Archive | January 2017

Screenwriting Lessons from December Blockbuster Movies

Dear Writers,

The end of the year is always an exciting time. People celebrate various holidays and wish each other the very best of health and happiness. They look back to consider the ups and downs of the past year, and look forward to a year yet to unwrap itself. Best of all, aspiring screenwriters get to take their inspiration from blockbuster holiday movies the studios release just in time for Christmas season viewing fun. If you are writing a movie script, be sure to spend extra time studying these December films, and think about what they have that makes them such a hit with audiences, or, in some cases, what might be lacking.

In this newsletter, I provide some thoughts about scriptwriting for a December release, and as examples look at two films that are making a big splash this year. I also take a look back at what happened for The Story Solution in 2016.  If you are looking for more screenwriting tips, or know someone who wants to be a screenwriter, my book, “The Story Solution,” makes a great holiday gift!

Screenwriting Lessons from December Blockbuster Movies

I’m sure scriptwriters know there are two huge times of the year for movie releases – summer and December. These seasons can make or break studios, and launch stellar careers for screenwriters. While summer leans toward the action genre, December movies tend to be more thoughtful and are often the best movies of the year. Audiences flock to local cinemas to see the latest Hollywood offerings, looking for cinematic heroes, drama, comedy, meaning – and a script that draws them in.

I advise my scriptwriting students to write each script as if the movie will be released in December. Here are some reasons why you should shoot for this goal, too:

  • Award season is fast approaching: Winning a major award can catapult a movie and its screenwriter into the stratosphere. December movies are often the last chance to generate awareness and build momentum for an Academy Award nomination. If you write with a December release in mind, you’re automatically motivating yourself to produce Oscar-worthy material, because end-of-the-year releases must be very well written.
  • The movie business rewards a December release: Because of the stakes at hand, movie production and distribution politics are at an all-time high during this season. A break-out script or star can change the entire outlook for a studio, so getting a December release slot is not easy.  That means you need to study the kinds of stories being offered in December.
  • Shorts work well, too: If you’re not yet ready for a full feature film, keep in mind that December is the month when movie theaters run more shorts from student filmmakers, in order for those shorts to qualify for Oscar consideration. It’s good to try your hand at bringing a short script from idea to reality – and THEN try your hand at directing it. But in film directing there’s also a whole lot to learn. Read, take some classes, be prepared to stretch your directing wings! Just have your short film finished long before December, of course. Plan ahead.

Study movies that are released in December, because they are usually well written and frequently high concept, with an eye toward an Oscar nod. This is also why movie studios would rather NOT release a fantasy action around this time of year, and usually wait until late spring or summer for the younger audiences of superhero movies. A couple of December movies which are already generating a lot of Golden Globe and Academy Award buzz include:

  • La La Land: Release date: December 9, 2016 (USA). Starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend and Rosemarie DeWitt. Director Damien Chazelle is a 31 year old screenwriter/director who might have a huge hit on his hands. Already nominated for seven Golden Globes, including Best Screenplay, La La Land is the musical story of an aspiring actress and a jazz musician, who are struggling to achieve success in Los Angeles. The film takes viewers through the course of the first year they are together and then, in a unique story move, jumps ahead to compare what happened for them with what could have been. The script covers the joy and agony of pursuing your dreams, and leaves the audience wondering whether fame or love is more important.
  • Silence: The film was previewed November 29, 2016 at Vatican City and is scheduled for a limited release in the U.S. on December 23, then wide release in January.  Starring Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano, and Ciarán Hinds. Screenplay by Jay Cocks and director Martin Scorsese, based upon the 1966 novel. Scorsese invested over 28 years into bringing this novel’s vision to life. His efforts have already been rewarded with a 2016 National Board of Review award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Set in the late 1600s during the time of “Hidden Christians” in Japan, the movie tells the story of two Portuguese Jesuit priests who face the ultimate test of their faith when they travel to Japan in search of their mentor. The script explores the difficulty of pursuing conflicting goals of personal enrichment and spiritual transcendence, and is a testament to Scorsese’s dedication to searching for an answer.  It’s also an object lesson for all screenwriters: getting movies actually made from your scripts takes a long – sometimes incredibly long – time.  I personally wrote one original feature screenplay that took twelve years to get produced.  Your commitment to your craft must be deep.

A Year in Screenwriting Tips

  • Updated Website: I’ve revamped and updated my website to make it easier and more effective to use.  More to come.
  • Expanded Download Library: Visitors to my website can access many screenwriting resources, including my complimentary Hero Goal Sequence breakdowns for popular movies. Already available are “Bridesmaids” and “Back to the Future,” and I’ve recently added “Finding Nemo.” Visit now and learn how my Hero Goal Sequencing process applies to these – and all – megahit movies.
  • Blogs: I’m constantly sharing information on screenwriting. Look for my blog updates for inspiration and insights.
  • Interview for (Virtually) Everything Story: I was thrilled to be asked to provide an exclusive interview for this first-of-its-kind virtual story conference, talking about “Building Powerful Movie Stories.” I got to share my secrets for writing movie scripts that get deals. And don’t miss the interview my dear friend, Michael Hauge, and Laura Leigh Clarke conducted with Will Smith to learn about his insights into storytelling.

AND – the year ended on an extremely high note when I announced our new partnership with Final Draft®, the world’s most popular screenwriting software. My Hero Goal Sequences® Story Structure Paradigm is now a downloadable template included in Final Draft® 10.

My very best to you this holiday season, and I look forward to finding even more ways to help you become a great screenwriter in 2017.

Happy Holidays!

Eric Edson


About The Story Solution: Eric Edson’s The Story Solution provides screenwriting tips for those interested in screenplay writing. Seen as one of the best books on screenwriting and currently #1 in its category on China Amazon, Edson outlines 23 actions used to create three dimensional heroes. Visit the website at  http://www.thestorysolution.com 
to learn about writing a movie script. “Like” the Facebook page to receive tips on scriptwriting. Call (818) 677-7808 for information about writing a movie script.

The perfect gift for a comedian in your life…

Dear Friends,

Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but bring friends and family together, add a little alcohol, and it can also be the funniest. That’s the feeling you get from Classic Friars Club Roasts – it’s like a Christmas family reunion on steroids.

We’ve gathered some of the best comedy roasts of all time for your holiday viewing fun. After you’ve watched our celebrity roasts and classic outtakes, you’ll also want to enjoy these funniest Christmas TV shows and movies:

  • Roseanne, “White Trash Christmas”: With characteristic Conner impunity, Roseanne’s family ignores the neighbors’ request to tone down their Christmas decorations. What can be wrong about wise men who spend more time adoring Mrs. Claus than baby Jesus?
  • “Jingle All The Way”: Yes, it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger as a harried dad who waited too long to pick up the kids’ Christmas gift. As they say, hilarity ensues.
  • Friends, “The One With The Holiday Armadillo”: Who would think it takes an armadillo, Superman, and Santa Claus to explain the Hanukkah miracle to a small child? The “Friends” writers brought it all together in one hilarious episode.
  • Scrooged: If you’re tired of the treacly classic interpretations of the Charles Dickens classic, try this outing with Bill Murray as Scrooge. It’s always funny watching evil TV executives as they try to learn how to be nice.
  • Santa Claus Conquers The Martians: And why not? Martian kids need overpriced toys, too. Watch the original, or take a peek at the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode which has great riffs on this terrible yet amazing Christmas movie.
  • 30 Rock, “Ludachristmas”: Forget Seinfeld’s Festivus; 30 Rock has the ultimate in alternative Christmas celebrations, served up with a side dish of angst. Meanwhile Jack Donaghy and his mom set out to prove that Liz Lemon’s family is just as dysfunctional as everyone else during the holidays.

 

Have a jolly holiday with Classic Friars Club Roasts – perfect for entertaining, your own viewing, or as gifts. Order the Jack Benny Roast, Milton Berle Roast, Johnny Carson DVD, Jerry Lewis Roast, or Don Rickles roast for just $14.99 each, or get the whole collection for only $89.95. Don’t forget the Bonus DVD with classic outtakes. We also have gift cards available.

 

GREAT NEWS: You can now watch Friars Club Roasts online anytime, anywhere on your laptop, TV, phone and tablet! Streaming memberships are available for $11.66/month, $28.74/quarter or a best value of only $95.52/year. Call us now at 866-987-3678 to order Friars Club Roast videos for your Christmas viewing entertainment.

 

 

 Q&A with Friars Club Roasts 

Q: Don’t they ever roast women?
A: In fact they do, but it took quite some time to get to that point. Phyllis Diller once dressed as a man to get inside and see what the fuss was all about. Lauren Bacall sent an audio tape when they honored Humphrey Bogart. Since then, some of the women roastees have included Phyllis Diller, Sophie Tucker, Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett.
 
Q: Which roast is the funniest?
A: They all crack us up, but the DVD where Dean Martin roasts Don Rickles is one of our all-time favorites. Old Dino played the part of the lovable lush to perfection but he could certainly get serious when it came to delivering a punch line.

Q: Would these make a good holiday gift?
A: Why didn’t we think of that sooner? Seriously, though, who doesn’t love a good laugh? And these are some of the best jokes that you and the lucky recipient will ever hear.

About Classic Friars Club Roasts: With Classic Friars Roasts you can own the best comedy roasts of all time on DVD. Order the Johnny Carson Roast or watch as Don Rickles roasts Hollywood legends. Erupt in laughter as Dean Martin roasts Don Rickles. Visit the website at http://classicfriarsroasts.com to learn more about these brilliant comedy sketches. “Like” the Facebook page for hilarious insights into Friars Club Roasts.

ERIC EDSON PRESENTS: THREE FESTIVE HOLIDAY FILMS

Christmas is the perfect time to gather around the TV with family and watch a holiday film, but just what goes into creating the perfect festive film script? From atmospheric settings to the right mix of comedy, family bonding and quirky plot twists, here are three festive holiday films that have their own unique Christmas magic.

 

Home Alone

Written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus (1990)

It’s almost Christmas in snowy Chicago and the McCallister family is preparing to fly to France for the holidays. In the chaos of the departure, their youngest son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) gets left behind. Kevin now must fend for himself as only an eight-year-old can: by gorging on ice cream, turning the house into an adventure playground and watching gangster movies on TV. Trouble comes in the form of burglars Harry and Marv, who plan to rob the McCallister home on Christmas Eve, prompting Kevin to rig the house with booby-traps for a spectacular slapstick climax. Kevin also has a big lesson to learn about the local creepy neighbour, rumoured to be a killer, Old Man Marley.  This clever kid ultimately figures out that all he really wants for Christmas is his own family back, just in time for a touching reunion finale.

Home Alone has become an iconic holiday film because it touches on the key Christmas themes of family and childhood. We watch the action unfurl through Kevin’s eyes, witnessing the magic of Christmas and the dream scenario of being left home alone through a child’s point-of-view. The film has just the right amount of festive fun and comedy with a touching holiday message at its heart: that the real magic of Christmas lies in being together with your family, no matter how annoying they may be. Add in a hefty helping of Christmassy decorations, festive tunes and snowy weather, and it’s not hard to see why Home Alone remains a firm holiday favourite. What screenwriters can learn here is that at heart we are all children struggling to cope with burglars and scary, strange neighbors – frightening neighbors who, we find out, are really kind and just want the same things we do. Comedies are about hope and happy endings and remind us that the basic things which make life joyful – love and belonging – are sought after by all. So every once in a while, consider setting aside those “edgy”, apocalyptic or dark story ideas and go for something simple, sweet, and heart-warming. Because in the end, the child within each of us longs to once more be tucked into bed and hear that everything is going to be all right.

And if you write one of these stories, you’ll be giving the world a great gift.

Miracle on 34th Street 

Written and directed by George Seaton (1947)

The original version of this classic holiday film tells the story of a little girl called Susan (Natalie Wood) whose mother Doris (Maureen O’Hara) has taught her not to believe in Santa Claus.  This all changes when Doris, who works for Macy’s Department Store, hires an incredibly realistic Santa (Edmund Gwenn) who goes by the name of Kris Kringle and has the eccentric habit of insisting that he is the genuine Santa. As Susan witnesses Kringle’s knack for spreading Christmas cheer, she begins to believe that he could be the real Santa. Not everyone agrees and Macy’s psychologist has Kris committed to a mental hospital, where in deep despair, he deliberately fails his mental examination. Help comes from Doris’ friend Fred, who agrees to represents Kris in a legal hearing. The case rests on being able to prove that Kris is in fact the real Santa Claus. Can Fred possibly, by some miracle, win?

Miracle on 34th Street is a heart-warming Christmas tale that focuses on the human struggle between belief and reason. At its very center lies a cynical little girl who gradually learns the value of believing. Despite being set around a department store at the most commercially-driven time of year, Miracle on 34th Street also manages to assert an anti-consumerist stance, which makes it particularly forward-thinking for its time. In the film, acts of kindness are more important than gifts and Kringle even sends parents to a rival store to buy cheaper toys. Set between the Thanksgiving and Christmas period, Miracle on 34th Street is full of atmospheric holiday spirit. What writers can learn here is that holiday stories can also have powerful themes. Even in traditional folktale fantasies like this one there can be found genuine human truth.  Don’t sell “Christmas movies” short and assume they must be all fluff.  This film became a true classic because it speaks to audiences on several levels: seen through the eyes of a child it works as a simple Santa Claus story, but it’s also impactful for adults with a thought-provoking theme, that in all forms of human expression some truth can be found.  We must open our hearts as well as our minds.  In whatever sort of script or novel you may be writing, never forget the power of theme.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Written by Tim Burton, Directed by Henry Selick (1993)

Jack Skellington (Danny Elfman), the King of Halloween Town, is bored of living in a land filled with ghosts and ghouls and organizing the annual Halloween festivities. So, he’s overjoyed to stumble upon magical doors leading to different holiday lands. Along with Jack, we’re transported to Christmas town, an enchanting world of elves and penguins, snow and sparkly red-and-green lights. Jack is so enthralled with the holiday that he decides to kidnap ‘Sandy Claus’ and run Christmas with the help of his ghoulish friends from Halloween Town, with terrifying results. Can Jack realise his mistake in time, put things right and save Christmas?

The Nightmare Before Christmas is an unforgettable, alternative holiday film that has become a cult classic. The king of macabre Tim Burton brings to life vivid, believable holiday worlds full of quirky characters and fantastical settings. Christmas Town, with its candy canes, cute elves and gingerbread houses, captures the cartoony essence of the holiday perfectly. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stunning example of painstaking stop-animation and has something for all ages, including a haunting musical score composed by Danny Elfman.

If you’re creating a holiday script, think about including key heart-warming themes but don’t be afraid to put your own, alternative slant on a Christmas message.  Yes, even a dark, edgy imagination – with an open heart – can create a holiday classic! Just remember to include plenty of festive scenery, music and… oh yeah, some unforgettable characters!

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

About The Story Solution:  The Story Solution was written by accomplished screenwriter Eric Edson. It reveals the 23 actions used to create dynamic, three dimensional heroes and link all parts of a captivating screenplay. He also covers screenwriting tipsscreenwriting resources, and screenwriting booksVisit the website and Facebook page or call 818-677-7808 for more information.

How To Get Instagram Followers Fast

Instagram is another of the many social networking sites operating out on the web today. It is a platform where you can share your photos privately or publicly. Now, if you want to reach out to a wider audience, you have to start collecting your Instagram followers.

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Here are a few legit and tried and tested techniques to get Instagram followers fast.

Public accounts –

If you have a private account, it’s only your friends who can see what you share. Hence, the first step to getting Instagram followers fast is to go public. For those of your really worried about privacy, you can always keep a check on what you choose to share.

Hashtags –

Instagram uses hashtags to filter photographs. When you search for photographs, the social media network will display all the photographs with a common hashtag. Popularity is not the only criteria when selecting the hashtags to go with your photographs. You should also use relevant ones. 3 is an ideal number of hashtags to use with your photograph.

Regular uploads –

A dormant account doesn’t usually get too many followers. Instagrammers on a regular basis tend to unfollow inactive accounts. Hence, the strategy is to refresh your account with new, original and captivating content.

As a rule of the thumb, don’t post too little and don’t flood your page. A photo daily is a good standard.

Use filters –

Why you should use filters? Well, they really improve the look of your photos adding a more personalized touch. This sense of added beauty is enough to draw more followers who love following quality work. Check how a particular filter looks before you actually apply it.

Picture collages –

Instead of uploading a lone picture, you can combine multiple images into a single one. Such images are more engaging as they tell a story. There are several paid and free, third party collage makers and photo-editing apps you can use for the purpose.

Time it right –

The most breathtaking photographs will have no viewers if you post it when the entire Instagram community is asleep. The peak times on Instagram are in the morning before work and in the evening after work. This is when most Instagrammers check their accounts. So, time your uploads right.

Follow, like and comment

Yet another tip to increase your visibility on Instagram is to follow others. They might follow you in return. Take it a step further by liking and commenting on other’s photos and videos. You’re likely to grab the attention of the photo owner as well his/her followers. It might prompt them to check out your Instagram account, increasing the likelihood of followers.

Sync with Facebook –

With Facebook taking over Instagram, you can now share your photographs across both the platforms by integrating your Facebook and Instagram account. This way your Instagram activity gets streamed on to Facebook. Facebook Friends that also have an Instagram account will start following you, if they like what you upload.

Call to Action –

Your captions should have a strong Call To action. You should aim for better engagement with your captions. In that, they should compel them to comment or start an interesting discussion.

So, these are different ways in which you can get Instagram followers fast. You can also join micro-blogging groups and participate in discussions there.

Instagram, the photo-sharing site had gained immense popularity over the last few years. With most social networking sites, the more followers you have, the more you are able to leverage their potential.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9378869

How to Remove Snapchat Best Friends

As one of the top video and photo sharing apps available, Snapchat’s recent news release reported over 500 million snaps sent and received on a daily basis. One of the most popular features of Snapchat is the Best Friend list, which is both hated and loved equally. Users enjoy this feature due to its easy availability of exchanging snaps with folks you often snap with, and it is equally hated because it shows the Best friends list on your profile — meaning anyone can see it.

snapchat

The Snapchat Best Friends List Explained

Snapchat Best Friends, or your “top list” as they’re known informally, are 3 individuals you most frequently share snaps with. The list gets updated each week, meaning that if you snap people more frequently throughout the week, they’ll show up on your Best Friends list. You can see this list when you get ready to send a new snap, as it is shown on top of the contacts list to get easy access to it. It can be seen by anyone who has you in their contacts, and it is displayed on your profile publicly.

How to Bring Up Your Contacts’ Best Friends

To see the best friends of all your contacts, simply use the following method.

· Scroll down to the name or username of the friend you want to know about

· This brings up their profile, where you can see their username and friend score.

· There, you will see lists of those users your friend snaps with most often.

· You can move your number of best friends from 3 to 5 to 7 in the settings pane.

Keep in mind that the best friends algorithm works in such a way that if someone sends you snaps regularly, but you just reply a few times, that person could be on your best friends list simply because the score gets higher every time she sends snaps. Likewise, if you regularly send a snap to someone more often than other people do, they’ll end up on your list.

How to Remove Snapchat Best Friends

Learning how to remove Snapchat best friends is a fairly simple process, but you’ll need to fully understand how the feature works in order to use it correctly. First, Snapchat has a certain score for your best friends, with the score being the number of snaps in total that you’ve received and sent. This means the score you’ll see on your profile is the total activity number you’ve accumulated since starting to use the service. Secondly, the score is measured by the conversations you’ve had between all your friends, which determines who makes it onto your best friends list.

Then, based on Snapchat’s specific algorithm for friendship, it displays the number of snaps you’ve sent between you and all your best friends, displayed next to their names. In newer updates of Snapchat, you will see the scores in order from the top 3, 5, or 7 friends on the list. Since these friends get updated weekly, the score will reset to a 0 rating each week once the list gets updated.

Assuming you’d simply prefer to not have someone on your best friends list, you can simply control who shows up there. There are plenty of reasons you might want to do this. First, your best friends are public for anyone to see, which seems a bit odd. Why should anyone know who you’re talking with most often? Secondly, if your significant other is not the person you’re talking to most frequently, he’s going to notice that when ge goes to your profile. So some other guy you are talking to will show up on the list and your SO is going to ask some questions.

So, you can simply remove them. In order to do so, you will need to block your friends. This allows you to reset the score mentioned earlier.

A Simple Workaround to Take People Off Your List

You can’t completely hide the Snapchat Best Friends list. Instead, you’ll have to use a simple workaround to remove individuals from your best friends list. And this method also lets you replace people on your best friends list with other users, simply using a basic blocking and unblock method. Then, you can replace the people who you’ve blocked with new friends, which creates the illusion that you’re chatting with different people. Using this method, it will disguise whomever you’d rather not see on your best friends list, effectively “removing” them.

To block someone, follow these simple instructions.

1. First, go to your best friends list and click on the settings icon, which looks like a gear.

2. This brings up a popup window that gives you the choice to Block and/or Delete that person.

3. Click Block.

4. When you block an individual on Snapchat, your score will be reset to 0.

5. That person will now be removed from all your lists, including best friends and contacts.

This is the simplest method because you can just remove that person by blocking. They will not be notified of this block — and once you’ve done it, you can just unblock them and they will have a 0 score, so no one will have any idea how much you’ve talked to them.

Now, they’ll just appear on your contacts list, and not on your best friends list.

To unblock the person, scroll down to the lowest part of your contacts, where you can see your Blocked contacts within Snapchat. Next to each person’s name you’ll see a gear icon. Click that — and then when the next window shows up, click on Unblock.

And that’s it! Now the person you’ve taken off your best friends list is replaced by a new person — the individual who has the highest score on your normal contacts list.

Chat With Others to Improve Their Scores on Your Best Friends List

Chatting with other friends will help you increase the score with them, which makes it more likely that new folks will become your Best Friends. This means that if you talk less often with the person you want to remove, the others will outscore the person you don’t want to show up as high on your list. However, remember that the new best friend updates only kick in each week.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9274869

Top 5 CPA Marketing Strategies

CPA (Cost-Per-Action) Marketing is an internet marketing income opportunity that’s very similar to affiliate marketing. The difference between affiliate marketing and CPA marketing is the fact that CPA networks pay you every time a user clicks on your link and takes an action – like fills out their email address, register on the landing site or download and install an app on their phone.

The actions required to profit from CPA programs depends on the specific program, but unlike affiliate marketing, CPA programs don’t require an actual purchase to be made. This means that it’s much easier to profit from CPA programs since users are only required to take a certain action, and then you get paid. With affiliate marketing, the user has to complete a purchase and pay for a product / service before you get paid.

This is only one of the advantages CPA marketing holds over affiliate marketing. It’s also easier to convert users with CPA programs since the programs are usually related to global interests – like “Win the brand new iPhone 6s” or “Win a $100 Amazon Gift Card”. There’s also a lot of different download CPA offers available on different networks – with these programs, your audience needs to download an app or game on their phone for free, and then you get paid for every install you refer.
These are all offers that targets a much more generic audience than a specific internet marketing or weight loss product you’d promote through affiliate marketing.
Now let’s take a look at my top 5 strategies for driving traffic and conversions to your CPA offers.

#1 – Use a squeeze page

The most important part of succeeding in the CPA marketing industry is to make use of a squeeze page. By using a squeeze page, you are increasing your chances for a conversion, while building a list of ready-to-take-action subscribers at the same time.

A squeeze page is a simple “landing page” where visitors will land before they are directed to the CPA offer. Your squeeze page should contain relevant information related to the CPA offer you are promoting – ask users to enter their email address into your email subscription form to continue. Once they add their email to your email subscription form, redirect them to the CPA offer. You can also have your auto responder send them an additional email with a link to the CPA offer in case the redirect didn’t work in their browser, or they closed the browser too soon.

#2 – Use Social Media

Social media is a very important part of CPA marketing. Millions of users are turning to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and other social media networks every day to catch the latest news, check up on their friends, search for coupons and offers, and much more.

This means that it’s the perfect place to drop links to your squeeze pages / CPA offers. By promoting your CPA offers on social media, you are tapping into millions and millions of traffic – and if you do a good job, you can drive a lot of traffic back to your links.

The strategy to use here is to first join some groups related to the niche your CPA offer is targeting. If you’re promoting a trial offer for a new dieting pill, then you should join health and weight loss related groups / communities on social media.

Once you’ve joined a couple of groups, start sharing helpful content with the group. Your content should provide some value – do not simply drop links! After a couple of posts, the group members will start to recognize your name and you’ll have better authority in these groups.

Now it’s time to drop a link to your CPA offer – add a good description and tell the group why they should click on your link. Also add a creative image that related to the niche you’re targeting.

When dropping a link in these groups, be sure to add the link as close to the top as possible without starting the post with the link. Start with a title, drop the link and then add a description. The reason for this – when you create a long post on most social networks (except Twitter, where your tweets are limited) the post will be “shortened” with a “… ” link that will expand the post. You want your link to appear above the text that gets cut off so people will be able to click on the link even if they don’t expand the post.

#3 – Use Document Sharing Sites

Document sharing sites allow you to share PDF documents with others – they put your documents on their site and anyone browsing their site are able to see and read your documents.

This is another great way to drive traffic back to your CPA offers! By simply sharing a couple of documents related to the CPA offer you are promoting, you are able to drive hundreds to thousands of visitors back to your link, bringing you more conversions and more profit.

You might be wondering what documents you can share here… it’s actually quite simple. Do some research about different topics in the niche your CPA offer is targeting. Try to find a few different topics you can target. Then create a simple new document on your word processor and start to write about the specific topic. If you’re using a word processor such as Microsoft Word, you can also choose one of the templates that the software comes with to create a nice layout for your document. I usually go with the “Reports” templates.

Add some helpful information in your document – anything more than 5 pages would do. The more helpful and the more closely related the information you share is compared to the CPA offer you are promoting, the higher the chances of getting more conversions on your clicks. Make sure you add a couple of links to your CPA offer in the document!

Share your documents on as many document sharing sites as you can. Be sure to add unique descriptions for your document on each site, and also include a link back to your CPA offer in each description.

#4 – Use Instagram

Instagram is a social media network that focusses on multimedia – images and videos. This network is owned by Facebook, and it’s almost as popular as Facebook. Instagram received millions of unique daily visitors, and there’s millions of new images and videos posted every day.

With Instagram, you can post images and videos, and you can tag them so people can easily find them. You can also like another person’s posts, as well as comment on them. The more comments and likes your post received, the better chance of going viral.

Instagram also allows you to follow other people, and offers a “timeline” view with the latest posts by the people you follow. The more followers you get, the more exposure your posts get.

Now to drive traffic back to your CPA offer using Instagram can take a while to get started, but once you’ve tapped into this market, you can drive hundreds of dollars’ worth of conversions each and every day from Instagram alone.

To use this method, you should create a new Instagram account. Name your account something that relates to the offer you are promoting. You also need a landing page / squeeze page hosted on a custom domain – you CANNOT link directly to a CPA offer or you will be banned.

Add a profile picture that relates to your niche, and then add a bio that relates to the offer you are promoting. And finally add a link to your squeeze page in the “Website Link” field while updating your profile.

Now you should add only 1 new image / video per day on your Instagram account. You can find millions of images on the internet related to your niche. Tag your image with popular tags – there’s many different apps and websites that will give you the most popular and trending tags. Then hit publish.

Once you’ve added your image, start to follow a couple of people in your niche. Also like some of their pictures, and also comment on some of their posts. Do NOT spam – be thoughtful and considerate, and find a good balance between posting new images / videos, following other people, liking other’s posts and commenting on posts.

Continue doing this and you’ll soon start building up followers and driving traffic to your squeeze page. Just be-aware that this drives MOBILE TRAFFIC so you need to ensure both your squeeze page and the CPA offer you are promoting are mobile-optimized.

#5 – Use PPV Advertising

The last strategy for gaining a lot of profit with CPA marketing is to use PPV advertising. PPV advertising is pay-per-view promotion, which means you pay an amount based on the total number of views your ad receives.

This type of advertising works, you just need to find the right network. There’s several different PPV networks that you can make use of, and it will take some trial and error before you finally succeed – but keep at it and you will soon hit your first $100 day!

PPV advertising can cost you as little as $0.01 per visitor, which is really cheap. Imagine being able to convert offers at $0.01 per visitor. That’s insane!

The only downside to using PPV advertising is the fact that most PPV networks require a large amount to start with. Most PPV networks will only allow you to start off with an amount of $50+ – this means you should have some startup capital if you want to use PPV.

If you don’t have this much to spend right now, don’t worry. There’s still an upside to this!

I’ve shared with you 4 different strategies you can use to drive traffic to your CPA offers without having to spend a lot of money. Most of them are actually completely free. This means you can drive free targeted traffic to your squeeze pages and CPA links. So if you follow the first 4 strategies, implement them and keep with them, you will be able to push up your CPA earnings to the point where you have enough to invest in PPV advertising.

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