ALERT: You Probably Know These But Still Believe... (1)
Hey guys. It's been a hell of a 2016 and I want to contribute myself to this forum ( more than I've done before ).
In this post I'll share a bit of my expertise so far regarding AM and also regarding business and drive.
WARNING: Long post
What you'll find out reading this:
- Can you make it in AM?
- The main challenges in AM when starting out
- Coping with loss ( that's right - coping )
- Why patience will bring you where you want to be ( not only in AM ) ( daily )
Let's go.
1. Can you make it in AM?
I've been reading this past year a lot on the forum and this question is almost the same as:
Can anyone be an entrepreneur?
The short answer is: no. The long one is (hint: sarcasm): no, sir!
There are books, articles, podcasts and vlogs about this from people a lot more talented, more successful and
with a lot more years in their fields and I am, that say this, but I'll try to add a personal touch to why this is like this.
I firmly believe that any activity you do is vocational meaning it has to be in your core, the very reason you wake up
in the morning.
Now, none of the paths you can take are the same as the others and most of the time we as adults ( some - I'm still cutting placements here )
work ( not try ) on improving our everyday activity so we can draw the fruits of success. Most of the times this happens
by studying other people and to some extent, copying their strategies.
However, copying can get you this far and actually if you think of copying one's success, the only thing everyone ever sees
is the result: that guy made $xxx,xxx/day in 2 years doing this, that and that. This is the same as trying to copy the best recipe for
smoked turkey by just looking at the picture of a smoked turkey.
In order to make it in any field, you need to enjoy the sucky parts of that field and to be able to enjoy the sucky parts you
really really have to love the process as a whole. To circle back to the above question: yes, as long as one is honest about their likes and dislikes
- stay along for #4
The main challenges in AM when starting out
As with any field, your head will be pounded with information on one side, misinformation or better yet: lack of proper understanding of the
information you read and also panic - yeah, it's there.
First, the information side. Depending on your personal background ( tech, marketing, design, bee keeping etc ) you will think
at first that your background will help you - it will but not on this stage. Of course having a tech background helps you see everything
as a system a bit faster ( or to automate tasks ), of course having a marketing background you will see 30 times more angles than
the tech guys and the story goes on like this.
However, previously acquired skills will be useful after you've learned the ones you don't have or the ones that you suck at.
The level of depth one needs to gain in order to make the puzzle is not at all master level. One ( myself included ) needs to know
why this is done like this, why tech is needed, why having something pretty design will not make your audience wet themselves in buying
like it's Black Friday but keep in mind that mastery takes time. If you already have a decent amount of knowhow in a specific field and
want to add more knowledge, just keep doing stuff.
This point will be frustrating since at first the 2 won't connect: if I know all these things about tech for instance and most AMs complain
about how hard the tech part is, why don't I blast that $xx,xxx/day mark after 3 weeks? ( we'll get to the patience part in a bit )
The misinformation part ( of yourself ): when you read follow-alongs you will see a lot of nuggets ( a lot of people will say they see them )
without specifying which are the nuggets - your common sense and xp will have to pitch in here. At first, you'll think ( I surely did ) you
know what everybody is talking about. Next, when taking the appropriate action, you'll start seeing some discrepancies and get frustrated
once again. Do not despair, it's only natural that everything comes in A/B testing flavors especially in AM.
The panic. Once you start spending money you will notice one thing and your first lesson in AM: you will lose money.
Depending on your point in life and career, fear and panic will crawl under your skin - I've been there several times ( business and AM ).
Nobody will tell you this but that fear is not about losing the money, but about you not trusting yourself to make it work given there
hasn't been any $10k camp in profits let alone $50k,$100k in profits.
Coping with loss ( that's right - coping )
This is also where different age groups behave differently: if you're 18-20 and starting out, you won't give that much of an importance
to it whereas if you're 30 with a family ( ie. kids and stuff ) it'll take a heavier toll - but you'll also have the 10+ years of xp doing stuff so
they should balance themselves out.
All these will very very soon start to pop up as soon as you start reading about successes other folks had.
This is also one important aspect: learn to divert your attention away from AM porn ( same as entrepreneur porn ) where you
read a lot of success stories that make it look like a walk in a park, then you feel overwhelmed and stupid and just sit on your
arse doing nothing. Avoid invading your neurons with pleasure inducing chemicals since those lead to inaction and frustration.
Focus on executing.
If you're lucky enough, by this time you've spent your first 3 months in AM. Time in this era will be slow. Landers will come slow,
banners will be slow, launching will be slow, everything will be slow. It's supposed to be slow and I'd advise against moving too fast
here, especially if you've got a medium budget. A small budget will prevent you from moving too fast, a big budget will make it not
count, but still: money lost is money lost.
Given that most people advise new comers to start with pops, budgets can run out really fast so pay attention to that metric as it
will age you a bit if not.
One very big golden nugget would be: Do not start AM when under pressure to make it work in month #1. Why?
Because good decisions take a bit of time and practice ( just like driving a car for the first time ) and 1 month will most likely
ruin your expectations and put even more pressure when none is needed. Don't spend your last dollar and don't quit your previous
endeavors without making sure you master the techniques - not the money, it'll come once the basics are properly learned.
Have a budget and stick with it. Wishful thinking will not get you where you want to be and by that I mean: if I put
this amount of money I'm sure I can make it work. A bit of a fallacy trap ( or in common terms: penis strategic thinking ).
Spending money like crazy without learning from that will roll down on you very fast.
Circling back to the question: loss in AM ( more than other sports ) is inevitable and further more: necessary since it's a good teacher.
Why patience will bring you where you want to be ( not only in AM ) ( daily )
This is the part where you DO NOT CHECK YOUR BLOODY stats every minute. Ok, do it, but for the first week or 2.
Then stop. Let them run a bit ( this part is connected with the previous part - coping with loss ). Like any other business
( since AM is a business ), results will not show over night(s). It'll take time to cook, it'll take time to create the layer of
sediments you need in order to progress.
Again, avoid AM porn at this stage and get to doing stuff. I had to learn this the hard way - ie: losing moneh.
Now, patience is good but you also need focus. Testing is good as long as you pick your weapons and battlefield.
It'll be hard to be multiskilled from the get go so don't jump around. This circles back to losing money and budgets.
Testing $3k on 1 traffic source and vertical with as many offers, landers, banners you can find, will get you far more
ahead than spreading that to 3-4 traffic sources ( even if on the same vertical ) or even worse: spreading across several
media verticals: pops, display, native, facebook etc.
Key takeaway: it's ok to pause everything and just do nothing AM related for a while. Don't panic. Deliberately pause stuff
and look the other way. You are not gonna make things work by being burned out, frustrated and demotivated. Learn to
know yourself, accept where you are at that given point in life and move on. You're the only one who cares about that so
TL;DR
1. Not anyone can make it in AM - proven fact ( sorry folks )
2. You need to like all of the process not just the success in order to make it
3. Information is good as long as you know how to read it
4. Patience is a must if you want to be sane
5. Almost nothing will work in the first 3 months - it'll get better if you stay constant in the work
6. Focusing your attention and budget will teach you more than spreading out
7. Don't start AM out of desperation and expect to live till you're 80
8. Pausing from AM is ok.
My next post will be a bit more technical so stay tuned ( hint: how to properly deploy your landers to a CDN and how to make that run fast )
Cheers
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