People are followers. You probably are too in some ways (Don't worry, everyone is to some degree). This fact is actually a very powerful tool in marketing. If you can convince people that everyone else likes what you're promoting, you stand a good chance of increasing your conversion rates (sometimes dramatically). The idea is called social proof. The premise is that people think that what everyone else is doing (buying) is correct (good). How much more likely are you to click on a 'like' Read more [...]

This is an interview with forum member Dr Manhattan. Dr Manhattan is a full time affiliate who got his start in the Aff Playbook Forum. How did you get started? I was really tired of working for other people - I couldn't see a future in it. I started off with reading blogs, etc. and eventually joined what was then PPV Playbook. At first, I was doing a little bit on many traffic sources and really had no direction. It wasn't until I decided to focus only on PPV until I got it working that I Read more [...]

Tax season is pretty huge for affiliates. I've met several who only work during tax season, then take the rest of the year off. Yes, there's that much to be made on these offers. The affiliates who are really doing well with these offers, know them inside and out. They don't just grab an affiliate link to Turbo Tax and slap up a campaign; they thoroughly research everything about the niche. This post will get you started in that direction... What Are Tax Offers? Tax offers are generally lead Read more [...]

Everybody's had those times where you just can't get motivated to work when you're sick or tired. When you have a regular job, it's almost easier to keep working because you have a boss to answer to. Being your own boss means that you have to answer to yourself. This is a constant battle for a lot of people because in the short run it's just easier to take that nap. Of course, running your own business means you have to work even when you don't want to. So, how do you motivate yourself to keep Read more [...]

2011 is almost over and it was quite a year both personally and professionally. As I was looking back over everything writing this post, I was surprised by just how much we had grown. As most of you know, we changed our name from PPV Playbook to Aff Playbook. This change reflects the fact that the forum has tons of content in addition to PPV. I was a little nervous about the name change because 'PPV Playbook' was so well branded. I really wanted to not appear just focused on PPV however, so decided Read more [...]

No not THAT back,  I'm talking about the spine...your back. That thing that keeps your body upright. This isn't going to be the usual 'improve your CTR' or 'case study' post, and I know it might not appeal to a lot of people. This will however help you make more money in the long run. What we do for a living is great. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Unfortunately, sitting at the computer for long hours is one of the worst things you can do for your back. The human body was designed to move, Read more [...]

I stared PPV Playbook in late 2009 with no idea it would grown into what it's become. I've loved every minute of running this forum but it's time to say goodbye to PPV Playbook. Ok, of course I'm not closing!! What I am doing is changing the name. This was a tough decision but we have so much info in addition to PPV that I wanted to rename it something that reflected that. So with that said, over the next few days we will be transitioning to the new name of AffPlaybook.com Everything will Read more [...]

Ask any affiliate what the #1 thing you have to do to succeed is and the answer you will usually get is 'work hard'. That is true in a sense; you do have to work pretty hard as an affiliate to achieve a high level of success, but it's really only part of the equation. Most of the time when someone says to me 'I'm not as successful as I should be' or 'I'm trying really hard but I'm not making any money' it's pretty easy to spot the problem. Often, those affiliates aren't really trying as hard as Read more [...]

There are some great affiliate managers, some bad affiliate managers and a whole bunch in between. As funny as some of these are, this post is a collection of real stories that have happened to me, or someone I know when dealing with affiliate mangers. Your affiliate manager might suck if... 1. You hear the toilet flush when talking to them on the phone Yeah, this happened. Imagine the conversation going something like this. Affiliate manager: "Yeah, this offer is doing pretty well and.........." Me: Read more [...]

A couple posts back I wrote about scaling ppv campaigns. One of the ideas was to split test offer across different CPA networks. I wanted to expand on that idea and show an example from one of my campaigns where this made a huge difference. Affiliates often get blindly loyal to one affiliate network, which can actually really put a damper on their progress. This is pretty normal for most affiliates but Some of the reasons affiliates stick with one network - You become friends with your AM Read more [...]