BERLIN — Axel Vézina, CrakRevenue’s chief strategic officer and partner, today delivered an exclusive keynote address at the 2017 XBIZ Berlin webmaster conference, presented by TrafficPartner.
On the first full day of events and seminars at XBIZ Berlin, an enthusiastic Vézina offered tips, tricks and best practices on how to find meaningful revenue with web traffic monetization in front of an audience comprising professionals in the paysite, traffic, cams, age verification and payment processing spaces.
Vézina, along with CrakRevenue partner Nicolas Chrétien, are on a roll these days. Their CPA network, with its now-famous tagline, “Follow the Whale,” is one of the fastest-growing companies in adult and mainstream performance marketing.
“Right now, we have 100 employees in the office,” Vézina told attendees. “We just opened in Montreal, and we want to open offices in other parts of the world.”
Vézina, a Quebec City native, where CrakRevenue is located, noted that he’s a “true entrepreneur” who puts a lot of faith in his business foresight.
Vézina explained that he enjoyed growing up in Canada, playing ice hockey as a young boy. But the idea of making money came early for him after he purchased a book on how to become a millionaire.
“You never know what can happen,” he said. “If you have a dream and have a vision, you can do anything you want.”
With CrakRevenue, Vézina’s been able to apply that vision to online marketing solutions for adult partners.
“I know that I have that passion for the online marketplace and traffic generation,” Vézina said.
And that he does. Vézina discussed with members of the XBIZ Berlin seminar audience the latest trends in an industry for both advertisers and publishers.
“It’s all about engaging the surfer,” he said. “We’ve seen some amazing results with popunders, native ads and even email. Use of social networks is huge.
“There’s this one affiliate guy who does $15,000 of business a day using Snapchat,” he said. “And we are getting more traffic from those who are using Instagram and the like. We need to further find ways to jump in with social media.
“Some of the conversion rates are ridiculous — like 1:2 or 1:3, for example. It’s just like the Golden Days [of online porn].”
What’s really paramount, Vézina said, is the relationship a company has with its partners, particularly in today’s increasingly complex and competitive environment.
“You need to work closely with your partner; it can’t be just another offer on top of another offer,” he said. “What we like to do is develop exclusivity with certain spots, like landing pages, for clients.”
In the 45-minute keynote, Vézina also discussed the origins of CrakRevenue and spoke about his “family” — his employees comprised of designers, marketers and IT staff.
“It really is about the Peter Principle,” he said. “For the exceptional ones, you need to promote them, give them reward.
He also discussed some of the challenges of CrakRevenue’s business, such as dealing with fraud, the costs of technology and fighting for legal rights.
Vézina’s keynote was just one of numerous seminars and events scheduled today.
Events included the “Breakfast Networking Buffet,” sponsored by Traffic Pimps, along with a speed networking session sponsored by CCBill and a PornDoe Premium-sponsored “Paysite Think Tank: Lunch” and “Networking Lunch.”
Seminars today included “Age Verification: A Critical Update,” sponsored by AVSecure, along with “Interactive Insights: Camming Today” and “Paysites 2017: A European Perspective,” both sponsored by TrafficPartner.com.
This evening, CAM4 is presenting its “Mix & Meet Happy Hour,” while Shaft Traffic is sponsoring “Sausage Fest,” where beer, bratwurst and networking cross paths.
Also, the “Berlin Boat Bash” is scheduled tonight. The sailing adventure and networking social is sponsored by Traffic Pimps, FuckingAwesome.com, Jul Models and PornDoe Premium.
Pictured: CrakRevenue’s Axel Vézina delivers keynote address
