Finally my lovely wife was able to step away from her daily chores such as cooking and cleaning to answer these questions. These were all answered by her and not influenced by me at all. Thanks karen, I’ll put you in for a raise at your annual wife review.

I wanted to Thank you Jeremy for giving me this opportunity to communicate with some of your friends. That was a pretty brave thing for you to do! I had fun answering the questions, in fact I may want to set up my own blog page (just kidding)! <———Did she just call it a “blog page”……she did. Honey, on the internet we just call them blogs!

I look forward to meeting all of you in the future!

Karen

1. Hi Karen, I am curious how you have dealt with the long hours of Jeremy being in this business. I know how my own husband feels, and I keep thinking once I get beyond the early stages it will become a little less hectic and more on track. How do you handle this? Next question would be are you involved in the business at all?

There have been times that I have been frustrated with his long hours, but I try to remember that lots of people work long hours. In some ways it’s nice that Jeremy works from home because he’s physically around but I think he actually works more because his computer is always around and sometimes he has a hard time shutting it. I try to remember the perks of the industry and the flexibility it offers. I am not involved in the business.

2. Has the Enkey[Jeremy] ever walked into the bedroom wearing his Sweatsedo suit with his pimp chalice while making it rain & say;hey baby you ready to get it on with a baller?

He’s never brought the pimp chalice into bed. Wouldn’t want to spill on the sheets.

3. Is Jeremy nuts?

Yes.

4. What do you do on Sundays?

During winter, watch football and hang out with the neighbors
During summer, play croquet, spend as much time outside as possible, and hang out with the neighbors

We also spend time with the kids and do lots of family things together.

5. What did you think of Jeremy wanting to wear a Pink Bunny suit to the WSOP on national TV?

Nothing surprises me with Jeremy! I thought it would be hilarious.

6. How do you feel about Jeremy’s admiration of Asian prostitutes?

I always find that very interesting since he likes blonde hair blue eyed girls. Maybe he likes Asian prostitutes because they can’t speak English and talk back to him.

7. Do you play poker? If yes, who is better: You or Jeremy?

No, can’t afford to since my husband does. (j/k) I know how to and have on occasion played for fun. I’m not very good though. I’ll stick with Yahtzee.

8. Will you allow Jeremy to bring the children to any future CAP events?

Yeah, I think if the location is a kid friendly environment like the Atlantis again we’d bring the kids.

9. Enquiring minds want to know, why do you only make 3 cups of coffee every morning when we have a 12 cup coffee maker?

Jeremy, I never know when you’ll be up in the morning and I want you to have freshly brewed coffee, you deserve the best!

10. How often does he actually wear the sweatsedo?

At least once a week. I always have to have it washed and pressed when he is going to be traveling overseas, he likes to wear it on the plane because it’s so comfy!

11. What is his nickname? ex.) puppy, pooky, sweetmeat, etc. Pretty much does he have an embarrassing petname that you call him by?

Sorry but he doesn’t have an embarrassing pet name that I call him. The only thing I can think of is that sometimes I refer to him as JE.

12. Do you like Jeremy’s new hair cut?

When his head was shiny bald I didn’t like it. It made him look like he was sick. But after it grew out a week or two I really do like it. He looks a little like David Beckham (the hot soccer player).

13. Does he wear a hat recently?

He did wear a hat for the first week since it is so cold here. One night he even went to bed with a stocking cap on.

14. I would like to know what he does when he is outrageously angry. Does he swear and scream and kick things or does he approach it in a calm way and resolve it quickly?

Jeremy never gets angry. Seriously, He is the happiest and most upbeat person I know. He approaches things in a calm way.

15. Do you know who Melissa Midwest is?

Yeah, she’s hot.

16. Do you ever wish Jeremy worked a regular 9-5 job? And does he spend money on you or keep it all to himself?

There were a few times I definitely wished he would just work a regular 9-5 job. In the beginning of his career I would have liked the stability of getting a pay check every 2 weeks and knowing exactly how much money you’ll be paid. That was one of the hardest things for me to adjust to, especially because we have a family to take care of. Jeremy spoils me and loves to spend money on me and the kids (he better not keep it all to himself since I don’t make any money! Except for the tips I make at amateur nights at Tiger Tail in Rockford. Just kidding!!)

17. Is he as crazy in real life as he sometimes sound on the internet? Do you have anything to do with the business. Does he let you know what projects he is working on?

Yeah he’s the same at home. I don’t have anything to do with the business. He does let me know to some extent what new and exciting projects he is working on.

18. What is the one thing you love about what he does? In the same regard what is it that you dislike the most?

I love that he is happy and that he loves doing what he does. The thing I dislike the most is trying to explain to people what my husband does for a living. People just don’t get it. So I say internet marketing.

19. How often do you get called a “M.I.L.F.”?

LOL. Occasionally I have.

20. Over Under on Jeremy having his first 10 mill year?

Don’t even know what to think of that. Can’t imagine making that much in a year.

21. What are your thoughts about online gambling and your husband working in the industry. Also what do you think about Jeremy playing the high limit slots?

I was a bit apprehensive about the industry in the beginning. I just didn’t want him to go to jail. Ahhh, the high limit slots, Jeremy usually doesn’t tell me about how much he’s gambling when he’s in a casino. I just like to hear about it when he wins. I am not a gambler at all and don’t like to lose money.

22. Do you guys have a joint bank account?…Did you sign a pre-nup?

Yeah, we do share a bank account since I don’t make any money. No pre-nup , he wasn’t making much money when we got married. No need for one either since we have never had a fight in 10 years and don’t intend on leaving eachother. Jeremy’s always said “whats mine is his and his is mine.“

23. Did you know Jeremy was such a leader when you met him? At any point did you think he would give up and work a normal 9-5 job? Finally, if you could change 3 things about him, what would they be?

Jeremy’s always been a leader in whatever he does. He doesn’t give up easily and when he puts his mind to do something, he makes it happen. There’s not a whole lot that I would change about Jeremy. After being married for 8yrs., I’ve come to love him for who he is and that includes good and bad qualities. I would only change little things like I wish he would pick his dirty laundry up off the floor.

24. What’s the weirdest thing you have ever seen Jeremy do?

Probably offering to wear the pink bunny suit to the WSOP. Recently betting his hair on a football team.

25. Did you marry Jeremy because he was “ghetto like dat” or was it because of his “balling” nature?

Jeremy was definitely not balling when I first met him (he was a paramedic on an ambulance, and although that’s a noble profession, he didn’t make much money. So I’d have to say because he’s “ghetto like dat”. He sure makes life fun and interesting, never a dull moment when Jeremy’s around.

26. Did you ever ask Jeremy to come to bed with the pink bunny outfit on?

No, not yet. But that’s a good idea, I don’t doubt he would do it! One Easter he did wear it around the house for the kids though. They loved it.

27. Have you ever cheated on him?

Never have and never will.

A couple months ago I did an “Ask Jeremy Anything” Friday blog post that ended up turning into 2 parts; Part 1 - Part 2.

It was suggested that I do another post, however this time make it an “Ask Karen Anything” post. For those of you that don’t know,Karen is my beautiful wife and the one that has to put up with all my shenanigans. So please ask any questions about me, life in general, being an affiliates wife, or anything really. I won’t censor her responses either :)  Just post the questions in the comments.

Have Fun, I hope I am still married a next Friday………

So with no further ado, next on stage gentlemen is the lovely Karen. Put your hands together and remember she is working for tips and tips only.

1. What was the best piece of advise you have received as an affiliate?

The best piece of advice was to not expect to “get rich” in the first couple years. I worked the 9-5 grind like everyone else when starting out.

2. Top 3 books / movies that may have contributed to your success?

The Poker MBA by Greg Dinkin

Stephen Covey’s 7 steps

Become a Better You by Joel Olsteen

3. What is the highest affiliate payment you have ever heard from one poker room?

Highest CPA $350 - $400 per player. One monthly payment, probably over $1 million I’m sure for a special promotion. The highest I personally have ever seen is a few hundred thousand deposited into a players account for the month (sick). This was a company I worked with however, not my personal affiliate account unfortunately.

4. What site do you believe makes the most money?

PokerListings.com and all the other brands they own

5. What site that is ran by just one person that is an authority in the affiliate industry?

PlayWinningPoker.com and CardsChat.com. These guys outsource translation and other stuff, but unlike many other big sites, there are not tons of staff.

6. Why the hell do you have a blog anyways, you don’t make any money with it, do you?

No I don’t make any money with this blog and I really do not intend to either. I enjoy writing though and this is the one place I can speak my mind and say whatever I feel like.

7. Whats the best way to double your income in a day? I mean long term income. Oh and what are the lottery numbers for this coming week?

For many affiliates, I would say give up on being a poker player and focus on being a better affiliate. Remember the house always wins. I enjoy being a part of the house. If you don’t play online poker, then I would say build a second site comparable to the one you’re already making money on. Or if you have 5 sites all making money, double that to 10. Most importantly, diversify.

07 14 22 33 11 — 23

8. How many sweat sedos have you sold, and how many of those were bought by you? Pimp Chalice’s also.

Less than 5 of each. Amazingly I only own one sweat sedo and one pimp chalice…..both will be coming to London. I am fairly certain my blog is the wrong demographic for these items. One of these days I will introduce some more products and see if I can sell 10 of any one item in a month from here. <—–I’d say doubtful at best though.

9. What do you hope to accomplish from CAP Euro?

This is actually one of the most important conventions I will attend so far. I have many new projects going on such as PAP, ASOP, Speedpay, and planning a poker conference. All of which I have meetings and negotiations to handle in London. Normally I am not a big fan of “formal meetings”, however my meetings at this conference are extremely important.

Usually at these things I am there for fun and will be the one partying until 4 A.M. At this conference though I do not plan on being hungover or staying up “that” late. I want to be on my A+ game throughout the entire event and never miss a breakfast. Ok, actually I’ll probably still be up late, but I will also be up bright and early. For me, this is an extremely important conference. Spring Break on the other hand, I am bringing my wife and don’t intend on doing any business.

10. If you were a new affiliate just starting out in this industry, what kind of site would you start?

I would choose a niche and try to dominate it. The one thing I would not try to do is start a general poker forum. Instead of focusing on forum members or freerolls, I would focus on building a list and adding massive content to drive traffic via SERPS. Instead of struggling with a forum, have a newsletter sign-up and collect emails. You will get more sign-ups on this than you will in a dead forum anyways.

Then I would also utilize some more general internet marketing tactics to create better calls to action than you see on the average poker information site. It amazes me how people will spend money on having reviews written, but then will not even have the most basic call to action telling people to sign up, download, or whatever. Give your traffic a REASON to click that link or sign-up. Geo-targeting would also be on the top of my list.

11. How much money did you win/lose overall last year gambling?

My wife might read this so I cannot answer truthfully. In poker I was a losing player in 2007, which is fine because I play for entertainment, and not to make a living. (I am one of the 3% of casual poker players that will actually admit losing at the game) However I did win $5K in the Bahamas on a slot machine with Shenaz last year. So I imagine I’m about even. <——Standard answer for gamblers. We’re all “about even”

12. How many different partnerships or strategic partners do you have for different websites or businesses like ASP?

Last year I had a lot more. This year however instead of focusing on several medium size projects, I am focusing only on big projects that each have six figure potential. Besides all the various projects I am working on for CAP/PAP, I do have one other project that I have equity in, and it involves a text messaging SMS affiliate model.

This year is all about FOCUS for me and laying foundations for BIG projects. Unless something amazing came along, I doubt I will personally be investing or forming any new partnerships in 2008.

13. Do you still launch small or large affiliate websites? Or are you mostly looking at being an investor/partner for new affiliate websites?

This year, no I will not be launching and small affiliate websites on my own. There really is no reason too as I have a few other things on my plate with enormous potential. Instead of launching a new affiliate site, I think I’ll just work with Warren and build upon the business model we already have.

14. What advice can you give about getting the most bang out of your site without having to spend all of your spare time on it.

The more you can automate things the better. For example if you have repeat or loyal visitors, incorporate RSS feeds so you are not always having to update the homepage content. Likewise another idea would be to forget about making a profit for the next 6 months.

During this time, instead re-invest all the money your site makes into outsourcing content, translations, or whatever. This will free up your spare time and give you a great deal of long term value. It’s just a matter of how bad you need the existing monthly income.

15. Can you share strategies that work well for you in terms of improving conversion. What’s the best approach to organize content to make conversions (reviews, ranking rooms, alphabetical, list, promoting them one by one via featured articles, etc)

Content is key, however your content also needs to be viewed as a sales tool. You need strong calls to action. Although as an industry we can dominate SEO, the general affiliate marketers of the world destroy us with calls to action and conversion techniques. You need to give your visitors a powerful reason to sign up through your link. Or your review needs to be compelling and lead them down a path that will result in them saying “Wow, I should check this site out and trying playing there.”

16. What internet venture (or offline) have you done that you thought was going to be a homerun but ended up going nowhere? Also, the other way around, what internet venture did you do that you weren’t sure it would succeed and it ended up blowing away your expectations?

Like any entrepreneur, I have had my share of failure. I thought DonkeyLotto would be a big success, but in the end we didn’t do enough to drive the heaps of traffic to it. Likewise we lost focus and essentially let it go. In terms of success, if you would have told me when I wrote PartyRiches and started selling it on Ebay that this is what it would result in, I would have never believed it. Another success was how easy it was to make money in real estate by generating leads from simply ranking for my local real estate terms, which was quite simple. Too bad that market took a nose dive.

17. How do you see the gambling affiliate industry developing over the next 12 months? Do you forsee any changes for the better/worse? On the same not how do you see the poker and casino industry developing over the next 12 months? With search engine competition so high is there now a barrier to entry to new affiliates?and finally ….. Will Nick bring his Bentley to CAP Euro?

I think the industry as a whole will continue maturing over the next 12 months. With CAP and PAP being controlled by the same company, I am confident we will be able to drive some very positive changes and be even more of an advocate for affiliates in the industry. The only barrier to entering this market now in terms of SEO is how hard your willing to work. To compete you will need to bust your ass and think outside the box. No comment on Nick’s Bentley.

18. How long do you anticipate it will take you to recoup the money (your share of PAW’s earnings) that you traded for the forums?

Less than a year.

19. You said in the letter/post about the switch that you thought PAW would be better moving forward. Do you really believe this? PAW lost two of their most important assets (if not the 2 most important)- the forums and you. I just don’t see anything they gained that even comes remotely close to offsetting this.

I think PAW will be just fine. You must remember that their profit center is the PAW Network. The forums never directly made PAW any money. I will still support the PAW network and we have actually entered a marketing agreement with them. Overall I do think this was a win/win for both PAP and PAW. had I left PAW and not bought the forums back, I think PAW would have struggled anyways.

20. Why is PPP on PAP strike?

I honestly have no idea.

21. What long tail (3 or more words) is the most profitable in the poker industry?

A few people would have my head if I let this info out, and it would literally cost them thousands. But I will say that there are a few keyword combinations that are out performing every other combination in the industry right now.

22. Why do we not have any pics of Greg Powell shining your shoes yet?

I will probably need to lose a prop bet to him in order to make this really happen. I can’t say how excited I am though to finally be working with one of my long time friends in the industry.

23. Do you think it is worth making the jump to Poker Affiliate Manager?

In this industry it is funny. Affiliates always want to become AM’s and AM’s want to become affiliates. I’ll never quite understand it. Personally being an AM is not for me. However I do think for some people it is a GREAT decision. If you think you can become an affiliate manager though and work less, you’re wrong. Most of these guys bust their asses and work more hours than affiliates. Overall though, I think it really depends on the individual and what’s right for them or their family.

24. It’s true, everything happens for a reason and many of your jobs have lead you to this point…but are there any jobs you truly regret working at?

Hmmm….not really. Every job I have ever had has been a stepping stone for me to get to the “next level”. I once sold Hospice care for a few months just for the health insurance. It was low paying and miserable. The service is a great service, but selling death care was not for me. And in the end I would have never needed the health insurance anyways as I had a private plan and my wife didn’t get pregnant at the time.

This was fun, thank-you all for the questions.

Wow, I never thought that post would turn out to be so popular. Let’s get right into it. I will answer the second half of the questions tommorow.

1. This is pretty bold. Whats the best place you know of to go and get completely drunk in Rockford?

Without question, a place called Tiger Tail which is 5 minutes from my house…… You’ll need to be drunk.

2. This may be blunt. But you call yourself a super affiliate. I am curious what makes one so, it appears your definition is money. So how much money did you earn in 2007 from Poker Affiliate activities, pre tax earnings?

I think that “Super Affiliate” can be defined in many different ways and not necessarily just $$. I haven’t done my taxes yet, and for all the +’s on the spreadsheet, there will be a fair share of -’s. My guess is it that for 2007 it will fall somewhere between $18,952.27 and $2.5 million.

3. What affiliate website do you own that receives the most traffic and which website do you own makes you the most money?

That’s a tough question. The websites I make the most money on I do not own outright, I have an equity % or investment in them. Also since I started in the “affiliate niche”, I learned that if I have 1000+ subs, I can leverage their 5000+ websites to make $. Until recently the largest trafficked website I owned was with Kyle and it was smoke420.com. 20k - 30K uniques a day. This was non poker related though and we sold it late in 2007.

4. Who is the infamous poster who goes under screen name PPP?

Not sure, but rumor has it that he is a phenomenal Omaha Poker player.

5. What is the highest traffic search phrase poker related or not that you have ranked/ still rank for?

Easily highest trafficked were myspace layout terms with kyle. Most valuable non poker related was real estate terms though. I have ranked high for several phrases that received a lot of traffic. Sometimes though, it is better to get 20 hits for targetted keywords than 100 hits for non converting keywords, if that makes sense. At one point a few years ago I outranked Nick for fulltilt bonus codes with a shitty blogger site. The most valuable term to me however has always been “poker affiliate programs” and “poker affiliate forum”.

6. Do you like rakeback?

If I were a big player, yes. As an affiliate on MGR though I am not a big fan, only because I lose almost EVERY big player at fulltilt to rakeback eventually. It can’t be fixed now though and it is usually not the rakeback providers faults. But having 3rd parties paying rakeback seems stupid when the rooms could easily manage it themselves.

Likewise I have been a loyal FT player since 2004 and probably raked thousands to their coffers. However I can technically never get rakeback because I unknowingly signed up 4 years ago……even if I muti-tabled 200-400 NL, I am just screwed. Yet the brand new micro-limit player can sign up and get 27% rakeback for life. Just from this example, you can see why rakeback has so many issues. Rakeback in general is not fair to both affiliates and players on many levels. **Disclaimer - Many of my friends are rakeback guys. It’s not their faults, it’s the rooms for not coming up with a fair solution.

7. I know you tried to run your own online casino. What happened, How did it fail?

I partnered up with a shitty operator. (An offshoot of FutureBet). I was doing very well, and then my players stopped getting paid, and so did I. I cut my losses and walked away. Had it worked out though I’d probably have multi-millions right now, but not be able to live in the U.S. and never started PartyRiches. Everything happens for a reason.

8. Does your wife ever think you should do some other type of work? Has she?

She has always been very supportive. In the past, yes she has wanted me to look at different fields (post UIGEA). Right now though, she has realized I will be in this business until I retire.

9. If you were going to start out as a poker affiliate today trying to become a big affiliate, would you start by making 10 average sites or 1 mammoth one? Or put more simply, would you aim to make lots of small sites or a small number of big sites?

I would have 1 flagship site, maybe not mammoth, but then 10 smaller sites that could feed into the flagship. Starting 1 BIG site right now would be very hard unless you have a ton of staff.

10. If you could change one thing (except the concept) to improve my site (www.pokerforfree.org), what would that be?

I would geo-target your banners so that US players see US rooms on your right sidebar and in the header.

11. If you were starting fresh,who would your #1 choice as a mentor be? Why?

I would look for 3 things. 1. Someone who knows SEO 2. Someone who has a similar work ethic 3. Someone who knows how to properly outsource. Right now for me, this would be Warren Jolly the CEO of CAP. There’s a reason I partnered with him, I want to learn from the best. That is just MY personal choice for a mentor though and makes sense for my business goals.

12. What happened to the hot chick in the corner, and when are you going to get a new one?

Hi Karl, you’re wife made me take her picture down as the strip club said I was infringing on their intellectual property. Yes I might replace her in the next few weeks.

13. If you were planning a fairly large site and obv you want to hit top 5. What would be two things you would do to get there that go beyond the basics of links and proper tags?

Branding, Branding, Branding. I would try to build a brand that has the ability to become known in the poker industry, and one that will bring repeat visitors. I would also try to find a way to build loyalty amongst my visitors.

14. Who was the biggest influence for you in the industry?

There have been several. Initially it was Randy Ray who showed me the ropes though. Right now it’s hard to say, there are so many good friends I have made that I constantly learn from.

15. If you shoot a mime, is it necessary to use a silencer?

Depends on your location and the type of weapon. Better safe than sorry though, so I will answer yes.

16. How can I get your to spend 30 minutes a week teaching me to become a better affiliate? (Other than paying you the 2k your 30 minutes would be worth)

Catch me on skype if you ever want to chat, read my blog, read the PAP forums. I would never take money for helping other affiliates.

17. What happened to the affiliate eBook?? will the project be resurrected?

It got sidetracked when the PAW / PAP deal went down. To be honest I would rather write a real hard cover book about success or motivation versus another poker affiliate ebook. Most of anything I would write on this topic can be found in the forums anyways.

18. How much did it cost you to buy the PAW forums back?

Somewhere between $18,952.27 and $2.5 million.

19. Who is better…Griese? Grossman? Orton?

Jim McMahon

20. Which affiliate program do you think is the shadiest?

I think the small fly by night ones are. I ranked and to this day still rank great for GreenTiePoker (if you can remember these ass clowns) Yet I have never seen a penny.

21. What is the highest CPA you have ever seen / heard of?

In poker, probably $350 - $400. I head casino and sports can be a bit higher though.