Here are the links to Various Video Training, Text-based training, and eBooks that Google itself provides (with the recommended sequence for going through them):

http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter Adwords Learning Center - Basic, but extensive Adwords Training.

http://www.google.com/onlinechallenge/adwords_guide.pdfGuide to running your Adwords Account

http://www.google.com/adwords/insider/Insiders_Guide_to_AdWords.pdf  Insiders Guide to Google - The title is a bit misleading as its more of a beginners guide than an "insiders" guide.

http://www.google.com/ads/library/maximimum_effect_dec03.pdf The Maximum Effect - Making the Most out of Your Adwords Account[/url] – This is geared towards the beginning to intermediate adwords user so you’ll want to make sure you get through the basics first, although skimming through this while your working on the basics wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Hope that helps.

Reader: Thanks again Paul for all your time!

$300K!  Wow, that’s a lot more than I anticipated.  I assume though that this strategy is largely self-funding (though credit would be required where the timing of expenses and revenue arent favourable)…At least I hope that’s the case!!

I’ll take a look at the AdwordMentor site as well and see what I can learn there…By the way, wouldnt one also want to use AdSense to generate some extra (potential) revenue on top of the affiliate revenue that is generated.  In other words, if you use Adwords to get people to your site, then affiliate clicks to create revenue, why not add a little extra revenue via AdSense, assuming you have content that would drive searches to your site?  I’m probably missing something.

Paul: Yes. It’s self-funding.

Ah. OK I see what you’re saying about Adsense. Right. You can do that. You just have to measure whether having Adsense is taking away revenue from your primary goal. Also, you have to be really careful using Adsense with Adwords these days to make sure Google doesn’t see you as doing PPC arbitrage which can jack up your min bids.

I definitely wouldn’t do it until you establish a good account history.

Reader: Hi Again. One othe quick question regarding GoogleCash:  In your review you noted as a con that tips/tricks get outdated very quickly…Any immediate feeling on how relevant the current version of GoogleCash is (I noticed that GoogleCash does not do a very good job of including the date of any updates or new versions provided, so it’s hard to tell how up-to-date the version you’d be purchasing is)?  I assume you’re still using it yourself?
  
Thanks in advance!!

Note: Before I had a chance to reply to the last question, I got this additional message in from the reader:

Reader: Hey Paul,
 
I thought maybe I’d give you a quick update now that I’ve done some more investigation and thinking, and solicit some brief feedback…I do apologize for all the emails and questions and promise to keep the intrusions to an absolute minimum (though I’d be happy to update you as to my progress if you’re interested – the least I can do)
 
Relating to your earliest advice to follow the Bootstrapping Your Business guidelines, I have decided to give the Campaign Blast method a try first. 

Even though I do have a marketing and IT background (seems like a natural fit to all this stuff), I am still very much a newbie, so this is probably a more produent approach, and I can always jump to GoogleCash in a couple of months once I get the hang of the basics. 

The other reason for this is that from your reviews and the marketing material from all these programs (specifically, GoogleCash, Adwords Miracle, Campaign Blast), it sounds like they are all very similar, with differing tips/tricks, but the same basic approach.  So, I have a feeling it doesnt really matter which one you choose, assuming you eventually pickup all the same tips and tricks.  So, with that in mind (please do tell me if I’m way off, by the way), and given your review of Campaign Blast and its strength for beginners, this seems like the smartest and safest approach to get me started.
 
One thing I havent been able to satisfy myself about yet though is whether I will NEED to setup a website in order to use the Campaign Blast approach?  It seems so, in which case GoogleCash or Adwords Miracle may be a better starting point for me (I’d rather focus on learning the Adwords/Affiliate/Marketing side of things and not distract myself by spending the time and money developing a site) as they claim to be able to get you started without a web site (I realize you and others have indicated you will eventually need to create one to maximize sales/profits).  Any thoughts on the necessity of a web site?
 
Thanks again!

Paul: Oh, that must be a sign…

I was reading your other email and wondering why I hadn’t referred you to Campaign Blasts. It’s
definitely the way to go. I’m actually baffled as to why I didn’t recommend it immediately (you’ll
see I have a testimonial on Matt Levenhagen’s site, even).

You’ll also get a 30 day free trial of Campaign Blast Source which I highly recommend you
take.

Matt was also a moderator over at AdwordMentor before he started up his own site.

Paul Schlegel
p.s., some of the following may not make sense yet, but a HUGE advantage of going with Campaign Blasts is that you’ll build up a great "account history" which allows you to be more flexible in your techniques in the future (that will make more sense over time, too).

I do everything now – google cash method, minisites, autoresponders,
etc.

[I included a lot more technical details here that I've left out]

Reader: Once again Paul, AWESOME of you to reply (and in such detail)! 

And, you’re right – it must be a sign!  I had this nagging feeling I hadnt properly read some of the material on your site, so I ended up reviewing it again, including the Bootstrapping section and came across the Blast info.  At that point, I was also looking at some of Perry Marshall’s materials too and it just seemed so clear that they were all so similar (and probably somewhat based off of each other) that I should start with the most introductory one…..perfect that the Blast info was right there in the safe way to get started recommendations of your Bootstrapping section!

I hate to do it, but it’s sorta twisting my head that I’m not clear on whether I NEED a web site (in particular, for the Affiliate marketing part of the Blast Method)…would you mind giving me a quick yes/no (and if it’s EASY a quick explanation)?

Paul: Here’s the short answer. You will NOT need a website initially, but you should build a website or websites (often they can just be a few pages) over time as it will help stabilize your income.

Here’s why:

Adwords only allows 2 ads for each keyword/website to be listed in their system:
 
One from the actual vendor And one from whichever affiliate wins the highest position based
on the adwords formula for determining rankings (which will be covered in CampaignBlasts).

So, if you don’t own your own website, you are competing with every other affiliate that is sending traffic for a keyword directly to the vendors website – and only ONE affiliate can end up being listed for that keyword/website combination.

If you have your OWN website, you have MUCH less to worry about when it comes to competition.

The reasons why you can get away with not having your website with CampaignBlasts (at least for the short-term) are:

1) You will be putting up ALOT of campaigns using keyword techniques that other advertisers may not be using.

2) The sheer volume of campaigns you put up makes it more likely that you’ll hit keywords that will "stick" (at least for a while).

3) Using the techniques in CampaignBlasts will help build a great account history which actually will make it easier to have keywords "stick" in the long run because you’ll likely be seen as a better advertiser than many other advertisers.

4) This is related to #3 but in the short-term the CampaignBlasts methods will also give you a better quality score which is part of the Adwords formula.

Reader: Ahhhhhh, okay.  This is starting to come together in my little mind now…

Without my own web site, my Adwords ad itself would use the Clickbank (or whoever) Hop Link rather than a link to my own web site (this way I still get a referral fee). 

The challenge then is that I have to make my ad ‘better’ (as defined by Adwords tricks I’ll learn) than any other affiliate’s as well as the actual vendor’s (I’m ignoring the organic search results here) so the searcher will click my add, which hopefully then results in a sale.

On the other hand, if I had my own web site, I essentially become the vendor so that my Adwords ads need ‘only’ to be tailored enough to point the searcher to my site, which is based on the Affiliate Program I have joined (less competition from affiliates because I don’t have to beat their ads since I’m the vendor).  I’m guessing I would create one site (or page probably?) per Affiliate Program so that I can target the site content and URL of the page to the set of Adwords keywords appropriate to that program.  My landing site (is that the correct term?) then has hoplinks to the vendors whose affiliate programs I have joined.  So, basically, the advantage of my own web site is that I dont have to worry about having a better ad than all the other affiliates in order for my ad to show up…?… 

Am I on the right track here?  Am I belabouring the web site issue unnecessarily (i.e. does Blast Method explain all this stuff)? 

As always, thank you so much (in advance this time) for all your help!

Paul: Yes, you got all that right. Blasts does explain all this. You’re pretty close on the terminology. Here are the basics:

website – any website
minisite – a small website – typically 5 to 20 pages
landing page – a specific page on a site that you send traffic to.

Hope that helps.

I can tell that you’re going to catch on fast, btw. Not something that I can say for a lot of people I talk to about this stuff.

Reader: Hey Paul, Awesome feedback.  I owe you for all this help!

For sure, if I do indeed catch on and I’m able to generate some reasonable cash, I will be happy to endorse your workathome site (not sure if you have testimonials there or not, but I’d be more than happy to)….From what I’ve seen from others regarding Blast, I should reasonably expect to be able to net $100/day without a large investment of time or money (don’t want to get too greedy or take too much time away from the family).  Doesn’t sound like a lot, especially when you’re used to IT salaries, but would make a big difference in my family’s life (i.e. mum wouldnt HAVE to work)….That would make a really big difference in our lives, and frankly, without your input and feedback, I likely would have assumed this was all a bogus scam and not pursued much further!

Again, thanks for your time, thoughts/suggestions and feedback!!

Paul: Hey, no problem.

Yes, $100/day sounds reasonable and typically with this system the ROI is pretty high so investment
IS typically lower.

I do have a testimonial page so that would be great. I have tons I haven’t put up there. Of course I get the occasional "you stink", too. LOL. But since the site gets 20,000 to 30,000 visitors per month I don’t think that’s so bad.

Paul