Pinterest Affiliate Marketing (aka Mom Blogs) vs. CPA (12)
Hey guys, this is my first post, and I first want to thank you all for contributing to this awesome community 
. I was wondering if you guys could help me out because I'm super confused.
A little background - I've been trying at different forms of AM for years. I started off back in the day on Craigslist, pushing adult traffic (definitely BH) and was slightly successful with that, but the recession hit, I lost my job, and struggled to get back into AM over the next 10 years in different ways. The last time I tried, I decided to give up BH, go WH, join some networks, buy
This time around, I started finding so much info about Pinterest, and how moms are making beau-coups of money with AM and offers that way. I understand lifestyle blogging/marketing very well, so I was excited to see the potential with it. My first thought was to join STM again, and see what tutorials, and knowledge I could learn from here...but I did, only to find very little about Pinterest, and much more about Push Traffic. So...my question is...when it comes to starting, and optimizing campaigns with offers from Affiliate Networks using Voluum, is that different from what it looks like all of the "moms" are doing, making money on Pinterest? And...why are these types of methods not being discussed here on STM? I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but I appreciate anyone who shares their thoughts! It would help me to determine where to start this time, and what type of offers/networks/campaigns to focus on.
Hello and welcome to the forum!
Pinterest is gaining ground lately and you're right, plenty of "moms" are successfully utilizing it's power to earn online.
STM was started by people who were heavily into mediabuying, so working with paid traffic, which is the reason for most of our content being about these methods.
But we actually have a very skilled Pinterest marketer here on the forum, who is willing to share his knowledge. I'd recommend to check all posts/threads by @wakeboarder, you can find these by checking out his profile here: https://stmforum.com/forum/member.php?15246-wakeboarder Tim also created his own pinterest spytool, which you should find very handy
I'm not a pinterest expert, but from what I've seen... most of these moms are producing their own content about cooking, home decoration etc and using pinterest as a source for organic traffic. This helps them to grow their audience, become influencers in their niche and earn $$$ on the way. This approach is more time consuming than buying the clicks directly and promote affiliate offers, but it can also be more stable and help them create a sell-able asset.
It all comes down to what your plan is, how much time you want to devote to it and what your final goal would be. There are so many ways to work with AM, just chose the one you like.
Hey asr111-
Great questions. I'm far from an expert on this subject but I went through a similar trajectory of getting into AM where I vacillated between paid traffic and organic traffic.
I'm not familiar with Pinterest that much, but the kind of 'lifestyle guru internet marketing' you talk about those moms doing, seems to be the same as what is so prevalent on Youtube and Instagram as well these days.
The reason it is so common- in my opinion- is that pretty much everyone can imagine being a 'lifestyle guru' and making money by giving advice online, making videos, etc. It's similar to the 'Youtube famous' idea basically, which appeals to a huge portion of the population, many of whom will buy courses learning how to do this.
It used to be more about 'making money blogging', but in the Web 2.0 days it now seems that such 'Lifestyle Guru IM' stuff is often based on a specific social network like Instagram or Pinterest or Youtube.
I would assume most of the 'Moms on Pinterest making lots of money' you referenced are using entirely organic traffic- they aren't buying ads or anything like that- they are building up a following by (in theory) working hard and providing lots of free content.
Basically they are building up their Pinterest pages or whatever they are, then recommending affiliate products to all the people that follow them. A few may use a rudimentary tracker but it's unlikely any use
It's no different than the method employed by Youtube folks who build channels based around affiliate marketing (see Dan Brock 'Deadbeat Super Affiliate' for the best breakdown of this strategy on Youtube).
Again, this method of organic traffic and lifestyle blogging appeals to a huge range of people, since it's easy to understand and takes no upfront investment, and is therefore omnipresent in online discussion.
STM (from my one year on it at least) seems to be geared 100% towards paid traffic, which is another world of internet marketing entirely.
Paid traffic (or 'media buying') involves buying ads and sending people to offers (either your own or affiliate ones) and essentially arbitraging the difference in ad cost vs revenue.
These ads could take any number of forms, such as Search Ads, Facebook Ads, Youtube Ads, Native Ads, or Pinterest Ads.
But obviously buying ads on Pinterest is (as far as I know) much different than building a brand on it as a lifestyle guru like the mom's you reference.
Now, there are certain individuals who do both, and build up an organic brand AND buy media (KinoBody on Youtube would be an example), but usually it seems folks do one or the other.
I messed with organic stuff for awhile, but I'm way too numbers focused and analytical and aggressive and impatient, so I switched to paid traffic (Native Ads) instead, which I have had much more success in.
With all that said, the beauty of internet marketing is- as many folks say- the fact that it is a 'make your own adventure' type of business.
You can do lifestyle marketing on Pinterest if you want... or you can try to master push traffic... OR, you can do both
I like to think of it as mastering a skill more than anything, so your on the right track of first getting a 30,000 foot view of the internet economy as a whole, and then deciding which small portion of it you want to 'master' and derive profit from/create value in.
Hope that helps and wasn't too simplistic an answer! You probably already realized most of it but just wanted to throw out my two cents!
@matuloo: Thanks SO much for the quick response, and explanation! I definitely understand now, and will be checking out @wakeboarder for sure. I know there's a definite learning curve, but would you say that media buying would bring in the $$$ faster, and have potential for higher earnings? Because, while I like the idea of blogging, I'd probably hire a content writer if I want to do Pinterest AM on the side, and focus my personal time on learning the media buying campaign process better...because the potential for big bucks is what actually drives me (I'm sure like most of us here )
@jack_l : Thanks so much for sharing! Your two cents definitely helped my views and understanding. You're so right...I'm more of a macro-learner. It's easier for me to understand things from an overall viewpoint, then dive deeper into the micro-sections. I also see why I was drawn to the "mom-blogging"...because it's a low barrier to entry, with a low-cost investment 
. However, like you and Matuloo said, the organic methods definitely take time, and I think I'd like to do that on the side.
I also like a challenge, so I'm definitely already more confident that I want to jump back into the media-buying route, and put my analytical skills to good use. Thanks for letting me know that you switched to paid, and ended up getting into Native Ads. I heard that that's a learning curve in itself. What attracted you to it?
Takes a fair bit of time and effort to engage a good following, authenticity is super important too.
Originally Posted by asr111
)Organic growth on the other hand can bring the stability that media buying lacks.
The best would be to focus on both and combine them.
For example, you can test "ideas" with paid traffic and as soon as you see they have potential, you can start developing organic audience for them...
@maynzie - lol, i totally agree, if someone's selling something to women, especially within home & beauty, Pinterest is the way to go, hands down. I agree that it would definitely take longer and more effort to build that audience. I see the direction I wanna take now. Thanks so much for sharing!
@matuloo - thanks so much for that confirmation. I totally agree now. I'll be testing and eventually do both, but jump back into media buying and try again. Thanks for all of your input!
Originally Posted by asr111
Originally Posted by matuloo
Organic growth on the other hand can bring the stability that media buying lacks.
The best would be to focus on both and combine them.
Originally Posted by summitview
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