What's a mazuma? Turns out, the odd-sounding title is no joke. Mazuma means "cash." It comes from the medieval Hebrew word, mezumman, which translates roughly to "fixed currency."
And fixed currency is what the Toronto-based Monster Mazuma is offering, and this year it's beginning to attract a lot of affiliates to the relatively new program.
"The payouts are probably our number one attraction for affiliates," says Jason, Affiliate Manager for the company. "We give a $40 payout per sale, which is definitely competitive. Although other programs are now offering the same, it's still one of the higher payouts you can have. We also offer 60 percent RevShare for life, webmaster referral bonuses, and a promo brewing for April with increased payouts as an incentive for affiliates."
As it stands today, Monster Mazuma has a solid core of loyal affiliates, but Jason expects that number to rise quickly now that the firm is starting to assert itself via advertising and networking.
"We're still new, and we've maintained a relatively low profile, so we can build some momentum," he adds. "We've just started to make a push on it. But given the fact that Monster Mazuma is still a small program, it gives me an opportunity to offer all the affiliates the best service they'll receive anywhere. I have the time to be a little more personable with them, whereas some of the larger programs have moved away from that. It's just how I am. I like to be a little more hands-on.
"Since I'm here, offering the best customer support possible, that sets us apart from the competition. That personal touch, in addition to our big payout and very exclusive content, all in HD, also makes us special."
Monster Mazuma has stayed with the four original niches that its sites offered when they launched — lesbian ("Sapphic Angels"), hardcore ("Hardcore Saints"), cum shot ("Cum 101"), and solo girl masturbation ("I Cum Alone") — "to keep it nice and simple," according to Jason. But the firm has added a number of bonus items to these sites, using the best premium feeds the industry has to offer, in order to boost retention.
"It's a megasite," Jason explains, "so when affiliates sign up for our program, they're getting all four of our sites. There really hasn't been a push for new sites. We already have tons of content in the bank for the sites that we already have. This allows a steady flow of updates to be released to make sure affiliates have fresh content available to promote. Updates are also key to providing the retention that revshare affiliates are looking for, as well as maintaining a profitable business. It is this sort of thinking that has put Monster Mazuma in a stable position to allow it to build."
And build it has. In recent months, the influx of new affiliates that are testing the waters of Monster Mazuma shows a trend. They like what they see, since they seem to be staying for the long haul. Jason believes that the attributes of the sites are just as responsible as the generous payouts and RevShares for this new business.
"We have lots of tools," he points out, "like custom galleries, tons of promotional content, and we offer free hosting. We also offer tons of statistics for the affiliates, and we just updated the webmaster area. The new version is a lot better, a lot more polished. Everything is a lot easier to see. It's just a better interactive interface for webmasters to use. This just gives us another reason to push Monster Mazuma.
"The site is intended to be something nice and clean that gives people something to promote."
The affiliate program also can brag about being the first all-HD site in online adult, according to Jason. In the last year, a lot of sites have followed suit by offering exclusively HD movies, but the head start enjoyed by Monster Mazuma in this area, along with its small, general niches and its excellent customer support, has been a key factor in the firm's success.
"HD was just the next progression for the industry as a whole," Jason says. "I think HD is still emerging as a business trend. It's going to be pricier, but the payout is better, and the retention is better. The customers don't mind paying a little bit more for HD so far."
More improvements are in the pipe for the near future. According to Jason, the firm's tech support people currently are working to install embedded flash clips.
"A lot of people think it's a nice little tool, so we want to work on building that into our sites," he adds. "It gives us a little bit extra to promote."
But aside from the new techno bells and whistles, Jason maintains that the simple art of listening to the customer is the main ingredient in keeping a product on the cutting edge. Often, feedback from affiliates has led directly to improvements on the sites.
"Sometimes people point out little things, and make suggestions about what might work better," Jason says. "We have made a couple of changes based on these suggestions. Like when people signed up, our program looked like it wouldn't give them an option to pay by check. I had an affiliate in Germany who pointed out that this might scare people away, even though the program allowed for people to pay by check."
It's no accident that Monster Mazuma has such a pliable business model, set up to adapt to the constant changes on the Internet landscape.
Toronto is a key center for the online adult business, and being surrounded by industry players provides the sort of networking that money can't buy.
As for Jason himself, his career began in the mainstream arena as a media buyer. Later, he moved into promotions, but he felt something was missing.
"I had a friend who was already working in the industry," he says of his introduction to Monster Mazuma. "He was doing quite well. I found the mainstream world where I worked to be stressful, and when I came to Monster Mazuma, it was a much more relaxed atmosphere."
Armed with that kind of job satisfaction, Jason sees a bright future for himself, as well as his new company, simply because he believes that the affiliate program has the proper set of marching instructions to succeed online.
"I don't think the important thing is to plot new strategies to stay ahead of the curve with the changing landscape on the Internet," he says. "I think it's a matter of maintaining what we've done to keep everybody happy, building strong, long-lasting relationships. If you change constantly, you risk alienating a chunk of people you've already been working with successfully."
