A beginner's progress

[HEYHEYhaha]

I made my first ever commission from an affiliate program yesterday, of US$5. THis is after about 2 weeks of running a Google AdWords campaign, which cost me AUD$113.27 (US$86)so far. So that's a loss of US$81 so far.

What should I do to make my campaigns more successful? I am running 6 campaigns (Bet365, NetCom3, HouseWinnings, VMC Satellite, DentalPLans and Amazon), with a total of 458 clicks off 94563 impressions (0.4%CTR).

so how can i make my ads more effective? Or am i just unlucky/

[Shawn]

Don't use ADWords. Grow naturally.

[fatnewt]

Originally posted by Shawn Weeks
Don't use ADWords. Grow naturally.


I agree. It may take longer, but focusing on "organic" (or unpaid) search engine marketing is more scalable, especially if you're making money from affiliate commissions. Your patience will pay off.

[HEYHEYhaha]

Could you recommend for me some of these 'unpaid' services?

[fatnewt]

Building a quality site, getting links to it from other sites and submitting it to search engines/directories yourself, along with some SEO.

We weren't referring to services, we're referring to letting search engines find your value on their own, without paying for advertising.

[Chris]

It is possible to make money with adwords like you attempted but it is hit and miss. You need to fine tune your programs and your bids until you find a profitable combination. IF a program is not profitable, drop it.

[HEYHEYhaha]

So you will have to make your own website you are saying?

[s2kinteg916]

maybe make a site dedicated to....a affiliate program and use adwords to promote that website... that way u presale the service before the visitor even arrives...

[john190]

It is quite hard to sell products online, so you may want to try actually adding Adsense to your site or another program similar to that.

By doing this, you will bring in some easy money plus the earnings from your sales!

[s2kinteg916]

ppc advertising works but u need to know alot about converting programs and what users are searching for... also you need a big profit margin... so if it takes u 10,000 clicks to get 5 bucks its definately not profitable....

So if your going to go through that much trouble to study and analyze traffic u might as well make a website about it that way you dont have to pay per clicks...........In the long run u have a spidered site that has unlimited money making revenue potential...

[DaveM]

You just have to know what your ROI is

If you make $0.05 per visitor on average then obviously you cannnot afford $0.10 per hit, $0.01 on the other hand should net you a profit

[HEYHEYhaha]

Yes I may consider opening a website. Will i have to purchase a domain do you think? Or will a free host suffice?

BTW, my AdWords campaign got slowed because 2 campaigns fell to 0.3% CTR. I don't think I will reactivate it, after all of y'all advice. I got 511 clicks out of 9,000 impressions for 5 campaigns, which cost me A$120.

Also, how did you people become successful and how long did it take? What is your annnual turnover? I would like to follow in the footsteps of someone who knows how to manage a campaign.

[s2kinteg916]

the cost to setup and host a website will be alot less than what u are paying right now...

[Mike]

Adwords was a total waste of money for me, as Shawn said, grow naturally.

[john190]

Hi HEYHEYhaha,

It will be best if you went with a good host that offers php, cgi, etc.

It would also be best if you brought your own domain as your site would look more professional and it will also be easier to advertise.

Most of the sites that I see that are hosted for FREE seem to be sites that are created by young people or people who don't know much about Web designing.

Most affiliate programs that are on the Web like you to have your own domain name.

If I was you, I would get your own domain name as there are many more benefits of have your own domain name other than having a free hosting account with a sub domain or a similar domain.

[s2kinteg916]

domains are 8 bucks hosting is 5 bucks a month... maybe 8 bucks...

2 sales a month will get you your money back..

[john190]

If you are looking to host a small site with a low amount of visitors then you can pick up hosting from around $3.99/mo.

This type of hosting is what alot of people go for when they first launch their site. They then upgrade their hosting account when ever they need to.

By doing it this way, you will cut web hosting costs as you will not be paying for bandwidth or space that your not using.

[Shawn]

Hell, I rent a server (yes, it's overkill, but I don't pay for it).

If you need a site hosted, get in touch with me.

[john190]

Hi Shawn Weeks,

I just curious to how much you charge for your web hosting?

[s2kinteg916]

shoot shawn a email... most of the time... u need to ask for specifications... ..

email him your specs that u need... that makes it easier..

[john190]

I don't need any Web hosting at the moment as I'm already with a good web hosting company.

I was only curious just incase something happened in the future and I had to change my hosting account.

[HEYHEYhaha]

OK, can anyone help me get started here? Pehaps I can follow in someone's successful footsteps.

[snoopers]

Just follow this site's guide

http://www.websitepublisher.net/successful_website/