KRIS: How and when did you get involved in affiliate marketing. Tell us the story.

MARCUS: Well, I started doing SEO when one of my webdesign-clients, I occassionaly worked for during college, asked me how to rank for his company name in Altavista. Google wasn´t even around back then… I was instantly intrigued and got hooked pretty quick. Affiliate Marketing was just the next logical step, when some of my own sites started getting traffic, and I looked for ways to monetizing that traffic. Although I got to admit, that in the early days, I had only direct deals with particular clients, so basically affiliate marketing lite, since I didn´t use any networks back then.

Question #3

KRIS: As one of the top affiliates in the world you’ve won numerous awards, including Commission Junction’s coveted award for Outstanding Personal Contribution to Affiliate Marketing at CJU Europe in 2007. Can you share with us at least three tips for how to become a successful super affiliate?

MARCUS:

1) Dedication – Affiliate Marketing is no 9-to-5 job! You gotta love to play the game!

2) Keep your eyes open – New Products, new needs, new niches – they are everywhere!

3) Don´t be afraid to fail – because you won´t always win the lottery right away

QUESTION #4

KRIS: You have one of the most read blogs (Mediadonis.net) in the affiliate and search-engine marketing space. Can you tell us about your blog? How did you come up with the name Mediadonis and what are some of the strategies you’ve used to make your blog popular?

MARCUS: “Mediadonis” was actually a name a friend of mine came up with. He wanted to start a company called Mediadonis, but never used it. Before my freelancer days (when I was at JobScout24) I used a different moniker at the popular forums, but when I was finally free, I wanted to come up with a new moniker for a fresh start. I then remembered this name, which just fit perfectly, due to my gogodancing & media background, and so the Mediadonis was born.

Regarding making my blog popular I never really cared. I don´t need or want any clients, I don´t have any ads on there… it´s really more like a personal diary then a “SEO Blog”.

Question #5

KRIS: What are your top (5) rock bands of all time?

MARCUS: (1) Millencollin (2) Bad Religion (3) Rage against the Machine (4) Limp Bizkit and (5) The BossHoss

Question #6

KRIS: Tell us more about Germany. What do you love most and like least about it? For someone who has never been to Germany, what do you think are the top few attractions that they should see?

MARCUS: I especially love munich! It´s just the greatest city in the world for me. I´m travelling so much (I´m on the road almost 6 month of the year!), but I´m always happy to be home in munich. It´s just so manifold – the nightlife is great, great cultural stuff, great food, and it´s just so beautiful!

And talking about munich, the main attraction is definetly the Oktoberfest, which is the greatest party in the world!

Question #7

KRIS: It’s true that some top affiliate marketers are considered rock stars because they make tons of money and have popular blogs. However, the cool thing about you is that not only do you make millions of dollars and have a popular blog, but you also date really amazing models, including Playboy Playmates. Can you share with us a picture or two of some of your recent “celebrity” girlfriends and tell us what’s it’s like to be a freakin rock star?

MARCUS: Ha, I don´t really wanna talk about that…

Read my blog for god´s sake, if you want to see some pictures.

No really – I don´t really care, if a women´s a model, a playmate or any other type of celebrity – I´m getting old, and I´m looking for something serious to start a family with! Looks are really not everything! It´s probably strange to hear that from me, but just don´t get fooled by that artificial character “mediadonis” – I just try to polarize a little, and have fun, but it´s not always how I really am.

Question #8

KRIS: If you could trade should with anyone for an entire month who would it be and why?

MARCUS: Probably the president of the U.S. – I´d suck at the job, but you get to hear soooo much interesting stuff! I´d ask all my closest advisors to tell me all the good stuff, like what´s really up with the Aliens, who killed JFK, and what they really think of the germans.

Question #9

KRIS: Name 3 resources (i.e. blogs) and 2 tools (i.e. Keycompete) that help you make more money with affiliate marketing?

MARCUS:

Resources: (1) SERoundtable (2) SEOBlackHat Forums (3) Digital Point Forums

Tools: (1) KeyCompete (2) Syntryx

(and quite some other tools without any names, I coded myself – which is always THE best way to go…

Question #10

KRIS: Many people dp not know that in addition to being a super affiliate you are also a professional poker player. Tell us about some of the famous people you’ve played with over the years? Also, can you share with us your favorite moment ever as a professional poker player on the World Series of Poker Tour?

MARCUS: I’ve played with a lot of “famous” poker players, and I´m even good friends with some of them (Annette Obrestad for example, who´s just an amazing player!). My favourite moment has definetly been when I eliminated poker superstar Daniel Negreanu at EPT Dortmund, despite having a terrible flu and the chills! This elimination was especially memorable, since he eliminated me 2 days earlier in a TV show on german television.

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Next on deck for Meet the Affiliates: 

Week #1 - Sam Harrelson
Week #2 - Scott Hazard
Week #3 - Rosalind Gardner
Week #4 - Colin McDougal
Week #5 - Zac Johnson
Week #6 - Harrison Gevirtz
Week #7 - “Uber Affiliate” Paul Bourque
Week #8 - John Chow
Week #9 - Scott Jangro
Week #10 - Darren Rowse
Week #11 - Carsten Combrowski
Week #12 - Thor Schrock
Week #13 - Garry Conn
Week #14  - Ron Passfield
Week #15 - David Adams