How To Choose A CPA Affiliate & My 2006 Regrets

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When dealing with CPA affiliates it???s easy to get wrapped up in the higher payout accounts, but how low do you normally go? I see some down around $1, but I am trying to figure out if it???s actually worth it. What???s your method of determining which affiliates to work with?
Thanks
Chad
Great question. I get this one a lot. Good to point out that you can be fooled by higher payouts. The best advice I can give is to just run a small test and let the numbers speak for themselves. This is can be frustrating if your just starting out but a lot of ppc engines now have coupon codes for free money (50-250$) so really NOW IS THE TIME for testing.
My approach is to build organic traffic to a niche and test different affiliates. Then when I find something that works I will put a lot of PPC money behind it. This is not the popular way to do it though because a lot of people will not put in the time and effort that it takes to build a organic site that will stand the test of time (not spammed to crap) and they want overnight millions. it just is not so.
The bottom line is that the money will speak for itself.. You can try anything and if it doesnt make as promised then switch back. Analytics are your friend and really there is no magic numbers??? they are all at your fingertips.
You talk about your dumbest ideas and stuff like that but do you have any regrets in 2006?
On a personal level - Well the by far biggest thing I regret was get in on the Google funds terrorism story. The real story was the AIT click fraud. The story was CLICK FRAUD and there is some pretty good evidence on that but everyone jumped onto the possible relation to Google funding terrorists. Ya ???. Including me. That was definitely the toughest and the first time I realized the whole with power comes responsibility??? I think when my phone started ringing off the hook the next day it really hit me that I screwed up. I need to think about the impact of things before I write about them. I have a lot of friends at Google and unlike most companies they feel a mark on there company is a mark on them. That is something I have never felt and that aspect just never occoured to me.
Then only 3 days later I was on forbes.com and the reporter basically said I run a network of cloaked meso websites ??? ya??? I tried to explain here but??? blah

I make no excuses for either of these??? experiences learned. I just looked like a jackass??? It happens.
On a financial level - I wish I would have been more prepared for this winter. We killed it last summer but lost a bit of momentum after I had my first baby. We are really ramped up now though and look for 2007 to double 2006 profits.
Each Monday I am going to try to take some questions asked to me in email and here on the blog and answer them. I call the answer part the ???Shoemoney answer??? mainly because I do not know if its right or wrong but its what I think based on my experience so far.

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