Prayers for Andy Bourland

I saw in Andy Bourland’s blog today that he had some bad news… he’s dying.

Many of you who know me might have noticed that I have not been around much over the past six months. Prior to that, you may have seen me at various marketing conferences and events. There’s a reason I’ve pretty well disappeared from the scene. I’m living with a chronic illness that will take my life anywhere from a few months to a couple of years from now.

For those not familiar with Andy, he’s something of a legend in online media. Among his many accomplishments, Andy was co-founder, former publisher and CEO of ClickZ.

It was in that role that Andy played an instrumental role in my career. Back in 1999, I was a fan of ClickZ and I touched base with them about writing an affiliate marketing column.

I was ecstatic when they said yes and my first piece, Affiliate Programs 101 – A Primer For Success, ran on December 3, 1999.

This column resulted in my getting noticed by Que Publishing and a deal to write the book, Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants in 2000, as well as a series of other good fortunes from the exposure.

I’ve admired Andy for years but never connected the dots about how his creation helped me so many years ago. Not until I read his post, Andy’s Health Update, and got to thinking.

So thank you, Andy.

Follow Andy on Twitter @AndrewBourland