How do you run Facebook ads as an affiliate without getting your account banned? 🚫
At the Moscow Affiliate Conference, I interviewed Eric Dyck, CEO and co-founder of iStack Training, the training division of STM and Affiliate World Conferences. He jokes about his name, too. 😄
He has had a 10-year career in affiliate marketing. 🚀
📊 In this episode, we unpacked:
- 🏢 Employee #7 at NeverBlue
- 📱 An ad network exit and mobile growth
- 🎓 Building iStack Training
- 🛡️ How to avoid Facebook account bans
- 💰 Small spend, massive ROI
- 🛒 Live support, ecommerce and mentors
🎥 Watch the full episode:
🏢 Employee #7 at NeverBlue
Eric started in affiliate marketing around 2006 at NeverBlue, one of the first affiliate networks, as employee number seven. 🏢
He built its internal media buying team and learned search, display, mobile and email marketing over about seven years, with a salary instead of an affiliate’s risk. 📚
📱 An Ad Network Exit and Mobile Growth
He then founded an ad network for mobile app developers and sold it in 2013, his first exit. 💰
Next, he was head of user acquisition at a Clash of Clans-style game company, learning a ton about Facebook, then director of marketing at GoToMobi, a mobile DSP. 📱
He began speaking at STM and Affiliate World events, and in Bangkok in 2016, they recruited him. 🎤
🎓 Building iStack Training
He was asked to run the 6-Week Affiliate Mastery Challenge, which teaches pops, redirects and mobile display. 🎓
Believing “Facebook is the future,” he partnered with leading experts and rebranded as iStack Training, named after iStack Holdings, the parent of STM and Affiliate World. 🏷️
Their first Facebook Mastery Live in Berlin was planned in five weeks and drew about 200 people. The Bangkok edition aimed for about 500. For more on Facebook ads, read the Revealbot co-founder interview. 🔗
🛡️ How to Avoid Facebook Account Bans
Facebook cares about user experience and prefers established companies. The main idea: present yourself as an agency, not an individual affiliate. 🛡️
- 📄 Set up a proper fan page and look legitimate
- 🔗 When starting out, don’t use a tracker link
- 🌐 Keep your landing page and offer on the same domain; ask the network to host your landing page if needed
Policies change all the time, so these are simple steps, not guarantees. ⚠️
💰 Small Spend, Massive ROI
With a warm audience of about 50,000, iStack spent around $5,000 a month on Facebook. 💰
Courses are high-ticket: the Facebook masterclass at $1,497 and the 6-week challenge at $3,000. They sometimes got purchases for under $10 each. 📈
They grow their warm audience with free content, like Eric’s Robust Marketer podcast. One webinar using Russell Brunson’s “perfect webinar” script sold about 30 seats, six figures in sales. 🎙️
🛒 Live Support, Ecommerce and Mentors
Eric says students value live support most: a Slack channel with STM community members and teachers answering in real time. 💬
He encourages affiliates to experiment with ecommerce, which he sees as having the highest potential. 🛒
He respects Russell Brunson and credits Todd Dunlop, NeverBlue’s founder and his first boss, for teaching him business and how to be a good person in it. For another affiliate educator, read Vipul Taneja, plus Alex Fedotoff on Facebook ads. 🙏
📝 Key Takeaways From the Eric Dyck Interview
- 🏢 Eric learned affiliate marketing in-house at NeverBlue
- 💰 He sold his mobile ad network in 2013
- 🛡️ On Facebook, look like an agency, not an affiliate
- 🔗 Avoid trackers and mismatched domains early on
- 📈 A warm audience can deliver huge ROI
- 🛒 Ecommerce has big potential
❓ FAQs About Eric Dyck
Who is Eric Dyck?
CEO and co-founder of iStack Training, the training arm of STM and Affiliate World Conferences, with a 10-year career in affiliate marketing.
How can affiliates avoid Facebook ad bans?
Present yourself as an agency with a proper fan page, avoid tracker links early on, and keep your landing page and offer on the same domain.
How much did iStack spend on Facebook ads?
Around $5,000 a month at the time, targeting a warm audience of about 50,000 people.
🎙️ More Inside A Hustler’s Brain Interviews You’ll Love
- Dennis Yu Facebook Advertising Expert Interview Founder of BlitzMetrics
- Depesh Mandalia Shares : How He Made $25M With Facebook Ads
- Interview with Christina Szekeres FB Queen: How Facebook Changed her Life
- Shawn Collins CEO of Affiliate Summit : How To Became Super Affiliate
Are you running Facebook ads as an affiliate or an agency? Share this with your media-buyer friends. 💬
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Jitendra Vaswani is a well-known expert in SEO and AI-driven digital marketing. He has spoken at international events and founded Digiexe, a digital marketing agency, and AffiliateBooster, WordPress plugin designed specifically for affiliate marketers. With over 10 years of experience, Jitendra has helped many businesses succeed online. His bestselling book, Inside A Hustler’s Brain: In Pursuit of Financial Freedom, with over 20,000 copies sold globally, underscores his influence and commitment to empowering digital marketers.