My name is Matthew Bredel and as of March, 2007, I am a full-time, work-at-home internet marketer.
For close to 10 years, I worked for a defense company which was an OK job, but I was so uninspired in life and frankly, I needed some more money. That is when I first discovered internet marketing! Now I admit that I didn't start making thousands in my first couple of months (in fact, I lost my shirt!), but I finally saw the "internet light"...
Continuing from The Frustrated Affiliate Marketer Part I…
So they are now in the hole about $77 on Google Adwords with nothing to show for it. They spend a little bit of time asking questions on the forums and possibly even go out and buy another book or two. They come to the conclusion [...]
Continuing from The Frustrated Affiliate Marketer Part I…
So they are now in the hole about $77 on Google Adwords with nothing to show for it. They spend a little bit of time asking questions on the forums and possibly even go out and buy another book or two. They come to the conclusion that mastering Adwords is the key to success. They do their research and conclude that Perry Marshall’s eBook The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords is the answer.
Anxiously, they buy the book and read it cover to cover. And boy, it does open their eyes to a lot strategies they had no clue about. You know, stuff like Ad Group management, Ad-Copy, Ad-testing, bidding strategies and more. So they spend a couple of days applying these techniques to their Adwords Campaigns.
CTR’s for Google searches now start to increase to over 1%! That feels good. But they start to realize something. For one thing, the concept of “Google Cash Marketing” (or direct affiliate marketing, by sending the visitor directly to the vendor’s selling page) is not working very well. First of all, those campaigns are not triggering any Google Ads (low impressions). And secondly, the impressions that they do get do not turn into sales.
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At this point, a few things are happening that I want to point out:
1) I honestly do not think that direct affiliate marketing (”Google Cash” methods) work very well in the modern age of the internet. Remember, since late 2005 Google will only display one ad per URL. Because of this, you are competing not only for the product, but for the ad, as well. Since the landing page is the same for all competitors, there are really only three things to vary:
a) Keywords
b) Bid Price
c) Ad Quality
As a beginner, trying to compete in these three arenas can be tough, because there are people with a lot more keyword research tools, more experience at ad copy, and of course, they have more money to spend.
2) Having a good understanding of HOW Google Adwords works is very important BEFORE you get too deep into Adwords campaigns. The strategies are not hard, but if you do not do them you will be finding yourself spending a lot of money for little or no results.
3) Understand that trying to make the “Quick Buck” online is becoming harder and harder every day. The Google Cash methods of the past used to work well, but not any more. Still, developing a solid affiliate marketing plan can be achievable through planning, testing and application. At this point in the Frustrated Affiliate Marketer Story, the marketer really has two major choices:
- Giving Up
- Stepping Up the Game
In the next post, we Step up the Game!
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This is sooooo refreshing as I am sure we have all experienced this at one time or another. Thanks for sharing what the “gurus” won’t and preparing us, your clan of devoted followers, how to achieve, not the quick gain, but the long term financial solutions we truly seek. I, for one, have become a big fan of you, Matt, because, before you had any monetary incentive to do so, you helped me and guided me through the process of understanding this vast affiliate marketing process.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to “Stepping up the game.
Phil
September 7th, 2007 at 2:33 pm