Affiliate Marketing Trends, Crazy PR Stunts & Dropping F-Bombs with Adam Riemer [PODCAST]

“I have a requirement and people that have worked for me can vouch for this. Within the first five minutes of an onboarding call or initial call, we swear twice. One of them has to be an F-bomb. The main reason is pretty much if you’re going to work with me and my team, you’re working with creatives. I like to say people don’t hire us for brain power, they hire us for the crazy.”

He’s done a lot of things to get links – from sponsoring drag queens at a drag race to dressing chihuahuas up in tacos and Wiener dog costumes with URLs on them and sending them to races where the media is going to be.

Some might call these ideas crazy. Yet they work.

That’s part of why companies hire Adam Riemer.

He and his team can come up with those really crazy PR stunts that don’t cost much money but generate a positive media response.

“We like to come up with really cool ideas and keyword expansions and unique things you probably haven’t thought of. Some of them can be a bit outlandish…”

But more than the eccentricity surrounding his marketing ideas, Adam is one of the smartest and most helpful people I know – and we’re lucky to have him in the community.

In today’s edition of The Search Engine Journal Show, get to know long-time online marketing veteran Adam Riemer better.

About Adam Riemer

Adam is a Digital Marketing Strategy and Execution Consultant and is the CEO of Adam Riemer Marketing.

He has been in the industry for more than 15 years with experience in SEO and ethical affiliate management, among others.

He’s a two-time Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award winner for Affiliate Manager of the Year.

In addition to writing on his own blog at AdamRiemer.me, he is currently a contributor to Search Engine Journal. This year he’ll be one of our columnists sharing the Ask an SEO column on Search Engine Journal.

He has spoken at tons of conferences including Pubcon, Big Digital Adelaide, Affiliate Summit, ShiftCon, and many more.

Listen to this episode of the Search Engine Journal Show as Adam and I talk about affiliate marketing, crazy PR stunts, and more (with some F-bombs dropped along the way.)

Show Notes

• Adam talks about his specialization as a digital marketing strategy and execution consultant. [2:30]
• Becoming an affiliate marketer and doing SEO at the same time. [3:31]
• One of the things that people should be paying attention to: Privacy policies that are blocking marketers’ ability to track. [4:54]
• Here’s how Adam is working around the privacy regulations that pose issues for his clients.  [5:54]
• On strategies or tactics in SEO: “Nothing’s really changed.” [7:08]
• “A lot of branding companies are starting to take over and get involved in marketing and blocking SEOs from being able to do their parts… Engineering also has more of a say than marketing on the website, especially how it’s loaded and coded and what can and cannot be done.” [8:18]
• Adam’s favorite tools at the moment. [12:29]
• What his workday looks like depends on his mood and on the season. [14:57]
• The story of how Adam got into SEO and marketing involves deejaying at raves in the ’90s and putting up Angelfire websites, among others. [16:26]
• The best learning method that worked for Adam? “Teaching myself, trading information, training consulting, and building a network of peers. ” [20:12]
• When he first went out on his own, he encountered difficulties involving clients leaving and other unexpected experiences. [20:50]
• How to plan for the unexpected (i.e., losing clients).  [21:53]
• Adam’s “unique” requirement for determining whether a client is the right fit. [23:27]
• The thing being that keeps Adam motivated when things are a little rocky. [25:27]
• He’s found some really cool successes with his organic search clients, as well as in using Pinterest as a way to get into publications and Facebook as a way to get into media. [25:59]
• His takeaways from his experience working with an abusive client: “Important to listen to warning signs and trust your instinct… If you know it’s going to be abusive, just say no. No matter what the money is or how good the money is, stay the heck away from it and once it starts to happen, cut your losses.” [27:36]
• Speaking at conferences (plus getting in front of people and having to shake hands) is actually a nightmare for Adam. Here’s how he manages to do it – and why. [33:24]
• Adam’s top survival tip for people who think they can never do a conference: “Stay just far enough away and just close enough.” [34:37]
• On contributing to Search Engine Journal’s Ask an SEO column this year. [36:50]
• “Most people will not share their real things publicly, so that’s one of the things we’re going to, a conference can play into your advantage.” [40:39]
• What winning the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Manager of the Year twice meant to Adam. [41:52]
• If he wasn’t doing search or marketing, Adam would probably be a chef or a restaurant owner. [44:35]
• Adam shares his personal time management and productivity tips. [45:43]
• The best piece of advice that’s been given to Adam: “They just said, ‘Sit down and shut the F up.’ They wanted me to listen for a change and that was really important skill to learn.” [46:13]
• Why bad SEO advice should go away. [47:59]
• Insights for newcomers in the industry who want to eventually become successful. [50:37]
• What Adam likes about SEO right now. [52:04]
• Adam’s pro tips on how an affiliate site could attract backlinks: “Think about the things the brands can’t do and create those. That would be beneficial or helpful to an end-user and by creating that type of content, you’ve created something that’s worth sourcing and worth linking to because it will help other people’s readers.” [55:15]
• Coming up with really crazy PR stunts that don’t cost very much money and generate a positive media response is why companies hire Adam and his team. [56:42]
• One of the things that Adam is forever grateful for is having multiple families in the industry. “My favorite part of the job is having actual people that I care about. Work is work. I get to have fun. I get to be creative… But it’s my work family that’s what makes it special.” [58:47]
• What’s next for Adam Riemer? [1:00:55]

Links from the Episode

How to connect with Adam Riemer:

Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | AdamRiemer.me

• Adam Riemer on Search Engine Journal
• Ask an SEO on Search Engine Journal
• SEMrush
• Authority Labs
• Screaming Frog
• DeepCrawl
• ShareASale
• Slack
• Asana
• Basecamp
• BuzzStream
• Intellifluence
• Sitebulb
• Is Your Site Gay Friendly? 6 Tips to Convert Gay Visitors (AdamRiemer.me)

People Mentioned

• Joe Sinkwitz
• Arsen Rabinovich
• Ryan Jones
• Shelly Fagin
• Tony Wright
• Rohan Ahmed
• Navah Hopkins
• Mary Davies

This podcast is brought to you by Ahrefs and Opteo.

To listen to this Search Engine Show: Better Know an SEO Pro Podcast with Adam Riemer:

• Listen to the full episode at the top of this post
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Visit our podcast archive to listen to other Search Engine Journal Show podcasts!

Image Credits

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita