Andy's Six Month Journey! (50)
So last week I announced that I WILL be successful within six months.
So here is my diary as of October 23rd 2012
1. Am using the ROI Calculator provided by Inversion of this forum. It is a great statistical spreadsheet for forecasting whether offers have a chance of success. It makes a difference when you are dealing with small numbers like 10,000 imps and 25 clicks as it is all too easy to kill an offer too early. I had to convert it to load with Open Office and then correct some formatting issues missed in the convert. I am also adding a few other things for me such as EPC's etc.
2. Had my first Campaign disapproved by Facebook, which was a direct link offer so I have created a landing page to see if that helps.
3. Am really getting to grips with Demon Tracking now. Made a school boy error on my first attempt.
4. Have my Postback Pixels working correctly.
5. Am now creating 4 campaigns per offer on Facebook, each with 3 identical ads. Weird how that works :-)
6. Looking in to Geo Redirect scripts so I don't lose traffic.
7. Have been accepted on 4 more CPA platforms. Just need to get some income history as Neverblue will then accept me.
8. Building to having 3 offers live at a time on Facebook, while researching new offers and angles so that I always have replacements.
9. Looking in to launching my first AM Google ads later this week.
10. Giving serious thought to not having all my Landing Pages within Wordpress. Purely for speed!
So here is my diary as of October 24th 2012
1. Realised already that I need to launch many more offers simultaneously! This truly is a numbers game. I am thinking 10's of rather than just a few. I also need to maximise on the click thru's and the conversions, with other offers.
2. Oh, it is worth mentioning that I also run a Theatrical Events business so I am using all this new knowledge to launch campaigns for them too but I am not listing them here.
So here is my diary as of October 25th 2012
1. Now have 4 offers on Facebook, some still pending - Come on Facebook.
2. Getting to grips with Geo-Redirect, thanks to Zeno on STM. Facebook were disapproving my ads most likely due to not being able to see the offer when reviewing it.
3. Actually have a profitable campaign, which is predicting an ROI of 123% should I scale. I have in fact expanded the campaign but it sits Pending for hours as usual! More on this later!
4. On one Ad I am getting a .02p CPC. Wow! Although my Max Bid is .40p
So to sum up I am still not in overall profit from everything but that is OK as I have projected that in my forecast but I am learning SO MUCH by DOING!!!!!
So here is my diary as of October 27th 2012
Spent yesterday fighting with Facebook to get them to approve certain ads! So I took myself back to school and read and read their Guidelines over and over. I think the truth of the matter is as long as you are careful you can get most ads through.
This page is very useful: https://www.facebook.com/help/399392800124391/
So today I am going to put up a dating ad!
I got a gambling ad through yesterday, well some of my ads went through! It was targeted at the UK, so should have been fine. I now have to get prior authorization from Facebook. Does anybody know where you contact them?
I am also putting my Geo-Redirect scripts together, although I am looking at a more streamlined solution to this as manually creating scripts for each offer seems somewhat tedious! I know what I want and do have the skills to write it but not the time so I may outsource! I could use them for bait and switching! Anybody got a trusted and affordable programming resource that you have used before?
I have been swatting up on POF and PPV. POF next then PPV later. Learnt a new technique, Self Targeting for PPV! Very clever!
More later!
Keep at it Andy. I'm in this game as well but I'm growing by the day and making things happen. You certainly are doing the same and I applaud you for that mate.
Yep your on your way. this is the attitude you need. You realize 6 months is a proper time frame to make things happen (but a lot sooner is possible) and your working every day, i think you'll see success before 6 months 
@onamission: Love the handle, On a Mission! I am the same!
My past is in creating both software products and theatrical services so I am used to systems. It is the same with AM. I want to create a reusable system to cut down time an workload.
@andyscraven: no need any streamlined solution, understand tracking, will help you have profitable campaigns.
@hd2010: I hear that! I am giving serious consierdation to investing in CPVLab. I use Demon Tracking but I get the feeling CPVLab is better. For a start you can reset the clicks on a campaign! By the time you have a campaign live on DT the campaign has got approx. 8 clicks so it looks like you are already losing money. I use test Keywords but when Facebook checks it is using my main keywords!
What I meant though is that I want to make setting up offers, Landing Pages, Geo-Redirects, Tracking etc, in a more turn key systamatci approach. That way I can spend all my time on great Landind Pages or launching more offers.
@andyscraven : try to make geo redirecting thing work with p202 first, the cencept it the same with other kind of tracker. Your ultimate goal now is to MASTER not learn tracking
Originally Posted by andyscraven
P.S: Added you on Skype too.
@onamission: It's a deal! I had 2 skype requests one from Los Angeles and one from Australia! I accepted them both but I don't know which one you are! :-)
Just mentioned this in another thread where we are discussing geo-redirect: http://w3max.net/
It is a free service that does the job!
So here is my diary as of October 28th 2012
After a heavy but enjoyable night out I am clearing my head by making certain decisions!
1. I am going to pause all my campaigns, swap my tracking software to my totallycooloffers.com server and create the Geo-Redirect scripts.
2. Then I need to look at rotating landers on an offer that has .21 CTR on Facebook but is not converting as it should.
3. Have also decided to ditch Wordpress for creating LP's. It is just too slow. So I need to invest in a good HTML WYSIWYG Editor for the Mac that can test code locally (including PHP ideally). Anyone know of a good one? I could connect to a Virtual LAMP server I have running on a PC in my office to test I suppose! Just thinking aloud!
4. Get ready for a busy week of launching and monitoring offers.
I currently use Demon Tracking but I am beginning to see it's limitations. How easy is Prosper202 to use? I could save me some money in the short term instead of trying CPVLab.
Originally Posted by andyscraven
photoshop/dreamweaver Andy for LP's. Plenty of torrents. Once you get comfortable with them you get pretty creative and automate a lot of stuff with batch processes when making banners etc
@lwanturcoin: I have used Photoshop for many years but not Dreamweaver! Torrents? The very thought!!!! :-)
Changed the Title Format so it has the countdown in it! Keeps me focused!
Having watched a great set of videos by Will of the PPC Coach regarding the tracker using 7search I added this to the ROI Calculator.
It almost did already it but I just improved it a tad.
This is really really really important stuff. I am never going to launch a campaign again without running it through these numbers!
I learnt so much last week, much more than I ever did in the three months I spent learning all about CPA and Affiliate marketing!
The week probably cost me $75 but it is money well spent. I did get some conversions but I was just down on the week, so I don't care!
Downloaded Prosper202 but tehn discovered it cannot be installed in to a sub-directory and has to be on its own Domain! Shame as I wanted my tracking URLS to be from my totallycooloffers.com!
Am going to try the PPC Coach Tracker too. This is could be better in a way as it is less burden on my server!
Onwards and Upwards!!! :-)
As an update for today!
Just tried 3 WYSIWYG HTML Editors!
Komposer!
Quick 'n Easy Web Editor
Coda 2
It has to be said that Coda 2 blows the other two out of the water. Komposer is free if you are on a really tight budget but Coda 2 is on a special offer if you buy direct from their website! https://panic.com/coda/ for $75 so in real money (Her Brittanic Majesty's Great British Pound, don't you know!!!!) £48.
Try webbuilder 8. Love the real money reference too lol, how true!
@jimcrim: I am on a Mac! :-)
Update:
Just finished writing my own Geo Redirect PHP script!
I could now not only send them so a specific page based on their Country but also on their City! Works a treat! And I totally love Coda 2!
Time for a glass of wine as the time now is: 22.02
By the way, all you guys in the way of Hurricane Sandy, Good Luck and Positive Thoughts to you all!!
Day 9 of 182 - October 30th 2012
OK, so I thought I had my Geo-Redirect sorted out.
I knew that I was using a system that wasn't local and it was then pointed out to me that should I start making many requests they would block me!
So! I have now decided to take the plunge and install the GeoIP - Maxmind stuff on to my server! - Having Permission problems via SSH at the moment so waiting for Dreamhost support to reply! This is very frustrating as today as meant to be the day to launch many new Offers.
I want to wait until my systems are all set up so I can turn key new offers!
On a different subject and advice is sought on this issue!
I am finding Facebook to be quite expensive for their CPC's. I did a little test on InfoLinks and got much cheaper traffic and a few conversions! Not a great user interface it has to be said!
I know that the higher your CTR the lower you can make your bid and still get traffic but even then it seems higher than going to say 7search! To me so far that is!
Will, Chad! What do you think?
Update for Day 9 of 182 - October 30th 2012
FINALLY got the GeoIp stuff working on my server! I had to create an admin user on my VPS and then use 'sudo su' so I had the right privileges! Works a treat now! Thanks to @zeno and @hd2010 for all their input!
AND......... Fanfare and Trumpets!
I had my first Profit day today!
Now I know I have slammed Infolinks on different threads as they are on the whole pretty crap, however today:
Spent: $2.08
Earned: $11.00
I only allocated a $5 spend on this as I was busy with the GeoIP stuff and couldn't monitor it enough! I am lifting the max bid every morning, so hopefully tomorrow I should start to see better traffic.
I am going to move it to 7Search as the user interface on InfoLinks is tiresome and the traffic on 7Search is a higher quality!
So, time to walk the dog, eat dinner and drink wine for tomorrow I plan and launch like I have never planned and launched before!!!!!!
Day 10 of 182 - October 31st 2012
Interesting day! Due to other issues I had to leave my computer for a few hours! Doh!
However, saying that, I have just launched my first 7Search Campaign, that goes through my Geo-Redirect script to my Tracker and then to the Offer!
It is an offer for more than one Country so I have got my Geo-Redirect Prefixing the Country Code on the keyword passed by 7 Search, that way I can see where the traffic is coming from and which Country best likes the Ad!
I have started all keywords at 0.01. I will raise tomorrow once I get a feel.
I also downloaded a copy of Dreamweaver today as Coda 2, which I like as a programmers editor is not WYSIWYG!
I have used Photoshop for many years and am now using CS6 Extended! There really is not other Photo Editing software worth a damn!
So tonight I am going to setup the geo script for a gambling campaign I had disapproved on Facebook. It is for UK traffic only so Facebook should allow it once they get sent to the right place!
I may also do the same for a gaming campaign that Facebook didn't like but was converting before they stopped it! Let's see if it really was due to the Geo-Redirect stuff!!
OK, back to work!
you are going to blow up. Awesome work ethic!
@lwanturcoin: Thanks Man! Lovin it.
had to be said I really like the 7Search user interface! Already getting impression on keywords they say cost of the bids is 8c - 3c. My Max Bid is 0.01c!
UPDATE: Day 10 of 182 - October 31st 2012
So this is my second profitable day in a row.
Now, I don't want you to crack open the bubbly just yet we are talking a few dollars overall but when you look at what is converting it is becoming clear what to concentrate on!
Getting pretty cheap CPC's and each conversion is £5.50
It is good to see, you're building experience or I shall called confidence, but 2nd tier is 2nd tier , you can to ride a scable traffic source
@hd2010: Thanks, it is building experience.
Now! I didn't understand the second part of your post, "but 2nd tier is 2nd tier , you can to ride a scable traffic source. Can you explain? :-)
@andyscraven : First I'm not expert, just here to share what I know, 1st tier PPC such as adwords, Facebook (not sure), 2nd tier - 7search, miva etc...2nd tier lower volume and quality, for example, if you have a converting camapgin with a scalable traffic source such as facebook which have tons of traffic, do you think you able to scale it ? read about Mr green methology, if not mistaken he don't deal with non scalable niches and traffic sources...
Yo Andy, make sure your gambling/gaming offer are ok on MyWoT, and be careful with the gambling campaign. Slots are generally ok (though most sites are red on MyWoT) and Facebook doesn't permit true gambling ads without prior approval from them, i.e. a direct advertising relationship. So things like real-money online poker, casino sign ups etc are unlikely to be allowed.
@zeno: Thanks. It is a slots offer.
I've used Adzerk. Good, fast, and free for moderately small numbers of impressions (below a few million).
I actually DID initially write my own ad serving software, but then rapidly moved over to Adzerk once I realised how much of a PITA that was.
I wasn't doing anything terribly complicated, though - just serving impressions on one large site - so I don't know how it copes with bigger and more complex tasks.
Really impressed with how much you're sticking with this, Andy! Very interested to see how the media buy goes.
Originally Posted by caurmen
Just spent the day getting up to speed with AdShuffle! They give you $50 free so approx. 850,000 impressions.
So I now have me first AdShuffle Media Buy set up being monitored by CPVLab! I have 5 different banners rotating to 2 landers!
Just waiting for the Site Admin to put the banners live!
Try Adobe Muse.
They offer 3o day Trials. hehehehe.
Far and away the easiest Landing Pager maker ever!. the creations can be saved locally for uploading as desired. Plus adobe TV has tons of great video tutorials.
Day 81 of 182 - 29th January 2013
Would you believe the damn virus came back and went on my chest!
About over it now, thank your imaginary Friend!
So, lots done and prepared and ready to launch, which is great.
Fully learnt CPVLab now and can use it at quite and advanced level!
Putting my first POF campaigns live today!
4 Campaigns, each containing 18 variants using 9 images and 2 titles and descriptions!
So, we shall see!
Got told off by my Media Buy site owner for serving an Ad they disapprove of! They were cool about it just asked me to change it! Stupid thing is that before I bought the banners they were serving Adsense and they were showing all kinds of junk!
Andy, you're 3 months in! Your one of the longest running followalongs ever, and it's something that will hopefully go down in time to show the work ethic and testing is the most important
Give us a bigger sized update!
Whats your total spend vs made?
Have you see potential from a 1-2 campaigns?
Originally Posted by stackman
Day 82 of 182 - 30th January 2013
It is funny because I started my first campaigns last October but after a month stopped everything because I was just sending traffic to offers and losing 95% due to non conversion.
So I spent November building a Sales Funnel and understanding more about monetising the back end. So I now have a Funnel Template that I can rinse and repeat with ease.
So spent and earned nothing in November and December as had a a very long break in December.
I did get CPVLab fully integrated with my funnel with multiple optins etc. So a well worth learning curve.
Because I have a technical background I have a real need to understand the very bones of how things function. I believe this is a good approach as I get the whole picture and can self manage everything.
Which brings me to what I am doing now!
I have three things on the go!
1. A Small Direct to Site Media Buy (2 Banners) so am using Ad Shuffle, which I really like. Difficult to give ROI as I am currently using it for my events business. Cost $120 per month for both banners (120x160 and 125x125). One booking from that site would bring in between $500-$3000. Been running for 9 days but there is a natural delay for any bookings while people decide which event they would like and agree it with their friends. I have agreed with the site owner to run different Ads next month as long as they match the site ethic!
2. I have a funnel all set up (BizOp) offering multiple offers at different points within it. Some my own via Paypal, some CPA and some Clickbank! It has two optin points, on initial lander prior to seeing any offer and again once they buy before they go to the download page. I have both a multi level funnel version and a one page website version that has everything right there. The whole thing is ready to rock and roll and I tested it on 7Search just to ensure it was user proof and it was! What I have to decide is which is the best Traffic Source for this Funnel. ANY IDEAS GUYS????
3. I am running dating offers on POF! (First time with POF). Been running for 24 hours and breaks down as follows:
4 Campaigns each a different age range
Each Campaign has 9 images and 2 Ad Copy so 18 per Campaign.
I am rotating 2 Landers and 3 offers
Tracking via CPVLAb
I am targeting US, CA, UK, AU and NZ
Login Count <50
Frequency Cap - 4
Before it gets to CPVLab it goes to a GeoIP script that appends the Country Code to the Campaign keyword being sent. It also records in a log file any non qualifying country visitors so I can keep a track of stray traffic! I am going to extend this to make use of CPVLabs "Capture Extra Tokens" functionality to better break down the stats.
This morning I downloaded the stats from POF and and CPVLab and ran them through my ROI Calculator. Killed on Age Range so down to 3.
It turned out that one age range performed better than the others and that 2 of the 9 images performed way better than the rest.
I had 1 conversion so no great shakes as yet as ROI is -45% but if my ROI Calculator is to be believed should go to 120% at current scale!
Current CPM $0.20 so I know quite low!
My CTR from POF is 0.12%!
My first lander was only getting a 25% CTR so I have designed another and just put it live!
I HAVE A QUESTION OR TWO for the experts here!
1. I seem to getting no traffic at all for AU and NZ on POF - Any ideas?
2. Once I get the landers/offers and Ad Copy right and get to Profit how would you best scale?
3. Each campaign has $10 daily budget but I don't appear to be using it all each day! Why?
4. Would you recommend changing the Ad Copy and Titles at this point or adding new Ads?
Much to learn! And thank you to anybody that takes the time to read and reply!
Day 83 of 182 - 30st January 2013
Very interesting over night!
After running some numbers yesterday the CTR from my landers to the offers was just not cutting the mustard, so I switched to direct linking and went to bed!
Woke up this morning to a lot more conversions. Also out of the 3 rotating offers one was converting way more so I have now just got that one live.
So, if I run the numbers from the point I swapped to direct linking I am in profit on 2 out of the 3 running campaigns.
The third campaign is getting conversions but given I did the swap half way through the day it is difficult to run the numbers as this particular campaign has the most impressions and CTR. So I am going to let all 3 campaigns run a whole 24 hours direct linking.
Also interesting is that 1 of the 5 countries I am targeting has 80% of the conversions!!
I am now going to check if there is a conversion pattern for images and Ad Copy!
One quick check, btw - you are running these tests to statistical significance, I assume? There are various rules of thumb out there (cut ads that haven't had a click after 1k impressions, cut based on CTR after 5k impressions, cut based on revenue after 10k impressions) but I tend to just run the numbers through a Binomial Distribution calculation (like this one) and cut if they're statistically significant within my chosen confidence level.
Originally Posted by caurmen
So I do use the, after 1k impressions, cut based on CTR after 5k impressions, cut based on revenue after 10k impressions, to judge which ads to really analyse and then dump them if they fail the ROI Forecast tests too.
I wondered if that was the reason I was getting no traffic in AU and NZ! Thanks for the advice.
Day 98 of 182 - 15th February 2013
I have been silent for a while but I have been busy!
Did quite well on Facebook but couldn't get my CPC's down enough to warrant scaling.
I have been recently running POF as I wanted to get to know the platform.
I will be updating more regularly again.
I have written a really sweet lander based on Maynzie's $500 POF campaign layout.
It takes the person age and does some maths on the profile ages it is showing so that for the men the ladies are always a few years younger but for the girls most a a few years older.
It also changes the body text depending on whether the age is passed through or not so that it makes sense whatever.
I have just downloaded POFPro and am waiting for a good time to install it!
I also bought ExitSplash for my Funnel as I was just not happy with the one I was using. Really nice!
More soon!
"It takes the person age and does some maths on the profile ages it is showing so that for the men the ladies are always a few years younger but for the girls most a a few years older."
Awesome!
I thought the store is where pudding comes from! LOL
Ok here's the deal. I'm going to give you what may be a harsh reality check, but we have all gone through it at some point in our marketing careers...
You're doing too much at once.
POF on its own takes a very long time to master (especially if you're not familiar with buying traffic.)
FB is a whole 'nother animal altogether.
RE: the Bizopp funnel you have created -
1. In order to convert well in Bizopp you need a great copywriter. You can't expect to just write a page yourself and be able to carve out a piece of one of the most competitive markets online. We paid $20k for our copy (which turned out to be well worth it) when we ran our bizopp offer. Once you have the copy, you need a sick funnel. That means - Front end -->OTO1 -->OTO downsell (if they dont take oto1) --> OTO2 --> OTO2 downsell (if they dont take oto2) --> OTO3
Then you monetize the shit outta the members area (free website offer, webinar, etc), and mail the leads 1-2x a day.
From what I understand it sounds like you have set up an arbitrage funnel. Why do you have your own offers in it? You have never written for bizopp, and Paypal will freeze you for anything over $30k. (Processing, again, is an entirely different convo)
2. Not to sound harsh, and not to discourage you, but this follow-along looks like it has been going for 90 days, and aside from this funnel you set up, it seems like you haven't done that much. You have lots of posts about stuff you are "setting up" and learning, but no actual testing or data for others here to analyze and try to help you with.
Running some $5/day campaigns on 7search, then moving to your funnel, then switching to FB, then POF. <-- This is a recipe for disaster for all but the most seasoned of marketers.
Stick to 1 thing. Make money from it. Then scale it up to make more money from it.
This is how you will ultimately see success online.
I really appreciate you taking the time to reply in such detail Donny!
Originally Posted by donnyb
That is why I was looking at the correct approach, which entailed learning before spending. I am an old programming guy with a good technical background but I am also a product guy (software mainly) and understand the value of building something that will last and scale, hence checking things out before taking a direction. I would rather earn nothing in the short term but in the process gather the tools and systems that will help me build a solid online business. Hope that part made sense! :-)
Originally Posted by donnyb
Same applies to Google BUT I am acutely aware that for the Aff game they view you very differently. I must have spent $250k on FB and Google over the years so don't want those accounts banned. So again, I have been seeing what works and what gets declined, so I understand the boundaries without cloaking!
Originally Posted by donnyb
So I used CPA, Clickbank and a few eBoooks just to test it! I am not a copywriter, that is a specific skill that I fully intend utilising. You also, as you well know, have to ensure that you select the right copy writer that understands the niche you are attacking in your funnel!
Originally Posted by donnyb
Originally Posted by donnyb
Originally Posted by donnyb
Originally Posted by donnyb
Originally Posted by donnyb
Two bulls are stood at the top of a hill, a young bull and an old wise bull. The young bull, while looking down the hill at all the young fit cows says, "Let's run down the hill and fuck that cow," the old bull says, "Let's walk down and fuck 'em all"
Originally Posted by donnyb
Thanks Donny!
Day 99 of 182 - 16th February 2013
So have spent a while now getting to understand POF!
Have run numerous small campaigns and researched winning ads and Niches via the spy tools!
Have gathered many 1000's of 110x80 images sorted in to Niche and run them through Photoshop to Clean and Sharpen them! It helps I have found!
I have developed numerous landers that can be quickly rinsed and repeated for differenty niches, some by just changing a variable at the top of the PHP file.
So last night I launched a niche and went to bed. This morning I have found that I seem to have hit on a good thing. My CTR's are sky high, my LP CTR's are 50%+ and my CR stands at 42%!
Now I am tightly targeting at the moment so the numbers are small but I am running them through the ROI Calculator I use and scaling looks very promising.
I NEED MORE DATA!
I have worked 18 hours a day for the past 5 days learning, tracking, optimising both Ads, Landers, Offers etc!
Talking to my Affiliate Manager and getting them to give me the right landers to the right offer. Explaining to them my niche and getting their advice!
Onward and Upward!
Day 101 of 182 - 18th February 2013
Been working hard on POF and getting positive results.
I have posted in the POF Forum asking about scaling.
Check it out and give any advice you can :-) Thanks everyone as always!
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...how-do-i-scale
Day 106 of 182 - 23rd February 2013
So a good, yet frustrating week but learnt so much!
Put all my efforts in to POF and was getting profitable, then hit an issue with one campaign that suddenly bombed! Seems this happens with POF, so I paused the campaigns and waited. turned them on last night and they started converting again.
Seems that since I am targeting <50 Login Count, if a campaign hits saturation you turn it off then back on days later the <50 folk have moved in to the 50-100 bracket so you are left with new people!
I then spent 24 hours trying to install POFPro, not their fault but my hosting company who have a real issue with which version of PHP is running their Cron Jobs! They can't seem to control it! The hosting companies name (avoid them) is Dreamhost, so last night I got myself a Beyond Hosting VPS!
When I ran my numbers for POF for the past 7 days I am at more or less break even on everything, including new campaigns where I am still gathering data, so I feel OK with it!
UPDATE 13:44GMT Dreamhost have now solved the Cron Job issue. Turns out that their Cron Job entry Panel was not passing the data correctly to setup the Cron Jobs so they had to remove them from the panel and set them up manually and Hey Presto! I cannot believe they have been using this system for so long and no one has ever come across this bug!
Yeah BeyondHosting really caters to us.
Best service in the industry.
I've used DreamHost in the past. They're decent for bog-standard shared hosting, but for anything more mission-critical, I'd avoid them.
They also used to have dreadful problems with uptime when I was with them.
Good call moving to Beyond.
Originally Posted by andyscraven
Hi Andy! Could you elaborate on this? I've had the exact same thing happen to a great campaign, and it suddenly stopped converting! (< 50 login too) What exactly about saturation causes this? Does pausing and resuming get a fresh 'batch' of people in front of your ad?
Thanks
~Ian
Originally Posted by aeroian
Thanks
~Ian
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