Ad HustlerConfessions Of A Serial Internet Entrepreneur

This has been a crappy week. Earlier in the week (thanks to you loyal readers) I discovered that AdHustler.com had been hacked. Since then, i’ve been working on getting it fixed and at this point it seems like all is well. I wanted to send some thanks out to people that helped in gettng this fixed.

• SolarVPS – These guys host AdHustler.com and went well above and beyond to help get the site up and safe again
• VoloMike – Mike is a great developer. He sent me some helpful advice to try to get the site back & safe. If you need a web developer he’s the man, i’ve personally used him.
• Local Skype Group – All of you guys were helpful in diagnosing & fixing the problem
• Ad Hustler Readers – I appreciate all of your support & patience

To a Hack Free 2012

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Looking back on 2011 i’ve decided that 3 services that you may or may not have ever heard of deserve recognition. I consider all 3 of these solid companies who’s service & offerings I am impressed by.

#3 WYSIWYG Web Builder

WYSIWYG Web Builder is the SICKEST website editor/designer you will ever use. DreamWeaver is nice but it’s nowhere near as easy and quick to use as WYSIWYG Web Builder. WYSIWYG Web Builder is the fist website builder i’ve ever seen where when you place something somewhere, everything correctly lines up in the browser without using an ounce of code. I know how to code HTML/CSS but for landing pages and things that need a lot of changes/testing done to them, I can’t imagine a quicker or more efficient way then using WYSIWYG Web Builder. They have a free trial and once you try this you will buy it. I can almost guarantee it.

#2 SolarVPS

SolarVPS is just what it sounds like, a hosting company. After I had some issues with StormOnDemand, I decided to consult a friend of mine about where would be best to host some SEO sites I had that were sucking up a decent amount of bandwidth. I was introduced to SolarVPS by this friend and I now personally know the owners of the company at this point and believe that they are SERIOUS about hosting. No, SolarVPS is not cloud hosting but what they are is a serious VPS provider who’s VPS’s perform better then cloud offerings (in my opinion at least).

I initially purchased a VPS for 1 set of my sites. I’ve been very happy with that VPS and it’s performance. Since then SolarVPS has given me a couple of other free VPS’s to try out their other datacenters and every datacenter has been solid as a rock. I’ve also been bringing clients over to SolarVPS for their hosting needs. They currently have datacenters in Clifton, NJ, Los Angeles, CA & Dallas, TX.

I know that pricing is everything and these guys have their act together on pricing. Check out what you get for $50/month

SolarVPS’s support has been really good. They have gone above & beyond to fix problems. Their VPS’s are FULLY MANAGED and that’s no joke. So far i’ve found these guys to be better then any other host i’ve been on and I plan to continue hosting with them. AdHustler.com is currently hosted with SolarVPS.

#1 Prosperent

Prosperent (<---affiliate link) is an affiliate network that you probably have never heard of. Prosperent is essentially an affiliate network who get's datafeeds from all of the major CPS affiliate networks and organizes them in a useable way. If you've ever dealt with merchant's datafeeds you know they are hard to work with, formatted like crap and inconsistent across different merchants. Creating sites using this data is difficult when the data sucks. Prosperent cleans this data up into 1 usable database and then provides tools/APIs to access the data. They have several products including an adsense like offering for showing products related to your content and and API that can be used in a multitude of ways.

Prosperent has recently built a really nice reporting system so that you can see what products sold and where the sales came from and they are working on making that even better. You're probably asking "how do these guys make money?" The answer is that they share the revenue you generate taking a percentage for themselves and giving you a percentage. Yes you lose some of your money, but they also make the process of handling datafeeds and creating apps using those datafeeds a whole lot easier.

Have you used any of these? What are YOUR thoughts?

Disclosure: This is NOT a paid post. Everything written here is the true and uninfluenced opinion of Ad Hustler. WYSIWYG Web Builder has given me zero compensation ever. SolarVPS has given me a couple of comp VPS’s but only after I already had a VPS with them that I paid for and still do pay for. Prosperent has given me zero compensation but there is an affiliate/referral link embedded in the post.

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My boy Darren of Affiliate Ball fame is throwing a hell of a party at Ad Tech NY.  If you don’t know what Affiliate Ball is, it’s an Affiliate Marketing industry party that’s actually FUN!  The last one even made it onto TMZ.  Each of these parties has awesome recording artists and this party will be no different.

CPAWAY Presents Xposure2011 – An Affiliate Ball Production

Featured Acts: Mike Posner, Naughty By Nature and Slick Rick each performing their own 30 minute concerts.  DJ Scrillionaire will also be the house DJ for the night pleasing everyone’s music palate with  his “Mash Up” sets.

Venue: Terminal 5 (Awesome Concert Venue, not a small club & close to The Javits Center)
Sponsors: Xposure2011 is still accepting sponsors.  If you’d like to sponsor the event please contact Darren ( darren@xposure2011.com )

All industry folks are welcome and the RSVP is now open. RSVP NOW

See you there!

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I recently became an ordained minister.  I am being told that I now have these rights:

• Perform marriages, funerals, baptisms, ceremonial rites, and last rites.
• Start your own church, be it brick & mortar or online.
• Absolve others of their sins.
• Use the title Reverend, Minister, Healer, Educator etc

I figured I would share this fantastic news with all of you.  If you are getting married or need your sins absolved, Ad Hustler is here for you!

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• Parties where there is a chick hanging from the ceiling pouring drinks are awkward.
• Kim Ann Curtin (You’ve Probably Read Her Articles HERE) did an interesting session on “UnNetworking.”  I liked her interactive format and I liked that she breaks the mold over what most people do in their sessions.
• I like being able to hook people up who can help each other, and NO, not so I can take a piece of the action like many of the scumbags i’ve met in this industry.  Pay it forward baby.
• It almost seems like some of the affiliate networks are leaning towards BEING the “Super Affiliate” rather then trying to recruit/service tons of new affiliates.
• I always like when a company “get’s it.”  There has been this law firm at the last few Affiliate Summits called Ifrah Law.  They had a big ad outside their booth that said “1 weird old tip to shrink your legal liability….” with a parody of the famous weight loss ad that it’s obviously based off of.  I’m sure that it’s rare that you are going to find a law firm or any company for that matter that actually GETS IT.  Seems like these guys (and gals) do.
• Brian Hawkins should start his own ecommerce business for unusual pants.
• I like hanging out with both CPA & CPS affiliates for different reasons.
• It doesn’t seem promising when a website spent time trying to get me to run their offer and then when I go to the offer the domain is expired.
• There was a gang of like 50 old people walking around the expo floor who were obviously sold some bizopp that takes them to Affiliate Summit.  I followed them around a bit to hear what was going on and feel kind of bad for them because I doubt many of them will ever make any money with this.  “What’s HTML?  Do you build websites?  I have $10 to spend.”
• Shawn Collins and Missy Ward of Affiliate Summit are some of the most giving, generous & genuine people in the industry and i’m proud to be a part of their show.

Any observations about Affiliate Summit?  Comment!

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