What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
Without a question – Adscend Media. Watching Adscend go from being nothing to a successful and high reputation CPA affiliate network has been awesome.

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career?
My father purchased me my first personal computer when I was about 11 years old. Within a week of that, I was already learning HTML and putting together web pages. I’m a hardcore nerd so I’ve always been exploring the internet space, and it was likely a number of random experiences that led me to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing makes sense for me since it requires a mix of innovation, creativity, and analysis. I love the rush of data.

When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
When I turned 17, I opened a referral incentive site similar to the now non-existant FreeiPods.com. The idea was that a user could earn a free gift if they completed an advertiser offer and had 5 of their friends do the same. If the requirements were fulfilled, the gift was shipped. I received my first free iPod at 15 from that site. I operated Macrobucks.com and we shipped over $700,000 worth of free gifts to our users. MacroBucks took off instantly upon opening in 2007.

What do you think more affiliates need to understand about the network side of things?
Since we are a content lock network primarily, we have a large number of email submits and lead generation offers. Affiliates are often asking for the easiest email submits/lead gen offers – however they need to realize that an advertiser would not pay $1.00 for a lead unless they were able to pull a profit by doing so. Affiliates need to understand that all parties must benefit for these offers to even exist in the first place. We do our best to educate our affiliates about this and it makes sense to them upon explanation.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations as a network owner?
My biggest frustration as a network is just the number of affiliates who will try to either defraud advertisers/us and/or promote offers via disallowed promotional channels. When Adscend was still a new network, this was a bit of a problem. Right now, I would say it’s not as big of an issue because we have someone dedicated to fraud detection and compliance. We have also developed sophisticated tools to assist with fraud detection/compliance.

What is the single toughest problem you’ve had to face in creating a successful company, and how did you get through it?
Malicious competitors. The #1 problem I’ve faced time and time again is the number of attempts by malicious competitors to either harm us, slow us down, or shut us down completely. As a successful businessman, I hold myself to the highest of ethics – however it seems like that is not the case with some in this industry. I just don’t let it phase me anymore. Their goal is to weaken my state of mind and destroy my business – I recognize that and that’s enough for me to not be phased by them. I am unaffected by their threats. At least I know that I’m doing something very right that is scaring competitors around me.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
I wrote this in a recent interview with Affiliate Paying and sums up well what I think: In my opinion, finding and then playing your strengths is crucial to become successful in this industry. Everyone has his or her own talent! It’s just a matter of finding what that talent is and unlocking it. That combined with unyielding perseverance and a positive outlook are top qualities to become a successful affiliate (and person for that matter).

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
Yes – anything related to accounting. I can do it, however I need to tie myself to my desktop so I don’t get distracted due to the boredom. Everything else is great.

What is the future of marketing?
Targeting consumers will become increasingly easier. This is due partially to social networking and partially to already existing ad serving platforms that have been improved. Laser targeting will allow businesses to spend less money while reaching the intended psychographics. Ad spending will continue to exponentially increase by both small businesses and large corporations. Performance metrics will continue to evolve for the better. Marketing to smart phone users will continue to explode exponentially. And hopefully, we will be able to introduce bigger brands in affiliate marketing specifically. I think there is a strong opportunity for big brands to introduce their own lead generation offers. Marketing is always evolving and will continue to grow.

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?
Adscend Media is primarily focused on content locking first and foremost. Content locking provides an alternative revenue stream for anyone who creates content or owns rights to popular content. For example, instead of charging a user $1.00 for access to content or a service, they can simply require the user to complete a free survey/lead gen offer.

What are your greatest strengths?
When I want something, I formulate how I can get it and I work towards it. And when I want something, that means that I will not stop until I get it. That’s my #1 strength.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
Sometimes I work so hard that I forget to have fun or decide that I’d rather keep working! I’m working on it.

What motivates you?
Success. And my haters. A few months ago – someone I considered to be a brother betrayed me on a massive scale. The betrayal was the best thing that could have happened to me in retrospect, it opened my eyes and I feel it’s allowed me to further unlock my potential. Hate literally is fuel to my fire; I love all of my haters (keep doing what you’re doing).

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
Never give up. Those 3 words are so powerful if you truly apply them to all aspects of life.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
To continue growing Adscend Media and become one of the top affiliate networks period. There is no such thing as a stopping point; I enjoy what I do regardless of the money so I intend to keep branching out & succeeding.

How do you like to spend your free time? What doe work-life balance mean to you?
I enjoy spending my free time staying active, playing my acoustic & electric guitars, learning, partying, and surrounding myself with wonderful friends/family. As far as work-life balance goes, I tend to work a lot harder than I play. When faced with a decision to work or hang out with friends, I have been known to keep working. I need to work on balancing my work and social life better.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
At 18, I wanted to work on Wall Street even though I was already doing so well in affiliate marketing. Up till about 19, I was convinced of working on Wall Street while remaining an affiliate on the side. If I knew at the time that I was going to make a full time career out of affiliate marketing, I would have placed a much bigger focus on my work earlier on.

What is your favorite quote?
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Calvin Coolidge

Do you have a Twitter account or Facebook “Like” page?
Adscend Media has a Twitter account – follow us! http://www.twitter.com/Adscend

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2011.

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Tell us a little background info about yourself.
I was born in Winnipeg but I have lived in beautiful British Columbia, Canada for the last decade. The past 5 years I’ve lived on Vancouver Island in the city of Victoria. It’s a quaint little city that is often described as home of “the newlywed or the nearly dead”. I’m thankful that I fall into the first category

Anyone that knows me would probably mention my passion for shopping. Not only am I mall rat, but I am an expert online shopper. Currently addicted to Groupon, I have stockpiled hundreds of dollars in “savings”.

I support a number of non-profits, but my favourite one is the SPCA. I adore nearly all animals and I currently have two dogs, Duke and Winnie that I love to death.

I love my iPad, but sorry iPhone fans, I’m a devout blackberry user.

Do you have any experience with affiliate marketing? If so, to what extent?
I have been in the industry for the past 5 years and have worked in a variety of roles for Neverblue. I started off building web properties in the education, auto and debt niches. From there, I did a complete 180 and moved into an Affiliate Manager role. I quickly became a team lead, which helped me to progress into a Business Development role on the affiliate side of our business.

Neverblue went through some organizational restructure, which led me to my most recent position. Currently, I am a Senior Network Manager and I work with a dedicated team of AM’s to support our publishing partners.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
I’ve worked with affiliates that are new to the game and those that are established top performers. I feel a sense of accomplishment whenever I can help move an affiliate into a profitable position. I truly appreciate the business we create together and I always strive to add value.

I am proud to hold a senior management role at an industry leading network like Neverblue. I feel good about being chosen to represent the company globally and I’ve been extremely fortunate to travel all over the world doing business with many interesting people.

What do you think it takes to be successful?
There is a quote I love and it goes something like this: “There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who say, ‘what happened?’”

I believe that success is a direct reflection of determination and the willingness to put yourself out there wrapped up with a little bit of timing and luck. Rarely does something great just fall into your lap, so you need to make it happen for yourself. Even if I suspect the answer will be no, I will ask for it. People need to get over the fear of rejection. If you do get thrown out on your butt, learn from it and come back better prepared the next time.

What is the single toughest problem you’ve had to face, and how did you get through it?
The biggest problem I’ve faced while working at Neverblue is managing my work/life balance. The industry is global and ever changing and since I like to stay on top of what’s going on, I find it really hard to disconnect at the end of the day.

I’ve worked through this by ensuring I take a couple hours of each night to eat dinner with my family, read some of the “chick lit” books I love, or watch some reality TV (I’m a sucker for it). I also make sure to do some sort of exercise at least once a day. On the weekends, I’ve scaled back a ton and try to only work on call.

What is the future of marketing?
I believe the future is in mobile marketing. A lot of people have been saying this for a long time and it’s been extremely lucrative for the small percentage that has been able to make it work. Like everything else though, it’s only a matter of time before more people learn how to capitalize on this emerging traffic source.

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
Earlier this year, we launched Neverblue Mobile. We were in the beta testing phase for the past few months. After introducing our slick mobile reporting features to the beta tester, we have decided to open up to the whole network. It’s an exciting time and we’re all working really hard to ensure the program’s success.

We are also putting more resources into our International expansion. The global demand of performance marketing has lead Neverblue to open offices in Europe and Asia earlier this year. In February we opened our doors in Amsterdam and in March we opened the Hong Kong office.

How does one become a beta tester for Neverblue Mobile?
You have to be a current Neverblue affiliate to have access to our mobile inventory. Ask your AM for details on our mobile offers. If you are not an affiliate with us yet, you can sign up for an account here: www.neverblue.com/signup

What are your greatest strengths?
As a very determined person, once my sights are set on something I don’t rest until I get it. I would also say that I am self motivated, passionate about things I believe in, and not afraid to voice my opinion. By nature, I have a competitive spirit and strive to excel at whatever I do.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
Some of my greatest strengths may also contribute to my greatest weaknesses. Being such a determined and passionate person means that I can also be very stubborn at times. Time management is always a struggle and I have yet to figure out the best way to keep me on schedule.

What motivates you?
Depending on the circumstance, a lot of different things could motivate me; my family, money, success, or opportunity. I’d like to say that the pursuit of happiness is my true motivation, but that might be slightly idealistic.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
This may sound cliché but I honestly try to live by this: “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. I try to get to know a person, rather than making a snap judgment. I feel like I’ve made some really close connections with great people that I might have written off had I judged them on appearances alone. I always remember the first time I met a particularly young, disheveled, affiliate in ripped jeans and a baggy t-shirt at a trade show. I’m glad I got to know him; he ended up being one of our most successful clients.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
In ten years from now, I’d love to be the mom of a couple of kids while maintaining a successful career. I’d love to be fluent in another language and finally be decent at golf. I want to do it all, while keeping my mind, body, and soul active. It is important to me now and will be in 10, 20, or 50 years.

How do you like to spend your free time? What does work-life balance mean to you?
During the week, I work really hard. I put in normal “office” hours and then get back online after dinner. I read up on industry trends, talk with affiliates, and finish off emails I missed during the day.

To keep me sane, I work out regularly and usually sneak some gym time in at lunch or after work.

On weekends I savor my free time. I enjoy sleeping in, going to movies, shopping, hanging out with family (including my mutts) and friends.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
I probably haven’t made all the right choices, but I’ve learnt a lot along the way. The path I’ve taken has led me to this point in my life and I enjoy what I do. I feel thankful that I have had the opportunity to be introduced to the industry and that I’ve made a ton of great business contacts and lifelong friends.

With that being said, if I was 18 again and knew all I know I now, I would use my time at home with my parents as an opportunity to take some risks (I’m talking about business risk). I’d probably have tried to get into the online industry earlier and tried a few things on my own.

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2011.

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To start off, give us a little background info about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been in the industry?
Well, I originally hail from the Bay Area in California. Repping the 7-0-7 til I die!

But yeah, I lived there for most of my life up until I met this amazingly hot chick in a San Francisco club. She was so hot, in fact, that I actually up and moved to Kansas with her. Yes, seriously. I followed the proverbial Yellow Brick Road all the way there and never looked back. I even had Toto with me by my side the entire time. OK, I’ll cease with the Wizard of Oz quips now. Promise!

I ended up working in the IT field for most of my professional career as a System Admin. Ultimately, one thing led to another and I used my tech experience to jump headfirst into the affiliate marketing industry by storm. I’ve been pushing traffic and racking up clicks in said industry for four whole years now and don’t ever plan on looking back. So don’t bank on it!

What accomplishments are you the most proud of thus far?
I’m extremely proud that I’ve managed to build a successful business that continues to grow and can solely support my wonderful wife and three amazing children. They truly mean the world to me and every single thing that I do is ultimately for them. It feels good.

How did you first learn about the affiliate marketing industry? Why do you think you chose such a career path?
I cut my teeth and earned my stripes back when MySpace was an utter mashup of bad code. Bad code that could be easily exploited. Seriously, marketing back on MySpace back in the day was a marketers wet dream. You could push 30k uniques per day easy and if you targeted them the right way… Cha-ching!

Truth be told though, it was actually my brother that got me into this business. One day he came up to me and was like, “Hey, look at this. Look at what you can do!” Little did he know he was creating a monster. From that day forward, I pushed traffic like I was born to do so. Hey, maybe I was!

When did the full potential of affiliate marketing first dawn on you? When did you first “hit the big time”?
Even when the paychecks were coming in and the money I was making materialized into real money and credit — I still couldn’t believe it. I was amazed. I couldn’t believe that there was this whole other world on the Internet where you could make money and pursue a lucrative career path. I just wished I’d found it sooner, but then again, everything happens for a reason. I obviously found the industry at exactly the right time.

I first hit it “big time” back in 2007. There were literally nights I couldn’t go to sleep because I’d made so much money that day and was worried. Weird, I know, but a whole other world opens up when you start making so much money — you really need to start managing your money correctly and be extremely responsible with it.

In your opinion, what do you think more affiliates need to understand about the network side of the fence?
There’s just so much that goes on behind the veil at a given network. I think there’s affiliates that think all networks do is grab offers, put them up and sit back while other people do all the hard-work for them. This couldn’t be farther from reality as there’s just so much work behind the scenes. Nevermind the financial risk that’s involved. A lot of affiliates just don’t realize that being a network means there are big numbers that are racked up on a given advertiser. If for some reason that advertiser doesn’t pay and ends up being a straight deadbeat, then the network still has to cough up the money to pay their affiliates. At least, this is the case with any network worth their mettle.

What have been your biggest failures and/or frustrations as a network owner?
I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t be considered a “failure” per-se, but I just never seem to have enough time to do everything that I want. I’ve always been a person that strives for more, more, more. I want everything bigger, better and more badass. Thanks to all of the necessary “busy work” that must be accomplished each and every day at any given network, quite often I can never seem to get enough time crammed into the day in order to do the things I truly want to put in motion.

What has been the single toughest problem or issue that you’ve had to face in the wake of creating a successful company, and how did you get through this?
This is an easy one. The biggest problem I faced early on was spending all of the money I’d made up until that point from my own marketing endeavors. And then some. I’d make a frigging boatload of money and then would simply turnaround and blow it all. To be completely honest I’m not even sure where some of the money even went, in retrospect. I just thought I was a straight baller at first — living the good life. The problem with this was, of course, without reinvesting your earnings you’re just setting yourself up for long-term failure. Thankfully, I learned how to bankroll my money and become much more responsible with it. I’m grateful there was a live and learn and then get smart aspect to this. Learning from your mistakes and failures in both life and business is absolutely crucial for true growth and maturity in a variety of different aspects.

In your opinion, what does it take to become a successful affiliate?
You definitely need to think outside of the box and be extremely creative. Creativity is crucially important in this business. You need to learn how to adapt and be dynamic otherwise you’re going to get left behind in the dust. You need to be a chameleon, changing with the times and trends. Most marketing methods and tactics don’t seem to last forever and once you start to see your earnings decline and the niche/method in question drying up, you need to be quick on your toes and diversify. Not to sound too corny… okay, this is going to sound corny regardless, but it’s relevant — don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Get a bunch of different baskets and separate all of your eggs into these baskets. And feel free to split-test the eggs in order to find out which egg-basket combinations are the most lucrative.

If you fail to do this then you’re just going to end up sitting in your office chair and cussing yourself out since your tactics and strategies are no longer working. This actually happened to me early on in my marketing career.

Is there anything that you can’t stand doing and just hate to work on?
Thankfully, I enjoy being involved in every single aspect of the business, so I kind of view everything — especially the less-than-envious tasks — as necessary in order to continue making the overall machine run smoothly. With the machine, of course, being the network as a whole. The minute you skimp out, neglect or straight-up ignore certain aspects of running a network is the very same minute that your network stops performing at its highest level. Almost as if its run out of oil.

In the interests of answering the question though, I’m not the biggest fan in regards to creating offers. It’s incredibly time-consuming to create an offer, get the creatives all set up and then test it all out. Not to mention it’s quite boring and extremely redundant. Fortunately, it’s extremely integral in regards to our networks day-to-day business, so I always make sure we stay on top of it and begrudgingly get it done as soon as possible.

If possible, can you share any particular niches that are currently in your favor? Or any niches that you aren’t necessarily dealing in right now but that you would definitely recommend?
Education used to be a very hot niche, mainly because advertisers would pay out a shiz-load for a lead. Apparently though, this particular niche seems to have dried up quite a bit in the past month, probably because advertisers have become increasingly picky about what “qualifies” as a valid lead. In regards to niches I’d recommend, I see coupon-esque offers such as Groupon really taking off in the future as affiliates are already banking hard in the coupon niche. Definitely look into that one if you haven’t already!

What have you been up to recently? Any particular projects you’re working on that you can share information on?
We’re currently in the process of marketing our fraud analytical system — a backend system that monitors network traffic in real time — dubbed simply “ScrubKit”. It holds host to an extremely robust feature-set for analyzing numerous data points on a given network. ScrubKit gives you a dashboard view of what’s going on and can effectively pick up on fraud within mere minutes of it occurring within the network. We’re proud to say that we’ve built the system from the ground up and have been using it exclusively in-house since our network launched. Just recently, we started licensing it to a select few networks. Armed with ScrubKit, network owners have actually stated that it’s now much easier for them to sleep at night knowing they’re protected with the product. And as we all know, sleep is pretty important to anyone, nevermind someone running an affiliate network!

Do you think that anything in particular from your past has better prepared you for this industry? Your education? Previous job experience?
I’ve been incredibly fortunate and blessed to come from a professional background in both Network and System Administration. Because of this experience, I’ve forged an iron-proof technical mindset. There’s a lot about this industry that is purely technical — especially if you want to understand absolutely everything you can about traffic. And no, I don’t mean just understanding the various traffic distribution methods. There’s a ton of fraud in the affiliate marketing industry and if you don’t know what to look for from a technical perspective then the bad guys are going to have a frigging field day with you.

Given my background, I have an in-depth knowledgebase that gives me the knowhow of what to look for, where, and why. Indeed, this experience has helped us remain as a network who detects and weeds out fraud almost-instantly. Homie don’t play that game.

What do you think are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
I refuse to give up and allow failure to defeat me in any way. While I admit that failure and mistakes must — and will — occur in order for you to grow as a marketer, I subscribe to the belief that one should never actually succumb to failure or mistakes. You should instead just strike back with a counter-attack/strategy that is that much fiercer, more knowledgeable and driven thanks to your experiences. Just never give up. I’ve always been the type of person that will never quit no matter how many times I’m knocked down and no matter how much it hurts or sucks to try and get back up. Obviously this has both pros and cons because sometimes — at least, from what I’ve heard — you have to know when to give up. Being so stubborn and having such a strong willpower, I always continue trudging on ahead with my head held high, never giving up the fight.

As the late, great “Bear” Bryant once said, “The first time you quit, it’s hard. The second time, it gets easier. The third time, you don’t even have to think about it.”

As for strengths — and this is just going on what I’ve been told by other people — I’m an extremely caring, generous individual. Also, apparently, my work ethic is contagious and I’m extremely appreciative of my employees. Whether all of this was said in an attempt to kiss some major ass, I’m not certain. But I like to think that it’s true as it’s truly what I aspire to in my day-to-day activities.

What motivates you the most each day?
Absolutely, positively, my family. I love and absolutely adore my Wife and cherish the ground my kids walk on, so it goes without saying that I’ll do whatever is needed to ensure that they all have a great life. My little boy Max will be two years old in just a few months and he’s quite honestly the best thing that’s ever happened to me and my Wife. I simply love him with all my heart — as I do the rest of my family — and I work tirelessly, aspiring to perfection and greatness for them. Everything I do, I do for them. They’re just the greatest motivation in the world, what can I say?

Too often you can lose sight of what’s important in this industry due to the money being made and the work being put in. But I take great strides to remind myself just how blessed I am to have such an awesome, loving family as much as I can each day. Because that’s what’s important in this life. Family and friends. Sure, money’s great and makes a vast array of different things a lot easier, but what fun would money be if you didn’t have anyone to enjoy it with? I shudder to think what life would be like without them and am thankful each and every day that I have each and every one of them in my life.

Who has impacted you the most in your marketing career? And how have they done so?
I’m fortunate enough to have a Wife that has always believed in me and stood by my side. Through both thick and thin. No matter how much money we have had — both when we had a little and a lot — she’s always been right there by my side, motivating me and inspiring me all the while. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s been crucial in helping me become the person and marketer that I am today!

What kinds of people do you have difficulty working with? Any entertaining stories?
I have zero tolerance for fraud. I suppose you could call it my ultimate pet peeve. It annoys and irks me to no end when an affiliate tries to sneak fraudulent traffic through the network and then lie through their teeth to me. Thankfully, the backend system we have in place catches fraud almost immediately, and I know when there’s any sketchy traffic flowing through our network at any given time. It’s just a waste of time and I have absolutely no time for garbage traffic. And yes, in case you were wondering, I have indeed fantasized about inflicting bodily harm on fraudsters many times throughout my career. Who hasn’t?

What are some of your more long-term goals?
Honestly, I just want to continue to support my family, put my little guy through college when he gets to that point in his life, and then retire into the sunset, enjoying my older years relaxing with the Mrs. and doing pretty much whatever I want. At least, that’s the plan!

How do you like to spend your free time? What does balancing work and life mean to you?
When I’m not sitting in front of my computer, I always try and hit the gym twice per day. Morning, of course, is the cardio workout to get the blood flowing and this really helps to get me woken up and ready for the day ahead. The end-of-the-day workout — usually around 5pm or so — I hit up the gym once again to do some lifting. Lifting allows me to effectively take out any aggression I’ve obtained and built up throughout the day and also, to help clear my mind. I think exercise is an absolute must for affiliates of all types. The benefits are just too lofty to ignore.

In regards to my true free time, I always try and devote the weekends to my family. My Wife and little guy are a blast to hang out with and we constantly go and do things as a family, laughing and having a great time no matter what we’re doing. I mean, we’ve even had some epicly good times on such routine things as a trip to Wal-Mart! Spending time with them really puts things into perspective and allows me to not get too wound up in network things. Worrying and stressing out about stuff is pretty hard when you’re laughing and horsing around.

I’ll freely admit that I likely don’t have the best work-life balance. Mainly since I tend to work around 14 hour days Monday thru Friday. But I have no problem doing this since it means my Wife can stay home with our little guy and raise him the way we think he should be raised. I’ve never really believed in shipping your kid off to day care if you can manage to avoid it and that you should instead raise them and teach them yourself. Thankfully, we are fortunate enough to be financially stable to do this, so in my mind it’s just a no-brainer.

If you could go back in time to when you were 18, what are the different career choices that you would make?
Honestly, and I know that a lot of people won’t believe this, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve enjoyed the road I’ve taken and every success, mistake and failure along the way has shaped and forged me into the person that I am today. Not to mention I’ve had quite a bit of fun along the way as well. Hey, I’m in an excellent position currently. Why would I want to change that?

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2011.

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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 was raised in Mustang, Oklahoma. It’s a small town outside of Oklahoma City. I am 28 years old and have been around affiliate marketing for the last 3 years.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
NDemand Affiliates. This CPA network is my pride and joy, and I work hard every day to ensure every aspect is running as smoothly as possible. We built a reputation for having great support and I continue to make sure all our affiliates are taken care of as needed.

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career?
Well I actually have some friends that own an affiliate network that got me into the space. Me, Matt Stowe, and Dylan Stout were sitting down to dinner after playing basketball one night and I had Matt who’s owned a network for five years explain to me what affiliate marketing was and after that conversation I started researching how exactly I could get into the space. I chose this career because of the freedom to work from anywhere in the world at anytime. I love that aspect of affiliate marketing. I’m a family man with 2 kids and I love being able to go anywhere and still being able to get my work done yet still spend quality time with my family. I wouldn’t replace that for the world.

When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
Well as soon as I found out about affiliate marketing I started researching on the web and saw the full potential. Once you filter out all the get rich schemes and find the real stuff I realized very quickly that there was a lot of money to be made on the internet and I wanted to be a part of it. I don’t feel like I’ve reached the big time yet, I don’t know if Ii ever will feel that way. I’m a very motivated person and I’m always trying to improve, so every time I notice or feel I’m weak in an area I try my best to improve. With that in mind I’m always noticing things. I think what drives people to greatness is recognizing we have weaknesses and fixing them.

What do you think more affiliates need to understand about the network side of things?
Owning a network is not easy! There is a lot of work that goes into running a network properly that a lot of us have learned on the fly. There are some things I know now that I wish I would have only known 2 years ago. It would have saved a lot of headaches and frustration. Every day there is something that can or will go wrong that you have to deal with. I’m just grateful we have such a great team at NDemand to help me deal with the problems when they arise.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations as a network owner?
Not understanding how to properly check out an affiliate account. I think for every network when they are new that is a huge struggle to overcome. In the beginning you need to make money to survive but it seems like the only sign ups you get are fraudsters bouncing from network to network and getting you in trouble with advertisers. The sooner you figure out how to properly screen the better off you are.

What is the single toughest problem you’ve had to face in creating a successful company, and how did you get through it?
Getting our name out there without everyone thinking we are a crooked affiliate network just out there to scam affiliates out of there commissions. They do have good reason to be skeptical of new networks but not all people or networks are bad and that’s what my mission at NDemand Affiliates is. I want to prove that there are quality networks out there that aren’t out there to get you but want to help affiliates become profitable and make money.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
Hard work and determination. These 2 things are crucial for an affiliate if they want to be successful.

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
Dealing with mainly advertisers on a daily basis I hate setting up offers and placing pixels. It’s so repetitive.

Which methods of promotion do you favor?
Social Media, I think for a newbie it is really easy to get into the space by learning how to do dating offers on facebook or pof with testing and determination. I think it is easy for a new affiliate to see and recognize the true potential of affiliate marketing.

Do you think anything particular in your past prepared you for this industry? Your education? Jobs you’ve held before?
Nothing has prepared me for this industry. It’s full of a lot of shady people and a lot of mistrust because of those shady people. I’ve never seen this much greed and willing to screw people over any amount of money. I really think those honest ones in this field are few and a lot of people try to bad mouth them because they handle their business honorably.

What are your greatest strengths?
Honesty, loyalty, and I’m very hardworking.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
Too many to list but I recognize them and I’m constantly striving to improve. I think a person’s greatest weakness is thinking they have no weaknesses. We all have them and we should do our best to improve in the areas we lack. That’s all we can do or expect from anyone.

What motivates you?
My competition motivates me. Seeing what they do, who they work with drives me to be just as good or better. I hate coming in 2nd place because I hate the thought of losing. I’m very competitive to the point that it’s a strength and a weakness so I have to try to keep it in balance.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
Be yourself, plain and simple. People will respond if you show yourself to them and that’s what I always tried to do. With me what you see is what you get.

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
I’d have to say in this industry the person who has had the most impact is Kevin De Vincenzi from XY7 affiliate network. I really feel that he has taken me under his wing and showed me a lot in this industry and has helped me to come a long way. I will always look to him as a close friend and truly I owe him a lot for all that he has done for me and my family.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with?
People that bash you and spread lies about you when they don’t even know you or have never even met you face to face. These people know who they are, no need to call them out.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
I’d love to take NDemand Affiliates to a higher level people are starting to hear about us and recognize us and there are so many more out there that don’t work with us that really should be. There is never enough that’s what keeps you going that’s what motivates you to strive to be better. If money was no object I’d own a private island and be chilling on the beach with my family everyday.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
I haven’t really put much thought into this because I’m more of a live in the moment last minute type of person. So honestly if all works out I’d like to be retired or semi retired. This game wears on you and as hard as I work I don’t wont to be doing that for the rest of my life.

How do you like to spend your free time? What doe work-life balance mean to you?
With my family. I love to go on vacations but sometimes it’s so hard to break yourself away from work but when I do I really do enjoy it. Also I try to keep weekends for family time only. No work unless it’s absolutely needed.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make
Nothing I don’t regret a thing except for not getting into affiliate marketing earlier.

What is your favorite quote?
“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.”
- Scarface

Do you have a Twitter account or Facebook “Like” page?
Twitter.
Facebook Fan Page.

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2011.

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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 turned 25 this year and have been in this industry for going on 5 years now. I was born in Chicago and spent my younger years having my perspective molded between Central America and the U.S. I’m a perfectionist and extremely competitive.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
There’s no room for pride if you are stone cold in business, but the biggest accomplishment that everyone gets to share a part of is the deals I have negotiated and methods developed that have lead to millions in deposits to affiliates bank accounts over the past years.

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career? When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
When affiliate marketing went into the billions, it chose me. I’m not retired, so I haven’t hit the big time yet.

What do you think more affiliates need to understand about the network side of things?
Affiliates need to realize that anything that is too good to be true, is. My top two examples are fly by night methods made up by people who aren’t doing it themselves and don’t care if they waste your time or not. The second problem is networks that offer unusually high payouts on similar offers just to shave you to remain profitable. Don’t be payout chasers; focus on earning the biggest bottom line possible with a trusted partner.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
Persistence. If you are dedicated to your own personal success you will find a way to successfully promote something, guaranteed.

What is the future of marketing?
The future of marketing is the internet. The future of internet marketing is going to be in new billing methods that do not involve a credit card. Due to the economy, credit cards have a bad stigma and are less available to younger and uneducated buyers. New billing methods like mobile billing, incentivizing, and social currency will be making up for consolidations in subprime credit card revenue.

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?
The need for a companion is instilled into our genetic code, so we recommend everyone use their best game to appeal to the masses. I will tell you that if you want to step up your personal dating life, having stacks of dating profits will substantially increase your closing ratios.

What niche has worked best for you?
I pulled in the majority of a million dollars in revenue last year promoting one dating offer. Now we’re just taking over every niche but staying true to our roots and still pull in 35% of our total revenues from dating.

Which methods of promotion do you favor?
Email and social messages are the direct mail of the internet. If you opened a pizza delivery service, the first thing you would do is hit everybody with your flyer and wait for orders. Private messages are today’s way of getting your flyer in front of everybody’s face.

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
Right now I have just finished making the full transition from the adult industry to mainstream CPA marketing. My next move is to empower affiliates to a million dollars a month in payouts. We are currently about half way there and are weeks ahead of our projections so it would be great to hit the goal early.

Do you think anything particular in your past prepared you for this industry? Your education? Jobs you’ve held before?
Everything in life built me to dominate in this industry, and everything I’m facing now is preparing me for my next conquest. Working on the floor at the Chicago Board of Trade taught me how to stay focused under intense pressure, manage risk and assets and accept losses as an insurable business expense. Working in banking taught me the secrets of debt and risk management that most networks are not capable of assessing. I am obsessed with limiting risk, which in turn leads to having a flawless reputation when it comes to paying affiliates.

What are your greatest strengths?
The ability to see the biggest picture possible has always been my saving grace. My instincts will allow me to survive no matter what condition the world is in.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
I have no weaknesses.

What motivates you?
Without women, all the money in the world is meaningless. But it’s a zero sum game; to me it’s just about winning the most points and pushing every limit possible. I’m a dangerous opponent with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
Best advice I ever got was from Dennis Rodman at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. I was having lunch with Rodman, casting producer Sara O’neil, and one of his managers, Elkin. I watched him give one of the most amazing reality show pitches I have seen in my life. After papers were shuffled around and something about ‘just leave a check for $500,000 at my agent’s office,’ he turned to me and said, “You have to put your face out there to take it to the next level.” After that I stopped hiding behind monikers and aliases online and decided it was time to establish myself as a brand name.

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
My parents probably had the most direct influence. My father taught me how to save, my mother taught me how to stunt. It is the balance of the two that allows me to be stable but also respected.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
Investors drive me insane. If you want to run things your way just buy me out already!

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
My long term goal is to raise a family. Relationships, children and life give you enough problems on their own, so I’d like the family I create to have money be one less thing to worry about. My future is in politics, whether at the local, national or global level is undetermined. The assets I am attaining now are creating the foundation to give me the necessary reach to make real change in the world through positive leadership.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
Ten years from now I envision myself raising a family in Switzerland managing a low risk bond fund. I attain satisfaction in many mediums that most people would not be able to relate to. Money to me is just a tool to be able to make any decision I want.

How do you like to spend your free time? What does work-life balance mean to you?
I don’t have any free time. All my time is for sale.

Do you have a Twitter account or Facebook “Like” page?
I am the leader the leaders follow. You can catch the fundamentals @vit0g and the network details @CPATank but for the next few days you’re just going to see a bunch of @jonathanvolk retweets with my affiliate link in them.

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2010.

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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?
My name is Philip Shapiro. I’m 21 years old and from New York. I’ve been an internet entrepreneur since I was 13 years old, and evolved my marketing savvy into successfully starting and running the affiliate network, CPATrend. I have been in the affiliate marketing industry for approximately 4 years, and I have loved every second of it.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
Perhaps my greatest accomplishment in my life has been developing a CPA network, with such incredible competition in the industry, into a successful, rapidly growing, reputable network. I’ve pulled countless 20 hour days working on CPATrend, and the hard work and dedication that I have put into the network has been showing incredible results. So I’m extremely proud of what the network has been able to accomplish in only 9 months!

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career? When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
I learned about this industry when I stumbled upon the rights to an affiliate marketing eBook. I hadn’t known much about affiliate marketing, but I knew about internet marketing. I read the eBook that I purchased the rights to and was intrigued by it (and it’s 75 pages of content!). I then proceeded to creating an affiliate program at paydotcom, which was a complete bust for me. I’m glad that I failed with it, because it opened my eyes to the real possibilities of the affiliate marketing industry. Researching the industry at this time was what really helped me realize the incredible potential of affiliate marketing. I eventually became a PPC marketer and had great success with Adwords running campaigns in the Acai Berry craze. Additionally, I was pulling in about $30k per month with YPN during their beta period. Ah the good ole days! That was short lasting though, so I decided I needed to do something that would not be seasonal, or one time hits. I chose to start a CPA network, as I’ve worked with so many networks in my time, and was never ultimately pleased with any one in particular (though there are so many great networks, each has its flaws). So I decided to do what most entrepreneurs do, find something that works and make it better.

You say you were successful with offline business in your teen years. What kinds of businesses were these and where did you learn to run them?
When I was 18, and a freshman in college, I formed an offline scrap metal business with my brother and a friend. I no longer work with my brother as I had way too much on my plate with school and internet marketing (and left the company after 2 years), but he turned it into a multi-million dollar corporation in an incredibly short period of time. This is also a very cut-throat industry, so there have been obstacles in the way. You ask, where did I learn to run businesses like this? That’s a difficult question for me to answer. Entrepreneurship has always come naturally to me. I’ve never been able to work for anybody, and only had one job working for somebody when I was 15 years old (for 2 months). There are 2 types of people, those who work for somebody, and those who work for themselves. Everything I look at, I see the business message behind it. It’s this mindset, necessary research, and a lot of effort that has given me the power to run several successful businesses.

How did you achieve success at such a young age?
I got lucky I guess! That, or I work myself incredibly hard and neglect other aspects of life. There are times that I’ve turned down going out with friends, going to parties, movies, etc. because I wanted to work on my business. I think that as a young person with so many different activities that can be done, especially in New York, the mindset and desire to develop long term success is what truly inspired me to kick so many things into action at my age. I have dreams of my future, and the only way to get there is to work myself until I reach my goals. Otherwise, if one sits back idly, nothing happens for you. So keeping goals in mind and trying to achieve them is really what has given me the success I’ve enjoyed.

How have you been able to quickly gain a good reputation for CPATrend?
I think it’s fairly simple to answer this question. I’ve worked with networks that have great offers, but bad support. Networks with great support, but bad offers. Networks that feel and seem legitimate, but withhold payments. After a while, I realized that I could do a better job by combining every positive aspect from each network that I’ve worked with and implement them into mine. CPATrend offers its affiliates top quality offers, not thousands of poor converting offers. We pay our affiliates on time, every time, but usually early as my affiliates can vouch for. I can certainly say that the support I provide is second to none as well. I spend countless hours every single day giving support via phone, AIM/Y!M/MSN, and email. I love dealing with affiliates and treat every affiliate as an individual with individual needs. CPATrend is a human company. I run it in a way that it breaths, and isn’t mechanical like some other networks can be at times.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
To be a successful affiliate, you really have to have drive and dedication in you. At times, it can be incredibly tedious to develop a successful campaign, but the best affiliates know that after that time and tedious effort, you’ll be able to sit back and just watch the money roll in day after day. Split testing is essential to successful campaigns. Find the demographics that work for a particular offer. Doing demographic research before hand can save you a lot of money on split testing. Also, I’d recommend finding a traffic source that you’re best at, and sticking with it for offers that convert well with that traffic source. Don’t overextend yourself, and realize when a campaign isn’t being profitable for you and shut it down.

What do you think more affiliates need to understand about the network side of things?
This is a great question. As an affiliate in the past, I had no idea the tremendous amounts of work networks must put into developing relationships with advertisers and their affiliates. There is a crazy amount of paper work that is always being done, and there’s really never a moment of absolute calmness when running a network. It’s also not known to all affiliates that networks often take huge risks in paying out their affiliates before receive payments from advertisers. It requires a lot of financial backing to really run a successful network, and a mentality that the high risk will eventually be future profits.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations as an affiliate and now as a network owner?
As an affiliate, my biggest failures and frustrations all stem from the same thing. At times, I’ve accidentally set campaigns to a very high CPC bid, and simply went to sleep. When I woke up the next day, I’ve seen thousands of dollars spent, and no conversions. So I suppose recklessness at times developed some of the greatest failures I’ve had. As a network owner, the biggest frustration for me is when an advertiser pays late. I’ve developed some great relationships with our advertisers, but I’m extremely anal in terms of payments. I pay out my affiliates on time or early, every time, so for that ethic not to be returned to me by advertisers, I get extremely frustrated.

What is the single toughest problem you’ve had to face, and how did you get through it?
When CPATrend was first launched, our approval process wasn’t the strongest. We let in several affiliates who should not have been accepted and they drove lots of poor quality leads to our advertisers. After one month of these poor quality leads, we were shut down by many of our advertisers. It was this moment that I made a change. I purged the network of all poor quality/fraudulent affiliates. I paid out all of our affiliates (including those that caused the problems for me), and terminated every account that was suspicious or driving poor quality leads. I then completely changed our approval process and completely tightened up the network. We now reject a large majority of applications, and only approve quality affiliates, which our advertisers now have been ecstatic about. We fought through the initial losses, and battled our way back to becoming a successful network, with a great reputation.

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
I hate paper work. I’m not the type of person who will just sign something and fax it around. Every IO or contract that comes my way, I read in it’s entirety, red line it, and sign it. I deal with tons of these in any given week, and I just absolutely hate it. They’re very long and repetitive (when dealing with many per week), but they are an essential part of running an affiliate network. Once the paperwork is over, the rest is quite enjoyable for me.

What is the future of marketing?
The future of affiliate marketing is a bright one. Affiliate marketing is expanding every day, and it will never slow down. Why? Because there is a constant need by companies with products to have passive income. It’s so much easier for these companies to let others sell their products or attain leads for them, by paying out a percentage of the profits. Affiliate marketing is only growing stronger as our generation evolves into one that is computer savvy. As time goes on, more and more people will be doing all of their shopping online, and affiliate marketers will enjoy greater success from this.

What niche has worked best for you?
We’re having great success with the eCigarette niche, gaming niche, dating niche, and BizOpp niche.

Which methods of promotion do you favor?
I personally favor PPC/FB marketing. I’ve been a PPC guy for quite a while and have a hard time straying away from it. I also recommend media buys, contextual, and email marketing to all affiliate marketers! Huge profits to be made via most marketing methods, especially these.

How have you made those promotion methods successful?
Split testing has been the most essential part of my success with PPC and FB marketing. Additionally, demographic research is really a great thing to do when you have the access to target specific demographics like you do with Facebook marketing.

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
I have been solely running CPATrend and spending all of my time on it. It’s my passion, what I love doing, and I don’t see me taking on any other projects any time soon.

Do you think anything particular in your past prepared you for this industry? Your education? Jobs you’ve held before?
Honestly, I hated account and economics. I’m currently a senior in college, and am taking Political Science and Philosophy. I find both very interesting, but they haven’t helped shape myself in order to prepare for the industry. If anything, my business helps shape my politics. However, running many businesses for a big portion of my lifetime, and doing lots of research has helped prepare me for the industry.

What are your greatest strengths?
I believe my greatest strength is my work ethic. I work hard, and don’t give up on myself. When starting CPATrend, many people told me I would not be able to compete with the big name networks, but I believe(d) in myself and 9 months later, I am competing with the big boys. It’s just a matter of patience and putting in the work to be successful. Statistically, most new CPA networks simply fail quickly. Fortunately, CPATrend does not fall into that same category.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
I believe my greatest weakness is that I move too quickly. I jump into things from time to time without doing all of the research necessary. I’ve run some terrible campaigns in the past and this was because of rushing into them. However, when I do the appropriate research and put huge effort into something, it tends to work out.

What motivates you?
I’m a very modest person. I don’t walk around with jewelry, watches, and money dangling out of my pockets. I’m just an average 21 year old and I don’t try to live about that. I enjoy my life, and my success does not change who I am, and I won’t let it. What motivates me isn’t money necessarily. I believe money comes with persistence and hard work. However, my main motivation is success. I absolutely love the feeling of waking up to see the sleepless days paying off. Nothing feels better than when people don’t believe in you, and you can prove them wrong.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
Don’t overextend yourself. Stay within yourself. There have been times I’ve wanted to overextend myself, in terms of investing. I’m always looking for long-term profitability, even at my age, because I know what my future goals are, and I try to make them come to fruition as soon as possible. However, sometimes it’s best to just take things slow, one step at a time.

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
My family has been a great support of what I do, even though a lot of them don’t necessarily have a solid grasp of what exactly I do. My brother has been a really big part of my success, as we’re both young entrepreneurs who have stepped into our respective niches and are standing out in them.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
I simply don’t like people who are overly arrogant. We do not get along. I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with thousands of people in the past 9 months. I have mostly only good things to say about the people I’ve dealt with. But there’s always the few who don’t make things very pleasant for you, no matter how hard you try to be respectful and professional with them.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
My long term goals are to establish a large, successful CPA network and to really love what I’m doing. So far, I absolutely love running CPATrend, and I can’t picture anything ruining that enjoyment for me. This is the business I’d like to run for the rest of my life, and if I do so, I know that I’ll truly enjoy my life. In terms of money, I don’t think there’s a clear distinction on how much is enough. My goals are to live happily and comfortably, not to burn money for fun. I want to be charitable with my money, and give back to those who have given so much to me. The more I make, the more I can do this. If money was not an object, I wouldn’t change a thing. I absolutely love running CPATrend, and wouldn’t want to do anything else.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
I know it sounds redundant, but I want to be in the same position I am now, running CPATrend. It’d also be nice to have a family at that point, but who knows what the next 10 years has to offer me.

How do you like to spend your free time? What doe work-life balance mean to you?
In my free time, I play the guitar, hang out with friends, party a bit. I really live the life of the average 21 year old, but I just work online, as opposed to the rest of my friends. Work-life balance is important to me. I am usually so busy working, but I always make time for the people that are in my life.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
None. When I was 18, I started that offline business previously mentioned. This was a huge success and helped finance my CPA network!

Do you have a Twitter account or Facebook “Like” page?
I have a twitter account for CPATrend, which you can follow us on. I’m not too active in terms of twitter, but I certainly plan to become much more in the near future.

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2010.

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If you are in town for the Affiliate Convention in Denver June 21st or 22nd, GetAds is having an open house and everyone is invited. So stop on by and check out the new GetAds office.

Tell us a little background info about yourself. Where are you from?
Denver, Colorado.

How old are you?
32.

How long have you been working in this industry?
Going on 8 years.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
Building a few different companies, including GetAds, LLC and seeing where they are today.

How did you come to learn about this industry?
Through a friend.

Why did you choose this career?
I knew the internet was the future and I wanted to be a part of it.

When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing?
Within the 1st month of being in the industry. It was crazy to see the amount of money coming in.

What do you think more affiliates need to understand about the network side of things?
That all networks are not created equal. Look for the networks that are there to take you to the next level. That can help add to your career and help you grow.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations as a network owner?
The biggest would have to be when advertisers don’t pay and we still have a responsibility to pay our affiliates.

Another frustration is when new networks start and really don’t get the industry at all. Because of this they put a bad taste in the affiliates and advertisers mouth and it turns them away from affiliate marketing. If they gave a proven and knowledgeable network a chance, they would have to re-teach them what the industry is really about.

What is the single toughest problem you’ve had to face in creating a successful company, and how did you get through it?
I would say it’s managing growth. We want to have key people to come in and do their job well and to love what they do. We want to pass our knowledge on to our new employees. We don’t want people to just come in and fill seats.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
You need to be able to take in all the ideas around you and then focus on one and build off that. And, of course, dedication.

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
Not really.

What is the future of marketing?
Sites and media channels are gathering more and more data about their visitors. I think this opens the door for very specific target marketing. Of course mobile advertising will be huge. This is the space you’ll see name brands moving into.

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?
Our affiliates work in a variety of niches. We make sure to have the offers that convert in the niches our affiliates promote.

Which methods of promotion do you favor?
We don’t really favor one particular promotional method. Our affiliates favor display, email and PPV.

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
Our main focus has been to better the network and keep expanding. We are working on different technologies that will create exciting opportunities within the industry.

What problems have you had with those new projects?
We have to create everything from the ground up. We have to explain our vision to the programmers. There just isn’t anything to really compare to what we would like to do. So getting things just right takes a bit more time.

Do you think anything particular in your past prepared you for this industry? Your education? Jobs you’ve held before?
I played 8 years of professional hockey and it has given me a competitive spirit.

What are your greatest strengths?
I would have to say my charisma and people skills.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
After all these years, I still type with the hunt and peck method. (just two fingers)

What motivates you?
I like seeing the company grow and seeing the people with in the company successful. I don’t want to fail for them.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
Be the Best you can possibly be at what you decide to do. If you can’t be the absolute best at something, still give 110% in everything you do.

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
I like to look to Steve Jobs. He’s such a free flowing spirit. He’s an innovator. He has created a brand and a following for that brand. I like to look at where he’s come from to where he is now.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
I am really not a fan of working with people who act like your friend to your face then will stab you in the back.

No good stories or I’d be doing the same thing.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
I want to create a brand that is an innovator in the industry. Enough is when I have enough to take care of everyone around me. This includes my employees, my family and my friends. If money were no object I would pretty much be doing the same thing.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
I want to be someone who left a positive mark on the industry and created opportunities for everyone in the affiliate marketing space.

How do you like to spend your free time? What doe work-life balance mean to you?
Free time is spent playing hockey, wake boarding and surfing. Work/life balance is important to me, but it’s a tough balance. Even when I’m at home relaxing or on the weekends my mind still goes to work. I almost feel bad if I’m not working 24/7.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
I don’t think I would change anything. Everything I did made me who I am and gave me the edge I needed.

What is your greatest achievement outside of work? What are some of your unfulfilled dreams?
My greatest achievement outside off work would be; I was one of the few Colorado kids and American, for that matter, to go as for as I did in hockey. This was during a time that Canada and Europe ruled the sport.

As for my unfulfilled dream – I feel like I’m living my dream every day.

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2010.

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I am an affiliate for just about every major affiliate network out there. From AzoogleAds (<3) to EWA to Copeac to... I get so many mass email newsletters every week that I generally don't look at any of them except a few.

I've noticed that the type of emails that I reply to or look at are the ones that are personalized and are not asking me "what are you running?"

You know, the emails that are directed towards me and you can tell because there is something personalized in it like "hey... nice blog post the other day..." and offers some sort of value like "check out this offer, it's doing really well..."

I know that emailing affiliates individually could take a while but if there was an email system that you could use to insert some personalized text in front of a mass email, I bet the amount of affiliate attention and participation would go way up.

Just a thought for those of you with an in-house system.

The people who are exceptional at doing this so far from what I have seen are Elite Clicks Media and Eric from Clickbooth. EWA also always has really great newsletters. I know there are more, but those are the two that come to mind right away.

[Image via Anarchyinyourhead.com]

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2010.

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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’m Ralph Ruckman, 29 years old from Kansas. I’ve been in the industry for over 5 yrs now.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
I’ve been in and out of a lot of different aspects of being a Marketer and Entrepreneur so my biggest accomplishment really isn’t something I’ve accomplished, it’s the people I’ve met. For me it’s my partners Steve and Michael. Together we have created, maintained and will continue to build Convert2Media, our Performance Marketing Affiliate Network.

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career? When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
I started learning about this industry back when I was working 3 jobs. A simple search for “make money online” started the journey. I chose to quit my jobs because I had doubled my income I was already making from those jobs in the short few hours each night that I could work on my business. I felt that if I could devote the time I gave to my jobs to this, I could exponentially increase my business. Well, I realized I could make money online when I began my article writing service, I realized the full potential I think at the end of 2007. That’s when I was at an all time high in revenue as an affiliate and advertiser but began looking at the possibility of owning a network. I do not remember “big moments” honestly. I remember a few good days here and there but I remember every time I took a hit or failure throughout the businesses I’ve been involved in. I keep my good days close, but my bad days closer. That way, I don’t make the same mistake twice.

What do you think more affiliates need to understand about the network side of things?
That a network is so much more than a place to go get offers to run. I briefly spoke on this in the Scott Rewick interview – http://www.convert2media.com/blog/2010/06/11/ruck-interviewed-by-scott-rewick/.
It would take too long to explain it in text but basically affiliates are very keen on using ppc, social media, media buys and email to get their traffic. I’ve been showing a lot of our more experienced publishers on how to build their own offers as an advertiser and monetize them as affiliates of C2M. This allows them to let us handle their quality and also allows them to build a side of their business that is performance driven and doesn’t have them setting up ppc or media buy campaigns. More on that later…

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations as a network owner?
Failure – Establishing a REAL coaching program. Everytime I’ve gotten started, 10 other things hit me at once. Frustrations – I can handle everything except non-paying advertisers. Just took a nasty hit recently that still has me wanting to pull some teeth.

What is the single toughest problem you’ve had to face in creating a successful company, and how did you get through it?
A single tough problem doesn’t really stand out, my partners and I are passionate about our company and our other businesses as well. I think the toughest problem has got to be that Steve, Michael and myself have to make calculated decisions together. Make the wrong one, we all suffer but make the right one, we all get to share the rewards together. I just feel fortunate enough to work with guys as passionate as I am and know that whatever decision will be made is one that we will all face together.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
The cliché is determination and dedication but honestly from working with thousands now and watching affiliates go from nothing to something over the last couple of years, I can say that affiliates who SERIOUSLY see this as a business versus wanting to make a few bucks are the ones who will see the most success. However, everyone has their goals, so if you are achieving them, that makes you successful in my eyes. No matter how small or big those goals may be.

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
Well, I hate working period right? I mean seriously, when I came into this business I thought I was gonna be sippin my martini’s from the pool on my laptop. 5 years later, that still isn’t happening. You have to have an absolute passion to stay ahead in this business. If you “hate” ANY aspect of your work, you will always suck at it. Sorry if that sounds harsh but “hate” is a thought stemmed from NOT WANTING TO DO SOMETHING, and if you don’t have what it takes or the determination to see every aspect and task of your business thru till the end, well you are going to develop a thought process that will spill over into other areas of your business or quite possibly, other businesses you create. EVERYTHING you do with your business, is an experience. Treat it as so. Don’t hate it, Respect it.

What is the future of marketing?
I’m not a psychic but some of the things coming down the pipe are iphone formatted offers. Cellular advertising will start ramping as well as instant messenger ads and mp3 players/ipods. I have so much faith in Marketing and Advertising that if I had my way, my ads would be in your face 24/7. If you are on your phone, I’m advertising to you. If you are chatting away on AIM, I’m advertising you. You want to go for a walk and listen to your ipod? Well, if it were up to me, I would advertise to you thru it. Some other things are the Mobile Dating marketing, especially localized. With more mobile type dating offers, and the communications industry at the top of it’s game, this is a vertical definitely worth looking into. Pay Per Call has been ramping up as well. Matter of fact, I believe Steve has a Pay Per Call deal coming to C2M soon.

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
My life the last 6 months has been a rollercoaster. I went thru a really bad negative period of my life and was able to pick myself up. I’ve gotten myself back into a healthy frame of mind and that started with weight loss. I have lost exactly 90 lbs since February 1st. I am trying to get those abs, like Volk. C2M has also developed themselves into being advertisers as well. We now own some of our own offers and will continue to build more.

What problems have you had with those new projects?
Running an affiliate network and owning your own offers has become a bit chaotic. I wouldn’t say it’s a problem but it definitely has become a test of patience and tolerance. Juggling the two is a challenge and I’m loving every minute of it.

Do you think anything particular in your past prepared you for this industry? Your education? Jobs you’ve held before?
I dropped out of college, went back, dropped out again. I held shit jobs all my life. I am never going back. Has it helped me? I cant really answer that for sure, but I can tell you it has motivated me enough to do whatever it takes day in and day out to continue to do WHAT I LOVE and not work for someone else’s benefit.

What are your greatest strengths?
I’m truth. I won’t bullshit you. I won’t sit back and be the guy who tells you everything will be ok when it won’t. You want brutal honesty, you get with me. Most people like to “think before they speak”. With me, what you see is what you get. I’m not going to tell you that I went to school, got a marketing degree, had investors help me start my company. You want truth? Nobody ever gave me shit. Everything I have is because I put my own ass on the line and took a chance. I keep my friends close and my enemies closer. My greatest strength is probably that when it REALLY comes down to it, I know and realize that when it comes down to it, I only have myself and the guys I am in business to rely on.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
Letting Steve and Michael talk me into shit. Seriously, I’ve never met or known two guys who can reason with me like these two. For the longest time, I had this defense wall in my business that it was “me against the world” and these two have shown me there really is good people in this industry that you can trust and rely on. That’s my weakness. You know you have it good when your greatest weakness is having two partners who knows what it takes to perfect the trifecta.

What motivates you?
I would be lying if I didn’t say money right? Yes, of course money motivates me. It motivates everyone. But do you know what really tickles me? Going to tradeshows and traveling around and meeting people face to face and to be told that you’ve somehow helped. Not to sound conceited, but here’s a taste of what I have awoken to the last few days from my blog, twitter and facebook.

PunchMyFace
June 9th, 2010 @10:30 am
EPIC Post. Listen to this man, I am living proof. I listened to Ruck and it changed my life.

Mike
June 9th, 2010 @12:12 pm
This is damn good stuff, exactly what a newb like me needs to know, because this is exactly what I am doing…jumping around all over the place. I am not signed up with you all yet, but this post combined with those two millionaire posts show me that I need to be. I will be filling out your app ASAP. Thanks again for the wake up call.

OHH SNAP, WHO’S THIS?

Jonathan Volk
June 10th, 2010 @7:45 am
“Whatever level of success you want to achieve, I assure you that there will be some form of sacrifice you will have to make. The difference between those still dreaming and the ones living it, is that some will make those sacrifices without hesitation. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve yours?”
Great truth right there.

@ruck listened to the interview with Scott – loved it

@ruckCool story bro

@ruck great interview man, just listened and really enjoyed it!

Darryl Thomas Jr.
“people have dreams about what they want their business to be, but they dont realize the nightmares of what it’ll take to get there”…best. business quote. Ever.

If this isn’t motivating, I dont know what is!

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
Believe it or not, the best advice I’ve been given was in the last two weeks. Never look at a situation in a negative state of mind. Everything happens for a reason but if you dwell on the bad, that’s what you will get. Look at everything from a positive state of mind and that’s how things will come to you. I’ve never been into that “hokie pokie” shit but over the last two weeks, things have changed so dramatically for me that I cannot stress how important staying positive no matter what will do for you.

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
My partners Steve and Michael. People reading this might start to get sick of seeing it but I cannot stress how much more you can achieve having people work with you who support, reason and will pay the same dues as you if things don’t go according to plan. They’ll be there picking themselves up too.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
Non-Paying Advertisers and Fraudulent affiliates. Of course now that everything is all legal and political I really got to watch what I say here. I can tell you for sure though, don’t ever do business with a Patrick Terry or Chris Hopson. These two guys owe millions of dollars across many networks and merchant processors. That’s really all the name dropping I will do there because everyone else has their ass either in collections or a legal swing with us.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
I would like to put a decade in this business and re-evaluate what I am doing. There’s probably a set number of money to make and be comfortable with but fortunately for me, you can read those comments above. How do you stop working on something you love? How do you stop taking compliments from people like that? Seriously, how can you stop? If money was no object, and I had to pick a hobby, you would catch me fishing. That’s not going to happen though, so you are stuck with me for a long time.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
In a country not paying these bullshit taxes. Seriously, I want to be moving forward. I’m not a past dweller and I don’t really even live in the “moment” anymore. The most important days are in front of me and hopefully in ten years I can say again “The most important days are in front of me”.

How do you like to spend your free time? What does work-life balance mean to you? 
I spend my free time with my kids, my girl and her kids. Work-Life balance? It didn’t mean much to me until recently. I’ve taken a step back and started to enjoy life a bit more. It’s hard NOT to work when you love it so much but really you have to take breaks and see life from all angles.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
I would have ran the living crap out of email submits on myspace a helleva lot longer than I did . Honestly for me being a believer in everything happens for a reason, had I chosen a different career path, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now, and I wouldn’t get to have what I have now.

What is your greatest achievement outside of work?  What are some of your unfulfilled dreams?
My greatest achievement is my kids. My second greatest achievement is meeting someone who actually gets me and has shown me a different side than what I was normally used to. Out with the old, in with the new! Unfulfilled dreams – Catching a Mekong catfish in Thailand, going to Venice, Italy. I’m a pretty simple guy and will be achieving these dreams just as soon as I take a break.

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2010.

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I then began to think of putting up a Job board on my website just for that purpose. After thinking about it for a little bit longer, I decided to expand that to all affiliate marketing related jobs.

So without further ado, if you would like to look for or post (it’s free) a job related to affiliate marketing, This is your place!

The current categories are:

• Advertiser Manager Jobs
• Affiliate Manage Jobsr
• Graphic Designer Jobs
• Internal Marketer Jobs
• Management Jobs
• Media Buyer Jobs
• Programmer Jobs
• Sales Jobs

http://Jobs.JonathanVolk.com

Let me know what you think and feel free to post!

Thanks!

© JonathanVolk.com - A Blog about Making Money Online, 2009.

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• Get My Affiliate Marketing Guide!