Here’s some breaking news direct from Affiliate Summit co-founder Shawn Collins: “Affiliate Summit West (ASW) will be held in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel on Feb 24-26, 2008.” I’ve been rousing my super affiliate posse to get them to block time on their schedules to make it to the event. Will you be there?

Having been to ASW in January, I’d have to say that the trade show experience is very different from educational seminars that most information marketers are used to going to. [Read: Affiliate Summit West 2006 Round Up]
Affiliate Summit brings together a huge network of affiliate networks and service providers. Contrary to what some might believe, the world of affiliate marketing and CPA marketing extends beyond just Clickbank and Commission Junction or CJ for short.

Hearing first hand from the affiliate networks and talking to other affiliates, it’s more an information-sharing type of event, rather than one where you have a speaker “teaching” you.

The afterhours parties are pretty awesome too.

The upcoming Affiliate Summit East (ASE) will be held in Miami, July 8-10.

There was some drama regarding WickedFire founder Jon Fisher’s announcement of a ASE exhibitor hall pass giveaway to members of the WickedFire affiliate marketing forum.

Apparently non-members tried to register and cause some consternation.

Well, every event always has some element of drama and I think it spices things up a little.

In case you’re wondering, as much as I’d like to, I’m giving ASE a miss this time as my schedule is full till the year end.

I’ll be making a beeline for (more…)

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Linkbaiting on social networks like MyBlogLog, MySpace and BumpZEE is common, especially when Internet Marketers use pictures of bikini-clad women as their avatar.

While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the practice, I feel that it sets up expectations that the blogger or website owner will have to deliver on once the visitor lands on your page.

If you can keep your readers happy, you’ve laid the foundation for a successful and low cost (possibly free) traffic generation model.

The sad reality is that more than 90% of the sites using such techniques have average (and usually sub-standard) poor content.

At best, this is gimmicky in my opinion and best used for one-off, throwaway adsense-oriented traffic.

But if you’re a serious Internet Marketer in this for the long haul, you’d do much better to build your brand, which means either using your photograph, or an image which represents your online presence.

Iconic Avatars: Michael “GrayWolf” Gray, Jim Kukral, Rasheed Ali, Robyn Tippins, Todd “StuntDubl” Malicoat, Shawn Collins, Chris “Drinkbait” Hooley, Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker.

Credibility and reputation are essential to your long term success, and being consistent in your online branding build rapport with your visitors. Consistent branding will bring you (more…)

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I had a blast at Affiliate Summit West this past January (though it seems like a year ago…) and besides meeting up with luminaries like Shoemoney, Scott Jangro, Shawn Collins, the enigmatic e-book “crusade” Jon F of WickedFire, PlanetAndrea, a major highlight was meeting PepperJam head honcho Kris Jones in the flesh.

PepperJam head honcho Kris Jones and Andrew Wee at Affiliate Summit West, Jan 2007

If you’ve been reading the PepperJamBlog for any length of time, you’d discover a treasure trove of information and can bump up your Internet Marketing efforts.

In his latest post “Affiliate Marketing – Thinking Outside the Box“, Kris dishes out the dirt on how he recently executed a campaign grossing $30,000 in sales, netting $15,000 in profit. And while some Super Affiliates may net six or seven figures in income per month, consider that Kris spent 15 minutes setting up this campaign.

So Kris has made a killing off UGG Boots.

How would he further enhance his efforts? (more…)

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I just touched down in Singapore earlier today and although the 14 hour time difference is causing major havoc to my body clock, I figured this is the perfect opportunity to reflect on Affiliate Summit West and the takeaways from having flown 20+ hours around the world to attend.

Thanks to Shawn Collins and Missy Ward who conceptualized Affiliate Summit and have been grown it from strength-to-strength at about 200 participants in the first AS in 2003 till more than 2,000 at the recently concluded ASW.

It was a great opportunity to meet up face-to-face with a number of the online marketers I’d been reading and talking with over the past few months like ShoeMoney, Scott Jangro, Kris Jones, PlanetAndrea, Jon Fisher from WickedFire and Joe Whyte.

Becky “Webmoxy” Ryan was a friendly and intelligent person to talk to (even though I was deep in thought and seemed to have unintentionally ignored her when she called out a few times).

Maura, Robyn, Andrew Wee at the Pepperjam booth

Shoemoney’s assistant Nicole

Webmoxy Becky Ryan

More surprising still was the fact that (more…)

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It’s about 16 hours before I head off on my long flight to Affiliate Summit West.

I’ve been talking to the WickedFire folks and we’re psyched about meeting up.

I’ve planned out my itinery and will likely be spending more time networking and attending sessions, compared to drinking and clubbing.

There are a number of networking parties including one hosted by oneNetworkDirect and Wynn Las Vegas at Wynns’ TRYST nightclub which features a private lagoon. If there’s one phobia I have, it’s dancing in public.

We’ll see how this pans out.

Besides visiting the exhibit halls, I’m planning to (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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