The Marketing Gorilla blog Greg Hoffman an interview

Tell me about your Blog?

The Marketing Gorilla blog (www.internetmarketinggorilla.com) was first published in January 2005 when I realized the need for personal branding. This was my quest to dominate search engine listings for my name, as there are many of us in the world. The term Marketing Gorilla was coined during my work as a guerrilla marketing consultant for a small business with no advertising budget. The owner called me Gorilla Greg and as I was researching guerilla marketing in search engines, I noticed most people couldn’t spell guerilla correctly. So I went with Marketing Gorilla as an SEO benefit.

Over the last five years, I’ve posted useful articles about internet marketing, updates on my work projects, book reviews and the occasional rant on various topics. Today, it mainly serves as a resource to affiliates active in the affiliate marketing programs I manage through Greg Hoffman Consulting. I recently joined the big leagues and upgraded to WordPress, using the Flexx Theme. I’m finally happy with the layout and features.

What was your first blog?

My first blog was called Security Awareness for Ma, Pa and the Corporate Clueless. The Security Awareness blog was created in June 2004 as the primary marketing tool for a company called Interpact. Inc. We posted up-to-date computer security information, tips and commentaries from other top experts in the Information Security Industry. The blog was hosted on Blogger.com and the lack of features was maddening but it served its purpose. Within a few months, the blog was listed at the top of every major targeted keyword or phrase in the business plan.

In 2005, the Security Awareness Blog won Best Overall and Best Tech Company Blog sponsored by Jeremy Wright and Darren Barefoot. Of course, I worked with a bunch of hackers so the public voting might have been skewed a bit in my favor…I think Problogger Darren Rowse  has proven to be the real star of that class.

What other blogs have you created?

My next business blog was a masterpiece. It was called Cigar Blog 101, hosted by Thompson Cigar. I worked for many months during 2006 to get the blog approved by a company that was still wary of losing traditional catalog sales to this new thing called the internet. I found a cigar expert with 46 years experience that was working as a trainer in the call center and knew that his knowledge would be the soul of the blog content.  Every review he wrote was search engine gold. Within a few months, the blog was a profitable marketing channel for the ecommerce division.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?

Find a purpose for your content and monetize it wisely. Don’t be afraid to work with advertisers but do your homework and learn best practices on long-term growth. You can’t make $10,000 in a week.

What new ideas are advertisers coming up with to take advantage of new trends?

I’m trying to encourage all of my ShareASale clients to add videos for affiliates. The new trackable video feature really helps bloggers promote products in a professional way. It looks good, adds depth to the sell and it certainly helps increase conversions.

What is on your iPod?

Everyone should have a little Bluegrass on their iPod. I also have a range of taste from LL Cool J to Pink Floyd.

What are your contact details?

Greg Hoffman Consulting

www.greghoffmanconsulting.com

greg@greghoffmanconsulting.com

www.internetmarketinggorilla.com

www.twitter.com/akagorilla

www.facebook.com/akagorilla

http://abestweb.com/ghc

What events do you go to?

I plan to attend both Affiliate Summit West and East every year.

How do you prefer to communicate?

AIM – akagorilla@gmail.com