I know people who will eat spiders and dog poop for $100 (come on, you have friends like this – don’t you?)

I have also watched people streak naked through public streets, while others (men) have worn women’s panties (Brock Siegel, Pepperjam’s VP of Bus Dev) to work (yeah, tasteless, but it’s true) for free.

At Pepperjam we take serious pride in our laid-back work culture.

For instance, we have at least a dozen or so members of the Pepperjam Team who will eat dog bones on command for $20 a piece and others who are ready and willing to take a sip from an old, moldy coffee mug for $50.

In most cases, you end up doing crazy things for a small amount of money and regret it when the story is told over and over a hundred times.

Usually, the money is never enough to justify the craziness of the act…or is it?

Most recently, I challenged Pepperjam’s Media Team to do something a bit crazy, but I thought it would be more effective (since we are a full-service internet marketing agency and all) to use our talents instead of taking the low road and eating a ridiculous amount of dog bones or wearing women’s undergarments.

Here’s the scoop: Our goal is to gain a contract for a FREE one year supply of Energy Drink by putting together a series of viral videos (with subtle product placement) and posting them on YouTube.

Fortunately, using some industry connections, I was able to get a major energy drink company to sign-on and agree to provide us with some FREE “test” product.

You have to watch the video to see who that company is!!!

Well, here’s viral video #1 featuring about a dozen or so members of the Pepperjam Team, including Chris Cremen (aka, Cremenator.)

I’ve got to admit, this is one of the most creatively funny videos I’ve ever seen.

We will let you know if we win the contract. We could use your help so if you’d be so willing, please blog about our crusade and share the video with your friends and colleagues.

________________________________________

UPDATE: This video has really taken off over night and we are currently one of the most viewed videos (in the last 24-hours) on YouTube.

So far (as of 8:00am EST) we have 21,089 views. According to YouTube, here are some stats:

Honors for This Video:
#28 – Most Viewed (Today) – All
#3 – Most Viewed (Today) – Entertainment – All
#28 – Most Viewed (Today) – English
#3 – Most Viewed (Today) – Entertainment – English
#68 – Most Viewed (This Week) – Entertainment – All

________________________________________

Without further adieu, here’s the video, entitled “Cremenator Say’s Don’t Try this at Home…Bowling with Chris”:

Planning on attending Elite Retreat on June 8 – 9th at Disney World Resort in Orlando?

If so, TODAY is the LAST DAY to submit your application and receive two-nights FREE Hotel and meals.

This special offer will END at midnight (your time) tonight and has a value of $750.

By the way – if you entered our Elite Retreat Ticket Giveaway contest and intend to attend ER regardless of whether you win or not, it is advised that you submit your application anyway – we will happily refund your registration fee if you win the contest.

Sign-up for Elite Retreat -Orlando. Life will never be the same.

Tickets are selling fast….GOING, GOING, GONE.

Happy Friday Folks!

Welcome to Video #15 in the “Meet the Pepperjam Team” series.

In the latest installment of Meet the Pepperjam Team. Megan Rogan, one of our Senior Affiliate Managers, reveals some of her quirky habits, her fear of backwash (she won’t drink the last sip of her drink) and how she bonded with her rival Kim Noler. (Watch Kim’s Video Here)

Megan is one of the most fashionable and creative girls in the Affiliate Management Division. She is a Temple University Alum, and after graduating college, moved back to the Wilkes Barre Area, where we were lucky enough to scoop her up. Megan brings a great attitude with her everyday, and we truly enjoy having her on the team. She has a fondness for older movies, and has made some great friendships while working here. Megan sends out kick-ass newsletters, and does a great job marketing programs such as BabyPhat.com, FulcrumGallery.com, and AppleBottoms.com. Now, it’s time to meet Megan Rogan.

Enjoy!

Take It Away Megan:

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.

Our previous videos include:

Maura Goodwin
Tara Lou
Dean Karasinski
Kim Noler (dated YouTube founder)
Stephanie Yachim
Roxy (Pepperjam’s English Bulldog)
Kris Jones
Katharine Dempsey
Ken Mohn Jr.
Mandy Foley
Tara DeGiusto
Robyn Martin
Kate Sarnak
Aaron Baker

Other fun Pepperjam Vids:
Naked Crazy Man Video
Pepperjam Adds Ping Pong Table to Pepperplex
Roxy with the Tony Robbins Beach Ball

WHAT: CONTEST: FREE TICKET, ROOM, & MEALS AT ELITE RETREAT – ORLANDO

WHEN: Starts on Thursday, April 26, 2007 and ends Friday, May 4, 2007

CONTEST RULES: We have decided to bring back the Elite Retreat Ticket Giveaway, but change it up a little. This time you will be able to choose between two questions. To enter for a chance to win free registration to the Elite Retreat, along with two nights free lodging and meals (breakfast & lunch) you will need to send an email to (contest(at)eliteretreat(dot)info). Please be sure to include your contact information, (name, email, address, phone number, and mailing address) and provide a stellar answer to ONE of the following questions:

A) What do you feel the future of affiliate marketing holds for affiliates?

OR

B) What is the most powerful form of online advertising and why?

One lucky winner will be chosen from all responses submitted. Winner will receive one FREE Ticket to Elite Retreat – Orlando and two FREE nights lodging and meals (breakfast & lunch).

If you don’t want to press your luck and just want to submit your application to attend Elite Retreat please visit EliteRetreat.info to sign-up.

DATE: June 8 – 9, 2007
PLACE: Hilton in the Walt Disney Resort, Orlando, Florida
PRINCIPAL SPEAKERS: Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker, President, Shoemoney Media Group (Online Monetization Expert); Lee Dodd, President, Earners Forum (Community / Forums Expert); Kristopher B. Jones, President, Pepperjam (Search-Engine / Affiliate Marketing Expert); Neil Patel, CTO, Pronet Advertising (Social Media Expert); David Adams, President, CPA-Affiliates.com (CPA Expert).
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Alex Zhardanovsky, Co-Founder, AzoogleAds

NOTE #1: If you fail to win the contest but sign-up before April 30, 2007 we will provide you with two FREE nights lodging (and meals) for Elite Retreat – Orlando. If you sign-up but win the contest we will happily return ALL your money.

NOTE #2: Tickets are selling fast – At this point we expect to sell-out within the next two weeks. We will only accept the 30 most qualified applications we receive, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For more information about the Elite Retreat – Orlando please visit HERE.

OK, so maybe you heard the news that Google missed out (or was outbid as they like to say) on a little opportunity called StumbleUpon. Apparently as recently as a few days ago, StumbleUpon was on the auction block for companies such as Google, AOL and eBay. At this point everyone has heard that eBay snatched it up (a strange acquisition for them) now we are just waiting to see what they are going to do with it.

Today we find out that Google has released a product of their own called GoogleDice, as they explain it “surfing without a query” is the next step for Google. HELLO!! You had the most addictive piece of social software in your grasp and you let eBay get it? I think this is a rather suspicious move, was Google planning on launching Google Dice the whole time, did they purposely let StumbleUpon go so they wouldn’t have to scrap their own platform? These are some questions that you should be asking yourself.

I have been playing around with GoogleDice this morning and frankly I am unimpressed. It seems to be behaviorally targeting the web pages that it shows me, looking at my browsing history and combing cookies. All the sites coming up are SEM sites or Video Game sites. It is obviously based on your viewing habits (which isn’t a bad thing mind you) but that kind of weeds out the fun, I like being shown random websites, and discovering new things which is the essence of StumbleUpon. Perhaps Google has more in the pipeline for GoogleDice, but for now it is just coming off as a cheap imitation.

You Can read more about it here:
ProNet
Google Blog

I started working with Wendy Piersall, author of eMoms at Home, some time ago in her capacity as affiliate marketing director for Socrates.

Most recently, I had the honor of working with Wendy in a different capacity as she was an attendee (and now alumna) of Elite Retreat.

To say that Wendy is an amazing person with an inspirational and compelling story would be an understatement. Why? Because Wendy is much more than her story: she is a force for good and her actions tell a story of overcoming obstacles and, in turn, experiencing personal and financial success. How did Wendy accomplish so much with so little?

She did it by following her heart.

Read Wendy’s story HERE and learn why this powerful woman was just asked by Entreprenuer Magazine to be a columnist for their new online community on Women Entrepreneurs.

Congratulations Wendy on all your continued success!

I got pinged by Shoemoney asking “what magazines I read?”

Shoe was pinged by Andy Beal who appears to have started this whole thing – Andy pinged Barry Schwartz, Lee Odden, Jeremy Shoemoney Schoemaker, Li Evans, and Shimon Sandler.

OK, this isn’t the most creative meme I’ve ever seen and to me it seems a bit spammy…but I’ll play along so I don’t break the chain.

Inc.
Business 2.0
Wired
Entrepreneur
Revenue
Forbes
Fast Company
OMMA
GQ
InStyle
Esquire
Maxim

For this meme I am going to ping:

Rand Fishkin
Joe Whyte
Mediadonis
Neil Patel
Todd Malicoat
Andrew Wee

Last fall when Google started in with the Quality Score, it caused a real big shakeup in the PPC arena. Bids increased dramatically, affiliates were taking a beating, and all around people using Google’s AdWords system were crying foul. Over time Google has adjusted their Quality Score system and has fine-tuned it now to the point that they are at least willing to openly talk about how it is calculated into your bid price and how you can use the information they provide you with to better understand your Quality Score.

At the time that the Quality Score got started, my first reaction was that Google is going after the affiliates by artificially driving up the click prices. If Google could price affiliates out of the market, affiliate sales would drop and the companies selling would have to go directly to Google to be able to make those sales again. Google would then be able to charge a premium to companies wanting to get back the sales that their affiliates once generated. By the time Google got around to having their own CPA/Affiliate Sales program, the damage to affiliates would be done and Google’s profits would be up.

Flash forward to now, Google announces that profits are up 69% due mostly to their core search and advertising businesses. In fact, a New Yorks Times article had this to say about how profits rose so sharply:

For example, Mr. Schmidt said that just as in previous quarters, the
company devoted significant resources to continuing to perfect the art
of linking search results with ads that are tailored to users’
interests. Since, Google is paid when users click on an ad, those
efforts translate into higher profitability.

“We are showing fewer ads and those ads are worth more because they are better targeted,” Mr. Schmidt said.

That’s right, Google is showing fewer ads at higher prices because of the quality score inflating prices. Couple that with all of the recent news about Google now owning the 3rd largest affiliate company out there, Performics, and you have a perfect storm for what’s coming next…

Google buying Performics by way of DoubleClick gives them the ROI performance data for A LOT of different affiliate programs. That means that now Google knows that Product A which costs 10 cents a click converts about 1:20 or at about $2 per conversion, YET, the merchant is willing to pay $20 per conversion. Now, if Google cut out the advertisers on those keywords and made themselves the only advertiser on those keywords(or even the top advertiser) their profits go up by 1,000% in that niche. Multiply that times however many affiliate products there are out there and that’s where Google is probably headed.

This all boils down to the fact that Google realizes that they are only harvesting in some cases 10% of the value that their search engine generates. I guarantee you that Google plans to harvest a lot more than 10% going forward and the latest news about Performics and their financial performance only supports my view on that.

Two Digg Front Pages in One Day, it is what it is, but probably not a record.

Here is Digg Front Page # 1 – CLICK HERE

Here is Digg Front Page # 2 – CLICK HERE

SMO – 1-877-796-5700

Thoughts?

Oh yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Welcome to Video #14 in the “Meet the Pepperjam Team” series. This week we introduce our Vice-President of Sales & Marketing, Aaron Baker.

If you attended the recent Search-Engine Strategies – New York or Affiliate Summit – Vegas conferences you likely saw Aaron galavanting around with the rest of our Team – you may have also spent some time with Aaron late-night at the hotel bar, while the rest of the PJ Team was sleeping.

Aaron is always looking for the next big client acquisition and will go to great lengths to find it.

It will not come as a surprise to our readers that Aaron Baker is one of the leading executive-level internet sales and marketing professionals in the United States.

Pepperjam is grateful to have Aaron on our executive him.

Prior to Pepperjam Aaron was the Director of Interactive Services at Entercom Communications (ETM), the third largest radio broadcasting company in the United States. At Entercom Aaron was responsible for streaming audio and other various forms of interactive media.

Aaron has an extensive and exciting military background, including stints as an Army Ranger and as a student at West Point Military Academy. After West Point Aaron started and built one of the most successful high-end personal training businesses in Pennsylvania.

OK, OK….here’s the video.

Meet Aaron Baker, VP of Sales & Marketing, Pepperjam:

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.

Our previous videos include:

Maura Goodwin
Tara Lou
Dean Karasinski
Kim Noler (dated YouTube founder)
Stephanie Yachim
Roxy (Pepperjam’s English Bulldog)
Kris Jones
Katharine Dempsey
Ken Mohn Jr.
Mandy Foley
Tara DeGiusto
Robyn Martin
Kate Sarnak

Other fun Pepperjam Vids:
Naked Crazy Man Video
Pepperjam Adds Ping Pong Table to Pepperplex
Roxy with the Tony Robbins Beach Ball