It’s been over a year since I have given my last two interviews. Both happened in early spring 2010: one was given to the Search Engine Journal, while the other one to the Revenue Performance magazine. After that I dove into the work on my newest book, and only now that the book is finished and released, I have a bit more time for interviews, articles and new conference appearances.

Over the past two days, two new interviews came out, and today I’d like to draw your attention to them.

One was with Janice Scrim of ShareResults:

…and the other interview (which turned into more of an article on “affiliate management nightmares”) was with Linda Bustos of GetElastic:

I thoroughly enjoyed both, and want to thank both Janice and Linda for their initiatives.

If you are subscribed to Revenue Performance, you have probably already seen it. The magazine that has historically been the oldest in the affiliate marketing industry has published an interview with me in its newest Summer 2010 issue, and I think it turned out pretty cool.

Here’s my favorite part:

Favorite book?
The Red and the Black by Stendhal, and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.

Favorite movie?
The ones I’ve watched four times or more are The Godfather, The Fugitive, The Saint, Enemy of the State, Patch Adams, Babe (yes, the one about the pig), and a number of historic/biographical movies by Russian directors.

Favorite music?
I listen mostly to Russian music in the genre of Russian “city romance”, but also enjoy good jazz, country western, and sometimes roll back to my youth reaching for a CD of Joe Dassin, Chris de Burgh, Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, or Bon Jovi.

Favorite TV show?
I hardly ever watch TV but when I do it’s news, soccer, or something like How It’s Made.

Favorite place in the world?
Where my family (wife and daughter) is because nothing means more to me than my daughter’s laughter. We’ve lived in Russia, Moldova, Britain and the USA, and I’ve traveled to 100+ cities, but it’s still only ever home and family that restores me.

Any pets?
Not since my bull terrier Teddy dies 3 years ago, but now that my daughter’s capable of taking care of a pet, we’re considering taking off gradually: starting with aquarium fish or a hamster, and then seeing how it goes.

Three things you love?
My family, work, fishing.

Three things you dislike?
Envy, laziness, pessimism.

What’s the best thing that ever happened to you?
The birth of my daughter.

If you could change one thing in the world what would it be?
If it were in my power, I’d make it impossible for any child to get hurt.

What’s your passion?
My work.

Since the above piece is just a small excerpt from it, I have just uploaded the full interview in PDF here, and those of my blog’s readers who are not getting the Revenue magazine in the mail can now read it too.

Thanks to Chris Trayhorn, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, for the opportunity, and great questions.

This was the topic of our discussion with Anita Campbell on her today’s Small Business Trends Radio show. It was a good interview chock-full of information that any small businesses can take, and start using right away. Anita asked over a dozen of great practical questions (I am a huge fan of anything that falls under the category of actionable knowledge; so I really liked that approach). Here’s just one of them (with my reply to it):

(9:02) If I am a business owner of a small business, how do I know if an affiliate program is right for my business?  Which types of businesses are affiliate programs best suited for?

This is a very good and, actually, a very frequently asked question. I’d say you want to ask yourself another question to find the answer the one that you’ve just posed. Do your products (or services) sell online already? Are you having success marketing them through other channels like paid search, organic listings, banner advertising, video… Do they actually sell online? …If the answer is yes, (then) the affiliate marketing is the right way of marketing your product as well. The reason for that is that affiliate marketing is actually not a type of marketing or a kind of marketing. It’s essentially a model that works with any type of online marketing. …if, for example, you’re paying your paid search consultant, or someone who is managing your Google AdWords campaigns, you are paying them on an hourly basis, and maybe partially performance basis. With affiliates it’s just for performance. They will do their paid search, and direct traffic to you — be it through their website or directly, however you spell it out in your program’s Terms of Service — but they will be remunerated just on performance basis. …only when you see those sales, you’ll pay them.

You may listen to the whole 33:25m interview below or on the BlogTalkRadio website here.

I’m always open to giving interviews (print, radio, or video). So, if you are reading this, and have any such proposals, I’d love to hear from you at geno /at/ amnavigator dot com.

I am a long-time fan of Small Business Trends and what they are doing to educate small businesses through their blog, interviews, publications, and, of course, their radio show. I have first met Anita Campbell, the owner and CEO of Small Business Trends LLC, in July of 2007 – in steaming hot Miami, FL at Affiliate Summit East 2007. Back then she interviewed me on my first book (and affiliate marketing in general), A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing. Our paths have crossed more than once since then, but having listened a few times to Anita’s radio that she’s been running since November 2005, I have been especially honored to hear from her when she asked if I could appear on her show, and talk to her listeners what starting an affiliate marketing program could do for them, and how they should go about it.

The show is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, January 26 2007 at 1:30 pm EST:

The call-in number is  (+1) 646-716-8886, or you may listen to it online (both live, and at any time after the show) by following this link.

Looking forward to the talk, hoping to be of value to the myriad of small businesses (especially those with online presence) out there.

I have given an interview to the Affilorama affiliate training portal which operates out of Christchurch, New Zealand. We’ve had good chat with Chris who made sure the discussion was full of thought-provoking questions, and I thank him for structuring the interview the way he did. I really enjoyed it.

Among the questions covered, we have touched upon the following two:

Question: Could you tell us what you think the biggest mistakes beginners make in affiliate marketing so that we can try to avoid them?

1. Putting all eggs in one basket (trusting wholeheartedly any single merchant, affiliate network, or investing your money into one campaign, or focusing on just one method of promotion)
2. Spamming
3. Leaving the call-to-action out
4. Failing to test
5. Failing to spend time learning
6. Expecting quick results

and

Question: When you’re an affiliate and you’re looking through new affiliate programs to promote, what do you think are the most important things to look for within the affiliate program? What are indicators of a really good affiliate program versus a questionable one?

1. Search the Internet for any feedback on the program
2. Ensure that the program doesn’t partner with affiliates that are known for being unethical
3. Look at the key metrics (reversal rate, EPC, conversion rate, etc)
4. Review the tools and creatives that are made available to affiliates
5. Ensure there’s a real person behind the program (email them)

In addition to these we have also discussed topics as diverse as (a) how affiliates can improve their writing skills, (b) what exactly is the U.S. advertising tax, and how it may hurt the affiliate marketing industry, (c) how the new Federal Trade Commission’s rules and regulations may affect affiliates, (d) why it is important to develop personal relationships between affiliates and affiliate program managers, and much more.

You may listen to (or download) the full interview here (you’ll want to scroll down to the bottom of Chris’ post). I hope you will find it of use, and if it raises additional questions, do not hesitate to post them below.

I have been interviewed by Avangate, the Netherlands-headquartered IT solutions company that also runs an affiliate network for software vendors. Cristian of Avangate asked some interesting and thought-provoking questions, on topics that ranged from how I came into affiliate marketing to the future of affiliate marketing, from techniques of how to best handle communication with affiliates to what makes a manager a good leader and motivator.

Here’s a quick excerpt from our conversation with Avangate:

Cristian Miculi: You wrote a very interesting post about the differences between management and leadership. What does it take to be an affiliate leader (not only manager)?

Geno Prussakov: The full answer to your question would take a book. If, however, I were to narrow things down to, say, three essential steps to becoming a true affiliate leader, they would be: (1) stop managing, (2) start listening, and (3) stand up for your values. Yes, affiliate program managers need to understand that management is not for affiliates. They can manage an affiliate program, but when it comes to affiliates, they should be sensitive and open-minded leaders. Additionally, many affiliate program managers are talking at their affiliates, but never bother to really listen, and respond to them. And, finally, it is sad but true — some affiliate program managers live by low ethical standards, which eventually hinder the development of the industry in the right direction.

The full interview may be viewed here.

Jan Petrovic of ProImpact7.com has interviewed me yesterday.

In the course of the interview Jan has asked a number of very good questions that led me to describe my path to becoming an affiliate marketing consultant, my clients and successes, my books, and more specific questions related to affiliate program management. Here’s just one of them:

Jan: What affiliate networks would you recommend for start-ups (retailers and software vendors) with not much money but with big aspirations, and what affiliate networks for those with the money?

Geno: While shopping around and comparing affiliate networks [North American readers can start here], it should never be just the question of investment required to be made in order to start an affiliate program. The answer will always  depend on (i) the country predominantly targeted by the merchant, (ii) the specifics of the merchant’s niche (there are networks just for software vendors, and there are those for e-tailers with large data feeds, there are wedding-centered affiliate networks, etc), (iii) how closely the affiliate program will be managed, and other factors. In North America I would recommend to choose between AvantLink, buy.at and ShareASale (in alphabetical order only), while in the UK — between PaidOnResults and buy.at…

Read the full 1,500+ words interview by following this link.