Frankly, I am shocked and appalled.
The cackling hens at AKMG wrote this post with some social media advice. It’s actually pretty funny, but I have to focus on one point here.
There was a piece of writing directed right at me, saying:
So Barman stop trying to stare down the shirt of your affiliate managers on the fly because it’s never gonna happen, no matter how scientific you get, so get back to optimizing that blog.
WELL I NEVER!
The story is that AKMG hired some new people, and one is, from what I can tell, is a girl that looks a lot like Sloan from Entourage. Her name is Lennisse(oooo, sounds exotic) and what I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of [hmm, my grammar makes that sentence sound quite naughty]
Now, what they have been calling “stalking” is what I call journalism. I have a civic duty to my readers to get the facts, and the one fact I’ve been most concerned with is if the new girl there looks like a really hot celebrity.
I mean 15 calls a day, hired detective (my cousin Tony from network.ppc.bz, and 400 private messages- may be a little excessive, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Geraldo would have nothing less!
So they are under the impression that I’m trying to look down shirts. Ptfff…. I am far more classier than that.
Plus I there’s nothing I can do. I’m tall. It’s physics man.
If you haven’t noticed AKMG’s latest push into social media, well, it’s what all the cool networks are doing. Even Ruck has been a busy beaver doing interviews, fighting in the matrix and other social interactions with readers.
In fact, AKMG took on an intern (former intern but they might pay him now, but it’s still cool to have someone called “the intern” around) to do their twittering for them. They got a goddamn twitter bird!
An Interview with Amber at AKMG
I had to talk to Amber to get to the bottom of all the drama. Here we talk about what it’s like being a girl in the affiliate industry, stiletto heels, a new platform [theme], and non-payments from advertisers. Follow along as we delve into the world of a female network owner that likes Goose.
Before you start thinking Barman is a Volk nut-sucking fagg0r, “Interviewing people? SELL OUT!” – This interview was done on the fly, not from some template of questions. And it’s not going to be a recurring theme, so don’t get your hopes up
Who are you and what do you at AKMG
Amber in the middle.
Amber Paul: My exact title is vice president, but i am also one of the co-owners of AKMG. i head up the network, primarily the affiliate side of the company but i do everything from PR, compliance and bill collecting. I also am the head organizer for all the Meetup 202 events in Southern California, which was a recent role i took on thanks to the fabulous Wes Mahler.
Fabulous indeed. How do you feel about Wes’ recent re-acquirement of 202
I am thrilled for him! I know the past 6 months has been extremely draining both physically and emotionally so I am just glad to see him at ease again. I know the future holds good things for him. I think a lot of affiliates and other industry folks feel the same way. the whole bloosky / 202 thing was pretty much the saddest story of affiliate marketing until Wes reacquired everything
What’s your opinion on that?
So want an honest opinion? I think sometimes in this industry people just let greed take them over and say anything to close / sell someone and when the truth surfaces is when things fall apart. This industry moves so fast that if you cant keep your word everyone will know about it.
Honestly, I didn’t follow along, nor care too much personally
Maybe you should get with the gossip barman! stop staring down your affiliate managers shirt!
Touché. How do you feel 202 will fair against the new Bevo platform?
Ask me that question in 2 weeks because I’m still in the process of comparing the two … maybe i will do a new blog post.
So what can you tell us, the readers of PPC.bz, about the 2 new hires you have over there. Mr intern and Ms Sloan-look-alike?
Haha, Well the Sloan-look alike is an Amber Paul is training! Shes ultimately going to be an extension of myself. I’ve been so buried in the day to day grind with affiliates, advertisers, our internal media buying, and writing blogs that rip on everyone.
That i haven’t been able to put as much attention as i like on the higher level decisions and strategy of the company with my partners.
I’m training Sloan to be a shark. So watch out! She already tricked some guy trying to get her wasted at a party with tequila shots. His plan backfired because he got shit-faced from the tequila shots, while she just took shots of water when he wasn’t paying attention.
Note: Amber skips over talking about the intern. HAHA Intern go get some coffee!
So that’s the training she’s getting. not so much office work, but more how to deal with drunk ass guys?
Haha, Shes getting trained on everything from managing my credit card receipts to giving affiliates good offers.
How do you feel about your new interface?
I LOVE IT! Hitpath told is we by far have the best interface design. We’re building out a section with email tips and tools because we want to really put a big focus on emailers.
Do you find it sexy like me?
Well yeah, there are pictures of Eleah and me on it!
I mean come on… I’ve been running networks for 5 years… I know the drill. Pictures of hot girls means more attention. Just kidding!
So, what is it like then? Being a woman in pretty much a man’s world? Breaking down barriers and what have you?
You mean boys world?
Haha, true true
Okay well to be honest, sometimes its really frustrating because a lot of men / boys / children in this industry think they can talk to females anyway they want because they are ” desperate” for their traffic. I’m the owner of the company and I still have people send me inappropriate text messages
Sorry but i don’t need anyone’s traffic to the point of lowering myself to a prostitution level. Also in some cases, i think that some men wont take the time to hear me out because i am a female. I cant tell you how many times i have to ask my partner Steven to step in and help me certain situations just because he is a man.
Usually being a female just means demanding respect and proving that you deserve it as opposed to just getting it off the bat.
Do you just snap a finger, “STEVEN, MY LIGHT WORK PLEASE.”
TOTALLY. It’s more like ” Hey Steven… um this guy is a jackass and a woman hater… can you handle? ”
So do you think its a good or bad thing having that mostly women working there (as far as i can tell from the glamor shots all over the social media.), compared to the studly sausage-fest at C2M?
We are actually getting a little more even on the girl to guy ratio. I mean Ruck does look better in stilettos than I do. (Pics or gtfo!)
I think a group of attractive AND intelligent women is a very powerful force… But I swear I don’t just hire girls…. I hire people that can sell damn it and work hard! i think AKMG has done a great job of establishing that we know what we are talking about and we are easy to work with because we aren’t your typical affiliate marketing airheads. My partner Kimberlee White used to run the sales side at Hydra and I built the Bloosky network in less than 2 years time… so i think that speaks for itself.
What’s the point of hiring someone just because they are hot? Hot doesn’t always bring the bacon my friend… Especially after those good looks fade or those hair extensions fall out!
Whats your networks policy on payments to affiliates. How is your network going to address the backlash from affiliates getting worried about late payments?
Well to be honest… We don’t extend terms to just anyone. Being a network can be really fucking stressful when it comes to cash flow because advertisers quite honestly don’t really care if they pay you late. They already got the traffic so they are happy … and since there are 5000 networks now they figure if they burn one network then they can just move to another.
In regards to policy, it’s on a case by case basis in regards to payterms. We will always always pay even if we don’t get paid… which is hard to fathom sometimes because i would love to have more stiletto heels… but it’s the obligation as a network owner.
I think networks shouldn’t extend ridiculous terms to fly by night advertisers. What’s the point of booking revenue if you aren’t going to get paid? it’s just a number on a screen until it hits your bank account.
Don’t extend what you cant float… i know it’s a crazy concept…. it basically goes back to basics of not spending what you don’t have.
Can i get some sexy pics to toss in this post?
Haha ill see what i can find.
I had to rip this from hotchickswithdouchebags.com
There you have it
Looking for a network run by real people that moonlight as actors on HBO Shows? Backed by trivial things like, “good managment and experience,” then try AKMG. LOOK MA NO AFFILIATE LINKS!