When I started this blog, I had the idea that I would interview fellow bloggers/internet marketers. I only expected to do a few interviews, but ended up doing alot and now love to interview people. I usually do about one a week.

I keep my choices on who to interview pretty selective. There are a few problems with this, most of the time they are either extremely busy or too high on their horse to give me a reply. That’s fine, I understand you are busy, but at least reply with a simple “No thanks, too busy”…

Anyways, if you are looking to interview someone who is alot more popular online than you are, here are a few tips on how to get in touch with them, and how to get them to respond.

1. Always include the interview questions with the inquiry. They are probably pretty busy, so if you email them and say “Hey, can I do an interview with you”, you are wasting their time because they then reply yes, or no, then you have to write up the questions and by that time they may have forgotten.
2. Keep the questions on topic, and allow them to promote one of their products/services. I don’t mean let them plug their product randomly throughout the interview, however make sure in one of your questions you are asking them about their product, and how one goes about obtaining it or finding it. For example, pretty much everyone who goes on The Late Show With David Letterman, is paid and always promotes something of theirs. Its the whole point…
3. Find different ways to contact them than email. Their inbox is probably really packed already, and they might just skip over it because of more important things to do. Try adding them as a friend on Facebook then sending them a message or writing on their wall. If you add them as a friend on Facebook, they may have their screen names listed, try and send them a quick IM and see if you get a response. 
4. Don’t ask questions that are easily found on their blog or in a profile on their site. For example, if I wanted to interview Shoemoney, I wouldn’t ask “How did you get into internet marketing?” as it is already listed on his blog.

These are a few things I usually do in order to try and obtain an interview. I often stop asking if they don’t respond to two requests over a 3-4 week period. Good Luck!

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Here is a great video I found with Bill Gates about how he is now completely leaving Microsoft for good.

Popularity: 21% [?]

It seems strange that internet marketers would read magazines right? I mean we are online all day every day, and the internet is one of the fastest ways to obtain news. However I still think that internet marketers should still read a few popular publications from the industry. Most of them are free anyways!

1. Website Magazine - I have been getting this magazine for awhile now. It comes six times a year and is a great read. I tend to notice that some of the articles are EXTREMELY out dated, however I still enjoy reading it, and get alot of inspiration for blog posts from it. It is free to subscribe, and they offer an affiliate program.

2. Revenue - This is the number one magazine for affiliate marketers. It is my favorite of the four, mainly because of how targeted it is at affiliate marketing. Many up to date helpful articles written every issue. One thing I like looking at is all the ads from the affiliate companies I am signed up with. Weird to see their ads in a magazine and not on a website. This is the only magazine you can buy in stores I think, and it costs $4.99. You can also subscribe from their website, and can apply for a free subscription.

3. Search Marketing Standard - This is probably my second favorite magazine to get in the mail. The entire magazine is obviously based on search marketing, and could really help someone looking to start paid search campaigns. The magazine is $15 to subscribe to, however it is pretty easy to get a free subscription if you apply.

4. Domainer’s - Although I never really got into buying alot of domains, I still really like the magazine. The title of it describes it all, geared toward people into domaining. Truthfully, I have no idea how or why they started sending me the magazine, as I never requested it, but it turned out for the better!

All of these magazines are worth subscribing to. I learn alot from them, and often get ideas for things to blog about from them.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Shawn Collins has been a great contributer to the internet marketing world. He co-founded affiliate summit, and runs a very helpful blog, blog.affiliatetip.com. Thanks to Mr. Collins for taking the time out to do the interview!

You currently have many projects going online, do you have a favorite?
[Shawn Collins] As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a writer. So I see blogging as something of a passion project. I enjoy writing every day on affiliate marketing and other subjects.
 
Why did you decided to start Affiliate Summit?
[Shawn Collins] There was an existing conference called Affiliate Force, but I thought there were a lot of aspects that could be improved. I offered my suggestions to the guy running Affiliate Force, and he wasn’t interested in what I had to say. Soon after, I approached my current partner, Missy Ward, and we began devising Affiliate Summit.
 
Affiliate Summit has seen great success. Any big plans for the future?
[Shawn Collins] In addition to the big east and west Affiliate Summit shows, we are going to start putting on single day niche events around the U.S. (i.e. social media and affiliate marketing or video and affiliate marketing).
 
Why type of internet marketing got you started in the industry?
[Shawn Collins] I didn’t have any marketing background when I got started. In early 1997, I started up as an affiliate for Amazon, and later that year I managed to get a job as an affiliate manager for an online medical bookstore. It was on the job training and I’ve learned every day since then.
 
What effect do you think blogging has had on affiliate marketing?
[Shawn Collins] Blogs has been a blessing and a curse for affiliate marketing. The blog as a publishing platform has made it easier for aspiring affiliates to get into the business and make money without any technical skills. However, the automation enabled by blogs has led to extensive content theft, spam blogs, comment spam, etc.
 
Do you have any blogs you read on a daily basis?
[Shawn Collins] Off the top of my head, I regularly read 45n5.com, calacanis.com, CostPerNews.com, JimKukral.com, ReveNews.com, Search Engine Land, and Seth Godin’s Blog.
 
Any personal plans/goals you have coming into the new year?
[Shawn Collins] I actually just blogged about that a couple days ago: http://blog.affiliatetip.com/archives/new-years-resolutions-from-affiliate-summit/

 Thanks to Shawn Collins again for doing the interview! Everyone go and check out blog.affiliatetip.com, tons of useful information there! 

Affiliate Summit West is coming up and I wish I could go, however I am only 18 so going to Vegas would not be much fun for me. I will however be attending Affiliate Summit East in Boston this August! Is anyone else going?

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Popularity: 30% [?]

It seems there is another battle brewing between two blogs, WinningTheWeb.com and TylerCruz.com.

Both blogs are very similar in nature, however TylerCruz.com has much better stats than WinningTheWeb.com.

I have decided to participate in the contest. In the guidelines you must write a blog post about who you have decided to vote for and why. You can win $100 cash if your name is drawn, and there will be three $100 prizes. The loser of the contest must pay three lucky winners $100 of who voted for the winning blog.

My vote is going for Gyutae from WinningTheWeb.com. It was a tough decision as I love both blogs, however it seems like Gyutae is EXTREMELY motivated for people to read his blog. I like how he jump started his blog by buying all those reviews, and then gave away all those reviews. It was such a great idea, and brought him alot of traffic. I remember reading a blog post from JohnChow.com about the art of the ramp, which basically states that its better get a huge rush of traffic one day, than to spread out your advertising campaign throughout the week. I wish I would have thought of it :(  WinningTheWeb.com is also giving out 30 free t-shirts to the first 30 voters. That was a great idea by Gyutea, as everyone loves a free t-shirt, and even if they don’t win the $100, they are still winning something!

Stats say that Tyler will win, he has over 1000 subscribers and his blog has been around for much longer. However I am going for the underdog here. I think Gyutae is fresher in the minds of bloggers and internet marketers, as everyone remembers the big review giveaways just before Christmas. I think Gyutea is alot more motivated to get his blog noticed throughout the web, since it is so new.

I am pulling for you Gyutae, and hope you win!

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Popularity: 18% [?]

If you are new to promoting offers through Yahoo! search marketing, you may want to check out their free webinars for more information about how to get a campaign started with them. The webinars are pretty basic, so I would only register if you have never advertised on Yahoo! or just started.

Sign up for them here.

The sessions coming up currently cover: 

Webinar #1: Key Terms, Account Interface Overview and Structure
How the Sponsored Search product works
The account structure and the elements at each level
A high-level review of each main section of the account interface
 

Webinar #2: Creating a New Campaign
An eight-step process that includes:
Adding keywords using the keyword selector tool
Creating two ads to test performance
Geo-targeting and match types
 

Webinar #3: Keyword Tips and Best Practices
How adding keywords can lead to an increase in traffic and an overall improvement in your account’s effectiveness
Ensuring keywords are related to the content, theme and purpose of your web site
Using match types and excluded words

Again, as you can tell by the descriptions… they are covering the basics.

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So I just got an email telling me that Ask.com is being sued for click fraud. I guess alot of people didn’t really like the traffic, so they are suing for advertising credits. Here is how my story goes:

Back in October, Ask.com was at the ecomxpo, and they were giving away $50 advertising vouchers. I had never advertised on Ask.com before, so I thought I would try it as it was totally free. The campaign ran, and I got 0 conversions. I never advertised on Ask again.

About two weeks ago I got a phone call from Ask.com asking me if everything was “OK” with my account. Kinda a strange phone call as they basically asked me why I am not spending any money with them. I told them I didn’t like the traffic and they left me alone.

Then I get this email:

Legal Notice:

If you purchased online advertising from IAC Search & Media, Inc. and/or Ask Jeeves, Inc. (collectively “Ask”) between August 1, 2005 and the present, you may be a class member in a class-action lawsuit, Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles et al. v. Ask Jeeves, Inc. et al., Case No. CV-2005-52-1, in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas. This notice advises you of your legal rights.

You should review the detailed Settlement Notice as soon as possible, as there are several important deadlines that you must meet to take certain actions in connection with a proposed settlement of the class action lawsuit. Your legal rights are affected whether you act or do not act. The deadline for filing an objection or excluding yourself from the proposed settlement is February 2, 2008, and the last day to file a claim under the proposed settlement is February 2, 2008. For further information, please refer to the Settlement Notice.

The Settlement Notice informs you of the Court’s certification of a class for settlement purposes; the nature of the claims alleged; your right to participate in, or exclude yourself from, the class; a proposed settlement; and how you can claim an award of advertising credits under the settlement or object to the settlement.
The proposed settlement will provide advertising credits to class members who certify that they were the victims of “click fraud” or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements purchased from IAC Search & Media, Inc. and/or Ask Jeeves, Inc. on or after August 1, 2005.

The proposed settlement will resolve claims that IAC Search & Media, Inc. and/or Ask Jeeves, Inc. breached its contracts with advertisers and violated other laws by failing to adequately detect and stop “click fraud” or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements.

If you are a member of the class, your legal rights are affected by whether you act or do not act.
For a copy of the Settlement Notice, click on the link, or visit the case website at www.AskSettlement.com.

To file a claim for your award of advertising credits under the settlement, click on the following link: AskSettlement.com/claim. Each advertiser will be allowed one claim per account.

I have no idea if this is fake or what, but it seems pretty legit. I am personally not going to do anything about it because technically I didn’t spend any money with them, so it doesn’t bother me. However, if you spent alot of money with them, it seems you may be able to get it back.

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Popularity: 35% [?]