My Honest Review of Paid Media Affiliates Online Course

If you’re a niche site owner (or a prospective one!) that relies on SEO and organic search, I don’t even need to mention that the algorithms have been hitting us all HARD.

Turning to affiliate marketing is the next logical step. And the new Paid Media Affiliates course created by Alex Goldberg on Thinkific is here to guide you through it.

Now, let me state for the sake of transparency that Alex is a business partner and friend…not to mention the best paid ads expert I know….so I'm a little biased, but this is still my honest opinion about the course!

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Paid Media Affiliates Course

• Created by one of the best ads experts in the industry
• Access to a community and resources like conversion tracking scripts (can cost hundreds of dollars)

Get Access

My Failed Attempts at Paid Ads

A little backstory here on why I tried this and why my opinion holds any weight in this space.

I run a media team and a number of affiliate websites, historically reliant 100% on SEO and organic traffic.

Of course, everyone talks about the need to diversify traffic and I hear all about big wins from PPC. But as an affiliate, I've attempted to run paid ad campaigns myself and used at least 6 different PPC agencies and contractors over the years. To no avail.

Not a single one has succeeded, and I've burnt tens of thousands of dollars on both ad spend and management fees. The primary reason for failure?  None of the PPC experts I hired understood the nuances of running ads as an affiliate. They were all used to working directly with product owners.

The key differences I've learned the hard way:

• you don't control the sales funnel
• you don't control the data, and 3rd party conversion tracking is important (and no one understands how to set this up)
• you need to take a different angle when promoting someone else's product
• you need to finesse your business partners (the actual product owners)

But then Alex started helping me with a few campaigns. He taught me a few key tactics which he also now shares in his course!

Course Instructor

This course was put together and is narrated by entrepreneur Alex Goldberg.

He created a portfolio of affiliate websites focussing on health and wellness brands, the largest of which being FinvsFin.com, where he worked with over 400 D2C brands.

A few years ago, he started playing with paid affiliate traffic and has since been able to refer over $200m in sales to his partners and has driven almost half a million per year in revenue to his business.

When he figured out how to do this, he decided to take the next step and share his knowledge with other affiliate site owners.

Who Is This Course For?

This course is for site owners or folks looking to get into affiliate site owning and marketing.

It’s specifically geared toward site owners whose sites have focused on using SEO and relied on organic search and who are now realizing that they’re getting hit harder with each algorithm update (yikes, been there, done that!) and need to pivot.

He explains everything in a way that’s easy to understand, but I will say this course is decidedly not for beginners. You will need a bit of working knowledge of PPC to get the most out of this course.

Want to diversify further? Check out our review on the Reddit Leverage course >>

Is the Paid Media Affiliates Course Worth It?

I’ve gotta open up this section by acknowledging that the course is not cheap. At $999, you will need to look at this as an investment.

That being said, in my opinion, absolutely the course is worth it.

It goes in-depth, provides you with all the resources you could ever want, and gives you access to a community to discuss the topics covered in the course further.

The ROI and time saved make the price worth it.

Is It Legit?

The short answer is yes, the Paid Media Affiliates Course is totally legit.

The course is available on Thinkific, one of the most legitimate and reliable course platforms out there, so they back how legitimate the course is.

Taught by nich site owner and entrepreneur Alex Goldberg, the course provides valuable insights that can seriously help you drive up revenue by approaching affiliates in the right way.

Plus, I have personal experience with it. I took the course myself and can vouch for the usefulness of the information with positive, real-world results.

Paid Media Affiliates Course Review

In general, I can’t speak highly enough about this course.

The necessity for it speaks for itself. Paid affiliate marketing is the future, and you have to know how to do it right to make the most of it.

Alex’s in-depth examination of the best practices to set up and maintain paid affiliate partnerships covers truly anything and everything you could hope for in the most concise way possible. Though he spares no detail, Alex gets straight to the point and includes no fluff; so much so that you’ll probably need to pause and rewind to catch every little bit of knowledge that he drops.

One of my favorite parts of this course was the 3rd party tracking conversion scripts. Since I’ve had the privilege of having Alex as a friend, I asked him for pointers on how to do this before he created this course, and while he did offer me direction, even then, I spent hundreds of dollars having a developer create one.

I also appreciate how thorough he is with his content, offering over-the-shoulder demos showing you exactly what to do in Google Ads. As a visual learner, my “mental image” game is only so strong, so watching how to do everything was extremely helpful.

The only real drawbacks here are the fact that beginners will find themselves a bit out of their depth and how much content is in some of the slides which makes it hard if you’re watching on mobile.

Course Pros

• There is zero fluff in this course.
  • Everything Alex says is actionable. You'll likely hit pause numerous times and re-watch sections because he hits on key points right away.
• Includes 3rd party conversion tracking scripts.
  • I've spent hundreds of dollars having a developer create the same scripts (and that was after Alex told me exactly what to do…if he hadn't given me direction it would have cost thousands.)
• Shares his strategies on approaching brands and getting them onboard (and sometimes fund ad campaigns)
  • NO ONE has covered this and he supplies actual email templates.  I've used these tactics myself and they work!
• Explains concepts using detailed examples and over-the-shoulder demos in Google Ads to help you visualize.
• Lots of little PPC hacks that are also applicable even if you are not running ads as an affiliate.
• He tells you exactly how to structure ad campaign experiments in order to see if they are viable so you don't burn necessary cash.

Course Cons

• This course is not for beginners.
  • Alex briefly shares a glossary of PPC terms at the beginning, but you'll likely need to spend time elsewhere learning the basics of PPC before diving in.
• Some of the slides within the videos have a lot of detail.
  • May not be easy to read if you are on a mobile device.
• The majority of the course is focused on paid ad arbitrage,
  • There are a couple of other tactics Alex briefly explains at the beginning: social whitelisting and paid ad link acquisition. I'd like to see these topics flushed out in detail, but they could each be their own course. Hopefully, Alex will add new modules later!

Paid Media Affiliates Course Overview

Key Points from Course You Won't Learn Anywhere Else

• How to ruthlessly select which partners/programs actually have the potential to scale with paid ads
• How to get your partners' buy-in and fund your ad experiments for you (to the tune of $3-5k)
• How to maximize click-throughs on your affiliate ads and extensions
• How to structure affiliate landing pages, which requires a different angle than marketing your own product
• Exactly how to set up third-party affiliate tracking

The course consists of 7 chapters, each with multiple videos.

• Chapter 1 – Introduction: A Primer on Paid Media for Affiliates
• Chapter 2 – Pre-Launch: Steps to Take Before Spending Your First Dollar
• Chapter 3 – Landing Pages: Best Practices for PPC Arbitrage
• Chapter 4 – Structuring a Test: How to De-risk as Much as Possible
• Chapter 5 – Persuading Partners: How to Get Brands to Greenlight PPC
• Chapter 6 – Launching Ads: Step-by-Step Campaign Set-Up Guide
• Chapter 7 – Scaling Up: How to Pour on the Gas Without Burning Money

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Paid Media Affiliates Course

• Created by one of the best ads experts in the industry
• Access to a community and resources like conversion tracking scripts (can cost hundreds of dollars)

Get Access

All in all, the course should take you just a few hours to complete.

Alex is straight to the point and concise in his language. He describes things thoroughly and succinctly, providing a detailed step-by-step guide and supplementing that with tips and tricks on how to approach brands in a way that makes them more likely to work with you, little PPC hacks, and fully written scripts for pitching.

He also has a community that students can join to share their experiences with paid affiliates and gain insight from other industry professionals.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find affiliates for my online course?

You can find affiliates for your online course through social media, through other industry connections, offer rewards, and reach out directly to D2C brands.

What is a paid affiliate program?

A paid affiliate program is a process in which a business will market another business in exchange for a referral fee.

Do affiliates really make money?

Yes, affiliates do make a set amount of money, usually using a Pay-Per-Click structure.

What is PPC?

PPC is short for Pay-Per-Click, where advertisers get paid a set amount of money every time someone clicks on their ad.