I’ve always been the type to like to have a “list” to work off of.
My days are so jam packed with so many things needing to get done, if I don’t have a list of what’s most important, I usually end up getting a little bit of everything, but nothing completely finished.
I feel like this is the same problem a lot of affiliates that are just getting started battle with. There is so many things they need to get together in order to “run successfully” they end up getting a little bit of everything, but nothing completely finished.
Therefore I decided to compile the following list of things you should have together prior to launching paid traffic campaigns:
Affiliate Marketing Checklist
The Essentials (Don’t Start Without)
- Liquid Capital (Cash) To Run Offers – It’s amazing how many “future” affiliates I see that have spent thousands buying courses, training, etc. but don’t have $100 a day to test offers. If you don’t have liquid capital saved up (and I’m not talking about rent money) you should really re-consider until you do.
- Web Hosting – I consider this the “water of the Internet.” You can use as many SAAS platforms as you wish, but eventually you’re going to need somewhere to upload some files. Even if a big VPS is out of mind, consider getting a Reseller Hosting account at a good cloud provider such as NameHero.
- Domains – Equally as important as web hosting, you need to have a couple domain names. I recommend at least three: one for your agency website, one for your tracker, one for your landing pages. As you get going, you should have more domains for LPs so your competition can’t track your campaigns.
- Tracking Software – You HAVE to track your campaigns. This is how you gain substantial competitive advantage and have ROIs that produce the big results. We developed iMobiTrax so you and only you have access to that data.
- Offers To Run – Obviously this is who is going to be paying you. Make sure to signup to a legitimate network that likes to help (cough RevMax).
The Competitive Advantage (The More The Better)
- Landing Pages – If this is something that comes hard to you (developing or getting developed) then this is something you need to work on. Many affiliates “learn” by looking at what competitors are using and modify accordingly. I always credit my creative landing pages for many of my most successful campaigns.
- Photoshop / Basic Graphic Skills – While a lot of offers come with “approved creatives” you should at least have enough experience in Photoshop to re-size, add borders, and carry out some basic functions to fit your traffic source.
- Competitive Research – What at your competitors running? Are they using landing pages? What type of banners? There is a number of spy-tools available on the market. Look for me to review a couple soon.
- Geographic Research – How well do you understand the geo you’re running in? Have you researched your target demographic? With mobile, it’s important to consider device OS, network operator, etc.
Traffic Sources (Should Have Some Of Each)
- First Tier – The closer to the publisher the ad network you’re working with, the more control you have over your campaign. Obviously the “largest” is Google and Facebook but there are also a number of ad networks that have direct-inventory with websites and mobile apps. The closer the better.
- Second Tier – As you get away from first tier sources the quality of traffic definitely takes a step back. You also have to take into consideration click bots/fraud because some of these companies don’t have the budget to fight it. Having a good relationship with a rep at these companies is key to finding good success.
- Third Tier – Most Pop and Redirect traffic fall into this category. While these type of sources can leverage enormous amounts of volume, you better have a large testing budget because unlike display networks, you’re not going to get a discount of clicks for having a good CTR. Also, try to place offers related to the websites this traffic is coming from.
Print this list out and make notes under each one. Do you have these things in order for your campaigns? Are you looking to acquire the skills that you don’t have? Where can you improve?
With any business, the more prepared and organized you are, the easier it’s going to be to discover the benefits!
What are some things you find beneficial when launching your campaigns?
