I was recently given the opportunity to have an interview with Ryan Eagle of EWA Private Network. Ryan is a great guy and a super hard worker. For this interview I kept things short and sweet and I hope you'll enjoy it. One thing to note about Ryan is that he has a hard, "gangster" front but actually is a great guy.
Who are your favorite rappers? What are you listening to most these days?
Man o' man - the list goes on and on. Birdman, Do or Die, Max B, Dr. Dre, The Game, Gorilla Zoe, Gucci Mane, Jay-Z, Lil Keke, Lil Wayne, Mobb Deep, Outkast, Rick Ross, Shawty Lo, Snoop Dogg, UGK, Young Jeezy, and Z-Ro.
Jokes aside, tell us a little bit about yourself.
I'm the man, and I know that. Love me or hate me - I'm out here to make you more money as an affiliate. I'm 22 years old, a cocky asshole (that still pops his collar), loves blackjack, and will always keep to my roots: money, hoes, cars and clothes. I've been working full time online since 2004, and I'm the owner of EWA Private Network, the network that takes low margins like Wal-Mart. Bigshotism aside, I'm grateful for everything that I've achieved and I never take it for granted. I have a loving family, beautiful girlfriend, and I attribute my success to my sobriety and God.
Since being in the industry my business has adapted and changed several times. I started off doing full time SEO, diversified into CPA advertising in 2005 then switched completely to full time affiliate marketing in early 2007. Nowadays, most of my revenue still comes from our internal affiliate marketing option focusing on media buying, social traffic and contextual popups. In early 2009 we launched EWA Network to provide a network based on 4 simple things: EWA will pay more, EWA will get more, EWA will pay quicker and most of all - EWA will help more. All our staff are active affiliates that will help you build, scale and optimize campaigns.
What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
My sobriety - it's the most important thing in my life now and because of it I've gotten where I'm at now.
What have been your biggest failures and frustrations?
Well, I started a web design company awhile back and it was an epic failure. I was able to get clients pretty easily, but I found out quick that dealing with small business owners that barely turn on computers isn't the easiest task. I was revising and revising websites to suite their needs for little money - not worth my time whatsoever. One night I got sick of it all and simply refunded the last clients I had, shut the site down and started forwarding all the deals to a friend of mine. Horrible business. I hate clients. I hate deadlines.
What is the single toughest problem you've had to face, and how did you get through it?
Being young and having too much damn money was almost the death of me. Earlier in my career, I attributed my creativity to my drug use and got deeper and deeper into drugs. I thought that I was invincible and money could solve every problem. This hedonistic and twisted mindset turned me into a bitter person and I eventually got consumed with the fast life and even put money as a second priority to drug use. I spiraled downward and eventually reached a bottom and decided to get help - the best decision in my life. I'm a recovering addict and I can truly say that I wake up everyday happier than I ever was before. I can now have healthy relationships with family and friends.
Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
I hate voicemails. My cell phone is both my business line and personal line, so it's gotten to a point where I can barely answer it anymore. I wake up every morning and the calls periodically come streaming in every 15-20 minutes. Every night I use my voicemail to sort through the important ones then return the calls. I know emails are impersonal, but for someone like me it's the most efficient way of handling business.
What’s the best advice you could give to someone starting out in Internet marketing?
Get off the forums. Close your eBooks. Stop reading the blogs. The best teacher is experience - get your credit card out and get in the trenches. You will learn more from losing money than you will from anything else, I've never read a single guide on anything. I learned it all by myself, and now I'm sharing it with EWA affiliates.
What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you were starting out?
Listen to the D.A.R.E. teacher.
If it’s possible for you to share, are there any particular niches that you currently favor? Or that you aren’t necessarily in right now but that you would recommend?
I don't recommend niches that I do not currently run, because I'd be talking out of my ass. I prefer to be upfront with my affiliates about what I know and don't know. I've been running dating since 2005 and I still love it - there is a never ending supply of single guys. Lately, I've been running more and more game offers both domestically and internationally. These short little CPL's really convert with the right demographic targeting. If your ballin' outta control with one it's only healthy to grow it - but spend time to try other niches. A super affiliate in my books can run everything from rebills to dating to mobile offers - they're not restrained to one niche.
Do you try to keep current with the latest internet marketing news at all? What or who are your main sources?
JonathanVolk.com, of course =D. I gotta' give props out to PPC.BZ too - affiliate drama is just so much fun to partake in.
What are your typical hours like? When do you just chill back? Do you have a usual day off?
I've been working insane hours ever since I can remember. Back when I was 16 years old I was working at Walgreens corporate office full time over the summer, and then putting in another 6-8 hours every night after work to build up my own business. When I started making that nice paper I continued working the crazy hours because I knew the potential out there. Nowadays, I work on expanding the Birdman empire about 18 hours a day, 6 days a week. I'm constantly trying to expand my
team to distribute work but it just keeps piling up and I'm a control freak. Sundays are usually the day that I take partially off - to spend time with the girlfriend or family.
What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
Advertisers that don't pay. Owning a network isn't all glitz and glamor - we run on super-slim margins relaying on paying advertisers. When they don't pay, it hurts the business and this in-turn affects affiliates. I ask myself sometimes, was it really worth it? When it does happen - nothing makes my day more than harassing them on the phone, threatening their business or leveraging my connections to ruin any future businesses they have. I do take it personally, every time. I still have the SEO touch and I'm not shy to use it to ruin their name. Call it cut throat - but I'm out for blood when I don't get paid.
