Official Reviews Online

As soon as we hit the sales page, we thought "These people are taking the hidden secrets angle a bit too far here". You'll notice that they really prey on the fact that there is some kind of secret system to making a lot of money as an affiliate that none of the gurus have told you about.

This would make anyone feel weary about the product right off the bat. If you have been at this affiliate marketing game for a long time then you know first hand what works for you, but to suggest that there are still, in 2009, hidden secrets and private systems to making a serious amount of affiliate income that no-one else has discovered...well, it's hard to believe.

But if you're struggling to make your first cent online then none of that will matter to you, as long as the system works...right?

Well, we are going to ignore the general "They've been keeping and hiding secrets from you" routine, and get straight to the meat.

We all get a little tired of reading the same old cheesy, hyped up internet marketing sales pages. Particularly the ones that are written and aimed at total new comers to the game.

After reading the Affiliate Payload sales page, it was clear that the emphasis was on the struggling affiliate who is living is squalor and near poverty. Listen, if you can't afford to pay your bills or put food on the table, then do not buy any program just yet. In fact, get yourself covered and then come back in a few months.

The big appeal from reading the sales page was that the 4 systems (described as modules) which make up Affiliate Payload seem to be designed in such a way as to be set and forget, with very little physical work upfront at all.

But truth be told, social proof has yet again struck a chord with us...where we are seeing some serious players in the internet marketing field testifying the the sheer power and effectiveness of this new affiliate guide...heck, even Michael Cheney has only good to say about this, and he was the guy who went on BBC News talking about how he pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars just in Adsense commissions, just a couple of years ago.

But as always, a sales page doesn't mean jack until you've actually seen what is inside waiting for you. Luckily,we will be your human guinea pig and find that out, removing the risk for you!

What we didn't notice in the sales page was the fact that all the course material was accompanied by video tutorials. This is a plus, as although it is useful to have a manual which you can read and refer back to quickly, videos always take the guesswork out of any method, meaning you really cannot go wrong. However we haven't actually seen what these methods are at this point, so we're not getting too excited just yet.

There's also a one time offer that you'll be hit with after your purchase. This is for a video set of advanced tactics based around and built up from the same material as the core package, plus much more on top! But first, we're going to take a look inside the core package and see what's on offer...

The Affiliate Payload Core Manual

The Affiliate Payload Core Manual was written by Alex Goad and Saj P. If you have never heard of Saj before, then you may know that Alex Goad is the man behind The Four Tier Annihilation Method which caused a gigantic stir in the internet marketing community with rave reviews at every turn (and not just the phony, two paragraph reviews but real forum reviews too!).

However, that should not really count towards the merit of this product, as you can't make a decision about a totally new product based on the success of an old one.

The "Secret" Isn't Actually A Secret At All...

As soon as we read the first few paragraphs of the manual, we realized that all this "secret method" stuff wasn't actually completely secret at all, certainly not on an overall level. What Alex and Saj are divulging is a different type of affiliate marketing that focuses on CPA offers, along with other variations of CPA marketing.

CPA is indeed a very powerful way to clean up as an affiliate, but is not exactly unheard of. Perhaps to the new marketer, this stuff all seems new and unique, but to the more experienced amongst us, making money with CPA offers as well as normal affiliate offers is no biggie.

...Or is it?

If you're unfamiliar with CPA offers, you might not take to this guide too well at first. However, if you go in with an idea of what CPA is and how it can make a lot of money for everyday affiliates, then you will be better positioned to really hit the ground running.

What are CPA offers anyway?

CPA offers are simply a way to earn a few bucks by sending people to a big company's lead capture/opt in form to join their huge database or mailing list.

So it makes sense for them to pay other people a few bucks in exchange for a targeted prospect that they can try and sell more of their stuff (like TV's, iPods, Film tickets, Holidays etc...).

So whereas in the world of traditional affiliate marketing you had to try and convert a visitor into an interested prospect, then into an actual buyer...with CPA offers it is as simple as getting them to put their name and/or email address into an online form and hey presto! you've just earned a few dollars (sometimes a lot more, depending on the type of business/company you're promoting).

But if it were that easy, we'd all be doing it right?

Part of the reason why we're not actually making money this way is down to the following:

1. We don't know which offers to promote

2. We are still weary of the whole potential of CPA marketing

3. We see it as too low a profit margin to be worthwhile

4. We don't know how to get traffic to the offers

These problems plague us all with anything new (and sometimes with really old affiliate marketing methods too!). So the question is, can this new guide offer us the information we really need to bust through these barriers? Can Affiliate Payload make the lesser known methods of affiliate marketing accessible?

If they can, they we can enjoy better conversions, as we don't have to try and actually sell anyone anything...we just need them to provide their contact details

I Hope You Like Reading...

When we first got inside Affiliate Payload we saw tons of accompanying videos and our eyes lit up with relief. After all, we know that some people prefer to read a book, but others like videos to show step by step what to do.

However, when we watched the intro video, Saj P quickly pointed out that the videos were simply meant to act as a backup and reminder of the written material.

Now, this isn't exactly a big deal and actually we thought it was a nice touch...but we were hoping for more on the video side of the product. But actually, we can already see that's the reason why there is an upsell to the full, comprehensive video version.

Bottom line is this: There is so much material in the Affiliate Payload written manual that unless you print if off and are willing to read a bit everyday, then forget it!

On the plus side, even from reading the first few chapters, you can immediately see that the written material is covering new grounds when it comes to affiliate marketing.

Bad Points

As you know by now, or as you'll soon learn, we don't write those cheesy one sided reviews. We pick out the truth and the bad sides and let you, the reader, make a balanced decision. Therefore, it's time to pick apart this product and bring the ugly side of Affiliate Payload out into the light.

Not So Fast

First of all, when reading the sales page we seemed to get the impression that what we were about to learn would be quick and easy.

Now some of the methods are fairly quick (will take a few days to set up) but some will take a few more days, at least a day of research and some, well some will take a month or so to get rolling.

Still, you have to keep things in perspective here. Think how long it takes to set up an offline business. It could be years before you actually start making sales, if at all!

Ultimately, it comes down to experience.

A totally new person to internet marketing may find that the methods take a few months to grasp and execute, whereas someone who is familiar with internet marketing, setting up offers, doing keyword research etc, will find the material pretty much pick up and play...even if it still takes a week or so to actually start seeing profits in most cases throughout the guide.

Most of the initial work is more to do with setting up various accounts and waiting to get accepted into networks. There could be a little hassle when it comes to being rejected (unlikely, and they show you what to do with this scenario anyway). But once you've got one system set up, the profits you make will more than pay for an outworker to do the grunt work on new applications and menial tasks, so you really do need to look at the bigger picture here and stick with it.

There Will Be Some Costs

The next thing that struck us was that the majority of the methods will require some (but not a lot of) advertising costs. Sure, if you follow the guide properly then you'll be making those advertising costs back pretty quickly, but the problem we found was that you might have to shuffle some of the methods around from the way they are presented in the guide, particularly if you want to start off with no money at all.

Don't think we are talking about thousands here, but you will need the smallest acorn to grow the oak tree, so be prepared to place a small amount of spare cash upfront into advertising costs.

Yes, there are free methods that simply require your time and nothing else (until you can scale it up and outsource the work or move onto the paid methods once you're making profits), but we thought you should be warned that roughly 70% of the methods you'll learn will involve spending money to make money.

Again, do things as instructed and you'll be fine. However, this particular aspect does make us wonder if this is the right guide for complete and utter internet marketing new comers to be using. From re-reading the sales page, it seems that utter newbie's are not the main focus of their sales pitch anyway, clearly it seems more aimed at struggling, yet familiar affiliate marketers...which is pretty much a perfect match to the material inside after all.

Some Parts Of The Guide Are Lacking

There are a few segments within some of the various sections that we thought were a little weak in comparison to the rest of the content. For example, there are numerous spelling errors which made us feel as if this guide was rushed out there. There's no excuse for that, but then again we must admit that we're not buying a novel here...we're buying knowledge to make a lot of money.

PPC hot water

There is one section which talks about bidding on brand keywords via PPC advertising, which we thought could be a little misleading to the lesser experience marketer. For example, the fact is that bidding on brand keywords (models, makes, names, logos, slogans and even domain names) can land you in a lot of hot water unless you have already checked first (which they do advise you to do of course). The point is, this requires careful treading and sometimes a long winded plea with a company to allow you to bid on such terms.

It can't all be the most important part!

Another thing we noticed as we worked through the guide was that more than one chapter begins with "This section is the most important part of the guide"...which makes you feel a little misguided as to what really is the most important part of the guide. This also goes along with some additional (and highly unnecessary) hypey wording in the guide itself. As we read some of this guide we thought "Hey man, you've sold me once, I don't need to be sold again...!".

Could use a little more info on PPC

Most of the techniques are very extensive, but there is one section that delves into PPC advertising and how to combine the immediate traffic and targeted benefits of PPC advertising with the Affiliate Payload tactics. This section feels a little light on the ground, particularly when you know how easy it is to get burned with PPC advertising.

If you do decide to deploy that particular method (which is one of many) then make sure you do a little extra homework on creating successful PPC campaigns first. They do recommend Perry Marshal's guide to Adwords (Google's PPC platform) which is certainly a good recommendation. In fact, even Perry's free newsletter is very useful for PPC marketers too, so remember to check that out if you decide to run with that particular method.

For people who have used PPC before and have a basic grasp, then this section will blow your mind when you combine it with the Affiliate Payload system.

Warning: May sometimes need to use your brain!

We also found that in a few places, you were left to ponder the possibilities and use a little creative thinking. Whilst we are all for marketers using their common sense and own minds to get ahead, some people will want nothing left to creative thinking or imagination. However, this is only marginal in the guide and by no means suggests that it is not step by step. We can honestly say, there are enough step by step methods to choose from in this package that you don't even need an active brain to execute them with ease, even if they do take some time to set up initially.

They should have worded the review aspect differently...

We also found that there are some smaller methods in the guide, which are part of a bigger overall strategy, to be a little shady. You need to use your own common sense to avoid getting into trouble.

The one example which made us say this was in Chapter 9, where they are talking about creating simple content sites to generate traffic. They talk about different ways to convert that traffic into buyers and they mention review type content. This is where they say "Don't have a review of that product? Simple...just go find one on Google where someone has already reviewed that product".

That is suggesting that people plagiarize other people's hard work. But we think what they failed to mention is "Look at the types of things being said about other people's products, and adapt that into your own words".

Nobody likes speculation

Finally, there is one part where Saj P talks about a certain method using Facebook (which is absolutely amazing by the way, and we will come to that in a second). The problem is, he tends to speculate on how much people can earn, with no real figures or facts to back that speculation up.

Now, he is right in saying these methods are making people insanely rich, but we do feel that in the section he is just lacking in facts. This simply means that there is money to be made (and lots of it too) but he's not sure exactly how much. We would prefer it if he just came out and said that.

Good Points

There's no question that clearly, Affiliate Payload has its flaws. But hey, show us a product that doesn't. The real key for you is working out if the good outweighs the bad. As an experienced marketer you will know that the following aspects would have a serious impact on your business, to the point of almost dropping everything you are currently doing.

So let's take a look at what works for Affiliate Payload and ultimately, what will work for your wallet...

Market research is on a new level

Don't let anyone tell you that market research is not the defining moment of any project you do online. It's the only aspect of your business that can literally make or break your success...all other aspects can be improved or refined. If you get the research aspect wrong, you're dust.

Affiliate Payload does the job of researching markets really well.

We're not just talking about their extensive keyword research, but also how to look laterally across several areas of a market to find literally millions of pathways to reach the exact people that will be lapping up your easy to convert CPA offers.

And because they show you how to easily convert these people into a few bucks at a time, you immediately begin to see the potential lying in front of you.

You know that rush of excitement you get when you see money in your reach? Well, that happened to me after seeing just this one aspect of their guide.

What you'll find is that they tailor their research to each individual method, so that new ways of reaching a market that is primed for high conversions is right at your fingertips.

There are techniques and websites that people are using that you will no idea about. Certainly from now on, taking a new approach to market research, right through from keywords to market analysis to matching the right offers to the right types of people will make the difference...everything you need to know is here, and can be applied to any online business!

High conversion rate + less preselling + less effort

This is probably the most potent benefit to the Affiliate Payload system...the fact that you can expect to make a lot more money per 100 visitors than you would from trying to presell an eBook or similar high priced affiliate product.

At the end of the day, it will always be easier to get someone to fill in their name and email address than it will be to sell them an entire eBook or higher priced product. In fact, with some of the markets that Affiliate Payload recommends, you would actually struggle to find a suitable affiliate product to sell directly anyway!

There really are still secrets left in the online marketing world!

One of the most impressive elements found in Affiliate Payload was the media buying section. We've heard of media buying before, but didn't realize what you could do with it to make easy money.

If you've never heard of media buying before, don't sweat it. The guys behind Affiliate Payload show you a truly frightening way to reach millions of people without building a website, without creating your own traffic, without even writing a single word yourself...this was honestly one of the best parts of the guide and something we are going to deploy immediately.

You know when people say "There are secret methods that super affiliates are using to make themselves millions each year whilst you struggle"?...well, we would not have believed that hypey nonsense until we read this info on media buying and the way they show you to combine CPA (and similar) offers into this little known source of targeted traffic. Truly amazing.

Step by step and universal

Although we did pick out some areas that needed a little more meat, the majority of Affiliate Payload not only covers every detail of what you need to know, but also does so in a very logical step by step process.

What we also liked about their guide is that although it is really extensive, you actually don't need to use every method they cover. You can simply pick out one method that you like the sounds of and run with it.

They do give you enough detail to execute each method and what's also great is that almost everything you learn can be applied to promoting any type of affiliate product...not just the CPA type offers that they focus on (although, after reading this guide you'll probably have no need to even think about promoting other types of offers or products).

The real way to capitalize on trends...(Global Hijack Method)

Over the years we have heard people talk about exploiting current events and passing trends around the world that are focused on in the media, on TV or in the news.

However, never before have we actually grasped how people can make money off these trends. Furthermore, never before have we realized just how much money people are making off seemingly "unprofitable" things.

Our eyes were really opened up to this way of marketing, as revealed in the Global Hijack Method...particularly when you see how little competition there can be for the early birds. If you like fresh new projects to work on from time to time, we are sure you'll really dig this section of Affiliate Payload.

The easy way to exploit one of the world's most visited websites

There is a method called TTP in chapter 4, which is focused around Youtube and how to truly exploit the traffic hoarding giant that we all know and love. Again, marketers have been getting more and more excited about the potential that Youtube holds, but no-one has really come out and laid it on a plate until now.

The way Affiliate Payload shows you how to clean up and rake in easy money from Youtube is potentially illegal in the wrong hands, but the way they show you to tap into the traffic and monetization of it all is what makes this section one of my favourites...and without doubt something that we can do today, right now in fact!

Aha, so THAT'S how you make money on Facebook!

Just like Youtube, Facebook is another sickeningly huge website that gets millions of hits per day. The best part is, it can be monetized! You may have heard about this before, but it's likely you've heard the wrong version of events just like we did.

You see, the truth is that there is an overlooked goldmine on Facebook that anyone can get a piece of and it has nothing to do with the version you've been told which is to run PPC style ads across the network.

Although running ads can and will work for the savvy and well budgeted marketer, you'll be stunned at the impact this underground Facebook marketing system will have on your life.

This section on Facebook marketing was truly another eye opener for and clearly, we are starting to accept the fact that Affiliate Payload is not just another rehashed eBook on affiliate marketing from the late 90's and early 00's.

Chapter 9 is perfect for internet marketing newbie's

At the beginning we touched on how we thought that Affiliate Payload is not really best suited for new comers to internet marketing. However, Chapter 9 is actually an exception to that rule and can act as the perfect gateway to get the profit ball rolling so that you can ramp it up with all of the other methods in a few months' time.

Chapter 9 seems to revert back to some of the more traditional ways to make money as an affiliate. The entire chapter is focused on building easy content sites that are fuelled by free traffic.

This might seem like old news, but in fact if you are an owner of a few content sites, you will know that the techniques revealed about creating content that specifically presell's your visitors in still a refreshing change to this day.

If you want free traffic and like building websites (which cost little to no money to create) then Chapter 9 is a great way to get started. Don't build another website without discovering Affiliate Payload's proven system to create content that sells...after all, that's all that matters as an affiliate right?

What we also liked about Chapter 9 is that there is a great breakdown of all the ways to interlink different websites, blogs and articles etc, together in a way that squeezes the maximum amount of traffic out of your content and mini network of free sites. This was always a confusing area for me, and always stuck to writing articles as an excuse.

Once you've seen the "map" of how you need to spread content and interlink your own sites together, you'll be one step ahead of the masses of grunt workers out there trying to scrape two pennies together.