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A Super Newb Stumbles through 40 Day (nah longer) Guide (46)

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I'm not sure how people ended up on STM Forum. I read a Bloomberg Businessweek article years ago and vowed to try it out. Well, here I am now. That article is about my only knowledge of anything web related, beyond typical internet surfing. So, when I say "Super Newb" I'm literally stating that an Amazonian lost tribe member could be sitting here with as much knowledge as me.

Also, I'm devoting more than 3 hours per day to this, probably because I'm actually a dumb@ss, as opposed to everyone on here, who only claims to be. Usually, I get a solid chunk of about 3 hours at night, perhaps an hour in the morning, and I like to check or read some random stuff in 5 minute chunks during the workday.

Day 1
I can't even really count this as Day 1, because I started reading the guide about five days ago, and I haven't even completed all of the tasks for Day 1 yet. I've gone off on tangents trying to figure out trackers first, then servers. It almost seemed as though it were more important to figure out which tracker to use before even applying to networks. Well, I'll provide detail on my tracker and server choice in a second. However, know this. It is important to proceed in order, as I've already stumbled, and haven't resolved as I write this. You need your domain name before setting up your tracker and server.

I've chosen to self host on FunnelFlux. Why? Two reasons.
1) I realize that analysis paralysis is a weakness and I needed to move forward with something that has support, was cheap, and could scale. There is a great thread here. https://stmforum.com/forum/forumdisp...200-FunnelFlux
2) If I'm diving in, then dive in deep. Plus it was suggested that the cheap volume may exceed the limits of the Managed Plans.

There is a FunnelFlux V2.0 that was released at the end of February 2020. The pricing of $139 is very similar to $99 self hosted + $20 Digital Ocean cost. Both are pay as you go, so I guess it should be no problem to switch over as I learn more and fine tune my needs and wants. What's great is that for this first month FF is only $1; perfect for a Super Newb who is sweating every decision. The discount is available at the bottom of the first post here. https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...Your-STM-Promo

Regarding Digital Ocean, it is a very simple set up, and doesn't appear to charge you until you actually set up a something. After the initial login set up and giving your credit card, there is a page that asks about type of project/usage and even has some software and API plugins available. You can skip that and just go to your profile. Right now, my hope is that once the FunnelFlux Deployment Manager is complete, it will populate everything into Digital Ocean. The FunnelFlux Deployment Manager does have an option for Digital Ocean, and even guides where to get the token on Digital Ocean (hint: click on "API" on the left on your profile page).

So, I should probably pause here for a bit, set up my domains, and then enter that info into the FunnelFlux Deployment Manager forms. BTW, the form seems very similar to the Voluum form for required information.

Plus, I still need to apply to the various networks. I'm already moving backwards... That will have to wait until morning. Besides, I'll justify it to myself that everyone at the networks is probably partying or sleeping right now, and couldn't approve me anyway.

Anyway, here we goooooooooooo!

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Still Day 1

I set up my domain through namecheap.com. Whoisguard is free for life, but doesn't actually show as an option until you view the cart. I also purchased SSL for $3.99, though I'm not quite sure how to set that up yet. After checking out and in the Dashboard, under Products List, SSL, activate, the next page requires a CSR to be created. Perhaps that comes after the server is set up from Digital Ocean, or from FunnelFlux...

Right now, there is a Deployer Error. The domain show as ACTIVE on NameCheap. Or, I'm just lost. I'm not sure how to proceed. In the Deployer fields I've entered, personal access token from Digital Ocean, my server name, domain as www . XXXXXXX . com (no spaces), correct license email, the full license key with dashes, the email where I want to receive notifications. What is wrong?

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Hi tleagle,

am also a newbie and have struggled a bit with getting my droplet running for landing pages (in my case). Main problem I guess is that there is just too much information. Easy to get lost.

Not sure if droplet for funnelflux has to be setup similar as if using the droplet as a web server. But maybe the following points might help you.

- Namecheap needs to point to DigitalOcean name servers.
- DigitalOcean needs to point the domain name to your specific droplet (under networking there is an option to "add domain")
- as for the rest: search on DigitalOcean in the manyfold of guides like: How to setup Letsencrypt (free SSL)

Last but not least... contact funnelflux through chat directly and let them help you. You can do the same with DigitalOcean. They have a strong community and there isn't probably any problems that others did not have before you. Alsoyou are not the first who is a bit overwhelmed. Nothing to worry or feel bad about.

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Welcome to STM @tleagle. I'm a newbie too, but everyone around here is so helpful you'll soon find your feet. Good luck in your journey!

As for your server issue, if it was me personally, I'd contact funnelflux help like larsometer said. I don't have funnelflux, I've been using Binom and their support is stellar. They've fixed every problem I've had within minutes. I'm guessing funnelflux support can help you too

Gavin

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Congrats on getting started @tleagle!

Like @larsometer and @manchester already suggested, I'd go and contact FunnelFlux support to help you with the installation. You don't need to spend too much time on technical stuff like tracker sever setup when you have options to get it done faster. You already have a lot of stuff to take care

I'd begin with applying to the offer networks, as it may take a few days for the networks to get back to you and process your account applications. Once you have approved accounts and decided what offers to run, then you can start buying domains that you will need for your offer landing pages.

Would like to know more about your current action plan.

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I’m up with about 6 hours of sleep, and am thankful to have several responses and support already. Thank you! I will contact FunnelFlux soon. Will get the kids off to school, shower for work, and then spend some time on this before heading out the door.

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Haha don´t worry, there are probably just as many people who claim to don´t be a dumbass but they are

Great man, I will also post some more stuff and guides with FunnelFlux in future.

When you don´t need to install the tracker and only need it for your landers then the setup on DO is very easy.

Just create a LAMP or LEMP droplet depending if you want to use Apache or NGINX (I prefer NGINX) and that´s all.

Ready to run.

For SSL I just use the Binom script, easy as 1-2-3

This is only correct when you don´t want to use a different DNS provider.

I use Cloudflare as CDN and DNS for my lander domains so I point Namecheap to the Clodflare DNS and set a A record on Cloudflare that points to my DO server IP.

And using a CDN and better/faster DNS is recommended anyway.

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Thank you @twinaxe for explaining the CDN part. That one really gave me headache cause in many guides the explain the part of pointing to CDN but don't mention the A record. With your short and sharp to the point explanations it is actually easy. My problem as a beginner is that there is too much information out there and that it is difficult to find something which is easy to understand and complete.

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Don´t worry, such technical stuff is confusing for many others as well.

But in the end most stuff can be done pretty easy.

When you have more questions feel free to ask.

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What? Not sure what LAMP or LEMP are. I read the wikipedia article for LAMP and am still lost as to what its purpose is. I see the Apache software is a bit more full service than NGINX, so perhaps LEMP with NGINX (NGINX is the E in LEMP vs LAMP) is a bit faster loading for a lander? Aren't I just having FunnelFlux set up my server for me? Am I using the same server for landing pages and tracking? If this is all later in the training, I'm not there yet. Still stuck on Day 1....because Dumb@ass...

So, I received an email from FunnelFlux support telling me to set up a droplet and give them the IP and password. I tried using "Terminal" on my MAC and wasn't sure what to do. However, on Digital Ocean, AFTER setting up the Project, and then the DROPLET, there is a drop down (three dots towards the right side after the IP Address) where you can select Access Console. That opens a new browser tab, so that I can log in one time to change the One-Time password. However, I was stuck after typing the word "root". The word "Password" showed up on the black screen, but my keyboard entries wouldn't show, and if I moved the mouse, a whole bunch of other words showed up.

This is WAY over my head. I'm stumbling through the dark and finding little things that feel right.

Now though, you're adding in that I should use Cloudflare as the Content Delivery Network (I had to google this, LOL) and also as the Domain Name System? Isn't that what I set up Digital Ocean for? Should I be reading ahead to look at setting up landers?

I would include screenshots, but I'm concerned that I shouldn't share certain information.

Basically, at this point I have done the following:
Registered domain with name cheap
Bought SSL but haven't set up yet. Under account>domain list>advanced DNS>host records I set up A Record @ XXX.XX.X.XXX (IP Number). I also deleted the two redirects that NameCheap sets up when you first buy a domain.

Set up a Digital Ocean account
Set up a new project, chose a name, project type as "Service/API", CentosOAS 7.2x64, NY 1 server, 2vCPU 4GB plan. Those were all guesses and then I received an email with my Droplet Name, IP number, and a one-time password...So I guess I did something correct, because that's what FunnelFlux support was asking me for.


Set up a FunnelFlux account
Nothing really to do here other than sign up. I did find a "Deployer" for Digital Ocean, but it states there is an error. I did provide all it asked for and even removed the hyphens from the license. FunnelFlux support reached out and it seems they are going to set it up, but requested all of the information above first.

Over two hours so far this morning... I will let that all marinate and see what comes out from responses here and from FunnelFlux support.
In the meantime, I MUST register with some networks. Going to do that now.

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Sorry, I didn´t want to create more confusion.

LAMP and LEMP are basically software packages to tet your server running so that you don´t have to install several things yourself.

The only difference between those two is the webserver, it´s Apache for LAMP and NGINX for Lemp.





Sure, they can also do it.

I just wanted to say that it´s very easy to do it on DO yourself.

It depends, from what I read in your first post I assumed that you want to use FF Cloudhosted.

When you use the self hosted version then of course you need to install it on your server.

Then it would be a good idea to ask FF support to do it for you

And yes, I use the same server for LPs and tracker myself.

Haha yes, that´s normal.

It´s Linux style, you don´t see the cursor moving.

Just enter your password and press enter.

Then change the password and write down the new password.

Your server at Digitl Ocean is where you upload and store your landing pages.

But the server is at a fixed location so depending on where you run your campaigns it can happen that your landing pages load very slow when the server location is too far away from the location where the user who sees your lander is.

This is why you use a CDN.

A CDN basically caches your files on many different servers worldwide and when a user visits your LP the files are not loaded from your server directly but rather from the CDN.

The CDN then loads the files from their server that´s nearest at the users location so that your LPs load faster.

And a DNS is what translates the domain into an IP address.

When you type a domain into your browser then the domain is sent to a DNS.

The DNS then checks what IP address is connected to the domain name and sends the traffic then to the appropriate IP = server.

There are also faster and slower DNS services so when you use a faster one then the time that is needed to translate the domain name into an IP address can be decreased and you have faster redirects = faster page loading for the user

Ask for a refund, it´s complicated to set it up yourself and you don´t even need it.

There are free SSL available, just ask FF support and they should help you with this as well.

Yes, looks correct

And don´t worry about these things.

Most of it like server setup you only need to do once and there you are in good hands with the FF support.

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Twinaxe is ON IT with the replies! Thank you for the continued detailed responses. Actually a lot of that makes sense. I'm going to hold off on detailing my own responses, as I digest this information...and because I'm in the middle of 9to5 work and trying to set up AM network profiles...

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It´s good when it helped to clear up these stuff for you.

When you have more questions just ask.

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Day 2

OK, back to it. Earlier today, signed up for networks and heard back from FunnelFlux. Just now, kids had basketball practice and soccer practice, a quick dinner since it was so late, and here I am watching my wife go to bed without me... Meanwhile, I'm about to try to make sense of twinaxe's latest response!

But first! I've already been accepted by Mobidea (virtually instant) and Clickdealer! What? Everyone posts they have trouble and delays getting Clickdealer. The awesome business description I wrote about myself must have convinced them I was a contender. Here's to living up to the faith they put in me (and twinaxe and Vortex and every other STMer and newbie reading this)! Cheers!

Gotzha might already be partying/sleeping in Singapore, so I'll wait to hear from them.

In the meantime, I'm going to take the extra days that Vortex allotted us in the guide ("up to one week to get accepted by the networks") and use at least a day or so to finish setting up FunnelFlex, with the "twinaxe twist" of Cloudflare. Now I'm wondering if all the stuff about setting up sub-domains and tracker domain, in addition to the main domain, applies to the "twinaxe twist". As I write this, FunnelFlux is sending me an email. So, I'm going to wrap up Day 2 ramblings, and use another hour (until midnight) and then Day 3 to craft this cocktail.

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It's after midnight, so technically Day 3 but I'm still calling this Day 2.

Just spent some time with FunnelFlux support. I'll equate this to walking blindfolded while your friend directs you where to go. I'm here. I touched a few familiar things along the way, but really don't know how I am here. I do know this FunnelFlux support just stepped in and did it. They provided a document on how to set up Cloudflare and free SSL. I proceeded until Step 4, and they took over.

Now, there is a domain on namecheap, it points to a server on Digital Ocean, and somehow Cloudflare is set up in between to route the domain name to the IP address.

So, here's the question, in Day 1 of the GUIDE, Step 5 (specific to Voluum) Vortex talks about a "Custom Domain" pointed to the "Dedicated Domain". Do I need to do that for my Digital Ocean server? In other words, is my Digital Ocean server the Dedicated Domain now, and do I need to register yet another NameCheap Domain name to use as my Custom Domain? Then, do I add the Custom Domain to Cloudflare and have it alias with a CNAME back to the Dedicated Domain?

Holy Sh!t, I can't believe I just typed the above sentence. Does what I'm asking even make sense? Going to bed and will continue in the morning. I have to spend more time on my 9to5 tomorrow for sure...but I may sneak in some AM time

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Haha, let me try to answer as good as I understand your question

First thing, your server is a server and a domain is a domain.

The server is basically just a computer with an OS installed and different programs.
In the end it´s not different than running a PC at home, just that it´s located in a datacenter and optimized for website stuff.

Your domain however is just a name that points to your server IP.
In the end we only use domains because www.examplewebsite.com is easier to remember than for example 135.48.177.204

You should have at least two domains, one for your tracking and one for landing pages.

For my tracker I like to use *.com domains, usually you can use your tracking domains for very long time.

For the landing pages I always buy cheap domains.
It doesn´t make sense to get expensive *.com domains for landers as well because LP domains can get flagged pretty fast sometimes deoending on what you run.

So I just register several cheap domains in bulk, add them to Cloudflare and when one of my domains get flagged I have a replacmeent ready right away.

You add your domains to Cloudflare, then you get the Clodflare nameservers.
Add the Cloudflare nameservers to Namecheap



Then on Cloudflare in the DNS tab for your domain you add an A record to point your domain to your server IP.



CNAMES are used for subdomains.

But to avoid further confusion I would recommend to don´t make the setup more complicate than needed at this point

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My thinking was on the right track. The necessary strategy is to be prepared for when the landing page domain is banned, and have a back up in place. So, on name namecheap, I can buy something like . yadayadaTLEaglelandingpage1111 . info and yadayadaTLEaglelandingpage1112 . info etc. and have plenty of names ready to go.

This step I know how to do as well, as it is the step covered in this guide here, under Step 3. Also, that's the furthest I made it before FunnelFlux support took over. http://docs.funnelflux.com/en/articl...tting-free-ssl

However, just setting up the nameservers isn't enough, correct? I also need Step 4, to set up the A record on NameCheap for each of the domains so that www . yadayadaTLEaglelandingpage1111 . info is going to the IP Address of my server.

It is not a problem to have multiple domains pointing to the same IP Address? Is the first sentence of Step 5 confirming it is fine to have multiple domains pointing to the same address? Step 5, 1st sentence "When running our automated deployment processes the webserver (Nginx) adds a generic host so that it will serve any domain name directed at it.

Theeeeennnn, Step 5 is where I get lost again, because we want to ensure we are using the "orange cloud" on Cloudflare for the SSL. Would it be too much to ask FunnelFlux support to set that up again?

OK, I'm leaving for work now. Will have to check back later.

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Don´t only register the domains on Namecheap.
You should also add them all to Cloudflare right away.

The reason is that it takes some time for the DNS propagation to be finished when you add a new domain.
So when you just register domains and then your landing page domain gets flagged you would have to add the new domain to Cloudflare and wait for the DNS propagation to be finished and this can take few hours where you can´t use the domain = can´t send traffic to it = can´t make money with it

When you add the domains to Cloudflare already and add the nameservers to Namecheap then the DNS propagation can already happen and the domains are ready right away when needed.

Exactly, just setting up the nameservers isn´t enough.

What happens then is that someone goes to your domain, Namecheap sends the domain name to Cloudflare and there the flow would end because no one would know what to do with the domain name.

That´s why you need to add the A Record on Cloudflare that points to your server IP.

Then Cloudflare can connect the domain name to the IP and the user is sent to your server so that he can see your landing page.

No, it´s no problem to have multiple domains pointing to the same IP address.

Usually there is a folder on your server where your websites are saved and loaded from by default.
So when you have several different domains they point to the same folder, I guess this is what they mean with the sentence.

To have it that way is probably also the easiest way for someone who has no experience with such stuff because then you don´t get confused.

I personally handle it a bit different and have different folders on my server for different LP verticals.
On the server itself are files that tell exactly what domain points to what directory so when I add a new domain I just edit the config file to point the domain to the appropriate folder based on the vertical I want to use the domain/subdomain for.

But for now better stick with the easy version first, I guess the other stuff would only create more confusion

Just ask, this is what support is there for

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Dude, twinaxe! Thanks for confirming my thoughts and providing clear explanations! I don't know how early Affiliates did it without having this support. I'm going bonkers second-guessing my every move.

Day 3

I put in a full day at the 9to5, hit my physical therapy appointment for a shoulder injury, brushed THREE knots out of my daughter's hair, and then rushed both of them over to friends' homes so they could see tonight's school play. I didn't sneak a peek at STMForum all day today. I will have more time tomorrow to make some bigger strides.

So for tonight, I'm looking at some offers and finishing up the "twinaxe twist" on Cloudflare. BTW, giving myself a little pat on the back for understanding enough to ask the right questions, and a huge shout-out for the support I'm receiving from twinaxe.

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Haha, I started in 2005 and had nothing and even less.

I just had the will to make money online so I did.

Really man, only few weeks before I started making money online I had my first PC and first time internet at home and I knew nothing about that stuff.
I didn´t know what a CPA network is, I didn´t know what a trafficsource is, I didn´t know what a tracker is and all that stuff.

For many years my landers looked like they were done by little kids

HERE you can see some of my early masterpieces.

But just because there weren´t that many infos and stuff it doesn´t mean that it was harder.

In fact I already made good 5 figures before I joined my first affiliate marketing forum ever, for about 4 years or so I didn´t even use a tracker because I didn´t know at all what a tracker is and at that time I never used a CPA network

Alhough you have so many resources nowadays it can also lead to a information overload.
And this can be even worse than having too less information.

When you don´t have enough info you start thinking for yourself and try to come up with solutions.

But when there are so many different sources to learn that stuff and you get stuck with something you often don´t try to focus on your own creativity and abilities but you rather just move on to the next source for information.

Then it´s easy to put blame on the source when things don´t work out.

"ABC didn´t help me and didn´t provide good enough info so I go to XYZ instead."

In the end it doesn´t matter how good or how bad the infos that you receive are.

When you don´t have or develop the right mindset you will probably never succeed.

Of course it´s great when we can help and support beginners to get started and for sure it can be a great help for them when they get stuck and need a push in the right direction or so.

Nonetheless no one should build the biz only based on the help and support he receives.

Most important is not just to learn how to run that stuff but to really understand it so that you can work independent as soon as possible

Great man, a little reward towards ourselves for our achievements keeps the motivation up

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Day 4

This has been a lost day for the most part. I started out looking at the offers from Mobidea. The filters have changed a bit. Also, the detail information within the offer doesn't seem to line up with spreadsheet's necessary information. Most of the offers presented after filtering have no results. I know Vortex said there are some gems within the offers with no results, but I was also expecting to see a few successful offers as well.

I'm making excuses here.... I will have to post up some screenshots and details tomorrow for Day 4. Had a busier day than expected at the 9to5, followed by both soccer and basketball games tonight for the kids. I had expected to work on AM stuff during the day instead of 9to5. So, I just squeezed in some time, but will have to write the details to the above issues and observations tomorrow.

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Haha, you aren't kidding! It's a wonder those even worked. As a cynical internet user I would have never clicked on anything there. Good on you for moving forward and refining your skill, despite the imperfection. I try to remind myself to do just that. I say this, "Mistakes are not dead-ends, they are just a path to a place I don't want to be right now." This implies that I've learned something going down that path, and I can access it again when it is relevant.


That shows in your ability to adapt, grow, and be here now, successful. Good for you! I feel that is why the Follow Alongs are important. It forces a person to formalize their learnings in order to put on screen. That builds a foundation that then allows for creativity. That is also the reason why I decided to go for FunnelFlux with server rather than one of the other better guided solutions.

Yes, that is also necessary because as I've seen through reading here and elsewhere, the opportunities change, and we must be able to learn new things and in new ways. Having the foundation will keep some things familiar. I see that is why the 40 Day Tutorial is still recommended despite Pop not being the biggest bang for the buck. Also, when I spent some time with a FB guru previously, many of the testing, linking, tracking stuff was glossed over. Despite that being FB, this guide has helped me understand much of what was going on then.

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Day 5

OK this has been a full day! I spent time figuring out the "twinaxe twist". I selected 5 offers on Mobidea. Also, I highlighted another 15 on Clickdealer, but I'm going to wait until my AM comes back with something before actually applying for approval.

Twinaxe twist in full effect! I now have 8 NameCheap domains owned (bought each for $1). They are all set up on CloudFlare with the proper A-Name to the same Digital Ocean IP Address, SSL set to Flexible, and the proper Page Rules in place. So now, in case of a banned domain, just change FunnelFlux license to the new domain, and things continue!( edited on March 10, 2020; Actually, I found out this is unnecessary, because the tracker is not likely to be banned. It's important to set up multiple domains for the landing pages. So, you'll likely never change your license to a new domain. The domains will be set up on Cloudflare to point to IP Address, and inside the IP a separate folder for each vertical and then domain.) I did that all on my own, and will post screenshots with my steps (likely tomorrow, I'm going to bed soon).

After filtering with the 40 Day criteria, Mobidea offers don't seem very attractive. The filtering has changed since Vortex wrote the guide. After trying to match up as closely as possible, I was literally left with a few offers. There is no EPC field anymore. Mobile Content and Mainstream are in the same box, so you either pick them both, or just one. I had less than 50 offers to pick from. None of the offers had significant earnings (when clicking through to details and viewing the Opportunity tab), and many had zero conversions on only a couple thousand clicks. I know Vortex said there are gems in untested offers, but should I really try five untested offers?

The Clickdealer offers seem a bit more interesting. I used the filtering criteria, but there didn't seem to be any criteria that Clickdealer sorted the final results. I just went through page by page and wrote down about 15 offers that had interesting looking graphics. A few were sweeps, some were beauty, another couple game sites. I picked one or two amateurish ones to honor twinaxe's early days.

No approval yet from Gotzha. I'll wait until Monday to pester them. They might be partying through the weekend.

I promise I'll get screenshots and step by step up for setting up your domain from NameCheap to Cloudflare. Of course, the first step was to have FunnelFlux set up the server after I created a Digital Ocean account and bought my first NameCheap domain.

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The good old "Adapt or die"

Great man, that´s all good so far but there´s no need to change the license.

You shall have replacement domains for your landing pages and NOT for your tracker installation.

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Day 6

Oh? Maybe that's in a future lesson. I'm moving slowly. So, either way the set up was the same for the additional domains to have them on Cloudflare.

I spent some time looking at the offers on Clickdealer, and also reading some posts. I'm really starting to feel like picking an offer is a bit like digging for gold in the dark, and with no idea about geology. You dig a hole, and if you hit a little gold, you dig deeper, and based on some clues, we know if we should dig sideways, down, right, left, etc. I really would like to learn a little bit about AM "geology" so I can know where to dig to begin with. What do Super Affiliates know that we don't? Can they accurately decide to dig for gold in California instead of Connecticut? It seems like almost every post I read is someone stumbling onto a good offer, instead of knowing exactly what offer to pick. I'm going onto the next lesson tomorrow (Day 9), even though Gotzha hasn't yet responded. I will send Gotzha an email tomorrow to follow up though.

So, below is the step to add additional domains to your Cloudflare. This assumes that you used FunnelFlux support to do your initial setup of your server. If you follow their FunnelFlux's set up guide, it takes you through many of these steps, but the screenshots below are more up to date.


This should be your CloudFlare home page once logged in. Paste your Domain where is says search websites, and Click Add a Site.


On this page, do nothing and just click at the bottom to continue. You will be deleting the namecheap A Record and CName later.


Here, just Continue With Default


That brings you to this page. Here you will copy each nameserver individually. Click to Copy the first one and then go to your NameCheap Domain List in the next image below and follow my instructions there. Then you will come back to this page and Click to Copy the second nameserver, and do the same thing in the next image.



From the image above, come here to your NameCheap dashboard, go to your DomainList and for the domain, go to the 4th row, choose the dropdown, and select "Custom DNS".



This is just a more detailed image, AFTER you select Custom DNS. You will paste the 1st Nameserver from Cloudflare in "Nameserver 1" and the 2nd Nameserver into "Nameserver 2". Then, click on the GREEN checkmark. No more to do on NameCheap for this domain. Next steps are all on Cloudflare. Go back to Cloudflare and click Continue/Done at the bottom of page.



On Cloudflare, once you continue, this will be the next page, after the Nameserver page. Here you can do nothing (because we will change it later) or select Flexible. Either way click at bottom to Continue.





That will bring you to this page. You can click "Re-Check Now", but there's no need. Just scroll to the top and look for the menu buttons (I posted them in the next image below).





Look for these buttons at the top of the page, once you scroll all the way up. You will choose "DNS."




Choose "DNS". First go ahead and delete the Namecheap A Record and CName, by clicking the "Grey X". That will show two issues to resolve at the top. Don't worry. Next we will resolve them. BUT FIRST, Look at my next post (not next picture, the next post), where I chose to do CNAME instead of A-NAME for all of the extra "Custom Domains." After this picture and the next, the steps in this post are still valid. Nevermind, just keep reading because I made more changes.
Click "Add Record" For "Type", choose "A", for "Name" enter "@", for "IPv4 Address" enter the numbers of your server's IP Address (123.123.123.123). For "TTL", leave as "Auto", click the "ORANGE cloud" to make it Grey, Click "Save"






Next, you will "Add Record" again to add "WWW" and resolve the remaining issue. Click "Add Record", for "Type", choose "A", for "Name", enter "www", for "IPv4", enter your server's same IP Address (the same one you entered in the previous step), for "TTL", leave as "Auto", click the "ORANGE cloud" to make it "Grey", click "Save." So, now you will have two "A Records", one for www and one for your domain name, as in the image below.







Scroll back up to the menu buttons, click on "SSL/TLS", then click on "Flexible" and Save





Scroll back up to the menu buttons, click on "Page Rules", and you'll see the below. Click "Create Page Rule"




In the text page enter your domain url. Be sure to add an asterisk before and a slash and asterisk after for example, "*yourdomain.com/*". Then, click "Add a Setting" and add the five that you see below. After adding all five, click "Save and Deploy". Then, scroll back to top menu, click "DNS", then click the grey cloud next to your to A Records from before. Each cloud should turn Orange.


That's it! Now you can do that for each new domain you want to add to Cloudflare. Each one will point back to your server.

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You can´t know exactly what offers are good and what not, otherwise we all were millionairs

It´s all about testing and when you do the stuff for some time you also gain more experience to gauge some stuff better for potential.

Why this?

You want to use it as CDN and DNS.

About the page rules, I don´t use any of these myself but when it´s in the FF instructions then there´s probably a reason to do so.

---

Truth.

Day 7

Still messing with setting up tracker and understanding it.

First you change it to grey and then back to orange later. It's in the FF instructions that way. Perhaps it's needed to give the Cloudflare a clear pathway to the server until you set up the page rules.

So, FunnelFlux is contradicting what I did above. They are saying that I should use CNames for all of the domains that will be for alternate landing pages.
This is their suggestion below. Is this what you were suggesting as well? Or are they talking about a different strategy? Confused on the merits of each. To me it seems that the below is actually more efficient, because a CName is a much easier change than changing over the license.

So, I feel that this method actually relates more to what Vortex was talking about with the "Dedicated Domain", as my FunnelFlux licensed tracker domain, and the "Custom Domain" are the other CNAME Domains that all point to the "Dedicated Domain". So, all the landers (this word should be trackers, not landers) will be on the CNAME domains, and if they get banned, I don't have to change the license. Instead I just pick another CNAME domain. (edited March 10, 2020, in the Voluum version Vortex was talking about having an extra "Custom" domain in case the Voluum assigned "Dedicated" domain is ever banned, even though it's not likely. With FunnelFlux, there is no assigned domain. So, the first domain I bought is kind of the "Dedicated" domain, and I can have more that are CNAMES to the "Dedicated" domain, and use those for the tracker. Separately, for the Landers I can set up multiple domains on CloudFlare, and have each point with an A Record to my server's IP Address, then have separate folders in the server.)

So, to do that, in this step from my previous post, you would instead choose CNAME @ Dedicated Domain.




Also do do CNAME www "Dedicated Domain". Then you'll end up with the below. In the picture below, the "Dedicated Domain" I bought on name cheap has all the letters scratched out except for "1.com" The "Custom Domain" has all the letters scratched out except for "4".


Now, go back to FunnelFlux, click on the "Gear" in the upper right hand corner, Choose "System Settings". Next on the bottom left you will see "Default Domain Name", click the "+" sign, add your "Custom Domain", click Save.

Repeat for all of your "Custom Domains." I have 8, right now.

---

I have never used FunnelFlux. But.

It sounds like FunnelFlux is confused. You do not want nor need more than one tracking domain. Those rarely get flagged. Once a year if you are unlucky.

You want tons of backup lander domains. Those can get flagged multiple times a week if you are unlucky.

As far as I know, FunnelFlux (unless you are using their managed lander service), is just the tracker. They shouldn't care about your landing domains at all.

You have an offer link from your network: https://coolCPAnetwork.com/specialofferURL?youraffiliateIDtoken&otherToken&an otherToken <-- This goes into your tracker

You make a lander for that offer at your lander domain: https://yourcoolLandingdomain.xyz/vertical/geo/LP1/index.html <-- This goes in your tracker too *

Campaign setup in the tracker: This should contain the landing page you made and connects it to the offer you want.

The tracker will create a unique link for you: https://yourtrackerdomain.com/coolLinkMadeUpByyourtracker <--- this goes into your traffic source **

Someone clicks on your link from the traffic source, which goes through your tracker, then to your lander, if they click on the CTA, then it goes to your offer.

---

* This will always get flagged.

** This will hardly never get flagged.

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Ah man, now I'm really confused. Or are they confused? Who is confused? jaybot, I copied your text to them. Let's see what they say...

So, are you saying I should have multiple A Records pointing to my server? Or, should I have multiple CNames pointing to my Dedicated Domain?

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I should draw a cute picture with stick figures and graphs explaining how it all works, but let's take it one step at a time instead.

Essentially, you need two domains:

1) You tracking domain that Funnel Flux uses.

2) Your landing domain, that you use to host landing pages.

These can both be on the same server, in separate folders, which get routed according to your nginx conf file. In this case, you need to point both of them with the A to your IP address and CNAME to the domain name you'll be using. This will require some text file editing and dicking around in linux terminal.

OR

To keep things simple, you can have them on separate severs. This may be the easier option at this point. In that case, you just point it to the Funnel Flux tracker server with A and CNAME to the IP address and never care about it again. Funnel Flux will do all the magic from here. No need to fuck with it after that.

Then, get another server. And point everything else to this new one with its different IP address for your landing page server. This server will get all the other domains pointing to it as well. This is also the server where you will be uploading files to and serving pages from.

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LOL! Yes, I AM a dumbass who professes to be nothing more, and am EXTREMELY grateful for your help.

Let's pursue your first option, if you care to help, since it saves some money. Though, I do understand that if I set up the second option, it would require a second droplet at Digital Ocean, which would create a second IP address and OG Lander domain would go A Name to the IP address, while all of the Extra Lander domains would CNAME to that OG Lander domain.

So, in the first option, I have my Tracker domain with A Name to the single server IP Address. I only need one tracker domain since it rarely gets banned.

Next, I set up my OG Lander domain with AName to the same single server IP Address. Then, I set all the Extra Lander domains with CNAME to the OG Lander domain.

Now, wouldn't nginx just be able to handle the Tracker Domain and the OG Lander domain pointing to the same address?

---

Also, am I adding the domains to Digital Ocean? Why not just add them to Cloudflare since that is in front of my Digital Ocean server and actually acting as my DNS?

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Ok.

Yes, send everything to Cloud Flare. Just add the Cloud Flare dns servers (probably Mario and Zelda) to all of your domains on namecheap.

Once on Cloud Flare,

All domains will have an A record with 'A yourdomain.com 123.456.789'

And a CNAME record with 'CNAME www yourdomain.com'

And that's it.

For your tracking domain, Funnel Flux will figure that out, pretty sure they already have and it is working, right? Good.

For your lander domains, you'll need to have nginx installed. That should be setup already. So let's test it out.

Connect to your server with a terminal (however you do that with digital ocean*). And with a prompt you can type: sudo /etc/init.d/nginx start

It should give you a message that it's up and running.

Now you should be able to visit any of your live lander domains in your browser, and get a default 'welcome to nginx!' page.

If you got that, you're on the right track.

Next, you'll need to setup some folders on your server. Such as a /var/www/ and within that folder, you'll need to make some folders with names for each of your domains, like yourdomain.xyz within that folder, you'll need logs and public folders, and inside the public folder is where we'll actually upload files as the root of your landing page site. This sounds more complex than it is. Let me grab a random tutorial for you:

https://mediatemple.net/community/pr...ginx-on-ubuntu

You can skip to the part where it says 'SETTING UP WEBSITES/CONFIGURING VIRTUAL HOSTS'

See if we can make it this far


---
*DO might even have some fancy shit where you can do everything from a browser, I don't know.

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@jaybot

This is probably confusing as hell.

I will post an easy way when I am on my PC

---

Lol. I was thinking the same thing when typing it. But. The easiest way is already in Amy's guide using S3, so I figured he didn't want easy

I imagine DO has some super simple stuff already setup within their dashboard to do these things.

Hopefully, you can walk him through that

I really just wanted to make him understand the difference between tracking domain and landing domains as he seemed to be confused about that.

I think we're getting somewhere though

---

Yeah, it’s just that it’s all new and when I set up FunnelFlux they must have misunderstood my multiple domains to be multiple domains for tracker. And, that contradicted the tutorial and what twinaxe and jaybot were saying.

So, I now have my tracker domain set up and it runs perfect. All the domains are set up on NameCheap with the Cloudflare nameservers. I did each individually, so each domain has a slightly different two nameservers given to me by Cloudflare each time.

Separately, I’m ready to set up my lander page domains and understand I need an OG lander page and all the Extra Lander pages pointing to through CNAME to the OG Lander. Correct?

Currently, all my domains, even the tracker domain, are set up on Cloudflare as
A @ 123.123.123.123 with an orange cloud and the 5 page rules
A www 123.123.123.123 with an orange cloud and the 5 page rules
That should work just the OG Lander page

I can set up the Extra Lander domains as
A @ OGlander.com with orange cloud and 5 page rules
A www OGlander.com with orange cloud and 5 page rules

I had to go to bed. Now thinking I will contact DO for support on setting up the droplet/server so that it can host the Tracker Domain, and separately the OG Lander domain with Extra Lander domains.

Have to get the kids off and get ready for 9to5, so I’ll be a bit delayed in contacting DO.

BTW, I’m not trying to be dense or avoid the easy way. I was just trying to be an early adopter for FunnelFlux, which was supposed to be an even easier way and more robust way of tracking.... I thought I was taking the easy way. Either way, I’m documenting this so that way it will be easier for the next guy....

---

Ahh Fnunununuck!!! I JUST read through Day 18. Now I see why I’m a dumb@ss again! I'm the fool that tests the "foolproof" system...

(Edited March 10, 2020, ignore this and skip to my next post where I think I have a better understanding an summary)

OK, let me digest this. I shouldn’t even bother with changing the Cloudflare stuff, and all of my current domains are crappy names, so I should get some cooler ones.

AND this is what jaybot meant about having a second server and not “funking” with it again. Much easier!

I have to admit, I confused because I thought that the “twinaxe twist” was about setting up the tracking domain and the lander domains on the same server.

So, I can follow the guide, which has very detailed instructions (good for me). OR, I can do this other path that I accidentally went down, and jaybot and twinaxe are trying to guide me through.

Which way is better? Will I gain anything by continuing into the unknown and taking up your time? Or just take the shortcut back to safety of the tutorial?

---

I realize I write mini books. Will try to keep this short.

For landers, I want to use the same Digital Ocean server I have now, but will relent and use the AWS as in the guide if you all insist I'm too dumb right now.

Right now FunnelFlux is set up correctly on the Digital Ocean server.
On Namecheap the domain tleagletracker.com (fake name for this post) has the two Cloudflare Nameservers
Cloudflare has:
A tleagletracker.com 123.123.123.123
A www 123.123.123.123

The above is all working and confirmed by FunnelFlux.

Now I also own a few other Domains, again using fake names, tleagletracker2.com, tleagletracker3.com, tleagletracker4.com....until tleagletracker8.com. These are not cool Lander Page domain names. I might use one or all of these for extra or "Custom" domains for just the tracker by doing this on Cloudflare.
CNAME tleagletracker2.com tleagletracker.com
CNAME www tleagletracker.com

The above gives me an extra or "Custom" domain to use as the tracker, instead of tleagletracker.com. This is just like in the Voluum guide for a "Custom" domain (i.e. tleagletracker2.com) to protect the "Dedicated" domain (i.e. tleagletracker.com).


For the Lander Pages
I should buy new and cool names, like bestIphonewinner.com, winnewIphonehere.com, collectyouriphone.com, etc.

Then the first domain is set up like this:

On NameCheap the domain bestIphonewinner.com has:
two CloudFlare nameservers.

Cloudflare has:
A bestiphonewinner.com 123.123.123.123
A www 123.123.123.123

Digital Ocean has: I still need to figure this out but am guessing
A separate folder for each vertical (sweeps, games, virus, etc) with a folder for bestiphonewinner.com

The second and all other domains are set up like this:

On NameCheap the domain winnewIphonehere.com has:
two CloudFlare nameservers

Cloudflare has:
CNAME winnewIphonehere.com bestiphonewinner.com
CNAME www bestiphonewinner.com

Digital Ocean has: I still need to figure this out but am guessing
A separate folder for each vertical (sweeps, games, virus, etc) with a folder for bestiphonewinner.com because that is where the CNAME is pointing

Then I need to go to Digital Ocean and ask them how to set up the separate folders the way that jaybot was talking about.

That's it. Right?

---

Oh man, seems you have real fun with that stuff.

Wasn't much on my PC today, will reply here when I am on my computer.

---

On Digital Ocean you need to point the domains to your droplet. This is done by "add a domain".

As for the pages just follow their nginx installation guide. In the following guide you get an idea about the whole folder stuff.

--> https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...n-ubuntu-18-04

The folder creation and copying files is pretty easy if you connect your droplet via FileZilla with your computer. I did it with SSH / SFTP. On a Mac computer it is really easy to get the ssh keys. On a PC you probably need a program like putty or so. For more see here:

--> https://www.digitalocean.com/docs/dr...ransfer-files/

Probably you want your landers running with SSL. That is also quite easy. Just follow this guide:
--> https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...n-ubuntu-18-04

P.S. I am not familiar with LEMP installation on droplet. Only did LE (linux + nginx). Worked for my lander. First time might take a little bit longer. But once you have done it is a matter of a few minutes.

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YEEEESSSSS! I love the support! Looks like I have some reading in front of me.

It's inspiring to have another self-described newbie giving me advice. That shows I can learn it too. Truthfully, I am enjoying myself! Despite the mistakes, the time it takes to make the corrections, it is a good feeling to learn something and accomplish a new milestone. And trust me, I'm putting in the time right now, and expect that's the only way to be successful going forward. The amount of knowledge I've gained in the last few days is so much more than your average lost Amazonian tribe member internet surfer. Really it's staggering how much I've learned.....and how much more I have to learn... I look forward to being able to give back. BTW, also really looking forward to eventually making Landing Pages of my own, to use some creativity too.

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Sorry for the late reply.

Did you managed to get it all running now?

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Day 9

I'm working on it right now. Took some time to read through the Digital Ocean links that Lars provided. It all seems straight forward.... But first I had to learn how to get Terminal. LOL, it's already on my Mac. Have also taken some time to go through a few more offers. Reached to Gotzha again. Not sure what's up with those guys.

Also, went down the rabbit hole and watched a whole series of videos and did a lot of reading on BH sweeps on FB. That was inspired by Itzpeter, here on the forum, and also reading jimmy the gents new FA, and his concerns about POP being saturated. I know! This tutorial is about learning the fundamentals/foundation to build the knowledge for all of the other platforms. I have some very minor experience in FB, so was tempted all of last night and some of today to go down that road.

It would be nice to potentially earn a little money, rather than an almost guarantee of losing some while learning. Likely, it was just me procrastinating on figuring all of this stuff correctly. Like I said, I've read the Digital Ocean guide and it all seems logical. Now, it's time to implement and hope I don't mess it up... BH sweeps though, eh?, eh?, sounds tempting. OK, back to the grind!!!

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I use Linux and there is also a Terminal included.

Only these poor Windows users have to use something like PuTTY

Let me know when you get stuck or so.

But I would prefer to not post my version now as well, would probably only generate more confusion.

Stop it!

I can imagine that it sounds very interesting but it only distracts you from the stuff you want to learn now.

Did you hear of the "Shiny New Object Syndrome"?

This is something where many beginners suffer from.

For example they want to learn pops but it´s not working for them right away.
Before they learned it properly they read that push is much easier to start with so they stop running pops just to start with push.
Push is also not working the way they expected although everyone says push is that good.
Then they read about native and want to learn it so they stop push before they learned it properly.
But native isn´t doing good as well after 2 weeks so they switch to FB because this is where the money is.
Unluckily FB isn´t that easy at all so after few weeks they go back to pops to learn the basics.
Because they didn´t run pops for long enough in the first try they have to start from scratch.
They get annoyed because they don´t succeed in pops after few weeks so they think about trying push again.

And so on and so forth, basically they keep going round in circles and will never succeed because they jump to the next thing again and again when it seems to be better than what they do at this moment.

So decide what you want to learn and then focus on it to get it running.

You want to learn running pops? - Cool, then read about pops and not about push, FB or whatever.

Or when something else is more interesting for you start something else.

But decide for one thing and run it for at least few months.

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Day 10-12

I kind of fell off the face of the earth. Actually, I drove to West Virginia and back this weekend. It was a last minute obligation that took longer than expected. Technically, today should be the day to run some ads without landers. Hopefully, my work on getting the server set up for landers puts me ahead a little bit for when I get to those days.

LOL! Tough love from twinaxe. Thank you! I'm taking it to heart. You are right, and it was stated early on. Keep the focus. Learn the material. Build on the material. It's a life lesson. Stay focused in the present and you will learn much better. That state of mind is what had me figuring out the FunnelFlux and Cloudflare issues.

This is a fluff post to express I'm back to the grind. More to come.

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One step after the other.

First it´s important that you learn the basics how to run campaigns and check stats and such things.

There are so many things to learn that are not specific to only one traffic because these are fundamental knowledge you need for basically all kinds of campaigns you run.

So when you know these basics inside out you can also switch to something else when you want to.
But especially in the beginning it´s good to focus on one thing first, better do one thing right instead of starting 5 things half-hearted.

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