Charles Ngo (better known as Dr Ngo on Twitter), had something to say at the Tracking202/Bloosky meet-up during ASW that I really wanted to touch on. Several super affiliates were asked to give a tip to the crowd, and while some gave out PPC tips and some PPV tips that are surely flooded and now over-abused even just a few days after the conferance, Charles gave everyone something that everyone could use in their own way.
His advice, put simply, was to simplify, scope in, and be one of the top in the vertical you are promoting. Sure, you can build horizontally to several different verticals and turn them all in to 4-5 figure generating campaigns. But wouldn’t it be better to master your vertical, and be one of the highest earners in it? Think upper 5 to 6 figure revenues a day. Fling 5000 acai leads a day, rather than 100 teeth, 300 auto, 250 dating leads, and 50 muscle building leads.
But wouldn’t this be like putting all your eggs in one basket? Not really. There are different traffic sources, demographics, and wants and needs that people want/need to fulfill, and you can capitalize on all of those. Be a master of your niche by focusing your attention and knowledge all on that niche. Choose a popular niche that will never drown: auto, home, biz-op, clothing, dating, weight loss, teeth whitening, insurance, etc.
That speech he gave was probably one of the best things I heard at ASW. It was a very “Ohhhh, I finally realized what I’ve been doing wrong” moment. I make my money, and I make a decent amount, but with more focus on one niche/vertical, I could probably make a lot more.
And so, I’m going to try it. I’ve picked my vertical and I’m going to stick to it in the coming months. Hopefully it pays off!
So what do you think of Dr Ngo’s advice? Are you going to take it, or do you think it is counter-productive. State your opinion in the comments below.
(And if you are trying to pick your verticals and niches, why not try and figure out what landing page will work well first. I’ve got landing pages on sale for 5 bucks each in my affiliate store. Check ‘em out now!)
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I don't agree with it personally.
I think it definitely is putting all your eggs in one basket. But only if you're playing the arbitrage game. If you can develop an authority site that attracts traffic whether it's promoted or not, then you can probably justify it.
I see too much opportunity out there to stick to one niche.
Interesting perspective. There is definitely something to be said for focusing your efforts. Warren Buffet is an advocate of focused investing and not diversification. I am sure the same principles apply here.
this is a very very bright advice that i will definitely take advantage of. I will start implementing it starting from next week to see how it goes.
It's actually a great advice.. Instead of diversifying offers, diversify traffic source and demographics.. I've been jumping from offer to offer, network to network, and have spent almost half of what I make per month with 0 ROI. I believe that I've just ran in circles, sticking with one vertical doesn't look that bad at all after all..
DR_NGO FTW!! dude knows his ish! hes the drug lord of berries… it puts the saying you want to be the best and he is takin over!
Diversification is key, that's all I gotta' say. If you can only master one niche – your business model is not sustainable.
Problem with that is, say all the decent offers go over night, you are fucked.
This is definitely some good advice. While I think that there is a bit of all your eggs in one basket going on here, the real power with this technique is the fact that you become an expert in your chosen vertical.
When you become an expert at anything, patterns, trends, and opportunities pop out at you. This puts you in a unique position to cash in.
Yeah, man. Charles has helped a lot of people get ripped in 4 weeks.
I don't think it is putting all your eggs in one basket.
At the end of the day, it is sales. I'm sure Ngo has developed exceptional sales skills by drilling down in one niche. He could most likely replicate his success in other niches. Once you've mastered the sales skills, it becomes less about what you're selling as long as the market is there.
I personally found his talk to be very compelling. I decided that I would focus on one vertical and master it. Better than to be a jack of all trades and master of none. Glad you found this compelling as well.
Depends on how broadly you define the vertical. If you want to dominate acai CPA offers, thats definitely putting all your eggs in one basket. However if you're hitting weight loss in general there plenty of room to diversify within that niche. Question is, are you good enough to get near the top? Need to already be at a certain level before even considering trying it. Otherwise could be a lot of wasted effort in the end, so better have a backup plan and something to sustain you in meantime.
Who cares if it's all the eggs in one basket, as long as you already brought back a huge amount of eggs with said basket ?
Think of it this way : If the vertical gets fucked overnight, you are supposed to have enough money left to start in another. Why does so many people assume that successful affiliates don't save *any* money for catastrophic events ?
I think I would agree with that as a good strategy.
Its not about purely running acai rebills though, if you still can.
Its about selecting a solid long term niche, such as say auto insurance, then running every type of traffic to it, ppc, social, ppv, seo.
Once you get to a certain level companies will start approaching you. This is the a million times better than having four of five short term offers running, on a select couple of traffic sources.
This type of strategy is where the industry heads as it slowly matures.
Its called long term.
Thanks for sharing this, Justin. BTW, your blog post was on the first page of google for "affiliate verticals".
This is great advice for everyone. There are way too many options for marketers and it can get overwhelming at times. By specializing on few niches, you do have a better chance of mastering your verticals as well as understanding the demographics that can maximize your income.