Rohail Rizvi

Some of you might know that I’ve been in Istanbul for a few months now studying abroad. I have one more semester left to graduate after this current one and since I REALLY want to be done with school, I figured going to a foreign country for a few months would be a nice way to pass the time and experience new things.

As a city, Istanbul is pretty awesome. There are so many things you can do here and I still haven’t even gotten to all the places I wanted to see in this city after 3 months. Part of that has to do with studying for exams and visiting other parts of the country of course. Turkey itself is a beautiful country and I recently took a vacation down to the south coast of Turkey, which I spent at a nice five-star resort modeled after a Russian palace. It was quite cool. Following that I took a quick four day trip to Dubai and got to explore the desert along with everything else that Dubai has to offer. I have to say that partying directly across the al Burj was pretty awesome. Dubai gets a bad rep, but in my opinion it’s still a fun city with a lot to offer, I guess no matter how much debt it’s in.

Now I’m back in Istanbul with a short amount of time left here. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to ASW, which REALLY sucks because I’ll be missing out on Vegas and seeing all my aff buddies.  Guess I’ll have to wait til ASE.

As far as affiliate marketing goes, I’ve been getting time here and there and launch campaigns and last month in fact was my best month yet surprisingly considering the limited amount of time I’ve spent on it. November 6th 2009 was my first $1,000 profit day and I had a few more high numbered days following that. But eventually I started getting scrubbed and had to pull the plug. No worries, plenty more opportunities to come.

When I come back, I’ll be buying my first car so until then I need to hustle hustle hustle so I can get that 370Z or 135i.  However, I will be in Europe for most of January so we’ll see how much time I can get between traveling and studying for final exams. It is nice though to get somewhat of a break from all nighters and I have to say working less has actually made me more successful. So take that for what you’d like, but make sure you at least take a vacation once in a while!

Talk soon.

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Ugly and bulky enV to sleek iPhone

Finally got around to getting an iPhone. As you can see, I was running with a quite ugly looking phone from LG on Verizon called the enV. It was great for texting as it opened up into a full QWERTY keyboard, but seriously felt like carrying around a brick.

I was kind of concerned about being able to text on a touch screen, but I played around with it on the train ride back from New York after I bought it off some corporate guy down by Broadway (shady phone sales off of Craigslist FTW), and I was really surprised by how accurate it is while texting. Seriously, I thought I was gonna have to hit backspace multiple times, but the only errors made were when I accidently slipped and aimed at the wrong letter.

Now the phone is the 3G version, but it’s only six months old and I got a case with it. The reason I got it really was because I just cannot stand worrying about stats and absolutely must get Stats202 on this thing asap (just got it- this thing is awesome! Stats202 FTW)

The reason I got the 3G is because I can unlock it and take it with me when I go abroad. I’d rather not take a brand new 3GS when I’m overseas. When I get back, I’ll probably sell it and opt for an AT&T contract with a 3GS.

Seriously, even though most people probably have on already and I’m probably the last affiliate marketer to get my hands on one, get one! I don’t care much for all the apps and whatnot, but the luxury of seeing your stats by pulling your phone out of your pocket cannot be overstated.

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Here’s a little Taoism in affiliate markeitng for you. I’ve been reading this book called Silent Power by Stuart Wilde. In it, one of the quotes in the book really caught by eye and made me take a step back in how I’ve been running my affiliate marketing game.

“Striving is leaning emotionally into a goal, a target- yearning for it, feeling pressured by your lack of it- tearing around like a chicken , with its head cut off, trying to get it. That’s striving.

Working is moving relentlessly toward your target, one step at a time, in an organized and disciplined way.”

The book notes that there are three reasons why we struggle and why struggling is not the same as effort. Struggle is not an honorable thing. And the two reasons for it are

1) The goal you are trying to reach isn’t coming fast enough.

2) Your actions are incorrect (wrong strategy).

3) Frustration from having placed a goal into a particular time frame, only to find that life has denied you.

Realizing the fact that I’ve been suffering many of the same symptoms, I need to set a rather medium term goal and have a well-defined method. I’ve been testing way too many offers and I continue to do so in the hopes that one of them might take off. I was consistently making $200-250 a day until this week and it is really depressing to see it all go back to square one again.

So my medium term goal is to make $500 a day consistenly by the end of December 2009.

Further, I’m now gonna take a very clearly defined approach as to which offers I work on and when I test new offers. I think the following will work best for me:

• Focus on ONE offer at a time (if offer is offered in multiple countries, then just one country at a time.)

• Only move onto another country/offer once that particular one is consistently making $100 a day profit.

• Work for a maximum of four hours a day (yeah right like I’m gonna be able to do this one, but I’ll try.)

If anyone has any other tips on how to scale a profitable campaign or perhaps their own specific method on when/how to approach testing new offers, feel free to post them in the comments .

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These are just some of the top apps that I use that keep me on top of the ball whether in terms of productivity or finances.

1. Google Tasks FTW – So many companies have tried to innovate and revolutionize the “to do” list, and of all the downloads and apps I’ve ever tried to replace the sticky note, nothing has come as close as Google Tasks. This little feature is neatly tucked away at the bottom of my GMail screen and the reason it works is because I’m forced to look at it if I want to check my email…which is pretty much all the time. There’s no escaping the to do list with Google Tasks.

2. Mint.com – If you haven’t checked out Mint.com, do it today! This thing kicks ass and beats just about any financial app out there. Forget plugging away at your calculator, figuring out your budget, and how much you spent. All you have to do is upload all your accounts/loans/assets/debit and credit cards and this site automatically tells you what your budget should be and if you’re staying on top of it. It tracks your net worth on a daily basis and makes all sorts of bar graphs and pie charts that make u feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Check it out – Mint.com.

3. RescueTime – Here’s one application that I haven’t used as much as the rest, but I probably should. RescueTime runs in the background of your computer and keeps track of which websites/applications you spend the most time on. This way – if you’re spending too much time on say Facebook or AIM, Rescue Time let’s you know by email and even sends you daily/weekly updates on where you’ve been spending your time. Get RescueTime if you’re at all concerned about productivity.

Do you use any of the following? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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Finally some progress! And along to go with it – finally a brand new theme and upgrade! Hope you guys like it.

Right before ASE 09, my AM progress really started to pick up. I’d been in the “dead zone” or “dip” for about six months. Nothing I tried was working and I threw a whole lot of crap at the wall just to see if something would stick.

Fortunately, things are going okay now and only going to get better. I’m now chipping away at my $10,000 worth of PPC debt from failed attempts and stupid mistakes. In fact, I’ve already paid off one of my credit cards just by using what little credit I had left on it (less than $100) by continually re-investing it into profitable campaigns.

Here’s a recap of spend and revenues for Aug. 2009 so far:

Revenue: $4620.23

Spend: $3104.54

Profit: $1515.69

Add SEO/ old clickbank articles: $395

So around $$1900 for the month. Much better than scraping for nickels and dimes in my room to buy a meal from the dollar menu a few months ago (seriously, it was that bad).

Keep in mind this spend involved a lot of testing during the beginning of the month so most of it resulted in a loss. But I will post another one of these probably two weeks into September. I expect it to be a lot better. This is the first time I’ve ever really posted revenue/spend numbers and it’s kind of gut wrenching to put it out in the open, but I think it’s going to help me bring in bigger numbers in the future because there’s no way I’m satisfied with just that. Grateful yes, satisfied no.

I’m really starting to focus on what I’m good at now. Just because everyone is pushing rebills, doesn’t mean you should too. There are a whole lot of offers out there that can potentially make you money and it’s all about just finding that somewhat hidden offer that not a lot of people are going after and killing it.

This marks a new turning point in my AM journey. I went from easily making $100+ days when I started to losing a lot of money and now back doing bigger numbers than I started off with. It’s so weird now – I was in the garage and saw my old burnt out laptop sitting there with sticky notes on it with a big $250 a day written on it. It feels good to reach your goals, but it also makes you want to work harder. I definitely am aiming to see consistent $500 a day profit days by the end of September (hopefully by next week) and most certainly $1000 by December 31st, 2009.

If there’s going to be a rags-to-riches affiliate story in 2009, it’s going to be me .

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Okay so this post is definitely long over due, but what can I say – I learned so much at ASE 09 NYC that I’ve just been cranking out campaigns non-stop and making more money.

First off – this particular Affiliate Summit (my 2nd summit) was made particular awesome due to two reasons.

1) Ian Fernando inviting me to his private dinner.

2) Adam and the EliteProfits.com team sponsoring part of the dinner and balling out at Club Touch.

I have to say that it was indeed quite an opportunity to take part in Ian’s dinner. If you ever get the chance to go, you’d be dumb not to. It was at a very unique and upscale restaurant only a few blocks away from the conference hotel. There were about 20 or so people in attendance including the sponsors and everyone got to share and learn from each other in a great setting. Really gotta give it up to Ian for letting me come through.

Now another thing that made the dinner so great was the fact that Adam from EliteProfits handed everyone in attendance a vintage 2000 bottle of Dom Perignon! I can definitely say without a doubt that everyone was very very happy with their gift. EliteProfits didn’t stop there though. After running into Adam at the exhibition hall, he invited me to come hang out with his crew at Club Touch in VIP. I thought for sure since I was going there anyway later on and he and his crew were super cool at the dinner.
Biz Markee was due to perform there although he made a quick one song appearance…lame. Nonetheless, that didn’t ruin the party for anyone who was hanging out with EliteProfits. Our table definitely had the grey goose flowing all night courtesy of EliteProfits. I think we had the best spot in the club too. It was definitely a good time getting to talk to Adam about AM as well as meet and talk with the rest of his crew.

Later on in the night we got to chilling in the upper level and I got to meet a lot of affiliates I had only read or heard about like Dennis Yu as well as chill out with Ian and Ad Hustler. This is pretty much the point of the story where the rest is forgotten or withheld haha.

I have to say though that it definitely wouldn’t have been as good of a weekend without EliteProfits throwing it down. Up until recently, they had been a completely private network. These guys have been in the industry since the heyday and definitely know how to look out for their affiliates and most of all they actually know what they are talking about. When I talked to Adam I knew he knew his stuff and that he had done it and continues to make stuff happen in affiliate marketing for himself as well as his affiliates.

I highly suggest you check out EliteProfits today and get in touch with Adam. This is one network you do not want to miss out on.

After you’ve done that, check out this slideshow from the party: Slideshow

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Now the title of this post might be corny, but here’s the thing.

I’ve noticed that I’ve been so hell bent on focusing on failure and embracing failing so much, that I’ve completely been short sighting myself because what I should be focusing on is success.

It’s important to know that you need to fail in order to learn, but when that becomes your sole train of thought it’s no good.

I need to move away from the notion of failing to succeed because I’m comfortable with it now after facing it every single day over the past year and a half. In fact, I think I’ve always been able to embrace failure and perhaps a little too much.

That’s why from today on I’m going to try and post about various challenges and the success I’m having along with them.

The first success of my 60 days of success is choosing to go healthy. I’ve been eating a whole lot of unhealthy fast food and staying on the computer for hours on a day without hitting the gym is doing a lot of damage to my health.

That’s why I’ve decided to try out the V Diet (Lite version). The main reason I’m doing this is not because I want a quick and easy way to gain muscle/lose fat, but rather to get used to and hopefully actually start liking healthy food.
The diet consists of replacing breakfast and dinner with protein shakes essentially. Along with this, I’ll be following a regimen of in house exercises as I’m not quit ready to hit the gym yet (I think the reason I hate the gym is because I hate working out in front of people esp as a noob).

Anyhow, I’ll be starting tomorrow (hopefully) and will let everyone know how it goes. I would post pics of my progress in getting rid of this beer belly gut of mine, but I’d rather not show up on some of those acai flogs you guys have been pushing
Oh and I just felt like putting up that picture of Captain America haha probably because  he has abs of steel.

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So here’s the lowdown on ASE 09 in NYC  (I can’t believe it’s already time)

Truth is ASE is look like its going to be A LOT more scaled back than ASW Vegas was. The reason for this is likely that NYC is expensive as sh** to try to do anything on a large scale.

It seems as though there are a lot of private, invite-only parties/dinners and that’s the route most networks are opting to take. Nonetheless there should be some events here and there to keep your interest. Here are some things to look out for:

• ShareaSale is having a sick looking rooftop party on top of the Empire Hotel. Details for the party and how to get in are here. I don’t know much about ShareaSale except that I won a stuffed panda bear from them back at ASW 09 and they seem like a fun network.

• WF members are looking to have their own impromptu meetup at a lounge/club and if that doesn’t work out one of the members is just going to get us a suite and pay for all the “goods.”

• For a complete list of events, check out this post at Branding100.

• A good idea to remain in touch and up to date is to get on twitter. Just tonight, AdHustler posted a thread on WF for everyone to post their twitter usernames. It makes it MUCH easier to know what’s going on at the moment and where your friends are at/ people you just met. Twitter was huge back at ASW and pretty much everyone was either glued to that or the #cakes channel on IRC. If you’re on twitter, get at me: twitter.com/rohailr

• Meetup202 will be having a huge meetup during ASE, although details are still unannounced.

Even though the summit appears to be scaled back in terms of networks throwing events, I have a pretty good feeling there is going to be A LOT to gain just from attending. Even if you’re a newbie or a seasoned affiliate, networking in this industry is always a plus.

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This is a little late, but just wanted to let you guys know how MeetUp202 in NYC went down.

This was the first time I’ve been able to attend the NYC meetups and although it wasn’t as big or pre-planned as the previous one, I can definitely say it was at least a good time going to and meeting new people in the industry.

It was hosted at a small lounge called Kurve on 2nd Ave and it was well-suited for what the meetup was, which was just a low-key environment giving us the chance to mingle with other affiliates.

I actually drove up there in my car with Ian, who will tell you parking was a pain in the ass. After circling the area for a good 30 minutes, we were finally able to grab a spot.

I got a chance to meet a few WF people as well as my AM from WoToGePa, Liam. Not to mention I got to meet Ahmet Kirtok as well as his brother, both of whom are in the industry. They are also Turkish so when I go off to study abroad this fall in Istanbul, they are going to be gracious enough to let me know what’s good in Turkey

I got to talk to a lot WF members some who were big on dating others who were big on biz opps and it was a good chance to meet other affiliates my age that are doing big numbers and it was inspiring to say the least.

After Kurve, everyone headed to some hookah lounge (no way I remember what it was called), and everyone chilled out there for a bit. This was cool because I’ve been wanting to have an affiliate meetup at a hookah lounge for some time now. We bounced soon after as we were pretty beat. After Ian and I stopped at a diner on 2nd Ave, we headed back home after a good meetup in the city.

Events like these are definitely well worth it and it doesn’t matter how little or how much experience you have as an affiliate. There is always something to be gained at every level. I am looking forward to the next one during ASE and if you haven’t already, join the meetup group by clicking here.

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When you think of what a network should be…you’re thinkin of what EWA network is.

Now I’m not writing this because I was asked to write this or anything…I’m writing this because these guys just made my day.

First of all, Ryan Eagle is the fuckin man. Without him, I’d probably still be struggling. I’ve been on every network you can think of and there are very very few where you’ll get a direct response and GUIDANCE from the network owner. Now, granted Ryan Eagle is a busy man, he still helped me get on the road to profitability and continues to do so today and that counts for a lot.

At the same time, don’t expect anyone to hold your hands through setting up a campaign (not with any network). This isn’t PPC Coach and it shouldn’t be. These guys appreciate you making your own out of a campaign if with some tips and guidance on their end (which are extremely helpful).

In fact, because he knows I’m strapped for cash right now, he did me a huge favor in terms of getting me my payment for the week asap. He can be assured that I’ll be running traffic on EWA for as long as I’m an affiliate. You just don’t get that kind of service, not to mention tips and tricks from any other network.

Now, EWA is a private network, but that doesn’t mean you can’t apply. Just make sure you’re serious about making shit loads of money and that you’re not there to waste anyone’s time. If you wanna become a baller like these guys, go check out EWA network right now.

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