[Linda Buquet]

My how time flies! 5 years ago I left the corporate world to start my own affiliate management consulting business - so today I celebrate 5 years of FREEDOM! Freedom from having a boss, freedom from office politics and water cooler chit chat... most of all freedom to be my own boss and pursue my dreams. I have never looked back and have never been happier in my life!

I feel truly blessed to be a part of the affiliate marketing community. I work with great clients and awesome affiliates! I could not have built this business up as quickly as I did without the support and relationships I have in this industry.

I hope my passion for affiliate marketing and commitment to help others shines through. I could not have made it 5 years without all of you!

People often ask how I got started in this business and how I got to where I am today, so here's a brief history for anyone that's interested.

I launched my 1st Internet company, InfiniteHits, a search engine optimization company, 9 years ago. Then I became VP of Internet marketing for a venture capital company. Next I went on to become e-Commerce Manager for a company and started their CJ program from the ground up. I loved running the affiliate program, but as e-commerce manager I ended up wearing too many hats. I managed all web advertising, personally did all the PPC campaigns, managed the web design team and even web customer service division (returns, complaints, personnel issues, yuk!). After awhile that I was lucky if I had even 15 minutes a day to focus on the affiliate program.

I had been in sales and sales management for 15 years prior to my online career and realized that with the blend of sales managent, marketing and Internet background I had, affiliate management was the perfect fit for me. Solong story short, I decided to take the leap. I started my affiliate management company as CatalysteMarketing.com. (A domain I had back when I did SEO.)

My very 1st day in my new affiliate management company Feb 18th 2003, I had already lined up 2 great merchants as affiliate program recruiting and promotion clients. RoadLoans, a division of Ford Motor Credit and zZounds, a great company with a superb affiliate program, that is still with me today. A couple more clients and about 6 months later, when I realized this business was really going to work, I decided I needed an affiliate marketing domain and 5starAffiliatePrograms.com was born.

I hope my passion for affiliate marketing and commitment to help others continues to shine through for the next 5 years. Gotta go before I start getting all teary eyed. ;-)