88. How I Built a Multi-Million Dollar Affiliate Business

David Thomas Tao co-funded BarBend in 2016 with the goal of becoming the go-to destination for strength training content on the internet. Seven years later, the site had grown to over 31 million users and a GMV of nearly $19 million. He’ll explain how to start a digital media company with this kind of growth potential in this episode. 

David fell in love with weight lifting after losing 100 pounds in high school. He had to dig deep through internet forums, social media, and print magazines to find resources and information on the sport, and decided to create an online home for other strength training and weight lifting lovers. 

Within the first year, BarBend was being cited by mainstream sports sites and getting more than 20,000 organic visitors every day. This led to a partnership with USA Weightlifting and a huge increase in revenue from affiliate marketing that spurred them on to more growth and, eventually, the company’s sale to Pillar4 Media. 

If you’ve wondered how to start an affiliate marketing business that’s actually profitable, or what it takes to launch a new digital media brand, you’ll definitely want to listen to this interview!

Resources:

• https://bit.ly/4hndySi Join UpFlip Academy and start your affiliate journey
• BarBend - Learn more about BarBend and see the content they post on their blog

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