Hey folks. Welcome to Affiliate Nerd Out. I am your nerd rate, Dustin, how spreading that good word about affiliate marketing. You're gonna find me here every Thursday at noon Pacific time on LinkedIn live. So put it on the calendar, stop by and hang out with me and a guest. My guest today, Damian, my old buddy from Impact. How you doing? Welcome to the Natatorium, sir. Happy to be here Dustin. Thank you so much for having me. And yeah, we did overlap for hot Minute over at Impact Hot Minute, but we've got friends in the industry and always seem to find a way to hang out at an affiliate summit or whatever event may be. And always good hanging out with you at those social events and awesomely enough, like we rarely get to talk and nerd out about. Business stuff all that much. We're always, talking friendship things and baseball and whatever it may be. and I love that. And it's also 'cause you are just heavily scheduled. Every time I run into you, you're just like boom. I've seen you, you post the graphic of your schedule before a w it's yeah, you are, you are a hustler for sure. am a go-getter outta them. I love it. It keeps me occupied and I go home exhausted, but I absolutely love it. But we have a lot of friends, good friends in common for sure. From, I think the CJ connections, right? Rodriguez, your wife. She's, it was amazing. So yeah. that's definitely, it's cool. Just the thing I love about working in this industry. Yeah. And I think Matt Pretty, I ran into him as SW even though I live like 30 minutes from the guy and we hang out. Every once in a while he is Hey, Damon wants to be on the podcast. I'm like, he does ask him, let's go. Let's get him in here. And here we are. Nice shout out to Matt. Tell us who you are, Damon. For those of you who are maybe wondering, my name is Damien Juarez, that's how you pronounce it. Juarez is pretty standard Latino. Spanish last name IC is Czech, though a lot of people think it's Polish, but yeah, I have some European heritage way, way back in my family tree. But yeah, so I'm an affiliate marketer. I've been in affiliate marketing since day one, since graduated from UCLA. Like a lot of people, I accidentally fell into it because, early it wasn't quite. The established industry, that it is today. start was actually in the music industry, I was trying to break into record labels I did some internships in college and did some writing. For some publications. I was all about the music lifestyle in LA and I needed a part-time gig to make ends meet because internships at that time paid. Literally zero. Yeah. Literally zero We got to go to free concerts and we got free CDs. Totally worth it. But I started writing copy for coupon sites so I don't know if you remember any coupons cashback.com, that was my first job outta college. And. That was through one of my first mentors, David Lewis. he had a company called 77 Blue at the time. Eventually he sold that to Ebates and then Ebates to Rakuten Gotcha. That's how I got my start. I've been in the industry a long time now. Recently I was at Impact I was one of the. First employees there, maybe like employee 15 back in 2010. Was there about 10 years. and then around the time of the pandemic that's when I decided to go off on my own and give it a shot and try to do this full-time right? working in a platform, a place like Impact. It was amazing. It was a cool experience, but I felt like I was too far away from. The execution and the strategy and actually talking to partners. So I enjoy this a lot more. And I feel like it allows me to be a lot more creative with my day-to-day and, I get to work with a lot of cool brands in just a different capacity. So that's why I started consulting and really where we're an agency partnership pros is a small hands-on boutique agency. We've got some affiliate managers that I work very closely with. And it's been awesome. So I don't know if. I went too long answering the question about that you did too long and you gotta, lemme ask you questions, Dean. Oh, is that how it works? Partnership Pros. All right. What do you do? Who are you serving out there? Okay. So again we manage affiliate programs, influencer marketing programs for a range of brands. Small, medium, we work in, and I think this is still within the question, we work in wellness women's health. That's what we're looking for, a niche that you're really honing in on. And yeah, that's an important portion of being a consultant in an agency is if you go too broad, you will fail. Honing in on what you're good at and. What you have experiences is a really good part of it. And that is the topic of the day. Starting your own consulting business, you're pretty fresh into this. You did it during the pandemic. There, something happened to you in your career we're gonna go through, but essentially you decided you're gonna be a consultant and lived this kind of lifestyle. And I think it started off with some kind of layoff that happened to you. Is that what happened? Yeah. So this is the first time I've really ever talked about this. If you're in LinkedIn, you see a lot of people posting, really gracious messages about, oh, today's my last day. Had a wonderful experience. So I never did that with this job. Because, at that time it felt like that was not the smart thing to do. At that time, you wouldn't necessarily broadcast, oh, you lost your job, right? Because you're afraid you're gonna taint yourself for future employees. So I didn't do that, but I pretty quickly started consulting right after that. I think the reason I wanted to go on the podcast is to talk about how that was actually, potentially like one of the best things that ever could have happened to me, right? Because that led me to really take that leap, right? That leap of faith that always knew I could do, but, I'm not gonna lie, like getting laid off during the pandemic actually the best time, was the best time to be laid off. Because when you get laid off, you get a severance usually. I was at Impact for 10 years, so I got a pretty nice severance. I was living with my parents because it was the pandemic I had. I had an apartment in New York, but my lease ran out like. April of 2020. So instead of going and finding a new place in New York, I said I'm just gonna come home and just ride out the pandemic. Which a actually ended up being a really great, positive experience for me, and just brought like closeness me and my family. Beautiful. That's how I got here. Yeah. And the layoff, I never ideal for anybody. Oftentimes you can get blindsided by something like this. I think it's happened to everybody who's been in a career for X amount of years, and maybe it's not your fault. The company's just going through a process and that's what happened to you and a lot of other people over at that company. So the, it's a part of life in the industry we're in, especially, and it seems to be happening. I almost more frequently than I'd like to hear about in the history. Maybe that's because I I've got my ear to the grindstone. Is that statement. Oh, I dunno. But ear to the public, I can't remember what it is. I, my wife's ability to ear, ear to the ground. We'll just say. Great. Yeah. But one of those things that is a super important portion of this is learning a lesson, right? And finding purpose is a big portion of what you do with this layoff and how you grow and develop as a person and in, in your career is super important. So what did you do to find some purpose in this layoff? Yeah. Soul searching for sure. Okay. I think it forces you to and look like you said, a layoff is not an indictment on your accomplishments at that company or your achievements at that company, right? That doesn't have anything to do a lot of times. With why a person is getting, at some point you're potentially just a number or a salary. They do some restructuring, maybe there's a new exec that comes in, they wanna bring their people in. Sure. Whatever. There's lots of reasons that they do layoffs. So first thing was just like coming in terms with, that doesn't mean I didn't do great work. And I quickly realized I was super proud of what I had done at that company. I hired probably 10 people at that company, and most of them are still there. And some of them are thriving like they're. superstars in their career. and I know for a fact a lot of them are still there, so just realizing, hey, it's not the end of the world. That was the first step. And then just figuring out what you were good at that company. And for me it was managing people and building a culture. So I always knew I wanted to do that. it doesn't happen from day one, but it's happening now. That's what I'm doing now at my company. Okay, great. Finding a purpose for me in particular, I've been laid off multiple times. I'm not a great employee, I'll tell you that right now. I just, it's not for everybody. I think everybody kinda understands that I am a entrepreneur by heart and that's where I live and. my purpose essentially came about when I figured out, Hey, I did good work at this job. These are the things that I accomplished. It was a circumstance that was beyond me. But, being proud of your work is really part of it, and it shows up in your next steps in your career. But when it does happen, when you are jobless, what are your options here? What did you have to go through? Yeah. I didn't look for a new job okay. At all. I thought the water's never gonna be warmer than it is now. Like I said, I wasn't paying rent. I had. Money saved up. Great. I had the capital to start a business and I always knew I could do it. What I did was just start talking to people and I talked to some agency owners. Early on I reached out to people that I respect in the industry. Jamie Birch, for instance, right? He was one of the first people I called Adam Glaser, another person I talked to right out of the gates. So it was really just understanding what do I not wanna do? what if you were in my shoes, what could you tell yourself, right? So that was the key. And then actually I started another business on top of it. So I also had a little business as a publisher that I started with a buddy. Great. I still dabble in that a little bit, but yeah, that was just I thought it was important. Just get out there and start doing stuff. Just get out there and try to prove it. And then everything else will work itself out. Great. I think there's options, right? You can update your resume, obviously, you can go on LinkedIn and, write that goodbye message if you like, or you can just pretend like you're still working there and you're actually looking for jobs at the same time. You can go out at a certain amount of ways, but the important part is like asking yourself the question. I ready to be a consultant. And how do you, how did you know that you were ready and it was time for you? Yeah I. I think it was when I started talking to people who were very knowledgeable and I never felt like I was outta my depth. Talking to experts and I felt okay, obviously I can contribute with my ideas in my brain, right? And I've done this for a long time. But at the same time, I had to learn on the job too.'cause being A-A-C-S-M. At a platform like Impact is not the same as being an affiliate manager. I was an affiliate manager earlier in my career before I got to Impact. I worked at an agency. I was an affiliate manager there, but it was so long ago that it like my. I didn't, the contacts weren't relevant anymore, and the tactics were different. How did I know that I was ready? Yeah. It was just by talking to people and then figuring out if I had the stomach to fail. Yeah. And to, you mistakes, you absolutely will. A hundred percent thousand percent. Yeah. But it's how you bounce back, right? How you take those learnings and look at 'em critically and then write your principles and your guide. Okay, We're not doing that anymore. So you came from a place where you were at a crossroads like, do I go get another job or do I be a consultant? And you ultimately asked yourself the right questions and said, It's time for me. But what are some of those questions for those that might be in a day job that they hate and they've been considering being a consultant? What are some of those questions they can ask themselves about? When is it time for you to leave and do your own thing? Yeah. Because it, it might never be time, right? You might ask yourself those questions and then realize, you know what? It's probably better if I just get another job. Yeah. Because maybe being a consultant. Isn't what I want either. but if you are interested in becoming a consultant then I didn't do this. I didn't have the opportunity, but I would do this if I had to do it over again, is pick up consulting while you have a job. Okay. Smart number one, right? Give yourself the opportunity. That cushion. And stability of learning on the job and figuring out if you even like the job. Yeah. Before you go out Great call. Yeah. And I'm guessing you've had experience with that, right? Because I feel like you, you came out of the womb a hustler as an entrepreneur. That's amazing. Yes, I am. I'm always taking side hustles with. my day jobs. And luckily I have bosses and people that understand who I am, and they're getting value for me being that hustler and getting my name out there. All part of the game. But yeah I think that's a great strategy. Try it out for yourself. I had to run enough programs as a consultant and as an agency owner to recognize that isn't my journey. I don't wanna be running an agency. I don't want clients in that kind of capacity. If I do take on clients, I want them on a short term helping them get started rather than building the program in the later stages. I know that's not my strength, so I stay in my zone. I point people in the right direction who can be really good helps. But yeah, everybody's gotta find their own strengths and journey in that space. But I'm gonna take a quick minute to thank my. Sponsor of the day and that is Affistash. Go find your affiliate partners using Affistash Source 'em. Find influencers, publications, whatever you're looking for based on keywords. And go check this out. You can a 30 day money back guarantee using that. Go to dustin hounds.com/avie stash. Alright, so you decided you're gonna be a consultant. What's your first step out there, Damon? Yeah. So just one real quick thing on when you're ready is, yeah, I would say take stock of the things at your current job that give you energy and the things that take away energy. Ooh, good call. Affiliate marketing, for example, if you're doing everything on your own, that means you gotta go and source contact information on your own. You gotta go and search through a needle in a haystack and find a thousand. Bloggers, right? Or influencers, right? So there's a lot of labor intensive. Obviously there's tools and stuff that make it easy now, but if you hate doing that stuff, yeah don't go into this if you get the energy from closing deals and seeing the revenue go like this, and that's the only thing that you get energy from. That's only half the battle. So yeah, I would say that it's important to understand Your limitations and what actually you're truly good at. Okay, so first step, what was your question again? Yeah. You decide you wanna be a consultant and maybe you have a full-time job and you take on your first consulting gig so you can get a taste of it. But let's say you're coming from a fresh start. You don't have any clients. What is your first step with this consultancy and how you're going to build it up? Getting clients a hundred percent is your first step. You don't need to have a website to get clients. Okay. A lot of people think, oh I don't even have a website. You don't need to have an LLC or a S Corp, okay. You don't need to have a cpa. There's so many things that people are like, oh, I gotta, line all these things up. And then that's when I, that's when I start my business. No you can make business happen just on your own and through your network and through referrals, right? Just start telling people, Hey, this is what I'm interested in. This is what I want to do. Do you know anybody that's hiring? Do you know anybody that needs some help with X, Y, and Z? So I would say first step is establishing what the opportunities are and mapping out the world. Understanding what is the niche you want to go after? maybe your day job, you work in FinTech, it's I'm gonna go find other FinTech Clients obviously you gotta be careful, there's no conflict of interest and you're not violating your employee contract. But yeah, I would say like getting out there and doing the work. And learning along the way and talking to people is the first step. Okay. Great call. I think getting your first client is essential. And getting your second is the next important portion of this as well, so that you have that steady income and then you can start to decide whether or not you want to elevate your marketing status, buying leads, buying. Ads, whatever it may be to promote yourself out there. But naturally, if you get a couple of clients, you do some good work, you have some good work in the past, people are going to promote you naturally if you ask. So above all, utilizing your network is a cliche, but it is absolutely 100% the first thing I would ever do if I was like jumping into this consultant business. and I think you did a great job of, asking Glaser And Jamie Bird. Questions that you had on your mind and getting answers to help you answer what you really wanna do. Great first step. Now let's say you got your first couple of clients and then you end up picking up your third, and this turns into an evolution of going from a consultant and now my time's getting stressed between clients. What does that evolution look like for you? Yeah. For me it was getting a virtual assistant or a coordinator, or whatever you wanna call it, right? Someone who's doing a lot of the admin work for you. Someone who can go out and find email addresses, contact info, right? Someone that can upload banners, links, text links, things like that, right? Develop. Reporting processes. That was crucial because I realized I don't enjoy doing that stuff and it takes energy away from me. So the more I can offload that, the more successful we're gonna be. Okay. me and my clients, and then, yeah, and then my favorite tool, I know you're gonna ask me about tools later, but my favorite tool is Asana. Okay. even when I only have one person working for me, I had a Just because it helps me organize my process and my projects. Good. So yeah, I would say getting organized and figuring out what your standard operating procedures are, it helps if you're already good at that. And I think that's pretty crucial in evolving your process. Great call out there. And also I'll add in there development of SOPs, your standard operating procedures of how you get things done. And if you wanna hire somebody, especially virtual assistant, you're gonna want to. Document your processes, how you do them exactly so that somebody can watch a video and emulate that for the future when you give them these tasks. So those SOPs are very vital into the development of your agency and to training that next person comes on board. And then the next portion of this, an evolution is consulting into an agency. And when is that? Time is how many clients can you have? As a consultant before, it's getting too overwhelming and it's time to end up hiring people outside of virtual assistants. I think it's different for everybody. You have to decide what your priorities are, and if your goal is to build an agency to sell it and make a windfall of money, then your goal is to create value for your company. It means you're not taking a lot of money as a salary 'cause you're reinvesting as much into the company. Me, I had to decide on. What is my goal? Do I want to have a more comfortable lifestyle? am I okay with, not going out to dinner like four days a week? You have to figure that out. And that's gonna inform when is it time to start hiring people?'cause the more you hire people, the less your profit margin's gonna be. And, until you reach that critical mass where you have a, influx of clients and the margins get better and better we're still working on that, I don't think I've figured that out. I hope to be in the next couple years for sure. but yeah, I would say it could be right away. Yeah, sometimes you need somebody else in your business to compliment your faults fill those holes in the bucket. Personally, I am a terrible adult, so I don't like doing adulty things and I would love somebody to be doing those things while I can focus on things I'm good at, like partner recruitment and making those relationships and partnerships home. Find the person that can fill those holes. It's a good strategy for you is Sarah better at that than you are? Yes. It's not even a real question. She's one of the most organized and OCD people that I've ever met in my life. And luckily, I get to be the fun guy that messes around and. does the entrepreneur stuff, but she is so steady and so smart in that kind of capacity. I'll never touch her in that space. That's why you got a power couple. That's it. That's how we roll. Alright. Anything you wanna suggest to people about optimizing your talents, what they are? It sounds like organization is a big part of your talent. How do you maximize the value of that? Yeah just being open about getting feedback from people. People that you are your coworkers current or your ex-coworkers. Maybe family. Maybe friends. Okay. I think, yeah, understanding what you're not good at and having open ears and being able to hear that Is pretty important and just try to read as much as you can and listen to as many. Affiliate nerd outs as possible, just to gain that knowledge. Yeah. That's what this thing is for, is I pick the brains of people that are smarter than me in different capacities. And that's what this podcast is all about. I'm glad to have you here. So how many hundreds of episodes have you done? We might be at like one 30 ish at this point. That's amazing. It's been a good run. Yeah. And no slowing down. I've got the next 20 booked out for this next couple of months here, so we're doing well. Any cool tools you wanna call out as we wind down here, There's one I haven't used yet that I'm very excited to use, that I learned about On your podcast. Snowball social. Okay. And I bought something on Instagram. Some like cooking something for cooking. and then I got this email that says, oh, you are now an affiliate of this program. I was like. I don't remember signing anything. I don't remember applying to an affiliate program. And it was a snowball social client that had the, I guess you can set your settings so that anyone who buys is potentially an affiliate for you. So then I started researching and then I saw that you had Noah Tucker on your PO and that was a great show. from the dawn of influencer marketing, we've always been trying to figure out, like, how do we make it super easy for the creators to sign up and just start promoting and not have to worry about navigating a platform? And yeah, this, it just seems like such a elegant, easy to use solution. So yeah, I can't wait to use it. Yeah. I've seen, I've had good experiences. I think I was using magic Mind is, Okay. Is the thing that comes to mind. I bought their product and they didn't offer an affiliate program. I had to reach out to be an affiliate. And social snowball is the guys that are taking care of the tracking solution, but a cool product. I like the landing pages that they build out there for what they're doing. Time for you to defend your post. So this is where I grabbed something from your past and you've gotta defend it. From nine years ago, you asked my God, why you should spend your money on expenses, not things. first off, how did you pack the car like this? I don't know why someone on Earth would ever do that. And yeah, and Why do I leave it parked in a wheat field too? That's not good. It's like a stock photo or something. And second question, is that something you still believe in? Yeah. I'm not in watches or shoes or luxury things. I'm really into travel. I surf a lot. I like to go places where I can surf. Yeah, I think I've always been that way, so I don't remember that article at all. I don't remember reading it, but I definitely agree with the headline, the, okay. So you still live in that dream. Love it. All right. Last thing as we close out, how do we connect with you? Very easy to connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm not the most active poster, although I'm trying to change that. This is one of the reasons that I'm on this podcast, trying to be more accessible. Get my name out there a little bit more. Yeah. Then this, damien@partnershippros.com. I have, we have a website. You can also submit the contact form there as well. Yeah, definitely. And obviously it'd be great to work with new brands, but if anybody needs career advice or is in that position I was in before I would love to talk to you. Great. Love that attitude, Damon. So good to have you. So good to see you bud. And thanks for being with us. Yeah, my pleasure man. And I just, I gotta say really quick, man, I really love what you're doing. It's your true self. It's been very cool to see you grow over the last few years and just to see how frequent I see new episodes being promoted and it's just, yeah. Very cool man. Kudos to you. Appreciate you buddy. Good. Thank you so much. All right folks, we'll see you out there. Keep on recruiting. Take care.