Interview: Scott Richter (affiliate.com)

We're very excited to present our 13th interview with Scott Richter of affiliate.com. Scott Richter is a true online marketing pioneer, having launched one of the earliest and most successful CPA affiliate networks in the industry. As the founder and CEO of Media Breakaway, LLC (parent company of affiliate.com) Scott is one of the most recognized figures in online marketing and remains on the cutting edge of the industry.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you?

I am 39 years old and was born and raised near Denver, CO.

2. How long have you been in Affiliate Marketing and how did you get involved?

I began getting into affiliate marketing in the late nineties, leveraging it to sell a variety of different products online. Seeing the incredible potential of the industry I began building my own online and affiliate marketing business and launched CPA Empire (later renamed affiliate.com) in 2001.

3. What was your biggest success to date?

While there have been lots of great achievements along the way, I think the biggest success we have had is in building a company that is in the business for the long haul. In this industry there are a lot of companies that are successful for a short period and then disappear. Building a long-term business that keeps growing and evolving over the years is the real measure of success.

4. Tell us a little bit about affiliate.com and what you do over there?

affiliate.com is one of the largest and longest standing CPA affiliate networks in the industry. Over the last 10 years, we have helped thousands of publishers make money online, with many of them becoming true super-affiliates. We have also assisted hundreds of advertisers market their products and services by leveraging affiliate marketing to grow their businesses.

5. There are already so many CPA Affiliate Networks out there. What makes affiliate.com different?

One of our biggest differentiators is our long track record of success in helping affiliates drive revenue and advertisers grow their businesses. Over the years, we have seen literally hundreds of networks come and go, while we are one of the few that have stood the test of time. This gives us a strong foundation that we have used to develop a variety of businesses in the online marketing arena – from email marketing and mobile, to domain registration and social application development, we have expanded our business to provide even more opportunities for our affiliates and advertisers.

6. Which offers are performing well on your network?

We have strong performers in many different verticals. We have top performing offers in finance, EDU, diet, dating, social media, insurance, and a host of other areas.

7. Which traffic sources prove to be the most effective for your top earning Affiliates - E-mail, PPC, PPV, Facebook, Media Buying or any others?

We have affiliates who do extremely well with every traffic source.

8. What are the criteria for a marketer to be accepted at affiliate.com?

Every affiliate application goes through a fairly strict screening process, involving an evaluation, as well as direct contact with our pending affiliate team to ensure that we only work with high quality publishers. Basically, we are looking for affiliate marketers with experience in the industry and a history of compliant marketing.

9. For those who are interested in working with you and your Affiliate Network - What's the best way/time to reach you?

Affiliates should click here and fill out an online application. Advertisers should either click here and fill out our online form or call us at (720) 929-2832.

10. What are the best places for the newbie to learn Affiliate Marketing? What advice would you give for them?

There are tons of sources for new affiliates looking to break into the industry. I do recommend checking out a variety of online training programs before spending money on the first site you run across that promises to teach you how to make money online. There are plenty of great training programs out there, but there are also plenty of bad ones. Basically, if a program sounds too good to be true (like promising to make you an internet millionaire with no effort) then it probably isn’t something you want to get involved with. Attending a show like Affiliate Summit can be a great way to learn about the industry and meet successful affiliates.

11. What's the difference between a Super-Affiliate and an average Affiliate?

A lot of times the biggest factor in being successful as an affiliate is hard work and a commitment to growing your business. Constantly look for ways to improve your performance, test new offers and verticals and try to find new ways to engage with your audience. Typically affiliates who put in the most effort have the most success.

12. What are the keys to building successful relationships between Affiliates and Affiliate Networks?

It really starts with trust and communication. When affiliate managers really understand their affiliate’s goals and business models they can become an invaluable resource in helping the affiliate grow their business.

13. What do you think about where the industry is going? What advice would you give to Affiliates to keep up the pace.

The affiliate marketing industry is always evolving. From the development of new marketing vehicles (mobile, social media, etc.) to the constantly evolving compliance and best practices guidelines the industry seems to be changing at a faster pace every year. The key to success is staying on top of the latest developments and finding innovative ways to leverage new mediums and make your marketing messages stand out from the rest.

Many thanks to Scott for allowing this interview! If you have any experience with affiliate.com Affiliate Network, please write a review for them on the affiliate.com review page. Ps. If you are an affiliate marketer, AM or Network owner and are interested in answering a few questions about you, your network and affiliate marketing, please drop us a message.