The next interview of the week is with Derek Beauchemin. He has been making money online since the year 2000, and his blog DerekBeau.com is another one of my favorites to read daily!
When did you get into making money online in general?
In my autobiography post, I mentioned that I first made money online sometime during the year 2000 when I was 14 years old. I didn’t take it seriously until about Spring 2004 when I was 18. I began bringing in revenue through both website publishing and PPC affiliate marketing.
What aspects of marketing do you currently do online and what is your favorite?
I do a lot of different things: pay-per-click marketing, affiliate marketing, product development, opt-in email marketing, direct response marketing, web publishing, web development, website purchasing, and eBay. The bulk of my income comes from pay-per-click affiliate marketing, but I also make money in the other areas. I am currently focusing on growing the web publishing/development area of my business so that I am not as reliant on a single strategy.
I understand you don’t like talking about it, however the PPC tool you created made quite a buzz online! Could you give us any details on why you took it down?
Sure, it was taken down because the creators of the original tool wanted to protect their business. When I purchased their software, I accepted an agreement which stated that I was not allowed to create derivative works. I overlooked this part of the agreement and was unaware that what I was doing could cause legal issues. I spoke with the guys from the original tool and we came to a settlement agreement which included no longer distributing my tool. And before anyone criticizes, yes, I did speak with an attorney.
Your blog DerekBeau.com is becoming very popular. What inspired you to start blogging?
Ever since I’ve been making money online, I have wanted to blog about it. It’s just one of the topics that I am most interested in. I always hesitated because I thought I wouldn’t have much to contribute, but after seeing some of the top bloggers making it in this niche, I decided to give it a try.
Is blogging more of a hobby for you, or are you looking to profit from it?
I do have blogs that are for profit only. I don’t really have any interest in writing for them and I try to hire as much of the content creation as I can. With DerekBeau.com, however, it is a hobby that I want to profit from. I enjoy writing about make money online topics and building relationships with others in the niche. The profit that I want to achieve is in the form of building valuable relationships, having a voice in the industry, and of course collecting some extra revenue.
Do you attend any conferences pertaining to affiliate marketing/internet marketing? If so what is your favorite?
I have not yet attended any conferences, but I really want to in the future. The reasons I haven’t attended were really just convenience issues. I’m currently enrolled full time at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, MI, but will be graduating soon. Hopefully then I can start going to these conferences.
What affiliate networks would you recommend to the new affiliate marketer?
Some of the main networks I have had good experiences with include:
AzoogleAds
Have you set any goals for DerekBeau.com, or for yourself as to where you want to be in 6 months…a year?
I don’t really have any concrete goals yet, just vague goals to increase readership. I have been very pleased with the growth in RSS subscribers but would like to get more unique visitors through direct links and search engines (which are kind of ignoring me at the moment).
What tip could you give someone who is struggling to make money online?
The three best tips to help you make money online are to just get started, put all your efforts into it, and learn from your experiences. If you focus on those three things, you will be well on your way to making money online.
Thank you very much for your time.
Your welcome!
So if you have not yet subscribed to his RSS feed, go to DerekBeau.com and do it! Every post by him has priceless value!
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November 13th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
great interview. I would however like to mention that the affiliate network links are messed up. All but azoogle point to neverblueads.com Good job with the interview.
November 14th, 2007 at 7:56 am
Thank you for pointing that out! It has been fixed.