This isn’t my first horse race. I’ve been an affiliate for more than a few years, and during that time have made more money than most affiliates, but at the same time lost a lot of money with mistakes. The good news is that I learned from those mistakes pretty damn fast, and made sure never to make those mistakes again. That’s why most affiliates fail, I think: they don’t learn from their mistakes, and they keep on trying and trying again the wrong thing. Here are few important tips to remember when starting Performance Marketing.
1. Careful of who you do business with. That company that’s been around for a year and has a big following of fans? The one making all of the promises that suddenly has some very “down” days? They’ll probably be gone in a year too, with a big following of debt collectors in place of their affiliate following. Too many publishers get caught up in the newest “AdABCMedia” company of the day and don’t pay attention to track records or anything else then get burned. Has your network has been around for 5+ years? If so, that’s good. That doesn’t make them older, it makes them more reliable and experienced in getting things done right. You only last that long if there’s a reason for you to last. So make a smart decision, only boneheads gamble with their money.
2. Nobody is going to do your job for you. As a beginner, asking questions is fine but actually taking the time to read guides/tutorials is something else, the biggest problem beginners make in this game is that they come to a stand still waiting for someone to tell them every detail. Time is money and Google is free so get a move on.
4. Stop with the illegal junk and the fraud already. Yes, some networks promote this sort of non sense and those are the exact same networks that have hurt CPA in the past little while. We know who they are, advertisers know who they are (see point 1) and its not cool. Don’t follow their lead, rookie networks making rookie mistakes is nothing to learn from. If you want to be a pro and earn money like a pro then act like a pro. The bad apples always get weeded out anyhow. Go legit and stay that way.
4. Don’t quit your dayjob just yet. Seriously, too many beginners see a bit of money rolling in and walk away from other sources of income before its time. That’s not the way to do things. Use the money you earn to grow your online business then transition when it makes sense. One good week of earnings doesn’t mean its time to quit your job.
