About Me

My name is Kyle Richey. I got my start in the Affiliate Marketing “game” in late July, 2006. At the time, I was a full-time Engineering student, and had been looking for a legitimate way to make money online for quite some time. I came across some random websites talking about promoting other people’s products, and how they were making a killing, so I decided to dig a little deeper…

I had already tried a few crazy money-making methods, but promoting products got my attention for a few reasons:

1) I love to review products I buy.
2) Making money without dealing with customers is awesome!
3) Very low overhead with high earning potential is ideal.
4) Earning residual income is VERY tough to beat!

So, I jumped right in and learned as much as I could. Within weeks I bought multiple courses and absorbed them all. Since I was a poor college kid, I knew I would need to get something off the ground quickly, that wouldn’t require a huge investment upfront. I was instantly drawn to the “Bum Marketing Method”, a technique Travis Sago created, because it is designed to do just that: make money with NO investment!

BUT…the trouble for me was that it was extremely boring. I liked being able to choose products to promote and write about, but I couldn’t seem to make the kind of cash I was hoping for quickly enough. So, like so many others, I kept looking. It seems like I threw my money at anything and everything that came out, looking back on it, but now I’ve finally stopped the madness. =)

I tried everything in the book while I was in school, figuring that I could always get a full-time job (or a part-time if that’s all I needed) if I wasn’t making enough to pay the bills when I graduated. So, with that in mind, I decided to experiment with making niche blogs, submitting articles to promote products directly, making “Adsense sites”, reselling PLR products on ClickBank, and more…

So, after all this experimentation, what did I figure out?

The best way to build a lasting, legitimate, residual income-based business online, is to build value-added, content & review style websites, that actually help people! So, that’s all I do now, and it’s working really well.

It’s amazing, but now that I’ve been doing this (full-time) for a while, I can’t even believe that I was willing to try some of these other methods! Is it possible to get rich with any of these other methods? Yep. Is it possible to get rich robbing banks or mugging old women, too? Yep.

That might be a bit of a stretch, but people looking to essentially steal money from others are just flat-out NOT going to last. Period. They are always going to be chasing down the next big way to rob people, and it will continue to get more & more difficult for them to keep up with the 100’s of bright-eyed PHD students begging for jobs with Google…let alone the masses who are far from afraid to bash on them in forums, on social networks, and on sites dedicated to calling out the ripoffs.

Alright, but how can someone get rich as an affiliate…ethically?

Well, this one took some time for me to figure out, but it’s incredible simple: add value. Be the middle man, that takes nothing from the customer. Provide some helpful content, then mention a product or service that makes things easier on the reader. In some cases, this is much easier said than done, but it’s a fantastic mindset to have no matter what programs you’re working with.

What I do now, and why it’s worth the extra effort

Enough ranting about the bad stuff…let’s get to the good part: For about 6 months, I was focused on absolutely nothing. I had no focus, but I had the drive & motivation to succeed, knowing that nothing could get in my way of financial freedom and the ability to have time, energy & money available for my friends, my family, and myself, even while achieving my goals.

So, I pushed on, and gradually increased my income. But, when it came down to the wire, I wasn’t going to be able to make enough money to do this full-time when I graduated, so I changed my strategy a bit. I made a decision that would change my life forever…to focus on ONE method, that adds value and helps people.

It didn’t have to be revolutionary, and it didn’t have to take years. Oh yeah, and I was always afraid of the whole “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” thing, but it didn’t even have to fall to that. As affiliates, we don’t have to be spread thin between dozens of projects (though it’s fun to be able to switch whenever we feel like it!), and we don’t have to make it our life’s work to finish one thing either.

All I focus on now is building “Authority Sites”.

Now, I’m not talking about sites like About.com, Squidoo, EzineArticles, nytimes.com, or anything else that would take one person centuries to put together. I’m talking about building a simple, clean-looking website that focuses on one group of people, and adds as much value to their World as possible, at no cost at all, with no annoying advertisements, and no scams; just a friendly, helpful article or review with a simple recommendation for something that will improve their lives. All this, backed up by sound research, and legitimate claims.

This may sound impossible, but believe me: it’s not! In fact, it’s much easier than many of the other strategies I tried before, especially when you consider the fact that most of us try 2, 3, 5 or 10 methods at a time!

In the end, doing things this way is worth it because of 3 simple things:

You’ll make more money
The money will last
You’ll feel good about what you’re doing
So, while it may sound like a daunting task at first, it’s my goal to help you do this too.

How this Blog can help you…

Now that I’m a full-time Affiliate Marketer, I think I have something to give to other aspiring marketers. But, I’m not saying that because I’m a millionaire already, and I have the time to. I’m also not saying that because I want to sell you something next week, like so many others.

This blog will not be littered with ads, or stuffed full with promotions for lame products that won’t help you build a lasting recurring income.

This blog is designed to spread the word about awesome stuff that goes on for affiliates, and I want you to be a part of it. I want to hear about your journey as an affiliate marketer too, so please feel free to join in on the discussion!

Thanks for taking some time out of your day to read all about me and my affiliate journey, and please keep coming back to check out my posts, learn something that will help you profit, and to let me know how you feel about it all.

Have a great day, and have fun building your business!
Kyle