David Fiske A subtle blend of affiliate marketing and web development

I have some grievances and qualms about PPC. Perhaps it's beginner's nerves but hopefully someone will be able to either help out here and clarify my problems or can supply links to websites that can help.
 
PROBLEM 1 - DECIDING THE PROGRAM

Logic (and experience to date) says that the only way to get a good level of ROI (100%+) is to select programs that offer higher commissions. This invariably centres around finance.

I've read somewhere that the best PPC campaigns are ones that don't require the clicker to get their credit card out. Again, that leaves finance and free offers (though many of them require a credit card).

But surely the best way to go is to get a product feed and deeplink to products? There are merchants that contribute to A4U Forum and throw themselves at anyone that mentions PPC. Should I be tempted by these folk or should I take this as a sign of desperation on their part.

Furthermore, is it worth contacting several merchants and developing a strong PPC relationship with them? Are they likely to co-operate and offer advantages such as brand name bidding or is this another dream?

PROBLEM 2 - DERIVING KEYWORDS

Once I have found a merchant or merchants to promote, I need to build up campaigns. I need to create a pile of keywords and test each and every one to see which converts. This is fine but painstakingly long.

Nevertheless, surely the best performing words are those that have no, or little competition. Where do these keywords come from. Is there software or websites that are relatively unknown that can help, or is this a Wordtracker job?

PROBLEM 3 - LANDING PAGES

I've got a program. I've got keywords. Where do I link to? Can I link direct to the merchant or should I be linking to a page on my server?

I built a PPC landing page website which can generate pages on the fly if fed correctly. Take a look at Erotic Fiction. What would be better? Send people to my landing page or send people direct to Scarlet magazine in this instance?

Is it right to use a forwarding script to redirect visitors from my landing page after (say) 1 second direct to Scarlet Magazine?

PROBLEM 4 - GETTING A DECENT RETURN

This is the bit I'm really struggling with but I suppose it';s a combination of problems 1 to 3. A poor program coupled with poor keywords and the wrong landing page method can lead to a poor return. The output is only as good as the input, or more precisely, my campaign is only as strong as the weakest link.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it....

I would really appreciate any help and advice here. I have spent around £100 in around 20 campaigns to date and made £15. That's not great and I cannot keep going on like this.

If you have used PPC successfully and can answer any of the above questions, please post a comment below. It would be great to hear feedback from people in the know!

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