? Greenville, South Carolina, USA ✏️ Shaun Groomes
Affiliates are Stacking That Crypto Monies ? ?
2017 has been a year of disruption.
Every year the affiliate marketing industry gets rocked. This year we’ve seen it all. Merchant accounts have been shutting down and withholding millions of advertisers’ dollars causing popular offers to pause and businesses to dry up. Seasoned affiliates have turned away from CPA offers to launch e-commerce products. Even “gotcha-journalism” continues to call out the entire industry, including networks who, in some cases, have paused entire GEOs of traffic as a result.
The glorious days of Garcinia cash flowing effortlessly into your next Lamborghini are quickly drying up – unless you’re staying ahead of the game. While there’s still money to be made, many are left with their keyboard in their hands wondering what to do next.
It’s simply not as easy as it used to be.
So what’s next?
The New Frontier of Digital Gold
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know a large part of the industry has turned their attention to the cryptocurrencies (and trading in general).
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin… the list goes on. Many tech minded folk have been in the space for a while – or least been aware of it and buying incrementally. People have built rigs to mine Bitcoin and Ethereum or maybe had a few of the same to pay service providers here and there.
We’re living in the bitcoin Gold Rush ? ?
It wasn’t until 2017 that attention really skyrocketed with Bitcoin jumping to $3k per coin and beyond.
The crypto community shares a lot in common with affiliate marketing community. My guess is, affiliates have been eager to find the “wild west” again in a new era of scrutiny and regulatory eyes everywhere.
Everyone in the crypto space is driven to make money, hangs out in forums and never turns down the opportunity to pop bottles or use terminology few are familiar with.
Examples:
“Yo, you see the rising OBV on BTC? ATH Moon confirmed – pack your bags, boys! Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory is on me!”
“Hey Braden, just scaled in on LTC once price action found demand in the OTE zone and put in a double confirmed bottom – you snag up any?”
How To Gain An Edge in Crypto
If you’re new to cryptocurrency trading, you’re going to need to prepare yourself the best way possible for seeing green.
Getting an edge in the crypto world is one that will lead you down the rabbit hole. You’re going to meet new characters, learn new technical skills and join new forums and groups. But for most affiliates, a journey down the rabbit hole is a fun learning experience.
MRKTRS are jumping down the proverbial rabbit hole and finding big, cuddly, profitable friends ? [Image Credit: Poorlydrawnlines. Edit: MRKTRS]
Figuring out your goals can keep you focused in an industry that is literally 24/7.
To keep this article from being far too complicated, let’s make some comparisons from affiliate marketing skill-sets to trading:
Technical Analysis & A/B Split Testing
You’ve been pounding campaigns for years and you’re an expert in knowing what variants of ads have a better chance of converting with the right landing page on the right source of traffic.
Learning charting and technical analysis is going help you make better decisions if you’re just trading. Whether you’re buying for the short term or HODLing for profits a year later, technical analysis is going to give you an edge to make profits.
It’s a data game: You need enough data to make informed decisions with media buys just like you need enough data on a popular crypto asset to predict entries and exits.
A must read to learn the ins & outs of trading technical analysis ??
I suggest picking up a copy of Charting and Technical Analysis by Fred McAllen on Amazon. It’s wonderful.
Limiting Risk on Trades & Campaign Test Budgets
I’m no financial advisor or guru, but suffice it say, never, ever go in 100% on a trade. You wouldn’t put all your cash into that hot new offer your AM recommended, would you? Especially to find out it’s pausing a week later?
Only invest what you’re comfortable with losing. For some guys, it’s a massive bank roll. For others, a couple hundred bucks can go a long way and provide some valuable learning experience.
My first trade was with a popular alt coin called Metal back in June 2017. It was around $1.80 then. I admit, I got lucky with the timing and rode a wave taking profits here and there and seeing it hit a high of $14 a few months ago. Had I known technical analysis as well as I do now, I probably wouldn’t have been as greedy.
Metal proved a successful alt coin trade. But not all ICO’s have a happy ending.
Hindsight, as they say, is… well you know how it goes.
With crypto, the market is exceptionally volatile, so be prepared to see the highs and the lows in a brief amount of time. It’ll likely happen while you’re asleep.
Launching an ICO & Establishing a Real Company
Have a vested interest in the world? Do you see a gap that needs to be filled and want to change the landscape of how we do business? Launching an initial coin offering (ICO) with a legitimate purpose could provide value to the world.
This year we’ve seen former affiliates enter the space and build real companies with real teams have successful ICOs. Status.im, a decentralized wallet and messaging app, is one example raising $100 million in less than 24 hours.
ICO = a mix between an IPO and online crowdfunding. But for Crytpo. ?? ?
ShipChain.io is another example of former affiliates building a company that plans to revolutionize the shipping and logistics industry.
Now, maybe launching an ICO isn’t for you. You may be able to use your marketing skills and background to compliment an ICO as an advisor. It takes long term planning and commitment. But if you’re organized and focused enough, with the right team you could make it happen.
Moon Travel 101: Where to go from here?
Not everyone bought buckets of Bitcoin 5 years ago. If you did, congrats.
If not, don’t be afraid to learn the basics. As with anything new, there are some fundamentals to get out of the way. By far, the best guide I’ve come across is this Cryptocurrency Investment course on Udemy.com. It’ll get you up to speed and explain everything you need to know in short videos. You’ll never have to ask, “What’s the best coin to invest in?” ever again.
You can even binge-watch the entire course if you have 4.5 hours to spare tonight too.
Binge watch some Crypto courses to speed-learn the fundamentals. ??
I highly recommend binging it by the way.
From here, get a feel for the market and start researching. Thankfully, there are great communities already established on Facebook as a starting point to ask questions and meet other enthusiasts. Crypto Mastermind and The Crypto Watch are great places to start.
Heck, we even started our own site, CoinReviews.io, to help spread the news about what we learn and the people we meet to bring more awareness to the space.
This is your time to skill up. 2018 is on track to be an even bigger year. Sure, there will be ups and downs as we go along, but if you invest in yourself by learning some new skills and concepts, you’ll be in a better place in a few months’ time.
Author: Shaun Groomes is a long time digital marketer and Vice President of The Link Builders located in Greenville, SC. He spends his time trading cryptocurrency, writing, and consulting with new companies.