Helping Newbs Pick an Offer
Daily I am asked by people getting into the industry what affiliate offer they should be promoting and out of what affiliate network. I start by telling them that is a question only they themselves can answer. You know I am not going to just give you an offer that I am killing and create comp for myself. But if they choose a niche I am in, I gladly point them to offers that should work for them. Here is a few pointers I usually throw out there to get my newb friends thinking for themselves and on the way to making the monies…wordz.
- First make sure you are accepted in a handful of networks – so you can see what offers are out there.
- If you are a true newb then try to start with something that genuinly interests you – you are more likely to stick with it.
- Do not start with zip/email submits.
- Choose at least two offers and then research competition and targeting in the platform you will advertising on.
- Ask questions in forums, to your affiliate network AMs. Become friendly with AMs and they are more likely to feed you hot offers. Don’t beg though or annoy. NO ONE is going to just hand you the keys to the castle.
- Do not be afraid to dive head first in a hot, saturated niche. Just be ready to market it in a different way.
- And last but not least, once you have decided on a niche make sure that you have, at minimum, access to two different products in the same niche. So you can split test them as well as if one gets pulled you can slide the other offer in while you search for more products.
Comments on Helping Newbs Pick an Offer
Jump down to add your comment[...] Re: CPA Offers for Newbies check out this post for a few points to think about from this Affiliate Marketing blog [...]
Question – might be stupid. But why not to start with zip/e-mail submits?
Zip/email submits are not as easy as they seem. You really need to understand incentive marketing to make them work consistently for you and the advertiser. They are too unstable IMO for newbs to get a handle on. There are enough variables to start off without throwing in the ups and downs of promotional marketing.
Hi J – thanks for the reply. But wouldn’t this be the case for any type of CPA offer? I’m not a “noob” but a “newb” when it comes to CPA but understand IM. I’ve read that rebills are not the way to go and to try zip/e-mail submits as they might be easier – but I understand when you speak about incentive marketing.
I’ve got several sites on the table and am doing KW research now to build hopefully profitable campaigns. One is a e-mail submit targetting samples, another is for a teeth whitening product and finally a third for a ClickBank product.
I realize that I’ll have to experiment somewhat to find something that works for me, but at the same time don’t want to throw money away for consistent failures. I also understand that nobody will hold my hand… it’s all part of the learning curve but there are so many messages…
Thanks again for the reply! I do appreciate it!
M
By no means do I think that you can’t make it work but I do not think that it is the easiest to break into the game with. To be honest I am impressed that you actually have a game plan. You are way ahead of most at your point. And no I don’t think this is the case for all CPA offers. Email/Zip submits are the most volatile offers there are in our market. I know alot of “gurus” pitch their wares by teaching a 5 year old method that uses email/zip submits but I caution anyone just entering the game to go this route. Good luck bro.
Gurus – bleh. I listened to them for years and spent thousands I’m sure only to end up with thousands less in my bank and more in theirs – but I guess it comes to buyer beware and hunt for good sources of information and people that will give straight-up, honest answers rather than deciding to package it all in an ebook and sell it.
I found a few great blogs (yours, PPC.BZ, WickedFire) and am reading voraciously but eventually I’ll need to get off my ass and put what I’ve learned to use.
Hopeing I can do that in the next few days… just writing my own version of a cool program that I saw called AdGrenade. I’ve spent enough, and know how to program may as well put some of that to use. 
PHP? Where you at?
Mo
I’d be interested to see what you’re working on when you get it to a testable state. Thanks for the love and keep hustlin.
Doh! I just read your advice about zip submits and it makes total sense. I just launched my fifth campaign for some zip submits, so I will stick with it and see how it goes. Hopefully I can make some cash on this one. Thanks for the tip.
I’ve only had success with zip/e-mail submits, unfortunately, so I can definitely relate to what J Cash is saying here. I was in ppc-coach and the are HUGE on the poll method. Well, 4 months later, that is all I’ve ever been able to make money on in affiliate marketing. I just have not figured out how to promote those other products at all. It’s almost like that retarded method of learning PPC made me a retard. I really do wish I never learned polls, though they can be quite profitable. I wish I learned how to do other offers first!
At this point, I’ve moved on to promoting email/zip submits on facebook which do way better than polls. However, it’s still those fucking submits and I keep going back to them when I need some monies. I really want to break away from these offers so what would you recommend for someone like me in this situation?
Agree 100% with email submits, they are fucking garbage.
Also would like to add, if they are new, avoid high paying offers because it will take alot more $$ to collect data and test. Stuff in the 5-15$ range should start giving an indication of performance within $50-150 of testing.