News Releases

BROOMFIELD, COLO. Feb. 2, 2012 - ClickBank, the premier online marketplace for digital information products, today revealed the winners of its Digital Dream Contest. The Facebook contest encouraged ClickBank clients to capture and share video success stories detailing how ClickBank powered their digital dreams to reality. The video contest was launched to celebrate ClickBank's milestone payout of $2 billion in earnings to online entrepreneurs.

Jonathan Jacques, the creator of the FIFA 12 video game strategy guide, won the grand prize for his video "Thanks ClickBank!" The video highlights how 19-year-old Jacques leveraged ClickBank to build a successful affiliate-based business that is enabling him to help fund his college education. Jacques was awarded a $5,000 cash prize, as well as a one-on-one online marketing guru coaching session.

"I'm responsible for paying my way through private college, and my studies were keeping me from doing my magic shows to generate regular income, so I decided to take a new route and developed a 100-page strategy guide for FIFA 12 enthusiasts that I sell through ClickBank," said Jacques. "Since finding ClickBank, I'm making much more from my guide than I thought possible, and I'm able to put my profits toward my tuition. ClickBank always pays on time and is a tremendous asset for anyone serious about online entrepreneurship."

The second-place prize was awarded to Theresa Stevens, the force behind a series of dancing weight-loss videos and an e-book who turned to ClickBank to successfully monetize her passion. Third place went to Jacob Hiller who created a vertical jump training system and leveraged ClickBank to build an affiliate-based business that allowed him to travel around the world.

The Digital Dream Contest ran from Dec. 6, 2011 to Jan. 15, 2012. A team of ClickBank employees judged the contest submissions based on creativity, inspiration and uniqueness. The top three video submissions are featured on the ClickBank blog at http://www.clickbank.com/blog/2012/02/01/winner-announced-for-clickbanks-digital-dream-contest/

"As a first-year effort, I couldn't have anticipated we would be inundated with so many compelling, passionate and dream-worthy stories from our clients, further reinforcing our mission to empower the success of online entrepreneurs around the world," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of ClickBank. "Jacques' story, in particular, exemplifies how, with a combination of entrepreneurial passion and the resources required to make it a reality, the profit potential is nearly limitless."

ClickBank announced in December that $2 billion in revenue had been paid to affiliate marketers and product vendors since 1998. During the three-year period from 2008-2011, revenue payouts doubled from $1 billion to $2 billion, affirming the affiliate marketing industry as a growth sector of the economy during the global recession. Today, an average of more than 30,000 transactions are completed daily via the ClickBank Marketplace, which reaches more than 190 countries worldwide.

About ClickBank
ClickBank^® is an online marketplace for digital information products that allows individuals and businesses to attract the customers they can't find anywhere else online, and provides affiliate marketers with secure ways to be successful and profitable.

ClickBank combines a diversified, established marketplace with an infrastructure that includes industry-leading fraud prevention tools, reliable payment processing and expert customer support for more than 50,000 digital products and 100,000 active affiliate marketers. ClickBank enables sales in more than 190 countries around the world and is consistently ranked as one of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet. In December 2011, ClickBank reached a new milestone - distributing $2 billion in total revenue paid to affiliate marketers and product vendors from transactions completed via the ClickBank Marketplace since its launch in 1998.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colo. and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: www.clickbank.com. "Like" ClickBank on Facebook or "follow" @ClickBank on Twitter.

# # #

ClickBank Reaches $2 Billion in Total Revenue Paid Out to Online Entrepreneur Clients

Growth of Affiliate Marketing Industry Counters Recent Economic Downturn; ClickBank Revenue Paid to Online Entrepreneurs Doubled Between 2008-2011

Forrester Research Forecasts Affiliate Marketing Industry to Reach $4 Billion in Annual Revenues by 2014

BROOMFIELD, COLO. Dec. 7, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier online marketplace for digital information products, today announced $2 billion in total revenue paid to affiliate marketers and product vendors since 1998. During the three-year period from 2008-2011, revenue payouts doubled from $1 billion to $2 billion, reinforcing the affiliate marketing industry as a growth sector of the economy during the global recession.

"ClickBank offers a one-stop resource for online entrepreneurs to turn their expertise into revenue," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of ClickBank. "From the growing acceptance of digital media and pay-for-performance advertising to the global connectedness of the Internet, the ClickBank Marketplace lies at the cross-section of several online trends that are creating business opportunities, even as the economy remains uncertain."

ClickBank revenue paid to online entrepreneurs has demonstrated steady growth for the past 13 years.

During the 10 years from 1998-2008, ClickBank paid $1 billion in total revenue to affiliate marketers and product vendors.
Total revenue doubled during the next three years, reaching $2 billion in December 2011.

Today, an average of more than 30,000 transactions are completed daily via the ClickBank Marketplace, which reaches more than 190 countries worldwide.

Forrester Research forecasts the affiliate marketing industry to reach $4 billion in annual revenues by 2014, driven by direct payouts to affiliate marketing websites.

To celebrate the success of its online entrepreneurs, ClickBank has launched a Facebook video promotion encouraging affiliate marketers and product vendors to capture and share their success stories. Selected participants will be eligible to win a combination of cash rewards and coaching sessions. Video submissions will be accepted until Dec. 31.

ClickBank combines a diversified, established marketplace with an infrastructure that includes industry-leading fraud prevention tools, reliable payment processing and expert customer support for more than 50,000 digital products and 100,000 active affiliate marketers. ClickBank enables sales in more than 190 countries around the world and is consistently ranked as one of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet. To date, ClickBank has completed more than $1.9 billion in payouts to online vendors and affiliate marketers from transactions completed via the ClickBank Marketplace.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colo. and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: www.clickbank.com. "Like" ClickBank on Facebook or "follow" @ClickBank on Twitter.

# # #

ClickBank Adds New Language and Currency Conversion Options to Facilitate Ongoing Expansion in Global Markets
ClickBank Marketplace Enables Worldwide Sales in Six Languages and 31 Currencies

BROOMFIELD, COLO., Nov. 14, 2011 ClickBank, the premier online marketplace for digital information products, today announced the addition of Brazilian Portuguese and Italian, as well as 18 new currencies to support its business growth in more than 190 countries worldwide. Currently, international sales of products featured on the ClickBank Marketplace make up 40 percent of ClickBank's annual revenue.

"International markets remain a primary growth area for ClickBank," said Chris McClave, product management lead of ClickBank. "The addition of two new languages and 18 currencies offers our customer base of online product vendors, partners and consumers a greater range of options to market, sell and buy digital goods outside North America."

ClickBank now offers foreign language translations of its online order form and customer call center support in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese. These features enable product vendors and affiliate marketers to forge partnerships in new markets and readily expand the reach of their products to international consumers.

In addition to new language translations, ClickBank added 18 new currencies to its online marketplace including: Argentinian Peso, Brazilian Real, Chilean Peso, Chinese Yuan, Columbian Peso, Czech Koruna, Hungarian Forint, Indian Rupee, Indonesian Rupiah, Korean Won, Malaysian Ringgit, Mexican Peso, Philippine Peso, Polish Zloty, Russian Ruble, Singaporean Dollar, Thai Baht and Turkish Lira. ClickBank now offers currency conversions in a total of 31 currencies. Click here for a full list of available currencies.

In 2011, international sales growth has been fueled by the recent introduction of the ClickBank Global Bestseller program, which provides vendors and marketers worldwide with the tools to create partnerships and sell into multiple markets without the need to speak foreign languages and understand local business demands. Collectively, ClickBank sales in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa are on track to generate 20 percent annual sales growth in 2011.

On Nov. 17, the ClickBank Radio show Affiliate Marketing Today will review its international sales tools as part of its ongoing series of streaming audio interviews. This episode will feature guest speaker and successful ClickBank client Michael Cecchin of The Fat Loss Authority, who will share best practice recommendations for online product vendors and affiliate marketers seeking to expand into global markets. Details from the show may be followed via the Twitter hashtag #ClickBankRadio.

ClickBank combines a diversified, established marketplace with an infrastructure that includes industry-leading fraud prevention tools, reliable payment processing and expert customer support for more than 50,000 digital products and 100,000 active affiliate marketers. ClickBank enables sales in more than 190 countries around the world and is consistently ranked as one of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet. To date, ClickBank has completed more than $1.9 billion in payouts to online vendors and affiliate marketers from transactions completed via the ClickBank Marketplace.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colo. and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: www.clickbank.com. "Like" ClickBank on Facebook or "follow" @ClickBank on Twitter.

# # #

ClickBank Boasts Strong International Market Growth Across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia
Global Bestseller Program Facilitates Worldwide Sales of Digital e-Commerce Products

LONDON and BROOMFIELD, COLO. Oct. 19, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier online marketplace for digital information products, opened the annual A4U Affiliate and Performance Marketing Conference and Exhibition by announcing strong market growth in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. International product sales comprise more than 40 percent of ClickBank's annual net sales revenue with 18 percent of ClickBank's year-to-date business coming from Europe in 2011.

"International markets present a strong growth opportunity for ClickBank to capitalize on the power of the Internet to cross borders," said Monty Sooter, COO of ClickBank while in attendance at the A4U Expo. "ClickBank will continue to expand our international presence to make digital information and resources widely available to global markets. The ClickBank online marketplace provides both vendors and affiliates with the tools to facilitate international sales and grow their businesses on multiple continents simultaneously."

Currently, ClickBank offers language translations of its online e-commerce site and order form in Spanish, French and German. These translations enable digital product vendors and affiliate marketers to easily expand the reach of their products to international consumers. For 2011, the year-over-year growth of product sales by language includes:

Spanish: 156%
French: 24%
German: 23%

In 2011, international sales growth has been fueled by the recent introduction of the ClickBank Global Bestseller program. The program provides vendors worldwide with the ability to sell into to multiple markets without the need to speak foreign languages and understand local business demands. International partners localize specific products for their market and serve as licensees to introduce proven products from other markets to global consumers. Additional detail about the ClickBank Global Bestseller program is available online at the ClickBank Help Center.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: www.clickbank.com.

# # #

ClickBank Launches Joint Venture to Facilitate Entrepreneurial Partnerships
New Feature Simplifies Process for Internet Marketing Vendors and Affiliates to Create and Profit From Online Partnerships

Broomfield, Colo. Sept. 20, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier online marketplace for digital information products, is making it easier for its vendors and affiliates to profit from partnerships with Joint Venture, a new feature that automates and streamlines the process for partnering with others in a given field. Joint Venture allows vendors and affiliates to designate other ClickBank accounts as partners to create or promote products together and subsequently, share profits.

Many of ClickBank's clients collaborate with experts and businesses in their field to create or promote products, including introducing existing products to new markets. In these instances, determining and managing the compensation for all parties involved can be a lengthy and difficult process. Joint Venture facilitates profit-sharing partnerships, which enables vendors and affiliates to spend more time creating and promoting innovative products with partners, and less time managing administrative tasks.

Joint Venture streamlines the partnership process by managing tasks such as:

Determining total sales and revenue for a product
Generating sales reports
Calculating revenue for third-parties
Managing refunds and chargebacks

"We're constantly exploring new ways to make it easier for clients in all stages of their business development to become profitable," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of ClickBank. "Joint Venture will help eliminate the time and effort that vendors and affiliates spend on administrative work and the logistics involved with partnerships, leaving them with more resources to dedicate to innovation and marketing."

Joint Venture also allows vendors to partner with and incentivize Joint Venture brokers and affiliate managers for affiliate referrals, based on the performance of those referrals. Through Joint Venture, vendors can easily determine how much of the profits will go to these partners, and then pay them out automatically.

ClickBank recently concluded a six-month Joint Venture pilot program that included participation from a select group of vendors and affiliates. Over the course of the program, more than 180,000 transactions were completed and profits divvied up among partners using a variety of business models supported by Joint Venture.

ClickBank Joint Venture is now available free of charge to existing vendors and affiliates. Additional detail about Joint Venture is available online via the ClickBank Help Center.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: www.clickbank.com.

# # #

ClickBank Honors Online Entrepreneur Jeff Siegel with First Annual Excellence Award
2011 Excellence Award recognizes industry leadership and proven track record of online marketing success

Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 25, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier online marketplace for digital information products, today announced online entrepreneur Jeff Siegel as the recipient of the first annual ClickBank Excellence Award, presented by CEO Brad Wiskirchen. Jeff serves as CEO of Live Smart Solutions, the company responsible for The Diet Solution Program, one of the top selling health and fitness programs on the ClickBank Marketplace.

The award recognizes a single business leader who has achieved breakthrough success in 2011 and who also offers inspiration to others seeking to take advantage of the Internet to build their digital businesses. Specifically, the award evaluates:

Quality - high-volume product with low refund rates
Revenue - rapid growth, earning annual sales greater than $1 Million
Innovation - strong brand presence, including joint ventures and innovative product line

"Jeff continues to grow his online business by delivering a combination of honest and practical health and fitness guidance for his customers," said Kate Wallace vice president of client development for ClickBank. "Jeff's success is rooted in his commitment to working with smart people and creating connections across the industry - he sets a strong example for other online entrepreneurs and startup businesses."

The ClickBank Excellence Award was announced during the final VIP reception at ClickBank Exchange, which was held at the Times Square Crowne Plaza Hotel in New York on Aug. 19-20. The first-time event gathered more than 300 of the leading online vendors, affiliates and other Internet marketers to share best practices and review the latest industry trends. Keynote presentations by leading experts in Internet marketing covered topics such as search engine optimization, conversion rates, direct marketing, joint ventures, video sales and industry compliance.

Hosted by ClickBank, ClickBank Exchange was sponsored by industry leaders including 7 Figure Speaking Empire, Bring The Fresh, buySAFE, Disk.com, The Health Online Group, Infusionsoft, Low T Solution, The Magic Number, Quantum Confidence System, Revenue Enhancement Consultants, Inc., Shieff Services, TotalFatLossFormula.com, ZOX Pro. For more information about the event, visit http://www.clickbankexchange.com.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colo. and Boise, Idaho. For more information, visit www.clickbank.com, "like" ClickBank on Facebook or follow @ClickBank on Twitter.

# # #

ClickBank Gathers Leading Internet Marketing Minds for ClickBank Exchange
Gary Vaynerchuk to keynote two-day networking and educational event in advance of Affiliate Summit East

Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 10, 2011- ClickBank, the premier online marketplace for digital information products, today announced the full speaker lineup for its first ClickBank Exchange event (Twitter hashtag #cbex11) to be held at the Times Square Crowne Plaza Hotel in New York, Aug. 19-20. The first-time event will gather more than 300 of the leading online vendors and affiliate marketers to share best practices and review the latest industry trends.

"Affiliate marketing is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy, providing money-making opportunities for individuals and businesses around the world," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of ClickBank. "ClickBank Exchange provides a new and dynamic platform for the industry's best to connect and share best practices to take advantage of the sales potential of the Internet. This is a must-attend event for Internet marketers who want to learn the latest and greatest online marketing techniques and build relationships to take their business to new heights."

ClickBank Exchange features some of the leading names in Internet marketing and online sales. Attendees will hear presentations from and interact directly with each of these experts in a setting that promotes innovation, networking and relationship building:

Gary Vaynerchuk - author, online TV personality and serial entrepreneur, who was named as one of BusinessWeek's Top 20 People Every Entrepreneur Should Follow
Yanik Silver - a self-proclaimed "techno dunce" who has achieved success with several online ventures, including Maverick Business Adventures, which creates exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experiences for c-level executives and entrepreneurs
Joe Polish - founder of Piranha Marketing, Inc. and creator of the Genius Network Mastermind Group, which offers three-day transformational business events to guide entrepreneurs to build an "ELF" (easy, lucrative and fun) business
Rand Fishkin - CEO and co-founder of the web's most popular SEO Software provider, SEOmoz
Marc Ostrofsky - New York Times Bestselling author, venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur, who is known as a "technology wildcatter" due to his pioneering success in the pre-paid phone, cellular and other deregulated telecommunications markets
Joseph Sugarman - aka, the "mail order maverick" is one of the nation's top copywriters, who has launched dozens of innovative products such as BluBlocker

Back To Top

ClickBank's CTO Named Finalist at Colorado Technology Association Apex Awards

Greg Lems, ClickBank's CTO is among the top in his field. At this year's Colorado Tech Association's Apex Awards Greg was named a finalist in the "Top Tech Executive" category.

Nearly 500 tech executives were in attendance and they presented awards in twelve categories. They had nominees from over 120 companies and individuals including ClickBank (Company Nomination) and Greg Lems (Individual Nomination). During the ceremony they listed the Top 3 Finalists in each category before unveiling the winner. Once again, Greg made us proud as he was named a Top 3 Finalist. Thank you for continuing to maintain this strong presence and reputation in the Denver tech community, Greg. You make us proud!

For a complete list of the nominees, finalists and winners, click here.

ClickBank Mentioned in Huffington Post!

In his recent article, "David vs. Goliath: Internet Entreprenership vs. Corporate America" Marc Ostrofsky made an analogy by comparing corporate America and Internet entrepreneurship to the tale of David and Goliath.

David, like younger generations who've found success online, carried all the right tools and was prepared for anything, including change. Goliath and corporate America are more resistant and comfortable in what they know. But, with the digital world constantly evolving, corporate America, just like Goliath, does not stand a chance. In order to stay ahead of the curve, Marc has outlined some tips on things that Internet entrepreneurs are currently doing and that big businesses should be aware of in order to keep up with the ever-changing marketplace.

Click here to read the article on the Huffington Post.

ClickBank Partners With Easypress to Bring Digital Products to eReaders
Partnership Allows Vendors to Take Advantage of Booming eReader Market

Broomfield, Colo., June 2, 2011 The eReader market is continuing to flourish, with eBook sales now regularly surpassing those of traditional print books. Today ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products is announcing a partnership with Easypress, a company bringing complete control and ease-of-use to the challenging eBook creation process. The partnership is designed to provide ClickBank vendors with eBook conversion services, providing valuable opportunities to gain new customers, offer additional formats to existing customers and ultimately increase sales.

This partnership will enable ClickBank's vendors to convert their existing digital information products to the EPUB format, which provides an enhanced reading experience on nearly any of today's most popular eReaders. The Easypress offering will primarily work for eBooks, including those with audio or video elements, and will bring the benefits of repagination to the eReader display. Easypress is offering a discount against the cost of the service for ClickBank vendors, which varies dependent on the size, complexity and volumes of eBooks. As a result of the partnership, ClickBank vendors will now have the opportunity to appeal to a wider audience, as well as to generate repeat sales from customers wishing to upgrade their product, increasing overall value as well as greater sales and profit opportunities.

While Amazon recently announced that eBooks are outselling print books, and reports that over 40 percent of iPad owners are using their device for shopping, many in the industry are recognizing the opportunity being created alongside this trend. By partnering with Easypress, with their long association with traditional publishers via Print to Web software and services, ClickBank is ensuring their client base has a top quality partner through which they can address the eReader market. This partnership comes on the heels of numerous industry partnerships that ClickBank has forged in order to provide the resources and technology necessary for their community of vendors and affiliates to generate success by creating and selling digital products.

"One of our biggest goals at ClickBank is to continue to forge partnerships that will provide ClickBank's vendors and affiliates with even greater business opportunities," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "With the eReader and eBook markets continually showing impressive growth, partnering with Easypress was a natural choice to ensure we are best enabling our network of entrepreneurs to take advantage of this market."

James Macfarlane, CEO, Easypress Technologies said, "We are looking forward to working with ClickBank and helping their clients convert their eBook products to the eReader format that is in such high demand. EPUB offers a fast and efficient way to create a product that is compatible with nearly any eReader on the market today."

ClickBank's vendors will be able to use Easypress' EasyEPUB service offering, which is also being used by leading names in publishing, such as John Wiley & Sons Publishing, for their "Dummies" series. This service supports all of the different eReader platforms, and offers the quality that ClickBank's community of vendors need in order to fully leverage this thriving market.

The service will best serve text-heavy products, though Easypress will provide a free evaluation service to ClickBank vendors. Vendors can inquire via: http://www.easypress.com/products/aqpep/epupload.epml

About ClickBank
ClickBank

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank Clients Showcased in New Book by Leading Internet Entrepreneur
ClickBank Partner Marc Ostrofsky Releases Get Rich Click, The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet

Broomfield, Colo., April 28, 2011- With the sales of digital products continuing to show signs of steady growth, ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products, has teamed up with leading Internet entrepreneur, Marc Ostrofsky, to participate in the launch of his newest book, GET RICH CLICK! The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet. This new online industry resource is offering expertise and real-life stories from successful online entrepreneurs. Ostrofsky has been seen on "The Today Show", The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and over 1,000 other media outlets around the globe. Ostrofsky is best known for selling the domain name Business.com for $7.5 million landing him in the Guinness Book of World Records.

ClickBank and Ostrofsky first partnered in 2010 when they created an innovative online resource that features expert advice, how to videos, success stories and proven tips to increase earning potential online, and has been extremely well received by their leading community of affiliates and vendors. The launch of this highly anticipated new book includes a foreword from ClickBank CEO Brad Wiskirchen on Ostrofsky's innovative approach to success as an entrepreneur, as well as stories from some of ClickBank's leading vendors and affiliates. This groundbreaking new book offers readers advice on starting their own online business, and highlights a proven path to success that many of ClickBank's own clients have taken to create increasingly profitable businesses online.

ClickBank vendor Jacob Hiller is one of the ClickBank successes highlighted in the book. After creating a YouTube video that taught people how to jump higher, he turned that video into an eBook called The Jump Manual, and now makes as much as $75,000 monthly selling his eBook through the ClickBank marketplace. "The key is not to simply try to sell someone something," said Hiller. "The most important thing is to find something that you are passionate about, and create a successful business by sharing that passion with others."

Along with stories of growth and success from some of ClickBank's top clients, the ideas and strategies that are discussed in the book include making a full-time living from home writing and creating instructional eBooks, promoting their products and outsourcing parts of your business to keep your expenses low, and using valuable tools such as blogs, e-mail, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube to find customers.

"We are proud to be a part of this exciting and highly anticipated book from our partner, Marc Ostrofsky," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "At ClickBank, we are committed to creating resources that help people realize the vast number of business opportunities that exist for marketers and entrepreneurs. This book is an essential tool for anyone looking to create their own success online."

GET RICH CLICK! The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet, will be published by Razor Media Group on May 2, 2011.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com.

About Get Rich Click
Get Rich Click is the ultimate source for anyone or any business looking to make money online. It is a "how-to" written by one of the country's most successful Internet entrepreneurs, Marc Ostrofsky. Filled with case studies that will educate and inspire, Get Rich Click offers hundreds of practical tools for creating wealth through the web. From domain names to affiliate marketing, from eBay to making money starting with no money, from drop shipping to choosing the right keywords, from buying internet traffic to using specialized software for relationship management, Marc shares a variety of strategies that his own Internet companies use that currently generate over $75 million a year. For more information, go to: http://www.getrichclick.com.

###

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank Announces PitchPlus Feature to Marketplace
Valuable Feature Provides Vendors and Affiliates the Opportunity to Get More out of Every Sale and Increase Value to Customers

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - April 21, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products is announcing PitchPlus?, formerly known as One-Click Upsell, an exciting new feature that provides both vendors and affiliates with the opportunity to get more out of every sale.

In 2010, a limited number of handpicked vendors were selected to participate in the One-Click Upsell pilot program. This unique opportunity earned these vendors a staggering $40 million in sales beyond initial purchases. The results of the pilot program clearly illustrate that this feature is highly valuable to customers, who are given the chance to see offers in their area of interest, while vendors and affiliates profit by making more money with every sale.

ClickBank vendor, Rob Poulos, who participated in the pilot program, experienced incredible results. So far this year, Poulos has sold over 100,000 products and of those, over 34 percent can be attributed to the PitchPlus feature. "Participation in the PitchPlus pilot program has brought us a significant number of additional sales," said Poulos, owner of Fat Burning Furnace. "We are continually impressed with ClickBank's dedication to introducing features and programs that help us grow our business. PitchPlus is a great example of this and has proven to be extremely profitable and rewarding for our business and our customers."

PitchPlus is now available to the ClickBank community on two levels: PitchPlus Basic for all vendors and PitchPlus Advanced for approved vendors. With this new feature customers are directed to accept or decline an additional offer of the vendor's choosing. This allows vendors to show customers an additional product in a category that they have expressed interest in and are likely to buy ? turning what was one sale into the potential for multiple sales. With PitchPlus Advanced, approved vendors can offer a customer up to three additional products after the customers' initial purchase. PitchPlus also benefits affiliates, who now can collect commissions from these additional purchases.

"We created PitchPlus to provide our clients with the chance to increase the value of each customer interaction," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "We were thrilled with the success of the pilot program, and are excited to be launching the PitchPlus feature to a wider audience. We believe that our community of vendors and affiliates will see great results from this exciting new feature that not only enables them to make more money, but increases the overall value they can offer to customers with each purchase."

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

###

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank's Greg Lems Named CIO of the Year by the Denver Business Journal
Lems Honored for Innovative Technology Efforts at ClickBank Amid Vast Digital Commerce Growth

Broomfield, Colo., April 20, 2011- ClickBank's Greg Lems has been named the CIO of the Year by the Denver Business Journal. ClickBank, based in Broomfield, is a leading, global online marketplace, designed for the buying and selling of digital goods. This inaugural year for the award recognized technology leaders in four categories, and Lems won in the Corporate category, which included companies with $100 million to $1 billion in revenue and with 250 to 1,000 IT users.

The Denver Business Journal created this award to honor individuals who align their technology initiatives with the business strategy, show leadership in communication with their team, create efforts towards innovation, are dedicated to bettering their communities and demonstrate a strong sense of leadership. There were 50 finalists named for the award across four categories, which included Enterprise, Corporate, Emerging Business and Non-Profit.

Lems was honored for his continued emphasis on close communication and agility in IT processes, which has played a vital role in bringing new ClickBank features to market quickly. Under his direction, the IT infrastructure and applications at ClickBank have grown to be scalable and reliable in meeting the needs of ClickBank's ever-increasing network of affiliates and vendors. His dedication to community involvement also played a role in his recognition as a leading CIO. Lems is active in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, in addition to holding membership in numerous technology groups and associations in Colorado, including the Boulder Software Club. As a part of Colorado's Technology Association, CSIA, Greg has participated annually in the C-Level event as a "Celebrity" whose time is auctioned off to raise money for technology projects in the area.

"I am honored to have been named the CIO of the Year by the Denver Business Journal," said Greg Lems, Chief Technology Officer, ClickBank. "ClickBank's customer-centric nature and vast worldwide growth demand forward-thinking technology to fuel our continued success and ability to not only meet, but exceed the needs of the rapidly changing and growing landscape of digital commerce."

ClickBank is dedicated to providing opportunities for creating and growing successful businesses online. The management team not only strives to enable success for their customers, but also works to exhibit this same commitment to excellence internally. This recognition from the Denver Business Journal is coupled with the news that ClickBank CEO, Brad Wiskirchen, has been named as a finalist for the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Winners for this award will be announced in June.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

# # #

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank Achieves Level 1 Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance Certification
Certification Demonstrates ClickBank's Dedication to Ensuring a Secure Experience Online

Broomfield, CO - April 5, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products, has strengthened their industry-leading fraud prevention efforts by attaining a Level 1 compliance certification by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). As eCommerce continues to experience significant growth, the threat of fraud has become increasingly more prevalent. This certification demonstrates ClickBank's continued commitment to their customers' protection, and to ensuring secure transactions for both customers and vendors.

PCI DSS is a worldwide program designed to help protect consumers from fraud by regulating payment card data security. ClickBank's Level 1 compliance certification was achieved by adhering to the best practices specified by the PCI, aimed at protecting consumers' personal information and providing safe transactions online. As a result, customers can trust ClickBank with sensitive payment card information and feel confident conducting business within their marketplace. Completing the compliance requirements is an extensive process, and the requirements include protecting stored data, assigning a unique ID to each person with computer access, regular testing of security systems and processes, and many other measures designed to guarantee that customer information is secure.

"Achieving Level 1 certification is a tremendous accomplishment for us and it speaks to the importance we place on protecting our customers' personal information and online experience," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "Fraud threats today are becoming more and more sophisticated and it has become increasingly difficult for retailers to stay ahead of those threats. By upholding the standards set forth by the PCI, we are actively working to become a part of the solution."

ClickBank's Level 1 certification represents the ongoing efforts they have established in order to combat fraud. ClickBank's sister company, Kount, is a leading innovator of solutions for fraud and risk management. Kount provides the most advanced fraud fighting technology available today, and protects against both traditional and emerging card-not-present threats. As a digital marketplace that processes over 35,000 transactions per day, ClickBank faces an ever-present risk of fraud. By applying Kount's security solutions and maintaining PCI Level 1 compliance, they are stepping out ahead of the industry in defending against those threats. This certification will not only provide security for ClickBank's customers, but the increase in customer trust and satisfaction will allow ClickBank clients to run their businesses more securely and successfully.

About ClickBank
ClickBank® is an online marketplace for digital information products that allows individuals and businesses to attract the customers they can't find anywhere else online, and provides affiliate marketers with secure ways to be successful and profitable.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

# # #

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank Will Embrace Mobile Trend with New Mobile Features
ClickBank Vendors Adam Horwitz and Tim Donovan Innovate with Mobile Monopoly Products

Broomfield, Colo.,- March 17, 2011 Mobile commerce is allowing an increasing number of consumers to buy and sell goods using mobile devices. It was recently reported that, according to a study by Appcelerator and IDC, mobile commerce has seen rapid expansion, with a year-over-year growth of 86 percent. ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products, is embracing this trend and today is announcing their plans to introduce new features that will create a more mobile marketplace and meet the mobile needs of their customers and community of leading Internet marketers.

Over the past four months alone, ClickBank has experienced a 26 percent growth in mobile session traffic, and mobile sales have grown by a staggering 45 percent. The fastest smartphone and tablet growth seen by ClickBank has been Android at 145 percent, iPad at 77 percent and iPhone at 56 percent. Additionally, ClickBank saw 29 percent higher conversion rates with smartphones and tablets than desktop browsers. Throughout 2011, ClickBank will introduce several mobile features to better enable their clients to be successful through the mobile channel. These features will allow more options for ClickBank's customers, and provide the opportunity for their vendors and affiliates to expand their audience and reach customers in new ways. ClickBank plans to roll out these new features in the coming months.

"At ClickBank, we pride ourselves on identifying emerging trends and leading the industry in innovation and opportunity," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "The significant growth that we've seen in mobile commerce is opening the door for us to expand our service offering in a way that will increase the effectiveness and success of our vendors and affiliates, and will make our marketplace more accessible to our customers."

The growing mobile trend has also introduced sales and marketing opportunities. Several of ClickBank's top vendors have taken the initiative to create products designed to educate others on taking advantage of these trends and business opportunities. In their series of products, Adam Horwitz and Tim Donovan are educating individuals on the various ways to find success by adopting the mobile commerce trends. Horwitz launched his first product in April of 2010, and since that time, has launched other products including the hugely successful Mobile Monopoly. Horwitz and Donovan have sold an impressive 36,000 products and $2.5 million on ClickBank to date. Their achievements in educating on the potential for success in mobile commerce have made Horowitz and Donovan some of ClickBank's top vendors in the affiliate marketing and e-marketing categories.

"The products that we've created have allowed people to find success by taking advantage of the explosion in mobile commerce," said Adam Horwitz. "ClickBank has provided us with a unique and effective channel for reaching an audience of mobile savvy individuals. We look forward to their expanding mobile features within this extremely successful marketplace."

Horwitz and Donovan are preparing for their next big launch in the mobile space this month, featuring their new product, Local Mobile Monopoly.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

Find products from Adam Horwitz and Tim Donovan, including their latest Mobile Monopoly product on the ClickBank Marketplace:
http://www.clickbank.com/mkplSearchResult.htm?includeKeywords=mobimonop. The Local Mobile Monopoly product will be available in the ClickBank Marketplace in late March.

# # #

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

Greg Lems, ClickBank - Announced as a 2011 "Celebrity" at C-Level @ A Mile High
Greg Lems of ClickBank has been announced as one of the "Celebrities" participating in C-Level @ A Mile High on March 10, 2011

Broomfield, CO - March 9, 2011 - ClickBank today announced that their Chief Technology Officer, Greg Lems, will be one of the more than 50 "Celebrity" C-Levels participating on March 10, 2011 at the CSIA C-Level @ A Mile High event. C-Level @ A Mile High is Colorado's biggest technology networking event and is designed to help increase the relationships and business done between Colorado technology companies.

Since the program's inception in 2007, the CSIA C-Level @ A Mile High has stimulated hundreds of relationships and resulted in millions of dollars of work between Colorado companies.

"This prominent event recognizes the need to help Colorado tech companies grow deep relationships with technology executives, IT department leaders and other larger Colorado companies," said Su Hawk, President, CSIA. "We have heard from both sides that they want to do more business within Colorado and needed more opportunities to meet and build relationships, so this event is the perfect time to bring all the stakeholders together," she added.

"We are happy to have Greg Lems representing ClickBank at CSIA's C-Level @ A Mile High event," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "Greg's innovative leadership on our technology team has allowed us to continually break new ground in the industry, and his forward-thinking approach to business and technology makes him a perfect addition to this event."

Lems joined ClickBank in 2005. He has a B.S.E.E. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His emphasis on close communication and agility in IT processes has brought new ClickBank functionality to market quickly. Under his direction the IT infrastructure and applications at ClickBank have grown to be scalable and reliable to meet the needs of ClickBank's ever-increasing network of affiliates and vendors. Lems is also a finalist for the Denver Business Journal "CIO of the Year" award.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

# # #

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank Sponsors Underground Online Seminar

ClickBank Vendor and Premier Elite Program Member Joel Marion to Speak at Event

Broomfield, Colo., March 3, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products, will attend the 2011 Underground Online Seminar as a Platinum Sponsor. The event will take place from March 3-5, 2011 in Washington, D.C. at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center.

In its seventh year, the three-day seminar is an event for elite Internet marketers and boasts some of the industry's biggest names such as Internet pioneer, Ted Leonsis and founder of Webex.com, Chad Folkening. The seminar is designed to educate the online marketing world and equip them with the tools needed to increase their online success.

"We are thrilled to be sponsoring the Underground Online Seminar and to have the opportunity to partner with individuals that share our dedication to providing leading insight from some of the most successful names in the industry," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "This seminar brings together the most elite in Internet marketing to create an educational experience for online marketers. This gives participants a unique platform for learning and sharing ideas."

One of ClickBank's premier clients, Joel Marion, will be in attendance as a keynote speaker, offering expertise from his experience with major product launches, and insight on what it takes to successfully launch a product. Joel sold his first eBook online in April 2009, earning $350,000 in his first week and breaking ClickBank's previous health and fitness sales launch records. He then went on to earn $1,500,000 in his first year in the highly competitive industry of fitness eBooks.

"The goal of this event is to help educate and create a resource for industry insiders. It is designed for those who want the tools for increasing their success and to learn from industry peers," said Marion. "ClickBank has played a vital role in the success I've had thus far and I'm honored to have the opportunity to lend the expertise that I've gained with those who are eager to learn and grow their own businesses."

Dush Ramachandran, ClickBank's Vice President of Sales and Business Development, will also be speaking at the event on ClickBank client success stories. In addition, entrepreneur and ClickBank industry partner, Marc Ostrofsky, will be speaking on business start-up and fast growth strategies. Ostrofsky and ClickBank recently partnered to create an online information resource aimed at increasing revenue for vendors and affiliates. He is also set to launch Get Rich Click this spring, a highly anticipated book that will offer hundreds practical tools for using the internet to create wealth.

Dush Ramachandran will be speaking on the 3rd at 4:45 pm, Joel Marion will be speaking on the 4th at 5:00 pm, and Marc Ostrofsky will be speaking on March 4th at 7:30 pm.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank Continues to See Significant Growth in Independent eBooks Space

Broomfield, Colo., February 28, 2011 - eBook sales nearly doubled in 2010 and industry predictions expect these percentages to continue to climb in 2011, tripling by 2015. ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products, is experiencing this explosive growth first-hand, due in part to significant new product launches in the eBook space. ClickBank currently provides the largest digital marketplace for independent informational eBooks, and sales of eBooks in the ClickBank Marketplace have seen significant growth.

Long time ClickBank clients and Internet marketers Rasheed Ali and Huey Lee have recently launched a new information product, "Autopilot Income Machines." This extensive, multi-media product contains a mixture of video and PDF training materials in eBook format, supported by software, and aims to be one of the most comprehensive products of its kind.

"We've been online for almost 10 years now and have been with ClickBank since 2003. We've built multi-million dollar businesses on the sale of eBooks and still cannot find a worthy replacement, even video, that can achieve what a simple, well written eBook can achieve for its reader," said Ali. "Our latest product is an eBook 'blueprint,' supported by video training that will give the reader a richer, multi-modality, learning experience to help enhance their retention and functional use of the information."

"There has been a lot of buzz recently around the increase in consumer desire for eBooks and this creates strong opportunity for independent authors seeking to establish a following," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "Historically, we have provided an established channel for innovative, independent vendors to bring their products to market. This is no different. We are leveraging our network to provide a unique opportunity for authors, sellers and publishers to reach a new market of readers."

ClickBank offers titles from independent authors in a wide range of categories that include Education, Fiction, Green Products, Self-Help and many more, with titles that range from Do-It-Yourself Solar Energy to Official Secret Restaurant Recipes. Companies such as Relationship Headquarters, a relationship counseling resource founded by Licensed Professional Counselor Bob Grant, have seen first-hand the success that's possible when selling eBooks through ClickBank. Relationship Headquarters' success over the last 7 years includes over $3 million in sales and over 80,000 products sold to date through ClickBank.

"As with anything you do, success depends largely on partnering with the right companies," said Jill Menghini, Manager of RelationshipHeadquarters.com. "ClickBank provides all of the resources that you need in one place. We have received rave reviews on their customer service and that has translated into return customers and increased success for us."

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

# # #

ClickBank - heard of it? - nears $2B in online sales

Thousands of online entrepreneurs around the world know ClickBank, but few outside its network of affiliates are likely to have heard of it.

The 90-employee company, with a Broomfield office where half its employees work, is trying to change that this year - and it has the numbers to back up that goal.

Sometime next fall, the ClickBank online platform will surpass handling $2 billion worth of transactions. The company reports that its revenue topped $350 million in 2010, and it expects double-digit growth in 2011.

ClickBank CEO Brad Wiskirchen walks through the company's new offices in Broomfield.

And that's been achieved without spending money on sales or marketing until 18 months ago.

"For how little effort we put in to getting exposure in the first years, we've grown remarkably well," said Brad Wiskirchen, ClickBank CEO

The company is based in Boise, Idaho, where founder Tim Barber started it in his garage in 1998. It grew there for a few years, until it started needing several business development and information technology workers.

A regional search for the best expansion site settled on Broomfield. It just moved into new Interlocken offices this month and plans to hire as many as 10 additional employees there.

ClickBank provides the systems for online entrepreneurs to sell their digital goods. More than 100,000 online entrepreneurs, or affiliates, use ClickBank as the online payment system and behind-the-scenes technology. The company charges a small fee, usually $1, and takes a 7 percent commission on sales.

More than 46,000 digital goods are sold on ClickBank's online system, which averages 30,000 transactions a day.

It's recorded sales in almost every country, Wiskirchen said, and it's growing large networks of affiliates in other countries, especially in Germany and Japan. Half its customer-service staff is bilingual.

The largest-sellers on ClickBank are self-help fitness and marketing videos and manuals, and online software. It's trying to expand into selling more online games and entertainment videos.

"We've created a market for people to monetize their passions and the ability to market it," Wiskirchen said. "You create the content, you create the goods and we do everything else."

CONTACT:
PR/Media Request

ClickBank Launches Health and Fitness Product by Renowned Expert Bill Phillips

Broomfield, Colo., February 17, 2011 - ClickBank, the premier, online marketplace for digital information products, recently announced a new product addition to their expansive health and fitness category, called The Transformation Solution, by renowned health and fitness expert Bill Phillips. The product is designed to help with fat loss, boosting energy levels and reversing the signs of poor health.

The Transformation Solution was brought to ClickBank by long-time client Josh Bezoni, a well-known name in the fitness industry and author of Belly Fat Free. Bezoni, who has launched many successful fitness products through ClickBank, was responsible for the launch of the product. The Transformation Solution was created by Bill Phillips, who is also the author of The New York Times Best-Selling Body-for-LIFE^® and founder of EAS, a performance nutritional supplement company, and Muscle Media Magazine.

"Health and fitness is a tremendously successful category for us due to the caliber of products brought to the ClickBank Marketplace by top vendors, and this is a time of year when these products are in high demand," said Brad Wiskirchen, CEO, ClickBank. "We are happy to be continuing our long-standing relationship with Josh Bezoni, and the addition of a product from a first in class name like Bill Phillips, reaffirms that we are committed to providing the best products from both independent and established brands."

The Transformation Solution will introduce Phillips' "Bio-Balance" diet solution. When the brain is out of bio-balance, it works against the body, causing cravings and stress that lead to overeating, weight gain, poor health, low energy and depression. This system is designed to increase fat loss and transform your body, improve health and create a better mindset without complicated starvation diets or extreme exercise. The product pre-launch took place from January 18-20, while the formal launch occurred on February 1.

"The Transformation Solution has seen great success in its first weeks, and I am proud to have worked to launch such a big-name product in the ClickBank Marketplace," said Josh Bezoni. "Bill Phillips works to help people transform their lives and this product was a natural choice for ClickBank's vast health and fitness category, and their network of industry-leading affiliate marketers."

ClickBank's health and fitness category has seen huge success as a leading category with a year over year growth of 12.5% to date. They sold over 2.2 million products in this category in 2010, and with the onslaught of fitness-related resolutions in the New Year, they have sold over 350,000 products in this category since the start of 2011.

ClickBank is privately held with offices in Broomfield, Colorado and Boise, Idaho. For more information, go to: http://www.clickbank.com/index.html.

# # #

How Keynetics lets people tap a 100,000 strong sales force to sell e-books and other digital goods

Feb 02, 2011

Brad Wiskirchen says he's a fortunate man.

At 42, the Boise native runs Keynetics, a holding company, as well as its subsidiaries ClickBank, an online retailer of digital goods, and Kount, a provider of fraud-fighting technology.

The privately held companies provide e-commerce opportunities and online security to thousands of people and companies worldwide. Wiskirchen said ClickBank gross sales topped $400 million last year, and he expects revenues at both companies to keep climbing. The companies employ 120 people - 80 in Boise and 40 in Broomfield, Colo. He declined to disclose Kount revenues.

Wiskirchen meets with the biggest players in the financial industry, hobnobs with the creators of the latest technology, and raises his young family in Boise, where he also donates his time to nonprofits, social causes and educational boards.

"I got the best gig on the planet," he said in this interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Can you explain ClickBank?

A: ClickBank was founded in 1998. It's the quintessential garage technology venture, because it was literally founded in the garage of Dr. Tim and Eileen Barber in San Diego, Calif. They walled off a space in their garage, dry-walled it, and hired their next-door neighbor as their first customer service rep.

They started the business with an initial investment of $125,000. That's the only outside investment that's ever been taken by the company. We don't have any venture capital backers, any private-equity backers. Never had any debt. Just kind of ran it belt and suspenders, and grew it.

In 2000, they moved it from San Diego to Boise, because one of the board members is a Boisean. Bayless Manning, he was dean of Stanford Law School, president of the Council on Foreign Relations - done a lot of things - he lived here. When it came time to start hiring more employees, they looked at it and said San Diego's not the most cost-effective place to grow a business.

ClickBank's an e-commerce platform. It provides entrepreneurs with an opportunity to get their products into commerce.

For example, let's say you've written an e-book on how to attract hummingbirds to your yard. It's a 40-page book. You've sent it to all the publishing houses. They've said, probably a little bit too much of a niche for us, or maybe not long enough - needs to be more than 100 pages: "We'll respectfully decline, although you're the greatest thing to writing since William Shakespeare." You're at a loss at that point.

So what you can do is put your book in a digital content format, PDF perhaps. Then you apply to have your book distributed through ClickBank.

If we accept it, assuming it meets our acceptable-use policy - and there's a lot of things we don't do, adult content, things like that - if we accept it, then it's placed in our marketplace. You then have an e-book with a pitch page, with a page explaining it, trying to get consumers to buy it.

But there's so much noise on the Internet, you can't get anybody to buy your e-book on how to attract hummingbirds to your yard. What happens with ClickBank is we have this affiliate network, which are online marketing experts, and we have over 100,000 (who) have facilitated a transaction in the last year.

They notice your book. They notice that you pay a high commission rate for people who promote your book, sell your book. It doesn't cost you anything, right? 'Cause it's an e-book. Didn't cost you anything to print it. So you can give commission rates up to 75 percent. They start sending traffic to your pitch page that explains why (people) should buy your e-book on how to attract hummingbirds to your yard. People buy it.

Q: What about Kount?

A: Kount basically arose out of necessity. ClickBank is a very large online retailer. Right now, we're doing more than 30,000 transactions a day. Sometimes we'll hit 45,000. We do a lot of transactions daily, and it's a digital-goods site, so it's a test site, which means you don't have to enter in a lot of data. There's no shipping address 'cause there's nothing to ship. Bad guys on the Internet can take digital goods sites, and they can test credit cards.

The best example I can give of a test site is probably in the brick-and-mortar environment. Say you leave your credit card at a restaurant. It's picked up by a crook. And the first thing he does is, he pulls into the Chevron station, plugs the card into the gas pump to see if you've noticed yet and canceled the card. Why does he do that? Well, nobody's going to cuff him out there at the pump, right? So he sees if the card's still good. Then he can go to a local store, buy a laptop computer or whatever, and fence it at a pawn shop, or however they decide to fence it. So in the e-commerce space, digital-goods sites are that way. You don't have to plug in a lot of information. If you get access to a stolen credit-card number, you can test it and see if it's a valid credit card.

ClickBank, being a large retailer of digital goods, is a prime target for such nefarious activities. We were in the Internet in the early days. We had to develop technologies to help protect us against those things. And Tim Barber, the founder, is a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton. He happens to be perfectly suited to create solutions to find bad guys on the Internet. So he did.

Out of our ClickBank experience grew a strong expertise in fraud control. In 2008, we rolled out a stand-alone company with a stand-alone product in this space. One of the most commonly used tools in fraud control right now throughout the Internet is something called device fingerprinting, where you're able to identify devices, etc. Actually, Tim invented that and patented that in 2000. He's kind of a pioneer in the fraud space.

But Kount is a lot more than that. We evaluate hundreds of parameters with every transaction to evaluate whether it is good or not, and then in real time respond to a merchant. We give them a score back and tell them whether a transaction is likely to be good or not, and they can decide if they want to accept that transaction.

We also patented proxy-piercing technology. It can tell if your computer is being used by another computer in a different country to purchase goods in real time. It's a lot of computing.

We work with some of the biggest players on the Internet. Chase Paymentech, they process roughly 50 percent of the world's online transactions. They're partnering with us. We'll be their white-labeled solution on their platforms. They're rolling that out right now. We've also got a partnership with LexisNexis, a large information aggregator. We have large online retailers that use the Kount solution as well. Staples, the No. 2 online retailer in the world second only to Amazon.com, uses Kount. It's a nice little company.

And it's a big problem.

Q: How big is ClickBank's potential?

A: We continue to grow very rapidly. We had double-digit growth in 2010, which a lot of people can't say. We're projecting pretty rapid growth this year.

The limit's really the number of people with Internet access, the number of people with unique ideas. Everybody is perhaps the expert at something. It could be how to improve your golf swing. It could be how to train Doberman pinschers. It could be how to attract hummingbirds to your yard. We help people turn their avocation into a vocation. If you can make a lot of money doing these things - and people can make a lot of money doing these things - if you can produce quality content about a thing that you're most passionate about, then there's other people in the world who are passionate about it. But they may not have the level of expertise you have.

Q: What categories make the most sales?

A: It depends. It's very cyclical, and it's seasonal. When the economy's bad, products helping people make money or optimize their investments are hot. In January, products that relate to physical fitness and weight loss are hot. Every little micro-niche, people start generating products relating to it. Whatever's hot in the U.S. economy, e-books and software relating to those challenges pop up.

And it's remarkable to me how quickly a product will pop up that kind of mirrors what's going on in the economy.

For example, when energy prices went through the roof a couple of summers ago, e-books on how to build solar panels in your garage started to sell like crazy. I thought, "Wow, how to build solar panels in your garage," but it makes sense. People are concerned. They can't afford this anymore. They think, "(I) need a solution and can't afford to pay someone else to put solar panels on my house, so I'll start doing some homework and see if I can do it myself."

An interesting one that I noticed last year was a lot of e-books relating to how to raise chickens if you live in the city, how to build chicken coops, how to optimize your chickens' output. Things like that.

Wow. Who'd ever thought you could sell e-books in these kind of volumes on topics like that?

Q: Which areas have the potential to become hot?

A: I think we're going to see more video content jumping up. More and more people are getting their information/data from videos right now. We've actually partnered with iAmplify to facilitate that. They're an aggregation point for expert video content in New York City.

Social gaming - I suspect we'll see a lot more of that. We entered into a partnership last month with Big Fish Games, a very large provider of social games. I believe their average consumer is female right around the 40-year-old age. When you think games, you think teenage boys. But these are social games relating to organization and organization tools, etc. We've partnered with them because I think that's going to be a trend on the rise, too - people trying to get data and information or tools, data to optimize their day, but in a fun way.

Q: What's your best advice for people who want to succeed at it?

A: Everybody asks me that question. My answer's remarkably unremarkable. It's the same as everything else in life - do your homework. The people who succeed are people who put time and effort into ensuring that their product is quality. We have a very aggressive refund policy that we adhere to very strictly. If the consumer doesn't like your product, we're going to issue a refund. The time frame is if they don't like your product in 60 days, they get all their money back, no questions asked.

You're not going to make a lot of money if you don't have a quality product.

It means you've got to do your homework on niches, what's selling. Come to our marketplace. We have statistics we give people, and you can figure out what's selling and what's not selling. You may have a product that's already made, or you may be just investigating our marketplace to try to find something for yourself to research and write an e-book on, or create a membership site related to it. The fact of the matter is you're going to succeed if you do your homework. There's no replacement for good, hard elbow grease.

Q: What's the next big thing on the technology horizon?

A: There's going to be a lot of big innovations this year. The iPad kind of changed people's world. It did for me. It's a lot easier carrying around a device that's a pound and a half as opposed to my 5-pound laptop. And I travel a lot, so that made a big impact on my life.

In the not too distant future, we're going to see things we just chalk up to sci-fi. I've seen demos of technology where the keyboard is projected onto the desk top (or table). All kinds of devices we've seen in the movies the last half dozen years, they look really cool. (We'll be able to) manipulate frames which are in the air. We'll see that, and in a shorter time frame than most people would believe.

What you have to be prepared for is a world where more and more transactions, more e-commerce is conducted using mobile devices. I've seen figures that ... the number of transactions on mobile devices will surpass the number of transactions online via desktops as early as 2013. So the software companies and the Internet companies are going to have to prepare themselves for that, for serving up order forms, etc., that are easy to use on mobile devices, because more and more people are going to have access to them. It makes sense because they're less expensive and easier to integrate than buying a computer.

Q: Anything else you'd like to add?

A: Really, I feel fortunate. We have two morally compelling companies. They're both morally compelling for different reasons, which is what got me to join this company in February of 2005 and has kept me excited about it and passionate about it since. Kount because if you ask my two young children, "What does your dad do?" my 6-year-old daughter says, 'He catches bad guys on the Internet.' And that's kind of what we do, and she's really proud of that. On ClickBank, we give everyone the opportunity to publish their voice. We're the great equalizer. Not all products sell, not all products sell well, not all affiliates are experts in your field or can promote your product, but we give you a shot.

I'm surprised at the things that sell well. I mean, teenage boys who sell books on how to beat video games. Never have to worry about them getting a college scholarship because it's paid for, right? A high school teacher who ran really good camps for his high school and college students. He started running how to run your soccer practice, how to run your softball practice, on e-books, and he makes far more annually on these e-books. But it enables him to do what he's passionate about, which is teach. I feel very fortunate to be able to run these companies and run them in Idaho and Broomfield, Colo., two great places to run businesses.

I get to do it all and come back home to Boise, Idaho, and have a team that is able to ride their bikes on the Greenbelt to work. I work with great, great people that I get to see everyday. We're all very passionate about success and running a business, and doing it the right way. We do the right thing because it's the right thing to do, no matter what the consequences.

***

Brad Wiskirchen was appointed a director of the board of the Salt Lake City Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on Jan. 1.

WHAT ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES?

Branch directors contribute to monetary policy development, and they serve as a link between the Federal Reserve and the private sector. What we do is we provide information on current economic conditions, and we actually provide a lot of information on emerging developments in our regions or in our verticals. For example, I would be providing information on what's happening here in Idaho, and also what's happening in the Internet and digital media, particularly because that's what I know through ClickBank and Kount. We provide the directors of the parent bank with data to help them prepare for their discount rate vote. We meet monthly. Our branch meets in Salt Lake City. Then periodically we meet in San Francisco at the district office. We also have the opportunity to go to (Washington,) D.C. on occasion to meet on a broader scale. I'll still be in Idaho. It's one-day trips, but it's an exciting opportunity for me to learn. I'm going to learn a lot.

HOW DO YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

A lot of ways. Our companies are in a unique sector. We see things that maybe others don't. We see emerging trends before a lot of others do.

Sandra Forester: 377-6464