His speech is peppered with "awesome" and "ready to rock and roll," as if he were fresh out of high school. He's only 32 but he feels luck has a lot to do with his good fortune. He took what was basically an idea to sell jam and turned it into a successful online marketing company.

Even the most traditional companies don't need to be convinced anymore that Internet advertising and marketing is no longer optional. Today companies from the Fortune 1000 on down, which were reluctant to explore the Web in the late 1990s, are shifting their resources online.

The proven return on investment of Internet advertising is one reason; another is that user-generated content sites such as MySpace.com and YouTube.com offer new opportunities to reach customers more intimately and effectively.

Companies are outsourcing affiliate managers to fuel online marketing programs.