Ad HustlerConfessions Of A Serial Internet Entrepreneur

• Our 10am “How To Pitch Your Business” session went awesome.  So many people showed up that people were all standing in the back.  Seriously surprised me but was really cool.
• We had a chick ask a question in what I think was Chinese during the session. It took all of my power not to completely bust out laughing.
• A lot of people come up to me saying I should speak more.
• Kim Rowley only looks at the most 35 to me.
• There seem to be A LOT less affiliates around then there used to be.
• Most affiliates are socially awkward.
• Apparently if you want to check into a hotel early you need an intimidating black guy.  Me & Ian Fernando both tried to check in to the hotel early and they said no and were kind of rude to boot, Ian brought back a big black guy and it was a done deal, checked in with ease…
• Prosperent is the most underrated affiliate network at Affiliate Summit.  Almost no one knows who they are yet I think they are going to blow up in the next couple of years.
• Seems like most affiliate networks are diversifying beyond traditional niches into app and game development.
• If an affiliate network takes you out don’t be obnoxious and order the most expensive bottle of wine on the menu.  I heard from an affiliate network that they took some loser $2/month affiliate out and he ordered a $4,000 bottle of wine.  Don’t be greedy, it’ll come back and bite you in the ass….I guarantee it!
• Although i’ve heard people say that Shareasale parties are lame, they really do an great job putting them together and they are the only parties where you can actually talk to people.  They had 3 rooms, a quiet room where you could talk, a room with food, and the Dance/bull riding room.  Cool theme & Good Job.
• I’m suggesting that in the Affiliate Summit welcome bags, they get a Deodorant sponsor because there are some people here with serious hygiene problems.
• NDemand Affiliate Network knows how to sponsor a dinner (Ian Fernando’s Dinner to be exact).  First they aren’t pushy at all and they know how to socialize.  They are a family owned company and it’s hard NOT to like the people they brought.  They took us out to Del Friscos which was fantastic and everyone had a blast.  NDemand even bought us all Gucci mousepads as gifts which I thought was a funny/memorable gift.  They are having a Puerto Rico meetup for affiliates and based on the time I had last night i’m considering going. Info.
• Of course my server has issues while I’m typing this so i’m off to deal with support!

Any observations you all care to share?  Leave a comment.

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I was reading a Wickedfire thread which referenced an AllFacebook post which alerted me to something that Facebook is up to.  Apparently Facebook is testing ads targeted at status updates.  Facebook has a lot of data on their users so power to them for using it to help their ad system.  See the AllFacebook post for a screenshot of a possible implementation of this new targeting system.

Honestly, if that is how they are going to implement an ad targeting system based on status updates I don’t understand what they are trying to do.  The whole system makes no sense to me in this context.  This got me thinking…..Rather then just criticizing someone elses implementation, how would I implement a status update ad targeting system that would be effective for advertisers?

If I Were The Boss At Facebook Ads……

I’ve come up with 2 possible solutions that could essentially revolutionize online advertising. (Hey Facebook: Show me some love if you take my ideas)

My thought process: The reason why search engine marketing is so darn effective is because there is intent behind a search, and advertisers can cater their ads to that intent. The ads on search engines fulfill a need.  They are the answer to a question.

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Status Update Targeted Ad Implementation I

Let’s say a Facebook user made the following status update:

“User Name I feel like crap today and i’ve felt like crap for a month. I wish I had health insurance so I could finally see a doctor.”

Then if Facebook would allow you to target on the following criteria:

Status Keyword: health insurance
Status Time: today (other options being “yesterday,this week,this month,ever”
Location: Within 15 miles of Asbury Park, NJ

You could craft an ad with text like:

Need A Doctor?
No insurance required. Our office only charges $49 for a non insured patient checkup.

This would make Facebook almost as effective as search engine marketing because you could target intent rather then just interests.

This implementation isn’t always going to be perfect.  For instance if someone wrote as a status update “Thank goodness for health insurance” the ad would make no sense in that context.  However, this does move Facebook Ads closer towards having the ability to target based on intent.

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Status Update Targeted Ad Implementation II

My second idea would be wayyyyyy more effective but risk annoying Facebook users.  It goes like this:

An advertiser decides they want to run a Status Targeted Ad.  They select their demos:

Status Keyword: health insurance
Status Time: today (other options being “yesterday,this week,this month,ever”
Location: Within 15 miles of Asbury Park, NJ

The advertiser is presented with a list of status updates that match their criteria but Facebook removes any identifying information about the user.  For instance:

1) I feel like crap today and i’ve felt like crap for a month. I wish I had health insurance so I could finally see a doctor.
2) Thank goodness for health insurance
3) Does anyone know what a red rash with a purple triangle in the center if it on your ass signifies?  I lost my health insurance when I lost my job so I can’t get it checked out.

In this example #1 & #3 would be extremely relevant to a doctor that could offer a $49 office visit without the need for insurance.

My proposal here is to allow the advertiser to JOIN THE CONVERSATION and have the “ad” be a reply to that users Facebook status.

Example:

Facebook User: I feel like crap today and i’ve felt like crap for a month. I wish I had health insurance so I could finally see a doctor.
Advertiser Reply: My name is Dr. Smith and we examine uninsured patients for only $49.  Give my office a call at 555-5465 for more info.  Feel Better!

And for this type of advertising Facebook could invent a whole new pricing model.  Not per click, or per thousand impressions: PER REPLY!

This would increase Facebook’s bottom line because they could implement this alongside their current CPC & CPM ads.  They could charge a flat rate across the board per reply ($1-10 for instance) or could even build in some type of bidding system.

They would also obviously have to cap each user to receiving one “sponsored reply” per day to limit the annoyance of this ad system.

If the ads were targeted and legitimate the responses could actually HELP the facebook user into making a decision or finding the answer to a problem.

Personally I think this idea is genius.

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That was my contribution to the world of online advertising.

What do you think of my ideas?  Do you have a better one?  If so please share in the comments!

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AIM Conversation:

Ad Hustler: hey {AM NAME} where in the system is {OFFER NAME} i dont see it and i may try something with it
Affiliate Manager: hey
Affiliate Manager: i have to get your own link set up for you
Affiliate Manager: what kind of traffic
Ad Hustler: thinkin of {TRAFFIC TYPE}
Ad Hustler: anyone doin well with that?
Affiliate Manager: ahh
Affiliate Manager: can’t run in {TRAFFIC TYPE}
Ad Hustler: ahh ok

Listen, if an offer doesn’t accept a certain traffic type, that’s cool, and I respect the advertisers wishes.  Doesn’t sales 101 say that you would suggest to me a similar offer that DOES accept my traffic type to try to get me to run SOMETHING with you?  I haven’t ran with this network since my old AM left so you would think they would try to get me to run again.  This was the end of the conversation.  Some affiliate managers take their affiliate relationships for granted and it can bite them in the ass.  Your job as an affiliate manager isn’t to just answer a simple question, it’s to try to solve the affiliates problem as best you can.  That’s what differentiates an average affiliate manager from a GREAT affiliate manager.

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I’ve owned a successful ecommerce site since before I even knew what affiliate marketing was.  One thing i’ve always done is offered extremely limited support.  My site has no phone number you can call and only a contact form.  The honest reason for this is that I never thought there was much of a need to deal with idiots asking idiotic questions on a daily basis.  It always seemed like it would be a waste of time since at one point I worked for an ecommerce site and answered the phone calls and saw first hand how idiotic they were.  Don’t get me wrong, we offer excellent service.  You get exactly what you order, delivered quickly and we accept all returns.  We under-promise and over-deliver on every order and that has lead to a very loyal customer base.

I was ordering something from another website and saw a live help popup.  It asked me if i had any questions and indeed I did so I typed my question and got live help.  I was impressed with the service and decided to look into the software that was hosting the live help popup.  It was a company called Olark.  I found it was really easy to install, full of features and cheap so a marketing test was born.  I decided to try this live help app on my ecommerce website.

To make sure things were handled appropriately, i dealt with all of the live help chats myself over the course of 3 days.  If anyone can sell someone something it’s me so I figured having myself handle the chat’s would give us the best chance of success (for a test, i’d never do it full time).

My Process:

1. Got an Olark account and installed the script (very easy)
2. I used a function called the “welcome assistant” which initiates a conversation with the website visitor after xx seconds.  I chose 60 seconds.
3. The “welcome assistant” would send out a random message from a bunch that I entered.  Example: Hi, this is {Name}.  Can I answer any questions or help you find anything?
4. If someone answered the “welcome assistant” i would get the message in my AIM client and chat there.

One of the things that is kind of cool about these chats is that you can actually see what the person is looking at.  Just like if you were a salesperson at a store and guide them towards the best product (or the most profitable).

My test results (this isn’t the most scientific of case studies):

Time: 3 Days (Approx 24 hours logged into live chat)
Chats: 16
Increase in Immediate Sales: 0

Observations:

• The vast majority of visitors have no interest in contact by the site, however, some obviously do.
• Most of the people who want to chat are tire kickers aka window shoppers.
• None of the people I spoke to actually bought.
• A few of the people I spoke to were super appreciative of the help I gave and told me they would only buy from us from now on – but they didn’t buy anything after our chat so either they are lying, or will be buying in the future (this is where tracking becomes difficult)
• People who initiate a chat seem to spend a LOT more time on the site then people who don’t.
• People want advice about what they should do or what they should buy.

Overall, i’d consider this test a fail for live chat.  Olark is a pretty sweet service though.  Maybe it would work better on a higher priced more complicated product or service.

I would like to try another case study in the future where I put the live help on an affiliate landing page and see how it increases conversions.

Have you tested live chat on a site you own?  If so, did it lift your conversions?

P.S. My Favorite Live Chat:

Website Visitor: do you ssuck dick
Me: Yes
Website Visitor: i love yo ass
Me: thanks it is pretty sweet
Website Visitor: i was just wondering since we have some cemminstree can i ha’ yo numba showty
Me: 867-5309

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Disclaimer: NO compensation was received for mentioning Olark in this post

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