Almost a year ago I did a short series of interviews with 3 “normal” affiliates (if we can ever be called that!).  I thought it might be interesting to revisit the interviewees and see how they have fared in the last 12 months.  First up is Max Bramwell, you can read his previous interview and see his picture here.

Max has just started the second year of his degree and is balancing study and moolah making.

• Last year you spoke about the sectors you operate in, travel, freebies and general shopping. Have you added anything new since we last spoke and have you seen any credit crunch related differences?

I’ve mainly stayed in the sectors that I was in last year, i’ve developed into a few of them more than others and left the freebie area. The reason for the leaving this area was due to rising ppc costs and the lack of time I had on it.
I have added some new areas which have focussed on issues that I know will be increasing with the credit crunch, so at the moment the credit crunch is making me more money than without it.

• You also mentioned your traffic was 65% PPC & 35% SEO. Have you increased your SEO balance? If yes… Any hints and tips for the readers on how to achieve a better SEO performance?I

Its stayed pretty much the same, which isn’t the best, but im still aiming to switch the ratios so 65% SEO and 35% PPC, but at the moment its the same. I definately need some more SEO lessons!

• Obviously you are now a bit further into uni, how are you finding the demands on your time? You said you hoped to spend more time on your sites in the second year of uni. Have you managed this or is the call of the beer too great?
The demands on my time from Uni is increasing, and so this is meaning its getting bit trickier to fit as much AM stuff as I would like (Ideally i’d love to just do AM full time for 2 days a week then the other 3 be at Uni but my timetable doesn’t agree with that

• Has your definition of a super affiliate changed since we last spoke?

To be seen as a super affiliate on one program can greatly differ from another. i.e you can send say 300 leads a day to one merchant and be seen as their larger(super) affiliate, yet send them 300 leads to another merchant and you’re a small fish.

• You said that in 12 months time you hoped to have grown your business significantly. Has this happened? Care to quantify where your income is by comparison?

Well late last year my hosting packed up, the weekly backups they claimed they did werent there and so I lost quite a bit of data especially from blogs (as i stupidly didnt backup myself) thus my blog www.AffiliateStudent.co.uk was down for a long time (back up now tho ) This affected my earnings quite a lot! In fact in late november I was earning very little! Google dropped lot of my sites due to downtime , anyway back in december it picked up and I found a new niche in late december and this carried on to give me my best ever affiliate marketing month in january! Earnings wise that month brought in (note: not pure profit) the equivalent to a graduates annual salary in that month alone.

• What have you achieved this year that makes you most proud?

This year in terms of since the last interview i’d say achievement wise nothing stands out too much, just that ive actually devoted some decent time to AM.

• Tell us one thing that really worked well for you this past year!

The start of the credit crunch can’t elaborate much more im afraid , that and wordpress! Use wordpress lots and lots!!!

Thanks Max!

Still to come are Chris Frost, although we have decided to do a very glamorous interview as we are meeting up in Sydney next month for a bit of an affiliate jolly.  Recession?  Pah!  Could be some hilarious pics too.  Also Ray Theakston who hasn’t replied to my message asking him to take part just yet.  You can run Ray, but you can’t hide!!!

• A Couple Of Recent Interviews
• An Interview With… Me!
• Meet The Real Affiliates – Where Are They Now? Ray Theakston