Is solo affiliate marketing in nutra dead? Let's figure it out with the experts

Some believe that solo affiliate is possible but very difficult. Others are convinced that it’s fundamentally impossible if a webmaster wants to make a living from CPA. 

 

Indeed, there are not as many solo practitioners anymore. In this article, we’ll explore opposing views on solo affilate. We won't draw conclusions — we'll leave that to you.

 

Who we're talking to:

 

• CEO ProfitPay — a direct COD nutra advertiser in Poland;;
• Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic;
• Vadim, a solo affiliate.  

 

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What source are you working with?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. 75% of our traffic comes from Facebook, 15% from Google, and 10% from teaser networks. 

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. We run large volumes from Facebook and also dabble in TikTok. We plan to expand in this source.

 

Vadim, a solo affiliate. My main source is teaser networks. The primary and stable volume comes from them. I have experience with Facebook—I occasionally promote nutra and gambling there. However, recently, things have been quiet on the gambling side due to the downturn of apps from Google Play.

 

I've been running since around February 2022. At that time, I was just finishing my career in one nutra affiliate network.

 

Do you think that solo affiliate in nutra is dead? Why?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. It can’t be said that solo affiliate is dead. If that were the case, newcomers would enter the market and wouldn’t try to start on their own - they’d immediately join a team. However, it’s a fact that it has become more difficult for individuals to run solo.

 

The challenges include:

 

→ There are more affiliate networks now. Consequently, more time is needed to find a quality option. By “quality”, we mean an affiliate network with consistently high approval rates that doesn't shave approvals as soon as it provides a bump :)

 

→ Traffic sources are tightening moderation. This is obvious and needs no further commentary.

 

→ It has become more difficult to run with teaser and ad networks. The first nuance is that you need to go through networks and find the one where bot traffic won't make up 80%, and where there will be a lot of unique traffic. The second nuance is that there are hundreds of platforms in these networks, and all (or almost all) need to be checked. This adds another variable alongside pre-landers, creatives, offers, and sources.

 

Running solo affiliate now is no easier than opening your own coffee shop, for example.

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. I agree with this because nutra is not just about simply running. It involves technical aspects, unique landing pages, and finding offers.

 

Everyone should focus on what they are good at. If you are a good buyer, then you should focus on running campaigns. If you are skilled in technical aspects, then load landing pages into Keitaro, design and make them unique.

 

For example, I am very good at running campaigns, but I am not strong in technical matters. I don't even know how to set up flows in Keitaro. Therefore, I don't deal with technical issues at all.

 

 

At the same time, I have acquaintances who work solo — they run nutra through our platform. They chose this path because we take care of all the technical aspects. The affiliate only needs to register on the platform, choose an offer, and start running. All technical details are already set up. However, there are very few solo affiliate who operate on large volumes.

 

In other words, if an affiliate wants to run nutra solo, it's better for him to use auxiliary solutions?

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. Yes, that's correct. Instead of dealing with the nuances of setting up Keitaro, the affiliater will be looking for a combination. One could say that they are outsourcing part of the technical aspect, paying us a commission.

 

Some teams create their platforms with offers, which they run themselves. Affiliate register with them and start running on already vetted products, giving a percentage of the payout for the offer. One could call this practice the creation of small CPA networks by teams.

 

There are still affiliate who run nutra solo. Do you think they will remain on the market in 2024, or will the market be completely cleared?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. The market is unlikely to be completely cleared of solo players, but it’s clear that their numbers will significantly decrease. The remaining solo affiliate will increasingly outsource certain tasks, including:

 

• creating creatives;
• accounts – not all teams have their own farm departments, let alone solo players;
• developing and customizing pre-landers.

 

In teams, specialized individuals search for profitable offers, test them, and either pass them to the buyers or run them themselves. For a solo affiliate, finding a converting offer will take twice as much time, if not more. Therefore, his task is to find a reliable affiliate network that provides only high-quality offers.

 

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. I think that the market won't be cleared of solo players; on the contrary, their numbers will increase. Many people enter affiliate, many influencers advocate for affiliate marketing.

 

But there are nuances: will these solo players be able to generate more than two leads per day? Will they be able to survive in affiliate for more than six months, considering how challenging it is now without a team?

 

Returning to the previous point, we can make the following clarification. Solo affiliate in nutra on a large scale is dead. But on a small scale, a couple of leads a day — no. Webmasters just won't be able to turn a profit.

 

Vadim, a solo affiliate. Every year, everyone buries push, door, and pop ads. The same goes for solo affiliate... Why should it disappear? There is a lot of mediocrity in the market, and it's not worth listening to everyone. Think with your head, analyze your actions, and try to do things beautifully. Then you’ll feel good solo even in 2050.

 

The beginner is trying to run solo. The image was sent by Vadim. 

 

What is the advantage of a team over solo affiliate?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. If an affiliate is a beginner, in a team, he’ll be trained. If a beginner tries to achieve results solo, it’ll be much more challenging for him because he’s not familiar with the nuances of working with the source.

 

Another advantage of a team is that a buyer always has assistants, namely loaders, who handle routine tasks.

 

Also, the buyer doesn’t pay for creating creatives and unique pre-landers, he runs only for a percentage of the profit. The owners of teams take care of payments. Solo affiliate, on the other hand, are forced to either pay specialists or do everything themselves — which is a time disadvantage.

 

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. A team is a group of like-minded individuals with a common goal. Going back to the previous point: in a team, there are tech experts, designers, testers. Other specialists will set up Keitaro, create creatives, and find converting offers. Working solo, you’ll have to do this on your own.

 

Is it easier to find a combination in a team? Why?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. Yes, it's easier because there's always a team lead sitting next to the buyer. You can always come to him with a problem like, “I can't find a combination. What should I do?” And the team lead will start solving the problem.

 

Solo players have no one to ask. Maybe only other webmasters in chats — but it's far from guaranteed that they’ll provide a detailed answer.

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. Yes, of course, it's easier in a team. All because in the team, there are buyers who run already converting offers, and there are “testers”. They look for offers and test them.

 

Solo players, in addition to running the existing offers, need to find combinations and deal with the technical side: find a landing page, load it into Keitaro, and so on.

 

Are there affiliate who worked in a team and then switched to solo? What motivated them?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. Our media buying team works with three sources: Facebook, Google, and teaser networks. 

 

In the case of Facebook and Google, we haven't had instances where buyers left, if they did, they joined other teams. However, in the last scenario, buyers independently create creatives and run campaigns. We provide only the account, private pre-landers, and increased bids. These are the specifics of the source.

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. Yes, we have such cases. They run a combination, saw that it converts. Then they found an offer in another affiliate network and started running the combination solo without paying us a commission. Later they asked to come back, but we refused. Again: stealing a combination for solo is reckless. Today it's alive, tomorrow it's not.

 

Sometimes, you run, everything is normal, and then it suddenly stops converting. You need to either switch to other offers or find out why the offer stops converting. In a team with a team lead, it's easier to find the root of the problem.

 

 

 

Do you think there are people who are not suitable for team work and are better off solo? If yes, then who is not suitable for team work?

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. I believe that team collaboration isn’t suitable for someone for whom affiliate isn’t the main source of income. If you just come home, run a combination, earn $50-100, and then go to your main job, working in a team may not be suitable for such a person because they won't be fully committed. There won't be common interests with team members, and there won't be a desire to increase the team's turnover.

 

What difficulties do solo affiliates face?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. The main difficulty for solo affiliates is a lack of budget. Often solo affiliates, especially beginners, don't have enough for a proper test and acquiring consumables.

 

The same applies to “cheap” traffic sources, such as push or pop ads. Rookie solo affiliates enter these sources thinking that with $100, they can find a winning combination. However, that's not the case: these sources are cheap because the traffic there is non-targeted — your ads are shown to everyone. Therefore, volume is key here.

 

Vadim, a solo affiliate. Solo webmasters need to keep everything in their own hands, discipline and systematic work are essential. I think that's the problem.

 

Combinations have a tendency to burn out, offers stop working, and the most profitable GEO can become the most negative. It's harder for an individual to adapt, as you have less information to analyze.

 

However, if there is discipline and systematic work, it pays off with good results in the long run. Working solo you can't afford to chill for a month or two, because even if there's a comfortable cushion, you don't know what the market will be like in those two months.

 

What difficulties do solo affiliates face when working with affiliate networks?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. The main difficulty for solo affiliates is insufficient traffic volume. Affiliate networks cannot provide an immediate bump if the affiliates is running on small volumes. On the other hand, the affiliate cannot turn a profit because he’s “somewhat” short of the bid — a couple of dollars, for example.

 

Vadim, a solo affiliate. It all depends on the manager and how you initially conduct yourself in communication. In most cases, I don't have problems with bumps because I've been consistently running with the affiliate networks for a long time. I also know the market conditions, how much resale affiliate networks take for themselves, and how much advertisers pay them, so I don't ask for more than is reasonable. Although it always makes sense to be a bit pushy.

 

When I was a manager, I was quite indifferent to bumps. After all, you want to get some traffic rather than end up with none. So, the reluctance of affiliate networks to give bumps can also be understood.

 

Solo affiliate is a story for skilled individuals or beginners too?

Vadim, a solo affiliate. I believe that anyone can start their journey solo. The key is not to be afraid of losing money. Once the funds are on the source, consider them lost.

 

Skilled individuals will definitely find it easier to enter the field, but that doesn't mean they'll have enough money, perseverance, stress resistance, and other qualities to stay afloat. Especially for beginners, it's crucial to be able to connect with knowledgeable people from chats, bombard them with questions, and ask for guidance and learning. As unpleasant as it may be for some, I personally have seen cases of successful implementation of such an approach. This method is quite effective and similar to cold calling. May the chat folks forgive me for saying this)

 

Is it possible to run campaigns and create your own creatives solo?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. If the affiliate works with teaser networks, then yes. Creatives are created quickly. If it's Facebook, some create creatives themselves, while others order from creative specialists. The first option saves money, the second saves time.

 

Vadim, a solo affiliate. Yes, it's possible. I create creatives for nutra myself. Typically, I make a few from scratch and take a few from the spy, modify them for the specific product, and off I go. For gambling, I sometimes buy creatives, but more often, the spy is sufficient.

 

Give a few tips to affiliates who are still doing solo campaigns

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. Here are a few tips for those who run solo and want to earn more:

 

• take off the burden of creating creatives and other actions — delegate them to outsourcing;
• keep records: without accounting for income and expenses, you won't understand which expense category takes the lion's share of the budget and prevents you from being profitable;
• inquire with colleagues about which affiliate networks are worth working with;
• attend conferences. In teams, owners and sales handle this, so introverted buyers aren’t obliged to attend conferences. But for solo affiliates, no one will do the networking.

 

The advantage of conferences is live communication. It’s in live dialogue that you can negotiate conditions that a manager is unlikely to provide in a Telegram chat.

 

Piotr, the owner of YodaTraffic. With pleasure:

 

→ Don't be afraid to test. If you're spending $20-30 and not getting any leads, it doesn't necessarily mean the approach is bad. Try different approaches: medical, news-based, with a celebrity (if allowed in your GEO).

 

→ Customize the target in the dashboard, especially if you're launching not from the agency accounts but from kings or autoregs. For example, set the age range to 45-64 on the first account, 45-60 on the second, 50-64 on the third, and so on. Avoid creating unnecessary competition for yourself.

 

→ Never copy a combination from AdHeart or Meta Ad Library. If you take a combination from there, make it as unique as possible to ensure it's fresh. Change the comments on the landing page, use different photos of heroes or “experts” endorsing the product's effectiveness.

 

 

What budget is needed for solo work now?

Alexandra, CEO ProfitPay. We don’t recommend starting with an amount less than $2000. This is the minimum amount provided that you have already received advice on suitable partner networks, sellers, creative specialists, payment systems, and so on.

 

Vadim, a solo affiliate. We check what they are running in spy services, and take the same offer. Check the bid and multiply it by at least 10. This is the amount I’d recommend spending on testing an offer when testing creatives and landing pages. I consider this a minimum.

 

If the offer doesn't work, then most likely you did something wrong because they wouldn't be running it for no reason. Change pre-landers, creatives, and the affiliate network (yes, different affiliate networks have different approval rates).

 

Solo affiliate VS in a team: comparison

 

This article will be without conclusions. You've seen the pros and cons of working in a team and solo — decide what suits you personally.

 

At ProfitPay, we fully support newcomers: we'll recommend reliable account sellers and creative specialists, provide advice on driving traffic, and help set up campaigns on Facebook. Register and start earning! Also, subscribe to our Telegram channel — here we post up-to-date information on working with nutra and various traffic sources.