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Today's interview with a Pro Affiliate (Super Affiliate) is with a guy I have respected and learned from for a long time, Ian Fernando (@Ianternet). If you do not know the name Ian Fernando then you are either new to affiliate marketing or you have your computer setup to block all blogs.
Ian has one of the original affiliate marketing blogs, IanFernando.com, where he has been writing about this industry for as long as I can remember.
He is a big earner and industry veteran. Ian is a friend of mine and I was excited to receive his answers to my interview questions because there was a lot I asked that we had never discussed before. He did not disappoint.
Read his answers below and feel free to reply with your own questions for Ian as well
How much is the most you have made in a single day with affiliate marketing?
At my peak I have made 6 figures in a single day and it lasted roughly for a week and a half
What is the most you've lost in a single day? I know for my own experience, I try to block out losses pretty quickly, but give me an estimate if you can't remember.
Well, since making 6 figures I guess you can say 6 figures since I wasn't making that anymore but in terms of ROI I have lost 5 figures, low.
What is your favorite hobby?
I enjoy working out, cooking, traveling, drinking and meeting new people.
What is 1 skill you've learned since starting affiliate marketing that has helped you the most with getting your campaigns profitable?
The best skill that I have learned is the data analytics and psychology part of marketing and understanding the numbers that are associated to the campaign. To me, it all becomes a game. I always think if 100 people click on an ad then why didn't 100 people convert. What was that barrier or pitfall they entered and that psychology and data helps with how I approach my ads.
You are a full-time affiliate. How long did it take you to accomplish that?
Yes, it took me about 2 years to become full time because I was questioning myself if this online internet money thing was real. I finally removed 2 out of the 3 jobs and my goal to have one job was made. I then realized if I as able to let go of 2 then can I let go of the last and not have a job anymore. It was a big jump for me to do so as I was raised to always have a job. So, my mentality had to shift and when I realize it can be done then, I took the leap and it took me just 3 months to make my year salary in those 3 months.
Do you use custom landing pages for most of your affiliate campaigns or do you direct link?
It depends on the ad network I am advertising on or the angle. Angle plays a huge role on how I want to promote an offer. Most of the time I am creating a landing page. Currently, I do have one traffic source and one offer that is direct link because it fits the ad angle I am doing.
What is your favorite affiliate network and why?
I only work with a very close few:
White label affiliate networks are going to be going away because they are just a broker and not a service. So, I only work with a very few and if the network they work with shut downs, I then just follow my affiliate manager to the next. It is the person I trust more so than the network.
What is 1 thing we can add to affLIFT to make it better? This can be something the community does or something I do personally to make the forum better.
What I did miss about the industry back in the day were forum meetups, similar to what STM has done and what Meetup202 has done. These put people together that are affiliate marketers specifically. Another addition would be aggregated news, I think would help and create a discussion on the industry.
What is your least favorite part about affiliate marketing?
The constant hustle and up and down. This industry goes through a cleanse almost every 2 years. Minor baths are happening every 6 months but the big cleanse happens every 1.5 to 2 years I notice. I do not like the constant change.
What is your favorite part about affiliate marketing?
The constant hustle. I like it because it keeps me on my feet and it keeps me integrated with the marketing aspects of online marketing. If you leave online marketing for a day you already lost. The best part about affiliate marketing is when new rules are set on an ad platform, affiliates are the most creative marketers out there to try to keep the rules but just walk around them. They are the first to any market to think of a new way to approach an angle, a new law, a new ad restriction, etc. It keeps us on our feet.
Where do you see the industry in 3-5 years?
Oh man this is a crazy question to ask because the industry shift is almost overnight sometimes. I do see that marketing will be more contained and have its purpose. An ad will have to be relatable enough to the end-user and not forced in their face. Imagine pop up ads back in the day. They were annoying and then pop up blockers came out, which led to malware advertising. Then it became cleaner when Facebook and Chrome and browsers started to adjust. Ad annoyance will be given a score I think and then decide how well it will be displayed.
Honestly, I am not even sure, the industry and tech and peoples opinions plays a huge role now on how they see ads. I do think ad relevancy will play a huge role and when I say relevancy it will not be all about impressions anymore but more data-driven with privacy in mind. If you take a look at Apple, for example, their environment is about their customers. With affiliate marketing we do not care much about customers, we care about conversions but we have to think more as partnerships and I think we will be going that route more.
A divide between performance vs relevancy.
What is one question I should have asked you that I haven't? Please answer it as well.
Why did you choose affiliate marketing? Has that decisions change?
I chose affiliate marketing because I was working 3 jobs and I couldnt handle eBay and info products because of customers. I needed a median on how to make money online or extra money without customers. So, I found affiliate marketing. It was the perfect solution to my problem back in the day. If you ask me the same question today, I do not know if it would be the same response.
Being much older and seeing the industry change I think affiliate needs to understand that this is a constant hustle and to create value with tier marketing. Or the best part is to create solutions to their problems. I have created a lot of software solutions to my marketing problems and have tried to put it out there to the affiliate industry but then customers were always a pain point of my online career.
In the end affiliate marketing chose me and I think I would still chose it today, but with a more concise mindset than when I was younger. I only thought about money and now I think about life.
---
Thanks for doing the awesome interview, Ian! If you have any questions, please post them below for Ian. Also, if you enjoyed this interview, make sure to check out our interview with Servando Silva and Brent Dunn.
Ian has one of the original affiliate marketing blogs, IanFernando.com, where he has been writing about this industry for as long as I can remember.
He is a big earner and industry veteran. Ian is a friend of mine and I was excited to receive his answers to my interview questions because there was a lot I asked that we had never discussed before. He did not disappoint.
Read his answers below and feel free to reply with your own questions for Ian as well
Interview with Ian Fernando
How much is the most you have made in a single day with affiliate marketing?At my peak I have made 6 figures in a single day and it lasted roughly for a week and a half
What is the most you've lost in a single day? I know for my own experience, I try to block out losses pretty quickly, but give me an estimate if you can't remember.Well, since making 6 figures I guess you can say 6 figures since I wasn't making that anymore but in terms of ROI I have lost 5 figures, low.
What is your favorite hobby?I enjoy working out, cooking, traveling, drinking and meeting new people.
What is 1 skill you've learned since starting affiliate marketing that has helped you the most with getting your campaigns profitable?The best skill that I have learned is the data analytics and psychology part of marketing and understanding the numbers that are associated to the campaign. To me, it all becomes a game. I always think if 100 people click on an ad then why didn't 100 people convert. What was that barrier or pitfall they entered and that psychology and data helps with how I approach my ads.
You are a full-time affiliate. How long did it take you to accomplish that?Yes, it took me about 2 years to become full time because I was questioning myself if this online internet money thing was real. I finally removed 2 out of the 3 jobs and my goal to have one job was made. I then realized if I as able to let go of 2 then can I let go of the last and not have a job anymore. It was a big jump for me to do so as I was raised to always have a job. So, my mentality had to shift and when I realize it can be done then, I took the leap and it took me just 3 months to make my year salary in those 3 months.
Do you use custom landing pages for most of your affiliate campaigns or do you direct link?It depends on the ad network I am advertising on or the angle. Angle plays a huge role on how I want to promote an offer. Most of the time I am creating a landing page. Currently, I do have one traffic source and one offer that is direct link because it fits the ad angle I am doing.
What is your favorite affiliate network and why?I only work with a very close few:
- W4
- Advidi
- Clickdealer
White label affiliate networks are going to be going away because they are just a broker and not a service. So, I only work with a very few and if the network they work with shut downs, I then just follow my affiliate manager to the next. It is the person I trust more so than the network.
What is 1 thing we can add to affLIFT to make it better? This can be something the community does or something I do personally to make the forum better.What I did miss about the industry back in the day were forum meetups, similar to what STM has done and what Meetup202 has done. These put people together that are affiliate marketers specifically. Another addition would be aggregated news, I think would help and create a discussion on the industry.
What is your least favorite part about affiliate marketing?The constant hustle and up and down. This industry goes through a cleanse almost every 2 years. Minor baths are happening every 6 months but the big cleanse happens every 1.5 to 2 years I notice. I do not like the constant change.
What is your favorite part about affiliate marketing?The constant hustle. I like it because it keeps me on my feet and it keeps me integrated with the marketing aspects of online marketing. If you leave online marketing for a day you already lost. The best part about affiliate marketing is when new rules are set on an ad platform, affiliates are the most creative marketers out there to try to keep the rules but just walk around them. They are the first to any market to think of a new way to approach an angle, a new law, a new ad restriction, etc. It keeps us on our feet.
Where do you see the industry in 3-5 years?Oh man this is a crazy question to ask because the industry shift is almost overnight sometimes. I do see that marketing will be more contained and have its purpose. An ad will have to be relatable enough to the end-user and not forced in their face. Imagine pop up ads back in the day. They were annoying and then pop up blockers came out, which led to malware advertising. Then it became cleaner when Facebook and Chrome and browsers started to adjust. Ad annoyance will be given a score I think and then decide how well it will be displayed.
Honestly, I am not even sure, the industry and tech and peoples opinions plays a huge role now on how they see ads. I do think ad relevancy will play a huge role and when I say relevancy it will not be all about impressions anymore but more data-driven with privacy in mind. If you take a look at Apple, for example, their environment is about their customers. With affiliate marketing we do not care much about customers, we care about conversions but we have to think more as partnerships and I think we will be going that route more.
A divide between performance vs relevancy.
What is one question I should have asked you that I haven't? Please answer it as well.Why did you choose affiliate marketing? Has that decisions change?
I chose affiliate marketing because I was working 3 jobs and I couldnt handle eBay and info products because of customers. I needed a median on how to make money online or extra money without customers. So, I found affiliate marketing. It was the perfect solution to my problem back in the day. If you ask me the same question today, I do not know if it would be the same response.
Being much older and seeing the industry change I think affiliate needs to understand that this is a constant hustle and to create value with tier marketing. Or the best part is to create solutions to their problems. I have created a lot of software solutions to my marketing problems and have tried to put it out there to the affiliate industry but then customers were always a pain point of my online career.
In the end affiliate marketing chose me and I think I would still chose it today, but with a more concise mindset than when I was younger. I only thought about money and now I think about life.
---
Thanks for doing the awesome interview, Ian! If you have any questions, please post them below for Ian. Also, if you enjoyed this interview, make sure to check out our interview with Servando Silva and Brent Dunn.
And also how many entrepreneurs did PayPal kill off because account suspension + monkeys + dartboards.
