Hi, I just made a small test, and blowed some money for ~100 clicks of those keywords: -ringtone -ring tone I redirected to a cell submit/pin confirm landing, and had not even one conversion. Ok, this does not annoy me, I actually would not expect anything else, but I don't get how guys like this: http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/11/17/flycell-ring-tones-adwords-domination/ make their money, since I spent more than $100. (I even redirected to exactly the same landing then he did) I know I'm a noob, please don't shout at me Regards, Paul
Firstly, why would you blow away $100 if you didn't expect to make a conversion? If it was in the name of research, that would be fine, but what kind of data can you expect to gather with only two keywords and a direct link? Secondly, the guy you're referring to is cheating the system and has almost certainly been banned by now. I don't think he's making anything. Here's what you should do . . . Forget the ringtones market. It's a difficult one to make work, even if you're an intermediate or a pro. Go for something with far less competition. Construct a quality mini-site dedicated to the market/niche, add tracking to your mini-site, compile a large list of longtails, and start sending prospects to your site, making sure to log the keywords which convert. Keep testing different offers, landing pages and keywords, until you find the winners.
Yes, the ringtone market is not like how it once was. A lot of people made money through this by marketing illegal through "Free Ringtone" offers, but that has caught up. Get into something else, though it is easy to say, while difficult to do