Welcome back to our Champions of Performance Marketing series and the insightful interview with Joey about advanced affiliate marketing strategies.
In the first part, Joey shared his journey into affiliate marketing, how is he using AI and the foundation of Powerhouse Affiliate.
In this second part, we dive deeper into the advanced affiliate marketing strategies.
Joey provides invaluable advice for both new and advanced affiliates, discusses key performance indicators, and offers his perspective on the future of the industry.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to refine your strategies, this segment is packed with practical tips and insights to help you succeed.
Q: Could you tell me how did you start Powerhouse Affiliate?
Like I was saying earlier, I, like everyone else, went to YouTube and Google and searched and searched and went to forums looking for just little methods on how to make money.
I went through that phase where I was testing everything and not getting anywhere kind of, and when I did get somewhere, it would die, and then I would have to find another method. And it just became really time-consuming, more than profitable.
So, in 2014, I decided to create a more holistic approach to my own affiliate game and started implementing different things in my business, not only affiliates, just like everything. I would have ways to collect emails, sell something myself through Stripe or any other payment processor, manage people differently, and have multiple streams.
That’s when the idea of creating a training program that also discusses this comes up. So, people coming to Powerhouse Affiliates shouldn’t expect to get some flimsy method to make millions, and then it will die next week.
There are courses out there that are probably really good, like the next TikTok Ads course or the next Facebook course on this new method.
Powerhouse Affiliates is not that. It’s more of a holistic approach to building a business, building a website, getting multiple streams of income to that website, and using paid traffic through Facebook or Google or search ads to implement more. You will get more traffic and more sales through your platform and then eventually build it to a brand you can sell
Nobody comes into affiliate marketing with an exit plan. So, you have to build your brand, website, and business. And that’s what Powerhouse Affiliate kind of aims to do, is to teach people the multiple facets of the game so that you can build something that’s valuable.
Powerhouse Affiliate is designed as a comprehensive program for building a sustainable online business rather than just providing quick-fix solutions for affiliate marketing. It focuses on creating a diverse income stream through building a website, utilizing paid traffic, and establishing a brand that could eventually be sold.
One thing you need help with as a content or course creator in this industry is that it’s constantly changing. So, if you create a course, it could be dead in a year from now.
With our courses, we actually update them annually, and a lot of them are evergreen for every niche, and these advanced affiliate marketing strategies have been working for decades.
And it’s just that people are always looking for the super fast, but one thing we’ve done is we’ve combined the super fast with the long game.
So, it’s a holistic approach to building your business, where yes, you can make money fast with Google ads or Facebook ads.
We show you how to do it, but we’re also making it complement the bigger picture, which is where you’re going to exit someday and say:
‘Okay, I just made a whole bunch of money, and I’ve also got this asset here that I can sell.’
Q: Are there any KPIs that affiliates should focus on more than others?
So, when you start a campaign, there are only so many things that we, as affiliates, have access to, which is something we cover in Powerhouse Affiliate.
Eventually, you need to start building your own backend.
This means you should have control over the people who visit a website.
We’re losing so much data as affiliates because the typical affiliate model involves getting the person from Facebook, we’ll say as an example, or Google. They go to your website, you have that one opportunity to track that person, and then they’re gone. Boom, that’s your data.
So, KPIs at that point become okay, front of the funnel, you have no other idea afterward other than your conversion rate, which is okay.
But we sometimes help the algorithms like Facebook or Google, their automated bidding systems, if we can have a little more activity that we can track.
So, aside from your ad click-through rate, it starts there. Your ad’s click-through rate is usually an indicator of whether people are engaging with your ad in the first place and how many people in your target group are actually clicking on it.
Those metrics are used at the ad platform levels to determine your quality and whether they want to deliver your ads more to people. So, you need to focus on that and make sure that you’re getting good click-through rates.
But people make the disconnect right there on their landing page because they think: ‘Well, I’m just going to make these crazy images, and I’m going to throw them up, and then people are going to click on it.
Yes, I’m going to jack my CTR up, and then it’s just gold, right?
But then the person gets to the landing page, and it’s just different, and there’s a mismatch. And then, all of a sudden, their landing page click-through rate tanks.
You can use these metrics to control and balance a high click-through rate on your ad and your landing page.
There are many different things that you can do. You can either create your own email captures. We talk about that strategy on Powerhouse Affiliate, but we also don’t always use it.
Sometimes, we just go to the ad -> landing page-> offer, and we watch those two metrics:
- the ad CTR
- the landing page click-through rate
- as well as time spent on the page.
So, a tool like CPV Lab Pro, like you guys have, is ideal for that because not only can we monitor our landing page click-through rate, but we can also split test on the fly. I like the MV Lab feature, which I can actually use when I’m doing search ads, especially when I switch the landing page constantly at a certain percentage to see which one is actually responding well. Once you get that tweaked, your chances of success are much higher.
Affiliates should prioritize metrics like ad click-through rates and landing page click-through rates. These KPIs are crucial for assessing engagement and effectiveness of ads and landing pages, which helps in optimizing for better performance and conversion.
Q: If you were now starting a new business, what problem in the affiliate marketing industry would you solve?
I’m an affiliate, so I have the mentality that I want quick money. It’s just the way it is.
Affiliates, we have this mentality where we just want to go in, find the fastest way to make money, exploit it, and make as much money as possible. That is slowly becoming more difficult, and I think my product now, which is content and teaching people different advanced affiliate marketing strategies on how to navigate the world of this business, will keep focusing on new products.
It’s really hard because there are so many new things coming out all the time, like AI, just a new product.
I’m not trying to say my information’s the best, and I think there’s tons of awesome content out there about this affiliate marketing game. I just think people coming into the game, especially, need to understand that this is a real business.
It’s a mature business model. This isn’t a new thing for people.
Affiliate marketing has been around for 20 years. People have seen everything. If you think it’s a great idea, somebody else has probably already thought about it.
You need to think outside of the box. You need to think of different advanced affiliate marketing strategies that others haven’t already beaten to death because it’s changing, and you need to be super creative.
So, the problem might be the mindset. You need to have a better mindset about this thing. Come in seriously and understand that it’s a huge learning curve, but once you get past that, it’s extremely rewarding. You can make so much money, and you can do it from your basement.
Like, I’m in my basement right now, and I thank my wife for creating the backdrop here for my YouTube channel.
The main challenge in starting a new business in affiliate marketing today is the overwhelming amount of misinformation and the rapid changes in the industry. A focus on creative and updated strategies is necessary to stand out and be successful.
Q: How do you stay up to date with the news in this industry?
I’ve been testing a lot of campaigns, and I’m actually honestly getting somewhat tired of it because it’s just a lot of work. So, for me, I’m now focusing on what I know and what works. This came up again the last time I spoke to Craig during our last interview. Basically, focusing on what we know works now is more rewarding than trying to find the next new thing.
But for me, keeping up to date, I will scroll through Reddit once a day and look at what people are talking about. It’s also a way for me to find ideas to talk about because I do have a lot of experience. And so when I maybe have YouTube writer’s block, we’ll call it, sometimes I’ll just go on Reddit and see people asking a question or something, and I’ll just make a video about it. Or I’ll learn something, one or the other.
Either I learn something from people’s comments because people are so upfront on Reddit; they tell the truth. There’s no bias; it’s just people talking. Then there are forums, not only our forum but also other forums where people talk. And then you have Facebook groups.
But best of all, I guess I should mention the actual conferences. Like, I’ll be going to New York here for the Affiliate Summit. I’ve been to Affiliate World in Germany and Barcelona. Those conferences are great for really getting into the industry insights and seeing what’s active right now, not what we see on YouTube, which is probably six months out of date.
Q: What would be your most important advice for advanced affiliate marketing strategies for someone just starting out in affiliate marketing?
We’ve had over 100,000 people come through the doors at Powerhouse Affiliate, so I know what mistakes people are making.
First of all, you can make a whole bunch of money with affiliate marketing. There’s no doubt about it. I make a living from it. I know tons of people that make a living from it. You can make millions of dollars, tens of millions.
But there is a huge disconnect between what people think is the right way to do it versus what is actually working throughout the day and what we’re working on constantly.
I think it just takes the big thing. The big takeaway is to look at it more as a business and think about how you’re coming into it, set your goals, and create a plan of attack that you see yourself coming in and getting out.
Like, what is your plan of getting out? A lot of people get a job, and they know they’re getting out because it’s so easy because I’m going to retire someday, and I’m going to get my pension and blah, blah, blah.
Unfortunately, people who come in and think this is a side hustle will probably not go anywhere unless they’re really committed to working at least 10 hours a week. I’m going to spend 10 hours a week, and I’m going to do a blog, and then maybe in five years, it’ll be worth something.
But the people who are really serious are probably way over 10 hours a week. We’re doing this every day. This is a job. It’s a business.
But it’s like, you have to work on your business. And people coming in, it’s like if you don’t have the entrepreneurial spirit, you don’t want to, you don’t see why you’re doing it, you should have a reason, like financial freedom. I want to feed my family. I don’t want to worry about bills, etc.
All those things have to be in your brain as to why you’re doing this. Because also, yes, right, it’s great to own your time.
You know, it’s great to be able to decide when you work, when you don’t, when you stay with your friends. It’s all possible, and it’s all being done by many, many, many people around the world.
So, if you’re coming into it, yes, I’m here to assure you there is definitely a chance for you. Just have the right mindset.
For those starting in affiliate marketing, the key is to view it as a serious business venture. Setting clear goals, planning strategically, and understanding the industry deeply are vital for success. It’s important to work diligently and consistently, treating the venture not just as a side hustle but as a substantial business.
Q: Do you have any lesser-known advanced affiliate marketing strategies or tips for advanced affiliates?
For advanced affiliates, I think sticking with the major traffic sources like Facebook is, for me right now, much better than it was. And really, I think it has to do with their AI getting smarter, much better.
When I started Facebook, this was when I was making a ton of money on Facebook, back in 2014. But we were, you know, it required a lot of accounts.
Nowadays, I’ve moved my business model to a more white hat strategic approach.
While the ROI isn’t nearly as good as it was, it’s more consistent now.
And I don’t have to wake up every morning to create multiple accounts or warm up accounts. It’s just different now. It just seems like if you work by the rules, a lot of these big companies now seem to be more open to working with you.
Now, of course, this will change. There’ll be different opinions on that because everybody does things differently.
Google Ads is also one of my biggest traffic sources.
For me, a lot of my shift is moving towards video. I’m seeing the best results with video when I do social and YouTube, obviously. So, video is great for that.
And Google is still great for me. Google Search has fed my family and gotten me houses and stuff like that. So, I’m happy with the search. It’s always going to love that aspect of marketing and search traffic just because it’s so straight up.
Things are changing with Google. Their AI is changing. They’re making it harder for us to target. Eventually, I bet you there will be no keywords in search traffic. It’ll just be, ‘Hey, we think this is where your ad should be.’ And if you don’t believe us, then go somewhere else. It’s just the way it’s moving. It seems that keywords will be useless at some point.
But we’re not there yet.
And so, the game is still on for knowing what somebody’s searching for and putting an ad right in front of them for what they’re searching for. It doesn’t get easier than that. Yeah, it’s true.
Advanced affiliate marketing strategies involve sticking with major traffic sources and adapting to their changes, like Facebook’s AI improvements. Emphasizing white hat methods for consistency and scaling, and leveraging video content, particularly on platforms like YouTube, are current effective strategies.
Q: Where can people get in touch with you?
The YouTube channel is one of the places where I do most of my content.
I’m going to be doing a case study. It helps me keep myself accountable for the new project I’m going into right now. I’m going to try to prove that anybody within six months can start making 10K a month in profit.
So, it is a case study, and I may fail, but I’m going to show everything, and I’m going to show what I would do at this point in my life where I know a lot about the industry, and I’m going to document that on YouTube. So, come to YouTube and watch it, and subscribe to the channel.
Also, it’ll be updated more regularly at Powerhouse Affiliate inside the forum, where we have a section for case studies and all that stuff. So, we’ll be doing it in there too. So, that’s about it.
Thank you, Joey, for sharing your expertise and experiences about advanced affiliate marketing strategies with us.
Your holistic approach to affiliate marketing and emphasis on building a sustainable business model provide valuable guidance for affiliates at all levels. From understanding the importance of key performance indicators to adapting to industry changes, your insights are sure to help many navigate the dynamic world of affiliate marketing. We look forward to following your case study and future projects.
You can get in touch with Joey here:
- Linkedin: Joey Babineau
- Youtube: Joey Babineau – YouTube
- Facebook: facebook.com/powerhouseaffiliate
- Website: powerhouseaffiliate.com
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Author: Julia Draghici
Julia is the CEO of CPV Lab and CPV One ad trackers. She has 15+ years experience in the software industry, from development to management. For more than 6 years she is helping marketers get the best out of their marketing campaigns by using a performant ad tracker. Passionate about entrepreneurship, business and performance marketing, Julia loves helping people!