God Damn!! 1:6456
 

1:6456 thats my overall ratio for the first days of August in my Unified Stats. Seems I always panic when I hit a bad stretch but for the longest time now I always end up making the same amount of money (within a 300$ range or so) and converting within the same (give or take 100-200) when the month is all said and done so I guess I should just chill out. Just seems worse when you start a month out like this. Last month I had my best week ever at the beginning, but had about the same week I am having now towards the middle-end of the month, and last month I ended up making a tad over what I consider average.

So I guess what I am asking is how is everyone else starting the month out?

This just sounds like the ebb and flow of sales to me. When your up enjoy it and know it isnt going to last forever and when your down just keep working and know it isnt going to last forever.

I hear a lot about ratios and everyone is different but what would you say is normal for your first year in the business?

Way too many variables for that question :) All depends on what you do and your traffic sources. Everyone is different. Some sponsors count raws and some count 2nd page clicks. I have a couple sponors that are doing good if they are at 1:1500 and there are some that I wouldnt even use at 1:1500.

Not sure if it'll help, but a couple of weeks back I went through most of my sponsor stats looking at what have been he best converting sites/niches.
I was surprised to find that some sites that I hadn't promoted as much as others were converting far better than ones I thought were doing really well.
Did that make sense?
So I've started promoting different sites and I've seen a reasonable improvement in conversions.

Unified Stats is telling me I'm currently at 1:1105 for August, which is far better than the total for the year which is 1:1877.

But I don't expect my August good numbers to stay, and I have been doing pretty well with some purchased webcam traffic for the past few days.
By the way, I build freesites and have my hub/fake linklist, and a spin off webcam site, and I've only been doing this since March this year. Just in case you needed to know.
:)

I have affiliates that average 1:4,400 and have been for a couple of years. They send CJ traffic and seem to be happy because they keep sending it.

I have others that have been doing 1:180 for years.

If you have 2,000,000 CJ hits a day and a ratio of 1:4,400 then you're making good money.

If you have 300 hits a day with a ratio of 1:180 then you're broke.

Ratios are nice but when it comes to paying bills people seem to prefer money. :)

My first three days in August were HORRIBLE. This was after the last two weeks in July that were killer. Was like someone just flipped off a switch.

I was starting to panic, but yesterday and today are great, and have almost made up for it. |bananna| In fact, so far today my raws are 1:384 for all sponsors per Stats Remote, which is killer for me.|bananna|

Yes. I find that my ratios with certian sponsors will vary widly. I will be doing really well with them, then crappy. I love dragonlinks, I just turn them off for awhile, then wait a month or so, then turn them back on. I think the bookmarkers have seen them so much they "look over" the links / ads. Keeps stuff fresh. One of my best converting sponsors this month, for instance, was one of my worst last month. Go figure. |huh

Looks like you need to find a better converting niche to push. :)

Well after a somewhat successful weekend I am at 1:2462 for August now. Hopefully no more bad streaks this month :)

Summer slowdown did hit me too :(

Certainly, August is not one of my best months either. |yawn| 1:5300 so far and no improvements over the weekend... Hopefully something will change soon.
Sadman

naice ratio
;)

nice one, dude! :thumbsup

Step up your work when sales are down. That's all I can tell you, based on my experience. Nothing beats working harder and generating new ideas, finding new sites to promote.

Many things have changed in this industry over the years, but ups-and-downs are constant.

when i returned from my holiday in august i was at a ratio 1:9543 well hell thats fuckingggg bad, after one week work am at 1.1852 with all my sponsors again, summer slow down, bull shit i dont believe in that its your working skills i think... but thats just my point of view:)

Worst month in years here.
Damn it

The month still sucks some big balls here, worst month I have had sign up wise as far as sign ups per day go, but my recurring stuff has been really good this month so the month is still about average so far, maybe a tad below.

Great advice, and words to live by. It's easy to coast when things are going well. The smart people work harder, when sales are down. The more you do this, the less "down" periods you will have. |thumb

Words to live by. And once you accept that constant, you're free to use it in your own equations. I've found that one sure way to increase the length of a down period is to waste time thinking about it, dwelling on it, or talking about it. I think it's better to treat it like an expected sampling of a waveform that will peak again soon, and just keep working as usual.

Here too.
Could it be a processing problem?

These are the words I live by :D

There is going to be ups and downs just like any other business. Do I still get a bit worried when things are slow, yes I do. I have gotten better with time, but still have my moments of |angry| followed by |banghead|