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My AM Journey (9)

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Hi guys, I just joined this forum a few days ago

I'm a programmer from China. trying to learn AM now.

Having reading a lot in this forum, I started my first two smartlink campaign serveral days ago, it all works bad.

One is monetizer, KE, mainstream, $10 spent with $0.73 back
the other is Mobidea's smartlink, KE, mainstream, $10 spent and $0.01 back

Now i changed to direct linked offers

Yesterday i run a videos offer, RU, from Mobidea, the traffic source is PropellerAds.
I got 10115 visits, 8644 clicks, 5 conversions, the revenue is $0.46

I'm using a landing page to detect bots that can't execute javascript, so seems the difference between 10115 and 8644 maybe bot traffics or click loss, anyway, that's not a big problem

the strange thing is, I only got 33 clicks and 33 visits to the video offer, all other traffics was going to mobidea's smartlink! the conversions i got is not the offer i choose, it was smartlink's auto offer.

update:
I have figured out, it was the mobile carrier i didn't choose, it was said in the offer's title which i didn't noticed, because i don't know that was a carrier name ;-)

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Nice work zeratul, I will follow this thread as I am new to so will be good to see how you go

Good luck mate!

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It's becoming very hard to make profits by direct-linking. Have you started using landing pages yet?

If not, please start testing them ASAP!

Congratulations on the initial green! Although you had to cut a lot of placements, making $10+/day in profits MAY be worth it.

Some advice for next time: Look at your green placements, and estimate what profits they'll make together each day. If this amount of profits is good enough for you (e.g. $20+), and you feel it's worth your effort in monitoring/maintaining the campaign, then continue running the campaign to continue cutting more placements until the campaign reaches green. If you don't have enough green placements giving you a high-enough daily profit, then don't bother to keep cutting.

In short, verify that you ARE able to make enough of the traffic profitable, BEFORE investing more money into cutting lots of placements.

Looking forward to your next update!



Amy

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Thanks for matuloo's kindly offer, and amy's useful advice

I'm using landing pages. direct-linking is very hard, i give up after a few campaigns
The green didn't last long, only a few days, and the advertiser stopped one offer.
I have scaled that campaign to $50 profit, only one day before the offer stopped.
And the other profitable offer's conversion rate becomes very low this month, even to a negtive ROI

To my little experience, seems it's very hard to make pop work: the competition is huge, and the offer types are always the same. such as sweepstakes and av. In every geo if we can buy traffic from well known platforms, that geo must be robbed again and again by other experienced affiliates.

So if this continued, the market will be the advertiser's, because the competition makes the offer price become zero profit. Only the big fish who can buy cheap traffics can make profit.

Maybe I am a bit pessimistic. Relatively speaking, If senior players can eat meat, there may be some bones left for the beginner ;-)

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You're right - pop traffic isn't becoming any easier. And maybe in the future, the reality you're describing will actually happen. But as of now, it's still very possible to make 2-3 figures/day in profits without a lot of experience. And I know there are affiliates doing 5-figure revenue per day.

But in order to do bigger numbers, you'll need to have access to lots of traffic (whether it be signing up to lots of traffic sources, or running directly with website owners), be running lots of campaigns at the same time, testing lots of offers, investing into finding out which placements are best/worst in multiple geos and multiple traffic networks, have automation and/or manpower and efficient workflows to minimize testing costs and losses and maximize profits by scaling quickly, have good relationships with fellow affiliate marketers and affiliate networks and traffic networks to get access to exclusive deals and intel.

AFAIK there's no easy way to make the big bucks anymore, but with consistent effort it's still very possible to make a lot of money. You just need to commit yourself and be prepared to put in the work, and above all, TRUST that there IS money to be made.

Then again, pop isn't the only opportunity. If you truly believe that it IS dying, then don't start there. Explore Native if you have the budget, or FB/Adwords if you have the patience to beat the steeper learning curve. There are people doing 5 figure days in all 3 traffic types/sources. And if we're talking about size and potential and longevity, FB and Google are the biggest and won't likely be going anywhere any time soon.

You can choose to see opportunities, or you can choose to see limitations. Either way, you'd be right - because the resulting reality will play out to your beliefs.



Amy

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Thanks Amy for your advice and inspiration！

I'll try my best to do it, If there is any progress, I'll post here.

Again, Thanks for the help and kindness.

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I can assure you that I'm keeping on seeing this same postes times and times agai, year after year ... even I had the same thoughts when I was starting with paid traffic. It all seemed so complicated and I thought that all the odds were against me and only the seasoned and big players could make it work ... and then somehow ... I found a way and made it work too It wasn't easy, it wasn't quick, but I did it.

There are many ways of making money in AM, pops is just the beginning and doesn't have to be the end either ... it's great for learning the basics, but then it might be time to move on. Native, display, adult or facebook, adwords ... the options are endless.

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Thanks matuloo!
I have read your story of mastering AM, it was inspiring
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthread.php?30701-How-not-to-give-up-on-Affiliate-Marketing-before-you-actually-master-it

STM is a very good place, beause there are many articles to read, and many stories about people's learning experience. Also the kindly help of others.

I feel full of enery now, thanks for the advice and the huge resource in STM!

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I also fell in love with STM immediately after I joined it couple years ago ... it has a bit of everything ... guides, stories, experiences of others, solid advice, easy talk ... it's a very healthy mix indeed. Member are very helpful also, so make sure to ask when you have questions Many people are afraid to ask basic stuff, thinking they would look stupid or what ... but that's a huge mistake. Nobody makes fun of anyone on STM, that's one of the best things about it actually.

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