Until I’d read Jay Conrad Levinson’s (founder of Guerilla Marketing) tips to the Guerilla approach to getting value out of trade shows, I’d realized that like the majority of trade show attendees I didn’t have a strategy in place.

Here’s some tips which will help you up your trade show game:

Why go to a trade show or convention like Affiliate Summit West?

Most would go to:

• Find out what’s new
• See and find out about their competitiors (whether fellow affiliate marketers or affiliate managers) and compare prices
• Collect literature from the various exhibitors, evalute their content
• Massive time leverage: events provide the opportunity to collect a vast amount of information in a short time
• Meet contacts
• Get media exposure
• Casual business networking

If you’d like to bump up your networking game however, you’d also (more…)

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WickedFire founder Jon F just announced the beta launch of the affiliate marketing forums’ resource areas earlier today.

WickedFire is virtual home to several experienced affiliate marketers (as evidenced by threads like “Post Your Stats“, including a purported $16 million buyout offer for the 8 month old forum.

As of today, the forum is rated at PR4, Alexa 1,879
Jon, famous (or depending on your point of view, infamous) for posting $80,000 screenshots of his earnings on SitePoint, had announced on his blog that he’d be stepping down from affiliate marketing earlier this month. (The End Of An Era – Jon Resigns From Affiliate Marketing As An Affiliate)

WickedFire looks set to eventually to become a community portal and information resource site for affiliate marketers.

It looks set to leverage on the (more…)

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I was surfing through Scott Jangro‘s new site, which had metamorphsized from his Affiliate Blog List into the BumpZee Affiliate Marketing community when I came across this ABestWeb Affiliate Marketing forum thread (Affiliate Summit Tips). [Which is a case that social networking sites DO generate a nice bit of traffic].

Here’s the pointers I found useful from the thread and from my experience at other trade shows:

• Before Affiliate Summit West

1. Prepare lots of business cards: 500? 1,000? I guess you’d want to give out lots of cards and leverage on the opportunity to network with affiliate managers and fellow affiliates. Want to go off the beaten track? Check out Cost Per News Sam Harrelson’s Business Card Tag Thing.
2. Pack Warm Clothing: Especially for those who us coming from Asia, I hear it gets pretty cold in the desert. That being said, I’ve walked around Texas in t-shirt and shorts in the middle of winter.
3. Preserve Your Voice: Cough drops, lozenges, whatever it takes to ensure your voice last through the event. Although you’d be talking to a lot of people during the day, I’ve seen footage of people at after hours events which leaves no doubt as to the cause of their hoarse voice (A clue: It doesn’t have to do with talking to hundreds of people during the day.)
4. Sleep: From what most seem to be saying, most won’t be sleeping much during ASW. Maybe not even at all. Deals are cut very early (about 4 or 5am seems to be the sweet spot).
5. Bring Cash: Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest food around ASW will be prohibitive expensive. Although I’ve been to Vegas previously and had $5.99 prime rib at the Golden Nugget and $0.50 margaritas farther along the Strip. But then, if you’re a prime affiliate, I guess you’d be getting wined and dined not infrequently.
6. Loose Change: On a related point, carry lots of small notes. Most service staff expect some sort of tip.
7. Empty Luggage: You’d probably be collecting a lot of t-shirts, pens and all sorts of doodads, so I guess there’s a certain logic in coming with at least one empty bag to carry home your booty (Sounds like Halloween for adults, doesn’t it?)
8. Comfortable Shoes: Blisters are not fun.

• At the Summit

1. Getting from the Airport to the Hotels: Cabs cost $20 from the Airport to the Hotels. The shuttles cost around $5.
2. Say Hi to Everyone: You’ve come all the way to the summit, say hi to everyone who looks friendly. That quiet guy standing in the corner might be a super affiliate. The affiliate manager at the smaller table might represent an up-and-coming affiliate network. In Vegas speak, spread your bets.
3. Buddy Up: Meet up with people whom you’ve corresponded online, split up and cover different sessions if you can. Compare notes later. More importantly, introduce people you’ve met to each other, so you have a common pool of contacts. An exception might be the Shoemoney/Jon F–WickedFire session, I think everyone and his brother will be making a beeline for that.
4. Bring Water: I hear water is as scarce in the casinos as it is in the desert (except for the firewater variety). Bring a small bottle, so you can talk even more.
5. Measure Time: Time looks like the commodity in shortest supply. It might look like 3 days is a long time, but I’d prioritize the people and booths you’d like to visit first, so it’s mission accomplished. Else you might not be able to spend as much time talking to the people who would’ve given you the most leverage.
6. Gum and Breath Mints: The people you’re talking to will be more receptive if they’re conscious as you’re talking to them. Ditto for deoderant.
7. Pen and Paper: You might have a PDA photo or a photographic memory, but nothing beats writing stuff down. You might like to note down important facts on the back of someone’s business card for later reference.
8. Las Vegas Discount Coupons: Here’s a especially useful tip if you’re coming in a group, there’s a discount coupon over at LasVegasAdvisor.com which contains discount coupons. See: here

Shawn Collins has mentioned that presentations for the various speakers will be made available to attendees. This is subject to the speaker’s consent. [Check out Shawn’s sharp looking cards here: Got Your Business Cards for Affiliate Summit?]

Sam Harrelson and partner in crime, Wayne Porter, will be camping out in the Nevada desert (It’s flagged as the Lake Mead Recreation Area, but it still looks like desert on the map). I wonder if they have any wilderness survival tips.

Rumors are that PlanetAndrea will be stalking the showfloor to build the biggest business card collection at ASW. If you see her, hand her a business card.

One last thing I’m wondering (although I’m fairly certain) is that there is Internet access from the ASW exhibit or conference area, so I’ll file blogging reports on-site. Maybe Shawn can shed some light on this.

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If you’re keen on affiliate marketing, chances are you would’ve checked out Jon’s affiliate marketing blog and his notably famous (or infamous) WickedFire forum, the equivalent of the raucous Mos Eisley cantina (of Star Wars fame) filled with arbitrage affiliate marketing old hands and young guns.

Jon got the attention of the community when he posted $80k+ screenshots of his earnings at the SitePoint forums.

So it was a little of a shock to see him announce: The End Of An Era – Jon Resigns From Affiliate Marketing As An Affiliate.

But then again, it wasn’t all that surprising, considering most Super Affiliates like Ewen Chia, Ros Gardner and co. eventually shift to (more…)

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It’s 10 more days till Affiliate Summit West (ASW) and I’m stoked at the opportunity. (Incidentally, the event is sold out)
It’ll be my first trip to the US in about 4 years and I’m planning to hit Fry’s, Best Buy, get my fill of prime rib and margaritas in Vegas.

Here’s my to do list for ASW:

• Attend the great sessions planned
• Meet and greet the affiliate managers present, as not many have a point of presence in Asia.
• Finally put a face to many of the personalities whose blogs I’ve been reading, or emailing, or catching their web radio programs, or whose forums I’ve been participating on.
• Get a Shoemoney t-shirt (one of the new black one maybe?)
• Get some nice WickedFire merchandise at their booth
• Catch some great parties

This is one of the few times I’d be heading halfway around the world (I’ll be battening down the hatches in Asia to work on a couple of major projects once I get back).

So far, I look forward to the opportunity to meet and greet with Shoemoney, Jon F, Anik Singal, PlanetAndrea, Chris Hooley, Scott Jangro, Robyn Tippins, Shawn Collins, Missy Ward, the LunarPages blogging team (including Joe Whyte) and it looks like Pepperjam will have a good presence there too.

I might be approaching some of you to do interviews, so you are forwarned, and perhaps forearmed.

If you’re planning to interview any of the folks at ASW, here’s a couple of pointers (more…)

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Whether you’re focus on a pay per sale (like Clickbank) or pay per lead affiliate campaign (like Azoogle), the system is pretty much the same.

And if you’re using a system (with formalized processes), you’re much more likely to succeed.

Every campaign will be different and things may not go the way you’ve planned, even if you’ve adopted the best practises from an affiliate marketing system, whether it’s from a super affiliate like Ewen Chia or Ros Gardner or a system like Affiliate Project X.

Nothing quite beats having hands-on experience though because real world experience is the ‘bridge’ between what you read about, and the actual affiliate commissions you will earn.

There are a number of (more…)

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