David Gorcey joined Kontera in July of 2006 and has lead the Publisher Account Management team for the last two years. He grew up in Southern California and has spent time living in London and Finland before moving to San Francisco 5 years ago. As Manager of Publisher Services, David primarily works with Kontera’s Account Management team on the optimization and management of Kontera’s publisher network.

Can you point out a few things that Kontera’s top earners have in common?

I know we’ve touched on this on the blog already (see post 5 Things Kontera Top Earners Have In Common) but having targeted, well written content is really something that characterizes our top earners. When you think about it, this is beneficial in several ways- 1) it improves the relevancy of the ads Kontera can serve in your content, 2) It also brings you more targeted ads if you use AdSense or something similar, and 3) it helps you from an SEO perspective. The more targeted and quality content you are able to include on your site, the better off you will be from an advertising and user experience perspective. Most of our top earners have also put some effort into the design of their site because you want the aesthetic and flow to be one that users find visually pleasing and easy to read and navigate.

What would you like to tell Kontera’s present and future publishers?

For Kontera’s current publishers, the first thing I’d like to say is that we truly do appreciate your business and that we look forward to pursuing a successful long term partnership with each and every one of you. We value your input and always welcome your insight and suggestions so please keep them coming. Near term, you can expect to see us build on our technological leadership and continue to pursue advancements that will increase our ability to provide relevant advertising with meaningful earnings for you. Overall, I am excited for what 2009 will bring to everyone using Kontera already, and anyone who might be looking to give us a try in the coming months.

What communication channels does Kontera offer to assist and serve its publishers?

Kontera places very high importance on interacting with and responding to publishers. Some publishers have a direct account manager so for them, this is the most effective way to get in touch with us. Aside from that, our email support staff (support@kontera.com) are very effective at realizing what someone’s specific needs are and determining who best can help them with their question. Although different inquiries require varying degrees of resources, our goal is making sure that no matter what it is, a publisher’s question is addressed as quickly and effectively as possible so I would recommend this as the primary communication channel for any publisher questions or input.

Because our product is focused exclusively online, we also play an active role in many online forums and discussion boards that pertain to our industry or product specifically, and this is another way we have been able to engage and communicate with our users. Finally, our blog helps us spread the word on news, developments, or anything else that is going on here, and along with our knowledge base (kb.kontera.com) provides an excellent resource for information and tips. As you can see, we expend a lot of efforts on engaging and interacting with the people that use our technology

Overall, I’d just like to reiterate the value Kontera places on all publishers in our network and our sincere desire to develop successful long term partnerships with every one of you. You’ve helped us become the leader in the in-text marketplace and we look forward to building on that success with you even more in the coming year.

In this closely connected-online-social-sharing-era, we too spend much time on the web, cruising and finding fun  content to spread around and link to. Every now and then we can’t help it but  share the cool stuff we found while digging, tweeting or stumbling, here’s a taste:

Some Great Twitter Tools
There are many Twitter tools to make your micro-blogging experience even more thrilling. Check out a cool list of innovative tools that will “makes your time on Twitter a pure joy.”
Read it on DelimitDesign

A Moment for Art Appreciation
Have you ever stopped to think about the infinite potential of windshield dust?  Well, someone has.  We found this impressive dirty car artwork by Scott Wade on allpics4u.com

See more Allan Wade Art

And finally, possibly the most innovative video creation we’ve seen in a while…

Incredible World Builder Video
This award winning short was created by filmmaker Bruce Branit, widely known as the co-creator of ‘405′.

A man uses holographic tools to build a world for the woman he loves:

World Builder was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production. Branit is the owner of Branit VFX based in Kansas City.

Watch it on Vimeo

We’re excited to present Kontera’s March Publisher of the Month: lockergnome.com, a blogging network for people who are curious about the world around them.

lockergnome.com is a place for bloggers to learn and share everything about blogging.  Beginners as well as expert bloggers can find interesting, fun information and useful guidelines.

The amazing thing is that you can join lockergnome’s community site geeks.pirillo.com and open your very own blog within minutes. Pay a visit to see the extended network, with forums, groups and videos.

Kontera’s ContentLink ads are proudly featured on lockergnome.com.  We’re pleased to have Chris Pirillo interview on our blog to answer a few important questions.

We’re interested in learning more about Lockergnome. How did it get started, and where did the idea spark from?

Lockergnome got its start because I really didn’t want to finish my Master’s Degree. I knew that the Internet was going to become increasingly important and pervasive in people’s lives. I already shared tips and tricks with people, so I decided to do so in an “official” capacity, by using my own Website. I still share tips and tricks, but I do so in a variety of ways: through Lockergnome, through email, through Geeks, and many other avenues.

What do you typically look for in a blogger that gets featured on lockergnome.com?

Right now, we don’t even accept applications for the most part. For instance, people cannot bother to write well in their application, so why would we accept them to blog for us? I’ve said it before a million times, and I’ll say it again: you have to be able to write well to blog with us on Lockergnome! We’re looking for someone with a good voice, who is full of passion and understanding of the subject they are wanting to cover. Also, you have to be consistent. You need to be able to blog regularly.

Thousands of bloggers set on their online path daily.  What’s the most important tip you can give?

There are so many things you need to pay attention to on a daily basis. You can read everything online, and you’ll never get anything done. The chances of you publishing a blog and having it well-read are not incredibly strong. The reason I’ve opened my doors for Lockergnome is because I know I can get you more attention than you would get on your own. We have excellent marketing benefits that we’ve built over the years. We have a lot of promotional vehicles for content that is well-written. If you’re trying to separate yourself from the other noise out there, make people aware of who you are. Visit others, and leave comments for them. How else will people find you?

When you start to monetize Lockergnome, what role does in-text advertising play?

Kontera came to me in the beginning, and I hesitated. Then I started thinking, and realized that people hate seeing ads everywhere. The Kontera underlined words go over so much better than any other type of ads I’ve ever used. People respond well to them. Kontera is a large part of the monetization system. It’s not all of it, since I refuse to rely on any one type of monetization. However, Kontera works very, very well.

What sort of responses have you been getting from Lockergnome users regarding to the types of advertising you employ?

They’re asking for a larger portion of the splits! However, we do have expenses we have to pay to keep the site operational. They’re looking for more options, of course. I am always looking for new ways to implement money-making opportunities to them. The more customizations I can offer them, the better off they will be. I’m excited to see what the future will bring as far as advertising is concerned.

What wise word of monetization advice you have for bloggers?

Optimize! I realize that’s a general term. I’ve helped a lot of people make a lot of money, without receiving anything in return. I don’t really do that anymore. If you want to pay me to help you, then great! Shoot me an email. But for now, I’ll just be general, and tell you to optimize to the maximum.

We’re very excited to have a blogging expert on the Kontera Blog. Do you have any words of wisdom for us?

Don’t keep pounding on the table! Seriously, stay true to yourself.  If you have a blog that’s all about your company, that’s cool… but it gets long in the tooth. Share interesting and/or personal stories maybe about people that work for the company. If you don’t do that, all people are reading is a series of press releases. That gets pretty boring. As a matter of fact, I doubt many people will read this post, or watch this video in its entirety. If you do, please leave a comment, and use the word pancake somewhere in your comment. I’m serious! Do it! I just want to see out of curiosity how many of you get this far. This is what I mean about adding things outside the normal realm. Talk about something I can’t find anywhere else.

Where do you see Lockergnome going in the future?

As I’ve already said, I want to open it up more. I want to allow more people to participate, turning it into a network of Geeks. People will be able to take advantage of groups and forums, as well. Lockergnome will also continue to grow via the co-brands: Coupons, our Help forums, and a download area is just around the corner!

The Kontera Publisher of the Month series kicked off in January of 2009. A publisher is selected from Kontera’s network each month and provides an insider’s perspective on what it takes to manage a successful site. To learn more visit the Publisher of the Month Category.

It’s exciting for us to see the many publishers who have started out with Kontera on just one site, growing their web presence by launching new sites.   As networks grow, we get many questions about how to properly manage multiple sites within Kontera accounts.

We’d like to take the opportunity and mention that the Kontera ContentLink tag is unique per site, not per publisher. If you are already a Kontera Publisher and would like to add ContentLink ads to more of your sites, we will generate a specific, unique tag for each one of your sites. This is important for two main reasons:

1. Relevancy- by generating a unique tag for each site in your network, we are able to optimize each tag according to a site’s niche.  This means you get better, more relevant ads for each site in your network. It is especially important if you have sites on a variety of topics.
2. Tracking- each tag represents the performance of one individual site in your network.  This way you can have accurate knowledge of each site, its performance and earnings.  This helps us as we look at your network and try to determine where and how to optimize.

To take tracking another level deeper, use the Kontera Channels.  This feature enables you to create individual reporting for particular pages or sections of one specific website.  To have detailed knowledge of a site’s metrics, you can compare the performance of one page or section to that of another.

Requesting to add sites to your Kontera network is a simple process and only requires a quick e-mail request to the Support team.  The best way to do this is by logging into your account in the Publisher Center and clicking on the help tab.  If you choose to write us from your mailbox, be sure to mention your Kontera login email.