TylerCruz.com: An Internet Entrepreneur's JourneyThe journal of a web entrepreneur on his journey to wealth.

New Affiliate Marketing Record: $3,099.99 Profit in 1 Day!

Coming right after my previous post in which I announced that I profited over $40,000 in May, I am happy to announce that I’ve set a new personal affiliate marketing daily net profit record.

It’s actually been a while since I’ve had one. My previous one was made back on January 27th, 2013 for the amount of $2,883.89.

At the end of that post, I predicted the following:

"While my last 3 posts have all been about setting new records, I’m pretty confident that you won’t see a new one from me for quite a while. If I had to guess, I’d say at least 2-3 months, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took an entire year."

That prediction turned out to be pretty accurate, as it took me just over 4 months before setting this new one.

New Daily Net Profit Record!

A few days ago, on June 1st, 2013, I set a new daily net profit record on my campaigns for the amount of:

$3,099.99

(Spare a penny, anyone?)

While it’s a new record, it’s not significantly higher than my previous one – just $216.10 more – and it did take 4 months to reach.

That being said, I shouldn’t complain. Hell, 2 years ago I was making literally nothing from affiliate marketing.

For those wondering, the daily gross number was $6,151.00, which wasn’t a new record gross for me, but is definitely in my top-10. That works out to an ROI of 102%.

Not The Average

Remember, the $3,099.99 that I netted a few days ago was a new daily record for me and isn’t the average I make on a day-to-day basis from my campaigns.

If we look at my numbers from May, we’ll see that my daily average last month was $1,296.

While June has started off absolutely awesomely so far (the past few days have been very good too!), I still stand by the prediction I made in my previous post in that I believe June will be fairly low for me – at least in comparison to how May performed.

Next Record Prediction

The record I made on Saturday was a little bit of a fluke in that the stars had all aligned for me on my campaigns. Without going into any details, everything just went right for me – I ran some new offers which were doing fantastic and my conversion rates were higher than usual.

So taking that into consideration, along with the fact that I predict June will take a fair bit of a drop in profit, I don’t think that I’ll be setting a new net profit record anytime soon. If I had to guess, I’d say no sooner than 1 month, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took another 4+ months.

Hopefully I can break it within 6-months though. We’ll just have to wait and see how long it takes!

New Monthly Net Income Record: $40,198.38

It’s the beginning of a new month again (it’s scary how fast that seems to happen) which means that it’s time for my obligatory affiliate income report of the previous month.

This is now my fifth post in this monthly post series, and I’m going to keep up with them as long as I’m active in affiliate marketing. I just wish other affiliate marketing bloggers would do these as well, as I seem to be the only one that does anymore.

Now before I continue, I want to quote what I ended my previous income report with, in the "May Predictions" section at the end:

"Hopefully I’m wrong, but I don’t think May will come anywhere close to how March or April performed. If I had to guess, I’d say around $25,000 sounds about right."

So far, I’ve been wrong in every single one of my predictions to date – always fairly confident that my earnings would be far lower than they actually ended up being.

May proved to be no different… as I set new personal records for both gross and net income from my affiliate marketing campaigns!

Below are my affiliate marketing numbers (not inclusive of my other revenue sources) for the month of May 2013:

May 2013 Affiliate Campaign Income:

$104,600.50

This managed to just slightly set a new personal record gross month for me – my previous best was back in February 2013 at $103,961.00.

This is now the 2nd month in which I’ve grossed 6-figures.

Expenses:

$64,402.12

Traffic Source Breakdown:

• Traffic Source #1: $34.93
• Traffic Source #2: $25.50
• Traffic Source #3: $1,000.36
• Traffic Source #4: $660.00
• Traffic Source #5: $1940.05
• Traffic Source #6: $34,165.20
• Traffic Source #7: $26,576.08

Thankfully, I didn’t break my previous record on this number

Net Profit:

$40,198.38

Woohoo! A new monthly net income record on my affiliate marketing campaigns – and by a big margin too!

My previous record was $33,883.66 made back in March 2013. May beat that by over $6,000!

In addition, my ROI saw quite an improvement over the previous month, beating it by 10% at 62% ROI.

Year-To-Date Affiliate Marketing Results

2013 has continued to be an absolute fantastic year for me so far.

Here’s a monthly breakdown:

Wow.

I am so happy to have had such a great month. May’s net income was close to double that of January’s, which is crazy growth.

For some reason, the "4" in $40,198.38 just seems so much larger than the "3" in $3X,XXX.XX to me. More than $20K to $30K or $40K to $50K.

I’m so happy I made it too, because yesterday I was fretting that I’d come in just under the $40,000 mark.

What’s crazy too, is that I’ve grossed $464,569.30 from my campaigns this year so far, and we’re only 5-months in. That means I’m still on pace to hit (surpass actually) the $1M mark this year.

Net-wise, I’m on pace to do $390,000 profit for the year.

That’s a nice number, and I certainly don’t want to jinx it, but I still really need to get to the next level, or at least continue to grow.

While my corporation is making nice money at the moment, I actually only pay myself a small salary in comparison, as I’m not the type of person to blow everything on expensive cars and bling, only to have my campaigns die and then have no seed money to get things back running again.

I actually have a blog post planned which will talk about this in more detail, but my point is that my lifestyle hasn’t changed despite my recent affiliate marketing success, and I want it to.

I actually gave myself a (relatively) large raise via my salary a week ago as a reward for my increased numbers, but I won’t give myself another one until or unless I continue to IMPROVE my numbers.

And so, until that happens, I’ll be stuck at a personal salary of what is probably considered to be average middle-class (according to this website).

Therefore, when I "complain" that $40K+ a month in net profit isn’t enough, don’t mistake that for greed (and definitely not bragging), because chances are you are likely living a better standard of living than me at this moment.

So to reiterate, I really want to get to the next level or continue to improve my numbers. As I’ve said many times before, I’m a small affiliate compared to so many others – which is great, as it means that there’s plenty of room for me to get my numbers up.

May Recap

My plans and goals for May were actually to continue to reduce my side projects and distractions – namely to get caught up with my e-mail and finish my corporate taxes.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make much progress on that. Instead, I found myself spending the majority of my working hours continuing to maintain and optimize my existing campaigns.

I also spent a fair bit of time testing a few new traffic sources and offers. While this worked out in the end (new income record), it left me stressed due to my e-mails piling up and my side projects still nagging away at me – namely my corporate taxes which very badly need to get finished.

Basically, May was mostly spent maintaining and optimizing my existing campaigns as well as trying some new traffic sources and offers.

June Plans

In June, I am absolutely determined to get caught up with all but the most time-consuming of my e-mail. I am currently at 869 unread e-mail as I write this, and I want to get down to 0 unread and maybe 20 "starred" e-mail that I will put on hold.

I am also determined to finish my corporate taxes. I hope to get both of these done within a week.

After those, I will continue to work on reducing side projects and side distractions, hopefully by selling at least one more site or a handful of domains.

Affiliate marketing-wise, when I have actual time to do so, there’s this one particular offer on PeerFly that I really want to try on Facebook. I just need adequate time and energy before I can work on it.

June Predictions

As I wrote at the beginning of this blog post, I’ve been wrong in every single one of my predictions to date – always fairly confident that my earnings would be far lower than they actually ended up being.

Even so, I’m going to once again predict that this month will be far lower than the previous month’s. In fact, I believe June’s results will be half of what May did, so around $20,000 or so.

This isn’t a blind prediction – it’s  based on hard numbers and trends on my campaigns.

Obviously I hope I’m wrong, but this is what I’m expecting.

As always, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in another month from now when I write June’s report. Wish me luck!

Help Open Online Stores as a Shopify Partner

The following is a paid review for TylerCruz.com written and reviewed by Michael Kwan. It is completely of Michael Kwan’s opinion and is not influenced by being paid. If you’re interested in having your site or product reviewed, please view my advertising page

How much of your shopping do you do online? Do you find that it’s just so much easier to hop onto your computer, find the coupons at https://www.raise.com/coupons/sams-club, navigate to your retailer of choice, add a few things to that virtual shopping cart and check-out, all from the comfort and convenience of your desk? It’s no surprise that e-commerce continues to be on the rise and more and more stores are making the jump to online. It also helps when there are tools like Shopify that make the process that much easier. if what you want is to boost your sales, you can find other tips at https://esdsales.com/.

As an Internet marketer, this could present a monumental opportunity for you to rake to capitalize on this rising trend. As more retailers and traditional brick-and-mortar stores opt to open up online storefronts, they’ll also be looking for the right solutions to power their online stores. And that’s where the Shopify Partner Program can come into the picture for you. We’ll start with a brief overview of what Shopify is all about and then we’ll jump to the affiliate program to see how that can put more cash in your pocket.

The Shopify Online Store Builder

While it was originally founded in 2005 as a snowboard company, Shopify has now grown to become one of the most popular engines for powering a varying of online shops. Today, there are over 50,000 active online stores that are using Shopify with an additional 2,000 being added each month. There are customers in over 100 countries and, in 2012, Shopify stores processed an impressive 9.9 million orders with over $750 million in gross merchandise volume. They’re projected to process over $1.5 billion in 2013. Payment processing is done with https://www.emscorporate.com/merchant-solutions/mobile-payment-processing.

A big part of this is that Shopify is designed to be a comprehensive solution for e-commerce. Companies that use Shopify gain access to over 120 different themes, but they also have full control over their store’s design. You can see some of the examples above. They look really professional and, with so many different templates available, each online store can rock its own unique look. For physical retailers, integrating custom shelving for businesses can further enhance store aesthetics and functionality, creating a seamless shopping experience.

The engine is complete, handling payments, inventory and all the other things needed to run a successful online store. And you don’t need to be a huge multinational corporation to have an online store, as 98% of Shopify’s members are SMBs and entrepreneurs. By taking courses around important e-commerce topics, you can stay up-to-date with the current e-commerce trends and learn how you can reach your online store’s full potential. See Cortney Fletcher’s eCom babes course price if you’re looking for an affordable eCommerce course to help you start your own online store. With plenty of home-based businesses graduating from Etsy, you’ve got “brick-and-mortar” migrating to “brick-and-click” for the first time. If you’re thinking about selling your own products on Amazon, you can check out SoStocked to get the latest amazon seller news.

Here’s a great example. Forty Ninth Parallel is a local Vancouver-based coffee company that has built quite the presence here in the local community, but they’ve also expanded to the online world thanks, in part, to Shopify. The website looks great and they’re now able to reach customers all around the world. Shopify is meant to be both easy to use and robust.

Making Money as a Partner

Yes, it might be great that these entrepreneurs and SMBs are making an easier transition to their online stores, but what does this mean for you as the Internet marketer who wants to capitalize on this trend? Well, Shopify also has an affiliate program for you.

Shopify says that this is a very unsaturated affiliate program and niche, especially with so many new small businesses opening online stores each day. They are actively searching for the right platform and the right service provider, so you’ve got a fairly large demographic that you can target with your online marketing efforts. They say that you can approach people via social media, your blog or whatever else; it’s up to you, as all traffic sources are accepted.

And you can earn up to $358 per sale.

Two Commission Options

There are two payment options available through the Shopify Partner Program.

First, you can opt for 200% per sale. Under this system, you earn a 200% one-time commission for a referred customer’s subscription fee. The largest standard package with Shopify is $179 per month and that’s how you arrive at the $358 commission. The basic subscription and professional subscription are $29 and $59, earning you one-time commissions of $58 and $118, respectively.

Second, you can opt for 20% of each bill. Under this system, you earn a recurring commission of 20% of every referred customer’s bill every month. This includes the transaction fees that are charged to the customer and it’s a lifetime commission. In the case of the $179 unlimited plan, that means you earn $35.80 each month, plus a cut of the transaction fees. Which plan you choose is entirely up to you.

The Dashboard

The main dashboard for Shopify partners is very straightforward and easy to understand. All of the main navigation is located along the left sidebar and the referral link, conveniently enough, can be found under the Affiliates section.

It is also here that you can take a look at the Dev Shops and Apps that are available within Shopify, but the focus for affiliates will naturally be under the affiliate section. I did find a lack of marketing materials here, as you won’t find anything in terms of banners, email swipes, pre-written emails, or anything like that. It would be nice to see greater support on that front, as it would help partners better promote Shopify to potential customers.

Payments are typically handled via PayPal, making it easy to receive your earned commissions in a timely manner.

Conclusion

There are tons of new entrepreneurs and existing small business owners who are actively seeking out the best possible solution for their online stores. They want it to be easy to use, but they also want it to be powerful enough to handle all their needs and they want their online stores to look good. If you need help starting your own Amazon business, you can visit fbamasterclass.io.

Your job, then, is to promote the platform via the Shopify Partner Program and earn some pretty decent commissions. If they are adding over 2,000 new customers every month, it means that there could be some big upside and this trend continues to rise. You just have to know how to market it effectively.

StackThatMoney: Breeding Super Affiliates

There is certainly no shortage of places to discuss and learn affiliate marketing out there. There are literally dozens of large forums dedicated to such discussion, most of them free.

But there’s one place that is quite a bit different than the rest, and that place is called StackThatMoney.

StackThatMoney is a private affiliate marketing forum that costs a monthly subscription fee of $99/month. I have written about and even reviewed similar forums in the past, and still highly recommend these places, but if I could only choose one private affiliate marketing forum, it’d be StackThatMoney.

20-Minute Screencast Tour and Walkthrough

In addition to this written post, I went ahead and recorded a 20-minute screencast tour and walkthrough of StackThatMoney as well, for those of you too lazy to read and/or who would like to see how it looks from the inside.

The screencast is available in HD:

(Note: You may need to visit the post directly at TylerCruz.com if you’re reading this via e-mail or RSS in order to see it.)

Why I Love StackThatMoney

If you used to wonder where all the big boys in this industry hang out, now you know. STM is full of true successful, experienced, and proven affiliate marketers – and if I tried to compare myself to them, it’d be like comparing an ant to an 800 pound gorilla.

But just because STM has a lot of ballers isn’t what makes it great. Here are a few reasons why I love StackThatMoney:

Positive Atmosphere:

Even though there are some guys there who will spend more on Facebook in a day than most people make in a year, there is no stupid posturing, put-downs, bragging, etc. Everyone is relatively modest and there to learn and help others.

It’s not a forum to brag about how much you make or make negative comments about others, but rather to share tips, ask questions, and learn how to make more money.

Guys making millions of dollars a year don’t think they’re too good to rub elbows with those newer in the industry, and you’ll regularly see them offering killer tips and advice to those very people.

Killer Tips and Knowledge

With so many truly successful affiliate marketers as members, there is so much killer information available that it easily pays for the subscription.

I personally believe that the "Follow Along" campaigns offer the greatest method for affiliate marketers to learn the game and turn their campaigns profitable. It’s like having a few dozen successful affiliate marketers over your shoulder as you work on your campaigns, telling you what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and what you should be doing.

STM covers so many areas that you are likely to find information that is conducive to whatever it is you’re running, whether it be Facebook, AdWords, CPV, mobile, media buys, adult, etc..

Active Community

Despite being a "private" forum and charging $99 a month, word has spread throughout the affiliate marketing community because it is an extremely active forum.

For example, as of one second ago, there are currently 288 members online on the forum. These are actual paying members – not bots, spiders or guests. Of those 288 members, 5 of them are site staff/moderators/admins.

If you create a thread, you’re going to get responses – quality responses.

Free Campaigns

It may sound crazy, as any sane affiliate marketer will never reveal their campaigns, but there are actual full campaigns revealed on StackThatMoney by some real big affiliates.

And when I say full, I mean pretty much everything you need to know including traffic source, targeting, offer, ads, landing pages, and angles.

Usually most of these campaigns will be campaigns that they used to run, but there are some that are revealed that they’re still actively running. And these are not $5/day campaigns either, but we’re talking about campaigns where they’ve netted anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000 profit from them.

They are a great way to see what works and to get ideas from, or if you want, to straight out copy (although you’d be best to make a few adjustments here and there).

Success Stories

In order to provide motivation and inspiration to its members (as well as good marketing material), StackThatMoney has a sub-forum for Success Stories.

Here is a screenshot I took of this forum. Check out some of the thread titles:

What’s amazing is that the vast majority of these threads are from members who weren’t making anything when they first signed up to StackThatMoney.

I’m telling you, StackThatMoney is breeding super affiliates.

Sample Forum Threads

Here are some forum threads that I copy/pasted from the forums, in order to give you a rough idea as to the type of content available:

• Best Places to Live for Affiliate Marketers and internet marketer communities
• Converting Landing Pages (round 2) PSD + HTML
• One Dirty Leadimpact Trick to Outbid Your Competition
• A Campaign That Made Me Over $80,000 In Profit!
• Here’s 1 of my Campaigns Making $800+/day on Average! (daily deals)
• (Newbie/Intermediate Guide) Complete Guide To Facebook Ads
• Make A POF Dating Campaign Profitable In 24hours
• $500,000 Profit – An Old Ringtone Campaign On Facebook.
• Finally 1k/Day: About Damn Time
• Reaching My Goal of $1,000,000 Revenue
• Is FB Asking For ID For Bumps On All Accounts Now?

This is the type of content you can expect to see on a daily basis.

Tools, Landing Pages, and Discounts

I left this section at the end because I personally feel that the community and informational content is what makes StackThatMoney so great.

But in addition to everything I already covered, a subscription to STM also includes free access to a wide selection of tools, landing pages, and discounts.

Tools & Services:

Available to members are a couple dozen affiliate marketing related tools and services (not including whatever is made available from members in the forums!) including (but not limited to):

• Adult Ad Spy – Brand new and something they’re proud of (competing adult ad spy alone charges $200/month)
• Plenty of Fish Ad Uploader
• Plenty of Fish Spy Tool 
• STM Mobile Tracker
• Various Affiliate Related Calculators
• Keyword Tools
• Domains Tools
• PPC/PPV Tools
• etc.

Landing Pages

Spread throughout the forums (search is your friend) are threads where people give away free tested and proven landing pages, some even complete with source PSDs.

Discounts

Also available to STM members are special unique discounts to various 3rd party tools and services such as CPVLab and WhatRunsWhere.

Conclusion

If you’re serious about affiliate marketing, I highly recommend joining StackThatMoney.

Whether you’re a newcomer struggling to find your first profitable campaign, or an experienced affiliate marketer who is making 6-figures a month, StackThatMoney is an incredibly useful resource that is easily worth the monthly subscription price of $99/month.