I met Murray Newlands at last year’s Affiliate Summit East in New York. He was introduced by my friend Heather. We did a video interview at the ASE press room while drinking beer. Since then I have watched, even scrutinized his progress. Murray is proof that you can start small (well actually he could still lose a pound or two) and go a long way in just a year. Just look at his Alexa stats. He has come from nowhere (aka the UK) – to one of the largest blogs about affiliate marketing. This is pretty remarkable for someone who has only just started blogging.
Murray Newlands is now short listed for Blogger of the Year at Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards. Murray is the first to admit that he has made some mistakes along the way. Still, if you want to make it as a blogger you could do no better than to take note and subscribe to Murray’s affiliate blog.
Researching this post I wanted to know what he was really like so I asked someone I know well who works with him a lot, Eric Schechter at Clickbooth. Eric said that Murray drives thousands of dollars of traffic per month as an affiliate for the network and had been a huge help in promoting the network.
I wanted to interview him this year before the awards and see what tips he would have for bloggers trying to make it.
Murray Newlands, who is going to win the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards?
Jeremy Schoemaker. I would like to say that I am honored to be on the list with two amazing bloggers like Jeremy and Geno Prussakov. Thanks Shawn and Missy.
Murray you get written about on lots of blogs: how do you do that?
It is all about communication, getting to know other bloggers and being open about building relationships. In practical terms, meeting bloggers at events and making a good impression helps, as well as linking to them. Get to know some bloggers and work with them and you will soon get to know the community. Yes, like lots of other things in life it is about who you know, so get to know some people and pay it forward.
You blog about lots of affiliate networks and other companies: why is that?
They interact with me and provide good content for my readers. Once I started to blog about Clickbooth and we built up a good working relationship, other networks could see that, and I know how to interact with a network. Since starting with Clickbooth things have evolved from there.
What is this blog outreach I have read about you doing in other interviews?
Simple. Companies want to get picked up on blogs, they want links traffic and to generate buzz. I am doing some work for a shopping deals site www.ubranstone.co.uk :they sell freezers etc. The want all of the aforementioned. They saw what I had created with my blog and asked me to help them. Now more and more people ask me to help with this kind of work, I see it as more marketing than affiliate marketing, but I love blogging so it all works. I am looking for more bloggers to work with: please do get in contact.
How can people contact you?
At my blog www.murraynewlands.com on Twitter @murraynewlands or on Facebook.
What tips would you give my readers about how to grow their blogs?
Get to know and work with other bloggers. Pay it forward and it will come back to you, while learning who gives back. If you get a reputation for giving, others will want to network with you. Keep blogging and keep learning.
What can we expect from you this coming year?
Well I have just launched a word of mouth marketing blog and bought but not yet re-launched affiliateblogger.co.uk, so that is some clue.
What else would you like to know?
I am going to meet Murray Newlands at Affiliate Summit West and do a video interview with him, what more would you like to know about him? CV, DNA profile, waist measurement?