July 2015, I met someone with the same goals as I have and we really complement each other: He has the funds and I have the knowledge, experience and tools. So we quickly partnered up. When I read a lot of the STM success stories, I see a similar pattern. Try try try, fail fail fail, give up and/or lose a lot of money, hit rock bottom, then change of mindset + meeting with people = $$$. I feel I'm finally at that last point.
This is where I need your help, O STM Gods.
Let's be real honest for a minute: Many make money, but only a few profit. This is what I learned in these last few years. I am here to be part of the latter and nothing else.
We are ready to roll and we will be spending a lot of money testing as early as September 2015, so you will most likely see a lot of john_g shenanigans this next couple of weeks, so I apologize in advance (but I promise to use the search feature!).
So the idea was to use Facebook as traffic source, with a safe niche like gaming, especially since I am a gamer myself (although I don't play the games we'll be promoting, but rather BF4, Skyrim, etc...). We have no problem going that route even as of today, but other traffic sources and niches are very tempting, like mobile for instance (for gaming or other niches). We do have a decent daily budget ($75/$100), I have probably one of the best cloaker there is (although we may not even use it). Finally, as for tracking, I do have CPV lab, but I'm still learning the ropes of it and maybe there is a better tracking solution out there (I might be willing to sacrifice the self-hosted aspect for ease of use, not sure yet).
The challenge I now face is, having been around these STM parts lately, this isn't like when I was around back in 2012. There's a whole new set of different tools/traffic sources/niches. So, a lot of questions arise:
- What's a reliable CPA company? Is Neverblue/AdSimilis still the way to go?
- CPV Lab seems dated and not newbie friendly. I might give in and switch to a hosted solution.
Voluum , perhaps? - Mobile is increasingly tempting to dive in, even thought it might have a bit of a learning curve
- Lots of other traffic sources seem to have surged like mobile DSP, pop traffic
To finish off, I am in no way looking for cookie cutter solutions, being spoon-fed, or anything like that. I'm a grown man, I can take it! Just want your general feedback and I'll absorb anything I can!
Thanks so much, you guys rock!
I really admire your tenacity. It's not easy to make a comeback after hitting rock bottom - which is a shame because many hugely successful people managed to find success after hitting rock bottom! Which is what I'm wishing for you as well! 
What's a reliable CPA company? Is Neverblue/AdSimilis still the way to go?
CPV Lab seems dated and not newbie friendly. I might give in and switch to a hosted solution.
Mobile is increasingly tempting to dive in, even thought it might have a bit of a learning curve
Lots of other traffic sources seem to have surged like mobile DSP, pop traffic
And if you do decide to go with gaming on FB - zeno's your guy to follow! Seek out his best threads on FB gaming.
Here are some STM threads and a blog post I've come across on gaming that may help:
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...at-Sheet-Here!
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...om-the-Zen-Den
http://iamattila.com/media-buying-10...e-installs.php
Caurmen has recently summarized in an awesome post, verticals and traffic sources that are working the best in 2015 - I trust it will provide guidance:
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...ticals-EXPOSED
Good luck and I look forward to hearing about your progress!
Amy
Hey john_g! We would love to get you started up again on our network. Just read your story and you seem extremely dedicated and determined to making it in this industry, and we'd would love to make that happen for you! Please reach out to our coordinator extraordinaire's on Skype and they'll gladly help getting you on your path to success!
rachelverville.dqna
joanieschneider.dqna
Thanks ewoww! I know David, but I haven't chatted with him for a while for obvious reasons, plus he is apparently very busy. So I added Angela F. and that's about where I am at 
Also Amy, thanks so much for the post. Yes I have definitely seen those posts and these are on my action table at the moment. I went through them quickly, then will come the time to get the accounts and start loading in some moniez
Hey John! Have you had a chance to get in contact with our coordinator team? If not, they are always available
Hi ewoww,
No, David is apparently very busy (my old AM), and Angela is rarely on Skype 
I sent Angela a message today, I'm sure she will respond. But at the volumes we will be pushing, I just want to make sure I'm not treated as "just another affiliate".
We built the business and incorporated it and are looking for a good place to start. Feel free to PM me if you want more details!
My AM @ Adsimilis is extremely responsive and really knows his stuff. If you still need a contact send me a PM and I'll hook you up.
Amy
Hi Amy!
Andrea is GREAT so far, I am extremely happy with the chat we had today, but I will keep that in mind 
Thanks so much for chiming in!
BTW, I'm still very much on the fence regarding traffic sources (like pretty much everybody else, right?).
Popups, Pop unders, DSPs, Redirects, Decisive, argh.... it's just so hard to pick something and go because you want to make sure you pick the right one and lose the least amount of money lol
What's the thought process when it comes to choosing one to start off with? Because the way I understand it, you must use several sources...
Hey John... I'm a little confused as we don't have an Angela here... ping eleah.portillo and we'll get you all squared away with a new AM presto.
PPV traffic (popups/unders, redirects etc.) IMO is easier because they normally allow more aggressive creatives, and you don't need to optimize banners. Downside is to get traffic volume you need to set up camps on a ton of sources (unless you're targetting a tier 1 geo like US).
Display traffic (banner traffic) is great in that the traffic volume is there, but most exchanges have pretty stringent requirements on creatives, and of course you need to optimize banners on top of landers.
So pick your battle. There are people making a killing in every vertical and traffic type. Read some recent follow-alongs and success stories to see what people are having success with and where, and just choose one and start testing.
Amy
Thanks for the response Amy. I read your post a while back and already started acting on it, but I hadn't posted back here. Oops!
Very useful and I think you are right; there are lots of people killing it in all kinds of different verticals, heck even different traffic sources so yeah
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