I’ve just signed up for PPC Coach, and already I can see it’s well worth the monthly subscription. It’s too late in the night for me to think straight, but I just want to jot down a couple of things I’ve learnt tonight while they’re fresh in my memory.

1. It’s possible to get into PPC without getting into masses of debt. This has often been my fear, that I would struggle in the first few weeks while I got my grounding and end up struggling financially. But looking at the ideas suggested on the site so far I can see how it’s possible to test a whole load of campaigns without busting the bank.
2. If I’m going to take this business seriously then I have to take a good hard look at the reality of my situation. I need money for campaigns and testing, it’s that simple. Yes, I can always put it on credit, and that may well work and be an option for me - but I want to consider other sources of revenue. So what I came to realise tonight is that I might have to get a job (well, another job cos I already have one).

I guess tonight, just like the last few days, has really impressed upon me how much I want this and that I’m willing to go back to working the 9-5 to get it if I have to.

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What’s that crazy man on about? Well, I was reading one on my regular blogs in Google Reader when I came across something quite extraordinary. Here’s a quote with some of my own thoughts:

Stop labeling. It’s amazing how much we think we’re experiencing life, but we’re really just thinking about it.

Erm, no. But I’ll read on anyway…

I want you to try a little exercise with me. Take a look at something around you. Maybe it’s a photo, a plant, or your keyboard.

Ok, I’m looking at the keyboard…

Our normal state of mind is to think about the object we’re looking at, to conceptualize it in our mind and place labels on it. Now look at the same object and don’t think about it.

OK…

If this is difficult for you, that’s okay.

No, it’’s fine, I’ll manage.

Relax and just look.

Yep.

Let go.

Gotcha.

Notice a difference?

Nope, not a thing. I’m just looking at my keyboard.

That’s because when you’re not thinking about what you’re things, you’re actually experiencing life directly. The labels in our mind are simply abstractions, they’re not reality itself. Try doing this more often: when you’re in line at the grocery store, walking your dog, listening to music, etc. You’ll start to enjoy your experience much more.

That’s pretty much what went through my head, what is all this psychological mumbo-jumbo about anyway? I usually love the posts this guys writes, and to be fair he probably really is a good guy, but I get frustrated when people try and tell you to “experience life” amongst other stupid phrases.

If you’re thinking about using Facebook to send some traffic to a well known affiliate-friendly company such as Amazon, let me save you from spending your hard-earned cash.

Max CPC: $0.26

Clicks: 495

Total ad cost: $121.59

Conversions: 2

Revenue: under $5

The figures speak for themselves. The lesson here is this - failure isn’t something to be avoided. It’s to be rejoiced over, not that we should parade our faults for the world to see, and not that we should be proud of falling short.

But we rejoice in the fact that we put in the effort, we ran the race. And believe me, this is a race that can be won. I don’t advocate putting effort into something that isn’t viable, but this “internet marketing” lark is certainly doable.

I see my failure as one little step towards success, I heard someone once call it “failing upwards”. I’ve spent years looking, and reading - I know a lot about internet marketing and yet I’m the first to admit I’ve never really got stuck in there.

I never tried. Well now I’m trying.

I’m letting the failures be my motivation, pushing me on, further and further into my full potential.

I know I have it in me. And I will work for all I’ve got to see this through. So I’ll leave you with a quote from a guy called Randy Pausch which my mentor often likes to use:

Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough.

Ok, so I just wrote that to get some attention - but they did abuse me, kinda.

It’s been a week of trying new things for me, and I thought to myself,

“Hell, why not - everyone else uses it”.

I left a campaign on targeting the majority of the Facebook users in the UK (about 7.5 million). It’s not even been 24 hours yet and the billing is staggering - I worked my way up to over $100.

Yes, I know that’s nothing to you hardcore pro internet marketers, you who smoke $50 bills, good for you. But to me it’s a lot of money to lose in one day.

It’s not all bad, because at least some of 480 people I sent across to my aff link will convert. I wasn’t expecting killer conversions, but hopefully it’ll be enough to cover some of the losses so I can optimise and start over.

There’s not really much optimising that can be done with Facebook Ads though, maybe target a smaller age range. I guess in a way that makes it somewhat easier to tell what works and what doesn’t, unlike traditional PPC where you have a myriad of keywords to select from.

The affiliate stats are so slow at reporting, I’ve paused the campaign for now while I wait for it catch up. I’m full of both excitement and dread to see how my first one’s gone.

What if I didn’t do the 301 redirect right and I’ve sent them all to a black hole?

I better not have screwed up.

I’d never bought a .info domain before. In fact, to say I’m supposedly an “internet marketer”, I don’t think I’ve bought many domains at all in the past. Still, it was an interesting experience.

The word on the street was that GoDaddy are the people to go to, and so they were, offering me a domain for a measly 91p. Now, you can laugh all you want, but I was actually confused. The interface, the shopping cart, the flashing lights. Man, it was like walking into a shopping centre at Christmas. It took me a whole half an hour to navigate my way through, past the clumsey displays - “No, I don’t want to add web hosting to my basket, but you’ve added it anyway”.

But I prevailed, and out of the flames and smoke I come brandishing my newly claimed domains. I was taken aback at how stressful it was, and it made me think how hard it must be for all those noobs who’ve never done this sort of thing. I’m used to messing around with my server, and cutting and pasting bits of PHP, just the odd thing here and there. But when I was confronted by something new, something alien, I stopped like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

“This must be what it feels like to be a noob”. So hats off to any those noobs that actually make it in online business cos from my brief little encounter I have a feeling it’s pretty tough.