The First 40 Days (39)
Day One
Hi I'm brand new to the community! I've been in online business circles for a little while but I've not managed to dive deep into anything so this'll be the first.
Right now I'm sitting on about $1000 which I know isn't much but in four days or so I should be able to get a hold of about $5000 so I'll have $6000 in total. Instead of waiting four days to acquire all the money I thought I'd just jump right in. From past experience I've found that the start of things is always slow so I'm not worried about burning through all my cash in four days.
I'm not really sure what the format of these journals is supposed to be so please anyone let me know if they'd like me to include anything more.
I'm following Vortex's 40 day tutorial (as I'm guessing most people are). Day one was pretty straightforward as it was supposed to be apart from installing the tracker. I installed
Thankfully the customer service at
The 40 days tutorial is a very good start but unluckily it´s a little bit outdated in some points because some things ahave changed since the tutorial was published.
If you follow the 40 days tutorial better skip the steps with direct linking offers and go right away to landing pages.
Good thing is you didn´t sign up for
With Binom you did an excellent choice.
Then when you start with the 40 days tutorial better skip the part for direct linking and go straight away to work with landing pages.
Direct linking is not working as good anymore.
And when you sign up for Propeller Ads and run traffic there make sure that you only run SmartCPM and NOT the normal fixed CPM.
Thanks for the info. Yeah I was a bit hesitant to use the 40 day tutorial since it was a little old but it was such good info that I couldn't pass it up. Is it still the best starting point for me (as long as I make the adjustments you mentioned) and do you have any other tips for a lil beginner at the start of all of this?
@vortex's 40 day tutorial is a good starting point and twinaxe shared some nice tips here.
And once again, start with SmartCPM in PropellerAds. Good Luck!
LeadCloak
Day Two
Progress is pretty slow right now but I suppose that's to be expected. I came in not knowing anything about affiliate marketing and now I at least have a feel of how everything works. I've just finished day 3 of the lessons so I suppose that's pretty good.
Everything has gone pretty well so far. It was pretty easy to get offers from
I've decided to do direct link offers for now even though I know they won't work. That probably seems weird but right now I'm just trying to avoid information overload and I think having a less steep learning curve is worth it. I think that as long as I stick to regions with cheaper traffic I shouldn't lose too much in doing it and I should be able to learn pretty quickly and move on to making landing pages.
Setting up the tracker was a pain. I think it would be fine if I knew what I was doing but I had to do a lot of research to even get it going. It was lucky that the Binom customer service is so good or it would have been really difficult. At the end of the day though, even though the guide was set for
A big shout out to Leadcloak and Twinaxe for helping me out today (: Guys who take the time out to help us noobs are a gift.
Sup Rober, congratz on taking the plunge!
Yeah, in the beginning it can feel overwhelming and sluggish... but its important to learn it all this game is by no means an easy entry level and thats why the reward can be so good. I think a lot of people get stuck into the romantic side of working online, but the reality is its a lot of focused grinding away which feels slow at times.
We often vastly over-estimate what we can achieve in one day/one week but really under estimate what we can do in one month/one year with continued action towards a goal everyday. It builds up, and gathers momentum, so try to keep your eye on the bigger picture and not lead by the day to day pressures.
Yeah @twinaxe is the man, always got good info so keep your eyes peeled for hes posts 
Don't expect to much from the first month, just like you said plug away at the basics get your tracking working well, dabble in a direct linking campaign just to see you can launch and see some traffic but then I would quickly shift to practicing setting up landing pages because that is the competitive edge needed for profits these days in 95%+ cases lol
"If you do for a year what others won't - you can do for a lifetime what others cant"
The skillset you learn here is directly transferrable to any online business model or even normal business - its a really solid skillset you can take with you everywhere
Thanks man! Yeah you're right. I think the first business I went into a couple of years ago I had pretty unrealistic expectations and that hurt my chances but I think I'm more grounded now. I'm ready to just put in a year or two of hard work and see if I can build my skills.
Thanks for the tips bud 
Day Three
Ok some good stuff today. Managed to get the campaign launched and get 4 conversions which felt pretty good! This also let me test to make sure everything was set up ok which it seems to be as well so all good on that front.
After that the next step is optimising the campaign but I'm starting to realise that will probably be near impossible without landing pages. For one thing all the campaigns I try will probably have such a low ROI that it would be impossible to pick ones with a chance of profit. It's pretty hard to optimise a campaign for profit when you know full well that none of them are going to be profitable at all (without a landing page that is).
That's why I've given in and decided to learn landing pages first. I must admit this felt like a bit of a set back. I've done a lot of the reading and I now know how long it's going to take me to get landing pages ripped, fixed and split tested. That's ok though. I've made a commitment to doing this properly so I guess it doesn't really matter how long it will take. I'll get there. It's just a little annoying that it'll take at least another 10 days or so before I can launch my first campaign properly.
I guess tomorrow will really just be me learning code. I'm good at python but from what I can see python isn't going to be useful here so I'm going to have to spend a couple of days learning coding stuff. That's fine, I like coding anyway and I feel like I'm learning pretty quick. Let's go smash those landing pages!
Damn nice man on the conversions good job, is this your first conversions in AM ever?
Each and every post so far from you has been a step forward. Patience my friend!
Yeah those are my first conversions ever! (:
I guess because it says in the 40 day tutorial that day 19 to day 31 is all about setting up landers properly (plus an extra couple of days to learn the code) I guessed that it would take me at least 10 days to get everything set up and running.
Thanks man. Yeah I need to remember to be patient and reading my last post reminds me that I still need to work on that a little. I'm getting there! (:
Day Four
Ok so I didn't get any work done on the tutorial today. I spent the day securing the rest of the $5000 which I did manage to do (thankfully). It would have been nice to get some of the tutorial done too but this was an important job so I'm ok with missing a day for that.
Hmm that's good to know. Ok well then hopefully I can break through sooner than I thought!
Day Five
Not much to report today, was just learning code in preparation for ripping landers. Will probably do the same tomorrow.
Day Six
Same as yesterday really, just learning code. I imagine this will take another couple of days to get through.
Day Seven
Same as yesterday so nothing to report. Just learning coding.
Thanks for starting this follow-along rober32! Making good progress so far!
As twinaxe has pointed out, the 40-day tutorial IS a bit outdated. I've been wanting to update it for some time - it's looking like I'll be doing this in the very near future.
For details please see:
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...l=1#post354195
Skipping forward to the lessons on landers is VERY wise, but know that you haven't wasted your time or money by direct-linking first - it was still a great exercise. And for many people, it's easier to run their first camp by direct-linking to get a feel for things and gain some confidence (and preferably make their first conversion - which you did - congrats BTW!) If I had asked people to prepare landers from the start, I suspect many people would give up.
You're doing great! It will take some time to learn coding. Don't be afraid of posting daily even if it's just a repeated "same as yesterday - still learning coding". Getting into the habit of organizing your thoughts in a follow-along can be priceless. And even when you're done updating this follow-along in the future, you'll need to get into the habit of jotting down campaign notes anyways - so all in all it's just good to get into the habit.
Will be monitoring this thread for updates!
Amy
Hi Amy, thanks for the response (: That's good to hear. Everything in the tutorial was working fine for the most part but I must admit I was getting a little uncertain since I knew that it was a bit outdated. It's reassuring to hear I'm on the right path.
Haha no worries on the journalling front though, I do it kind of compulsively. My personal journal is 930,000 words long!
Also thanks for making the 40 day tutorial. I know that when I'm starting with stuff like this it's so easy to get overwhelmed and never know where to start. Having a tutorial like this makes it 1000x easier so thanks a ton (:
Liam
Day Eight
Pretty much just the same again. I'm onto the last section of coding that I want to get done so I should be able to finish tomorrow or the next day. I hope I can finish tomorrow, I really want to get back to the tutorial.
For coding good sources to learn are https://www.w3schools.com/ and https://stackoverflow.com/ (although stackoverflow is probably rather for advanced or more specific stuff)
Thanks twinaxe, I'll definitely use that for javascript
Day Nine
Coding again. I'm finding javascript a bit harder than I thought it'd be but that's ok. I'll be finished soon anyway. Just a bit of a delay.
You could also use a HTML/JS beautifier.
There are several online scripts for it.
That can help a lot to see the code cleaned up so that you have a better and easier overview.
Thanks that's a nice tip. I think getting past the coding bit of this might be the hardest part for me so I'll take all the advice I can get
Day Ten
Coding again. Almost done javascript. I was struggling with it but it seems to be coming together. If I'm really lucky I would finish tonight but that seems unlikely. I'd guess I'll finish tomorrow afternoon.
Hi Rober,
All the best
Please find below few tools. I hope these will be helpful for you at some point of time
| Description | Tools |
| Image optimization | https://ezgif.com |
| Screenshots | https://imgur.com/upload |
| Reduce the image size | https://kraken.io/web-interface |
| Test Page load speed | https://www.webpagetest.org |
| Mobile Simulator | http://mobiletest.me |
| To see the same offer on other networks | offervault.com |
Rajiv
Originally Posted by rajivwalia
All the best
Please find below few tools. I hope these will be helpful for you at some point of time
| Description | Tools |
| Image optimization | https://ezgif.com |
| Screenshots | https://imgur.com/upload |
| Reduce the image size | https://kraken.io/web-interface |
| Test Page load speed | https://www.webpagetest.org |
| Mobile Simulator | http://mobiletest.me |
| To see the same offer on other networks | offervault.com |
Rajiv
Amy
Just a bit of encouragement -- well done on getting some conversions already, that's always a memorable moment!
Echoing everyone else, building landing pages are an important skillset to have, and you can parlay it into other areas much like maynzie alluded to.
For example, in my area we have a lot of PPC agencies that make campaigns to advertise for local businesses. The best often focus on CRO, and make separate landing pages and test all of them for the best conversion rates.
Well that's good to hear. I know everything I'm doing is valuable right now but since it's not showing the rewards it can be difficult to always remember that so thanks for the reminder
Day Eleven
Finished coding! At least for the time being. I now have at least a basic understanding of HTML, CSS and Javascript which is hopefully enough to be getting on with. I actually finished a couple of hours ago but I haven't managed to get anything else done. I think I'm a little burned out from not taking a break so I'm going to finish up for the day and come back fresh tomorrow to work on landers for the first time!
Actually I use the same approach for any and every search system: If my original search returns no results, I would type in fewer and fewer words until I start getting results.
Happy for you that you've made progress on the offers side of things. Just ONE warning though: South Africa can be a tough geo to crack. I usually suggest newbies to stay away from this geo. Be prepared to cut placements aggressively, at 1x payout or even 0.5x payout without conversions, and be prepared to spend quite some money even on initial testing just to see if the offers have potential.
Most of all: In the beginning, set a low daily budget just to make sure the campaign doesn't "run away" by spending way too much money without you being able to optimize in time to avoid wasting money. Don't worry about reporting your stats here too often - please show me lander and offer stats as well as placement stats after every $30-50 in spending, just to make sure we're on the right track before throwing more money at it.
And of course, if you want to pick another geo, I'm all for that also.
BTW this thread has some recommendations on networks that have sweeps offers:
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...-in-march-2018
Amy
Hi Amy,
Haha yeah I was confused by the Offervault thing, wish I'd figured that out a week ago!
Ok thanks. Yeah looking at South Africa there was definitely some stuff that made it look a bit sub par but I thought maybe it was just me. I'll be careful and I'll also consider taking another geo.
Day Twenty Two
Good day, able to get thing rolling more now. I started rippping landers from adplexity and all that good stuff and it was going well. Having said that I noticed that only 8% of the population speaks english which is the only language available for landers. This made me a bit hesitant but I'd heard that some people were having success in this geo so I thought it was probably fine.
Hopefully by split testing lots of different landers I should be able to find something profitable. If not I'm perfectly happy to start again. I know what i'm doing now so it shouldn't be too hard.
Day Twenty Three
Well I've got some pretty terrible news today. I've been supported by my family a bit recently which has been nice because it's allowed me to have the financial freedom to afford my rent and stuff as well as starting this business.
Unfortunately because of family stuff I'm not going to be able to have that support anymore and that's a really big blow to my finances. Not sure what I'm going to do now but I'll figure it out. It doesn't bother me all that much because I know it's just a bit of a set back and I'll get over it with time but for just now it means that I'm going to have to put affiliate marketing on hold until I know that I'm going to be able to afford things I need like rent.
I'm sorry if this is a disappointment to anyone who has been following my journey but I'd like you to know that I've really appreciated all the support you guys have given me. Hopefully I'll be able to figure this out and get back on the horse but even if that's not possible right away I'm sure I'll be back in business in the near future.
No one will be disappointed.
We all will keep our fingers crossed that your situation will become better soon again.
I hope it´s nothing too serious that happened.
If you want to you can send me a PM with your Skype, then we can go through your setup together and check if you probably can save money on some things so that you can continue testing your campaigns.
Thanks twinaxe, I appreciate it. Hopefully that won't be needed. I just need to make sure I can take care of my immediate needs before I get back on the horse
Sorry to hear about the turn of events Liam!
LIke twinaxe said, nobody would be disappointed - and really, even if anyone was, you shouldn't care. And you certainly shouldn't be disappointed in yourself either.
There's more than one way to skin a cat. Have you considered trying SEO in the meantime? Greg has written a fantastic tutorial on that recently:
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...nking-Tutorial
Yes, it takes a lot more time to see results, and your income probably won't jump from zero to 4-figures in a matter of weeks, but the income can be consistent, and if you execute correctly, you may have an asset you can either profit from for months/years down the road, or sell for a pretty penny.
Just don't let the fire in you die. Successful people don't get to where they are because they're just lucky - they get to where they are because they're not deterred by all the difficulties they encounter along the way. Try not to get frustrated or impatient, and do what you can, and things will work out eventually. I know this doesn't sound exciting, but I've been a student of energy principles for years, and believe that going with the flow is the best way to get everything we want.
You'll be fine. All is well. Just one set back that, in the grand scheme of things, won't seem as serious as it may feel to you right now. Hang in there!
Amy
Originally Posted by vortex
Originally Posted by vortex
Originally Posted by vortex
But for the time being I'm going to have to close my STM account. Thanks Amy and to everyone else who has helped me. This really is the best community I've ever seen.
You're in a good feeling-place Liam. That's what I'm sensing. And that's ALL you need to make progress from where you are.
Match betting - that looks interesting and reminds me of arbitrage betting. Don't know what the difference is, but PLEASE only bet in small amounts, at least at first, until you're sure the method works and that you know what you're doing.
The STM family will still be here when you do decide to come back. Once an STM'er, always an STM'er.
All the best!
Amy
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