Mr Green's Guide To Creating New Campaigns (39)
Due to this poll hurr, I wrote this thread. Thanks to everyone who voted!
Whether you are a complete newbie or a seasoned veteran coming off a dieing campaign, every affiliate needs to know how to hunt for a fresh campaign. This is my way of coming up with new campaigns.
Leggo!
1. Nominate a go-to traffic - aka your main squeeze.
I don't know how many times I've received PMs from affs saying they have tried every offer and source under the moon. I understand the frustrations, I've been there before. But, SLOW DOWN COWBOY. Get intimate with one source and stick to it. Wine and dine her, be patient, ask her about her interests, her life goals…she will eventually give you the goodies you were looking for.
So what makes a good go-to traffic source?
Something that you're extremely familiar with. Learn the platform inside out, start a relationship with the reps. Learn tricks that put you ahead of affiliates starting out on the source. This is extremely important! Every platform has little tricks/optimizations that people the average Joe doesn't have a clue about.
Take the source you are most experienced with and stick to it, until you make it work. Then at that point you can move on.
How do you find these tricks?
- Mess with the bids and budgets (start high, start low, pause, unpause etc).
- Find out how the bidding system works, how each bidder is prioritized in the system (does it help to make a ton of campaigns, or a ton of ads?).
- Are there any things you can use in your ads unique to the platform that will put you ahead of the pack ( ♬ ♡ ☆ ★ † ۞ ➈ ❤ ✈, enough said ).
- Just have a play with the platform. There are two kinds of people, people who read instructions and people who work shit out by trial and error. Be the later, poke and prod until something gives.
- Ask your rep!
It must be easy to upload ads on the source, and quick to be approved.
MAKE SURE IT'S SCALABLE!
Sorry, I'm not going to tell you my go to traffic source. But I'll let you know there are no secret sources I use, all are heavily talked about on STM.
One thing I can absolute guarantee you, there is an affiliate making decent money on every source talked about on STM. It's not because they have a special offer, are ten times smarter than you, or ten times more creative than you, its because they have put in the effort and stuck with it.
2. Finding the right offer - aka the shawtay who will give you the best bang for your buck .
Since you know your source well. You know what niches work (if you're still unsure, just look at what is being advertised).
So lets say the source you chose works best with dating, here are the ways I hunt down offers to test out:
- Scan newsletters sent from affiliate networks.
- Ask my affiliate managers what is hot.
- Check what offers are being advertised on the source.
This should give you a nice list of offers you KNOW work. Start with a couple.
- Do not click around an affiliate network and look at random offers and think to yourself "oh this looks good". Madam Assumption is the biggest tease in the West, don't getting fooled by her wicked games.
- Do not fall for a "Paraplegic Christians" offer that has high EPCs and a juicy payout. MAKE SURE ITS SCALABLE.
When possible I like to find offers that are scalable to multiple countries. Typically I will start at a smaller less saturated country to give myself the best chance of being profitable off the bat. Side note: it's so key to keep yourself in a positive space when in campaign creation mode, you will work heck of a lot harder if your head is in a good space.
3. Setting your offer and your go-to traffic source up for lifetime of fornicating and money making.
So you have your offers and your traffic source. Now what?
Typically affs would make a few default ads, run some traffic, check stats, make a few tweaks, lose a bit, or break even, then call it a failure. Right?
This is the time where you need to think of how YOU aka Captain Fantastic is going to set yourself apart from other affs. You don't need to be a creative genius to make this happen.
There is are a few basic ways you can set yourself apart:
- - Change country and/or language. Most affiliates are lazy, as soon as there is a little bit of work affs shy away (e.g. translating a campaign). Use this to your advantage, it's fricking easy, this will set yourself apart!
- - See what is being advertised on your source and flip it with different angles.
- - Get a notepad out and write down campaigns that you have seen around a lot that isn't your niche. Make sure they are on multiple sources, just to make sure it's not a campaign that is just leveraging a special trick or deal on one source. Note down what makes them unique, what makes them special. Adapt them to your niche. This is where my big mammoth campaigns have come from. By taking time to understand why previous campaigns have done well. Some examples of my own campaigns have been, acai flog to male enhancement flog, Wallmart sweepstake to Android sweepstake, dating quiz to ringtone quiz.
- - Scour sources similar to the one you are using and see if there are any unique angles that aren't being used on your source. There was a period where transitioning campaigns to/from POF/FB was stupid money.
4. Taking a step back.
Now you have a proven traffic source, a coupe of proven offers, a range of proven offers.
What happens if your first few tests fail?
Give up?
Correct!!!
Try a new source and a new offer, because it just didn't work for you. You just retire to the fact that you didn't have whatever other affiliates had to make the campaign work.
Jokes
. Don't be a shmuck you are Captain Fantastic. As I mentioned at the start of this thread "One thing I can absolute guarantee you, there is an affiliate making decent money on every source talked about on STM. It's not because they have a special offer, are ten times smarter than you, or ten times more creative than you, its because they have put in the effort and stuck with it."
I have not met one affiliate who has focused on one proven source, and not come out on top overall. Focusing on a source doesn't mean checking stats 247, and spending days on a lander. It means constantly interacting with a source, with lots of trial and error. Creating tests that will either make you fail miserably or making you win like a huge can of bawse sauce.
I know some members were requesting I touch on:
1. Adjusting / fine tuning for: ctr, epc and roi.
I'm afraid this is too dependent on the source you use. One thing I will say is, I got a PM today from someone mentioning "I won't touch campaigns that aren't more than 300% ROI" . I'll be happy to take them over. Don't be stupid and ignore campaigns that are 20%-30% ROI, we are here to make money, not to sound cool (StackThatSwag is launching soon).
2. Tracking.
Once again it depends on the source you use. There are copious amounts of documentation on STM about tracking.
3. Management, automation.
I think this needs a whole new thread to itself.
These are the exact steps I take when creating new campaigns. It's worked for me for the past 6-7 years. It's made me enough money so I can afford to buy novelty sunglasses, football magazine subscriptions, and a few other nice things…
I hope it helps you, let me know you have any questions.
P.S. I'd really really appreciate it if you either write me a poem as a thank you OR "Thanks" this thread
! Love ya'll!
placeholder for questions
Lorenzo the great
My mancave is cold as balls
your balls are hot though
....
.......
...........
First STM haiku????? win.
Haha zealous I'm waiting on me order of those crazy pills!
mad dog god damnit A+++
I'm as wet as a young girl on her wedding night!
Well nothing "Secret" about that guide but it's an awesome layout of all the Steps you need to take if you're just starting out. All you need now is to follow them to a TEEEEE. No slacking fuckers!
Have yet to read the whole post but when you wrote to treat my source as I would a girl.
Things got weak and I wanted to hurl.
Well, ain't that a bitch.
Sounds to me like I should approach a source as if marketing a niche (<-- american pronounciation)
Re traffic source tricks.. Airpush is cracking down on the "low CPC / high daily budget = impression advantage trick"
If you were expecting secrets when writing a thread on how I start new campaigns, I'm sorry your out of luck. Sure you can make a bit of short term money with sneaky secrets. But the big bucks is made by doing the basics right. I do the simple things well, and that's what has kept me making money for the past 6-7 years in AM.
Originally Posted by Mr Green
IF there's a secret that makes you rich fast, I bet it's not going to last long. We're not the only smart affiliate scumbags on the web don't forget that ^^
I think it's solid advice as it emphasises on focus and mindset.
A "secret" is cool but tends to lose value fast as soon as it's revealed
Mr. Green just gave his version of the classical Bruce Lee quote lol:
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
― Bruce Lee
After reading the same advices, again and again, I will come to believe that the truth lies somewhere here
Thank you for the guide Lorenzo! It helps to demystify things.
2 Points which work hand in hand that i'd like to focus on for a second.
- Do not fall for a "Paraplegic Christians" offer that has high EPCs and a juicy payout. MAKE SURE ITS SCALABLE.
Just remember a good offer can be run on almost any traffic, any banners, any landing pages. Obviously you should and will optimize for best results.. but you could have the BEST traffic, landing pages and banners in the world and if your offer is just mediocre, then you won't make a profit.
The traffic sources & offers may change, but the fundamentals are always going to be the same.
Exploits burn out fast.
Mastering the basics is where a consistent money making machine is.
Originally Posted by Mr Green
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
― Bruce Lee
Great post, Mr. Green! I definitely agree on traffic sources - most have the potential for $1000/day profit, and it's all about sticking to one source and stopping yourself from going after the next shiny thing. Stick to one and kill it, become the expert of experts.
Thanks Mr Green. Great advice as always! How do you conduct research for mobile networks? WRW?
What if your go-to source is the likes of @dwords and dealing with testing multiple campaigns is pretty much a death sentence? I know @dwords pretty much better (the small things) than any other source as of now from a couple profitable campaigns. But thats where it ends. Give that source a rest and pick any other source thats less detrimental to testing?
Hef
@izzy it depends on the mobile network. Some you can browse to, others you need actual phones.
@ahefner33 I haven't run on adwords for decades, if you are making adwords work for you, then stick to it. You moved over to bing yet?
Originally Posted by Mr Green
Yeah I am currently working with Bing also. The volume and competitive layout (pay for what spot you get rather than creating good ad ctr and landers) is what makes it not very pleasing.
I would stick with @dwords if I could. Would actually like to do all my promotion there. But as you already probably know, you can't throw up campaign after campaign to test out. Pretty much need to create a MCC account and look like a legit advertiser that specializes in 1-2 niches.
What would you recommend for a 1st step away from @dwords and already have a few profitable campaigns running? Trial offers, 2 page cc submits, $50 payout, Beauty and weight loss.
thank you man i will give you some money when i am a millionaire
As requested:
Lorenzo The Great, aka Mr. Green.
Wise words never late, stacks cash like a fiend!
I've thanked him before, and I'll thank him again,
But these words will say more of "you rock it" my man!
Lorenzo you have a great writing style it totally makes me wanna crack on with making money now. Ive been here a few days and i think im finally narrowing down where i wanna lay my bets. Thank you.
Thanks!
Originally Posted by [COLOR="red"
! Love ya'll![/COLOR]Mr Green It's True
You show Us what to Do
Guiding us by magic
to avoid the silly and tragic
Leading us from pain to Profit
As if you were a holy Prophet
Leading us to the Money Pot
Whipping us into Profit in a shot
StackThatMoney members adore you
Which is great because the Pro's implore you
Not to give away such golden tips
That let others, take away their fish n' chips!
Great read! Thanks for resurrecting this post pavi. Cant say much about your poem tho
Originally Posted by pavi
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Mr. Green dropped a bomb
Of knowledge; KABOOM!
It's all about the mindset and the psychology behind the game. As I read more and follow the advice of experienced marketers, I can see that this is the "secret sauce" everybody is asking for !
Originally Posted by pavi
Mr green is cool
He makes my campaigns awesome
I like money lots
sick post mr green
good way to make a
campaign lean
and mean
great tricks...should try
didn't count how many poems you've already got, but here is mine for ya
I am late and I am new
Hope it's not too late to say I love you
here's a simple one....
THANKS
M
A
T
E!
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