Milestone: My First $100 Day in Affiliate Marketing
written by Anthony Dinh
Some of you may be wondering…Anthony, where’ve you been? I know I haven’t been blogging much lately, but I’ve been busy learning and experimenting with affiliate marketing. To tell you the truth, it’s a much more lucrative way of making money than just blogging, and you can make money much quicker too. True, it’s also riskier too, but hey, no risk no reward right?
I started running my first campaign a couple months ago, and I was consistently losing money by blowing my budget daily. Affiliate marketing is a fickle animal, and you just gotta keep trying because chances are, you will fail before you succeed. Sure, you hear amazing stories of total noobs who are banking 5-figs within a week of starting, but they are few and far in between.
Finally, yesterday I hit a major milestone, a goal that I’ve been chasing for 2 months now…my campaigns generated $100! Some of you may be laughing and thinking that it’s not much, but hey, that’s an extra $3k/month if I can keep it up. I was so excited that I decided to make my first video blog today on my way to work to tell you guys about it. I used my phone cam, so you’ll have to excuse the poor quality.
I’m gonna let the campaign run for about a week. After that, I plan on optimizing it by pruning and negative matching any non-converting keywords and domains that are eating up my profits. Then I’ll scale it by throwing in more long and short-tailed keywords, branching out onto other search engines such as MSN, Google and social networks to drive more traffic, increasing my bids to gain a higher ad position, and optimizing my adcopy and landing page. If everything works out, all I have to do is wash, rinse and repeat the whole process in order to achieve the same success with other niches.
If you’re interested in getting started, I’ve listed the Affiliate Networks that I’ve been using for the past couple months below, so head on over and signup today!
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Why Does Market Leverage Suck Ass? I’ll Tell You Why!!!
written by Anthony Dinh
A few weeks ago, I started running some campaigns on Myspace, and I noticed that my clicks weren’t tracking correctly as there was a disparity between the click counts that Myspace was reporting and what Market Leverage’s system was reporting. I the contacted Chelsea Osoling, my affilate manager, who confirmed that they indeed were having issues with their tracking system. After hearing this, I immediately became concerned because I was getting some decent CTR’s, but no conversions. So, I asked Chelsea to check if the conversions where tracking correctly, and she assured me that everything was working fine with the conversions tracking system.
A couple days had passed, and I still wasn’t seeing any conversions, so I asked Chelsea if they could create a test lead to see if the campaign conversion was tracking correctly. She said that they couldn’t do this on their end, but that I was more than welcome to run a test for myself if I wanted…and this is where the nightmare began! The product I decided to test was “Easy Profit Shortcuts”. I filled out the registration form, and even paid $2.97 shipping for a CD that was supposed to arrive in the mail in a few days.
After completing the purchase, it said that I could get started right away, and I was taken to http://www.easyprofitshortcuts.com where I was supposed to logon…but wait, there was a problem. At no point during the registration process was I prompted to create a user account, nor was I automatically assigned one via email. There wasn’t even a register or create account button, so I decided to try the “forgot password” link, but to no avail. Instead of prompting for an email, it asked for a username, which I did not have. I tried using my email anyway just in case, and instead of getting an error like “sorry, username does not exist”, the page completely errored out with some XML errors. At this point, I was starting to question the legitimacy of this offer, so I pinged Chelsea on AIM, and she said that she would notify an Ad Manager who will look into it.
The following day, I followed up with Chelsea on the issue, but she said that the advertiser has not responded yet. 7 days later, I received the CD. There was an insert which said to logon at https://easyprofitshortcuts.com/Login.aspx, and to click on the “forgot password” link if you forgot your username or password. I wasn’t surprised that this page didn’t even exist, and that I got an HTTP 404 error when I tried accessing it. I continued reading the insert and a bit further down, it stated, “you received a 14 Day Free Trial Membership in the Easy Profits Shortcuts Club. After your free trial ends, we’ll bill $39.99 for your membership fee each month, etc.”…WAIT, what? I don’t remember reading that disclaimer anywhere when I registered! I immediately inserted the CD to see if I could find any support email or phone number I could call to cancel my “membership” immediately, and you will never guess what happened…it FREAKIN hung my machine!
At this point, I was furious and my suspicion was pretty much confirmed, I HAD BEEN WAMBOOOOZLED!! I messaged Chelsea to tell her everything that had happened, and this was her response:
[09:56] AThoDinh: this is an unacceptable offer, uve got to help me fix this issue!
[09:57] mktlvgchelsea: cancel it
[09:57] AThoDinh: i cant even login
[09:57] mktlvgchelsea: call them
[09:57] mktlvgchelsea: shouldnt there be a number with all of your stuff you received
[09:57] AThoDinh: theres no number
[09:57] mktlvgchelsea: email them
[09:57] mktlvgchelsea: there should be some kind of contact
[09:57] AThoDinh: heres my problem…u guys r supporting a bogus offer
[09:57] mktlvgchelsea: i reached out the ad manager but theyre traveling so if you have another alternative it might be quicker
[09:58] mktlvgchelsea: well i did my part i will follow up again
[09:58] mktlvgchelsea: but what else can i do?
What else can you do? That’s when I demanded to speak to a manager, like pronto! Kyle McCall, one of the Senior Affiliate Managers, hopped on. Kyle provided me with an email as well as a link https://secure.secureorderpages.com/_includes/tos_profits.aspx to the advertiser’s terms and conditions, and asked me try contacting them. He said that, “sometimes advertisers do some shady things”, so I asked him, then why would a reputable company like Market Leverage even conduct business with them and not just drop them from the network? His response was, “well we have a legal team that goes through all of our offers but sometimes things can slip through the cracks, check in with the advertiser and let me know if you have any other questions”. Later that day, I told Kyle that I had tried emailing the advertiser at support@easyprofitshortcuts.com, and you guessed it…it came back UNDELIVERABLE! He requested that I email him my full contact information, and he was going to have the advertiser contact me directly.
The next day, I followed up with Kyle, and he said that the Ad Manager in charge of the account was away and that she’d be back in the office the following day. He suggested that I send them a cancellation letter via snail mail to be safe…you’re kidding right? Not only does the trial end in 4 days and I will be automatically charged the $39.99 monthly fee, but everything we’ve tried up to this point has lead to a dead end, so what makes you think that they will even reply to my letter? In case you’ve lossed track by now, let me outline the number of RED flags that I’ve encountered with this whole offer:
1. cannot login, no username/password provided
2. “forgot password” feature is useless and returns XML errors
3. sneaky 14 Day Trial, and $39.99 automatic monthly charge
4. no telephone number/email provided to customer
5. support email provided by Market Leverage comes back undeliverable
6. login page provided with CD insert doesn’t even exist and returns HTTP 404 error
7. CD opens Flash but does absolutely nothing and even hangs my machine
Let’s see, I encountered 7 RED flags, and everywhere I looked was a dead end. How on earth did this offer even make it through to your network? 
So much for Market Leverage’s “Legal Team”, they’ve failed horribly on this one, they deserve a big fat “F” for Fucken Sucks! Whoever reviewed this offer should be fired, how freakin incompetent can you be!? This offer has SCAAAAMM written all over it!
3 days left until the trial offer ends, and again I follow-up with Kyle on the status of what is starting to become a total headache. He was busy, so I messaged Chelsea to see if they’ve made any progress in contacting the advertiser. “Not yet, we are still waiting on a call back, we have called the advertiser several times”…surpise, surprise…NOT REALLY! Geeee, I wonder why the advertiser isn’t answering your calls, hmmmm?! Chelsea said that they’d definitely let me know as soon as they have any word from the advertiser. I’m a very patient kinda person, but comon now, you’ve been giving me the same line for the past few days now!
I emphasized that the trial was ending in 3 days, and I wanted to know what recourse I would have if they started charging me $39.99 every month. I felt if they did their due diligence and peformed the required checks, then they should be held accountable. Chelsea asked me for a confirmation number, and I told her that I did not receive one, therefore I had no record of the sale. I told her that I had the CD in hand and that my bank statement reflects the purchase, so I sent her a screenshot of that for proof. She told me that they’d reimburse me if I were to get charged, and that they’ve a “good” relationship with the advertiser. Well, think about it, they purposely give you no way of contacting them or any way to cancel your membership. So, of course the poor customers who have been scammed have nowhere to turn, and that’s why you never hear of anything like this happening. Fortunately, for me, I happen to be an ad publisher, so I know the correct channels to go through. I know that Market Leverage will refund me, so I wasn’t really concerned with that aspect, but my frustration was the lack of due diligence by their legal team. God knows how many poor people are being charged these obscene monthly fees because they don’t have any way of cancelling it. To me, this is very unethical business conduct, and very BLACK HAT!
Today is day 14, the last day of my 14-day trial period. I messaged Kyle, again he was busy and didn’t reply, so I checked with Chelsea to see if she had any updates. Apparently, both the Ad Manager in charge of this account as well as a Senior Affiliate Manager have been making multiple attempts to contact the advertiser, but none of their calls have been returned. I find it very ironic that this advertiser with whom you claim to have a “very good” relationship has been dodging you all of the sudden for the past 2 weeks. I really hope that you will reconsider continuing your business relationship with them, and hopefully you will drop them from the network. Personally, I can’t understand why a reputable company would want to even run the risk of hurting it’s image by associating with such a fraudulent advertiser. They’re out there scamming people everyday, and by doing business with them, your basically enabling their efforts, therefore it makes you just as guilty and accountable! Obviously, this issue is not going to be resolved today, so I guess I can look forward to a $39.99 monthly fee on my next credit card statement…thank’s Market Leverage!
Stay tuned guys, I’ll keep you posted with any updates and the final outcome of this whole ordeal…let me know if you’ve had any negative experiences with advertisers like this! Here’s the advertiser’s info if you’re interested…STAY AWAY!
support@easyprofitshortcuts.com
Mining Gold Corporation
No. 348
3780 Old Norcross Road, Suite 103
Duluth, GA 30096
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Affiliate Marketing Apprenticeship Program - Lesson 4/13
written by Anthony Dinh
First, I’d like to say thank-you and congratulate you for joining my Affiliate Marketing Apprenticeship Program. You’ve taken the first step in the right direction towards building a successful online business and financial freedom. This 13-step program is your roadmap to wealth, and it’s jam-packed with invaluable information…no tricks or gimmicks here folks, just solid and proven methods that work! SEO (search engine optimization), copywriting and various internet marketing methods will be covered throughout the tutorial. I suggest that you read through it once, let it soak in, try it out, then go back and read it again because you’ll surely pick up something new that you missed the first time around.
Here’s a breakdown of each lesson for your convenience:
Lesson 1 - Set Your Goal
Lesson 2 - Find Your Niche
Lesson 3 - Keyword Sniping
Lesson 4 - Research Affiliate Programs
Lesson 5 - Build a Website Around Your Keyword
Lesson 6 - Incorporate Affiliate Links in Your Posts
Lesson 7 - Build Quality Backlinks
Lesson 8 - Submit Your Site to Web Directories
Lesson 9 - Submit Your Post to Article Directories
Lesson 10 - Add More Content and Build More Backlinks
Lesson 11 - The Waiting Game
Lesson 12 - Tweak Your Site
Lesson 13 - Scale Your Campaign
Before we begin with “Lesson 4 - Research Affiliate Programs“, please bookmark this page and subscribe to my full RSS feed as there are 13 steps, so you definitely won’t want to miss out! If you are just joining us now, be sure to go back and read “Lesson 1 - Set Your Goal“.
Affiliate Marketing Apprenticeship Program
Lesson 4 - Research Affiliate Programs
Once you’ve selected the niche that you want to write about, you’ll need to research for some affiliate products which suit your topic. When selecting an affiliate program, some things to consider are:
- variety of ads/product offerings
- merchant reputation
- sub-affiliate/publisher referral programs
- commission payout percentages; two merchants may offer the same product, but one might offer 10% commission while the other offers 30%
- payout minimum and frequency (weekly vs. quarterly, etc.)
- payment methods (paypal, check, bank transfer, etc.)
- timeliness of commission payments
- technical support and assistance in promoting products
- means of tracking sales/visitors referred through daily/weekly reports, dashboard, emails, etc.
- lifetime/residual commissions where you earn repeat commissions when your customer(s) make future purchases
For those of you who are unsure of where to start, I would recommend the following affiliate networks. I’ve already done the research and am currently using these programs, so the hard part’s already done for you!
- Market Leverage - Ad Network
- ClickBank - digital products
- Commission Junction - Ad Network
Market Leverage is one of my favorites for many reasons. Not only do they offer a huge ad inventory to choose from, but their no-hassle payments come quickly via FedEx on a weekly basis if the minimum is met. Also, their affiliate managers are very responsive and will quickly answer any technical questions that you may have regarding the program or any of their products. When you refer other publishers to the network, you will earn 5% of their commissions for life!
Just to give you an idea of the huge CPA (cost-per-action/lead) commissions offered by Market Leverage, here are some of the ads that they offer. Often, the users don’t even have to make a purchase, they just need to simply complete the opt-in information and you get paid!
1. Government Funding Solutions (grant offer that gives users a free CD on possible grant opportunities) - Pays $25 CPA
2. Tri Slim (weight loss product that will burn fat fast, suppress their appetite, boost their metabolism, increase energy, and begins working instantly! They pay only S&H on a 15 day supply free bottle) - Pays $28 CPA
3. Easy Google Cash (Google is where it’s at! Add this offer to your Biz-Op rotation today!) - Pays $25 CPA
…Next >> Lesson 5 - Build a Website Around Your Keyword
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