We are excited to present another interview related to our interview series where we interview different people from Affiliate industry. If you would like us to interview you please contact us at [email protected] …
In today`s interview we are interviewing Stephen Stepanik founder of CPA Infinity Affiliate network . if you have any questions or anything you would like to share please feel free to let us know by making comments at the end of this post.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How old are you? Where do you live?
My name is Stephen Stepanik, I’m currently 20 years old and I live in Pennsylvania.
2. How long have you been working in this industry, and how did you get involved? What was your first money maker?
I have been working in the industry for more years than I could count, if I remember correctly, since I was about 14. I got involved in a unique way. At a certain age everyone gets the mentality of “I need money” – at the age of 14 it’s not “I need money for bills” or anything of the sort, but I was in that mentality and I’ve been on computers ever since I was about 5 or 6 on MSDOS. So I took my love of computers and the need of money, combined the two and the end result is internet marketing. My very first money maker (over $1,000) was via Email Marketing for Adult Friend Finder.
3. What is the most expensive thing you ever bought?
The most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased was a custom mailing setup. I personally don’t spend my money carelessly, I use my money to make more money, to fund other ventures, to try other avenues of money making out. I would personally rather put $50,000 in to a new company than to purchase a new car. Reason being, the new company could turn that $50,000 in to hundreds of thousands in a few months or years, but all the car could do is get me from point a to point b as well as attract unneeded attention.
4. Please tell us more about CPA Infinity, and what you guys do?
We are a performance based advertising network. We strive to provide the best support industry-wide. We work with the largest companies in the industry to provide the best quality offers for our affiliates which in return brings the best quality leads for our advertisers. Currently we are working with fortune 500 companies whilst we open our advertising division this coming year or early 2014.
5. How does CPA Infinity differentiate from the various networks in the industry and what do you do to set yourself apart?
Our reputation speaks for itself, the only feedback we have is positive, all of our publishers and partners are satisified at the end of the day. We work with everyone as much as possible to be as transparent as possible. For those of you that may be unclear what some people mean by transparent – it means that there’s a clear open line of communication. If there is ever a communication problem with an advertiser – we make sure that it gets resolved as soon as possible. We are setting ourselves apart from other networks by opening an advertising division that will have true zero shaving. Personally I’m not in the industry for the money as much I am to make a difference. I’ve seen the highs and the lows of the industry. We will bring back the top quality offers for everyone out there.
6. What are your plans for the future?
We plan to open up our advertising division later this year or early 2014, we are currently working with several fortune 500 companies, web developers with 10+ years of experience, and web designers with 10+ years of experience to make sure everything goes as smooth as possible so we can offer the highest payouts, the most accurate tracking.
Our advertising divison will be the most unique offers to date allowing publishers as well as networks to change the landing pages design to tweak it “on-the-fly” so the offer(s) that are being promoted can be optimized to the fullest allowing the most revenue to be generated for the publisher, network, and advertiser all in one swoop. After we open our advertising division we plan to open up a tracking platform that will be fully customizable as well as affordable.
7. Being an entrepreneur takes many hours of dedication and hard work.What tips would you give to those who want to take the path of entrepreneurship?
Number one tip of all – never give up. It takes 150% dedication. Every second you’re not working towards your own success there is someone that is creeping up behind you that will pass you in the blink of an eye. Patience is key, success is a marathon, not a sprint, if you’re trained to fight 50 rounds, 12 isn’t anything. Also, remember nothing happens overnight except the coming of a day. You should set a goal, a large goal, then break it down in to sections. Such as – “Make $100,000” from there – take an old fashioned pen and paper, write down every legal way you can do it. If you’re in to doing things online, write down the most profitable ways you have experienced in the past, whether it be selling on eBay/Amazon, or YouTube videos, whatever has been proven profitable. I’m sure since you’re reading this, you’ve at least made an attempt to make money online, if not you should at least take a crack at it. The entrepreneurship path is as much of a struggle as walking on glass is, but if you want it bad enough, and if you’re dedicated, it will take a long time, there will be a lot of struggle, days where you want to quit, but eventually you will make it through and once you do, you will be in the paradise you’ve dreamed of since day one.
8. What are your favourite traffic sources? What niche has worked best for you?
My personal favorite traffic source is Email marketing due to the large ROI and low cost.
But my favorite traffic source as far as publishers go would have to be call centers, pay per click, or email marketing.
The niches that have worked best for us in the long run have been Credit Reporting and Payday.
9. If you could give one tip to the newcomers starting out in this vast growing industry what would it be?
Read, learn, take action, fail, get up and try it again. No matter what someone is selling or claiming, always keep the following thought in the back of your head – “if it’s so good, why are they selling it?” Look at it like this. If I have a “brand new” commercial jet airplane, and I offered it to you for $1,000 – would you purchase it? Before you say yes – think of this. Why am I selling it for $1,000? What is the reasoning? Now, if you have to even ask those questions, it’s too good to be true. If I have a money making method that’s making me $10,000 per day, why would I sell it to you for $100? It’s just not good business. Keep a level head on your shoulders and don’t buy in to hype.
10. Can you tell us some of your most effective marketing methods that you use to drive traffic?
I use Email Marketing to drive traffic. For the reasons of – it’s fairly cheap to setup, it’s opportunities are astronomical, and it’s long-term. Email marketing has stood the test of time. It’s been around for over a decade(10 years) as of 2013, and everyday companies large and small still use it, from the mom-and-pop e-shop to eBay and Amazon.
11. If you could go back in time and do things differently, what one thing would you change?
I wouldn’t change anything for the simple reason of – everything happens for a reason. If I where able to go back and change something whether it be something small or large, I wouldn’t change anything, for the simple reason of – if it where changed, there is nothing saying if I would be where I am today for better or worse. I personally wouldn’t risk it as I am comfortable with where I am for the time being.
12. How can network owners improve affiliate relations?
Communication is key in this industry. Don’t treat this industry as a 9 to 5. If would you would like to treat it as a 9 to 5 job, you can go get a normal job. Everyone in this industry from advertisers to publishers is able to send traffic 24/7, so If you would like to treat it as a 9 to 5 job, you can go get a normal job. That means there is 16 hours per day that traffic is being sent that there is no one available to monitor it or contact publishers or advertisers. I know a lot of network owners and advertisers take the weekends off, that’s everyone personal choice, but I’m sure that when you first got in to internet marketing, you didn’t think “I’ll only do this from 9am to 5pm and take weekends off” – you more than likely thought “I’m going to do this day and night till I have more money than I can count”. More people should get back to that mentality and we would all see more money than we could imagine.
I would like to thank Stephen Stepanik for taking time out of his busy schedule and sharing his time with us , those of you who are interested to join CPA Infinity click here ~ KJ
