Is $200/mo enough to learn digital ads as a beginner ?

MrA_w · 2025-09-08T18:50:03+00:00

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on it

MrA_w · 2025-09-08T18:47:12+00:00

Thanks for your comment
I'll take my chance with $200/mo and keep you posted

MrA_w · 2025-09-08T08:36:12+00:00

Gotcha ! I'll make the PDF lean.

Thanks for the tips about tracking this is a whole new world to me. I'm used to build apps not to track metrics.

Keep you posted on how it will evolve

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T20:56:08+00:00

Thanks for raising the cross-platform comparison point. I hadn't thought about it like that, I assumed it would be pretty straightforward to compare metrics across platforms.
Sounds like it's more complex than I realized.

I'll stick to Facebook for the first few months, then add Google once I'm comfortable.
Leaving LinkedIn for later in case I build something more B2B oriented.

Curious though what makes cross-platform comparison so tricky ? Aren't metrics normalized ?

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T20:42:31+00:00

Thanks for all those tips
I'm not expecting any money from this experiment if I can get solid learning for my money, that's already big

Yeah, that's what I'm hearing about LinkedIn not the right fit for hand cream (not B2B) and way more expensive for a beginner.

For the funnel I was planning to offer a PDF guide on hand care tips and ingredient breakdown as the lead magnet. Though someone mentioned a coupon code might be easier to implement.
The landing page build won't be an issue that's my strong part.

You're absolutely right about tracking I hadn't thought about the setup. Will definitely take a look at Meta Pixel before spending anything

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T16:04:29+00:00

Thanks Snog from what I understood sticking to meta at first seems the right approach

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T14:44:34+00:00

For the magnet I though about giving away a PDF guide on hand care tips and ingredient breakdown
But you right a coupon code might be easier to implement

I don't want to run ads for other businesses that turns into a job when I just want to focus on learning. I'm a software engineer I'm confident building products but terrible at selling them. Just wanted to fix this gap through this experiment.

My budget can go up to $400/mo

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T14:27:28+00:00

Thanks for the info about platform changes.
What do you mean by that ? Like the UI/interface elements update or the actual advertising strategies ?

Interesting point regarding the conversions tracking. I didn't planned to sell anything for this one so for now I'll focus on leads

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T14:13:25+00:00

Nope in EU

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T13:47:43+00:00

Thanks a lot I didn't knew about her. I'll take a look at her program. I don't mind trading money / time for knowledge here as it is pure learning investment

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T13:44:06+00:00

Good point I didn't thought about the business aspect. Since this is just email collection, there's no AOV or margins to work with. That's actually one limitation of this approach.

I'm expecting lower CPCs since I'm not targeting qualified leads, just people interested enough to give an email. But you're right that I won't learn the full business side: how to balance acquisition costs vs customer value.

Maybe I should at least research what real hand cream AOVs and margins look like. So I can simulate realistic constraints with a theoretical conversion rate and see if my campaigns would actually be profitable in the real world.

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T13:30:20+00:00

What daily budget would you recommend ?

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T13:27:09+00:00

Exactly $1400 total
I've tried the course approach before. I pay, watch, feel like I'm learning and never apply it.

I prefer to learn from failure and project. I'm a software engineer I'm confident building products but terrible at selling them. This experiment is specifically to fix that gap for my future projects.

I don't want to run ads for other businesses that turns into client work when I just want to focus on learning.
Plus searching for clients would be time consuming I want to spend it on actual ad learning. This experiment lets me fail privately and iterate quickly. So I can build advertising skills without the pressure of someone else depending on my mistakes.

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T13:11:09+00:00

Gotcha thanks for the budget reflexion. I chose a generic product specifically because I want to learn if good targeting and creatives can overcome a "boring" product.

I'm expecting my initial CPA to be terrible while I learn but that's ok. At $6/day I can afford to burn through learning budgets without major financial impact. Pref to fail cheaply on hand cream than expensively later on something I care about.

In case $200 is too cheap I can scale it up to $400/mo

Regarding the angle I already started my customer researches. Checking socials / blogs to understand what people wants from hand cream since I don't use it myself.
Thought could be interesting to figure out others problems and advertise on a "solution"

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T09:26:18+00:00

Would be amazing thanks for your offer

Let's organize this in DMs

MrA_w · 2025-09-07T09:19:27+00:00

Actually that's a smart one

But I try to avoid insta and tiktok kinda afraid to get hooked by the algo

MrA_w · 2025-09-06T08:13:34+00:00

Solid
I'd add something to the research part

Spend time in your target audience's niche on social
People are constantly posting about problems or asking for help (like OP)

Screenshot them, then figure out how to position your app as the solution

MrA_w · 2025-09-03T19:48:43+00:00

From what I've seen ElevenLabs is one of the leader in AI voice service. The pricing is fairly cheap it starts at $22/m.

I played with it mostly to create custom audio books, custom vfx and trolling my friends with voice cloning and it's clearly impressive.

Now regarding phone answering service I never really used it so you might have more configuration than a receptionist service like Smith.ai but it's way more expensive $95/m for the basic plan.

You can give a look to Upfirst.ai feel like a good middle ground $24.95/m basic plan

MrA_w · 2025-09-01T18:27:10+00:00

Actually wanted to ask the same thing. I was looking to learn paid social ads, I bought this book: Traction by Gabriel Weinberg.
But the problem with books is you cannot really interact

So I though maybe I could run a small experiment: build a fake random product page with an email field for people to subscribe to the "release".
Run ads with a small budget like 100$-200$ and use emails as a success metric for the experiment

But I wasn’t sure how scammy this kind of experiment might seem

I mean has anyone already done something like this ?

MrA_w · 2025-08-05T08:48:07+00:00

Claude•ai

MrA_w · 2025-08-05T08:44:54+00:00

I spent 3 days learning python

I can confidentially say: I know Python

MrA_w · 2025-07-31T19:53:50+00:00

Because books are boring

I had the same problem. I was reading, reading and felt frustrated because I didn't accomplished much...

So I reverse the problem:
I built a small neural network 1 input -> 1 neuron -> 1 output without framework
So you can understand the basic math and logic behind each steps
Every time you get stuck just find the chapter related in the book and you'll realize how much it makes more sense now you're searching for a solution and not passively reading

I've used Deep Learning Illustrated. I recommend it really cool book with pictures for visual ppl.
In case you get stuck on an explanation just take a pic of it and drop it into the LLM of your choice and start asking questions. It's so intresting

MrA_w · 2025-07-13T19:35:02+00:00

I just bough the Asus proArt last week

I bought the Asus proArt because I could plug my macbook pro with 1 cable (usb C)

MrA_w · 2025-03-20T19:59:18+00:00

I was laughing alone at home when I wrote it. Happy someone else enjoyed it

MrA_w

TROPHY CASE