Welcome to Week #10 of the Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series!

This week I interview the one and only Darren Rowse of the famed blog Problogger.net.  With over 50,000 RSS subscribers and tens of thousands of additional daily readers, Darren is considered THE authority on how to make money as a full-time blogger.

An author, international speaker, husband, and father, Darren represents the true essence of success. For Darren it’s not about “how much” he makes, but instead “how much” he can contribute.

Read on to learn more about the amazingly successful yet humble Problogger himself - Darren Rowse.

Here are the rules… 

The Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series will feature an original up-close interview with an affiliate marketer every Friday.  Priority will be given to Pepperjam Network affiliates, but that is not a requirement to share your story.  If you’d be interested in being interviewed please submit your request here - please make sure to tell us why you think your story is especially entertaining or educational and worth sharing with our readers.

As the series progresses we will do our best to ask questions that both entertain and educate!  We encourage you to comment on each of the interviews, as well as ask follow-up questions of the interviewee.

Lastly, if you are a blogger or just someone with a network of likeminded affiliate marketing friends, we encourage you to share our interviews series with anyone who you think may benefit. Also, since you won’t want to miss an interview once it’s published I encourage you to join the Feedburner Pepperjam Network RSS Feed, which is located at the top of this page or by clicking here.

Well…let’s get on to the interview!

Meet the Affiliates: Interview #10

Darren Rowse
VP Blogger Training
http://www.b5media.com

Blogging at
http://www.problogger.net
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/blog

ProBlogger the Book
http://www.probloggerbook.com

Question #1

KRIS: Where do you live?  Are you married?  Any children? Animals?

DARREN: I live in Melbourne Australia with my wife and two boys (aged 2 and 4 weeks). At this stage two children are handfuls enough - so no pets.

Question #2

KRIS: Unlike most of the previous interviews we’ve done in the Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” series, you are not a traditional affiliate marketer.  Instead, you are a professional blogger that uses a number of strategies to monetize your blog, including affiliate marketing, among other things.  Can you share with us some of the various ways you make money as a blogger?

DARREN: I tend to divide the way that I make my money from blogging into two areas:

Direct Income - this is where the blog itself makes money through a variety of means including mainly Advertising (I’ve used everything from CPC to CPM ads and more recently have sold direct sponsorship to advertisers wanting to raise their profile in my niches) and Affiliate Marketing. Also in this ‘direct income’ category I’d include things like having a job board (a place for those looking to hire bloggers to advertise - http://jobs.problogger.net/). I’ve writen more on direct methods at http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/22/making-money-from-your-blog-direct-methods/

Indirect Income - this is where the profile that the blog brings you enables you to sell yourself in some way. For example I have landed many consulting jobs from my blog ProBlogger. My blogging has also enabled me to do paid speaking, write a book, launch a course on making money from blogging and much more. All of this would not have been possible without the profile that the blog brought. I’ve written more about indirect methods at http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/22/making-money-because-of-your-blog-indirect-methods/

Question #3

KRIS: Can you share with us (or provide a video) of what a “day-in-the-life” of Darren Rowse is like?

DARREN: It really varies a lot from day to day but usually includes batches of time for writing content, answering emails and comments on posts, networking with other bloggers, moderating comment spam left on posts, monitoring stats, optimizing advertising and more.

A couple of years back I described a typical day (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/10/another-day-in-the-life-of-a-problogger/). While things have changed a little many of the same activities are still there.

I also prioritize family time (or they prioritize it on my behalf). Working from home is a wonderful and challenging thing all wrapped into one but my wife and sons are my primary focus and so they feature pretty heavily in my day.

Question #4

KRIS: You recently authored a book entitled “ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.” I’ve read your book and highly recommend it to bloggers and affiliate marketers alike!  Anyway, can you tell us the purpose of the book and maybe share a brief summary of your favorite section of the book?

DARREN: The book really arose as a result of the many questions that I get from people wanting to get into blogging as a way to make an income. While I write tips every day on my blog on that topic a lot of readers were overwhelmed by the thousands of posts on ProBlogger.net and wanted something more concise and logically presented. A book seemed like a logical medium and when Wiley approached me to write one it seemed right.

My favorite part of the book is the chapter on ‘blog writing’ (chapter 4). It’s actually one of the longest chapters in the book which I guess says a lot about how important Chris Garrett (my co-author) and I  see it in the scheme of building a profitable blog. Without content that engages people and enhances their lives in some way you might as well give up as a blogger.

In the chapter we ask the question of ‘what is good content’ and unpack this. Ultimately it’s about being ‘useful’ to your readers and fulfilling some kind of need that they have whether it be a need for:

    •    Entertainment
    •    Education
    •    Information
    •    Debate
    •    News
    •    Community (etc)

We then go on to unpack some principles of writing for the web and blog readers.

NOTE FROM KRIS - You can learn more about Darren’s best-selling book on Amazon HERE. In fact, the first three people to respond in the comments of this post will receive a copy of Darren’s book on me!

Question #5

KRIS: One of the things I really liked about your book is that you share your personal story, which is incredibly inspiring.  One of your most successful and inspiring ventures as a “Pro Blogger” was the creation of b5media. Can you tell us more about b5media?  What is it?  Also, can you share a few sample blogs from the b5 Network and tell us why you like them?

DARREN: b5media is a blog network that I co-founded with two other bloggers back in 2005. We started very small with a handful of blogs written by a small number of bloggers but today have over 350 blogs on a wide variety of subjects including entertainment, sport, technology, health and wellness, music and more. We took on $2M in funding in 2006 and now have a team of 17 full time staff (largely based out of Toronto) and hundreds of bloggers who write for us.

The blogs that I read from the network mostly tend to revolve around my own personal interests and include Slacker Manager (http://www.slackermanager.com/), Six and Out (Cricket - http://www.sixandout.net/), The After Mac (http://www.theaftermac.com/) and Pimp Your Work (http://www.pimpyourwork.com/). My wife also wants me to start reading She Knows Best (http://www.sheknowsbest.com/) - a fashion advice blog for men written by a woman.

Question #6

KRIS: If you were not a professional blogger and incredibly successful entrepreneur what do you think you would be doing with your life?

DARREN: There are two things that get me excited and which I am drawn to doing in most ventures that I’ve undertaken:

1. Communication - I love it - particularly when it’s around helping people enhance their lives in some way.
2. Community - I enjoy bringing people together who share similar interests and passions and then stepping back and watching them interact.

I think that whatever I do I’d strive to build it around these two things.

Question #7

KRIS: What are your top two (2) favorite books of all time and top three (3) favorite musical groups?

DARREN: Books - I have a very eclectic taste and so to choose just two is a challenge (and could be embarrassing depending upon which section of my bookshelf I head). OK - so as I look at that bookshelf two books are leaping out at me - whether they are my favorites I’m not sure:

Join Me by Danny Wallace - this true story is of a guy who placed an ad in a local newspaper that simply said ‘join me’ and asked people to send him a passport photo of themselves. He went from that to starting a worldwide movement of people. It’s a funny story yet I also keep coming back to it as a story that informs and even inspires me a little as a blogger who sometimes feels a little similar. Each day I put something ‘out there’ for people to read and am amazed at what comes back to me.

Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell - again, this was another book that I read before I got into blogging which I found inspiring. Gladwell and Seth Godin spoke of things in their books that I have later drawn on time and time again to grow online communities. I’m currently reading ‘Made to Stick’ by Chip and Dan Heath which extends some of Gladwell’s ideas.

In terms of music - again I have eclectic tastes but would quickly choose three as ColdPlay, Augie March (a great Aussie band) and for something a little different - Earth Wind and Fire.

Question #8

KRIS: Tell us what you like to do in your free time?  Any interesting hobbies or crazy fetishes?

DARREN: Outside of family time and work I love photography. It’s always been a hobby of mine since I was a teenager and spent a fortune on film with my SLR. These days I’ve gone digital. Unfortunately (and fortunately) I’ve collided this passion with my work as a blogger with Digital Photogrpahy School (http://www.digital-photography-school.com/blog) which is my biggest blog. The downside of this is that I have a lot less time for photography and sometimes it can feel a little like work to get out and do it as I’m always thinking about how I could teach what I do.

Outside of this I’m a bit of a foodie. I don’t cook as much as I used to but eating is a pleasure that I love!

Question #9

KRIS: What is the best advice you have ever received regarding A. your personal life and B. your business life?

DARREN: A. Focus upon others - not yourself. I find that I’m at my worst when I focus in on my own situation and needs but when I lift my eyes off ‘me’ and onto those around me and where they are at I find more meaning and happiness.

B. Focus upon others - bizarrely enough the same advice rings true. When you do something in business that meets another person’s needs (or a group of them) you put yourself in a very good business sense. Virtually every success I’ve had in business has been as a result of finding a need and positioning myself to fill it. Simple and obvious stuff really - but it’s amazing how many businesses are based upon the needs of the business owner and not their customer.

Question #10

KRIS: If there was one person you can trade shoes with for one full month who would it be and why?

DARREN: I’ve struggled over this question for the last few days and you know what? I’m not sure I’d trade with anyone really - but if I had to I’d probably do something a bit different and spend a month walking in the shoes of someone in a less fortunate position than myself. I once spent a month living in a slum in Bangkok (in an Aids Hospice and Childcare program) and leaned so much about myself and life in that place - so perhaps one of the people that I met there.

_____________________________________

Next on deck for Meet the Affiliates: Carsten Cumbrowski

Carsten is an outspoken advocate for affiliate marketers around the world.  Not afraid to say what’s on his mind, Carsten is responsible for some of the most thorough and thoughtful posts ever made on Revenews.com and is one of the most admired affiliate marketers in the industry.

This exclusive interview will be published here on the Pepperjam Network Blog next Friday, July 25, 2008.

Make sure you don’t miss it!  Click Here to subscribe to the PJN Blog and have each interview delivered to your e-mail box.

___________________________________

Read Previous “Meet the Affiliates” Interviews:

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

affiliate marketing Darren Rowse Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Network Problogger Transparencyaffiliate marketing Darren Rowse Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Network Problogger Transparency

Welcome to Week #9 of the Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series!

This week I interview super affiliate, conference speaker, and outspoken affiliate marketing advocate Scott Jangro.  Scott Jangro is the co-founder of MechMedia, Inc. (http://www.mechmedia.com), a web publishing and affiliate marketing company that focuses on social media and retail products.  He frequently writes about the stuff that keeps him up at night on his blog, Jangro.com.

Read on to learn more about Scott Jangro.

Here are the rules… 

The Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series will feature an original up-close interview with an affiliate marketer every Friday.  Priority will be given to Pepperjam Network affiliates, but that is not a requirement to share your story.  If you’d be interested in being interviewed please submit your request here - please make sure to tell us why you think your story is especially entertaining or educational and worth sharing with our readers.

As the series progresses we will do our best to ask questions that both entertain and educate!  We encourage you to comment on each of the interviews, as well as ask follow-up questions of the interviewee.

Lastly, if you are a blogger or just someone with a network of likeminded affiliate marketing friends, we encourage you to share our interviews series with anyone who you think may benefit. Also, since you won’t want to miss an interview once it’s published I encourage you to join the Feedburner Pepperjam Network RSS Feed, which is located at the top of this page or by clicking here.

Well…let’s get on to the interview!

Meet the Affiliates: Interview #9 

Scott Jangro
Jangro.com / MechMedia.com

Question #1

KRIS: When did you first get involved in affiliate marketing? Tell us the story of how you got started…

SCOTT: My first exposure to affiliate marketing was in 1998 when I had just registered the jangro.com domain.  I put some Barnesandnoble.com affiliate links on there hoping for some beer money.  I didn’t get any.

A year later, as fate would have it, I joined Be Free as employee #88.  I was at Be Free for about five years as a product manager for the BFAST affiliate platform, one of the first affiliate service provider solutions, though we didn’t consider it a network.  During those years, I went through an IPO, and acquisition, and a merger with a competitor.  It was an interesting run to say the least.  But I always loved doing web development and wished that I could be doing the work that publishers and affiliates do.  So I finally made the jump in 2004 and haven’t looked back.

Question #2

KRIS: Where do you live?  Are you married?  Any children? Animals?

SCOTT: I live in Stow, MA, a very small town about 25 miles west of Boston.  Stow’s got about 6000 people, 4 golf courses, and maybe a dozen apple orchards.  I’ve got an 11 year old daughter, Sarah, from a previous marriage and my lovely wife Kristin and I have a two year old son, Alex, and another boy on the way in August.

Question #3

KRIS: Can you share a few success tips for affiliates who are new to affiliate marketing?

SCOTT: Don’t look for the quick buck or fall for the guys selling their “make money” secrets.  There are lots of different ways to make money in affiliate marketing, paid search and SEO through many different types of sites, or no site at all.  Do a lot of research.  Find people to talk to on forums and conferences.  more on that in a second.

Focus on something you enjoy.  If you’re going to start a blog, pick a topic that you’re interested in.  If you love analytics, statistics, and spreadsheets, try paid search.  Doing something that you like will increases the odds that you’ll stick with it.  I’ve lost count of the great money making website ideas that I’ve started but lost interest in a few weeks.

Make friends.  The absolute best thing you can do for yourself is to find some smart people who you can bounce ideas off of, get feedback, and learn from.  Affiliate Marketing can be as cutthroat as any business, so it can be hard to share ideas with people for fear of someone running with them.  This takes a long time and some effort, but good friends are golden.  That’s my number one tip.

Question #4

KRIS: If you were not a successful, full-time affiliate marketer what would you be doing and why?

SCOTT: Had I not left the corporate world to become an affiliate marketer, it is very possible that I’d still be working for Commission Junction.  At the very least, I’d be working for some software company as I have a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, or pursuing my secret desire to become a teacher.  While I hope to never ever again be making others rich working at some company, I haven’t given up on the idea of teaching.

Question #5

KRIS: What are some of your favorite online resources for learning more about affiliate marketing?

SCOTT: While I like to think that I know everything, you can never stop learning.  The space changes so rapidly that you really need to keep on top of the affiliate networks, the search engines, other issues that are affecting our business, and the trends that shape consumer behavior.  I read a lot of blogs of other affiliate marketers, search experts, and social media folks.  There are several forums out there, but the one I’ve stuck with forever is ABestWeb.com.  I also participate in a lot of private discussions with some industry friends on IM, email, and private forums.  That gets back to finding some friends in the industry that you can share with. The absolute best resource is some smart people you can trust.

Question #6

KRIS: Personally, I’m a pretty big NFL fan (Go E.A.G.L.E.S!!!).  What about you?  Do you follow college or professional sports?  If so, who are your favorite teams?

SCOTT: C’mon Kris, I’m born and raised in Boston and have been here my whole life. You say “Go Eagles!” and I’m thinking B.C.

I’m a huge Boston sports fan, and of course it’s a great time to be one. I really don’t like to gloat about it. Well, ok, I do but it’s getting tiring.  My favorite sport is hockey, which I grew up playing, but unfortunately the Bruins aren’t participating in the championship glut.

Question #7

KRIS: Affiliate Classroom recently launched an initiative to launch an affiliate marketing trade association called the Performance Marketing Alliance (PMA). What are your thoughts on PMA and the need for an affiliate marketing trade association in general.  Feel free to share with us what you think a trade association for affiliate marketers looks like?

SCOTT: I’ve made no secret about my skepticism surrounding any industry organization effort.  Our industry is quite divided due to differing business models of performance marketers.  Add in the entrepreneurial and even lone-wolf nature of many people who work in online marketing and that’s a tough group to get to agree on anything.

That said, I think that our industry does have some serious image issues with the rest of the online and offline worlds.  An industry organization that’s well funded can help with that and other big issues that we face.

The PMA is not the first to attempt this, and I do hope they succeed.  I have been voted onto their Foundation Advisory Board, so I’ll have a part in shaping how this organization takes its initial form.

Question #8

KRIS: If you were to be one of the following characters, which one would you be and why: A. Dirk Diggler, B. Homer Simpson, or C. Tony Robbins?

SCOTT: Seriously, these three are who you come up with?  A porn star.  A middle-aged loser cartoon character.  A squeaky clean self-help guru.  I’m starting to feel like I’m getting Punk’d here.

If I have to pick one, I’ll say Tony Robbins.  He’s an optimistic family guy with a great outlook on life.  He’s self-made and a self-starter.  Plus he’s got great hair and teeth.  I could do worse than be Tony Robbins.

Question #9

KRIS: In 200 words or less, what is the future of affiliate marketing?

SCOTT: Just in the past few months, we’ve entered some really interesting times for our industry, from events like New York State putting their sights on affiliate marketing as a taxable source of income to the biggest Internet company there is rebranding Performics to the Google Affiliate Network.  The latter, I think, lends more credibility to our industry than any single event in our past. We’re going to get much more visible, both for good and bad.  Affiliate Marketers are an adaptive bunch, to say the least, and we’ll keep rolling with the punches and as an industry continue to succeed.

Question #10

KRIS: If the “Big Three” Affiliate Networks (CJ, Linkshare, Google Affiliate Network) were to all do one thing that would make a positive impact on the affiliate marketing industry, what would that one thing be?

SCOTT: I think the most effective or influential thing that the “big three” could do is take a good hard look at the channel conflict in our industry.  There are many models that affiliate marketers use for generating traffic, PPC, loyalty programs, content sites and blogs to name a few and they can all very easily step on each other in the process of a consumer going through a commissionable action.  I’m not even talking about the “bad guys” who intercede maliciously, which is a whole subject of it’s own.

The degree to which this happens is simply not measured.  A huge step would be for the networks to measure and share the information required for their merchants to understand how much or how little these different types of affiliates bring value to their program.  They don’t even have to take a stance on the issues.  Just provide the information to the merchants who are paying the commissions.

_____________________________________

Next on deck for Meet the Affiliates: Pro Blogger Darren Rowse

Find out how Darren went from just an ordinary guy just a few years ago to one of the most successful and influential bloggers and online money makers in the world.  We will talk about Darren’s recently published book - ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income (which I read and highly recommend), as well as what makes Darren Darren. This exclusive interview will be published here on the Pepperjam Network Blog next Friday, July 18, 2008.

Make sure you don’t miss it!  Click Here to subscribe to the PJN Blog and have each interview delivered to your e-mail box.

___________________________________

Read Previous “Meet the Affiliates” Interviews:

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

affiliate marketing Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS Scott Jangro Transparencyaffiliate marketing Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS Scott Jangro Transparency

Welcome to Week #8 of the Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series!

This week I interview John Chow. John is an incredible success story - he is not only one fo the top bloggers in the world, but he is also one of the most recognized super affiliates and successful entrepreneurs in the United States.

Read on to learn more about John Chow.

Here are the rules… 

The Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series will feature an original up-close interview with an affiliate marketer every Friday.  Priority will be given to Pepperjam Network affiliates, but that is not a requirement to share your story.  If you’d be interested in being interviewed please submit your request here - please make sure to tell us why you think your story is especially entertaining or educational and worth sharing with our readers.

As the series progresses we will do our best to ask questions that both entertain and educate!  We encourage you to comment on each of the interviews, as well as ask follow-up questions of the interviewee.

Lastly, if you are a blogger or just someone with a network of likeminded affiliate marketing friends, we encourage you to share our interviews series with anyone who you think may benefit. Also, since you won’t want to miss an interview once it’s published I encourage you to join the Feedburner Pepperjam Network RSS Feed, which is located at the top of this page or by clicking here.

Well…let’s get on to the interview!

Meet the Affiliates: Interview #8 

John Chow
JohnChow.com / The Tech Zone / TTZ Media

Question #1

KRIS: Where do you live?  Are you married?  Any children? Animals?

JOHN: I live in Vancouver, BC Canada. I’m married and have two daughters but no pets. However, my wife would like to get a dog.

Question #2

KRIS: Can you take us through a typical “day-in-the-life” of John Chow?

JOHN: I generally get up at around 8AM. The first thing I do when I get into the office is check the email and delete the spam. Then I will check the comments on my blog and approve or reject any that were held for moderation. I also check stats and approve or reject any new TTZ Media applications at this time. The entire process takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Then I eat some breakfast.

The rest of the day is divided between playing with my daughter, making a blog post, working out, chatting on IM or Twitter, hanging out with friends, etc. I don’t have any structured hours of work.

Question #3

KRIS: We all know “John Chow” from the incredibly popular, entertaining and successful blog www.johnchow.com.  Why has your blog been so successful?  Are there any specific things you’ve done to get so many readers (as I write - 26,044 readers)? Can you share a few tips for our readers?

JOHN: I think the biggest thing for the success of the blog has been its transparency. I don’t have anything to hide. What you read on the blog is pretty much how I am in real life. On the Internet, everyone can be whoever they want to be. However, it’s generally the ones that are themselves that will do well.

Question #4

KRIS: One of the things that you started doing quite some time ago was sharing with the readers of JohnChow.com how much money you make through your blog.  Why did / do you do this? Has disclosing your income increased or decreased the amount of money you make on your blog?

JOHN: The income disclosure was part of a case study to see if money can be made by blogging. Up until September 2006, the blog didn’t make any money. However, one of the topics I write about is making money by blogging, so I got many emails asking me to prove it. So I did.

Question #5

KRIS: If you were not an affiliate marketer and blogger what do you think you’d be doing?

JOHN: I would be an accountant. It’s what I studied in school.

Question #6

KRIS: If you could trade shoes with anyone in the world for “one long weekend” (the one day thing is too short) who would it be and why?

JOHN: I would have to say the President of the United State. Then I would get the experience what real stress is like. I think one day maybe enough.

Question #7

KRIS: One of your successful money making ventures is TTZ Media Network.  Can you please tell us about TTZ Media Network…

JOHN: TTZ Media is an ad network that provides shopping related ads to its affiliated sites. The ads feature consumer products with real time pricing and direct links to the merchant that is selling them. The system works best for technology and shopping based sites. Learn more about TTZ Media HERE.

Question #8

KRIS: Another one of your popular projects is The Tech Zone.  Can you tell us more about that?

JOHN: The TechZone is my first money making site. Like my blog, it was started as a hobby. I’ve always been into computers and The TechZone started as a page about my first computer. The site has expanded a lot since then. Today, the site reviews the latest tech gadgets and reports back from all the major technology trade shows like CES and Computex. Learn more about The Tech Zone HERE.

Question #9

KRIS: When you are not busy being a Technorati Top 100 blogger and super affiliate what do you like to do?  Any hobbies you’d like to share with our readers?

JOHN: I like to hang out with friends and family. I also enjoy attending local technology and blogging meet ups to meet like minded people. I don’t have any hobbies unless you call blogging a hobby.

Question #10

KRIS: How can internet marketing beginners avoid failure and become successful internet marketers like you? Can you share a few tips?

JOHN: Read the blogs of successful Internet marketers and learn as much from them as possible. Attend some of the trade show to meet them in person. Getting educated in the business will save you from a lot of mistakes.

_____________________________________

Next on deck for Meet the Affiliates: Super Affiliate Connie Berg

Connie’s exclusive interview will be published here on the Pepperjam Network Blog next Friday(ish - bec/ of the holiday), July 4, 2008.

Make sure you don’t miss it!  Click Here to subscribe to the PJN Blog and have each interview delivered to your e-mail box.

___________________________________

Read Previous “Meet the Affiliates” Interviews:

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

Affiliate Interviews affiliate marketing John Chow JohnChow.com Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS The Future of Affiliate Marketing TransparencyAffiliate Interviews affiliate marketing John Chow JohnChow.com Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS The Future of Affiliate Marketing Transparency

Welcome to Week #7 of the Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series!

This week I interview Paul Bourque, also known as “Uber Affiliate” from the popular affiliate markting blog - UberAffiliate.com.  Find out why Paul would rather be a rock star than a hollywood celebrity and learn a few tips that will make you more money.

Read on.

Here are the rules… 

The Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series will feature an original up-close interview with an affiliate marketer every Friday.  Priority will be given to Pepperjam Network affiliates, but that is not a requirement to share your story.  If you’d be interested in being interviewed please submit your request here - please make sure to tell us why you think your story is especially entertaining or educational and worth sharing with our readers.

As the series progresses we will do our best to ask questions that both entertain and educate!  We encourage you to comment on each of the interviews, as well as ask follow-up questions of the interviewee.

Lastly, if you are a blogger or just someone with a network of likeminded affiliate marketing friends, we encourage you to share our interviews series with anyone who you think may benefit. Also, since you won’t want to miss an interview once it’s published I encourage you to join the Feedburner Pepperjam Network RSS Feed, which is located at the top of this page or by clicking here.

Well…let’s get on to the interview!

Meet the Affiliates: Interview #7 

Paul Bourque
UberAffiliate.com / Uber Camp

Question #1

KRIS: Tell us the story of how and when your first got involved in affiliate marketing…

PAUL: I first got into the game while in college.  I was never a person for crappy part-time jobs at minimum wage or doing seemingly pointless homework every night.  I was browsing Myspace and thought there may be money in it (little did I know), so I did some searches on how to build a web page.  I came across Digital Point and made a couple contacts there, learned about affiliate marketing, and the rest is history.

Question #2

KRIS: Where do you live?  Are you married?  Any children? Animals?

PAUL: I currently live near Buffalo, New York.  I’m not married but I’ve been dating my girlfriend for 2 years now, and that’s been a great experience as well.  No lil super affiliates yet, and as far as animals do I love dogs and will be getting one soon.  I just moved into a new home that I bought, so that’s been exciting as well.

Question #3

KRIS: You recently created quite a bit of buzz within the affiliate marketing community through the announcement of UberCamp.  What is UberCamp and why should affiliate marketers sign-up?

PAUL: UberCamp is a simple idea with a common goal: to put smart affiliate marketers in touch to network and brainstorm ways to make money from affiliate marketing and improve what they already have.  I’m an active member and affiliate just like they all are, and some of the conversation and discussions going on are great.  The forum isn’t for complete beginners, and that’s why I created an application process.  If you have some experience in affiliate marketing and want a place to network and brainstorm with a great group of guys, you can apply for UberCamp here.

Question #4

KRIS: What are your top five favorite musical groups of all time?

PAUL:

1) Blink 182 - cheesy and mainstream but I’m a drummer and love Travis Barker, and they’re the band I grew up to.
2) The Beatles - simply can’t beat them.
3) Angels and Airwaves/Plus 44 - Blink 182 broke up and split into these two bands.
4) John Mayer - dude has talent, his concerts are great.
5) Paramore - a new addition to my favorites list.  She’s a girl, she’s got a voice, and she’s in a rock band.  Hott!

Question #5

KRIS: What are your top three three tips to becoming a super affiliate?

PAUL:

1) Lose the fear.  I say this ALL the time in my blog; you can’t be afraid to lose money.  It’s going to happen, it’s how we learn.  I’ve lost a few thousand in the past 3 days testing out new campaigns but I’m not flipping out because I’m figuring out what works with that money.  It’s an investment, not a loss.  Don’t be afraid to invest a lot.

2) Get out there and do it.  Instead of spending 80% of your day reading, spend 10% reading and 90% testing.  You’ll never know if something odd and random works unless you test it out.

3) Understand that a lot of this game is connections and luck.  The old saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” partially stands true in affiliate marketing.  I get hookups with networks, advertisers, and other affiliates just by networking and building my list of contacts.  Part of the game is luck too…sometimes you just land on the right keywords and right offer at the right time.  But by getting out there and doing it (90% test 10% read), you increase your chances of getting lucky.

Question #6

KRIS: Share with us what a typical “Day in the Life” of Uber Affiliate (aka, Paul Bourque) is like…

PAUL: Ahh, a day in the life…

9am - wake up cupcake.

9am-2pm - eat breakfast, check emails, update campaigns, start some new stuff, clean the house, play some xbox.  I’m basically hanging out in my house working every now and then.

2pm-4:30pm - go to the gym, come home, eat dinner.5pm-8pm - talk to some affiliate networks, make a couple phone calls, and check on campaigns.

8pm-1am - hang out with my girlfriend or friends, just do something with them and relax.

I live on a pretty relaxed schedule that fluctuates…some days I spend more time working, some days I don’t work at all.

Question #7

KRIS: Would you rather be a rock star or a movie celebrity? If a rock star, who would you be and why (i.e. Slash)?  If a celebrity, who would you want to be most like and why (i.e. Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights)

PAUL: I’d be Travis Barker, ex drummer of Blink 182.  I LOVE playing the drums and I’m actually pretty good at it…just being able to play in front of thousands of people would be awesome.  I think I’m going to buy a new drum set and set up a little recording studio in my basement and post some stuff up online.

Question #8

KRIS: One of the ways that super affiliates like you make a ton of affiliate revenue is through the use of tools.  Can you share with us your three favorite money making tools (i.e. KeyCompete) and what they can do to help other affiliates make more money?

PAUL:

1) Networking.  Networking isn’t a “tangible” tool, but it’s definitely the best tool you can have.  I call on people all the time for help with things or hook ups on an offer.

2) Prosper202 (Find it here).  I use the Adwords pixel to track, but I also set a lot of stuff up in Prosper202.  It’s 100% free self-hosted affiliate tracking.  I know the creator and he’s an awesome guy, he really made a tool that’s helping the community tremendously.

3) As far as other paid tools go, I really don’t use any.  For my higher volume campaigns, most of the keywords come of short tails that come from my mind coupled with a little bit of Google’s keyword suggestion tool.  I’m sure there are other tools out there that could help speed up the campaign building process, but my tool is either my mind, or internal tools/systems built by my programmer that are completely custom.

Question #9

KRIS: In my opinion (and in the opinion of many people here at Pepperjam Network), your blog is one of the most informative blogs in affiliate marketing. It’s no wonder why you have thousands of reads.  Can you share some tips for fellow bloggers on what makes a successful blog?  Are there any specific suggestions you can make that other bloggers can use to increase readership and reader participation?

PAUL: To a certain extent there is a strategy in blogging.  I started off with a guest post on Shoemoney detailing exactly how I cashed in on Facebook Ads back when they were brand new.  I got a ton of people telling me how stupid I was for not just keeping it a secret.  So there we had an initial article posted on a blog with mega traffic, and the article gave out more information than anybody else in my position would have given out.  I got a few hundred readers from that post alone, and then started writing good content.  I kept writing good content, and then added in some earnings screenshots.  They’re motivational to affiliates and great link bait to be honest.  So with a little strategy and a lot of quality content, anybody out there can have a successful blog.  You just have to have the motivation to write, and that’s what it comes down to.

Question #10

KRIS: What is the future of affiliate marketing?  What does it look like and what opportunities will exist for affiliates to become super affiliates?

PAUL: The hierarchy of affiliate marketing won’t change.  You’ll have a very few number of affiliates making the majority of revenue.  Over time affiliates will become smarter and competition will continue to rise.  Search engines will continue to update their quality score standards, and the better affiliates will win.  “Super affiliates” will continue to use out of the box promotion and brute force/capital to dominate over 99% of newbie affiliates who are afraid to lose money.  Every affiliate has an opportunity to be an affiliate, what it comes down to is how much they’re willing to put on the line for the prize of potential riches.

_____________________________________

Next on deck for Meet the Affiliates: John Chow from JohnChow.com

John’s exclusive interview will be published here on the Pepperjam Network Blog next Friday, June 27, 2008.

Make sure you don’t miss it!  Click Here to subscribe to the PJN Blog and have each interview delivered to your e-mail box.

___________________________________

Read Previous “Meet the Affiliates” Interviews:

Week #1 - Sam Harrelson
Week #2 - Scott Hazard
Week #3 - Rosalind Gardner
Week #4 - Colin McDougal
Week #5 - Zac Johnson
Week #6 - Harrison Gevirtz

affiliate marketing John Chow Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Paul Bourque pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS Transparency Uber Affiliateaffiliate marketing John Chow Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Paul Bourque pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS Transparency Uber Affiliate

Welcome to Week #6 of the Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series!

This week I interview Harrison Gevirtz. OK, for all of you out there that think becoming a super affiliate is impossible - Meet Harrison Gevirtz - Harrison is 15 years old and anticipates becoming a millionaire by the end of the year.  How did he do it?  What are his secrets?  Well, you can read the interview below to learn more, but I can tell you having met Harrison in person and reading about his success online and in magazines, this guy is at least 10 years more mature than his age and he ranks as one of the brightest and most impressive affiliate marketers I’ve ever come to know.

Read on.

Here are the rules… 

The Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series will feature an original up-close interview with an affiliate marketer every Friday.  Priority will be given to Pepperjam Network affiliates, but that is not a requirement to share your story.  If you’d be interested in being interviewed please submit your request here - please make sure to tell us why you think your story is especially entertaining or educational and worth sharing with our readers.

As the series progresses we will do our best to ask questions that both entertain and educate!  We encourage you to comment on each of the interviews, as well as ask follow-up questions of the interviewee.

Lastly, if you are a blogger or just someone with a network of likeminded affiliate marketing friends, we encourage you to share our interviews series with anyone who you think may benefit. Also, since you won’t want to miss an interview once it’s published I encourage you to join the Feedburner Pepperjam Network RSS Feed, which is located at the top of this page or by clicking here.

Well…let’s get on to the interview!

Meet the Affiliates: Interview #6 

Harrison Gevirtz
CPA Share / blitzlocal.com

Question #1

KRIS: Where are you from?  How old are you? Where is the most exotic location you’ve ever been to - tell us about your trip…

HARRISON: I am 15 years old, turning 16 on June 19th. The most exotic location i’ve ever been to that I can remember is Tokyo (which was about 2 weeks ago). I flew to Tokyo for only 5 days but had a blast. The culture of asia was unbelievable and I REALLY enjoyed my time in Tokyo!

Question #2

KRIS: Please share with us the story of how (and why) you first got involved in affiliate marketing…

HARRISON: I started out at 12 years old selling Diamonds and coins on eBay. After successfully doing this on eBay for almost a year I got bored and started to make simple turnkey websites on the side of running my eBay business. Eventually I totally stopped selling Diamonds & Coins and went full fledge on the internet stuff.

I purchased a turnkey myspace website script and made a simple website and was able to turn the $15-20 I spent on a Domain & The script into about a grand. I continued to work on my site, and eventually made my own website that was not turnkey.  After months of struggle with various ad networks playing games (Adsense banned me before I even had a chance to make any money… (I REALLY didn’t click my ads..but who cares) I started reading about affiliate marketing with search, etc and tried out some direct linking to affiliate offers on my websites via Banners, Links etc. This was profitable for the few clicks it generated daily and I decided to pursue more of an affiliate revenue lifestyle. I lost money on search for a while and finally got a hang of it. Now affiliate marketing really isn’t my full time gig as I am beginning to focus more on the client side of PPC with small business, and some b2b type clients. I still do affiliate stuff now, just not as much.

Question #3

KRIS: Have you made your first million yet?  If not, at what age do you expect to be a millionaire?

HARRISON: My personal goal is by the end of this year to be able to crown myself with the title millionaire. Too bad a millionaire is in any currency, not in euros or pounds!

Question #4

KRIS: Why are you such a successful internet marketer, while others struggle?  Are there any tips that you can share to help someone who may be struggling to be as successful as you?

HARRISON: I get asked this question all the time and it’s really hard to answer. I really value analytics and I feel the main issue starter affiliates have is the wrong mindset that if you make a campaign, and it’s profitable at the beginning you don’t have to do anything to keep it profitable. People sometimes make a campaign and don’t tweak everything, If it’s not profitable at the begining they just pause it and try something else. Optimize Optimize Optimize, it really does help!

Question #5

KRIS: Take us through a typical day-in-the-life of Harrison Gevirtz…

HARRISON: Well I Travel quite a bit so my schedule changes day to day BUT when I’m home I typically wake up around 11am-1pm. Work for a few hours, eat some lunch or dinner depending on the time. Sometimes I go out, Hang out with friends, have to go to school etc but my schedule isn’t really set in stone. I get most of my work done during the night hours even though my mom really doesn’t like that, and usually end up getting to bed around 2-4am.

Question #6

KRIS: What is the future of affiliate marketing in 200 words or less?

HARRISON: I believe the future of affiliate marketing industry is going to become far more legitimate and the reputation will improve. I am seeing more and more companies launch affiliate networks like yours without all the scammy offers and I believe that actions like this will improve the views of affiliate marketing to outside consumers who are aware of the industry, In addition to just motivating affiliates to promote the good stuff, not the scams!

Question #7

KRIS: Do you feel that being “only” 15 years old has been an asset or a liability as an affiliate marketer?  Why or why not?

HARRISON: Being 15 is a huge liability and every day I wish i were 18, or 21. I have people take me for a complete idiot who believe they can just play me to get info out of me etc. I won’t lie I have trusted people whom I shouldn’t have and that’s why I say I’m still learning. People who have done business with me for a while do realize that I am not the stupid 15 year old they initially thought I was But I do have people not trust me because of my age, and people tend to treat me like a KID not a business acquaintance. It really sucks!

Question #8

KRIS: Tell us about your most profitable day or week (your choice) ever as an affiliate.  How did you do it?  Please be as specific as possible:

HARRISON: With A question like this, specifics are key. But both you, me, and all readers know the level of specificity I provide may not be all that specific ! Without being too specific I would like to say that some of my most profitable endeavors have been done outside of the normal search engines but through discovered untouched traffic sources which remain gold mines for a long time. I recommend new affiliates look around to find spots/networks that I have found which are cheap, quick, and awesome in terms of a ROI!

Question #9

KRIS: What do you do when you’re not making money online? Do you have any pets, hobbies, a girlfriend?

HARRISON: Well, even when I’m not working, I’m probably making money online, or somethings probably wrong!

My main hobby right now is to travel. It is something I really love to do for numerous reasons. One reason is that I hate the town I live in now/have grown up in. For being an outgoing 15/16 year old Santa Barbara california is simply boring and uninteresting for me and as I tell family members of mine “I Try and avoid Santa Barbra Like the plague.”

I actually just got an awesome Road Bike in Boulder CO (where a company I am a partner in is located) so I think biking is going to be one of my new hobbies. I also will probably be getting a dog soon, since it’s been almost a year since my dog passed away.

Question #10

KRIS: Pretend it is 10 years from now.  Tell us about your life.  What will you be doing.  What will your title be?  What do you think your net worth will be?  What will you have accomplished?

HARRISON: In 10 years I expect to still be doing what I do today. Working with clients is a new thing for me and I am really starting to like it. This doesn’t mean I wont be an affiliate because I really enjoy the bossless affiliate lifestyle. A Title?? Probably less than I have now, When I made my first business cards for my LLC I decided to be a CEO. I plan to change my title to something more basic and less ego’y. Since I’m not the turnkey CEO with a big leather chair and a private jet. hehe!

_____________________________________

If you guys can’t get enough of Harrison Gevirtz here is a great interview that was featured in Revenue Magazine.

Next on deck for Meet the Affiliates: Paul Bourque, AKA “Uber Affiliate“

Paul’s exclusive interview will be published here on the Pepperjam Network Blog next Friday, June 20, 2008.

Make sure you don’t miss it!  Click Here to subscribe to the PJN Blog and have each interview delivered to your e-mail box.

___________________________________

Read Previous “Meet the Affiliates” Interviews:

Week #1 - Sam Harrelson
Week #2 - Scott Hazard
Week #3 - Rosalind Gardner
Week #4 - Colin McDougal
Week #5 - Zac Johnson

affiliate marketing Harrison Gevirtz Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS Transparency Uncategorizedaffiliate marketing Harrison Gevirtz Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS Transparency Uncategorized

Welcome to Week #5 of the Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series!

This week I interview Zac Johnson.  Aside from being one of the most recognizable affiliate marketers because of his wildly popular blog - www.zacjohnson.com - as well as being a regular speaker at Affiliate Summit, Zac is one of the most open and transparent affiliate marketers in the biz!  Through his blog and speaking engagements Zac shares step-by-step how he has become a successful affiliate marketer.  At the same time Zac is a sincerely nice guy with an interest in making the affiliate marketing industry a better place to do business.

I am confident that you’ll enjoy Zac’s interview.  If you don’t already, I hope that you’ll follow Zac through his blog and allow him to become a resource that will help you make more money!

Here are the rules… 

The Pepperjam Network “Meet the Affiliates” Interview Series will feature an original up-close interview with an affiliate marketer every Friday.  Priority will be given to Pepperjam Network affiliates, but that is not a requirement to share your story.  If you’d be interested in being interviewed please submit your request here - please make sure to tell us why you think your story is especially entertaining or educational and worth sharing with our readers.

As the series progresses we will do our best to ask questions that both entertain and educate!  We encourage you to comment on each of the interviews, as well as ask follow-up questions of the interviewee.

Lastly, if you are a blogger or just someone with a network of likeminded affiliate marketing friends, we encourage you to share our interviews series with anyone who you think may benefit. Also, since you won’t want to miss an interview once it’s published I encourage you to join the Feedburner Pepperjam Network RSS Feed, which is located at the top of this page or by clicking here.

Well…let’s get on to the interview!

Meet the Affiliates: Interview #5 

Zac Johnson
Money Reign
ZacJohnson.com

Question #1

KRIS: Tell us the story of how and when your first got involved in affiliate marketing…

ZAC: I made my first “dollar” online when I was around the age of 14. At this time I was already playing around with some funny web sites I had created (on my free AOL web space) and also did some graphic designs for my pages. I was using AOL for internet access, and they had a chat room dedicated to people with web sites, called “The Web Diner”. Several people in the chat room had web sites, but didn’t know how to make graphics or anything, so I offered to make 468×60 banners for people for $1 each. I had a few people request banners here and there, and I would send them their banner and they would send me a dollar… well, sometimes they did. This was way before Paypal was around, so many people would never send payment. My first “dollar” made online, was actually a dollar that someone sent me in the mail!

I would eventually go on to join programs like AllAdvantage that would “pay you to surf”, and run the Pacific Coast pillow affiliate program banners on my sites (which paid only .01 per click, and a payment minimum of $100… so basically no one got paid . I even spent some time on web hosting affiliate programs, that I would pitch to companies in AOL Business Chat Rooms, which was successful! I would then go on to focus my efforts on the Amazon.com affiliate program and send them over $100,000 in sales, but only earn a low 5-15% commission on all sales. I did this by creating niche celebrity pages and sold books and movies relating to specific celebrities. As affiliate marketing kept expanding, so did my interest and dedication. After having made a decent amount of money in affiliate marketing, I decided to startup my own affiliate programs and merchant accounts with various networks, including Commission Junction. In 2000 I traveled across the country with my father to attend CJU 2000 and got my first real life networking experience. Not only did I get to finally meet all of the companies I had been working with for years, but it drove my dedication and passion that much more… and to this day I still love and focus on affiliate marketing.

Question #2

KRIS: Could you share Five (5) Tips for how to build readership and become a successful blogger…

ZAC: 1.) Be Personable: Everyone wants to see an real life success story. A face and personality gives so much more than a name or company logo.

2.) Be Different: So many people out there are doing the same thing, do something different to stand out of the crowd.

3.) Relate to Your Readers: Talk to your readers like you are having a regular conversation, and not trying to sell them something.

4.) Show Results & Examples: Anyone can proclaim to do anything… showing results and actual examples will help to inspire others.

5.) Communication is Key: Respond to readers comments, emails and try to network with other bloggers.

Question #3

KRIS: Where do you live?  Are you married?  Any children? Animals?

ZAC: I recently purchased a house in NJ and live with my beautiful girlfriend Reena, and our new dog Foxy.

Question #4

KRIS: One of the things you are known for is making $860,538.38 profit in 4 Months! Now that’s pretty awesome! Can you share for us the story behind how you made the money?

ZAC: My $860k profit story is pretty interesting to hear, but was even more amazing to live through it. For the longest time I knew there was a way to make money off the millions of people using MySpace everyday, but I just couldn’t figure out how. To make a long story short, I decided to create a new site which provided images and tools for people to use on their MySpace profile pages. The idea behind the site was to provide a service and resource to MySpace users and make it easy for others to add content to their pages. What started off as a couple hundred pages, turned into over 10,000 pages! (no programming at all I might add, all straight html!) I would host all of the content, create the sites, import content and tools for people to use… and the site would generate money from all of the page views and visitor interaction. Basically, the site went viral and as people kept grabbing content, it just kept getting bigger and bigger… to the point where the site was receiving over 180,000 unique visitors per day. (Full story at: http://zacjohnson.com/how-i-made-86053838-profit-in-4-months/)

Question #5

KRIS: Can you share at least three tips for how an average affiliate can become a super affiliate like you?

ZAC: An average affiliate can make the jump to super affiliate status by pushing themselves and dedicating themselves to their goal. Three quick tips to help improve your earnings are:

1.) Adjust with the times and not always stick with the same concept or idea. I would not be where I am today if I continually tried to promote the Amazon.com affiliate program or made banners for $1.

2.) Dedicate yourself to something you enjoy. If you are selling or promoting diamonds online, you can make good money… but if you have no interest in jewelry or diamonds, your full effort won’t be there. Focus on your passions and it will be that much easier.

3.) Networking. It sounds easy and it sounds cliché… but it’s the honest truth. Once you start networking and establish yourself with other well known marketers, not only will you have a group of people to bounce ideas off of, but also people to keep you motivated.

Question #6

KRIS: All things being equal, what is the easiest way for an affiliate to increase revenue? Bid on Trademarks?  Long-Tail PPC Arbitrage?  Build a Facebook Application? Or something else?

ZAC: I would recommend that a current affiliate steps back and looks at what they are doing to generate the current revenue that they have. Once doing so, they should try and target any open source they aren’t currently acting on. If you are focusing on only paid search marketing and sending traffic to advertisers landing pages, you could then focus efforts to SEO or building a web site that will continually earn revenue, without having to pay per click for traffic. In this same example, with that same web site, you could build up a newsletter list and follow up with related products or blog posts on the topic. There are so many different ways to advertise a web site or product, make sure you are targeting them all.

Question #7

KRIS: What are some of your favorite online resources for learning more about affiliate marketing?

ZAC: Lately I’ve been focusing on blogs and forums for ideas and motivation. There are a lot of people complaining that there are too many “make money blogs” out there, but even the newbies bring new ideas to the table. It’s the affiliate bloggers that present real examples and results that will weed themselves out from the rest. Not to “toot” my own horn… but the feedback and contacts I get from running my own blog, has been an amazing resource. I highly recommend everyone start their own blog, no matter what niche market you are in.

Question #8

KRIS: Share with us what a typical “Day in the Life” of Zac Johnson is like…

ZAC: Super Affiliate by Day… Super Hero at Night… just kidding.

My whole life I’ve been a night owl and worked non-stop through the night pushing out new sites and ideas. Since moving into my new home, it’s almost a complete flip. Now I usually wake up early during the week (and see Reena off to work) and sleep in on the weekends. I usually start out my day by going through email and checking out how my campaigns performed over night. When possible and inspired, I try and make a new post to my blog before noon… but it seems that rarely happens. Depending on my work level that day, I might head off to the local LA Fitness and play basketball for a few hours. Once I return I check my email and campaigns again and might write a blog post then, if I hadn’t already. During the course of the day I like to talk with my affiliate managers and friends on Instant Messenger and Twitter. I much prefer talking with people over AIM than on the phone, and it makes for much better multi-tasking. My business day usually starts around 9am and could go till 6pm… Of course it’s much more fun when it evolves 3-4 hours of basketball, but with each day you never know what will you might be working on! It’s great and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else!

Question #9

KRIS: Have you ever had to overcome any obstacles that have helped define who you are as a person?  If so, could you please share the story and tell us how you were able to address a challenging situation and make yourself stronger…

ZAC: I wouldn’t say it’s an obstacle, but my presence in affiliate marketing over the years has given me the reputation of being very passionate in this industry, and I am. There’s nothing worse than having to work your life away to make someone else rich, and losing time with your family. If you had to ask others in the industry, I think they would describe me as very dedicated and passionate.

As for an obstacle… I’ve always done everything myself. Ever since I started making money online when I was 14, I’ve always done all of my own work and never had another company employee. I’ve always wondered what it would be like if I was to take it to the next level and hire a staff and become a huge marketing company or whatever… I always found that it was too hard to trust anyone else to get the job done right, or that would be in the same effort. However… in the end, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at now and not sure if a full time company and staff is something I would want anyway. My point is… taking the leap, learning to let go and expand/outsource areas of the company to other people.

Question #10

KRIS: Who is the most important person in your life and why?

ZAC: Instead of just one, I would have to say my girlfriend Reena and my family. Without them, none of this would matter… and I would never trade them for anything.

Next on deck for Meet the Affiliates: 15 Year Old Super Affiliate and World Traveler Harrison Gevirtz

Harrison’s interview will be published here on the Pepperjam Network Blog next Friday, June 13, 2008.

Make sure you don’t miss it!  Click Here to subscribe to the PJN Blog and have each interview delivered to your e-mail box.

___________________________________

Read Previous “Meet the Affiliates” Interviews:

Week #1 - Sam Harrelson
Week #2 - Scott Hazard
Week #3 - Rosalind Gardner
Week #4 - Colin McDougal

affiliate marketing Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat Pepperjam Network pepperjamADS Transparency Uncategorized Zac Johnsonaffiliate marketing Meet the Affiliates Next Generation Affiliate Marketing pepperjam Pepperjam Chat