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.

Here are some really quick testimonials from people in the industry about T202 in general: Tracking202 Testimonials

And here are some of the things people are saying in the industry about Tracking202 PRO.

The creators of the software, Wes and Steve, are undoubtedly some of the hardest working and honest guys in the industry. They’ve created something of HUGE value in my opinion and doing affiliate marketing without Tracking202 would be like doing affiliate marketing blind.
The coolest thing about the program is that you it aggregates all your stats to be viewable on your iPhone. Considering everyone’s got an iPhone these days and that affiliate marketers can’t live without obsessively checking their stats, an iPhone app is definitely a nice touch.

Tracking202 Pro is offering a free 7 day trial right now. So what are you waiting for? Check it out now.

I’ve been hard at work trying to get my campaigns to convert and playing around with a lot of different networks at the same time.

I like to get a feel of the best interface as well as the service at each network. Honestly, the people at a network and how they treat you makes a huge difference especially when you’re starting out.

If you’re at a network that has people that care about you…it’s almost like buying a motivation plan with them sort of like how you would buy an insurance plan with a car. It just keeps you going.  If you’re at a network without people who are there to look out for you when bad things happen or let you know about campaigns that are converting, you’re pretty much a lost soul. As I learned in Vegas at Affiliate Summit West, networking is HUGE in this industry. You might think it’s all about being behind the computer screen and running a few PPC campaigns but it is so much bigger than that. Having an awesome affiliate manager on your side, like I do at Direct Agents (what’s up Ken??), makes working with that network so much more personable and you really feel like you have a combined goal when you run a campaign – not just to help yourself, but to help your network because they’ve done so much for you. In fact, I even met up with my AM at Direct Agents when he was in town and then got to hang out with him again in Las Vegas at Affiliate Summit West and met the whole team at DA. These guys are on top of their game and when they say they’re going to help you out whenever they can…they do.

If you’re looking for an excellent CPA Network to work with and believe in building solid relationships in this industry to help you get closer to your goals, I highly recommend signing up with Direct Agents today. They’ve been working with some of the most powerful affiliates and have been in the industry for five years. They have an extremely clean interface and some of the best payouts in the industry. Most of all though, it’s about the exceptional team at Direct Agents that makes you want to work with them even more.

1) Text-Link-Ads - Signing up for Text Link Ads is a breeze. All you have to do is submit your website for review and install the code they give you, and your site is automatically listed in a database where advertisers can find your website to place text links on. The amount you can earn per link sold is relative to the popularity and search engine rankings of your blog, but this is definitely one of the easiest ways to make money blogging. I can also sell links on my website without going through TLA so I don’t have to pay TLA their share, but TLA makes it easy to find advertisers.

2) WidgetBucks- Another really cool way to start bringing in some cash is through WidgetBucks. WidgetBucks lets you put up a custom widget anywhere on your site and it autotically puts up ads related to your content(i.e., if you have a digital camera blog up, it will show ads of digital cameras). The widget looks very clean and can be customized to blend in with your website and only takes a minute to set up.

3) Sell advertising space- This one is obvious. Let your readers know that they can advertise on your blog for a set monthly fee. Speaking of which, spots are currently going for $50 per month on this blog.

4) Affiliate marketing- If you haven’t already noticed, I’m pretty big on affiliate marketing. You can make a lot of money on your blog just by reviewing different products and earning a commission on items people buy through your link. To do this well, you have to be able to write well-constructed reviews that are actually helpful to people. To learn more about affiliate marketing and how you can make a killing with it, visit WealthyAffiliate.com. This is definitely the most lucrative method for making money blogging, or elsewhere.

With a little effort and some creativity, you can make blogging a beneficial and lucrative hobby/business. I hope these tips have been helpful and have encouraged you to start making more money today.

Why do I believe all college students are able to and should be active in building an affiliate marketing business?

Well first of all, building an affiliate marketing business offers invaluable experience in being a self-starter, managing your money, learning about value, and of course starting and running your own business. It also gives you a sense of independence and if you take this independence to its highest levels during college, you will more than likely not NEED to get a job after college.

Another reason why I believe college students should be involved in affiliate marketing is of course because it allows students to make money in college. More than that it allows you to make money in college when you want and it really is up to you as to how much money you want to make. Flexibility I believe is extremely valuable when it comes to a career and more so when you are in college. With the schedules I’ve had as a college student, it definitely wasn’t feasible  to work even a part-time job with set hours. Affiliate marketing allows college students to make money in college on their terms, which is really true blessing.

Most of all, however, while I won’t tell you it is easy to start making money online, it certainly is do-able. And if you’re a college student like me (er- ex-college student) you probably have enough of a handle on computers and don’t need to go through the obstacles of learning the basics of a website before you start seeing those dollar signs. Seriously- I know it’s one thing to be naive but it’s another to be completely cynical and it actually is possible start making serious money online as a college student. There are however scams out there that will prey upon newbies and seek their hard earned money. Don’t fall into that trap. Seriously, DON’T.

I do recommend however that instead of jumping in the game blind you get some guidance first. It will cost you A LOT less in the long run (trust me, I know). One of the best places to learn how to start making money online is WealthyAffiliate.com. I know I mentioned scams a second ago, but this is NOT one of them. In fact, it is one of the few legitimate (and I can count how many legit sites there are on one hand so there aren’t many) that actually does what it promises. If you have WealthyAffiliate under your belt you will be unstoppable. You won’t even have to go to those pesky college career fairs once you’ve harnessed the power of WA. Head over to RichFratBoy.com and learn about how you can make money in college RIGHT NOW and earn some cool bonuses when you sign up from there. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by unless you want to be like your fellow college mates stuck in a sucky job market.

Facebook is the greatest thing ever not just for the social networking abilities it allows- but also for how ridiculously easy it has made it for the average internet marketer to turn a buck on the Internet.

True- getting your ads approved on Facebook is a little tricky, but after you get used to it you get a feel for what kind of stuff gets approved and what doesn’t. But all it really takes is finding a suitable offer from any affiliate network such as NeverBlueAds, creating a very simple ad in Facebook Ads Manager, selecting the criteria of the people you are looking to target- you can narrow it down by sex, region, college, and even what year in college they’re in- and more.

That’s it. No keywords, no placement issues. Just hit submit and watch your stats. If you have a compelling enough ad, are running a good offer, and are targeting correctly, you can expect to make a good amount of change in a very short amount of time. The first time I made an ad on Facebook I made $15 in 15 minutes. Needless to say, I was pretty surprised and it’s only grown since then.

So go ahead give it a shot. You’ll never learn if you don’t try.

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You can expand your knowledge about affiliate marketing and discover how I’ve been able to make money every month by checking out RichFratBoy.com right now.

I signed into a one year apartment lease sharing with two other people in July for an apartment by campus. Rent is about $500 a month and I’d be living with a couple of my friends. I would be sharing a room for $500 a month, not have my own room. I signed up for the lease knowing that I wouldn’t be going to school for the first semester and so that I could motivate myself to make enough money to pay rent through affiliate marketing.

Just recently I was convinced that it would be a better idea to save money and live at home with the parents and have my own room. I’ve found a sublet already, someone who would take my place on the lease. I’d be away from my social life, however, and I have no car so no way of going out and about on my own. Furthermore, with free rent and food, along with everything else- I don’t know if I’d be so motivated to make as much money each month.

Even if I were to live home til December, I would be back in school in January and again needing to be back on campus – or commuting with a cheap 4k or 5k car that at this point I don’t know how I will even afford.

So basically live on campus, sharing a room, for 500 a month, with the ability to see friends, and have the motivation to make enough money per month.

Or live at home, with no car, for free, but maybe lose motivation to make enough money for myself.

I kind of want to be the daredevil and forgo the 500 a month in rent just to force myself to make that much per month via AM.

What would you do?

I’m doing an internship at Target in order to get some experience and have as a “backup” for the future.

I would like to think, however, that it will be my last job ever.

Also, I paused all of my campaigns last month because one of my networks- CPAEmpire claimed they never got my W-9 form so I couldn’t get paid last month. That caused me to hit my credit card limit and be unable to resume my campaigns for that month. But I should receive the check this week and be able to resume my campaigns fairly soon.

I’ve noticed that a lot of people are curious about affiliate marketing and it’s one of those businesses where you have to lose some money before you make some money. That’s just the way it is and if you can’t stomach that, don’t even bother getting in. Anyway, I’m going to be doing a series on things newbie affiliate marketers should be looking out for in order to avoid getting completely demolished- the first of which should appear tomorrow. I really want to help the readers of this site with anything they want to know about AM because I know they’re smart enough to make money in AM. For now, however, good night.

What job am I talking about? I’m talking about being an Affiliate Marketer.

An affiliate what?

Affiliate marketer- in simple terms- a person that gets paid a commission every time they sell a product for a business or get them relevant information like leads on people interested in buying cars.

Now, there is a warning attached to this. Affiliate marketing is not just for anyone. You have to be dedicated, willing to take losses, and creative / forward-thinking. This industry is definitely not for someone who’s not driven.

If you are driven, however, there is tons to be made just by being creative and proactive in the everyday world that you live in. Business opportunities start to pop up everywhere once you get in the affiliate marketing mindset and money making opportunities are everywhere.

One of the best things about affiliate marketing is that it is the way the majority of business will be conducted in the future. Everyone knows that people buy what their friends by and affiliate marketing is one step detached from that. It’s not your friend telling you what to buy, nor is it the company, but rather someone in between. Plus, business would rather you risk your advertising dollars than they risk them themselves and are willing to pay people like me and you- who know how and who to market- to bring more business to them.

If you’d like to learn more about affiliate marketing, I suggest checking out this lens on how to make money while in college with affiliate marketing.

It all seemed like a ploy to be rewarded for building liabilities, and the credit card companies banking on you to not pay them back on time.

However, in this day in age it’s nearly impossible to live without a credit card, and so when you’re looking for one you should definitely look hard for one that provides good terms such as a low-interest credit card with small or no annual fees.

I remember when I got my first credit cards I pretty much applied to whoever sent me a letter in the mail when I entered college. I asked my buddy how he picked his credit cards and he said he went with Capital One because they were the first ones to send him a credit card and “won the race” (which he now regrets having in his wallet).

And if you don’t have such great credit, you should also do your due diligence and look for a credit card that will help do the most to keep your credit in good shape. There are credit cards out there designed for people with bad credit, and with due diligence I’m sure they can find a credit card that works best for their needs.

If you do have bad credit, check out sites like RestoreMyCreditReport.com.
Just be wise and financially responsible when it comes to your spending, and you should be able to build or turn around your credit score.