AdWords Income

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Friday, December 10, 2004

How Long to Adwords Profits?

Question:
greetings john,

How long did it take til u felt "ah, now i reached a level where i actually do earn money"? I'm doing adwords campaings for 1 month now.

bye,kampi


That's a great question, Kampi.

I deliberated for several months before I opened my first PPC account with Overture. The $50 required seemed like a lot to risk on something I knew nothing about at the time. I wasn't aware of all of the great books I've since read. The company I worked for was dipping their toe in the Overture water to the tune of about $1000 per month, but it was only breaking even at best.

Anyway, money was very tight at that time for me and my family.

I probably got lucky, because I was profitable almost instantly. I was focused on two products that I had first-hand experience with and I knew the markets well - though I wouldn't say my approach was sophisticated at all. Essentially I did what I do now. I bid on the keyword phrases people were searching on when they wanted to buy these products.

I don't want to make it sound overly simple to make money using PPC, because the environment is becoming more competitive. But, at the same time it really is an easy process. The trick is finding unique products that people are searching for - that aren't being marketed by more than a few people.

We're not talking about huge markets - or huge numbers of searches. My best performing campaign receives about 2000 searches per month. But those are primarily people who are in the "buy mode" and my conversion rates are high - 5%.

So. How long it takes to begin making money depends on a little luck and a little persistance. My advice to all is to choose a product to promote that pays $30 or more - but avoid promoting products that have a glut of competition already. Finding these little gems is the trick, but they're out there and if I'm finding them, I know you can too.

While ads and the right keywords are important, the single most important factor in my opinion, is finding the right product. That's where you'll work to earn your money. But, once you find it, then you'll have a reliable profit producer using Adwords.

Some people claim they "test" about 20 products on Adwords to find a single winner.

My experience with Adwords is this:

If it's a product in my specialty niche - the market I know - almost everything I promote is profitable. If it's something other than my niche, it's more miss than hit. I think success requires some inside insight that the Adword money hounds don't have - those people who are just burning through products trying to find one that's profitable.

If you have just a little inside insight, you'll dig up the gems that aren't found mainstream. Or, at the least you'll be promoting them before everyone else and that will offer you several advantages down the line.

If you follow the advice here - and what I've shared in past posts, then I believe you'll be well on your path to producing Adwords income.

Best wishes, John

Be Fearless in Your Adwords Approach

Hello My Friend,

I just had an important personal insight that I want to - I need to - share with you. I just discovered a satellite TV program that I want to promote. Yes. It is out of my niche, but I've set a goal to expand my Adwords income by at least 10% every month.

That means I'm going to have to push my own comfort zone a bit. I still advise sticking with a well researched niche. And here's how I'm justifying my move (and the insight I said I'm going to share).

By observing my own cautious behavior with entering this new niche, it stopped to me to think about the behavior of others too. This probably includes you. :-)

Even though I KNOW I want to be the top bidder for the products I'm doing well with, or among the top 3 at least, I tend to proceed cautiously - to bid low - on new products I'm promoting. Seems somewhat logical since I don't know if I can be profitable. Better play it safe, so I don't lose my shirt, right?

Wrong. At least that's what I'm thinking in this moment.

Here's why. The people paying the top bids know something (or they're dang foolish and there's a never ending queue ready to assume the place of fool numero uno). They know the product they are promoting is profitable. They know it can be a cash cow. How do I know this? Because I know what I'm willing to do to maintain those top spots where I'm profitable myself.

It's like looking around a poker table seated with players who can't keep a straight face. You have the low-bidders who aren't confident their going to win. They meekly place pennies on the table. And you have the high-bidders with $#!* eating grins. If the truth were any more revealing, we'd be sitting cold and naked.

So. I'm going to see if this theory holds any water. I'm going to bid higher than I've ever bid. And if it feels a little too rich for my blood, I'll just find a different table where the high Adwords bids are more suited to my temperament. I'll work my way up to being a true high-stakes player.

So, the lesson - the idea - I offer you, is be the high bidder on the richest table that you can, while still being able to sleep well at night.

Best wishes, John

PS - Satellite Direct TV - need a great installation deal?


I've Been Trumped!

I run a risk here. But, I wouldn't be doing you my best good to NOT share this with you.

When I started this blog up, I thought I had a slightly different and unique approach by sharing with you what I'm doing.

Well, I just stumbled upon Vincent Rich's blog and . . . damn it's good. It's very good. He's placed the bar high.

So . . . go check out what he's offering and please come back. :-) This is a little like my wife telling me it's OK to date a Victoria's Secret supermodel. I hope you love me enough to come back.

John