Search-engine and affiliate marketing expert Kris Jones, along with a cast of like-minded Pepperjammers & guest bloggers, offer free internet marketing advice, including buzz marketing and money making tips.
Kris is President & CEO of Pepperjam, a full-service internet marketing agency recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States.
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Ok, so as the Director of Affiliate Marketing for Pepperjam, and as the Affiliate Manager who launched and manages the Rocawear.com affiliate program, I feel it is my duty to write about Jay-Z selling Rocawear. 204 MILLION…Jesus. If the company that owns Joe Boxer and Candies, two of the most mainstream American brand names, has the balls to buy Rocawear, that should tell you that Hip Hop has not only gone mainstream, but it has become a huge part and influence of American culture. That, my friends, is a good thing and it is about time.
If you know me, you know that I am all about style and culture and fashion. What Jay-Z did with Rocawear envelops all three, and you know what, good for him that he was able to build a clothing and apparel empire that Inconix valued at such a high price. He got out at the right time, when he is clearly still on top of the industry as well as his game, and will still remain the “face” behind the image. He is an entrepreneur, and everything he touches turns to gold. Hey Jay-Z, wanna work with Pepperjam? (although we are pretty much already gold).
Today we introduce you to Katharine (Kat) Dempsey, Pepperjam’s witty and extremely intelligent Director of Media Planning and Management.
Kat’s video turned out to be one of the most interesting to date - we find out for the first time that Kat has a blackbelt in karate (damn that’s awesome!!!) to go with her law degree from Penn State and a host of other degrees (including one in fashion) she got along the way…!
Meet the Pepperjam Team: Katharine Dempsey, Director of Media Planning & Management
For those of you who don’t know the “rules” behind the Meet the Pepperjam Video Series, here they are:
Every Friday Pepperjam will post a new video interview of a member of our staff - everyone will be included - affiliates managers, executives, search-engine marketing managers, directors, software engineers, assistants, online media buyers, and interns. The person being interviewed won’t know he / she has been chosen until about 30 seconds before the interview - this way you’ll get an unrehearsed, real world look at the employee…hopefully, this will make it interesting and non-corporate, which is what we are known and respected for across the internet marketing industry.
Why are we doing this? Well, I am proud of our team and I think you’ll find them as interesting and intelligent as I do. Also, I’m a student of viral video and the social media space and I want to test the waters as it relates to what corporate america is doing (and not doing) to spread buzz and build next generation work places.
Finally, I just thought it would be cool to put some people in front of a video camera that have never done so before, have a little bit of fun, and see if Pepperjam can spread some additional buzz about why we are the leader in online marketing.
FYI - all videos will also be posted to YouTube. If you think what we are doing is outside-the-box and interesting please blog about it and share the story with the world.
As a blogger I am amazed sometimes how easily we (bloggers) get offended. Let’s be honest - being a well-known blogger has a celebrity feel to it, but many of us take it way too seriously. With that in mind, let’s review my list of “Top 10 Ways To Piss Off Bloggers.”
10. Disagree with the blogger. 9. Point out spelling errors. 8. Write comment spam. 7. Comment about something completely irrelevant. 6. Comment for the sole purpose of dropping a link. 5. Heckle the blogger (i.e., your blog sucks.) 4. Make a case that ALEXA Rankings are false and unreliable. 3. Google the person until you digg up something questionable, then blog or comment it 2. Tell the blogger that his blog celeb is getting to his head
AND THE #1 WAY TO PISS OF A BLOGGER:
1. Claim that the blogger censors his / her comments.
Can you think of any other ways to piss off bloggers?
EarnersForum.com 2.0 - an online forum where web entrepreneur’s and online marketers share advice and insight - re-launched today with new and enhanced features. If you are an online marketer who is looking for free advice on how to make money, check out EarnersForum.com.
In addition to the new features I highlight below, EarnersForum.com launched a contest which begins today, where they are giving away upwards of $10,000 of great prizes to 5 different winners. For more info on the contest visit HERE.
In my opinion, here are the most significant improvements to the forum:
AuctionAds is based upon Shoemoney’s original ShoemoneyAds and Image Ads concept where affiliate ads are created in the form of contextual advertisements. Think Google Adsense, but with affiliate ads and images.
I believe it’s a brilliant way to draw attention to ebay affiliate ads. In addition, I believe it complements the user experience, especially on niche websites, without being overly in your face. Think about it, is a user more likely to click on a basic 728 x 90 banner or a 728 x 90 AuctionAds contextual image ad?
Recently I have been lucky enough to have A LOT of exposure to the world of gaming (more so than usual) and more specifically the MMORPG segment. What is interesting though is the exposure is not from the traditional gaming side, it is from the business side (ok, perhaps you expected that). Which has given me insight into just how much it takes, from every aspect, to launch a game. Aside from that it got me thinking about business gaming or corporate gaming.
Corporate gaming, whats that? (I can hear you asking this question) Corporate Gaming (as I am officially dubbing it) is using already existing gaming technologies such as Second Life and Lord of The Rings Online to build a game engine based around your company. How can this be useful? (Again I hear your brains thinking this) Well imagine being able to hold a board meeting, or a conference call or even a training session online, with everyone there but not physically. Quite innovative if you ask me.
For instance some companies struggle with team building (major issue, you need a great team), well why not load up your Pepperjam MMO, gather your team, suit up in your armor, pick your weapons and go slay some monsters together. Not only have you effectively worked as a team to meet a common goal, you have also had a great networking session, and have seen top prospects in action for positions in leadership, planning, organization etc…
Another thought that has crossed my mind is opening a division of your company online (yes I know some people have done this) but if you are a company like Pepperjam who already works online, why not go to Second Life, build the Pepperplex and actually do online marketing online. I think it would be quite interesting to be able to load up your avatar and walk to the virtual Pepperplex where you can find either a virtual version of myself or Kris Jones to help you with your online marketing dilemmas.
There has been a lot of buzz around people making supplemental incomes from playing Second Life (or would you call it working at, the line gets blurred here) some people have simply made player animations for dancing and sold them for $1, but if you make 10 different animations and 1 million players buy them, you have got a pretty nice business on your hands. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in video games and has been for years. (Ultima Online started it) In this instance it is the true essence of an entrepreneur because not only has it never been done, it hasn’t been done in a completely different living, breathing world.
I just think the prospect of virtual offices and boardrooms is an exciting thought, forming an online community with the rest of your workforce is a great idea, sometimes you don’t even get to see some of the people in your office let alone meet them, I think this would be a step in the right direction to circumvent problems like that.
I’ve been using Text-Link-Ads.com (TLA) for about 1 1/2 years for various purposes, including building links and strategically generating targeted website traffic. Patrick Gavin, TLA’s founder and president, asked me to talk about my experience using TLA for a promotional video he was putting together.
Well - I was in NYC two weeks ago to see Les Miserables (my favorite musical) and take in dinner at my favorite NYC Italian restaurant - Patsy’s and Patrick asked if I’d shoot the video then. TLA hired social media guru Loren Feldman from 1938media / Podtech.net to produce and record the video.
Understand that Loren is well-known in the video world for being very raw and to-the-point - no flashy angles, no make-up, no preparation - just raw video footage.
The video was released on YouTube today and will be up on the TLA website in a few days. The video includes myself and Michael Gray, aka GrayWolf, from Wolf-Howl.com.
Let me warn you - the lighting in my part of the video is pretty bad - I look like a ghost; however, all in all, shooting the video was well worth it since I got some time to chat with Loren Feldman - if you aren’t familar with Loren’s work check his blog out at 1938media.com, PodTech.net, and YouTube.
To verify that I’m not a ghost you can check out my Meet the Pepperjam Team Interview HERE.
If you aren’t involved with Text-Link-Ads.com you should be - CLICK HERE to learn more.
In order to keep things fair, some of the previous stars of ‘Meet The Pepperjam Team” decided that is was time to turn the tables on Kris Jones. So this week we bring you a completely off the cuff video of our fearless leader Kristopher B. Jones. Kris has created a great work environment, a forward thinking company and has assembled one of the brightest and most talented teams the internet marketing world has ever seen, not to mention the most attractive. All of these things combined have helped create the Internet Marketing Monster that is Pepperjam.
For those of you who don’t know what we are up to here is a brief summary of the specifics and the “rules.”
Every Friday Pepperjam will post a new video interview of a member of our staff - everyone will be included - affiliates managers, executives, search-engine marketing managers, directors, software engineers, assistants, online media buyers, and interns. The person being interviewed won’t know he / she has been chosen until about 30 seconds before the interview - this way you’ll get an unrehearsed, real world look at the employee…hopefully, this will make it interesting and non-corporate, which is what we are known and respected for across the internet marketing industry.
Why are we doing this? Well, I am proud of our team and I think you’ll find them as interesting and intelligent as I do. Also, I’m a student of viral video and the social media space and I want to test the waters as it relates to what corporate america is doing (and not doing) to spread buzz and build next generation work places.
Finally, I just thought it would be cool to put some people in front of a video camera that have never done so before, have a little bit of fun, and see if Pepperjam can spread some additional buzz about why we are the leader in online marketing.
FYI - all videos will also be posted to YouTube. If you think what we are doing is outside-the-box and interesting please blog about it and share the story with the world.
By the way - if you haven’t seen the “Naked Crazy Man” video that Pepperjam’s own Brock Siegel shot during the recent snowstorm you’ve missed out - check it out HERE.
Pepperjam Blog was nominated for “Best Affiliate Marketing Blog” at LeeDodd.com on 2/14 and appears to be drawing to a close. To vote for Pepperjam Blog please CLICK HERE.
Thanks to all our readers who have voted (over 100 votes so far)!
Hey Jay-Z, wanna work at Pepperjam?
