The Most Active and Friendliest
Affiliate Marketing Community Online!

“AdsEmpire”/  Direct Affiliate

Journey from 0 - consistent $XX revenue in 2020

**Originally posted 5th June 2020**

Hi guys this is a really exciting update for me as it's the first time I've got a green campaign first time!
1f389.png


giphy.gif



It has been a roller-coaster of emotions to be honest. I've been less concerned about the individual success of campaigns by cutting them off quickly and only going for more "proven offers" rather than promoting something with 2 conversions in 7 days because it looks cool
1f937-2642.png


This has led me to setting up about 1 campaign every day for nearly 2 weeks and seeing a lot of red is disheartening but I pushed on (pun intended
1f923.png
)

I have come to terms with the fact that I'll see a lot more losses than wins in this game but as I get better the profits will make up for the losses long term.

Profitable Campaign Results > Push DL To Offer Started 04.06.20

Overall I have doubled my (small) investment! This is all completely white-hat with no funky scripts or cloaking too.

1591342975914-png.12010




The top row is the Mobidea offer while the bottom row is my Monetizer fall back link for push subscriber collection that I redirect traffic to if it doesn't fit my criteria e.g. wrong geo

1591342371788-png.12008



As you can see my fall back is really carrying the way which is why it's always worth adding it as otherwise that traffic would go to waste. 43% ROI for the offer is also solid too.


Next Steps

I'm super happy with the results as I was feeling a little discouraged with all the negatives on my screen. My next challenge to solve however is how I optimize this effectively and as usual I have questions haha.


Questions

  • I'll keep this campaign as a DL one as the vendor has stated that it performs better that way. What would be the best way to optimize a DL campaign as I'm used to making pre-landers whereby you can look at visitors/clicks ratios to cut out zones

>> For now would I have to optimize on: Time of day, Creatives that bring conversions, cutting zone id's based on high clicks with no conversions

Not really my strong point here so any suggestions or links to guides would be much appreciated!

  • Can someone also share the best way to scale in propeller ads?

>>Should I use the broker traffic, target lower activity user level or change my bidding to per cpm for the winning creatives?

Thank you
upload_2020-11-30_8-32-53.gif


P.S Special shout outs to @amazone @luke @jimmyvanilla @Nick @servandosilva @agentf who've helped me in the past and continue to do so - I definitely would not have progressed this much if it wasn't for you guys.
 
Last edited:
**Originally posted 7th June 2020**

Hi all here is another update from me.

What I Have Been Doing:

-Trying to scale my existing green campaign with some success.

-My direct linking campaign started to go into negative ROI however for testing purposes I made a simple survey pre-lander that outperformed my previous campaign massively. As a lot of people advised me testing is always key!

Landing Page Results

1591514372407-png.12029



Direct Link Results

1591514469668-png.12030



-With currency exchange rates my green campaign has been earning me about $1.90 profit a day which doesn't break the bank but is a milestone reached for me.

-To put it in perspective that profit margin over 30 days = $57 profit a month so in theory I would only need to find x2 small but steady winning campaigns to reach my 3 figure profit goal!! That's very motivating for me.

giphy.gif



Scaling Attempt:

This is where things have got a lot more difficult. I made separate campaigns whereby I took the winning creatives, OS & carrier combination before adding them in "all traffic" to get the volume from high & low user activity as well as broker traffic. Although conversions came and I removed bad performing zone ID's they simply weren't profitable. All the conversions in my scaling attempt campaigns also came from "medium" user activity which is what I was targeting in my original campaigns in the first place. (Question below)

1591514187988-png.12028




New Offer Testing Results:

-I have also been running campaigns while optimizing this existing one. I made 3 pre-landers and about 3 creatives from past campaigns on a sweepstake offer and these were the results:

1591515689442-png.12032



The top is my monetizer fall back link and the bottom the offer itself.

-Still early days so I'll let it get to around x10 the payout before seeing if it's worth pursuing.

Next Steps:

-Make new creatives based on the top performing campaigns to stop banner blindness creeping in
-Optimize the second campaign after getting enough data
-Continue running campaigns. The aim is 2 a day.


Things I've Looked at That May Help You:


@jonte has some top tier landing pages that he's given away for free on his email list. I'm surprised those are freebies for him but then again when I look at the ROI on his follow alongs I'm not
1f923.png
. I'll personally be implementing some of the nicely done code in my own LP's - thanks for sharing!

Questions:

-Did I cut things too short with my scaling attempt of the successful campaign? Truth be told I only did invest x2 payout before cutting them when they were unprofitable. Should I commit to x10 payout or not?

My hunch is that I've found a profitable but not very scalable campaign so I should just run with it until it dries up. Unfortunately due to budget constraints trying it on a different traffic network isn't an option either.

All the best everyone, onwards & upwards
 
Last edited:
**Originally posted 11th June 2020**

Hi everyone another update that's not very eventful but good for keeping me accountable.


What I Have Been Doing:
My promising campaign ended up being profitable for 3 days which is another personal record for me
1f389.png


1591890735063-png.12112



Not groundbreaking by any means but a step in the right direction! Especially as I managed to get an extra day of profit's by changing the creatives before it started to grind to a halt.

Testing

Being honest I've slipped up in terms of campaign activity levels but in short I haven't found another profitable campaign and have tested x3 since my last update.

I also made a mistake of forgetting to put my click URL on 2 LP's but thankfully didn't lose too much money before noticing
1f926-2642.png
1f923.png
I have since made an LP checklist for myself to prevent it happening again!

At the moment on Mobidea it appears that the best performing offers are downloads, streaming sites, adult and games. As I specialize in sweepstakes and don't do adult I've had to pivot and I'm in the middle of learning how to do well in those verticals until I see a promising sweep offer.

Technical Work

I'm focused on improving the quality of my LP's by getting templates from different sources and playing around with them based on what I have seen in trackers. I've also signed up to traffic armor as I plan to take my LP protection more seriously as I start to consistently get more profitable campaigns.

That has been a whole learning curve as I wrap my head around it. I know I will get there even if at times being on my laptop makes me want to do this:

giphy.gif



Thankfully I have noticed that for the most part I am improving/getting conversions even on unprofitable campaigns meaning my investment in learning the ropes is reducing too!


Next Steps:

  • Finish setting up traffic armor and get over some Amazon S3 issues that I've cheekily asked @tyoussef for help with in Purelander
    upload_2020-11-30_8-37-7.gif
  • Create more campaigns on promising offers
  • Take a look at Monetizer for sweep offers too, writing this post has made me remember to check them out!

Things I looked at that may help you:

  • Amazon S3 vs Vultr Afflift
  • I discovered that the following networks provide push traffic with only $50 deposits! Datspush, Admaven & DaoAd.
Unsure on their quality as I haven't tested them yet but I'm liking the Datspush interface the most and will play around for scaling purposes when I get another profitable propeller ads campaign with potential.

Questions:

No questions for once!
1f923.png
I just need to get my act together and keep working


Motivation for myself:

Sometimes it's easy to feel like you're hitting a brick wall when doing this. I had a few moments like that recently. Probably due to how rainy and grey it is in London at the moment haha but I reflected on how much I have learnt, as well as my increases in revenue and felt a lot better.

I started taking this seriously in March so I've only been doing this type of marketing for nearly 4 months.

Afflift has been a super helpful part of the journey ( I only joined last month) & I honestly believe it has directly slashed my learning curve - not to mention put me around a great bunch of people too
upload_2020-11-30_8-37-7.gif


In that time I've progressed in the following way using an approximate $300 dollar a month budget:

Revenue in March > $0

Revenue in April > $3.60

1591892796170-png.12113




Revenue in May *Joined Afflift* > $8.82

Revenue in June so far (11.6.20) > $30.60


1591893675294-png.12115



I'm now only $11 away from being able to get my fast payout! The whole affiliate marketing replacing my day job feels a lot more achievable now and I know with consistent effort over months and years I will get me there.

Onwards and Upwards

giphy.gif




BKL
 
Last edited:
**Originally posted 9th July 2020**

Hi everyone,

It's been a little while since my last update and I have been working behind the scenes. It's been uneventful results wise although I have been running regular campaigns and getting a few conversions but nothing profitable.

Looking around on here I know that finding a winning campaign is the first step and then the next level up is being able to consistently do it.

Moving forward I'll be updating this thread once every 1 or 2 weeks as I think I've grasped the basics on a theoretical level and I'll learn the most by actually running campaigns.

With that said, there's been quite a few changes I have made in my set up/approach:

New Set Up

1f4ca.png
Tracker: Previously just Bemob >>> Now Bemob with Theoptimizer.io

-I wanted to automate my campaign management i.e cutting placements and pausing campaigns. This is a relatively cheap and easy way for me to do this before I eventually move to Voluum when I'm more consistent revenue wise

1f4b0.png
Affiliate Network: Previously Maxbounty >>> Now Mobidea and Monetizer

-This was to benefit from lower payment thresholds, more T2 & T3 offers and most importantly the clear data they have on what's converting well.

1f525.png
Traffic Source: Previously just Propeller Ads Push >>> Now Propeller Ads Push/Pop + Advertizer

-Propeller has quick support and a really clean interface which I love. The quality is solid too. Although its volume is smaller in comparison to a zeropark it is currently enough for me.

-The reason for running pop too is because it seems as though the vast majority of offers on Mobidea & Monetizer are better suited to pop than push. So this is opening another revenue stream for me and I have been able to tap into more conversions since doing this.

-My move into advertizer is purely to take advantage of the pay per cpa model in order to reduce my testing costs and find winners more quickly

1f310.png
Hosting: Previously Amazon SW3 >>> Now a VPS via Digital Ocean

- I have to give a big thank you to @agentf and the others who helped me on my monster Vultr question thread
1f923.png
. I'm finally set up on my own VPS which gives me the added benefit of deploying servers to the geos of my target audience AND the ability to run .php

-Being able to run .php is important because I'm now able to use Traffic Armor to protect my landing pages from spytools which will help make my future profitable campaigns last a lot longer (I hope lol)

1f511.png
Landers: Previously just Purelander >>> Still using Purelander which is great and ripping LP's from Anstrex and other templates I get from being a part of email lists

1f50d.png
Spytool: Previously just the free Cpa.rip >>> Now Anstrex

-If anyone struggling with cash flow wants a tip on how to get access to spy tools at a lower rate feel free to pm me
upload_2020-11-30_8-38-53.gif


New Approach

1. Run reports on Mobidea and Monetizer to find promising offers and geos

>> Drill deeper into OS versions, carriers, browsers etc to find winning combinations BEFORE I even run my campaign
>> Find out the CPC or CPM of the geo and use my spreadsheet to see if it's worth running based on the data I have
>> If it's worth it proceed to spy tools to see if anyone else is running the offer and for how long in order to get ideas

2. Once I have a promising offer I run a campaign using TheOptimizer.io

>> For both push and pop campaigns I add rules to cut placements once they've spent x2 payout with no conversions
>> For Push I run $5 Direct Linking test campaigns as I noticed on all my promising offers they got conversions after 250 clicks whether I used an LP or not


3. If the "test" campaign performs well e.g. -35% ROI or a couple push conversions then I make a new campaign with an LP based on spytools, winning zones, creatives etc before scaling

>> I'm now also signed up for Datspush and Zeropark so I'm ready to scale asap when I find my next winning combination. Last time I hadn't set myself up to take advantage right away so I won't be making that mistake again.

Final Comments

I'm now tantalizing close to my first $50 payment threshold. Although I've made about a 90% loss in the last couple months I'm getting better by the day and I'm confident I'll get myself to consistent profitability.

1594303922820-png.12612




If anyone has any advice or tips based on my write up or even questions feel free to comment or pm as I'm always happy to learn as well as help
upload_2020-11-30_8-38-53.gif


Onwards and upwards!

Back to >>>

giphy.gif
 
Last edited:
**Originally posted 17th July 2020**

Hello everyone, here's another update:

What I've Been Doing:

So my plan to use ppv alongside push to have more promotion options has worked as I'm more consistently generating revenue through propeller ads and I have started to experiment with Advertizer today.

1594998246701-png.12817



Summary Of Campaign Results So Far

So far only one of my campaigns has been profitable; nothing crazy but nice to see considering I'm ppv direct linking. I think this works as long as you check the lander first to ensure it's attractive enough on its own. I also hit profitability straight away with no optimization because I ran through the reports first and in this instance focused on iOS rather than android as it had much higher conversion rates:

1594998043443-png.12816




Next Steps

  • Test test test test test test test
  • Profit

giphy.gif
 
Last edited:
**Originally posted 8th August 2020**

Hey guys! Another update -

What I've Been Doing:

I've been working away and experimenting outside of my comfort zone of propeller ads and mobidea offers.
Found myself running more pop campaigns with Monetizer as they're a lot easier and quicker to run and can be just as if not more profitable for me than my previous push campaigns especially for carrier billing offers where I've got the most success so far.

Results:

1596880817889-png.13115




I'm slowly but surely getting into a flow where I know what to look for in offers and I'm not only consistently making revenue now but also more consistently finding offers that break even or are profitable from the start.

My offer selection skill has improved loads in the last few months and now the area I need to develop in order to improve is optimizing and scaling.

So far I've been using basic rules in Optimizer to keep my losses in check. I'm quite aggressive and pause campaigns after $5 spend if they don't convert as in my experience winners reveal themselves quickly. I'm now just getting to grips with a solid optimization strategy so I can run even more campaigns more often and trust that my proven process will get me results.

Experimentation

I tried advertizer and got a few conversions with their CPA model. Really cool that I only pay for conversions but I struggled with getting volume there. The offer that did well is proving profitable for me in pop so it's definitely a route that works.

Also been playing around with Zeropark and that is a whole different beast
1f923.png
I didn't add rules and my test budget was gone in an instant. Lesson learnt lol.

Question

If anyone knows a good guide that can help me understand Zeropark's winning bids process and difference between publishers and sources please let me know
upload_2020-11-30_8-41-7.gif


P.S BONUS

I'm working on an exciting site that fellow affiliates can use to outsource their boring admin tasks. There's hardly anyone doing this at a medium to large scale and I got positive feedback from the initial announcement and I can't wait to share it with you guys. Have a lot of ideas that I think people here will benefit from.

Stay Tuned!

giphy.gif
 
Last edited:
**Originally posted 13th August 2020**

Hi guys,

I have another update in relation to my campaigns, rather than the side project which still requires a few more things set up in the back end.

Today is a small victory kind of day because it was the first time that out of my x2 test campaigns, my winning campaign was profitable enough to cover the losses of my other
1f929.png


1597314336350-png.13191


This is big for me because it means I'm slowly making the transition through the following phases: 1. making no money > 2. making some revenue > 3. making consistent revenue > 4. getting some profitability > 5. getting consistent profitability

I'm currently at stage 3/4 and this is a step in the right direction to the holy grail number 5 of consistent profitability!

Once there I'll have to get better at scaling. As my trend at the minute is I get a campaign profitable for a day or 2 make $1-$3 then start from scratch when it stops performing.


Question:

Can anyone recommend good traffic sources to scale profitable propeller ad pops campaigns?

I know I can look at traffic sources but I want to cheat a little bit and get recommendations based on people's experiences
upload_2020-11-30_8-42-7.gif


For example I have found that for me : mobidea carrier billing offers and propeller ads work well BUT only when the payout is $0.80 minimum. Anything lower and I've struggled to keep it profitable past 24 hours.

Based on my experience I'm thinking Advertizer is the way to go and I'm experimenting with Popcash because it has such a clean interface and low deposit policy that it would be great if I could use it as a scaling platform.

Closing Comments:


I can't take the credit for my (very small) success here. If I was starting all over again I would probably go with ppv as you can get started right away with minimal overhead or time spent. Here's the 3 posts I'd give to a friend if I wanted them to be profitable as quickly as possible:

Using Monetizer to get 100% ROI @Luke

Monetizer x2 using trends & CPM to determine profitability @Luke

Using Data to make profitable campaigns @DEADZ

Onwards and upwards
 
Last edited:
Is there a simple API or software tool that I can use to automatically pause push ads

Are you not able to set your daily and campaign spend limits via your individual campaign set ups?

asked @tyoussef for help with in Purelander

He will definitely help you.

Congrats on your successes, Ben! You're discovering how to do things and make them work, as well as developing skills, procedures and profit. :)
 
Hi everyone I've been enjoying my Christmas break a little too much (need to exercise more now for sure haha) but back and focused on online marketing. I have less of a focus on affiliate stuff these days but still have gems of info that I'll share on the forum based on lessons learnt grinding away.

Thanks for everyone's previous positive comments too :)


Can you introduce the YouTube course

I don't plan to release a course - I like my privacy too much! Just want to give back on a public forum as I've had a lot help behind the scenes and want to pass that on :)

Thanks for sharing your strategy

No problem!

Following! Let us know if you require any kind of help in the process!! :)

I'm grateful for that - thanks!

Totally different thing to you, its men and women fashion, and I learn to stay in my category (clothing)
When the bills get paid and it's money I can to lose (for testing) will try 1-2 different category
I learn some good tips from your updates, keep posting

I'm glad you got tips from viewing my posts and I like your only testing when you can afford to lose it suggestion too.


Great job, well done)
I had some new ideas after reading of your post, so, thanks)

Happy to have inspired some ideas!
 
Last edited:
MI
Back