Matt Moog from Viewpoints Network
SEO, affiliate marketing, community, lead generation, media buying, venture capital, viral marketing
Matt Moog was previously the CEO of CoolSavings and before that did presentations with Bill Gates at Microsoft. Matt talks about his time at CoolSavings (the original coupon site on the web), which included taking the company public and then back to being private. He also talks about how Viewpoints is creating a modern version of epinions, and which could become an amazing lead generation platform for advertisers, offering hot transfer leads from customers who are ready to buy. He's doing this while providing a lot of value to consumers. He's finding a way to generate leads which should generate a lot of loyalty from consumers.Full Interview »
Abed Abusaleh from Euro RSCG is one of the very top media buyers from one of the top TV agencies so this was a pretty rare insight to get. Some Internet guys will be saying this is a pointless interview - but actually many direct response techniques we use to sell on the web came from TV. And these guys do a lot of volume, around $500M/year and run about 30% of the TV marketplace. Abed gives us an inside look at what it takes to get a show produced and enter the world of long-form (i.e. 30 min) infomercials. You can also find out how you can get your Internet products started on TV for $5k.
This interview is with Jordan Finger of Ardis Health, which is an online product-marketing company. Because his company sells a physical product, Jordan has to manage more back-office logistics than many of you. He's also had more international success (in the UK) than anyone I have heard of so far. Ardis Health does a lot of media buying to drive traffic. Also in the interview, Jordan highlights the importance of copy for developing high converting offers.
This interview is with Brad Powers, CEO of Active Response Group in New York. ARG is an online lead generation company that owns and operates 400 different sites as well as runs its own banner network serving 4.5-6 billion impressions per month. It's an interesting mix of being both a lead generation company and a publisher I haven't come across before. One thing that sets ARG apart from many Internet companies is that it answers to a board of directors. Brad shares the importance of having mentors to help walk your company through financial, operational, and legal issues. His insight is helpful, especially if your company is growing very quickly - and these guys have had phenomenal growth.
This interview is with Ian Schafer, the CEO and founder of a New York City based full-service interactive marketing agency called Deep Focus. Ian talks about how he got the first major paid video advertising on YouTube. He explains how he gets deals set up with companies like MySpace, and how it is to run the Internet advertising for HBO, including TV shows like the Sopranos and (my favourite!) Entourage. Ian also gives us insight into his hiring process and how he selects senior managers.
This interview is with Chris Young, who founded Klipmart, which he sold to DoubleClick. He recently started the Digital Broadcasting Group. His businesses have focused on online video, advertising, sponsorship, and promotion. Chris has worked on some really interesting things in the online world by incorporating video ads into web ads. His video advertising runs on sites like: MaximOnline.com, MTV, Heavy.com, IGN.com, GameSpy, Yahoo Games and MSN Entertainment.
This interview is with Mark Kahn of TRAFFIQ.com, which is a marketplace for branded traffic inventory a bit like eBay. Publishers put their inventory on it, and media buyers can buy it. Traffiq is an unusual company for our interviews since it’s raised quite a bit of VC capital. But they have a good model so it’s worth reading about. Mark talks about TRAFFIQ’s platform and inventory, and he shares how the level of information a seller provides can dramatically increase CPM prices.
This interview is with Keith Richman, CEO of Break Media, formally Break.com. Break Media started as bad-boys, a video entertainment site for guys. It has expanded to now include quite a few sites as well as an ad network selling inventory for many other sites, targeting men ages 18 to 34. Keith shares how Break Media started, how it has grown, and how it gets its users to come back. He also touches on why the company decided to start its own ad sales team along with how they sell their advertising.
Aaron Broder is the co-founder of Gorilla Nation. He's working with some sites which do considerable volume, and spends his time putting together branding deals. He has combined his expertise and family background in entertainment to create an online ad rep company for Web publishers. Aaron shares how Gorilla Nation started, how it found its niche with mid-tail sites, and how it plans to grow internationally. Many of us are direct response focused; it’s about time we learned a little about the branding side of things; there's a lot higher CPM's in it.
Rob Jewell is the founder of the FreeiPod craze. Rob’s story is very insightful; he’s a determined entrepreneur.
This week we talk with Dean Graziosi, the infomercial king about his business. He’s doing tremendous volume through infomercials, and it’s working very well. He plays the down home boy that doesn’t know a lot, but I think after reading this you’ll agree with me that he’s as smart as they come.
Drew Curtis, the owner of Fark.com, generates 1.5M – 2M page views per day out of his house, all via public relations. I asked Drew a lot about how he monetizes Fark, and he gave some pretty interesting answers.
This interview is with Scott Rewick who was one of the Netblue (now Connexus) founders. Some key points of the interview: Hear from one of the Netblue (now Connexus) founders about how the company was started. Learn what impact taking venture capital can have on your company. Discover how Scott invests in companies – and how you can too!
Larry Organ of ConsumerBase is incredibly interesting to talk with because he understands better than just about anyone else how data can be used effectively. It’s a tricky area with lots of privacy and legal implications, but is extremely powerful and is becoming the basis for many types of targeting online, including behavioural targeting. Some key points of the interview: Learn from an expert in offline/online data sales. Find out how this company uses direct response marketing to work with blue chip customers. Discover how cell phone advertising can be legally done.
This interview is with Roy De Souza, the CEO of Zedo, the Adserving company. Roy serves almost 1 billion ad impressions every day, so what he has to say is very interesting. Some key points of the interview: Learn how a new form of behavioural targeting is getting 500% - 1000% higher conversion rates. Learn why Google’s traffic is decreasing. Find out why MySpace could become more profitable than Google.
This interview, which is a great one, is with Joe Sugarman, the man behind BluBlocker sunglasses, one of the top infomercials during the 1980's. TV media is bought just the same as Internet media, so this is extremely relevant to today. Hear how BluBlockers got started. Find out how Joe regularly made 300,000 sales/month and 250,000 sales in one day! Get some advice on moving a successful Internet offer to TV.
This interview is with Brady Whittingham, now of Think Partnership. I spoke with Brady shortly after he sold his company for about $20M. This interview will be useful if: you are interested in understanding how one of the top Internet offers in Utah works. You are interested in how to sell a direct response business for $20M.
