CPA Marketing On The Inside

The big difference between CPA and traditional affiliate marketing is that you don't actually need to sell the product. You only have to generate a 'lead', which consists of details of someone they can contact. Typically these details will be a zipcode, an email address or a sign-up for a free product trial. When you generate a lead for an advertiser you get paid. This sounds a very tempting way of earning an income: it can't be that difficult, can it?

Well, it can be quite difficult, but more on that later. If you seriously want to get started with CPA there are a few other hurdles you need to cross before you can begin.

The first hurdle is being approved by a CPA network. These are the companies who represent the advertisers who provide the CPA opportunities. This is a high-powered world and they are very selective about who they will let in. You'll have to fill in a detailed application form which is designed to demonstrate your experience at CPA marketing. But what if you don't have any experience? How can you get your foot on the first rung of the CPA ladder?

The answer is that you just have to be persistent. If you can find someone who is already in the network who can introduce you, then fine. Otherwise just apply to as many networks as possible. Fill in the application forms as far as you can and try to show that you are professional and serious about being accepted. Don't worry if they reject you - just keep on applying to more networks and in the end one or two will let you in and you can get started.

But getting into a network is just the first step to success at CPA. Now you've got to learn how to choose and promote the offers. It's a different world from the usual affiliate marketing scene. The sort of offers you'll be promoting are prize draws, filling in surveys, or free trials of teeth whiteners, for example. Visitors were probably not looking for these items when they log on but you have to attract their attention to get them to click through to your offer. It's not easy and you need a lot of traffic to get a reasonable response.

And that's the rub - traffic. To be successful at CPA you have to somehow get your offers in front of thousands and thousands of eyeballs.

Which explains why the CPA networks are so picky about who they let in and how a few elite marketers dominate the market because they know how to generate traffic. That traffic could be free traffic originating from casual surfers, or bought traffic, paid for by click. Either way, in CPA marketing, you must know how to drive sufficient traffic

CPA marketing is a specific form of affiliate marketing with its own rules and routes to success. If you can master its particular challenges you can join the six-figure earners who dominate the industry.

As with any business enterprise it all comes down to training and experience. To become a successful CPA marketer you have to invest in yourself. Buy the best Internet training you can find, apply the lessons you learn and work hard to achieve your goals. Then you'll find out how to succeed at CPA.