I've Got $5k To Burn PPC to CPA - Mentors anyone?

Hello Friends!. My first post.. Sorry its so long for my first one.

I’m new to this PPC game, I’ve been successful in offline business for over 21 years, I’ve always learnt off my mentors so I’d really appreciate your guidance here!

OK I’m ready to go for PPC to CPA via the Networks on Zip/Short-form leads. I know I need among other things, a Cash flow of about $5000 for a mid term float, 20 hours/week Minimum, a descent IQ, 2/3 months to give it all a chance and an understanding of adwords, MSN & Yahoo ad centres…(I will be paying using a British C/Card which is giving me an excellent exchange rate right now (£1 = $2!)

I'm based in the UK…so what I really need to know is…
Question (1) I am planning to Hit the USA & UK markets so should I split my activities and open x 2 adwords, MSN, etc accounts, one for UK (using UK IP, Domain etc,), the other USA, USA based domain, etc? It seems logical to do this and I can claim the 2 sets of vouchers in my new accounts if I do this. Also I plan to open CPA leads via UK & USA networks as they differ greatly in their markets. Will I be penalised by the powers that be for doing this or will the Big G see this as 2 completely separate businesses?

Question (2) Has anyone got a shortlist of the best UK networks / shortlist that carry ZIP (UK Postcode) offers to join?(I’ve seen loads in the USA)

Question (3) As I’m seen as a “publisher” on the network, IF a ZIP offer I’m brokering traffic to via PPC goes out of business, will the network that carries the offer honour the payout as the contract is with them, not the advertiser? What are the risks here of NOT getting paid in this game?

Question (4) Do the Big 3 Search networks offer the same controls on both sides of the Atlantic? (Geo targeting, etc) It seems we are always playing catch me up with our American cousins!

Question (5) I have read from different sources that if I do PPC straight to offer via content only I can link without a LP and the big G seems not to slap at this (Of course it’s a different story with search!) Anybody doing this? I don’t want to go down the LP route just yet.

IDEA: If we could start a thread with TIPS ‘N’ TRICKS regarding PPC to CPA, perhaps some of these answers might contribute to the start of such a thread!

Finally as a small ‘thank you’ to whoever answers or not, here are some GREAT links I’ve personally found which should be helpful to Aff./CPA Marketing & Keyword research:

hxxp://www.ppc-coach.com/offer-database.php

hxxp://directory.dmconfidential.com/Affiliate_Networks/CPA/

hxxp://www.enteryourkeyword.com/

hxxp://gregsadetsky.com/aol-data/

hxxp://www.seo2020.com/seo-tools/keyword-research/keyword-research-tool/

hxxp://directory.dmconfidential.com/Affiliate_Networks/CPA/

hxxp://www.splutweb.com/

hxxp://www.bluebell-marketing.com/

 

welcome. first you will have to join all those networks. then pull out all the list of offers into a spreadsheet and start churning out the campaigns, put on low daily budget, set them to run for a couple of weeks first.

 

Thanks for reply but what UK based networks offer CPA?

 

Welcome to the forums.

Just to help you with what it seems to be your most desperate question - With all the big networks, such as Azoogle, Copeac and Commission Junction, they have certain offers that require different things, for one example, an affiliate program may require people 60+ and it's the same for countries.

Also, the links you provided may have given you an insight, but not a personal insight. You need to check out web-entreprenuer blogs for more direct and understandable information, like Shoemoney.com and ZacJohnson.com - two of the best affiliate and ppc marketers about.

You may also want to check out WickedFire.com aswell, which is a webmaster forum like this, but has some great affiliate marketers over there sharing their progress, tips and tricks - getting straight down to affiliate marketing without the bull.

 

Welcome to DP,u can easily sort out UK based offers with COPEAC network,u just need to use search option and all the UK based offers will be displayed.

 

Thank You Fiftyshock & Getjimmy, already on board with these...

I am a Fickler for detail especially with my money! I know its vital to Test N Track BUT I'm no programmer, my strength lies in Marketing & Design...what auto tracker do you rec. for keyword level...I want to test at 100 clicks and then adjust the keywords as I'll be throwing thousands of keywords in initially...do you rec. keywordradar? if not what are you using to track?

 

If you haven't already joined Azoogle, you should check out my offer here -
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=604838

I think it's right up your alley

That aside, it sounds to me like you're definitely on the right track here. You already clearly understand what is involved to be successful, you've just got to figure out how to do it.

In response to your last question, one of the most effective (and free) methods of tracking conversions I've found to be the internal PPC conversion tracking scripts. Google and Yahoo both provide code for you to do this. What you do is grab the code and get your affiliate manager to place it on your conversion page for you. This will track which keywords converted for you, how much each conversion costs on average, etc.

 

Im from the uk and i have been using the follwoing networks

tradedoubler
affiliate future
commission junction ( Actually a US network but have heaps of UK companies )

 

GTAce PM sent

Ecomatrix - Thanks for this, any Tips/contacts on signing up with these 3? PM me if you wish

 

yolkie - Thanks for "THE WELCOME", will let ya know how I did!

 

I'm UK based and already do what you're embarking upon, so in answer to a few of your original questions;

1 - Just open 1 Google adWords account; you set geo-targeting at campaign level within that account, and you can target many different regions within the one account.

Open one YSM account for one of your target markets ('US & Canada' for example), and then once you've got that account, log in and use the 'customer support' link to request additional master accounts based on the other geographical regions that you want to target. You will then be able to just switch between your master accounts within the one login interface.

Open one MS adCenter account as it's similar to Google and will let you specify your geographical target when setting up campaigns.

3. No, the risk tends to be with you. Big networks like Commission Junction only pay you once they've been paid themselves. I've been doing it for a while now though and haven't been seriously stung yet.

4. Pretty much... You can effectively geo-target your campaigns on all three of the big networks.

5. You can link to the vendor direct through both search & content with Google. Your limiting factors are going to be, that some merchants do not allow this (so you need to check their TOS), and you will be competing with other affiliates as only one instance of a given site is allowed in the paid search listings, so if both you and another affiliate are both trying to promote the same site directly, only the affiliate with the best quality score will have their ads shown, so you may find yourself getting into bidding wars just to get listed. Also, Google needs to like the merchant site, so if it thinks your merchant has a 'poor quality' site, you will get stung with expensive keywords.

Good luck!

Dan

 

With keyword tools, there are different opinions to which key tools to use, but quite frankly, your needing to know two things and everything else after that is a bonus. Testing and tracking isn't programming, lol, it's intuition. Your have to test between maybe 2 or 3 ads to see which one is bringing in more conversions/converting better and to track from them.

 

What a Great place this is...Love it! Thanks for all responses so far!

- Dan I understand the one a/c thing, its just that I've got some really descent FREE vouchers ($300+£150) for opening my first a/c's and wanted to kick start the campaigns with this Free money! BUT i don't want trouble from the powers that be by having x2 a/c's for each can it be done legally?
BTW Thanks for the rest of the info

Fiftyshock - Thanks but what i mean by programming is this... (PHP redirects)
hxxp://www.cpa-affiliates.com/how-to-track-keywords-tell-which-keywords-convert/
This is too complicated for me right now...
"test between maybe 2 or 3 ads to see which one is bringing in more conversions/converting better and to track from them."

Pray let me know, how do you track?

 

Ahh, that's a doddle. To tidy up your affiliate links with a .php redirect, simply...

1.) Open up notepad.

2.) Put in this code, replacing the url with your affiliate url:

3.) Save the file as 'yourcampaign.php' - remember to add the '.php' so it saves as a php file.

Voila. As far as tracking goes, you simply need to check your server tracking software (Most commonly Awstats) to see how many hits a file (In this case, a .php file) is getting.

Also, I don't mind mentoring you one-on-one. Just send me a pm.

 

Don't try this with Google; any more than one account is against their TOS, and they WILL enforce it! You could try it with Yahoo, but when you sign up, it does say that vouchers are only for new customers not existing ones.

Personally, I wouldn't push the envelope at this stage... It sounds like you want to be in this for the long term, and the last thing you need is to get banned by Google or someone for a lousy couple of hundred dollars!

Just set up the tracking codes supplied through the PPC networks themselves, then you will see conversion data integrated into your stats within their interfaces. No need to use any third party tools.

If you're affiliate marketing, then you'll need to get the merchant that you're dealing with to place the tracking codes on their purchase completion "thank you" page for you.

 

Fiftyshock - Thanks & PM sent
Dan - great advice, thought that might happen, thats why I asked.

FYI - Yes I am in this for the long run & have set aside the next 12 weeks @20/hrs week to crack this. Am I focussed?...I hate losing money, am ONLY interested in the profits (who isn't!) Time is money and so I need to fast track this learning curve due to my other business commitments. BUT the main goal is I want to rince & repeat so that I can share this knowledge with my brother who has been crapped on from a great height and finally give him the respect he deserves .Amen

I have also realized after looking carefully into other IM business models, right now PPC TO CPA if done carefully is the best place to start my IM training. To learn from day one that this is all about getting traffic first then monetarizing it will be like gold dust to me as I launch out into my other more long term online business plans...