An Interview with Murray Newlands – Affiliate Marketing Blogger

Recently I was able to have an email exchange with affiliate marketing expert Murray Newlands, who recognizes the value of trust and the influence the social media can have over marketing and how influential blogging can be. Murray has his own blog over at http://www.murraynewlands.com/ – check it out and read our interview below (I’m in black, Murray in blue):

Murray, thanks so much for talking with me today. To start things off, what kind of computer, technology equipment do you use for blogging / affiliate marketing work?

Oh now this is a question that I know can get me in a lot of trouble. Many people are going to regard me a as a sinner. I use a laptop for two reasons. Laptops are more environmentally friendly than desktops because they are optimized to use less power, but I also travel a bit and work from may offices, I therefore need to be mobile. Seeking a machine that is both lightweight and will not break traveling I bought a MacBook Air with solid state memory instead of a hard disk. I run windows on my Mac.

So, how long have you been blogging, exactly?

I have been blogging since the spring of 2009, I wanted to get some coverage for a client of mine. I asked a couple of bloggers I know and when they told me about that they were doing I just had to start my own blog. The were Heather Smith and Steve Hall, it still amazes me that I would start knowing two such well known bloggers.

I’ve learned it’s all about who you know. Heather is a great lady, I like her a lot. So Murray, what social networks do you belong to?

Facebook and Twitter are the most main stream I am active on. I also visit and post on the abestweb.com forum as well as affiliatesummit.ning.com. I am setting up forum.murraynewland.com I am hoping to create a little community on my blog. I also recently bought www.freelanceblogger.net and I own www.muzicforums.com

Do you happen to remember your very first computer, and if so, what was it?
This is showing my age but yes we had a commodore 64, nothing like putting a tape in the cassette player and waiting for it to load or to see if it would. I also remember getting a 14K modem and being excited what I could get 56k connectivity. LOL

That’s awesome. I actually had a Commodore 64 myself as a first computer. You’d have to type in a long list of commands just to get a program to run. I think mine had 5.25″ floppy disks though. Nowadays, do you own a portable music / media player, and if so, what kind?

I own an ipod. I travel a lot and work in some busy offices, my ipod keeps me sane.
When it comes to filling your iPod with digital music do you buy online, or buy physical media like CDs or LPs and convert to digital yourself?

Oh no, time for more confessions. When I bought my ipod I was staying with a friend, he told me to leave it with him for a couple of days, when I got it back it was full. It makes putting it on shuffle always a surprise, I never know what I am going to hear next.

When you get online to surf the web, to what web site is your homepage set?

Google

What made you start MurrayNewlands.com?

I think it is when I realized the power of blogging to communicate and connect. Now I know the amazing opportunities it has given me, why did I not start earlier?
There are a lot of apps and web sites you review on your blog. Do you think web apps are the future, or does desktop software still have a place in the new social media society?

I am a big fan of Tweet deck so yes I think that desktop software still has a place.
What’s the worst technical problem you ever had? How did you get it resolved?

Well I think that is when you came to my rescue. I have a IT guy that generally fixed my blog but recently I tried to install a forum on my blog and could not get it to work I put out a post about it and my friend Heather picked up on it and forwarded it to you. Thank fully you were able to fix my problem fast.

Gosh, thanks! It was an interesting thing to fix for sure. What are your top ten favorite blogs by other bloggers than yourself? (and their URLS, please)

Now your blog. Shawns blog www.affiliatetip.com Heather Smiths www.boatinginbeautifulbritishcolumbia.com, blog.clickbooth.com, www.benspark.com, brainfoggles.com http://www.marketleverage.com/mltv.php and adrants.com and can I squeeze in joetech.com and costpernew.com

Can you recount the first time you ever made money online?

My online marketing really started with the redevelopment of a corporate site for a agency I was working for, after teaching myself Photoshop and HTML. Like many people I think the first direct income came from Google adsense.

If you have a personal motto or mantra, what is it?

Work hard, work smart and find smart people to connect with, that is why I am here

What are you working on at the moment?

I am currently breaking into business to business affiliate marketing for the Business Advisory Service and helping them to find more affiliates to get businesses to reduce their business electricity prices.

If there’s a myth or rumor going on about you on Twitter or other parts of the internet, what is it, and if untrue, would you like to clarify the truth?

I recently learned some nonsense about me giving Linkshare UK the Buy.at affiliate list. Utter nonsense.
Murray, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions for this interview. Wish you the best of luck in the future, and looking forward to meeting you in person one of these days. Be sure to check out MurrayNewlands.com and keep an eye out for his forum for affiliate marketing in the very near future!