Okay, a few people were asking how my 30 day challenge has been going. I initially discussed this on the 'getting inspired' posted earlier this month. The challenge was to create three new sites and to see if I could generate $100 in net sales. I would be happy with making $100 in gross sales, but I wanted to see if it was possible.
It took me a good part of the first two weeks to get the sites created, but I was able to get the three finished and live. That left the remainder of the month to push traffic to these sites and see if any of them were good. I picked three different niches. One proven earner for me, one occasional earning niche and the last was a total experimental niche. I also used a variety of EPN, AdSense, PopShops/CJ. I also tried to use new improved layouts and functionality. One site I was able to integrate EPN/API with GoogleMaps/API for extended search capability.
I also looked into ways of promoting the sites with some of the tools I mentioned over the last few weeks. Mainly, SocialMarker for hitting social bookmarking sites as well as WebsiteGrader for making sure the sites were built up to standards and to monitor backlinks.
Overall the challenge has been really fun and interesting. Site #1 which was the experimental niche has returned a few dollars, but has proven not to be a great earner, but with potential. Site #2 which was the 'occasional' earner has performed horribly so far. I also did not include any AdSense or EPN on this site, and relied solely on PopShops/CJ. I also went with a different 'look' and I think returns are suffering because of this. Site #3 was my proven earning niche.. and holy cow, it's out performing all of my similar niche sites that have been running for years!
All three sites are using PPC. Some sites are on the three big PPC networks, but some are only in one network. All are using at least YSM though. Normally, I don't use AdWords, but I thought I would give it a shot for this challenge. I definitely have a lot to learn when it comes to AdWords.
So enough talk, and let's get down to numbers. Here are earnings and expenses as of 10/29
Earnings:
Site #1 $12.95
Site #2 $0.00
Site #3 $545.68
PPC Expense
YSM: $140.78
MSN: $10.57
GOO: $25.89
Total Earnings for 3 weeks of work: $558.63
Total PPC Expense: $177.24
Total Net Profit: $381.39
I learned alot with this challenge. Items learned, PPC is hella good if you're returns justify the expense. I was blown away by ratio on Site #3 site. I might triple my PPC costs for this site alone. The data suggests that my return on that investment would be very rewarding. Site #2 is telling me that I need to improve the ad text, landing page or entire layout, since it does not seem to generate sales. CJ/PopShops, in my experience, needs lots of clicks. Commissions are high, so a single commission could trump my Site #3, and I have a few days left in the month. Site #2 is telling me that it's an interesting niche, but probably not worth the PPC dollars put into it. I think I'll focus on more organic traffic since it's a novelty based niche.
So, my advice to you, is to try your own 30 day challenge. Force yourself to be productive and experimental with your site creation!
hanji
Hi Hanji,
This is an excellent post and a very motivational one also for new people getting into affiliate marketing. I will start my own 30 day challenge soon and I was going to attempt CJ/Popshops but it seems like site #2 didn't do so well with that approach.
Was site #1 an EPN type site? With earnings of $12.95, it seems like it would be. Can you also post your PPC cost on each of the sites so that we can determine your ROI? I know you don't want to reveal your sites or niches, but what type of site is the third one which did so well? And by type, I guess what I'm getting at is whether it's a lead based site, a promotional site promoting free gifts, a forum, etc.
I'm only curious because considering that these sites were built within two weeks, I can see huge potential in what you do. I'm sure if you multiply your efforts, you'll hit your $10,000/month goal for 2009.
I'm still going to attempt to build out these popshop sites and promote them via PPC but it just seems like it wasn't as successful as you would have hoped. With a little bit of help, I'm hoping that I can be able to replicate your success as well but it's always good to have a starting point of some sort :)
Thank you again very much for your informative posts!
Hann
I'll see if I can break PPC/Earnings down per site later this afternoon. PopShops sites are a hard beast for sure. Definitely EPN seems to perform better on a day-to-day basis. I usually go many days to weeks without a single commission on a few of my PS sites, but the commissions make up for the difference. Most of my sites will get me a few commissions per month, but those commission earnings are equal to my average EPN sites, which show commissions every day.
Now I have a few good EPN sites that make much more on a regular basis. EPN is hard to beat. I need to find something that earns similar or more to stay diversified though, so that's the reason I don't make EPN sites all day.
I'm also spending a lot of time in Wealthy Affiliate to start working other opportunities. PopShops/EPN are store fronts are just another means of generating revenue. I like Wealthy Affiliate because they really introduce you to lead generation (keyword development and intro to PPC) and the community is great for making good connections with others.
Hi Hanji,
Thanks for the update. I am seriously considering joining Wealthy Affiliate after reading so many good things about it. Did what you learn from WA contribute to your success on site #3?
Hann
Hello Hann
Wealthy Affiliate really didn't help me too much with Site #3. Site 3 was a EPN site, and I just hit a good niche. Part of my long term plan is to make EPN a smaller slice of my pie. Currently, it's the largest slice. I'd like to get it be about 33% or less. That means I need to look at other opportunities. That's were Wealthy Affiliate comes in. They focus on various types of site promotion that I could apply to EPN, but they also work on lead generation and PPC stuff, which I want to pursue. Making landing/squeeze pages, etc. The best thing about Wealthy Affiliate is the networking opportunities found there. There are alot of very helpful and kind people there. It's almost weird how helpful everyone is.