During this time I have experienced multiple failures as well as a few great successes.  I have made a lot of money on the successes, but at the same time I have taken some pretty brutal losses on the failures.  Welcome to the life of an entrepreneur, it’s never an uneventful journey.

Similar to a high stakes poker player, being a serial entrepreneur you have to expect, and be mentally prepared for many swings throughout your career.  You also have to be willing to assume a level of risk that 99% of your friends could never imagine.  When starting out, you have to be willing to risk your last dollar into something if you have conviction that it will be successful.  It is virtually impossible as an entrepreneur to become a millionaire without this type of attitude.

With all that said, there are not too many projects I work on these days that give me the entrepreneurial goose bumps.  In fact, out of 100 different business ideas or investments, I can think of maybe 3 or 4 throughout the years that I have been as excited about as what I am working on now.

I have never been more confident in something as I am in the success of what I will just call “Project V” for now.  Getting back on my own and being the CEO of my company is the best move I have ever made.  I have assembled an amazing team of individuals at Empire Marketing, and this is a primary reason I have 100% confidence in what we are building.

As you all know, I have always been a firm believer in surrounding yourself with successful people.  This principle is especially important when founding an internet start-up.  You are only as good as your weakest link.

I keep speaking in the forums, in this blog, and on the radio about innovation for one reason.  I want everyone to realize that it doesn’t matter where you’re at right now, what you have failed at in the past, or what your net worth is.  Everyone has the ability to create their own destiny and make big things happen regardless of circumstances.

A wise man once said the following:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge”

Albert Einstenin

I wanted to share from a personal standpoint on why I believe this “soft launch” has been so successful, as well as exactly what I have done to make it successful .  Hopefully other entrepreneurs reading this article can take some good advice and information from my experience.

For starters, the site is only about 10% launched.  The forums are essentially the only part of PAL that is live right now.  So as you can imagine, my main focus behind the scenes is on getting the main site prepared.  The private / invite only forums are a concept that is completely new to the poker affiliate industry, and one that I have been thinking about for several years.  This concept allows a small group of top producing and ethical affiliates to come together in a private community where we can share great dialogue and conversations.  The only way new members can join is by being invited by other quality affiliates.

This new concept to the poker affiliate industry will ensure the integrity of my personal site and community, which is paramount to me.  Whenever I put my name on something, I will settle for nothing less than excellence.

Since getting started in the poker affiliate industry almost six years ago (I know, that makes me a dinosaur), I have worked hard to surround myself and learn from others more successful than me.  And at the same time, I have shared my knowledge and spent countless hours helping people less successful than me.  Some of these guys I have mentored are now making 10X what I make each month!!! Where do I send the consulting invoices to???  And you ballers know who you are!

But the point is, and I don’t think it’s a big secret, I have busted my ass over the last five years to build my personal brand, guide others to success, and to nurture hundreds of relationships with poker affiliates.  Whether it was selling an Ebook in 2005 while corresponding with affiliates on an InvisionBoard forum, or founding what is now the worlds largest poker affiliate network at PAW, I have always made myself available free of charge to help my fellow affiliates.

Can having 300+ contacts on Skype, 100+ on Linked In, 350+ on Facebook, 400+ daily blog readers, and of course 10 different email accounts be cumbersome and time consuming, YES!!!  Trust me, my wife won’t even use my laptop because of all the orange skype boxes that pop up every few seconds.

Nonetheless, I attribute this commitment I have had to affiliates over the last half a decade to much of the success I am seeing right now at PAL.  I guess it’s like a pay it forward thing, and why I have gotten such good support from my friends in the industry.

It’s crazy, last Thursday when I decided to “soft launch” this new concept of a private invite only forum, I really didn’t know what to expect.  Being a viral marketer though, I always realized the concept of “invites” and how sick it can be.  In retrospect had I known how successful it would be, I would have waited til Mike was done with the main site, oh well, that’s a good problem to have.

I hit up a few of my closest friends in the industry on Skype, maybe 10 or so and invited them to come over.  Every single one of them did, and saw the value in what I was trying to accomplish.  And now, a good majority of the growth at PAL has been from you guys inviting other rock star poker affiliates.  This is purely a community building itself from within.  It’s been a truly amazing thing to witness so far.

I feel after spending some time with both Poker News and PAP over the last couple years, whom by the way I have the utmost respect for both these organizations, that it’s just time for me to get back to being an Entrepreneur / CEO and running my own business, as well as consulting company.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Thank-you guys for the continued support in this industry.  If you need an invite to the forums at PokerAffiliateListings.com and we know each other, feel free to drop me an email.  Although I’d rather you ask one of the other members so our community can further grow from within!

My goal is to build PokerAffiliateListings.com to be the #1 resource for poker affiliates in the world. The main site has not been launched yet, however the forums launched last Thursday.  This is a unique community however that is private and invite only.  In essence, the members are building the community up by inviting their peers from the industry.  So far the reception to this new concept in our industry has been amazing.  The private forums are only a small piece of the overall site however.

And since the brand is named “Jeremy Enke’s Poker Affiliate Listings”, it makes sense for me to move my personal blog over to the new site.  Don’t worry though, I will have a redirect in place so you can still hit your bookmark or type in JeremyEnke.com to get to the blog.

Likewise, don’t fear.  My personal blog over at PAL will still be filled with business, humour, and everything else many of the readers here have come to expect.  See you on the flipside!

P.S., if anyone needs an invite to PAL you can email me directly at jeremy AT jeremy enke dot com.

I mean let’s be honest, when you rank #1 in google images for Fat Blunt and get “hotlinked” to from hundreds of sites, life must be good!

I think I’ll do more of these posts occasionally as well. I am so bored of writing about poker affiliate content, (more to come on that later).  My new business and project are going extremely well, but I’m feeling a bit brain dead.  I should be able to give a full update on Brandon and I’s radio show this coming Thursday.  Tune in to our poker affiliate life radio show, bitches.  You won’t be disappointed.  Thursday 3:00 P.M.

Anyhow on to the link dumping.  If you want to be dumped on as well, please catch me on skype, email, or hollar at me in the YouPorn live chat with the sentence “I’d like to be dumped on”.  I’ll put your link on deck.  Or link to me with something, and I’ll probably link back in future dumps.

Let the dumping commence:

There are few people that probably live as crazy or fun of a life as me…….Roger might though.  Check out his blog. Personally, I just follow it hoping for more pics to be posted of his girlfriend.  If she were my girlfriend, I would talk her into helping me work on my google images traffic for a “new website” I was building.  Much love for the guy though as he enjoys beautiful women, golfing, and surfing.  He also knows a thing or two about Mac Poker and US Poker Sites.

Ding Ding, next up is the famous “Prince” of poker (not drunken Scotty Nguyen either), I mean hell, Nat Arems Poker Blog is generally known as N 82 50 24.  No shit, Nat is really known by several people in the poker industry as a number.  I wonder if he would “Go Crazy” if he actually heard “The Dove’s Cry”?  He is only one of a few people that can actually be referred to as a number in this world, and probably THE only one in the poker world.  I do have have to dump some link love though as he launched a new site on a killer domain Poker Terms.  Go there now and search my last name (Enke)…..Good stuff

Next up, Randy (Ridge) gets a shout out.  After having a gay reference thrown at him in fantasy football league by a Canadian, he decided to fly the gay flag as his avatar on PAP.  For the record, he is married with a gaggle of kids.  Good thing all your Poker Rakeback players don’t know about your new flag….. I probably wouldn’t fly that outside your house in Arkansas either.

My homeboy TJ knows a ton about online gambling sites, but he also could be the Hollywood Madam of the poker affiliate industry.  How does a kid from Cali know every affiliate in the industry?  If I had TJ’s skype contact list, I would find a way to spam it! LOL.  Nonetheless, TG is a becoming a baller and is always entertaining.  You too can be into attracting Degenerate NFL Betting college kids.  Great sites TJ!

Mike Wittemeyer finally got his poker affiliate extraordinaire blog up.  I imagine this should be a fun blog to follow.  Mike is pretty good at helping web surfers find the best online poker sites.  Unfortunately, he is not so good at staying awake at 4:00 AM after 15 drinks in foreign countries.  Ball out til ya pass out homie!

Just because Brandon Berndt takes his puppy to puppy training every week, he is really not that gay.  If it weren’t for his hot wife who is a great chick (I’d hit it) I probably wouldn’t feel as comfortable co-hosting a weekly affiliate radio show with him.

Now on to (poker69), I am fairly certain Kevin who is a Poker Affiliate and marketing star is much bigger than me, and also benches a lot more than I do.  (I have been working out 1 1/2 weeks).  So with that, go check out his blog.  I won’t comment on your girlfriend(s) Kevin.  Feel free to ship NSFW nudes though.  K, Thanks.

Finally, I got my boy from the ATL who keeps bullets, condoms, and other crazy shit openly displayed on his dresser.  He actually has a better poker affiliate blog than me (probably just setting me up where I’ll be forced to buy it from him someday, and I’ll actually be the one paying the cost). That’s fine though because unfortunately his taste in women is a little lacking as can be seen in the video below.  <—–Holloway dated this girl and produced this video while co-habitating together in the D during 2008.

Please email me if you would like to be dumped on as well.

This past baseball season however I made a great prop bet with my good friend and neighbor, Jay.  You can read all the details of the initial prop bet here.  The short version however is that we bet on the overall season record of the Chicago Whitesox versus the Chicago Cubs.  The loser would have to spend the night in the winners backyard the first weekend after the world series.

Obviously Jay lost the bet, and this weekend was time for him to make good on it.  Luckily for Jay, the weather was unseasonably warmer than normal this weekend for the first week in November.  Nonetheless the temperature did climb down to around 40 degrees during the middle of the night.

Jay is a pretty clever dude though.  The rules of our bet stated that the loser could only bring with them a college sized backpack, and whatever could fit on their body.  As you can see in the pictures below, Jay showed up with 1 bag and several layers on.

He then began to set up his camp site in the wooded area in my backyard.  And then it all began………..

About a half hour after Jay arrived, people started arriving with beer, chicken wings, steaks, firepits, firewood, tents, portable electronics, etc.  Needless to say, Jay planned and executed one heck of a party that evening in my backyard.  I have to say I was impressed at Jay’s ability to turn a positive into a negative.

Overall it was a fun night.  I think everyone left and called it a night around 2:00 A.M., at which point Jay was left to sleep by himself in my backyard.  Judging by his demeanor the following morning, I have to assume that he did not have a lot of fun.  Even being in a tent, I can’t imagine a 40 degree night on the wet ground, all by yourself, in your neighbors backyard would be a lot of fun for anyone.

Here are the pictures below.  I guess it’s about time to find another crazy prop bet to get involved in.

Jay’s Arrival

The Set-up

The Equipment

Looks Comfortable To Me – NOT

Ever Slept In A Hammock For 7 Hours?

And The First Guests Start Arriving

Good Thing I Left The Grill In The Backyard

Lucky Jay, One Of His Guest Brought Him A Tent

Overall, I give jay a 10 on cleverness and planning.  Nice work, next year the rules will be written in much finer detail.

Who knows though, perhaps I will end up voting for Obama.  Regardless, it will be nice when this election is over so whoever gets elected can start being accountable for their promises and actually try to fix this country.

Catching Wild Pigs

A chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, “Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.

When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he see’s happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs,  – not to mention the bailout of greedy Wall Street Brokerages etc.

While we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time , one should always remember:  there is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.”

Thomas Jefferson

Over the past few years I have become more and more disgusted with our government.  If ANY publicly traded company ran their business and managed their shareholders money the way the U.S. government manages ours, every executive would be in jail, and that is a fact.

So here is my dilemma.  I do feel John Mcain would do exponentially better protecting our country and managing our foreign affairs.  Yet, at the same time I think the war in Iraq is bullshit and we need to break out of there.  Saddam is gone, they have a $80 Billion dollar surplus, and our soldiers keep dying for nothing.  I am a big fan of Obama when he says that we are not making progress in Iraq, and that we need to get out.  Likewise I agree with the fact that we need change.

Here is what is really holding me back from casting my vote for Barack Obama though.  His idea of “redistribution of wealth” is the most idiotic and socialistic principal in the world.  All the other issues I can get past, but this one is just stupid.

Sure, it makes sense if you make $25K a year.  But for people that have busted their asses for years and worked their way up to EARN a high income deserve to keep their income.  As I understand it, with the Obama plan 40% of U.S. citizens will not even pay income taxes, in fact they will be getting checks back!  Where is all that free money going to come from?  Simple, directly from the top EARNERS.  No offense, but if someone who makes 10 times less than me wants to get on an even playing field with me, I have a suggesstion.

Go to college and take out thousands in student loans like I did.  Then work in low paying jobs while being an entrepreneur and working your way up like I did.  Increase your income on your own merits, not by taking it directly from the higher earning Americans.

I’m sure this makes me sound greedy, but I’m not.  I have no problem donating to underprivileged people or charities like the Make A Wish Foundation.  But I do have a real problem with giving even more of my hard earned money to a corrupt organization like the U.S. Government to distribute at will.  In other words, I am also not a big fan of funding $500K AIG parties and Bank Executives 7 figure bonuses.

At the end of the day I am an entrepreneur and I don’t plan my business decisions around what tax rate the governement decides to stick me for each year. But the whole principal of the U.S. government controlling my income by redistributing my wealth disgusts me.

Ideally I would be voting for Ron Paul, and I still may.  But I also realize this is a wasted vote.  So I end this with the question, who do I vote for?  Feel free to sell me on why I should vote for either of these idiots, or why redistribution of wealth is such a great principal.  Oh, enjoy the pic as well.

As many of you know, I absolutely love doing radio shows.  To me, radio is much more exciting than writing content all day, although lately I seem to be doing a lot of that as well.  Since leaving PAP, many affiliates have contacted me and expressed how disappointed they were that I would no longer be doing Poker Affiliate Radio.

To be honest this is one of things I knew I would miss the most when I left PAP.  I told you all that I was not going to disappear, and I meant it.  Over the last few weeks while I’ve been working on new projects, I was approached by my long time friend in the industry Brandon Berndt about doing a new show together.  It took me about 30 seconds to say,” that’s awesome let’s do it.”  I realize PAP is continuing on with their radio show on Tuesdays and I will be a regular listener and fan!  I encourage you all to continue listening to PAP Radio as well.  With Randy as the host, there will be some GREAT knowledge there.

Our show however is going to be called Affiliate Life Radio.  Of course we will discuss all the various topics and strategy related to poker affiliate marketing, but we will also be adding the twist of discussing the overall affiliate lifestyle.  Let’s face it, none of our buddies actually live or work the way we affiliates do!  Both Brandon and I are extremely excited about this new show.  I believe internet radio is truly still in its infancy and I can’t wait to build and grow this new brand.

Being independent once again in the poker affiliate industry will allow myself and Brandon to cover a wide variety of topics with an unbiased approach.  And if you know Brandon and I, then you can probably imagine how much fun we are going to have actually doing the show as well.  I envision Affiliate Life Radio being the “Maxim Magazine” of radio shows in our industry!  Aside from affiliate discussions and guests, there’s really no telling what to expect!

Throughout the last five years in this industry, I have made so many friends, and learned so much from many of you.  In fact, I don’t think as an affiliate that you can ever stop learning.  Nothing brings me more satisfaction than being able to share some of that knowledge through articles, blog posts, and now our new radio show.

I’d like to personally invite each and every one of you to listen and join in on the fun of our new radio show this Thursday afternoon.  We will be hosting this show every Thursday at 3:00 CST / 21:00 GMT.  You can find the show at Affiliate Life Radio.  The call-in number will be (347) 945-6340. Don’t forget to “favorite” us or leave a comment at BTR!

Although it’s just Brandon and I right now, we would love to bring in any additional hosts that may be interested.  Any Canadian or UK volunteers?  See you all on the airwaves this Thursday!

As many of you know I recently left the PAP forums, as well as the parent company, AP.  As much as I loved the forums and my former business partners, it was just that time for me.  I can’t quite yet speak about all the projects I am currently working on, but when I can, I imagine it will make more sense to many of you.  Needless to say I haven’t been this busy in a few years, and I love it.

One thing is for sure though; I have never been more excited to be an entrepreneur as I am right now.  With the global economy being in a downswing, many people are tightening up and taking fewer risks.  This is where I differ, I am going to loosen up and take more risks!

Although this may seem reckless, it isn’t.  Over the past 10 years I have always been one to get in and out of businesses and situations at the exact right time.  And in respect to the economy, I don’t know any serial entrepreneurs that are letting this recent downswing halt their dreams.  Even if the stock market tanks and we are in a full blown depression, there will still be a select amount of people that will make more money in the next few years than they ever have before in their life.  This needs to be YOU! Remember, opportunity is recession proof!

With that, here are the top 5 things I (Jeremy Enke) love about being an entrepreneur:

1. Freedom – Some people can work for a boss their entire life, not me.  I love having the freedom to make my own business decisions, hire my own people, and be responsible for every aspect of my business.  My theory is, “Why work for the man when you can be the man”

2. Money – Financial Freedom – I can’t imagine knowing I am only going to make X amount of dollars next year.  Like almost every other entrepreneur out there, I have been broke before.  I never want to go back there.  I love money and love having financial freedom to take vacations and provide a great life for my family.

3. Time - Although I easily work more than 40 hours a week, (probably 60+) I do it on my time.  Too many companies in the U.S. have the dumbest policies about time and schedules for their producers.  I literally have buddies that produce 20 times their wage, and work overtime hours for free, yet if they show up at 8:05 versus 8:00 two days in a row, they are in deep shit.  I am happy to say at 8:00 I am checking emails on my couch drinking coffee…. I love working my own hours.

4. Opportunity - After you have become a successful entrepreneur and have established yourself, it is amazing how many opportunities get presented to you on a monthly basis.  Over the last few months I have actually had to turn opportunities down that I knew were profitable simply because I did not have time.  Nonetheless, entrepreneurs look for opportunities and will always find them sooner than people hoping to be in the right place at the right time.

5. FUN - I have fun every day in both business and life.  I love my job, I love what I do, I love being my own boss.  Whether you want to be an entrepreneur or not,  if you’re not having fun in life, make some changes.  Life is too short to be miserable or not happy.

Make it a great week everyone!

Jeremy

Here is a list 13 practical and funny items that I gauruntee nobody on your list has.  Giving a gift like one of these will make you the most popular Aunt, Uncle, Brother, Sister, Friend, or Relative this holiday season. Feel free to share other fun or pratical gifts in the comments section below!

BANANA GUARD – Protect Your Banana!

Are you fed up with bringing bananas to work or school only to find them bruised and squashed? Banana Guard allows you to safely transport and storage individual bananas letting you enjoy perfect bananas anytime, anywhere.

LOCK-CUP

Lock Cup – Anti-Theft Coffee Cup. Are you tired of others stealing your coffee cup?  Well now there’s a solution.  The Lock – Cup has a hole which prevents most people from using it. Only the owner of the cup can use his/hers shaped key to close the hole.

TRANSPARENT TOAST

You love toast, but you always burn it? Than, this invention us for you. This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you just have to take it out when the color is right.  This idea is based on a transparent heating glass technology.

BUTTER CUTTER

One Click Butter Cutter controls your portion as an important part of staying healthy. This ingenious butter cutter delivers one standard pat with each click of the handle. You love toast, but you always burn it? Than, this invention us for you. This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you just have to take it out when the color is right.  This idea is based on a transparent heating glass technology.

GIANT REMOTE

Never lose your remote again!   With giant buttons, this extra-large remote is easy to use and impossible to lose.  It’s a 6-in-1 remote so you can use it to control your TV, VCR, DVD player, satellite, cable and auxiliary A/V device. It even features glow-in-the-dark buttons, so you can easily find the remote in the dark.  (You can buy them at Wal Green’s for $10 and give it to the person who usually holds same in a death grip but when detached always asks ….. Have you seen ….?)

DAY CLOCK

What day is today? You don’t know? Then you need a Day Clock.  It’s uniquely designed to keep track of weekly events like your golf day, card night, movie night, and so much more. It’s ideal for vacations and cruises when it’s easy to lose track of the day.

CRIME SCENE TOWEL

Chalk outline crime scene beach towel – be the coolest person on the beach!

LASER SCISSORS

Laser Scissors Cutting a straight line has never been easier. Just aim the pin-point laser and follow the line. The scissor blades are stainless steel and cut very clean with a micro edge.

TOILET SEAT LIFTER

‘Who left the Toilet Seat up?’ The Peace Maker  will end the battle of the toilet seat.  Merely step on the pedal to activate the lifting mechanism. When finished, remove your foot from the pedal and the seat gently comes to a rest where it started.

ILLUMINATING CAR SLIPPERS

Do you get up at night to drink water, go to the toilet… Do you wish you could see in the dark?  Remarkably bright LED lights are triggered by your footsteps and light up the floor 30 feet in front of you; ultra-soft plush style are extra comfortable and cozy warm.   (Now I would clarify this as a necessity!)

‘THE THING’ – INFANT PILLOW

The Zaky is an ergonomic infant pillow designed by a mom to mimic the size, weight, touch, and feel of her hand and forearm to help her baby with comfort, support, protection, and development. The Zaky can help calm your baby and help your baby sleep better through the night.

TRAVELER’S PHRASE BOOK T-SHIRT

If you are traveling a lot and don’t always know the language of the country you are visiting, then this T-shirt is for you. It has a phrase book printed on it so just point a finger at the pictogram you need and then point it twice at the question mark, which means, ‘Where is it?’ and in no time you have found what you were looking for… or not.    (Another possibility for the foreign language impaired)

WHEEL-MOVING BENCH

Whether you want to sit on the sun or in the shade, near the river or under the tree… now you have your movable bench, to sit wherever you like.

Feel free to share your comments on your favorite gift or links to other funny and practical gifts! Oh an also feel free to digg and stumble this