AM is not just Pops & Sweeps ... watch me build a network of Crypto sites. (34)
AM is not just Pops & Sweeps ... watch me build a network of Crypto sites.
Affiliate Marketing is DEAD!!! Again 
Soooo, we all know the easiest money making opportunities in affiliate marketing got more complicated to profit with … mobile carrier billing got regulated, POP's are quite saturated and it's very hard to profit from them through direct-linking, it still works if you can find/make great landing pages … so what now, AM is dead yet another time?
Far from it, we're just witnessing another cycle … we're down now, just to go up again … as always. I've seen this happen 3-4 times already, the easy money makers always go down after a while, then something new comes along and it's party time again
We have to set one thing straight now – the decline we see now is not an online-business-wide decline, it's just the borderline shady affiliate stuff that got hit … carrier billing with low value offers, sweeps where no-one can win… And still, even the more shady offers are still making people rich, it just requires more effort then before, the most simple approach with direct-linking is not that hot anymore.
But the LEGIT online business is only growing and will continue to do so for many years to come. There is a reason for eCommerce being on top right now … people buy more and more online and even though the products are often overprices in the drop-shipping stores, they are still delivering the goods, so it's a legit business. Same with Lead Generation of various types, every business needs customers and if you can deliver them … you're all set to make solid $$$.
AM is not just POPs and Sweeps!
I don't know why this is the case, but so many people think AM is just this small … buy POPs, sell sweeps … FAAAAR from it. Affiliate knowledge and principles are transferable to so many business areas, you can use it in pretty much any online business area. And the tricks we've learned while buying traffic, gave us a completely different perspective on how to work with traffic and how much it is worth.
Just an example, when I was running adult sites, I would happily take $2 for a DOI dating lead from US traffic … these days I can get $4+ for a SOI. I knew nothing about targeting GEOs and optimizing traffic based on that … or 3G traffic, that was a total unknown for me. So after a few years of buying traffic and promoting affiliate offers, I am WAY better at monetizing it. And that's something all of us can say about themselves. Good affiliates know what the traffic is worth and how to make money from it. It's funny how clueless some advertising agencies are or how bad some companies are at utilizing online advertising.
We got he knowledge and experience, so what to do with it?
Well, time to put it to good use, right? I'm still running standard AM campaigns, and will continue to do so, but it would be stupid to ignore the general shift to more viable and sustainable businesses. When I look back at my online business history, the most stable part of it was when I was running a review site… 100% organic traffic, solid content, solid revenues. Eventually, google changed their algo and I lost large part of the traffic, which actually pushed me into the paid traffic world.
And that was a good thing to happen … while I knew nothing about paid advertising back then, now I know a lot. So while I wasn't able to save the site at that time, these days I'd simply resort to paid advertising, build an email list, engage better with the community … boy was I stupid back then. But this paid traffic AM world taught me a lot.
Armed with new knowledge, I think I'm ready to start building some online project again. I've been playing with this idea for a few months now, but never really made the final decision to go and do that. My current team is busy with AM campaigns and I don't feel like starting something on my own, since I simple don't have time for it anymore.
AWE 2018 in Barcelona.
A month ago, during AWE Barcelona, I met a guy who happens to be from my country too … quite a funny story actually, since there are usually maybe 3 or 4 guys from Slovakia attending the Affiliate World Conferences … yes, we are a tiny country
My new friend happened to have a team of coders and developers and was looking for some ideas to develop. Few hours and beers later, we had a deal and agreed to work on something together… these are the things that make me go to conferences actually, you never know who you meet and what it can bring into your life
What to focus on?
The first problem to solve was to pick a niche to target and form some kind of a plan. Based on my experience with multiple online projects, you stand the best chance to build something of value, when you enter a market that is rather new and not saturated yet.
For example, we've built a very big real estate portal in my country, back when the competition simply wasn't there. We started while there were like 3 or 4 other ones, so with some investment we became #2 quite easily. But these days, the market is so saturated and dominated by 2 major players, it's virtually impossible to go in and take their business.
Maybe Crypto Currencies?
You guys know that I'm a fan of Crypto Currencies… right now it's not in the best condition, but I do believe in it's future, so the lower amount of current interest is actually good news for me … since it means less competition. There are many crypto sites out there already, but I still see areas where a lot can be done. On top of that, money related niches are always lucrative, AD prices are very high in these niches … so why not?
So CRYPTO be it I believe we are in still early enough to be able to get a share of the pie. I also believe the interest will rise very soon, so the timing should be good too. Many affiliates are already invested into crypto, so there should be some overlap with my current audience … which is another plus.
So let's launch something and let's do it FAST!
It's been exactly one month since we agreed on building something together at AWE and we already got a site online. Based on what my partner had available, in terms of ready-coded solutions, we decided to start with a crypto news aggregator … this can be put together quickly, based of various RSS feeds and can serve as a platform for other websites/service that we have planned.
There are already quite a few aggregators online, some very good actually, so it's not gonna be that easy to get part of their audience. But since I'm a crypto fan myself, I know what I'm missing on those sites and hopefully it will help us to stand out from the crowd. On top of that, this aggregator is not the final project/site, just a starting point of something bigger, I hope
Picking the domain.
It's been a while since I was searching for a good domain name, as in paid traffic it's not really needed to use domains with some meaning. And boy, was that a problem to find something. Everything even remotely solid was already registered by domainers, who ask mad money for everything with the word “crypto” in it.
I got pretty desperate at one point, I almost registered something like cryptoretard.com or fomolambo.com But then it struck me … what are you trying to build here? A source that has all the crypto news available in one place, ok?. All The Crypto News, got it? So that was about it …
Introducing: www.AllTheCryptoNews.com … not the shortest domain, but it totally fits what the site is about and it's very easy to say the name to someone, without the risk of some spelling typo.
Within a week or so, we've put some basic design together, I'm not very happy about it but that can be changed later. We imported a ton of feeds that get updated often, so there is a never ending feed of Crypto news available already.
Right now, we are working on properly tagging the content, in an effort to allow users to sort the news in some way … cause there is a TON of them being posted every few minutes. It's actually quite some mess … try to check http://www.allthecryptonews.com yourself, the news have a timestamp, so you'll see how often new ones are posted.
Crypto Glossary.
So we got the newsfeed running, what's next? Crypto has a lot of specific words that people don't normally know and understand, so we need a glossary, right? There quite a few online too, but most of them are quite short or use explanations that are very hard to understand.
So my goal was simple : to build the biggest glossary and explain the terms like “I'm 5 years old” … still working on it, but it's already the 2nd biggest glossary online as far as I know and soon enough it will have the most terms. Check it here : https://allthecryptonews.com/crypto-glossary
What's next?
We also added a few more features … Marketcap with currency prices, and ICO callendar, list of exchanges … so the basic “must have” kind of info.
Right now we're playing with the tagging and organizing of content, that is quite a tough nut to crack, but I believe it's an important one. I'm also working on a few ideas on how to promote this thing and get some traffic to it … There will also be options to configure the feed, pick what you want to see, follow just certain sources … all the functions you would expect from a decent aggregator.
As we release the new functions, I will post about them in this thread. The plan is to document how it all works and what steps we've taken. I hope that it will inspire some STM members to start some sites/projects … there is not much of such content here on the forum, so my plan is to change it at least bit.
So what do you guys think? Good idea, bad idea? Any tips you got for me? I'm all ears
Great project. The development can be difficult, but trust me on this, the marketing will be the hardest part
How do you plan on reaching the required audience?
I'd add the following:
1. Comment section, so people can discuss the news
2. Ability to set alerts i.e. when Bitcoin's price +/- $7,000 you get an email or push notification. Or even a paid option for an SMS
3. Personally, I'd prefer the marketcap page to be the home page, with a news banner at the top (maybe the most popular news). And the news page on a different tab
4. https://allthecryptonews.com/bitcoin - I would like to see bitcoin news below the graph
5. I noticed the graph only goes to 1 month, unlike CMC. You might need to go through the trouble of pulling that data
Definitely one for next week's newsletter! Do keep us informed on how this interesting project unfolds!
Amy
Sent from my SM-G930W8 using STM Forums mobile app
Link didn't load for me ...
Originally Posted by cmdeal
Originally Posted by matuloo
Originally Posted by pauldm
can you try again please?
Hey mat the link has been working for me since first post. Working now just checked. Design looks great for a 1st round and the glossary is a fantastic idea, I've tried a similar idea on a couple sites and it works well for building links.
I'm not exactly sure how this site would be monetized but overall a nice project away from the norm. Thnx for sharing
Still not working for me. Safari says it can’t open the page because the server can’t be found.
Thanks for sharing Matuloo. Please keep us posted on your progress!
Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums mobile app
Thanks matuloo for the inspiration!
As a senior programmer, I'm always trying to build something. But find what to do is much harder than just programming.
To my knowledge, although the online market is still growing every year, But the global economic is not stable recently, especially less money was flowing into the IT world. The AM world was the first to feel the change in water temperature. And it seems in many aspects that the longest bull market in U.S. stocks will end soon. That means the advertiser's budget was low because of the less venture capital. Also it means less money was flowing into the affiliate bussiness.
It's good to build some real bussiess than just doing AM. It was not an easy task, we need think more before real action, because the developing process takes at least a few months.
Very glad to see some ideas here! Wish someone can give more suggestions!
https://www.filedropper.com/5yearscm...0428to20180804
That file contains 5 years of CMC price data. It may be helpful
Where do you scrape your news from? You should consider taking submissions! What about allowing for original content as well?
Originally Posted by panthary
I'd add the following:
Thanks for the tips!!!
Originally Posted by thepinkcat
We can also make paid features, PR articles etc ... not worried about this at all IF we can get the trafffic.
Originally Posted by pauldm
Originally Posted by zeratul
Global economics has its cycles for sure, but I would say that with every downswing we've seen lately, more and more of the biz has been moved online ... so Im not worried at all
Originally Posted by panthary
Originally Posted by skrudill
Originally Posted by matuloo
Originally Posted by pauldm
Originally Posted by matuloo
Doesn't work for me on....
ipad safari
iphone safari
macbook air chrome & safari
Hi Matej. The link has always worked for me (Mexico).
Just in case it helps you get that sorted
Sent from my iPhone
Originally Posted by servandosilva
Just in case it helps you get that sorted
Sent from my iPhone
Small world. Jozef just shared this on LinkedIn on one of my connection's post, haha. Good luck!
Originally Posted by manu_adefy
working on something similar as well... are you buying traffic to the website as well? how many leads are you collecting? are you selling sponsorships as well... be great to collab a bit on this with you.
Originally Posted by ianternet
We can definitely have a chat about this, drop me your skype in a PM and I will contact you so we can discuss in private.
Awesome post! AZ said the same thing at AWE! People should start building the infrastructure now, so they don't miss out on the next hype wave.
Never create a service for other people with just your interests in mind. That's the safest way to make a kick-ass product that no one will ever need. Visit a crypto conference, chat people up @ bitcointalk, run some interviews, ask what people hate about the newsmaking media and why they won't even bother to read it. Come to think of it, just reading Coindesk and the daily Cointelegraph newsletter is good enough to stay posted on all the important stuff – hence their traffic share. But making a news platform is painful as hell. I've seen dozens of examples gone wrong (including those that had investors backing them up) – most of those lived fast, but died before hitting their puberty. You just won't have the patience, almost nobody does.
The best move you can make in terms of crypto pr is sticking to some big-time players and their paid promo distribution, but the pay is less than great. Quality content-wise, there aren't that many connections to work with right now. And making new ones in crypto is tough (it might be a good growth point for the hype wave, but there's no way to tell for sure). And to make it into the news, you're gonna need cash flow. Because honestly – nothing motivates people better than cash flow.
Reviews / listings / comparisons – that looks like the best way to go right now. Fewer expenses, a much faster product delivery process, unlimited monetization opportunities. Exchanges, cards and wallets, ICOs, mining, games, casinos, blockchain gambling – there you have it!
But guess who made the biggest amount of money last year? Yep, the exchange services did. They made shit tons of money! You should start with them. Make a quality review of each service out there – put them in a spreadsheet, throw in trading volumes sorted by date, rate them with stars or whatever – and you've got yourself a good start. But there's a trick to it – everyone's upset with exchanges inflating their volume figures, while Coinmarketcap doesn't really help with telling 'not exactly honest' services from those that are 'not honest at all'. A real-life example from one of our partners I recently met at AWE – they customized their platform for one particular trade exchange, brought their pages to the top of the SERP and are now enjoying their carefree life of revshare glory.
You can also try comparing the depth of market to daily volumes to tell which exchange makes for a better place to trade at. Speaking of exchanges – what do we see there? Yep, ICOs that made it. Try to draw a connection between the market dates and reviews on ICOs that that have successfully raised funds (or at least pretended to have done that – this stuff happens too). If you learn to spot out depth of market and token trade data, you will attract a lot of traders looking to make an informed decision before trying out a new exchange.
At this point you can move to reviewing new ICOs. Just keep in mind it's not exactly easy right now. There's plenty of listings atm, with everyone offering generous discounts – so the demand is kinda low. These days, every ICO has over 100 paid listing offers at hand, so this service is hard to sell. Crowdsales have also stopped working. I'd say you should forget about it for now.
As for other crypto fields/sub-verticals – the algorithm stays the same. Btw, 101 articles (or a 'glossary', how you put it yourself) make a great match with crypto cheats. First they help your average Joe learn the ropes of crypto, then give them a link to where they can buy their first batch of cryptocurrency, and then (suddenly) send them an email-ad of the next 'best crypto wallet ever'. Turns out many ICOs have had the time to promise the next to-the-moon and their own supreme version of blockchain, but ended up releasing yet another mobile wallet app. They do have the money, but not the installs.
One last thing – be sure not to overlook games like Crypto Kitties – they're flooding the market, while the dapp infrastructure is still in development. They're all out of luck when it comes to scaling due to metamask, but I'm sure someone will work out a solution pretty soon. Anyways, you want to be a part of this field while it's still in its infancy.
Bottom line – this really is a long-term story. But if you ever have any questions or need a few monetization hints – feel free to hit me up.
Thanks for a great reply Evan, lots of food for thought! And I will definitely hit you up soon
looks interesting, so far so good!
Originally Posted by khzidan
Some traffic is also coming to the site, but still on the low side ... can't get an approval from FB to run crypto ads, so that's quite a bit hit to my initial plan. And the current bearish mood doesn't help the overall interest either ..
Originally Posted by matuloo
.. not to sound expert or anything.. but I can help doing this for ya if you wantSent from my iPhone using STM Forums mobile app
Originally Posted by khzidan
.. not to sound expert or anything.. but I can help doing this for ya if you wantSent from my iPhone using STM Forums mobile app
But thanks for the offer!
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