"I Started with $500 in Credit and Reached $40k Profit per Month" — Interview with Harnur Virk

I've been working with Harnur since 2019 — he was one of my first affiliates.

Harnur is an example of an ordinary person — just like any of us — with similar struggles and moments of self-doubt, yet he managed to achieve remarkable results, even though he never thought it was possible. I hope more people learn his story, see themselves in certain moments, and believe that they too can reach great heights in this industry if they put in the effort. I've been watching his journey from the very beginning. I remember when he messaged me saying he was about to quit his job and go all-in on affiliate marketing. We had many great conversations — even philosophical ones — and I'm genuinely proud of what he's accomplished and the recognition he now receives at major conferences as a speaker. From a regular guy running dating offers on push traffic, he became a businessman with million-dollar revenue. That's the stuff movies are made of — and here we are, writing an article about it)

I've only just started working on the channel, so at this stage it's an investment of my time. My goal is to bridge the so-called "tier-1 world" with the Ukrainian affiliate community — to share interesting insights and practical experience. I follow a lot of channels run by affiliates themselves, but I rarely come across managers sharing their expertise and knowledge. If anyone wants to connect about work — no problem, my contacts are out there, let's see how we can collaborate. But I don't want to turn it into a channel full of promotional content where fluff is mixed in with "top offers from our network today."

I started with push traffic because it was the cheapest option. The main challenge was that I didn't have enough money to launch push campaigns — I'm from India, we're not very wealthy, and at the time I was still in college. So I asked my mom for money. She had a $500 credit limit per month, and I used it to run traffic. I managed to turn a profit, and we were able to pay off the credit on time. That's how I got started.

Push and pop traffic were the cheapest options, and I believe they remain some of the most accessible traffic sources for beginners. You don't need a large budget to start running campaigns and testing, unlike Facebook or TikTok. That was one reason, and the other was that I decided to specialize in a single niche. I was confident I could go deeper into one traffic type rather than trying to learn many different ones and ultimately losing focus.

I started with SOI and DOI dating offers — they converted well early on. Then I tried gambling, but with pay-per-registration offers. Eventually, I moved into antiviruses, specifically McAfee and Norton. I realized it was easier to make six figures a month in that vertical, so instead of spreading myself across different verticals, I focused all my efforts in that direction.

People don't usually talk about this, but luck is a major factor. It matters a lot. I think I started at the right time and with the right network. I was working with ClickDealer, you (ed. Ruslan) were a great support as my manager, and I had access to all the offers I needed. All of that contributed to my success with push traffic.

I moved from push traffic and antiviruses to search arbitrage because it's hard to make serious money with push. The real money is in Facebook, TikTok, and Google — those are massive traffic sources. Push traffic volume is limited: you can get decent numbers, but you can't consistently sustain six-figure income month after month. So I decided to learn something new, and search arbitrage was trending at the time.

I started hiring media buyers and overall got significantly better at search arbitrage. I'm constantly learning and sharpening my skills. I used to run TikTok traffic successfully, and now I've also mastered Facebook Ads and Native Ads. I keep adding new traffic sources, which helps me earn more. When one source underperforms, I can switch to another and push more volume there. I'm actively diversifying and also bringing on talented people who help me scale.

Net profit for that period was $250,000.

One challenge was getting creatives approved by advertisers, since McAfee and Norton don't like aggressive promotional tactics. So I had to learn how to cloak and mask landing pages. Push traffic also has limited volume, and I couldn't consistently buy large amounts every month. So I was buying traffic from multiple push networks simultaneously in order to scale.

In affiliate marketing, you have to constantly adapt — nothing lasts forever. I've often run into situations while running antivirus offers with push traffic where the traffic source would flag my landing page as non-compliant and demand changes. After making those adjustments, I had to make sure my CR didn't drop and stayed at an acceptable level. Another example: I was making $200,000 a month on finance offers on TikTok when the platform suddenly announced that financial offers were banned. All my campaigns went to zero. I understand that ad platform policy changes are inevitable, so the key is to adapt and evolve. You can't stand still — this industry is highly sensitive and volatile. So I have to diversify my campaigns and keep learning new things just to survive in the niche.

In search arbitrage, payouts typically come with a hold — around 60 days. So cash flow issues can build up over time. I often had to ask friends to lend me money in those situations. I also reached out to ad platforms like TikTok and Taboola for credit lines. That helped me scale campaigns even when there wasn't enough money in my bank account.

Learning to work with TikTok and Facebook Ads is essential — billions of people visit these platforms every day. It doesn't matter what you're promoting: sweepstakes, search arbitrage, leadgen, or pay per call — all of it can be run on Facebook and TikTok. If you're not working with these platforms, you're leaving a massive volume of traffic on the table that you could be monetizing.

On Facebook and TikTok, I check my campaigns every hour, because CPC and CPA can shift very quickly. For push campaigns, checking stats once a day is enough. With other traffic sources, I have to monitor campaigns constantly — otherwise I can end up in the red.

It depends on the traffic source and ad format. For example, Facebook Ads offers various formats: Instagram Reels, Stories, images, video. User attention spans are very short. Especially on TikTok, where users scroll through their feed quickly. So you have to grab their attention within the first three seconds of a video. If you fail to do that, you risk losing their interest and your CTR will drop. When using images in Facebook Ads, it's important that they stand out from the rest and are compelling enough to make the user click on your ad. We're working on improving our creatives and looking for new approaches to capture more user attention.

There's no single offer that works best in search arbitrage — it all depends on which verticals you're promoting. If we're talking about verticals, I'd recommend finance — it's an evergreen niche that performs consistently well and is almost seasonality-free.

There's a lot of information available online — read blog articles, join Telegram groups dedicated to search arbitrage, and watch videos on YouTube. There's plenty of material out there to help you get started.

I focus on RPC (revenue per click). I also monitor CPC (cost per click) to make sure it stays below RPC. It's important for ads to have a high CTR, since in search arbitrage ROI is often low. To maintain a high CTR and a low CPC, you need to rotate creatives frequently, as they burn out quickly in Search Arbitrage.

One of the key components of my success is networking. I regularly talk to people who are just starting out or working in different areas. I always ask them what they're working on and what's converting well for them. That's how I learn about new strategies and shifts in the industry. Recommendations from friends or even strangers help me stay informed about what's working and stay ahead of trends.

I rely heavily on a tracker to monitor costs and revenue — that's a must. Any tracker will do, and using one simplifies the work significantly. I also use automation tools. There are plenty of tools that can automatically pause campaigns based on your settings. I personally use them to streamline processes and make the workflow more efficient.

It's a great feeling, because a lot of people come to the AW conference, and being chosen as the best among them is a major achievement and great exposure. That said, awards don't hold much long-term significance for me. After a few days the excitement fades and you go back to normal life. That's always how it is with awards.

I enjoy attending conferences, especially when I go with friends — it helps me be less shy. I also push myself to network, because conferences only happen a few times a year, and if you don't talk to people, you can miss important trends. I ask people how much they're earning, what's working for them, and what new strategies they're using. Socializing at conferences is important to me so I can stay on top of what others are doing.

Honestly, my life hasn't changed much. Even after making a lot of money, I don't spend more than $1,000 a month on personal expenses. 99% of my income goes into investments. My parents are proud of me, and I feel good about the money I've earned, but my lifestyle hasn't changed. I live the same way I did when I had very little. The only difference is that I now feel more confident having money in the bank.

Yes, that's true. When I was running antivirus offers at ClickDealer, the work was monotonous and boring — I had to launch the same campaigns every single day. Over the years, my discipline has improved significantly. I no longer work from home and go to the office on a schedule. On top of that, I hired media buyers who also keep me accountable. They ask a lot of questions every day, and if I don't respond, they get frustrated. Working in a team makes me more disciplined and productive. When people are counting on you, being lazy simply isn't an option.

Yes, when I tell people I work for myself, they often assume I couldn't find a job after university or that I started my own business because I had no other choice. In India, that's a common perception of self-employment. But I'm not here to please everyone. I have a small circle of friends, and as long as I'm enjoying my life, I don't really care what others think. I used to worry more about people's opinions, but it doesn't bother me as much anymore.

Affiliate marketing in India isn't very developed — not many people work in this space. One of the reasons is the high upfront investment. Not everyone has $1,000 or $2,000 to get started, and the success rate in the niche isn't particularly high, which puts a lot of people off. I also don't see many events, parties, or meetups, since people here are reluctant to spend money on that kind of thing. However, the industry is growing fast, and I think in a few years we'll see more events as more affiliates enter the market and competition increases.

Honestly, I believe life is not just about making money and stacking up a bank account. Life is a gift from God, and it's meant to be enjoyed. Nobody should spend 40–50 years in front of a laptop just to earn money and live a dull existence. I'm 26 now, and I feel like my twenties are the time to work hard so that at 30 and beyond I can actually enjoy life. Right now I'm focused on working well and earning, because this window of opportunity may not last forever. The campaigns that are working today might not be nearly as profitable in a year or two.

During COVID I was doing my MBA and still in college. Since everything was shut down, I had a lot of free time to fully focus on push traffic campaigns. That year changed my life — I made enough money that I could have retired if I wanted to. COVID had a massive impact on my career.

The most important thing is to pick one traffic source and master it completely. Whether it's push traffic, pop traffic, Facebook Ads, or TikTok Ads — focus on one and specialize in a specific vertical or niche. If you keep switching verticals every month, you won't truly learn anything. First become an expert in one area, then look for new offers within that same vertical. Also, connect with people who work in the same niche so you can learn and grow within it.

Right now I have around seven properties. As I mentioned, I only spend about 1% of my income on myself, while 99% goes into investments, including real estate. Besides real estate, I also invest in stock markets, US equities, mutual funds, and index funds. Currently my properties don't generate passive income since I don't rent them out. Instead, I buy a property, hold it for two to three years, sometimes renovate it, and then sell when the price goes up. Renting doesn't interest me — it's too much hassle — so I'm more focused on buying and selling.

Yes, the tax rules in India are quite strict, and doing business here is complicated — especially when you're dealing with foreign companies. For example, when I was buying push traffic, I had to pay foreign companies, and I was paying 3–5% extra on currency conversion on top of another 5% for international transactions. The rules haven't changed much, but I've since set up a company in the US, so I no longer have to pay those additional taxes, which makes running the business significantly easier.

My main goal right now is to master new verticals. I'm currently focused on search arbitrage and push traffic, but I want to add more income streams. I've started exploring dropshipping and pay-per-call, and these directions are working pretty well for me. My goal for next year is to have at least one of these sources generating $50,000 per month. I'm focused on maximum diversification, because what works today can be unstable in the future. It's important to have multiple income streams.

Honestly, I have no plans to leave India. India is a great country to live in if you have money. Without it, life here is tough — but with money, it's significantly better. If I moved to the US or Canada, with my income I'd be just an average citizen, whereas in India I'm in the top 0.1% wealthiest. For now, I plan to stay in India, grow my business, and perhaps get married within the next 3–5 years.

Affiliate marketing will be around for another 50–100 years — the industry isn't going anywhere. A lot of people are moving into lead gen offers, which have enormous growth potential and will remain relevant. Arbitrage and search arbitrage will continue to thrive. New traffic sources will emerge, just like TikTok did back in 2017–18. When a new platform appears, it's crucial to be among the first to use it — that's where the real money is made. The industry will have its ups and downs, but I see a bright future ahead with tremendous potential for growth.