Who Is a Traffic Arbitrageur?

The author has been buried in work and then took a much-needed vacation, so the number of posts dropped for a while. Today I want to talk about something that gets a lot of people fired up — myself included. Today we’re going to look at who a traffic arbitrageur actually is.

So, what’s your mental image of a traffic arbitrageur?

Something like this?

Or more like this?

In the affiliate marketing community, the profession tends to get portrayed like this:

1. Work one hour a day, hit the “launch” button, top up your balance to last until tomorrow;
2. Spend the remaining 23 hours blowing your earnings on expensive alcohol, hookah bars, and questionable company. (And refresh your stats — can’t skip that.)

Is that actually how it works?

No. Traffic arbitrage is a completely ordinary IT profession. To start making real money, you’ll need to live glued to your computer for at least several months. Study everything you can, run tests, dissect your mistakes, and steadily grind toward profit. Passive income does not exist here — no matter what anyone tells you. Sure, after a few years of experience you won’t spend as much time hunting for a winning funnel. But that doesn’t mean your cloaking techniques will never stop working, that the ad networks you’re running on won’t shut down, or that the offer you’ve been pushing for six months won’t eventually burn out. A traffic arbitrageur always has to stay sharp — if you treat this work carelessly, nothing will come of it. This isn’t a casino or a lottery.

I’ll be straight with you — I’ve spoken with a lot of arbitrageurs, including some who stay completely off the radar. They’re all fairly successful people, many with families. Here are a few traits they share:

1. They don’t flaunt their money. You should be able to figure out why on your own.
2. They don’t throw money around carelessly. Buying a nice car is one thing; partying at clubs and burning cash on a wild lifestyle is another.
3. These people genuinely love computers and the internet. As a rule, they got interested in programming and online marketing when they were young. For them, spending a couple of days straight at a computer reading technical literature or practicing skills is perfectly normal.
4. These people will most likely never run coaching programs or sell courses. As a rule, they help others with free advice or run blogs where they share everything they do — at no charge.

If you recognized yourself in that description — congratulations, you’re already a top-tier arbitrageur! Or you have everything it takes to become one.

Why does this flashy image exist at all?

The usual “sponsors of the chaos” at industry conferences and meetups are ad networks and affiliate programs. Barely-dressed performers, exotic animals, after-parties at nightclubs with an open bar… The list goes on. Here’s my take:

Imagine this scenario: one person, interested in programming and online marketing, decides to get into traffic arbitrage. Someone tells them: “Hey, it’s going to be tough — you might run at a loss for a couple of months, but eventually you’ll get there. Yeah, those months you’ll be basically chained to your computer, but it’s worth it.” And so this person gradually figures things out, burns through a daily budget, and through pain and perseverance finally goes profitable. Then they sharpen their skills, and a year or two later they’re a solid specialist.

Now picture a different scenario: 1,000+ people show up to an industry affiliate conference and are hit with all this spectacle. Most of them are just getting acquainted with affiliate marketing or taking their very first steps. The impression that forms in their heads: “Look at these girls, the free drinks, everyone looks so glamorous… I want that too!” At every booth they’re told they can start profitable campaigns today, earning hundreds and thousands per day — just come sign up and buy traffic from us (or sell it to us)!

And so all these people go and spend a few hundred dollars on traffic, maybe generate some leads, but it’s nowhere near covering their losses. At scale, this is enormous profit for ad networks and affiliate programs that didn’t have to do a thing — people handed them the money voluntarily. Remember: you can’t build a ship without knowing the theory. It will sink on its very first voyage.

Don’t kid yourself with the thought that nobody else pulled it off but you will — luck is not success. Money earned one day can be just as easily lost on the very next campaign.

Is arbitrage bad? Is there no money in it?

There’s money — and plenty of it. But to earn it you have to work hard, and in the early stages you essentially need to cut yourself off from the outside world. If you don’t genuinely love computers and the internet but you’re chasing easy money — the only people you’ll be enriching are the ones selling you traffic and offers. Work hard, and you will get there. Don’t believe in “easy money” or the carefree arbitrageur lifestyle. Learn first and foremost from your own mistakes. Read blogs run by people with a proven track record. And treat publicly shared case studies with healthy skepticism.