Interview: David Ford

David Ford is the author of the PPV Playbook marketing guide. In addition to being a full time affiliate for the last 5 years, he runs a PPV coaching program and active forum.

In my free affiliate marketing guide, I talk about PPV and HIGHLY recommend David’s PPV Coaching program. I am a member of his coaching forum and enjoy it very much.

Tell us a little background info about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been working in this industry?
I am 34 years old from California. I have been doing affiliate marketing for about 8 years now. It started as a way to make extra money while I was working a computer tech support job and just kind of took off from there.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
I would say the thing I am most proud of is being a successful affiliate year after year. I know a lot of people who have had higher income months than me but I know very few who have been able to succeed in this business year after year.

When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
I think the first year I did affiliate marketing I made about $18k. By the next year I was earning more than I was at my day job and I started to think I could make a business out of this. I still worked my day job for a while because I wanted to make sure I would be able to keep my income stable then eventually quit.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations?
I don’t really look at anything as a failure since I always learn something from it. I’ve definitely been frustrated when campaigns don’t work out, networks don’t pay, etc. but I try not to let it get to me.

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
Writing used to be something I really didn’t look forward to. I have been working on it lately and am starting to enjoy it more.

What’s the best advice you could give to someone starting out in Internet marketing?
You always hear people say ‘don’t read blogs or forums, just do it.’ I like to take more of a balanced approach. I think it’s great to read blogs and forums if you also do as much or more actual work. I know affiliates who know a lot about affiliate marketing from all the reading they do but they rarely put anything into action. Aside from that I would say focus on one thing. Stop jumping around from this system to that technique, etc. Focus on one thing and get good at it, then expand your skill set.

Any pro tips you feel like disclosing?
I don’t know if this is a ‘pro tip’ but I have always found success by taking other people’s ideas and making them my own. I rarely do well just trying to copy someone who is successful.

What is the future of marketing?
I think marketing online will always be around in some form. Will it change?
Of course! The thing about affiliate marketing from the merchant side is that you can potentially have tons of ‘employees’ working for you and driving sales who you don’t have to provide an office, etc to. I think for that reason, affiliate marketing will be around in some form for a long time.

If it’s possible for you to share, are there any particular niches that you currently favor? Or that you aren’t necessarily in right now but that you would recommend?
I favor lead generation offers. I have found success in niches that most people would probably find boring.

How has your education prepared you for your career?
I think the most important thing I learned was problem solving, and the ability to see things from different viewpoints.

What are your greatest strengths?
I work too hard, I care too much, and I listen too well.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
Well, my strengths are actually my weaknesses. (Sorry, joke from ‘The Office’)

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
That change is a part of life. There are good times and bad times so just realize that everything is a phase and there is something to learn from it.

Do you have any role models or people that you look up to?
My girlfriend doesn’t know this but I look up to her in a lot of ways. She is a successful affiliate but has expanded her business so she has multiple streams of income coming in. That’s something I really want to work towards.
I also love that she is so creative and always coming up with unique ideas.

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
I wouldn’t say there was any one person in particular. When I was first starting out, I would try to talk to every successful affiliate I could find. I think the main thing I learned from that is that everyone who was successful wasn’t doing anything secret or unique, they were just working hard. Once I started really working hard, the money started coming in.

Do you try to keep current with the latest Internet marketing news at all? What or who are your main sources?
Yes, I usually read Affbuzz.com to catch up on what affiliates are talking about.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
People who are really controlling or want things their own way with no compromise. It’s really hard to partner with someone even if it seems like your personalities are similar.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
For me it’s not so much a dollar amount but the ability to keep working from home, to have lots of free time, and enough money to travel and live comfortably. I always want to make more money but I try to balance work with the rest of my life. If money was no object I would probably be doing something with animals.

What are your typical hours like? When do you just chill back? Do you have a usual day off?
My girlfriend does the same type of work so we bought a couch to put in my office. She is usually working there on her laptop and me on my desktop. I don’t follow a set schedule. Usually we work for a few hours then take a break to play a game of dominoes, go feed the ducks, or eat. Some days we work more, some less but we both like working so it’s not hard to do.

How do you like to spend your free time? What does work-life balance mean to you?
I am a big fan of old movies. I’m making my way through AFI’s (American Film
Institute) list of the top 100 movies of all time. I am about 80% done. I like to get a sense of what things were like in different periods of time (at least they way it is interpreted thorough movies). I work almost every day but I try to balance that with a lot of other activities.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
I would start affiliate marketing earlier for sure! Although, I think having a day job for so many years really made me appreciate being able to work from home so much more.

If your Kindergarten teacher saw you now, what would surprise him/her about how you turned out?
Hmm. Probably that I’m not as shy as I used to be.

What would you like to change about yourself?
That I didn’t like to sleep in so late!

What is your greatest achievement outside of work? What are some of your unfulfilled dreams?
I think my greatest achievement is raising a happy, healthy child as a mostly single dad. I want to do a lot more traveling and have more animals.
Eventually I want to have an otter habitat at my house.