Convert2Media co-founder Ralph Ruckman AKA Ruck has stepped up his efforts to expose fraudulent affiliate applications, following our discussion about the issue on a recent Friday Podcast.
Along with showing a couple of “tasks” posted on outsource boards with payout ranging from $5 to $100 per successful application (and part 2). What’s surprising/alarming is the number of “big name” affiliate networks on the list.
Ruck also opens up his affiliate application records showing a number of such seedy operations originating from less developed countries such as China (and part 2), Ruck has made it a personal mandate to expose fradulent affiliate applications, which ultimately hurt the networks, merchants and affiliates in their pocket.
What has impressed me about Ruck’s approach to business is that he pulls no punches and goes for the jugular every time.
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On other news, Convert2Media has gone off the DirectTrack platform to its own proprietory platform, which should increase earnings for affiliates.
Also the coaching programs which they were to have launched earlier (mentioned in the podcast) have been rolled back a couple of weeks till after Ad:Tech SF.
Stay tuned.
Links:
Veteran affiliate marketer Ralph Ruckman, better known as “Ruck” has gone full circle, from operating as an affiliate using blackhat/grayhat/whitehat techniques to founding his own CPA/affiliate network, Convert2Media with 3 other co-founders.
A presence on multiple internet marketing and affiliate marketing forums, Ruck is a warehouse of knowledge, having been in the affiliate marketing trenches and having seen the good and bad parts of the industry.
Ruck’s known for his brutally frank, no-BS approach to speaking his mind. You either love his honesty, or in the same breath, hate him for showing the ugly side of things.
I’d been looking forward to talking to Ruck for some time and got him to share his thoughts during our call.
We talked about:
- How he got started in internet marketing
- His role in participating in forums and starting the CashTactics blog (now operated by Kris Trujillo)
- His views on the affiliate industry, especially on the recent FTC press conference
- How to look for hot niches to promote in affiliate marketing
- How to build your affiliate business
- Convert2Media’s recent adjustment in sub-affiliate recruitment incentives
- Important facts every affiliate needs to know about scrubbing and shaving
- Convert2Media’s upcoming coaching programs for affiliates
- C2M’s next evolution as a full service internet marketing agency
Check out the podcast below:
Links:
I first got to meet Ralph “Ruck” Ruckman (right) on the internet marketing forums more than a year ago. He got some attention as an active poster on the Rich Jerk forum, and for blog posts on his CashTactics blog, such as the one where he mentioned making more thant $159,000 from one of his sites. (From about 17 hours of work).
Since then, he’s published more posts related to PPC traffic generation and CPA affiliate marketing. If you’ll read some of his posts like his Questions and Answers post:
His reply to the question about what he should have known as an internet marketer starting out is frank and uncensored: “That 99% of marketers writing ebooks to sell to other marketers are nothing but forum slime who copy other people’s ideas and steal the glory to make a penny. Had I known that when I started I would not have wasted a shitload of money”
Instead, the foundation of how he determines what works and what doesn’t isn’t by reading an ebook, but by testing it out. And it’s not just posts about how he made big money either. In an update to his testing, he removed the entrecard and scratchback blog widgets because they weren’t performing.
One major lessons that internet marketers wanting to be successful from their efforts is to continually research, test, analyze new campaigns and products and services. “Failing” once does not put you out of the game.
The other point is that blogging about the experience (good or bad), helps you (more…)
