In todays online marketing world, one can easily get overwhelmed with information overload, which brings us to one BIG question?
Where and how do i start?
The most important factor in the CPA business, is that you need to have traffic and time on your hands. Accompanied with this you absolutely need to track your clicks, sales, traffic, etc. – Very important!!
Start of by choosing a tracking system that will suit you the best. Take a look below at my recommendations…
Introduction to CPA Marketing
What are CPA Offers?
CPA stands for “cost-per-action” offers where a user fills out a form or downloads software from an advertiser. These forms can range from a single email submit (free laptop offer) to a much longer form with multiple fields (life insurance
offer). Downloadable software could be for items such as toolbars, screensavers or emoticons.
CPA Advertisers generally payout anywhere from $0.25-$3.50 for a single email submit, to as high as $140 for a longer form.
The nice thing about CPA offers is that users don’t have to buy anything upfront/ provide their Credit Card details.
What are CPA Networks?
CPA networks are the middleman between the Advertiser and the Publisher. They provide you with all the creatives, like banners, emails, text links, etc. They also provide you with advance tracking capabilities. Monthly checks are usually send at the end of each month. Stay away from networks paying out every 60 days; one need to have a liquid cash flow.
Applying to a CPA Network
Almost every network requires, that you need to have a website, especially when you apply for the bigger networks. When filling out an application, don’t give them the idea that your a newbie or beginner. If you do get rejected by the major corporate CPA networks, phoning them might increase your chances almost 90% of the time. You should try to get accepted into the big networks, because there’s a lot of “fly by night” networks that don’t have the resources or cash flow to pay on time.
Selecting a CPA Network
It’s essential to look for high demand offers/products in the market. To determine which offers might convert above average, one needs to make use of Google’s free keyword tool…
You need to type in the most relevant keyword for your offer, and check how many times it’s been searched for. If you find a CPA offer does not have much search volume for it’s most relevant keywords, than I don’t suggest that you promote that CPA offer.
Combine the above keyword tool, with these other great tools from Google.
Ebay
If you go to Ebay Pulse you will immediately see what’s the most popular search terms.
Lycos Top 50
Lycos can also be a guideline, and are mostly geared towards trends and events in the search market. You then look for a related offer in a specific category. American Idols are just one example.
A few other good resources you should check out to see what is currently popular
are: Yahoo Buzz & Google Zeitgeist
Gauge Your Competition
There are software out there that can help you finding those hidden gems, but the easiest method is to type your keyword into the 3 major search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and see how many sponsored ads are listed. Finding a lot of ads does not necessarily mean a bad thing. This means people are making money from a high offer that is in huge demand.
Comparing CPA Offers
My favourite free tools for comparing different offers across cpa networks are…
One can easily check which offers pay out the highest for a lead, but that does not mean it will convert better, than other offers paying less. The important factor is that the landing pages might not convert as well as the low paying offer. Split testing is essential.
