There are affiliates out there that want to play fair, do things right, stay ethical, etc. All this is possible, but you’ll have a hard time bringing in 4-figure days. You’ll miss a lot of the fun and fire of the competition, too. And it is very hard to say what is ethical, and what isn’t. A good salesman does what he has to do to close the deal. It’s just the same in the online world as it is in the offline world of advertising and marketing.

So how do you really stay in front of your competitors? Constant research, constant analytic tracking, constant product development, and staying in the loop with whats happening in the news with digital advertising and CPA marketing. It’s a tough, tough industry for the individual because it takes a lot of time to do all of these things. Most new affiliate marketers don’t realize that is how much work it really takes, and just using my girl images and throwing up ads on Facebook won’t work. The game has evolved far beyond that point.

So what can a new affiliate do to get through these things?

• Save Money – Get some decent bankroll. Work two jobs if you have to, because the full time marketer works just as hard, if not harder than someone who works overtime at McDonald’s 60 hours a week. You can try affiliate marketing with $20 a day, but you won’t get far, it will take a long ass time to test every variable for maximum ROI, and by the time you’re done testing the campaign, the network is already scrubbing you or the best offer has been pulled already.
• Build tools – spys, scrapers, automatic bidders, cloakers, split testing scripts. Build them all or find them if you can. They’ll all help you out considerably.
• Competitive Analysis – Use that spy, or just start hunting out ads yourself. Look for landing pages, see where they are getting traffic and sending it, and innovate off of that. Don’t straight up copy them unless you only have the mental capacity of a 5-year-old and that’s your idea of creative… wait, scratch that… a 5-year-old would do a better job at it than you.
• Start Innovating – Make a new niche. Create your own product. Build your own affiliate empire by letting others steal each others work and you making all the money. Become an advertiser yourself. Build your own traffic source. Make money, get paid, dammit!

Want some ideas on how new affiliate marketers can make it in this industry? Join the private forums for case studies, downloads, and one-on-one advice with me. For more details, click here.