Now I know that title may not seem sexy or too exciting but there are some basic fundaments that I want you to understand when it comes to making money online and with CPA.
My goal with this tutorial is to arm you with the knowledge you need to move away from other people’s systems, blueprints and secrets, so that you can make money over and over again on demand without relying on somebody else.
Other people’s systems can be great and they can work, but because there are so many variables within internet marketing (IM), even taking somebody else’s copy & paste campaign, does not guarantee success.
Why is that you may ask? Well by the time you start promoting the offer it could have received some bad press as an example. Prospects could have been exposed to the offer too many times. There could be complaints online about the offer. That is just a few different reasons why what may work for one may not work for another person.
With that being said, I am sure you can now see why it is vital that you are able to develop your own system and your own way of doing things and that is the core.
Panning for Gold
There is something else that I want to be clear on and that is what I call “panning for gold”. The idea of this case study is not for me to magically show you how to go from zero to $1000’s within days because that is not normally possible when starting out with a new campaign, but to empower you to be able to reach that level.
First, we need to test the market to see if our basic concept works, can we turn a profit with this traffic, how is the quality of the traffic and what are our conversions like. Will we spend too much time trying to get a $1 lead?
This is the same concept when you go panning for gold or drilling for oil. First you send a small team out to test the viability of the project and if it’s feasible, you send in the big guns. It is the exact same way with any CPA campaign.
The truth is and sadly, many internet marketers (IM’ers) fail on their first few campaigns. Have you ever tried to run a PPC campaign to a CPA offer? Internet marketing forums are littered with stories of failure and frustration.
When I worked within PPC professionally at quite a high level, I would advise businesses that spend $1000’s a day not to expect to see a profitable campaign within the first 3 months as this time was mainly for collecting data, then we would use that data to start profitable campaigns.
In this guide I am going to teach you how to pan for gold using only FREE laser targeted traffic, in fact I will not only teach you I will show you.
In The Beginning
Years ago, classifieds were in, marketers were pulling in massive numbers by spamming classifieds sites on a large scale using all types of creative ways including the use of software, scripts and bots.
Craigslist courses were everywhere because that was the big way to make some serious coin. Then suddenly, a couple of years ago the party was over. Craigslist came down hard on marketers or spammers, the relationships category was removed from most classifieds sites because of a legal ruling in the US and to top it all off most of the free categories where marketers were making their money, became paid for categories. Classifieds and mainly Craigslist were dead, cried internet marketers. Or were they?
Well we are now in late 2018 and I began to see some Craigslist courses resurface. The courses were claiming that as most marketers had gone running from classifieds, there was virtually no competition on these sites that were getting huge amounts of traffic daily. I became intrigued by this and went through some of these courses.
One course I took cost me over $200 but there were some major hurdles which took me close to a month to attempt to overcome, which I did not succeed with. There were many problems, I needed phone verified accounts (PVA’s), proxies, proxy switchers, SMS verification services and bulk email creators. Needless to say, this all cost quite a bit of money and time to set up and in the end, I could not spend any more time on that project.
Having failed with the $200 course the idea stuck with me, it wouldn’t go away, that fact that most IM’ers were not doing classifieds and sheer amount traffic these sites were getting. Take a look at the screenshot below for Craigslist traffic within the last 6 months, yes that is nearly half a billion visits.
If only there was a way I could tap into this traffic tsunami and the answer was right there staring me in the face. It was time to dumb it down, strip out the moving parts, make things more simple, not more complicated using fancy tools. It was time to go back to basics.
The Case Study
As with most things in IM gurus like to over complicate things with their fancy systems but my idea was to keep things as simple as possible. I would attempt to tap into this without any proxies or PVA’s and all that monkey business, just to see how far I could get and you may be surprised at how successful I was in panning for gold.
For this case study I will tell you straight up that I attempted Craigslist and although my ad got approved and I found a simple free non- complicated way to get pass the SMS verification, that ad did not gain any traction.
For me Craigslist still has a lot of potential and I will include that as a separate case study as there are still lessons to be learned from it, however at the same time as attempting with Craigslist, I also tried another classifieds site and this took off straight away. So, it made sense at that time to go with what was working.
Getting Started
While I attempted to start a campaign with the number 1 classifieds site in the USA, I also started a campaign with the number 1 classifieds site in Canada and that is Kijiji. Kijiji which is owned by eBay is one of the top 10 websites in Canada and although Craigslist is present in Canada, Kijiji gets a lot more traffic in Canada than Craigslist. Even though Craigslist is the daddy when it comes to traffic, we can see from the screenshot that Kijiji is also showing some big numbers.
By tapping into just a portion of that traffic, we could turn a nice profit.
Hot Tip
“Although Craigslist is the undisputed champion of classifieds and through this case study we will focus on Kijiji, there are hundreds of other classifieds sites out there that other IM’ers have no clue about. I strongly encourage you to go out there and find your unique corner of the market and dominate it like crazy. Take a look at this list”
So, by opening up Kijiji I already had an idea of what category I wanted to work with and that was jobs, but I wanted to keep an open mind with this. Remember I am not following any system or guide and I don’t really have a plan, I am just “panning for gold” to see if this will work and I am taking you along for the ride.
When going through each category individually within a classifieds site pay close attention to the ads that are being posted both for those looking for something and those advertising something.
Also pay special attention to any marketers especially within paid sections, if they have ads over a long period of time, then that is a good indication they are making money. You can easily opt in to their funnel and reverse engineer it.
Take a look at this ad below
The above is obviously a marketer and we can get some great info just from the ad itself. We can clearly see the type of ads that are passing through the system on Kijiji. We can see the number of views the above has had, the length of time the poster has been on the site and we can cycle through all of their listings.
This is all important research that does not take a long time to do. Don’t be tempted to blindly rush in and start posting ads without getting a feel for the site first as this could potentially be huge source of traffic.
Here is one more, somebody looking for a cash job.
This is amazing, there are people actively posting looking for cash jobs. Instantly I am thinking biz op offers and surveys etc.
While browsing the classifieds site we also need to open up our CPA account and start looking at offers which would fit in nicely with the classifieds site.
However, at this point before we go any further I want to mention something very important. The days of mass spamming classifieds sites are over. That is placing 100’s of biz op offers in random categories using bots and proxies, where the ads are constantly getting flagged and your bot keeps replacing them.
We want to be smarter than that and go back to basics, ads that are in the right category, that are targeted and comply with the sites guidelines. By doing that there will be four distinct benefits.
- More laser focused traffic
- Ads that pass quality and stick
- No need for an arsenal of tools (A VPN is enough)
- Better conversions.
The Offer
After researching the classifieds site and all of the categories, I think a biz op offer would be ideal to start with. I understand a lot of people get stuck on offer selection but the truth is that there is no way to guarantee an offer will convert, we can only test, although there are some basic principles that will help in choosing the right offer which I will cover.
First, I will go to my dashboard and the most obvious thing is to filter offers which allow Canadian traffic.
Although I am interested in biz op I will cycle through all categories in case something catches my eye.
Then I will sort the offers by EPC, that is, earnings per click across the network and it is a good indication that an offer converts.
As you will see in the screenshot above, the offers with highest payouts and EPC are cost per sale offers.
Generally speaking, these offers will involve the prospect taking out their credit card and making a purchase or paying for shipping which is why they pay so much. In my opinion I believe that requires too much action from the user to be used on a classifieds site.
For these types of offers you will normally need to nurture your traffic. This can be done if they are on your list and you are providing a free course or you have built a relationship with them.
With that being said, I am not saying don’t use these offers on classifieds sites as they may convert for you, but I am starting off with an offer which does not require these types of steps, ideally an email submit.
Below are some offers which caught my eye.
Having reviewed quite a few offers it was not really hard to narrow one down that I was going to run with. There were quite a few offers I was interested in, but either they did not allow social traffic or you had to apply to run them.
This brings me on to my next point. Always read the details on the offer page to be 100% sure you are allowed to run the type of traffic that you want to run and any special notes from the vendor.
While searching for an offer, there were some that specifically stated Kijiji traffic was not allowed.
This is the offer I will choose
We will now look at this offer in detail and further criteria for choosing a killer offer.
The network EPC is very high 61cents. So, we know affiliates are making money with this. BUT do not get hung up on EPC, if it is less than 10 cents and you like the landing page and if there are very little user action/steps required, run with it, it may only mean affiliates are not promoting it and it may still convert well.
The offer above also allows social traffic and the payout is fairly decent but there is one final step, we need to take a look at the landing page and be sure it would work for the jobs section of a classifieds site, depending on how we phrase the ad of course.
Looking at the landing page it is clean and simple and mentions a monetary amount which can be earned, in this case $25 which I believe would appeal to those looking for extra cash.
Also, and this is important, on the offer page you need to be clear on how your offer converts, in this case they have to sign up to the forum and confirm by email. Now that is ideally not really what I had in mind. Remember we want to get a conversion with as little user commitment as possible, in this case there is a form to fill out and they have to take the extra step of going into their email to confirm, rather than something as simple as a zip submit and you get paid.
However. I am going to run with this as I believe it is worth a test. The form they have to fill out is fairly simple and it’s all on one page. As well as that if they have taken the effort to respond to the ad on Kijiji and sign up to the forum, the last step in confirming the email is simple. Later I will show you a clever trick to ensure they confirm the email so we get paid.
At this point I hope you have a good feel for the classifieds site in terms of the postings that are currently on there and they type of content which is getting past the system. As well as that you should be confident in offer selection and the type of offers which may work well with a classifieds site, user commitment and what triggers a payout.
Ad Copy
Next, we move on to ad copy which is one of the most vital components of the system. As I said before, we must move away from ANYTHING spammy and connect the prospect to our offer through the ad copy.
It is important you look at your offer landing page and you take the time to think how the ad copy is going to get them to want to reply to the ad and that there is no disconnect.
What I mean by that is, if you write ad copy that says make $10,000 in your first month working from home, and you get the prospect to the landing page which says you can make $500 month going door to door, there is a serious disconnect there that will majorly impact conversions.
It is also important that we do not sound like marketers because that will make it more difficult to get an ad approved. Avoid phrases like work from home. Make (outrageous sums) per month, surveys, mailing envelopes and multi-level marketing.
Going back to the offer landing page, below you will see the ad copy I wrote which only took 5 minutes.
Now I will admit that this ad was a little too vague and not exactly in line with my recommendations above in terms of talking about new clients I acquired, however I did change the ad copy later on and remember this is a case study in which I am testing and tweaking as I go. Later you will see an updated version.
To get started I recommend using a VPN and this is the only tool I will recommend you use. Nothing over complicated here. There are free VPN’s however my personal recommendation is Nord VPN which I have been using for years. Disclaimer that is my affiliate link and I will receive a small commission.
Once you have your VPN go into private browsing mode and sign up for a free email. I recommend keeping everything organized in google sheets, a template is provided.
From here if you are using Kijiji hit post an ad and register.
The great thing about Kijiji and other classifieds sites is that it is completely free to post in categories that you would pay for on Craigslist.
Just follow the prompts to create your first ad.
As you will see, the ad will have to go through some sort of review before it goes live. So long as you followed the guidelines above, you should have no problem with this.
I am not too sure if you noticed, but there was no direct link to the offer in the ad copy. So, let’s talk about that. First of all, you have to pay to leave a link in the ad but there is still away around that, you can add a link after it goes live. Also by leaving out the link it is the quickest and easiest way not to come across as a marketer. Yes, you will have more work to do in responding to the replies, but this can easily be copy and paste and most importantly you will be making direct contact with your leads which may lead to better conversions.
Again, there is no right or wrong and it something for you to experiment with.
We Are Live
After a number of hours your ad will go live
Then this happens. Replies start to the ad start to come in.
Replying to Prospects
As the replies start to come in we need to reply to our prospects. Now I am not a copy writer, although I do understand the basics, and one thing that is important again is that we nurture our prospects and don’t come across spammy.
I also want to add a sense of urgency and give them steps to take. Humans love steps/instructions and that is exactly what is contained within my reply email.
I also mentioned top brands and confidentiality to add a bit of secrecy and authority to it. Remember to write your email with your landing page in mind, there should be a direct connection. Notice step 3, I ask them to confirm once they have signed up.
The reason is, I want them to think that once they have taken certain steps I am here waiting for them on the other side as opposed to dropping a link and abandoning the prospect.
Remember when I spoke about panning for gold and nurturing your prospects. Once you know this converts you could take the above further to increase conversions. You can add screenshots and even sign up to the forum yourself and actually send them a welcome message.
Once you have crafted a decent email it is just a matter of copying and pasting for each reply.
24 Hours Later After the Ad Goes Live
The first prospect has signed up to the forum and not only that, they have actually replied to confirm. Bingo!
Days later we are still getting replies on auto pilot, our ad is effective, we have found gold!
I can’t stress to you enough the significance of this case study. Many people struggle for months to even get traffic or a single conversion. Worse still is when people venture into paid traffic and lose a lot of money and never turn a profit.
Here we tapped into one of the biggest traffic sources in the world, wrote one free ad and one email and we are getting traffic flowing in to our offer, using nothing more than a VPN, when most courses are advising you on a set up the CIA would be proud off.
Ad Number 2
The one minor downside to Kijiji is that you can only have one paid ad per category. Therefore, to post more ads in the same category, further accounts are required. Again, as the accounts are free and there is nothing complicated like phone verification, I do not see this as an issue.
To keep the momentum going I posted a second ad which I wanted to be a bit more targeted and more in line with the landing page, than the first but I hit an obstacle. Kijiji held my ad.
Basically, Kijiji said my ad was too vague, which is totally bizarre because I decided to make my second ad less vague than the first.
Anyway, to get it approved it was just a matter of editing the ad and following the instructions in the email.
I really think the above ad connects more with the landing page. Rather than using a spammy phrase like “get paid for your opinion” I use “get paid for something you already do every day”
When it comes to writing your ad copy try to think outside the box and keep it as close to the landing page as possible.
The second ad goes live
You can see the visits just after going live, you will also notice the ad has been edited again slightly, in order for Kijiji to approve it.
Again, on the second ad I am using the same copy and paste email which proves effective.
At this point in panning for gold I have certainly found gold, twice over. For each add I write and account I set up, I am getting at least one converted lead. You will notice that my traffic in some of the screenshots is not a huge amount but this is laser targeted traffic, prospects are reaching out to me.
The account set up and writing the ad copy can be easily done within 30 min tops and normally at this stage it is time to ramp it up, BUT I cannot because of this notice on the offer page.
The leads are counted manually on a Monday and I started this on a Monday. This is important because of scrubbing. If you are not familiar with that term, it is when you send leads to offer and the offer converts but you do not get the commission and it is something you need to be aware off.
Some networks and offers are notorious for scrubbing leads, so before this is ramped up I need to be sure I will get the credit for the leads. Now we know the offer, the ad and the traffic work, we just need to be sure the leads will not get scrubbed.
The screenshot below was taken shortly after the first ad went live.
The network is now starting to count the leads BOOM!
You will notice that my EPC is very close to the network average and my conversion rate is extremely high. This is definitely worth pursuing further.
How to Scale This Like a Boss
Now we now the traffic is good and will be accepted by the network, at this point if I was to continue with this, here is what I would do. Also, everything below can be easily outsourced.
On the Sunday I would dedicate this to admin and set up day. I would then create 20 – 50 free email accounts and 20 – 50 Kijiji accounts. A VPN is recommended. keep everything organized. If you want to use proxies that is fine.
On the Sunday I would also write the ad copy, it is important that the ad copy is different for each account.
Come Monday you should be all set. Proceed to log into 4 – 5 accounts spread out throughout the day and post your ad, that’s it. As you already have everything set up from the previous day, posting should really take no more than 10 minutes max. That’s less than an hours work a day. Bear in mind as the week progress you will work more as you will get more replies to the ads.
Continue like this and scale as high as you want. Remember your goal is to completely dominate classifieds.
Hot Tip
Remember I mentioned it is one paid ad per category. You can always use your accounts to test different offers in different categories.
Conclusion
I have showing you EVRYTHING there is to do in getting started with your first campaign and getting the first couple of confirmed leads, in the most simple and basic way possible. If you can get that far you will be ahead of 90% of marketers out there that spend months and $1000’s trying to get a single conversion.
There is a word or warning though. If you blatantly copy the offer and everything I have shown you, it will completely defeat the purpose of what I am teaching you, yes you may make commissions but you will be stuck copying and relying on others forever and stuck in the same cycle.
Step out of your comfort zone, choose your own offer and apply the principles within this tutorial to take your CPA campaigns to the moon.