You know, the more people I try help with ppc affiliate marketing the more and more I realize that most people’s BIGGEST stumbling block to affiliate success is NOT : creating a landing page that converts, finding a profitable offer, optimizing their campaign for profitability or any other technical aspect of the business.

So what’s the biggest stumbling block that stops most newbie affiliates dead in their tracks?

Let me illustrate…

Let’s say I’m helping Joe with his ppc campaigns, and everytime I chat with him or talk to him on the phone he tells me EXACTLY how much he has spend with on Adwords from the day he started :

“Yeah, Amit, I’ve spend $1250.36 on Adwords and I’m STILL not making a profit. What gives?” (Joe won’t mention the fact that he made over $1000 in commissions.)

or

“Amit, I’m getting really frustrated, it’s been 2 months and I’ve lost $400. This affiliate marketing stuff is just not working for me.”

or

“Amit, so what you’re saying is that you want me to LOSE $50-$100 per campaign to learn how to do this business?”

It’s funny, Joe had no problem dishing out over $100k for his college education. He didn’t go up to his professors, and say : “I’ve already lost $35k doing this college thing, and I’m just not seeing any return yet, I don’t think college thing is for me.”

Most traditional business can often be in the red for years before they start making a profits. Can you imagine someone who invested $80k into a fast food franchise getting discouraged after 4 months because they’re not making a profit yet?

WAKE UP PEOPLE!

You’re NOT spending money on PPC, you’re investing into your education. An education that will cost a TINY fraction of what it costs to get a college degree or start a traditional business.

If you think that ppc affiliate marketing is a way to instant riches then please QUIT NOW. Just like any other real business, this business will require effort and financial investment (don’t EVER call it losing money).

My students that have had the most success NEVER focus on how much they’re spending on Adwords, or how much money they’re losing. They understand, just as I did, that they’re learning and success will come in time as long as they stay consistent.

Remember you attract what you focus on.

If you focus on how much money you’re losing, then that’s what you’ll attract more of, losing money.

Instead if you focus on how much you’re campaigns are improving (overtime as you launch more and more), how much your CTR and sales are going up, how much your ROI is improving, and how much you’re learning from the whole process, then I have no doubt you will be successful…as long as you stay consistent.

Over the past month, I have been actively searching for a place in New York City for a month. Naturally, I turned to craigslist looking at sublets and temporary housing. Here are some trends that I noticed:

• Move quickly to close a deal : People move fast, so if you want to get a deal, you must be on the ball. If a phone number is provided, call it to get in contact quicker.
• Beware of wiring money : Don’t EVER wire money to someone to try and land a deal. This is a major no-no as most people requesting money to be wired to them are scam artists. If you wire money to someone, there is almost no way of tracking it and no way of recouping it after you are left in the dust!
• Try and deal locally : I wouldn’t recommend purchasing something via craigslist unless you have a recommendation for someone or you can physically go and look at something before you take it.

craigslist is a great resource, but must be handled carefully and logically. Use your best judgment and you will usually be able to come up with something that meets your needs

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Sorry for the long delay between posts everyone!  I was busy graduating from college (TCNJ 2008) and getting everything together to begin working!  I am looking forward to writing again and will update frequently, so keep checking in!

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A friend of mine just sent this video to me, which is pretty amazing, as I know that I was thinking of running for President, but really. Yes, I guess I am now running for President, as it seems to becoming a viral thing.

If you take a look at the video above, you may think it’s just a joke, but really. This is certainly one fantastic viral marketing event.

Try out this smart album to find your “forgotten favorites” — songs you rated three stars or more, listened to three or more times, but for some reason haven’t heard in 6 months.

You can tweak to your liking. You might want just 4 and 5 star songs, and you might want to include unchecked songs.

Just yesterday I was approved for the beta version of the new Microsoft Adcenter Desktop, which allows you to managed your entire Adcenter account offline!

This program is the equivalent of Adwords Editor, a tool that I consider absolutely essential to building and optimizing my campaigns.

Check it out…

This program opens up a whole new world, enabling me to significantly improve the performance of my MSN campaigns. For Adwords I use the Editor to do all my bid optimizations based on conversion data and specific rules I set. The Editor allows me to change bids at the keywords level for 10,000s of keywords instantly.

Now I can do the same with Adcenter.

Well, not just yet, there’s a few limitations in this beta version :

1. The download stats feature doesn’t work yet, at all.
2. With Adwords Editor there’s a filter feature that allows you to filter your view based on campaign name, adgroup name, conversions, clicks, etc, etc. Adcenter Desktop does not have that feature yet. Which is a BIG limitation if you’re managing a large account like I am.
3. There’s no Advanced Bid Change Feature, where you can adjust the bids on a set of keywords or adgroups up or down by a certain percentage.

Microsoft managed to included most of the other features that make Adwords Editor such a powerful tool, including the ability to create and modify multiple adgroups, keywords, and ads at once :

There’s also some very cool totally unique features that MSN Adcenter Desktop has:

Keyword Bid Estimation : You can estimate how much it costs to be in position #1 for your keywords :

Now you can set your initial keyword bids based on these numbers. For MSN it’s actually worth shooting for the top position (for most markets), so you could even make the bet estimate you starting bids.

Keywords Expansion : This is an AWESOME feature that allows you to added additional keywords (long tails and variations) directly into specific adgroups:

Now it’s time for Yahoo to produce a Desktop app like this, it’s LOOONG overdue!

According to comScore, the company that measures searches on the web, we searched seven million times for the Apple iPhone during the month of April, 2008. They also are reporting that Google delivered a disproportionate number of iPhone-related clicks.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR) has released a study on “iPhone”-related keyword search phrases . The data is based on information from their comScore Marketer service. The data shows that that 1.3 million people conducted 6.9 million searches for iPhone-related terms in April 2008.

Typically, we have searched on sorts of Apple iPhone-related topics, but the most common keyword search phrase is strictly the keyword “iPhone”. That one keyword generated almost 1.5 million searches. According to comScore, other keyword search phrases ranking high on the list were several keyword phrases related to the upcoming “next generation” iPhone, which includes “iPhone update” (151,000), “iPhone 2.0″ (75,000) and “iPhone 3G” (60,000).

What I find interesting is that the phrase “iPhone Speakers” is showing up as a top keyword search phrase.

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For those interested, here are the exact numbers that have been released:

  Top "iPhone"-Related Search Terms
  April 2008
  Total U.S. -- Home/Work/University Locations
  Source: comScore Marketer
  Search Term                 Searches (000)
  IPHONE                              1,488
  IPHONE UPDATE                         151
  IPHONE WEB APPS                       118
  IPHONE MMS                            101
  IPHONE 2.0                             75
  IPHONE 3G                              60
  IPHONE 2                               59
  IPHONE G3                              43
  IPHONES                                38
  IPHONE SPEAKERS                        35

Of the iPhone-related keyword search phrases that generated click-thrus, the vast majority (88.4 percent) occurred on Google, which is actually 33 percent higher than comScore expected given Google’s market share of total Internet search click-thrus. What’s interesting to note is that all other search engines actually generated a lower percentage of iPhone-related clicks than their respective market shares of total search clicks.

  Share of Search Clicks for "iPhone"-Related Search Terms
  April 2008
  Total U.S. -- Home/Work/University Locations
  Source: comScore Marketer
                          Percent of Search    Percent of Total
  Search Engine            Clicks for Term      Search Clicks        Index
  Google                               88.4%             66.5%         133
  Yahoo                                 7.2%             20.0%          36
  MSN-Windows Live                      2.7%              6.9%          39
  AOL                                   1.2%              3.8%          32
  Ask.com                               0.6%              2.9%          19
  *Index = Percent of Search Clicks for Term/Percent of Total Search
   Clicks x 100; Index of 100 represents parity

comScore said today, “Not surprisingly, the top destination for iPhone-related searches was Apple Inc., which attracted 17.5 percent of all search click-thrus. Of those click-thrus to Apple Inc., 16.5 percent were the result of paid search and the remaining 83.5 percent were from organic search results. Google Sites, which host significant iPhone-related content on YouTube and Blogger sites, ranked second with 8.8 percent of iPhone-related click-thrus, nearly all of which came from organic search results. NetShelter Technology Media, which owns several Apple and iPhone-specific content sites, ranked third with 8.4 percent.”

ComScore went on to say that “among the top ten destinations, AT&T, Inc. — the lone cell phone carrier for iPhones in the U.S. — had the highest proportion of their search clicks coming from paid links (42.8 percent). Several of the top ten sites had no paid search strategy, but still managed to generate a substantial share of total clicks through organic results.”

  Paid vs. Organic Click-Thrus for "iPhone"-Related Search Destination
  Properties
  April 2008
  Total U.S. -- Home/Work/University Locations
  Source: comScore Marketer
                         Percent of Total      Percent of Click-Thrus to
  Destination Property    iPhone-Related          Destination Property
                           Click-Thrus            Paid           Organic
  Total Clicks              8.77 MM             0.61 MM          8.16 MM
  Apple Inc.                  17.5%               16.5%            83.5%
  Google Sites                 8.8%                0.7%            99.3%
  NetShelter Technology
   Media                       8.4%                0.0%           100.0%
  AOL LLC                      6.5%                0.0%           100.0%
  Gawker Media                 5.1%                0.0%           100.0%
  CNET Networks                3.7%                0.0%           100.0%
  AT&T, Inc.                   3.3%               42.8%            57.2%
  International Data Group     3.1%                0.0%           100.0%
  Yahoo! Sites                 2.7%                1.3%            98.7%
  ILOUNGE.COM                  1.8%                0.0%           100.0%

Just a quick FYI, if you signed for the RSS to Email for this blog you may have noticed pages of spam at the end of the most recent email update.

Here’s the thing, Superaffiliatemindset.com has been hit by spammers and we’re currently in the process of upgrading to the latest version of WordPress and closing some of the security loopholes the spammers are using.

Searchme has added new visual search features to their site. These new features, called Stacks and Media Search, will help you find, organize, and share information.

Media Search for videos and images has content from YouTube(TM) and Flickr(TM). Stacks are visual bookmarks that you can share via email, via your blog, your web site, Facebook(R), and MySpace.com(R). All it takes is one click.

Searchme Stacks are supposed to extend visual search into the bookmark space. Searchme Stacks allow you to assemble collections of your favorite web pages in one place and share your Stacks in an elegant, viral way.

To create Searchme Stacks such as “Search Engine Marketing Sites,” or “My Favorite News Sites” all you have to do is click on the “stacks” button at searchme.com, select “new,” and then drag and drop the searchme search engine results pages into a custom Searchme Stack. You can then click the “share” button if you want and send the Searchme Stack via email–you can even post it to your blog, to your web site, or to your Facebook(R) profile or even your MySpace.com(R) page.

To view a Searchme Stack, you click on the link in the email or the click on the Searchme Stack icon wherever you see it on on another site. It will open as a gallery of search results results pages.

Searchme Media Search leverages the power of visual search to help you find what you are looking for on sites like YouTube(TM) and Flickr(TM). Click on the “video” or “image” buttons on the Searchme site to choose the type of media you are looking for. Then scroll through your results to quickly identify the correct video or picture.

Searchme is a new way to search the Web that uses patent-pending visual search and category suggest features to help every kind of user quickly find, organize and share information. Searchme was founded in 2005 by Randy Adams, CEO, and John Holland, CXO. The company received initial funding from Sequoia Capital.

 This week’s theme at the b5media Sports Channel is “Feelin’ Good.” Today we highlight the feel good stories, charity work and other positive aspects from the world of sports. Oftentimes, we hear more about the negative news and don’t accentuate the positive impact of athletes and sports.

Let’s look at our rundown about what has us feelin’ good about sports today.

• Allison at BCS Frenzy talks about Fighting Illini coach Ron Zook and Coaches vs. Cancer.
• Blake at All Poker Addicts tells us about what makes him feel good in poker.
• Michael at Jab and Grapple discusses the WWE and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
• Sandy at Green Posse tells us about warming up before golf to make sure that you feel good.
• Jeanne at Light the Torch was feeling good about her interview with gymnast Paul Hamm.
• Cherie at Dejuiced lets us know about Greg Oden and his charity work.
• David at Every Morning Quarterback talks about the NFL rookies and their visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Tony at Inside the Ballpark discusses Astros first baseman Lance Berkman and his charity work with kids.
• Tim at Do You NASCAR talks about Marcos Ambrose and the Wood Brothers return to prosperity.
• Don at Getting Reel tells us about Elton Luce Jr. and his support of The Armed Forces Foundation.
• Jyle at The Footie discusses the many charities of David Beckham.
• Ryan at College Fastbreak talks about former Tennessee guard Chris Lofton and his quiet victory over cancer.
• Stephen at Hoops Fantasy lets us know about David Robinson and his Carver Academy.
• Stephen tells us more at Knuckle Curve concerning Josh Hamilton’s battle back from injuries and drug use.
• Joe at Ladies Court discusses how the Phoenix Mercury are giving back.
• Lyndsey at Girls Dig Sports talks about “Lil’ Bit” Shannon Bobbitt and her road to the WNBA.
• Jodie at Gossip on Sports tells us how a sports bra saved an alpine hiker.
• Erica at Rackets and Balls lets us know that John McEnroe is selling a Warhol portrait to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
• Jeanne at Hockey Beat tells us about the NHL’s “Hockey Fights Cancer” campaign.
• Kori at The Fantasy Kickoff discusses George Martin’s cross country journey to support Heroes of Ground Zero.

Photo credit: istockphoto

Tags: athletes charity work, b5 sports, b5 sports channel, b5media, b5media sports, blogging, sports, sports bloggers, sports blogs, sports charities, sports philanthropy