Embracing Change: My Journey from Affiliate to Pay Per Call Agency Founder
While a ton has changed since I first started affiliate marketing, three things in particular remain the same – your relationships, your offer, and your strategy for acquiring customers. These are the most important factors when it comes to finding success in affiliate marketing or any form of performance marketing.
In the early days of my career, like many solo affiliates and publishers, I found that navigating the unpredictable terrain of affiliate marketing was treacherous. From non-paying partners to ever-evolving traffic source changes, I was relentless in my pursuit of stability at scale. Between managing clients, compliance, creating compelling ads, and working with traffic sources, I had to adapt in a constantly changing world. I sought to find and hold onto that one piece of the puzzle that would make everything fit together perfectly. Looking back, it was an amazing journey, but not one I wanted to be on forever.
Many affiliates feel the same way and have shown incredible persistence and grit in handling the ups and downs of the industry. I’ve been extremely fortunate in the last decade to find the right network of people, uncover the right opportunities, and surround myself with friends in the industry who have been more than willing to lend a hand.
I started out wearing multiple hats in the business, eventually growing the team to a small group with virtual assistants. For some time now, we’ve been a 16-person team with executives, media buyers, and employees with dedicated roles. Each step was a leap towards building something greater, a self-managing company on a mission to be an irreplaceable service provider to our client’s businesses.
When I first started out, I enjoyed working closely with affiliate networks, but the real transformation began at trade shows and networking events. That’s where I started forming direct relationships with advertisers. This shift was crucial, it marked my evolution from a network-dependent affiliate to a strategic customer acquisition partner working directly with advertisers.
Looking back, there was a growing dissatisfaction in the affiliate world. It wasn't just about the effort exceeding the rewards; it was deeper than that. As an affiliate, I possessed high-level skills, generating a ton of value for networks and advertisers, yet I had no ownership or control.
I wanted to know my clients, to understand and speak to their pain points. I wanted to have a say in the process and create a real synergy between our marketing and their sales process. That's when I discovered the allure of pay per call. It wasn't just a business model; it was a gateway to building relationships, to controlling my future, and to truly owning the value I created. Pay per call was more than a career shift; it was a paradigm shift, a move towards real, tangible connections in a digital world.
Discovering Ringba: A Game-Changing Encounter
At the end of 2022, I was at Geek Out in Los Angeles when I spotted a career-changing opportunity and my life changed forever. At that time, I was still heavily involved in e-commerce but was contemplating a full shift to lead generation. That's when I met Adam. I had no idea who he was initially, but as he mentioned the technology and scale of the call space, I was instantly hooked. Of course he was intelligent, but more than that he was willing to share what he knew and what was working for others, something I rarely saw in the affiliate space.The world of inbound calls was new to me, and discovering that Ringba specialized in calls piqued my interest. Adam has a unique ability to simplify complex concepts. He explained how pay per call worked, the consumer actively calling for a service, which seemed like a more direct and potent form of engagement compared to navigating through endless web forms.
Pay per call was about a consumer taking the initiative to seek help or service, a fundamentally different exchange from what I was used to in lead generation. His clear and straightforward explanations led me down the rabbit hole of pay per call, and by the end of 2022, I was deeply involved in it. Again, I was fortunate to have a close friend guide me initially, and within a month, we generated impressive results.
But the transition from affiliate marketing to pay per call was not just a change in business model, it was a shift in mindset. No longer was I just another affiliate ID pushing traffic to an offer; I was building relationships and creating value.
I was no longer being told what the payout would be; instead, call centers were asking me for my price. This shift was monumental. It meant I could define the value I delivered and negotiate prices that reflected the quality of leads I provided.
Understanding the buyer's quality expectations and KPIs became crucial. For instance, in pay per call, there’s a huge emphasis on CPA, determining how much a client is willing to spend to get a sale or conversion. Once we knew that, we were able to scale up, ensuring a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Building Direct Relationships: The Heart of My Pay Per Call Strategy
I've slowly pivoted to working exclusively with direct buyers. I make it a point to engage deeply with our buyers, asking them what their ideal partner looks like, or what they hope to achieve in three months of working with us. What KPIs are they aiming for? This dialogue isn't just transactional; it's about understanding their needs and tailoring our approach accordingly. I believe that business and pay per call, relationship development is the cornerstone of success. It’s not only about the media buying any more.
When it comes to expanding our client base, I've found that the most effective strategy is networking at trade shows. It's about being there, shaking hands, and establishing real connections. I attend a mix of industry events, including both affiliate and publisher trade shows like Lead Generation World or Contact.io, as well as more niche conferences like ICMG, which focuses on the insurance sector. Now we’re looking at debt conferences and legal shows as well. Each of these events offers unique opportunities to meet potential clients and understand their specific needs.
I've also come to realize the importance of having a solid brand and online presence. It's no longer sufficient to have a makeshift company website or a minimal digital footprint. I'm now actively working on enhancing our social media presence, especially on platforms like LinkedIn. This effort is not just about visibility; it's about credibility and establishing Scale Up Media as a reliable and professional partner in the pay per call space.
Vision and Values: Scaling Towards a Brighter Future
Having achieved substantial success in pay per call, including receiving the coveted $10 million dollar GOAT club award, I'm often asked about what lies ahead for Scale Up Media. Indeed, 'scaling up' isn't just part of our name; it's our core philosophy. In just a year and a half, we've made remarkable strides, but the journey doesn't stop here. We are now striving to consistently improve our quality and be irreplaceable to our clients.
While I’m hesitant to broadcast my vision and goals too widely, my ambition is to see our company drive at least 100,000 internally generated inbound calls per day in the next year. While revenues and profits are important, nothing excites me more than seeing how strong of a team we can build within two, maybe three verticals.
Since I’ve been a media buyer and understand the volatility of this industry, I get excited to give other media buyers who want to work with us the opportunity to grow alongside us.
Like Adam, I strongly believe pay per call is the new paradigm shift in connecting with consumers. The rocket ship has just launched and setting any limits to achievement would be a disservice to what we could achieve.
Of course, as many companies scale, quality tends to go down. But I am committed to ensuring our quality remains at the top of the industry. We’re constantly working on new funnels, artificial intelligence, content production, and staying up to date with compliance to make sure our customers have a great experience. This focus on quality is what allows us to scale our budgets effectively and create mutually beneficial partnerships.
Building trust with new clients is another aspect I pay close attention to. One way we help our trusted partners gain confidence is covering their costs if there is a loss. It's a testament to our confidence in the relationship and the quality of our traffic. If we can perform well without payment, imagine the results when we're fully engaged. This approach has been well-received and often leads to fruitful collaborations.
I will share that not all partnerships work out. Identifying red flags early on is crucial. One major red flag is understanding how many times a lead is brokered, if it's happening multiple times, the quality inevitably suffers. It's vital to be as close to the source as possible, preferably working directly. Other warning signs include how calls are handled and responded to by the agents.
Leveraging Ringba: The Technological Edge in Pay Per Call
Ringba has been an integral part of our journey and success. Its special ability lies in the wealth of detailed insights it provides - from the time to connect and average call length to the geographical locations of users. Ringba’s user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it straightforward to onboard new team members and manage our diverse client base. This was the main reason we stick with Ringba. Frankly, achieving what we have done with any other platform seems unimaginable. After all, money loves speed.
Ringba support is simply incredible. With scale, we now have multiple customer reps, access to a Slack channel, and their ticket system. This extensive support network has played a crucial role in scaling our company from zero to multi-eight figures in just 11 months, all while using Ringba daily. Ringba solves problems. One particular challenge we had was managing campaigns for multiple clients with diverse needs – some wanting traffic from specific states, others focusing on certain zip codes. Ringba’s powerful tagging and filtering capabilities made managing this complexity a breeze. We’ve onboarded technical support staff who preferred Ringba over other platforms, underscoring its ease of use and efficiency.
Ringba is ahead of the curve with features like predictive routing, their version of AI and machine learning, which optimizes our campaigns for the best results. In terms of broader industry changes, such as layoffs or AI replacing jobs, I believe the high level of cognitive ability required in our work with Ringba, and the intricacies of managing relationships in this business, make it less susceptible to such disruptions. Each relationship we nurture has its unique value, and understanding this nuanced aspect of our business is something beyond the current scope of AI. The future is bright for this industry.
Adam has commented that Ringba is a leadership organization – and that is clearly illustrated through its employees. Every single Ringba employee I’ve met is laser focused and strives to be better in every situation. The culture there makes me think Ringba will be a market leader for a long time. These leadership skills have pushed me to improve my own as I try to run a successful company.
Reflecting on Growth and Future Aspirations
Looking back at my journey from affiliate marketing to where I am now, I’m grateful to look back on the transformation. If I could give advice to my past self, I would say focus on the 'who' rather than just the 'how.' In the affiliate space, you're often caught up in trying to perfect campaigns, reduce click costs, and find that narrow margin for profit. You have to do this fast, too – before the opportunity passes by. The real game changer is building direct relationships with advertisers, which allows you more control over the offer, better margins, and a deeper understanding of each other's needs.
For someone coming from an affiliate background and aiming to emulate this success, my advice is straightforward: keep it simple and focus on the offer first. Don't overcomplicate things. Attend conferences, network within relevant circles, start working with networks and brokers, and launch campaigns. Success in this field is about doing the work and doing it consistently.
My job is to ensure we're adhering to our vision, motivating the team towards the right objectives, and maintaining strong relationships. This industry is fundamentally about relationships, and nurturing them is critical for growth. While some love to focus on attracting new partners, I personally love adding value to my current partners since they’ve been feeding us with opportunities the longest. I welcome new partners as well, but loyalty to existing ones has always paid off for us.
For those who excel in media buying but may not want to take on the CEO role, there's still a place in pay per call. Success as a media buyer involves finding the right buyer or client who will partner with you. Building creative relationships and having the support of other media buyers or your own team can help maintain traffic consistency and reliability for the buyer.
Navigating the Balance Between Control and Scale in Pay Per Call
In the transition from affiliate marketing to pay per call, the challenge often lies in maintaining control without succumbing to burnout, especially for those seeking a lifestyle business. The truth is, there's a price for everything, including control. It demands consistency and reliability, qualities that are crucial in showing buyers that you can produce steady and dependable traffic every day. In pay per call, understanding the buyer’s fixed costs and overhead is important. Most media buyers simply don’t have these high costs.
For those considering entering the pay per call space, especially affiliates and media buyers, the biggest challenge is often finding good offers. The key to success in this industry is not just being good at media buying but excelling in human relationships and leadership. Many times, you’ll have to create your own offer, maybe changing around financial metrics and KPIs to create a win-win. Create a win for your client and you’ll distinguish yourself from the other publishers by being trustworthy, reliable, and consistently able to deliver quality traffic.
There's tremendous opportunity here, but it requires a balanced approach of technical media buying skills and strong relationship-building capabilities. The industry offers space for those who value and nurture these human connections alongside their technical expertise. Work hard, keep an open mind, be willing to learn, and you’ll succeed.