First thanks to the poker sponsors, XY7, Never Blue, Why Park, Tweet Find, Health Converter and Now Blam Ads! I love you guys all for allowing us to pull this off this year.

This is the first year of doing a poker tourney during Affiliate Summit, so forgive us if it is a little bumpy, (no t-shirts, cards, or other crap, but we do have in and out burgers and free drinks!)

The below is an interview I did with Ryan Eagle, Creator of Blam Ads and famous for being CEO of Eagle Web Assets. I have been fascinating following Ryan, and I want you to learn more about him. He is one of the few people I know who work as much as I do.

dk: Ryan, can you tell my readers a bit about your history, where you come from, and your background?
ryan: I started developing websites for a hobby at the age of 13, hitting massive success when I was 16 years old. A mixture between endless persistence and luck got me where I’m at now, and I exploited the wave for every cent possible. I’m located outside of Chicago, I’m sober, and even with the arrogant cocky persona I have – I’m forever grateful for everything that I’ve been blessed with.

dk: I’ve been fascinated reading your tweets.
They are unapologetic, bragging, aggressive,
confident as hell, and talk of domination.
I would assume from them that you were not
someone I would want to talk to. On the other hand
I have been very impressed working with you, talking to you,
and having you as a sponsor of our events. You are intelligent,
polite and a clear communicator. Can you explain the tweets?
ryan: I’m misunderstood, but I don’t need to be explained. My twitter is something that I barely understand, but it’s more me egotrippin’ than anything. This quote explains me and my actions online a lot more than I could myself, “While likeability can often produce power, power and success invariably produce likeability. People choose to be with successful people and organizations, and then make sense of their choices by deciding that they actually like and respect those they are associating with. ” – Jeffrey Pfeffer

dk: In an online world where everyone is looking for the get rich quick method,
and a lot of people write online about making mad cash quickly.
you often talk about working late nights and long hours.
What gives with that discrepancy?
ryan: There is no get rich quick method I’ve ever heard of that works. I’ve been working 18-20 hour days since I was 16 years old to get where I was at, and there is nothing easy about making money. I’ve worked endless hours on projects that have lost money for months, running simply on faith that it will eventually pick up. To start your own business or make money you need to be relentless in your efforts – remember that you’re competing with the likes of me.

dk: I have been an affiliate for Eagle Web Assets for the past year, and it has a
very different feel from most affiliate companies.
I get frequent emails from EWA promoting that you bumped up payouts on some
offer. I also noticed that the emails tend to give advice on what is working right now.
You and Harrison also both have your email, AIM, and cell numbers on the website
where anyone can get a hold of you.
Can you tell me your viewpoint about the flavor of how you run the company, and why?
ryan: To sum it up: we set new standards for affiliate networks. There is nothing average about EWA and we’ve outdone what hasn’t been done with our affiliate network. We provide real training on how to make money, how to use new traffic sources, and how to optimize campaigns. We truly want our affiliates to succeed because their success is tied into our success as a company. EWA Network is a private community with a personal, real feel – we’re not trying to be an ultra-large conglomerate, we’re just trying to work with our close friends and their referrals. We’ve had massive success offering close support and we will continue innovating in the new year with advanced technology and new ways to make money online being released mid-year.

dk: What is your reasoning with Blam Ads. It definately has been getting noticed. I have seen it
advertised on practically everyone I know in the industry, the logo and branding look like
they were designed to appeal to 16 year old skater, (my style), and you have made some
bold statements about it making more money than adsense for a given site, and that you were
looking to ad some huge number of publishers this year. I also noticed a gambling offer on it.
In a time when I see most affiliate companies pushing to appear like big businesses, Blam
seems to be very comfortable just being what it is. Can you tell me the who, what, where, when and why,
and of course how much on it?
ryan: The advertising that you have seen only appeals to the affiliate marketing industry, where I work hand in hand with my peers. I’ve never believed in blending in with the “other” companies, and I always launch my businesses with unique and memorable advertising strategies. BLAM Ads actually has 5 different “types” of campaigns running, all targeting different audiences and are all branded differently. We adapt to our audience like a marketer should, and standing out is the most important thing. We’ve already signed several larger brands with our developer beta section to help them monetize their traffic better, and like EWA – we need no advertising, the best technology / company always reigns supreme.

dk: Shoemoney first pointed out to me how bright you are, and I have since seen that myself. I’d love to hear your
opinion on a few touchy things. I try to operate on a super high ethics level, and try to only sell stuff online
that is honest to the consumer. When I go through most offers on most affiliate networks, the ads
don’t seem to represent themselves to the consumer as to what they really are. I know from my offline
business experiences of the past 20 plus years, and as a consumer, that there is tons of stuff to sell. Why
do the affiliate networks seem to focus on so few things?
ryan: Are all the offers in EWA ethical? No. Do nice guys finish first? No. Do we share different ethical values? Yes. I personally don’t feel bad about anything that’s being promoted on my network and as long as we operate within legal guidelines, it’s our right to promote them and make that money. If we didn’t do it, someone else would – but I totally understand where your coming from. It can be done honestly and in the coming months I plan on releasing technology that will open up a new medium of advertising for EWA that’ll further separate our brand from the competition and provide a medium for thousands of more products and services.

dk: I’ve also watched observed a bit lately about affiliate running offers, advertisers not paying the networks,
and the networks not paying the affiliates. When I have asked guys in the industry about it, the general
attitude seems to be, that this is simply the way the industry works. If this happened to me in business,
I would not be o.k. with it. The advertisers appear to make decisions about what not to pay on, and then
the affiliate has little or nothing they can do about it. Can you comment from your observation,
as to the accuracy of what I am saying, and maybe fill in the back story for us?
ryan: EWA takes margin on our affiliates not only to make profit, but to protect ourself from the nonpayments. If you explained our business model to any professional business man (factoring insecured debt, pretty much soley off of handshakes, at the slim margins we take) they would be shocked. There is nothing easy about running an affiliate network, our first week in business we ate a 120,000 non-payment to a “bankrupt” company. It’s part of the game and our factoring practices have set us ahead of the competition because of our inituiton in regards to extending credit. Other companies in 2010 have lost millions upon millions – which passes directly down into affiliates via slower payment terms and higher margins. EWA operates the “slow and steady” safe business model that allows us to pay every affiliate weekly and offer insanely high payouts. Competition cannot compete with us anymore, their greed has ruined them.

dk: What do you expect in the world of affiliate marketing in the upcoming year?
ryan: Expect less competition and more of my companies popping up, because we have big things in the work and we will not settle for anything less than #1.