Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Derek Salyers from ClickConsultants.He is a very successful affiliate marketer that has helped bring up some of the industries big names such as Jonathan Volk. He is a pleasure to talk to and has a wealth of information to share about affiliate marketing. If you haven`t checked out his blog yet, do so NOW! Without further ado, enjoy this interview:

 

Mattaw: What made you decide to get into affiliate marketing (versus say content writing or ad sales)?

 

Derek: I first got started doing arbitrage. Basically buying traffic from one search engine and sending it to another. I did really well with that, however, it slowly started to die. I then tried to start finding way to replace the income and started several content sites and using SEO to drive traffic. That took too long and I didn’t have the patience for it. I then ran into affiliate marketing by accident and loved the fact that I could instantly see traffic and sales.

 

Mattaw: How long have you been affiliate marketing for?

 

Derek: A little over one year.

 

Mattaw: What affiliate networks do you use, and why did you pick them over the others out there?

 

Derek: I use a couple different affiliate networks including AzoogleAds, Copeac, ClickBank, and Comission Junction. I choose my affiliate networks by either the level of personal attention I receive or their selection of offers they have available for their affiliates.

 

Mattaw: If you can release it what was the most you made in one month off the top of your head from affiliate marketing

 

Derek: Just off the top of my head, it was somewhere around 50,000 dollars. Actually this was a personal record I just set within the last couple months. I think that was the month of February or March

 

Mattaw: I always want to ask big affiliate marketers this, are you ever worried about loosing a ton of money (so much that you can’t recover) on a campaign? and if no, why not?

 

Derek: Actually I’ve done that. I was making good money from affiliate marketing about 10,000 a month, however, I was spending it on too much stuff instead of reinvesting it. Needless to say, my main campaign tanked and I started to lose massive amounts of money on it. It got to the point that I almost had to go back to a 9-5 job. Luckily in the end I pulled though. So to any new affiliates I recommend making sure you reinvest your money and not get a head of yourself

 

Mattaw: What did your wife say when you quit your job to work online full time?

 

Derek: I actually was already pretty successful online when my wife and I got married so it wasn’t ever an issue for her when I moved into affiliate marketing.

 

Mattaw: I know there are two trains of thought in terms of how to get started in aff marketing: jump in and learn or read all you can then jump in, which do you follow?

 

Derek: I personally at the time didn’t have a large amount of funds to risk losing, so I went with the read all you can then jump in. The problem is though that most affiliates spend too much time reading. You do need to act, but I think you should understand all the basics first before jumping in. Jumping in can provide you with a ton of information you won’t find anywhere else.

 

Mattaw: How do you personally test if an offer is worth pursuing?

 

Derek: Hm, thats a little harder question to answer. The best way, in my opinion, is to simply setup the campaign just like you would any campaign that you knew was worth pursuing. Not every offer you test will work out. In fact, there are plenty of times that I spend weeks working on a niche and it bombs and even after attempting to make it a profitable niche that fails. I simply then move on to the next one.

 

Mattaw: Why in a nutshell did you start your blog, and what do you hope your readers will gain from it?

 

Derek: I started my blog for two reasons. First and foremost because I truly want to help people become successful in this online business. I work a job where I don’t have to worry about missing my daughters choir concert, missing her first steps, her first day of kindergarten, etc. It’s a lifestyle that I hope I help many people succeed. The other reason is to allow myself a better way of networking with other affiliates, networks, and advertisers. You’ve heard it before and it’s the truth. In this business, networking is a major key to success!

 

Mattaw: Okay, describe guys you brought up like Jonathan Volk and Paul from Uberaffiliate when they started out, what set them apart?

 

Derek: The number one key that made these two people successful the way they are, in fact, isn’t my doing. While I may of helped them both in the beginning with the basic, they had the motivation and the willingness to learn that lead them to becoming, in my opinion, super affiliates!

 

Mattaw: If you had to pick out one characteristic all successful affiliate marketers have in common what would it be?

 

Derek: Able to continue evolve the way they think and be able to predict the next step affiliate marketing will move to.

 

Mattaw: In what environment do you do your work (describe your workspace)

 

Derek: I have a separate room in my house which is strictly my office. I currently have a Dell Desktop with a 23in LCD screen, an HP Desktop with a 30in screen and a Toshiba laptop. I like Japanese Anime so my office in done in anime decor.

 

Mattaw: In principal if you made $100,000 in a month, how much would you re invest back into affiliate marketing?

 

Derek: If you talking about $100,000 profit, I would put $40,000 back into affiliate marketing for testing new markets, expanding on current niches, or whatever else I may need. So about 40%

 

Mattaw: Any parting tips/words for the Moneybites.com readers?

 

Derek: Affiliate Marketing is a business that anyone can do and make tons of money with as long as they are willing to put in the time and work involved. It’s a great field to be in with high rewards for all your work. If you haven’t at least given affiliate marketing a try, I would highly suggest you do so!

 

I would like to thank Derek for this great interview. Once again, check out his blog here!