Is $1k-2k enough to start? (13)
Hi! I first learned about affiliate marketing on the kote.ws website, then there was a training session with Mr. Brown, who was his partner. At that time we were sitting on a forum specially created for this training and discussing how we could make money. I remember Zero Park and other ad networks already existed then. So, as a result, there was no information on the forum that someone earned. And then I didn't have any money to invest. Now I can invest 1, maximum 2 thousand dollars, but I am very afraid of losing them. I would like to know something that will encourage me to earn money, maybe you will tell your story?
yes, with push/pop traffic.
You have to invest back your profits in your paid campaigns.
Currently, my monthly recurring cost of software/subscriptions run around $750.
So, even if i don't run any ads, i am at $750 loss each month.
Tracking: $150
Optimizer: $300
STM: $100
Spy Tools: $150
Domain+ Hosting: $50
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$750
And all of these software/subscriptions are important part of my daily work, but still you can pull it off in $1000-$2000(without any of these tools).
Originally Posted by alexnice
It sounds to me like you're still pretty early in your internet marketing "journey', so I would say the most important thing is to keep learning and studying and gaining a fuller understanding of how to make money online.
To answer your other question, yes, you can absolutely still make money from Affiliate Marketing in 2021
There's lots of dudes on this forum making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year profit, some making millions of dollars per year profit, etc.
With that said, there's tons and tons of tons of different strategies within the field of "affiliate marketing".
Most of the folks here on STM utilize paid ads or "media-buying", but this is a high stakes, high risk, high reward way of making money online.
If you only have 1-2k to start, and don't want to lose it, I would not recommend getting into paid ads. Maybe try @vortex's free guides with pop traffic as @Rhino mentioned, but with super low expectations.
Better yet I'd try some kind of organic strategy (i.e. not buying paid traffic but generating free traffic).
This could include:
a) building a website and getting visitors through SEO
b) building a social media profile on Instagram or Twitter or TIkTok (this could be something totally simple about pets or painting or aquarium fish or any number of things - basically anything can be monetized through affiliate offers)
c) building a YouTube channel (same as above - it doesn't need to be videos of you personally talking- it can be anonymous whiteboard or slideshow videos on whatever random topic your knowledgeable about - one great example is this old dude (75 years old) I follow who is killing it making tutorial videos on video editing with the software Camtasia).
OR...
I would also recommend providing services on Upwork and making money like that. In my opinion its way easier to make 60k per year providing services as freelancer vs through affiliate marketing.
Indeed, Upwork would be my #1 recommendation, even though it isn't as exciting or sexy as affiliate marketing.
Finally, you asked about 'Local Lead-Gen'.
Local lead-gen would either be done via 1) organic seo traffic, which is expensive and time-consuming to get into, but not a bad choice overall, or b) via paid Google Search Ads, which would be a little more advanced. Both of those things are pretty specialized skillsets, but certainly not a bad thing to get into. They are very 'mature' markets though, in that the people doing local lead-gen have been doing it for a long-time, so it takes longer to get established and there is more competition. (vs something like TikTok that is brand new essentially)
Finally, here's some great YouTube channels I would absolutely recommend:
-Old videos from Dan Brock/Deadbeat Super Affiliate (like 1-5 year old videos - his only new ones are on NFT's): https://www.youtube.com/c/DeadbeatSuperAffiliate/videos
-Miles Beckler: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7R...4XKoMsy5MgJKrg
-Chad Bartlett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76crFzffxK0
-7 Figure Entrepreneur Podcast (these guys do facebook ads affiliate marketing mostly but they interview all kinds of folks): https://www.youtube.com/c/7FigureEntrepreneurPodCast
-Matt Diggity (this is on affiliate SEO specifically): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGGQgnjjtVE
-Neil Patel: https://www.youtube.com/user/neilvkpatel
-Old Alex Becker videos from 1-5 years ago (before he started only doing crypto videos): https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexBeckersChannel
It honestly takes a ton of time to even really get clarity the whole online economy and how people actually make money online. I know I listened to random "Make Money Online" podcasts for like 5 years before I made my first dollar online.. and I remember being so frustrated because I just couldn't figure out what was legit and what was bs... and what different things meant... and how to get started...
But yeah... just keep educating yourself and geeking out on things, and then once you see something that you feel like you could do, make a conscious decision to dive into it and really give it a good attempt... even the best opportunities still take a lot of work to take advantage of...
Hope that helps a little and feel free to ask any followup questions you have
Dayam @jack_l! I've book marked your post. This should be a must-read for every new member that may be in a similar situation as the OP.
A word for the OP: I agree completely that it may not be a good idea to come in with a couple of thousand dollars you can't afford to lose.
In order to become successful at this business, you need to keep a clear head to make sound decisions.
And when you're scared of losing money, you'll be very prone to making decisions based on emotions (mainly fear).
You almost need to be prepared to lose all that money, write it off in your mind as a loss, tell yourself you'll be spending it as tuition - the cost of learning and buying data. Only then would you be able to detach yourself enough emotionally to keep your head clear.
This business is very risky. Yes there are many making great money, but for every successful affiliate there are lots others that have given up or run out of money - which is OK as long as you're using disposable money and not your living expenses.
@jack_l has already listed (exhaustively I believe) all the best options if you're wanting to make money online in safer ways.
Having said all that: Of course, if you'd still like to give this a shot, we'll be here to help! It's totally up to you. We like to tell you how it is so you go in with realistic expectations.
All the best on your journey - whatever you may decide.
Amy
Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums
Yeah, great post @jack_l.
About local lead gen, I just want to mention that it is mature in Tier-1 countries. In Latin America, people are barely starting doing it, because the clients are still stuck in a agency model. So it is easier are few people are actively marketing these potential clients.
So @alexnice, to get the most of your 2K, don't rush to buy all the tools mentioned by @Rhino, and focus on buying traffic.
In particular:
- Tracking: $150 > go with a smaller plan. Black Friday is coming, so you should find some for around $60 usd per month
- Optimizer: $300 > not needed at your stage
- STM: $100 > of course!
- Spy Tools: $150 > there are free spy tools to start with. Or you can buy one month to spy and then stop. I think the first month, when trying, don't buy it
- Domain+ Hosting: $50 > go with a CloudFront plan, which has a free tier for the first year
That should not be more than $200 per month at start.
Originally Posted by jeremie
Yes it is possible I turned 1.2k into 3k. Minus 230 overhead per month. No it was not easy.
Super cheap infrastructure set up. Tracker + STM = 210 hosting etc = 10$
You can use manual spying and cheap VPN for landers. Or ask AM for creatives if they are cool.
Agree with others though. I wont starve if I lose this money. Takes time patience and "stick to it"ness. Cant do that if you rash un informed decisions based on fear.
I tend to take the opposite "fuck it" attitude and just send traffic. Doesnt work? kill and continue
Put this post in perspective though. I am still very much at the beginning of this journey.
What's the least amount of ad budget you can get away with on Push traffic and still learn be able to learn effectively?
I have to scale my ad budget down for a few months.
I was thinking of only spending $840 a month or $30 a day.
Go with low payout offers such as click2sms or pinsubmits in low tier geos.
30 USD/day is already very bottom line.
Probably it is better to save 30 USD /day and then start again once you have 5k budget piled up.
Originally Posted by larsometer
I typically just take so much out of my check every week and do it that way.
Well, the only person who knows how much he can and wants to save is you...
The less you spend the more you can save. Works out well for many people who have no problem with / or even fancy a simple life.
It´s not only about the budget that´s needed for tools and for testing campaigns.
You also need good budget when you want to scale.
Let´s say you want to make $3k profit per month and you have a good campaign that runs stable at 30% ROI, then you still have to spend $10k for $3k profit.
Hi, yes, I can definitely say I understand your fears and concerns as we have all been in similar situations before and it's normal. But as now you already gained some skills and knowledge and are doing the right thing by asking more experienced marketers to help you in your decision, you will surely make a good decision regarding the money investment. I could recommend, from some personal experiences, that you should distribute your budget in some push traffic and tracking tools, but a part of it you could also invest here in the forum on the marketplace section.
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