Trends, Opportunities, & Risks for Affiliate Marketers: Russ Ruffino with Clickbank

In this podcast conversation with Molly and Beau from Clickbank, Russ discusses how he got started as a marketer and his recommendations for beginners.

When Russ hit 30, he was bartending. He started to realize he had to find another way to make a living. There had to be another way!

One of his friend’s brothers was doing really well internet marketing. He threw himself right into it. It was going pretty well and he quit bartending after a few weeks. It was liberating, but terrifying, he says. The cool thing about it was that it forced Russ to dig into this new source of income.  He hit the ground running in November 2010 and had made close to four figures by January 2011. It took off like crazy. While he doesn’t suggest everybody quit there jobs and become an internet marketer, but he really figured it out. He has consistently thrived off of five-figure months since January.

It’s an inspiring story.

But it wasn’t an easy start. He took one online course or so, but what helped in the beginning were making some basic choices. The first one, was are you going to create your own product or be an affiliate? Russ created his own product. The second was learning how to drive traffic. There’s a myth about “free” traffic. But it’s just a grind! It’s too time-consuming and you barely see results. It’s oversaturated. He figured out how to get paid traffic in a very targeted way.

One of the biggest pieces of advice is do what the influencers DO. Don’t listen to everything their books and courses say. Copy what they’re doing but do it better. When you’re an affiliate, you’re a fisherman. These are the costumers. Being the product owner is like being the guy who owns the fishery. You’re the guy who sits back and collects the goods – the clients! If you know how to lead this strategy you’ll be better off. Russ didn’t know anything about making money online, but learning these few things have made him a leader in the industry.

What works for Russ is banner advertising. Uncover communities that are anxious to work with you. Find like-minded people who are willing to share your product. There is a phenomenon known as “banner blindness.” People don’t even notice ads anymore. So to target customers, first, you have to make sure your ads get noticed. This means they have to almost be UGLY to get noticed. Make it crystal clear who that ad is for and what they’re going to get out of it. This will do the work for you. Make the problem clear.

For more, please listen to the podcast on Russ Ruffino’s Soundcloud.