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Do you have to stick to 1 SOURCE and 1 VERTICAL when starting out? (7)

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Hello guys. Today I would like to address another topic that aspiring affiliate marketers ask about over and over again.

So instead of writing a reply every-time, I will use this article to send people to



THE QUESTION : Do I have to run just 1 offer/vertical on 1 traffic source when starting out?

The truth is, pretty much every solid guide on STM or on any other place, always recommends this in one way or another...

Stick to one source and master it.
Stick to one vertical and get it green first.
Stick to one traffic type to become a ninja at it...



So do you really HAVE to do it? The answer is not a clear YES or NO, but rather a YOU SHOULD.

When starting in AM, there are way too many new things to learn and handle. That's why it is wise to take whatever measures to cut the learning curve down and to make your life easier. It's way easier to focus on a limited amount of factors and inputs, than to try to master it all at once.

There are some things that are pretty much the same, no matter what vertical or traffic type you run, and these are the things you need to master first. Think about things like campaign setup, working on creatives, tracking setup, postbacks setup, hosting LPs, getting offers … this alone will be overwhelming to most of newbies, so why complicate your life even more?

The things I mentioned are all crucial for ANY campaign and they are pretty universal regardless of traffic network or vertical – you always need to host your LPs somewhere, you always need to track, you always need to have your postback configured properly…



So instead of getting yourself confused even more, learn all of the above by running on 1 source while promoting 1 vertical. Once you master these basics, feel free to venture out and conquer more sources, more verticals, more traffic types … you will see that the basics stay pretty much the same everywhere. Of course there will be network specifics, but the core remains the same.

So do you have to focus on 1 source and 1 vertical when starting out? Yes, it would be wise to, in order to make your life easier and to master the AM basics faster.



HOWEVER : DO NOT stay on 1 source or 1 vertical for too long. I don't know a single successful affiliate who would be able to make EVERY source or EVERY vertical profitable, not even 1. It doesn't work that way, none of use is universal, we are all good at something else.

It might take a few tries to find a vertical or source that will be a good match for you. If you feel you invested enough time and money into something and you're still far away for green, don't hesitate to move on and test something different.

Obviously, use common sense here, do not jump from one shiny object to another, without giving anything a proper try. That's not what I'm trying to tell you to do. But sticking to something forever isn't gonna help you either. There are opportunities all around you, don't be afraid to search for them

Thanks for reading,
Matej.

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This is the first post I'm reading in the forum and I'm a newbie.

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Welcome! There is many many more for you to go through, hopefully you will find them helpful

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Hello Matuloo,

Great post, this is yet another great piece of advise from you.

I cannot express how important it is to not only stick to one vertical, but become as knowledgeable as possible about that vertical and the whole industry surrounding it. When I started, I signed up to like 4 ad networks, and had I don't know how many affiliate network accounts... Nowdays, I use 1 traffic source for the moment and like 2 aff networks, if not, direct connections with advertisers. It's made life much easier!

People, follow this advice! Stick to one thing and MAKE IT WORK!

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I don't know if it will be of any interest to someone, but from my point of view, best has been to stick to one source and one vertical until i get profitable on it, even if it means ending up with a daily profit of 0.5$
If even with all the tweaking you can't get profitable on a source then it will probably be the same at others !

Also the fact that some sources are more tolerant than others on scripts and stuff (back button, exit popup, popunder etc..) even if it looks better at first sight, it also means, that you might have to work on more things to get profitable.
While a source that only allows clean stuff, will force you to focus on your landing page and funnel, and once you get profitable on that, you ll probably be abble to get profitable on other sources with lesser quality traffic but with more options.

Hope what i say makes sense

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You are right Rick, Affiliate Marketing is not an exact science, so it doesn't work the same for everyone. In my case however, I started to see daily profits only after I changed the initial setup - so different source and different GEO. It's true I did stick to one thing initially and I actually made it profitable for a short while, but I had to move on in order to finally make it. When I look back now, I think I wasted a few months by sticking to the initial setup for too long. I write more about it in this post, check it out if you didn't read it yet : http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...ally-master-it

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I am just focusing on adult and crypto with mgid and evadav traffic. Reading posts and seeking help from here. Hopefully, I kick off a great start!

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