From the Corner Office - Bob King

Every Friday at 4:30 p.m., you'll find ClickBank CEO Bob King at an after-work get-together with all his employees in his Colorado office. Colleagues take turns buying each other beer or soft drinks while they discuss what's going on in their lives. Occasionally, after the weekend kickoff, an employee will pull King aside to discuss an idea to improve the workplace or the business.

It's not their only chance to have a few moments with the boss. Any one of his co-workers can walk into his office, and he'll make time to discuss ideas. The same sorts of exchanges happen at ClickBank's Idaho office, where employees meet for morning "coffee talk."

King doesn't encourage these get-togethers just for office harmony, but out of a larger strategy to create interoffice and online communities that are essential to the success of ClickBank. "There's no caste system," King says. Ideas come from all levels of the company.

ClickBank is an online retail outlet that sells downloadable products such as software and e-books from more than 10,000 digital-product publishers. The publishers are individuals and small businesses with a special interest in and knowledge of a certain subject. For instance, one digital publisher is a youth basketball coach who wrote a downloadable manual for coaching youth basketball teams. ClickBank sells his and other e-books through its Web site, which is marketed by more than 100,000 affiliates—individuals and small businesses that place ads with links for ClickBank products on their Web sites. A writer of a romance blog, for example, might have an ad for an e-book on dating advice. A personal trainer could have an ad for an e-book about how to get rock-hard abs.

Entrepreneurial-minded people have found an outlet for sharing their expertise with a broader audience through ClickBank—and getting paid for it. Some authors make sevenfigure incomes, King says. Marketing affiliates also receive proceeds from sales.

"We know that there are a lot of people who depend on us for their living," he says, "and if you're someone who has an idea for a product that can be delivered online, ClickBank is a great place to give it a try. It's safe. We've never missed a payment, and it's low-risk, as well."

When King took the helm of ClickBank in 2005, it was a much smaller company, mainly filling a niche as a place for small software companies and individual software designers to sell software in a downloadable format. King, 58, has led ClickBank's transformation into a how-to e-book heaven for virtually any interest readers might have, while maintaining its downloadable software business. Revenue, now topping $300 million a year, has more than doubled since he joined the company.

Critical to ClickBank's success were staying abreast of what customers wanted and building the brand through search engine marketing and social marketing. King focused first on creating his interoffice community, which now includes 58 in-house employees. He sought employees who had experience working around or in startups or small businesses; he wanted a team that appreciated the entrepreneurial mindset of clients. He also wanted employees who would enjoy working in a startup atmosphere' helping build and grow the company and contribute to its success. Most recruiting was done through networking and word-of-mouth.

Creating an open-door policy was part of King's plan, making sure employees freely communicated customers'needs and any other ideas for improvement. Soliciting customers' and marketing affiliates' input was also key—through surveys, online chats, e-mail, a blog from King and a newsletter. Another key was daily communication between ClickBank employees and top-selling marketing affiliates and clients, and annual meetings between management and the top 10 to 12 clients.

ClickBank's long-term goal is to capture as much of the international market for downloadable products as possible. The company has introduced Spanish capabilities and is rolling out multicurrency transaction options.

King came to ClickBank with a record of building companies. Early in his career, working with a pharmaceutical wholesaler, he served as director of computer systems, primarily translating pharmacies' needs to his department, where the techies could develop solutions. This was during the 1970s, and King says he was barely computer literate, but his skill was in communicating with diverse groups. He climbed the ranks to become CEO, then left to become CEO of Corporate Express, an office supply company, which grew during his tenure from a $50 million regional supplier to a $4.5 billion international supplier of office products and software.

As adamant as he is about seeking employees' contributions to ClickBank's success, King is equally insistent that they have their own lives and work overtime on a volunteer basis when a deadline is approaching. He also makes an effort to balance his personal and professional lives—jogging every morning with his two dogs and catching his twin daughters' ballgames as often as possible.

"There's no point to grinding away 12 hours a day," King says. "I'm looking out there at that long-term result, and as long as everyone's moving toward the long-term direction, we can get there."