Kieron, author of Here.org.uk, winner of Affiliate Blog 2007 at the A4U Awards and all round super affiliate backs away from his closely monitored campaigns for a quick interview…

Kieron, you are one of the better known and more successful than average UK affiliate, could you tell us how you got started in the Affiliate arena?
It was a means to an end really. When I started out many years ago my Mam was really poorly so I wanted to do something that allowed me to spend time with her and then fit my work around her when I could. This often meant working late into the night, but at least with AM, you don’t have to keep normal business hours.

We know that you started off as a part-time affiliate, how long was it until you could leave your real job and become a full time affiliate?
Well I had a few false starts and I would sometimes lose interest and not push myself as much as I needed to. So in my case it took maybe 2 years or so of working on a part time basis before I took the plunge and went full time. I made sure I’d saved about 6 months worth of bill and mortgage payments in the bank before I did it though!

What are the current websites that you run?
Some of them are listed here, but not all of them…
www.bingo.org.uk, www.poker.org.uk, www.etoys.co.uk, www.ukoffer.com, www.broadbandguide.co.uk, www.lotto.org.uk

What would be the best advice you would give to a potential affiliate?
Don’t waste your money on training courses, fancy software or ebooks. Just build a site around something your are passionate about and be patient. If you create a good site then in time, visitors will come and then you can monetise.

I personally remember your Site Point thread back in 2005 giving me a fairly big kick up the arse, do you think it has inspired many potential affiliates?
I hope so. A lot of people to this day still email me about that thread and ask me questions or tell me how that post started them off in the world of AM.

Mobiles & Broadband used to be your cornerstone business is this still the case?
I was one of the first affiliates in the UK to run a broadband affiliate site, its fair to say that once upon a time I was the biggest affiliate in that niche. Not so much with mobiles, but I did generate a lot of sales. Now although I still have sites in those sectors I don’t use PPC (too expensive) and am diversifying into getting traffic to the sites from natural search.

Can you see any big changes coming to the affiliate world in the next 12 months?
Yes mobile will have a huge impact in the next year and we’ll all be buying online using our mobile phones – only kidding, people have been saying that for the last 5 years and it still hasn’t happened. I doubt it ever will.

Like everything that becomes more popular, as Internet use grows, then, by definition, our competition as Affiliate Marketeers grows too and some will find it a harder industry to break into. Gone are the easy days of throwing up cheap and cheerful landing pages and setting up equally cheap ppc campaigns. Now, affiliates need to be a lot cleverer in what they do and work that little bit harder.

Your a big fan of R&B Music, has this always been the case?
Most definitely, ever since I bought Prince’s “Purple Rain” album many years ago. I’ve always loved my R&B and always will!

What’s your ‘track of the moment’?
Ryan Leslie – “Diamond Girl” That track has been around for a while but has just gotten a re-release and hopefully will make Ryan Leslie a star.

You currently manage the Secret Sales affiliate programme, how is that going?
It’s going really well. SecretSales.com is the first online business where I actually approached them and asked if I could set up and run an affiliate programme for them, as I liked their business model so much. Its interesting to see life on the other side of the fence too, so a really good experience for me all round.

And finally, your blog is going from strength to strength, could you give any helpful tips for blog newbies?
Be original and write with passion and personality. There are so many blogs out there that are just plain dull, I don’t know why people even bother to write them in the first place. If you have nothing interesting to say then for Gods sake don’t start a blog just because everybody else is.