An Interview With Justin Of Clever Bucks
Justin (AKA Luv$) has worked from some of the largest affiliate programs in the business including Hundies and Sapphic Cash. Taking what he learned there and on his own as a webmaster he bought the old Studio Cash program and sites and put his personal touch on them to launch his own program Clever Bucks. We talked to Justin on the eve of Clever Buck's public launch.
Webmaster Vault (WV): When did you start your affiliate program, CleverBucks?
Clever Bucks Justin (luv$): It was started back in September, so around 10 months. I’ve just been making sure all of the changes and revisions I’ve made haven’t made an impact on the entire process, and that when affiliates begin to utilize our setup, they’re not left frustrated and never come back.
WV: You bought the old program Studio Cash and incorporated those sites into your new program Clever Bucks. What made you decide that this was a good route and take?
luv$: Initially it was going to be built from scratch, but when StudioCash came up for sale, I thought it would be an excellent way to get a jumpstart on the entire process. The sites I felt were very niche-focused and not about the BS of flashy designs, I thought they would do well and I was very happy to be proved right about that.
WV: How many people do you have working for your program?
luv$: So far it’s just me running it, everything else I do not know how to do or am too busy to do, I hire out to get done.
WV: Where in the world are you located?
luv$: I am actually located in Nebraska, physically, due to family needs – but the CleverBucks office is in Florida.
WV: What drew you to the adult business? Where did you get your start in the adult internet?
luv$: Well, the first time I got online, my immediate thought was – how can I profit from this. One thing led to another and I ended up researching adult over 5 years ago. The very first site I found was http://www.hosts4porn.com/, which used to be a pretty nice resource site with a lot of info on it back around 2000-2001. For me, adult is like any other business, but requires a little more of a level head to make it. There are so many distractions not just with the product we work with, but the industry as a whole – I think a lot of people fail to realize how complicated working in adult really is. But that’s another thing altogether haha, let’s get back on topic!
WV: There was some drama surrounding the previous owners of Studio Cash and the sale of the program. Do you think that it may hinder your success?
luv$: Well, the short answer is an emphatic NO. I can’t control what people think, but I can tell you I am pretty confident that a lot of people who knew of StudioCash know of me, and know at least to an extent the type of person I am and how I conduct myself. Bottom line here is that I have decided that my integrity and honesty will be picked up by people in the industry and they’ll be intelligent enough to decipher between the previous owner and myself.
I think a lot of programs make the mistake of underestimating the intelligence of people in our industry, let alone affiliates. This is a situation where my tendency to not underestimate my industry colleagues’ intelligence may be in the favor of my program being perceived as an honest, stable one.
WV: What is your plan to assure people that your new program will not suffer the same fate as Studio Cash?
luv$: There’s a thin line I have established in the last 10 months, and that is that our programs are setup to be as competitive as possible while simultaneously being as safe as possible for the program. I am not doing any outlandish promos or spending tons of money on a bunch of stuff – so I think again people will be able to take that and see that I’m focusing on keeping the program stable, and only after some time and some track record of stability can we get a bit crazier with payouts and future promotions.
It’s just the nature of the beast.
Furthermore, one of my personal goals is intense affiliate care AND member care. As a program my responsibility is to the people who trust us with their traffic in addition to the people who trust us to provide their entertainment. One is not more important than the other in my opinion, and both require the same value of service I feel I am fully able to provide.
WV: You have worked from some pretty big programs including Hundies and Sapphic Cash. What did those jobs teach you that you can apply to running your own program?
luv$: Oh Lots! Immeasurable is the word I think that would best describe the amount I have learned from both companies.
Those guys at Hundies are so professional it’s just amazed me to watch them work. I really hated having to leave there when I did. They treated me like a part of their family and put up with a lot of my crazy ideas :)
At Sapphic, things were quite uniform and linear. A very different environment altogether, but the amount that I learned from there really helped me to understand how a program manages great success and how to keep it rolling.
One thing I want to point out is that while working for either company, I never thought I would ever start a program. Now that I am on the other side I only hope I can do as well as both of those programs.
WV: Do you shoot your own content or will you be?
luv$: No, I don’t. Perhaps one day, but for the foreseeable future I think this will be something I continue to delegate.
WV: Where do you envision your program heading in the future?
luv$: I would like to see it giving the same level of service and quality as some of the bigger, staple programs like Naughty America, Perfect Gonzo and Wildcash. I want affiliates to think of my program as one that is here to stay, under any circumstances. I also want affiliates to be able to say CleverBucks works with them, not over, for or against them.
WV: What do you like most about working in the adult internet biz?
luv$: The freedom, of course; while I’ve come to enjoy a bit of structure – there’s nothing in the world that beats being able to get out of bed and working when and where and how you decide for that day ;)
WV: What do you find most frustrating about working in the adult internet biz?
luv$: Laziness. We all suffer from it from time to time, and it’s in all industries – but laziness is a cancer that will leave those who succumb to it far behind the curve in my opinion.
WV: If you could change one thing about the adult internet biz what would it be?
luv$: To trade the industry’s hunger for drama and grandstanding in exchange for a new hunger for hard work and profits J
WV: One last question. You have worked in the biz for a while now and have worked for some pretty big companies. What is the craziest thing you have ever seen during the course of a work day?
luv$: That is a toughie considering when I was at those companies workdays consisted of being at a desk, so I suppose that leaves the shows.
Probably when I went on a helicopter ride over Niagara Falls after the Toronto show – that was one of the top ten experiences in my life I think.
Clever Bucks will officially launch on June 25th and will be offering a variety of high converting sites, webmaster tools and personal webmaster support. http://www.cleverbucks.com for more information.
Clever Bucks Justin (luv$): It was started back in September, so around 10 months. I’ve just been making sure all of the changes and revisions I’ve made haven’t made an impact on the entire process, and that when affiliates begin to utilize our setup, they’re not left frustrated and never come back.
WV: You bought the old program Studio Cash and incorporated those sites into your new program Clever Bucks. What made you decide that this was a good route and take?
luv$: Initially it was going to be built from scratch, but when StudioCash came up for sale, I thought it would be an excellent way to get a jumpstart on the entire process. The sites I felt were very niche-focused and not about the BS of flashy designs, I thought they would do well and I was very happy to be proved right about that.
WV: How many people do you have working for your program?
luv$: So far it’s just me running it, everything else I do not know how to do or am too busy to do, I hire out to get done.
WV: Where in the world are you located?
luv$: I am actually located in Nebraska, physically, due to family needs – but the CleverBucks office is in Florida.
WV: What drew you to the adult business? Where did you get your start in the adult internet?
luv$: Well, the first time I got online, my immediate thought was – how can I profit from this. One thing led to another and I ended up researching adult over 5 years ago. The very first site I found was http://www.hosts4porn.com/, which used to be a pretty nice resource site with a lot of info on it back around 2000-2001. For me, adult is like any other business, but requires a little more of a level head to make it. There are so many distractions not just with the product we work with, but the industry as a whole – I think a lot of people fail to realize how complicated working in adult really is. But that’s another thing altogether haha, let’s get back on topic!
WV: There was some drama surrounding the previous owners of Studio Cash and the sale of the program. Do you think that it may hinder your success?
luv$: Well, the short answer is an emphatic NO. I can’t control what people think, but I can tell you I am pretty confident that a lot of people who knew of StudioCash know of me, and know at least to an extent the type of person I am and how I conduct myself. Bottom line here is that I have decided that my integrity and honesty will be picked up by people in the industry and they’ll be intelligent enough to decipher between the previous owner and myself.
I think a lot of programs make the mistake of underestimating the intelligence of people in our industry, let alone affiliates. This is a situation where my tendency to not underestimate my industry colleagues’ intelligence may be in the favor of my program being perceived as an honest, stable one.
WV: What is your plan to assure people that your new program will not suffer the same fate as Studio Cash?
luv$: There’s a thin line I have established in the last 10 months, and that is that our programs are setup to be as competitive as possible while simultaneously being as safe as possible for the program. I am not doing any outlandish promos or spending tons of money on a bunch of stuff – so I think again people will be able to take that and see that I’m focusing on keeping the program stable, and only after some time and some track record of stability can we get a bit crazier with payouts and future promotions.
It’s just the nature of the beast.
Furthermore, one of my personal goals is intense affiliate care AND member care. As a program my responsibility is to the people who trust us with their traffic in addition to the people who trust us to provide their entertainment. One is not more important than the other in my opinion, and both require the same value of service I feel I am fully able to provide.
WV: You have worked from some pretty big programs including Hundies and Sapphic Cash. What did those jobs teach you that you can apply to running your own program?
luv$: Oh Lots! Immeasurable is the word I think that would best describe the amount I have learned from both companies.
Those guys at Hundies are so professional it’s just amazed me to watch them work. I really hated having to leave there when I did. They treated me like a part of their family and put up with a lot of my crazy ideas :)
At Sapphic, things were quite uniform and linear. A very different environment altogether, but the amount that I learned from there really helped me to understand how a program manages great success and how to keep it rolling.
One thing I want to point out is that while working for either company, I never thought I would ever start a program. Now that I am on the other side I only hope I can do as well as both of those programs.
WV: Do you shoot your own content or will you be?
luv$: No, I don’t. Perhaps one day, but for the foreseeable future I think this will be something I continue to delegate.
WV: Where do you envision your program heading in the future?
luv$: I would like to see it giving the same level of service and quality as some of the bigger, staple programs like Naughty America, Perfect Gonzo and Wildcash. I want affiliates to think of my program as one that is here to stay, under any circumstances. I also want affiliates to be able to say CleverBucks works with them, not over, for or against them.
WV: What do you like most about working in the adult internet biz?
luv$: The freedom, of course; while I’ve come to enjoy a bit of structure – there’s nothing in the world that beats being able to get out of bed and working when and where and how you decide for that day ;)
WV: What do you find most frustrating about working in the adult internet biz?
luv$: Laziness. We all suffer from it from time to time, and it’s in all industries – but laziness is a cancer that will leave those who succumb to it far behind the curve in my opinion.
WV: If you could change one thing about the adult internet biz what would it be?
luv$: To trade the industry’s hunger for drama and grandstanding in exchange for a new hunger for hard work and profits J
WV: One last question. You have worked in the biz for a while now and have worked for some pretty big companies. What is the craziest thing you have ever seen during the course of a work day?
luv$: That is a toughie considering when I was at those companies workdays consisted of being at a desk, so I suppose that leaves the shows.
Probably when I went on a helicopter ride over Niagara Falls after the Toronto show – that was one of the top ten experiences in my life I think.
Clever Bucks will officially launch on June 25th and will be offering a variety of high converting sites, webmaster tools and personal webmaster support. http://www.cleverbucks.com for more information.
