As the vice president of marketing and business development for ImLive, Oren Klaus is all about maximizing synergy between the ImLive cam network and its interwoven PussyCash affiliate program.
By working closely with the marketing and support teams under his purview, Klaus makes the satisfaction of business partners his number one priority.
The ImLive team needs to know our unique strengths and weaknesses, while also believing in our products. This will enable them to focus and target partners with the most potential and seek out the best media types for our products, to achieve our desired goals.
And whenever he can, Klaus seeks to bring in new end users to his platforms through numerous media resources, all the while keeping a close eye on the competition.
Reviewing the latest performance stats, analyzing data trends and following up on necessary changes for products and services are also key elements of his success.
To get a behind the cam glimpse into the inner workings of ImLive and PussyCash, XBIZ sat down with Klaus for this exclusive interview.
XBIZ: Tell us about your professional background prior to ImLive.
Klaus: After completing my B.A, L.L.B and L.L.M., I worked with two other companies for several years.
Then, I got into the online industry — three years before joining ImLive — working at an ad network. I was responsible for the publishers side, until the start-up was acquired by a bigger company that trades today in the London Stock Exchange.
XBIZ: What led you to join ImLive?
Klaus: I was impressed by the global exposure the product has, as well as its growth potential. I also liked the innovative and unique things the company has done (like competitions for Porsche cars, etc.) and felt it’s a great opportunity for me to bring my energy and skillset to.
I was also kind of excited about the relocation opportunity, because ImLive’s marketing and business development office is in Cyprus, and I was curious to try out different things abroad.
XBIZ: Describe your main responsibilities as the VP of marketing and business development.
Klaus: In a nutshell — bringing new end users to our platforms through various media resources. This requires constant effort for establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with partners over the years, as well as motivating them to keep pushing our brands.
Also, we make sure our competitors have to work very hard in order to try and shift partners to their side, while getting new partners from them.
From the marketing and biz dev aspect, I help make sure ImLive and its other brands always stay on the front line of the adult webcam industry, as one of the most solid, reliable, lucrative and beneficial networks.
XBIZ: What is your approach to leading teams effectively, so that they can accomplish company goals?
Klaus: Teams in competitive markets, like ours, always have to be focused.
Focus on which kind of partners to look for and what revenues/results those partners can potentially create for themselves and bring to our side.
The ImLive team needs to know our unique strengths and weaknesses, while also believing in our products. This will enable them to focus and target partners with the most potential and seek out the best media types for our products, to achieve our desired goals.
XBIZ: How do you negotiate with potential clients? Tell us your overall strategy for winning them to your side.
Klaus: The advantage for us when dealing with potential partners is that PussyCash is a well-known webcam affiliate program, renowned for its integrity, punctual payments and highly professional team.
We always feel this gives us a solid background to start any negotiation off with, as we know those things are very important for serious clients.
Moreover, we can offer potential clients high-end technology, including the most advanced integration existing nowadays in the webcam industry; this goes for billing set-ups, end user experience and control of the whole user-model engagement.
So basically, we try to be very transparent with our potential clients and tell them that a test for a specific amount of time can show them some results. We feel that both our reputation and our custom solution (if needed) delivers and gains the potential client’s trust in our products and our team.
And last but not least, of course, is the team we have. It’s always important for us to show anyone that PussyCash and ImLive are not just big names, but there are people and faces behind them, who will fight and do all they can to make our partners satisfied and secure, with the most revenue out there.
XBIZ: Talk about what a typical workday looks like for you, and how you prioritize duties.
Klaus: Our world is all about numbers, performance, measurement and ROI.
I start my day reviewing the last 24 hours of performance (overall, big partners, new partners and extreme changes) and then have short discussions about those results, with their related problems, dilemmas and conclusions.
Then, I spend most of the day focused on meeting partners’ routine needs and getting updates about our products and services from their corresponding teams. This includes discussions with the marketing team and our support teams about all the necessary actions they should be taking, as well as what their priorities should be.
The last part of the day is mostly for analysis and conclusions, with follow-ups on negotiations with potential partners and other business meetings.
So basically, first priority is always the partners, no matter what. Second is our team — brainstorming about specific issues or more general ones. And of course, making sure the marketing team is in line with all of the company’s relevant departments.
XBIZ: How has the affiliate market evolved over the years, and what steps have you taken to keep ImLive on top?
Klaus: The affiliate world has changed a lot, as many affiliates were offered pre-paid payments over the years and stopped working based on performance. Moreover, more and more ad networks approached partners and publishers and committed their traffic. Add to this the fact that more than 10 serious cam companies joined the industry over the last six to seven years, and it’s obvious the whole market has changed.
Luckily, ImLive and PussyCash have their strong reputation and advanced technologies, which enables us to differentiate ourselves from many of those cam companies.
I truly believe PussyCash is still one of the most powerful, beneficial and reliable affiliate programs out there for camming products, as we have many affiliates that have worked with us more than 10 years.
And lastly, again, our marketing team … with dedicated senior account managers that have been with us more than five years and are well-known in the industry … their support and availability for our partners has been a big part of our success all these years.