My 5 Year Anniversary of Freedom

[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. ;-)

[MarketLeverage]

Congratulations Linda!~
I love to hear stories of how people got in the affiliate marketing business. No two stories are the same.
I am sure the next five years will be as successful as your first five.

[Larwee]

Linda, you have helped a lot of people. I am sure there are many more than you think. I know those people are thankful that you made that decision 5 years ago and I'm sure you'll be helping many more people in the future who will also be grateful.

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Larry and MarketLeverage!

[Darwin]

Congratulations Linda. Happy Anniversary. (Dancing Mango). Sounds like you found your Niche Shangrila of Passion. May the fires burn brightly for another 5 years and beyond.

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Darwin!

"Sounds like you found your Niche Shangrila of Passion. May the fires burn brightly for another 5 years and beyond."

Really like the way you said that and you KNOW I love those dancing mangos!

[venusfour]

Congratulations on your 5th anniversary. May your future be as successful as it was for the last 5 yrs.

[Darwin]

Happy Anniversary, Linda.
You've come a long Lady.

"Dancing Mango" photo by Darwin

I am not sure if you know or not but I live in Thailand. Behind my home I have a small garden area. In the garden area I have around 10 mango trees. It is now the fruit bearing cycle for these trees. This morning as I was meandering through the garden I happened to spot a Mango dancing. It was dancing delightfully to the cool cold season breeze.

[maranda]

Congratulations, Linda! It's wonderful to know a little bit more about your story and how you got started. The 5 Star Affiliate Programs venture has certainly helped a whole lot of individuals around the world. So, you should be honored about having created such an excellent resource in the affiliate marketing biz and that you're no longer in the corporate world. Congratulations on five years of freedom!

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Darwin, what an ADORABLE mango!

Thanks so much Maranda, I really appreciate everything you said.
I feel lucky to be working with great people, like the ShareResults team!