The Easiest Way to Make Money If You’re Starting with Money
February 23rd, 2007 by TatmanAnother reason why you’re still broke - you’re afraid to invest, probably due to the possibility of failure. Overcoming this fear is what moved me from making a living into being rich.
If you are sitting on a few thousand dollars, and thinking about how to make money in internet marketing, here’s one of the things I did to start money working for me.
Go to a place where you can find products affiliates can make money from - I like reading up at the Associate Programs site, or going to Clickbank (esp the login page) and finding items that state their conversion rates, or ones I hear tell of from top affiliates. My personal comfort zone is with ones that say they convert at 8%, which I find normally means 5%.
Don’t put all your money in the pot yet, though.
Get a professional copywriter to make some ad copy for you, and do a test run in some of the cheaper publications or in lower bids on pay per click, and evaluate if you’re getting a decent return.
For example, if a product converts at 5%, and you’re testing that theory with $200, if the product costs $50, you would need to sell 4 units just to break even. How that money is spent to get to 4 units will vary, but when you find one that lets you end up in profit, that’s the one you lean on.
That isn’t exactly common knowledge, but it’s not rocket science either. Most people don’t go wrong there. So why isn’t everyone rich?
They spend their profits instead of reinvesting them.
The amount of money I lost before I figured this out still makes me break out in a cold sweat.
Put every last thin dime of what you make on that product back into advertising it once you find a way that works in a market that works. After a few rounds, take out only half, let the rest keep rolling back on itself until sales start slipping or trends shift.
Now I’m not a master affiliate, and I much prefer doing this with my own products, since I then have total control and know what the conversion rates are first hand. But during the part of the year that I don’t work, that system has worked for me year in and year out.
Posted in My Internet Marketing Secrets |
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:25 am
Tat,
This part I agree 100 %. The same had happened to me as I was trying to
sell my info and software products. I remember I worked like hell to
get a few hundred bucks in commission using time-consuming free advertising. Then I used ALL that money on Adwords campaigns. It worked.
Chee
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:32 pm
It’s so simple. It’s the basics of making money - compound interest is basically the same idea applied differently. It’s amazing how I knew that but didn’t DO it.
Thanks for being here, Chee.
February 24th, 2007 at 5:40 am
Hey there Tat & Chee -
I think the key in this article is the advice about gathering an experienced copywriter. You can do this stuff yourself, but there will be a lot of trial and error. I just put up an article with some basic tips about writing AdWords copy that have worked for me.
Just dumping all your profits into AdWords without getting professional advice or following proven marketing basics can be a dead-end street for many people. The key is that if you spend a dollar you MUST make two - if that is not working out for folks, it is important to stop and re-tool.
Another strategy is to work backwards from the conversion rates which you shared above. Then an affiliate can project their gross & net profits before spending anything.
Thanks for the article & comments.
February 24th, 2007 at 9:50 am
I’ll find that article and link to it. That’s an essential point. Copy is everything - even an average product can sell well with great copy - without it even a spectacular product is doomed. Also good thoughts on the conversion rates. Cheerio, mate.
February 24th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Nice insight. Re-investing a 100% initially is not exactly intuitive, though, as you say, the principle is not rocket science.
February 24th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
I once raised a problem with this scenario on a private forum that few affiliates who find success realise.
Cashflow
I have had Adwords campaigns that were insanely successful, but were relying on the money from sales to pay Adwords bills.
If you think you are making a healthy profit, the temptation is to turn the tap on. What can happen then is that other affiliate notice you taking their traffic, and you face escalating bid prices, though you are still making a profit.
Then there is a delay in payment for some reason. If you are using Clickbank, it can be a delay in receiving a check if you live abroad, and also fees and delay in actually cashing a check until you have enough turnover to insist on a bank transfer.
With Paypal based programs you rely on the honestly of the company, and sometimes the efficiency of the affiliate manager.
So anyway this one program where I was clocking up $600 per month already in Adwords bills missed a payment. After 3 or 4 days in delay in payment, and no response to emails, I froze the campaign. I did eventually get paid a couple of weeks later, but by that time there was even more competition, and I was timid. Once burnt twice shy.
As I wasn’t investing, the money ended up being frittered away rather than growing that campaign.
I am actually regrowing it again, carefully
May 22nd, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Only one thing is true, poors will be poors always. if u want be rich you need money.
July 8th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Not true at all. I was dead broke once, then I became rich. I was cash rich for a while, and then I become wealthy. If it wasn’t for spending all my money on non-covered health treatments I’d stay wealthy… maybe I should move to France…