My Amazing 24% Epik Product Portal Dividend Yield

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Jul. 28

Recently, I wrote about how my Epik affiliate earnings are up (quite a bit). That post generated a lot of interest in the Epik platform and I quickly got the question: Ian, how much are you making with Epik? Can you share your earnings like you did for eBay and Commission Junction? Today, I thought I’d follow up on my previous post and answer this question with real numbers!

I’m Earning $3,544/Year On My $15,000 Investment (24% Yield)

Stereo Amplifiers

I own 55 Epik Product Portal websites. Most of these product portals are brand new websites. They’re domains I’ve acquired within the last few years that I decided to develop on the Epik platform. Others are websites I acquired from Epik (such as Stereo Amplifiers, portrayed to the right). All of my Product Portals have custom articles (2 per site) and most have custom header blurbs too (on each sub-section of the site). I spent a ton of time and money building the best content possible because it’s all about user experience at the end of the day. I’m building quality sites that truly benefit the Internet and always recommend over-investing in great content. Between domain registration fees, development fees, acquisition fees, and article outsourcing fees, my total cost is $15,000.

Now, let’s look at the revenue side of things. Here are my earnings over the last four weeks:

  • 6/29-7/4: $113.09 revenue
  • 7/5-7/11: $188.63 revenue
  • 7/12-7/18: $123.14 revenue
  • 7/19-7/25: $118.88 revenue
  • TOTAL: $543.74 revenue

Now, $543.74 divided by 28 is $19.42/day. $19.42/day times 365 is $7,088 revenue/year. However, until you’re earning more with Epik, the rev share is 50/50. (You can read more about the Epik revenue share tiers here.) So, my take on the revenue is $3,544/year. As a side note: I’m very happy with Epik’s rev share model, it’s quite generous. Moreover, Epik is a true partner and without the Epik team my sites would not be where they are. The rev share is worth every dollar!

Personally, I feel that my revenue is going to come in much higher. Why? Most product shopping happens in Q4 (holiday shopping season). My earnings should jump up during that time! However, I like to be conservative in my financial modeling so let’s just say my annual revenue is $3,544 based on the last 4 week’s data. (Also, I am not factoring in my annual domain renewal fees of approximately $500 but again that should be hugely overshadowed by my holiday season earnings.) $3,544 divided by my $15,000 cost is a sweet 24% yield!

My Epik Yield Is Unparalleled In Other Investments

I’m a huge fan of cash flow and invest in all sorts of investment vehicles that offer cash flow. I’m talking about dividend-paying stocks, websites (both build from scratch and also buy established websites), and more. Very few investments return a 24% annual yield within the first year of the venture. In the stock market, even if you buy the high yielding tobacco companies or telecom companies, we’re talking about an yield in the high 5% range.

I’m not counting capital appreciation here but I’m not counting that for my Epik Product Portals either. Come to think of it, the capital appreciation with Epik Product Portals is much higher than stocks. Why? Sites like Flippa are heating up and it’s a hot market for income-producing websites right now. Just check out my last post about Zac Johnson’s eBook.

My end conclusion: Epik Product Portals are one of the best investments around. The websites are truly useful and are making the Internet a better place. I’m finding that by partnering with Epik, I’m earning extremely high yields with scale. My future includes many more Product Portals as I plan to expand my portfolio to well over 100 Product Portals over time.

Get Started For Just $224.10 With My Epik Coupon Code

Want to give it a test? Your first Product Portal will only cost you $224.10. The regular price is $249, but you get 10% off with the exclusive PPC Ian coupon (PPCIAN10). Click here to get started with Epik! Anyone else out there developing sites on Epik? I’d love to hear your experience. Want to learn even more? Below, I link to some of my other posts about Epik:

Image in this post © PPCIan.com

Posted in: Domains | Tags: , | Comments: 10 comments so far, join the discussion!

How To Make Thousands Buying and Selling Websites

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Jul. 21

While I first started developing my own websites for profit in 2007, I got my first taste of buying existing websites in June of 2008. Back in those days, before Flippa existed, BuySellWebsite.com was the place to buy and sell established websites. In June of 2008, I ended up buying a nice little AdSense website for $2,500 (plus a $20 wire fee and a $81.25 Escrow.com fee) for a total of $2,601.25. Just a few years later, that website has yielded $3,825.40 in AdSense earnings alone (I also received extra earnings from direct advertisements). On AdSense alone, that’s a yield of 147%. Since then, I’ve made building websites and also buying established websites a huge part of my passive income plan. I’m here to say first hand that buying established websites is a great way to make money online! Of course, selling websites (for more than you paid) is also a great way to make money, but I’m more of a cash flow kind of guy so I’m holding my websites for the long haul.

Flippa Makes It Easy To Buy and Sell Websites

Thankfully, these days it’s a lot easier to buy and sell websites for profit. There’s a new marketplace called Flippa that makes the process far easier than when I started back in 2008. It’s my firm belief that anyone reading my blog can make thousands, like I have, buying and selling websites. That said, the marketplace is also more competitive now so you really need to know what you’re doing. Don’t worry! There’s a brand new 147 page eBook that guides you through the process step-by-step. I’m talking about Zac Johnson’s Flip This Website.

Zac Johnson Flippa Guide

I Bought Zac Johnson’s Guide and It Rocks

Have you heard of Zac Johnson? He’s a super affiliate and owns one of the top affiliate marketing blogs on the Internet. Over the years, Zac has literally earned a fortune with affiliate marketing. I regularly frequent his blog and have a ton of respect for Zac. It’s for this reason that I knew Zac’s eBook would totally rock. I personally purchased Zac’s eBook (screenshot at the end of this post showing my ClickBank receipt) and couldn’t be more pleased with my purchase. For only $33.49 (temporarily on sale from $67), I’m armed with 147 pages of amazing information, from the king of Flippa. Moreover, I’ve got 6 bonus videos at my fingertips too.

After reading Zac’s book, I’m now ready to buy more websites in 2011-2012 than ever before. Web development takes a ton of work, I’m ready to scale my SEO affiliate earnings quicker than ever before with my new Flippa tips and strategies.

Buy Zac’s Guide From PPC Ian and I’ll Reward You

If you’re serious about Internet marketing (whether you have a corporate job like me or are a full time affiliate marketer), Zac Johnson’s Flippa Guide is a true must have. At only $33.49, you are getting an invaluable education for next to nothing (I’m surprised it’s on sale for this price). Now, here’s where things get interesting! This just wouldn’t be PPC Ian if I didn’t reward you guys. Remember when I promoted Keyword Winner and ran a Keyword Winner Contest where I reviewed the blogs of PPC Ian readers who purchased via my link? (By the way, you can see here the Keyword Winner Contest Winners.) Well, I’m at it again!

Buy Flip This Web Site via my affiliate link and I will feature your website or blog right here on PPC Ian. I will write a few sentences about your blog or website and also provide a link to you as well. All you have to do is purchase Zac’s guide via my link before July 31st! I’ll be featuring the winners in early August. In my opinion, the $33.49 is worth it just to get featured here on PPC Ian, a leading online marketing blog that gets over 1,000 visitors/day. It’s just my way of rewarding PPC Ian readers (I truly can’t thank you all enough) while spreading the word about a product I truly believe in. After you purchase Zac’s eBook via my link, simply email me your ClickBank order number and website or blog you’d like reviewed (family friendly sites only).

Want to learn a bit more before buying? You can see the table of contents from Flip This Website below:

  • Introduction
  • My Story
  • Overview: The Three Business Models
  • Flippa: The eBay of Web Properties That You Can Trust
  • Chapter 1: What You Should Watch Out For When Buying Domains and Websites
  • Chapter 2: Introduction to Flippa
  • Chapter 3: Buying and Selling Web Sites with Flippa
  • Chapter 4: How to Build Your First Site to Eventually Sell on Flippa
  • Chapter 5: Promoting and Outsourcing Your Web Sites
  • Chapter 6: Next Steps – 3 Action Plans for Your Business Model
  • Blogging Tips: The Before, During & After Process of Buying a Web Site
  • Flippa Case Studies
  • Interview with Matt Mickiewicz
  • Your Gift: Free Flippa Credits to Get Started
  • 20 Memorable Flippa Sales
  • Web Site Flipping Resources
  • A Final Word on Web Property Flipping
  • BONUS: The Mini Niche Web Site Guide

Flip This Web Site

Ad for Flip This Web Site © ZacJohnson.com
Screenshot of ClickBank order © PPCIan.com

Posted in: Web Publishing | Tags: , | Comments: 12 comments so far, join the discussion!

CPATank Isn’t The Only One Dominating Email Submits

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Jul. 13

Hey Everyone! PPC Ian here… I’m thrilled today to share an amazing guest post from my good friend Vito Glazers – online marketing legend, Executive Director of Incorporated Consulting LTD, and owner of CPATank. For those that are newer to the affiliate marketing industry, CPATank is one of the absolute best affiliate networks around. If you’re trying to make money online, you absolutely must sign up for CPATank. Today’s guest post is the very first guest post on PPC Ian and Vito has truly set the bar high. Without further ado, let’s jump into this exciting post about offline email lead capture…

Ian, I want to first of all thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this guest blog post with you. I was reading about your trip to Las Vegas and came across your blog on Showtime capturing Email leads through a photo booth.

CPA Tank

This couldn’t have come at a better time because just last week as Adam, Flo and myself were heading to lunch, our attention was seized by a giant wall display for one of my favorite childhood brands; LUNCHABLES!!!

Usually on Monday’s the CPATank crew sneaks out of the Watchtower to grab some lunch at the Water Tower Place shopping center across the street from our Michigan Avenue office in Chicago, IL. There is an amazing food court called Food Life that features gourmet fare inspired by some of Chicago’s top restaurants. We like going there because everyone can pick out something different and we can still eat together as a Family.

Lunchables Marketing Campaign

As we were coming up the escalator to get the food court which dominates the entire second floor, we were blindsided by a bright orange wall filled with LCD screens and images.

Keep The Smiles Coming

Basically the theme was that Lunchables was trying to raise 1 Million Pounds of Fruit to give to underprivileged communities around the U.S. They have an extremely creative ‘call to action’ right at the top of the escalator. It doesn’t say “BUY NOW” or “JOIN HERE” — it says “Keep The Smiles Coming” which makes me think some college graduate really earned his $26,000 a year with that one. I definitely wanted to keep the smiles coming, especially after seeing all the happy people who had already taken their photo and edited their face into a piece of fruit (that was the special effects they provided to keep it exciting).

Giant Lunchables Photo Wall

You can see at the top of the lifesize screens they have a running total of how much of their goal they have satisfied as well as photos of other participants from around the country. There is no better testimonial than a smiling face. Anyways, Flo was down to keep the smiles coming. She seen the camera and had to be in front of it. Smiling ear to ear we started playing with the giant camera and that stood before us.

Email Capture

So we snapped a couple shots, the last one was the best. The interface was simple to use. It was clearly modeled after the camera interface of a GIANT iPhone. I thought it was pretty awesome because my least favorite characteristic of both the iPhone and iPad are that they are too small! I want an entire 8 x 10 wall made of iPad touchscreen goodness. So I got to live out part of my dream of living in a house made completely of iPad touch screens for a few moments while I approached the camera to see what was coming next.

Flo From CPATank

Flo got a shot in that she was happy with and we were ready to go to finally “Finish and DONATE” as the touchscreen instructed us.

Flo CPA Tank

We took a step back to take in the full effect of this offline marketing setup. Keep in mind, we are still unaware that there is any catch to ‘Donating Fruit’ and we are under the impression this is here for our own personal and vain amusement.

Online Marketing Setup

I forgot what happened but Flo’s picture didn’t save on the jumbo screen so I stepped in to give it a shot myself.

CPATank Photo Wall

I took a quick photo, selected where I wanted my donation to go (Illinois, because I ALWAYS donate locally! Help your neighbor first!), and took a step back to get ready for the next step.

Vito Glazers

So finally my wacky picture is ready to be submitted and I my 10 pounds of fruit will be donated to my home state! I have done my good deed for the day and I am ready to treat myself to a lunch and now maybe even some dessert.

Vito Owner of CPATank

So not only do they now know exactly what I look like and where I want my donation to go. Things are about to get interesting.

Email Picture Photo Booth

Much like the Showtime submit Ian mentioned in the previous post, in order to get my picture Emailed to me, I have to opt in to the Email Submit. They clearly know what they are doing with the prechecked authorization to release your image to Oscar Meyer. This is very effective and targeted offline marketing. Once you enter your Email, you can “FINISH AND DONATE” and they have captured you!!

They will Donate the 10 pounds of fruit probably right around the time you get your Free iPad.

Hey everyone, it’s PPC Ian again. Wow, what an amazing guest post. Vito, I want to sincerely thank you for this great post. This is a seriously fascinating case study. Moreover, it’s a true honor to have someone of your caliber and accomplishment sharing your insight here on PPC Ian. Want to learn more about Vito and CPATank? Make sure to check out:

All Images In this Post © CPATank.com

Posted in: Offline Marketing | Tags: , , | Comments: 22 comments so far, join the discussion!

My Affiliate Earnings Are Up With Epik 3.0

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Jul. 10

I’m a huge fan of Epik. I’ve been blogging about Epik here on PPC Ian for a while. After all, it’s my favorite web develop platform for product-oriented domains. Currently, I own 55 developed websites on the Epik platform. Today, I’m going to talk about Epik’s brand new Product Portal platform, version 3.0, and also some cool stats about my recent earnings spike! First, however, I wanted to link to my past few posts about Epik as they will provide you some great background around this sweet platform:

Epik Product Portal 3.0 Rocks

Now that you know a bit about Epik, I’d like to share some of my favorite features of Product Portal version 3.0. At the bottom of this post, you’ll see a screenshot of my Epik website Motorbike Jacket. As you can see, the site is really slick. Websites on Epik’s new platform are simply stunning. This is great from two perspectives: First, as an owner, I have serious pride of ownership. Second, my sites are converting better than ever (users love the new look and feel).

Aside from looking really great, Epik’s new platform is more SEO-optimized than ever. It’s all about content. Anyone reading PPC Ian can appreciate that. I’ve been adding quality, helpful content to my Epik Product Portals (and all my websites) from day one. As a result, search engines have rewarded me handsomely. Epik’s new platform makes it easier than ever before to add articles and place them in really prominent positions on your site. Want to learn even more? I recommend checking out Epik’s Product Portal 3.0 Announcement.

My Earnings are Up 5.6 Times

When I look at my Epik earnings from the past week (as compared to 4 weeks ago), my earnings are up 5.6 fold. Now, one reason I’m doing well is I own some seasonal domains that do well in the summer time such as Outdoor Sofas. However, the majority of my gains are due to Epik’s new platform. Not only am I getting more visitors but also my visitors are converting better than ever. Product Portal 3.0 (especially when the developer adds tons of great, custom content like myself) is very SEO-optimized.

My end conclusion: WordPress is the ideal platform for building a blog. The Epik Product Portal platform, in my opinion, is the WordPress of commerce-oriented domain names. If you’re looking to develop commerce-oriented domains, you’ve got to give Epik a try. And, don’t forget my special coupon code for 10% off your entire order (PPCIAN10).

Motorbike Jacket

Image in this post © PPCIan.com

Posted in: Domains | Tags: , | Comments: 8 comments so far, join the discussion!

Surpassing 3,000 Fans on Facebook Via Paid Traffic

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Jul. 03

Just a few weeks back, I wrote a post about how I Got 1,242 Facebook Fans for Only $347.70. The post became really popular, got some great comments (thank you to all who commented), and inspired me to push my campaign even further, much further!

Facebook Activity

Today, I’m thrilled to announce that I drove a total of 3,156 likes! (This is not the PPC Ian Facebook Fan Page, but is a Fan Page for another one of my authority sites.) Out of my 3,156 likes, 2,938 are from my paid campaign. Since I paid $965.42, but got a $50 coupon thanks to my wife, I ended paying $915.42 or $0.31 per paid like. Not bad, and very consistent with my results last time. Today, I wanted to close out my test by sharing a few thoughts (while hopefully inspiring you to run your own Facebook paid like campaign)!

75 Wall Posts or Comments Within 1 Week

Paid likes are some of the highest quality Facebook Fans around! Just check out the image above. Over the past week, there have been 75 wall posts or comments. The majority of these have been fans commenting on my wall posts, fans posting their own questions, or fans liking wall posts. For only $915.42, I created a vibrant community that is sharing my content and driving traffic to my site. Paid likes are of really high quality (just like paid search traffic from search engines).

Facebook Fan Page = PPC (Except You Pay 1st)

I’m viewing social media, especially Facebook, in a new light. I’m a paid search guy and am used to paying per click as I go. Facebook is the same thing, but you pay first! Think of it this way: You pay/invest a lot of money, drive paid likes, leverage those likes to drive interaction on your page, and then get visits from your fans over time.

It’s estimated that Each Facebook Fan Will Drive 20 Visits To Your Website. $0.31 (my price per fan) for 20 visits is really great, that’s only $0.016 per visit (certainly cheaper than AdWords or adCenter). Even better, this doesn’t even take into account the branding and SEO advantages of having a vibrant social media program. Looking at things in this light puts a whole new spin on Facebook and is a great way to pitch the idea of increased social media budget to your organization.

Watch Out For New Account Limits

When you open a new Facebook Ads account, Facebook will throttle you. In my last post, I mentioned how my impressions were throttled and then I got a surge of traffic all of the sudden at the end of the test. I originally thought this was due to Facebook fighting ad fatigue and evening the impressions over time. I was wrong. It’s because Facebook put a $50/day budget limit on my account but then lifted the limit to $200 once a number of successful credit card charges went through. Just something to be aware of when you open a new account.

My Self-Sustaining Community

If you drive enough likes, you can create a self-sustaining community on Facebook. My interaction with my Fan Page in this case study has not been very extensive at all. Fans have actually been asking other fans questions. The community is vibrant and self-sustaining to a degree which is super cool! I just need to keep an eye out for community members posting their own links. I’ve had to remove a few, but other than that the comments and interaction has been super genuine. Of course, I do expect this interaction to decline over time as the hype and freshness of my page wears off. It will be at that point that I jump in with some clever ideas and/or run another like campaign.

So there you have it! Now, my campaign is paused as I didn’t want to go over $1,000 total media spend for this initial test. What are your thoughts on paid Facebook like campaigns? At $0.31/fan, should I keep running this program until the price per fan starts going up? I’m certainly tempted!

Facebook 3000 Fans

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