A blog focused on helping bloggers and online retailers make more money online.

A little over 18 months ago we started AffinityClick with what we thought was a simple idea: build an ad network for bloggers that “did it right”. Not just from a technology perspective, but with a focus on understanding and working with the people behind the blogs and their readers.

So we spent our time and built a system that is smart enough to recognize what bloggers are talking about and tailor relevant ads displayed to that content. We worked with large retail partners to build a network of trusted products and brands. We built a registration and account management system that was quick and easy to use. We listened to feedback from our publishers, advertisers, and readers through our beta program in the spring of 2010 and continued to build and improve.

In September 2010 we launched. Since then we’ve continued to work to add even more features, improve performance, and give our bloggers unprecedented control over how they monetize their blog. And bloggers have responded: we have thousands of blogs in our network and we’re growing every day.

We’ve done all this with a tiny team of people (just four employees) while providing a much higher level of accessibility and support than the Big Guys. We’re proud of what we’ve done together and credit our bloggers for a big part of our success. Thank you for your commitment, your invaluable feedback, and, at times, your patience as we’ve built AffinityClick.

Today we’re pleased to announce that we are ready to take the next step in our growth with the close of a $900,000 round of funding to bring our total funding raised to just over $1.1 Million. We’re pretty excited to say the least.

What are we going to do with the money? We will continue to build the best advertising network for bloggers by hiring more talented developers, continue to listen to bloggers in our network, and continue to provide the best support possible as we grow further and faster.

Thank you and expect more exciting news soon.

Best regards,

Justin Shimoon & Timo Gläßer

Last week I was invited to CBC’s studios in Ottawa to talk about how the technology sector has changed in Ottawa. Alas, I wasn’t discovered like Ted Williams, but it did give me some time to reflect on almost 15 years I’ve spent in Ottawa’s technology sector.

Listen to the complete interview on CBC Radio 1—Ottawa Morning

Many people remember the heyday of the late 90′s and early part of the Millennium when Nortel and a suite of optical networking startups were buoyed on seemingly unstoppable enthusiasm for the then ascendant Internet. Corel once declared war on Microsoft. The term Silicon Valley North was bandied around without irony as Billions of VC dollars flowed into Ottawa startups and corporate boxes at the then Corel Centre (now Scotia Bank Place) were jammed with suits from Toronto, Boston, and Silicon Valley looking for the next IPO opportunity. Of course, we all know what happened next.

But even with the popping of the dot-com bubble, Ottawa’s tech entrepreneurs and their skills and experience remained. Out of the ashes of the dot-pocalypse a new batch of startups emerged: leaner, scrappier, built on lightweight (perhaps more realistic), less capital-intensive business models. Office campuses may have been replaced by laptops in coffee shops but the creative spark burns as bright as ever.

Now, almost a decade after the tech-heavy NASDAQ toppled and dashed a number of companies big and small against the rocks, I find myself once again at a startup in an Ottawa. I’ve got more grey hair (but the same size jeans!), the Macs are sleek aluminum instead of candy coloured, the cell phones are smaller and infinitely more powerful, and now we’re even more connected through tools and technology we could have only imagine in 2001.

But the people who have made Ottawa’s tech community what it is over the years are still building new businesses and innovating as much as ever, joined by a new crop of entrepreneurs who have grown up never knowing a world without the Internet. So although different, Ottawa’s startup community is as vibrant as ever…again.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or cut off from all media, you are probably now familiar with the story of Ted Williams. Homeless for two years, he filled his days in Columbus, Ohio panhandling for change off of I-71 with a cramped, hand-made, cardboard sign stating that he had the God-given gift of a “golden radio voice.”

On Monday January 3, a videographer from the Columbus Dispatch recorded a short video interview and posted it on YouTube [ironically, the original video has been taken down by The Dispatch¹]. In the video we hear Ted speak, his rich baritone so incongruous against his flyaway hair, surplus fatigue jacket, and the impromptu interview setting on an offramp median. Other than his obvious talent, there’s a hint of something else: a recovering addict by his own admission, clean for two years, inspired by radio in his childhood, he’s looking for a break—something, anything—to get back to what he loves to do.

The Internet can be a tough place, its citizens cynical and jaded by the deluge of bad news, shocking, unvarnished content, and hurtful, sometimes hateful, commentary that emerges when people don the dark cloak of anonymity. It would be easy to write off Ted Williams as a passing novelty, or worse, as a amusing trifle to be mocked or ridiculed: there are hundreds of thousands of homeless in the United states, and thousands of people have no doubt passed by Mr. Williams on their commute for years without even noticing. Surely one more sad story shouldn’t make a difference to a calloused Internet.

But for some reason his story resonated. The video was picked up and was quickly featured on the front-page of Reddit , a popular news aggregator/geek community site known for its occasional crowdsourced acts of kindness. It quickly became a top story, with hundreds offering donations, assistance, and even job offers. By late Tuesday the video had spread across the Internet like wildfire, catapulting the video into the YouTube stratosphere with millions of views.

By the following morning Mr. Williams appeared on a nationally syndicated radio show; during the airing he received an announcer job and house from the nearby MBA franchise, the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Thursday he was in his hometown of New York (born in Brooklyn), reunited with his mother who he had not seen in 20 years, appearing on the Today show, and recording a voiceover for international brand Kraft. His story had hit mainstream news and was still accelerating.

It’s been a week now and it is impossible to keep track. In the space of 7 days, a man has gone from streetcorner, living off of the meagre money he raised through panhandling to a sought after mini-celebrity. The pace of change must be overwhelming and I hope that he finds the support and resources to manage this rapid change successfully. We live in a disposable culture: once the newness fades will Ted Williams be pushed back to the curb once again after media has extracted all the value out of his story?

I certainly hope not. Outside of his amazing discovery and second lease on life, something about Ted Williams’ story restored my faith in what the Internet can be. Our online world is increasingly about big corporations, cheap thrills, and the aforementioned cynicism.  Ted Williams is an example of how individual people can still make a difference to an individual person. The Internet, specifically social networks, makes everyone a publisher, an activist, and a volunteer. It can bring people together, with lightning speed, for acts of good and level the playing field for by placing unimaginable personal expertise and resources mere keystrokes away. A man can be on a street corner on Monday and in Rockerfeller Centre on national television the next, not because of a heinous crime or a tragedy, but because of his talent, the perseverance of hope, and a little help from the online community that we all belong to.

Good luck and godspeed, Mr. Williams.

UPDATE: It appears that Mr. Williams has already had some trouble with the law. Sigh.

¹ I can’t help but speculate that had Columbus Dispatch lawyers been faster on their feet when delivering their flinty take-down notice that none of this would have happened. No video, no buzz, no offers, no second chance.  Somewhere between YouTube and copyright law, and man’s life managed to catch enough sunshine to flourish again.