OpenX Blog

Today is Friday May 23 and that’s the fourth anniversary of Erik Geurts joining the OpenX Community. Erik reached a milestone recently with his 2000th post on the forum. We wanted to publically thank Erik for his great work on the forums and the consulting services he provides to OpenX community members.

Erik is a great example of someone who has used an open source support forum to build a business by providing support services. His advice: by being active in a forum you can hone your skills, develop a reputation, build a client base and ultimately become your own boss!

I contacted Erik to find out a little about how and why he’s so active in the OpenX community.

Oliver: Congratulations Erik, that’s more than one post every day for four years! Quite an achievement.

Erik: Thanks Oliver, it’s great to be recognised for this. I’m very proud to be involved in such a great community of passionate, business savvy online advertising professionals.

I hope I can inspire others to follow my example and also start contributing more. There are real career opportunities for those willing to put in the effort, and I know there is a big demand for it!

Oliver: How did you come to find out about OpenX 4 years ago (phpAdsNew at the time)?

Erik: At the time I was making money from online advertising but it was becoming a lot of work to change my sites each time I needed to add or remove a campaign. I don’t recall exactly how, but I discovered phpAdsNew and immediately saw the potential for saving a lot of time.

Oliver: Why did you decide to get involved on the forum?

Erik: I think it was the intellectual challenge mostly, but also the nice feeling it gives me when I’m able to help another user.

I went on the forums to find answers to a few of my own questions as a new user. And I found them by searching, not by posting questions. Then I noticed other people’s questions that I could easily answer because I had read the solution in the manual or had already solved the problem myself. So I started answering those questions.

Oliver: What keeps you going after all these years?

Erik: I still find it rewarding to be able to help others who just started using OpenX to overcome the initial hurdles, and also to help more experienced users who run into specific problems. And I find it very rewarding to discover that others have noticed all the time and energy it took over the years.

By answering all those questions on the forums, I was exposed to many more issues than I would ever have experienced myself. That gave me the ability to ‘practice’. And again, others noticed that I had built a lot of expertise. In 2006 people started contacting me for paid consulting work. Over time, I discovered there is a real market for that expertise and that I could turn that ‘consulting on the side’ into my full time business. I am now a self employed internet consultant doing what I love doing and making a real difference for my clients.

In a broader perspective, having this business has also enabled to turn another dream into a reality. I can now work with many different nationalities and international clients, but from the comfort of my own home office.

My work/life balance has improved hugely this year by doing this. I am more relaxed but also more productive than ever.

Oliver: I’d like to say thanks on behalf of everyone in the OpenX Community. We really appreciate all the time and effort you’ve put in over the years.

Erik: I’d like to say thanks to everyone in the OpenX Community who has helped me out over the years! If you want to know more about my services, just visit my site www.erikgeurts.com.