Here’s what I face each time I click on my “Home” setting on my Facebook profile:

Keep scrolling…

Click on the “more” tab below and keep scrolling…

So getting on Facebook is quite a painful experience.

Being hit by irrelevant application invites, and with Facebook system where multiple people can keep sending you invites to the same app over and over again, and the best part is that you have to deny/ignore each application request one at a time, means you could be spending 15 – 30 minutes each day just getting rid of application requests…

So is this effective social marketing?

Should you still go out and develop a facebook app?

With MySpace, you would get friend-bombed and bulletin-bombed and event-invite bombed before the social network became largely socially irrelevant…unless you were a teenager with iron-like patience or maybe bopping away to your MP3 collection as you were patiently wiping…or maybe accepting every application request that came in…

That’s the one beautiful of a professional network like LinkedIn, aside from some social gamers throwing out irrelevant questions to their network every other day, the pre-screen is largely successful.

With Facebook, I’m thinking that the next Facebook app developer who comes out with the “One Facebook app” – tagline “One Application To Rule Them All” – which could do a global delete of pending application and friend requests, might just emerge the king of the mountain.

The question is, “Mountain of What?”

Social marketers, I’m keen to hear what you’ve to say, maybe Jim Kukral, Sam Harrelson, Wayne Porter (whom I know is addicted to a particular insidious Facebook game…), Stephanie “Internet Geek Girl” Agresta, Robyn “Sleepyblogger” Tippins, Shawn Collins, or if you the reader might like to weigh in, drop a comment below…

Write a post on your best productivity tips. Challenge yourself by picking your single best productivity tip (although this isn’t a requirement; you can give us more if you want!)

Here’s my contribution:

• Take 5 minutes out at the start of the day
• List down the critical tasks you need to accomplish today
• Figure out the most important task you need to finish
• Ensure you finish it today
• [Keep the rest of the tasks handy, it might contain the ‘must finish’ task tomorrow]

Propagating this meme, I tag:

• eMom Wendy Piersall
• 5Star Affiliate Linda Buquet
• Jim Kukral
• Sam Harrelson
• Wayne Porter (His blog is a must read for Second Life, World Of Warcraft commentary/strategies)

Here’s a snapshot of some member avatars:

I guess one might ask, “How’s listing yourself in the directory help generate more income?”

While it might be a realistic expectation to want to see a tangible ROI on your time in BumpZee, it might not be so ready in coming.

BumpZee is a community of affiliate marketing peers, rather than consumers, and it serves as a hub for affiliate marketing content, aggregating blog content specifically.

You know the old marketing mantra where it generally takes 7 exposures before you commit to a buying decision?

I believe on the Internet it could be as little as 5 exposures, however, the one caveat is the sheer amount of information we’re constantly bombarded with.

This “info overload” syndrome means that we need to get our names out there, whether through publising a blog, expanding our MyBlogLog community, or by participating in forums and social networking sites (hence leading to my “social traffic generation” paradigm).
Through BumpZee, I’ve become a more regular reader of:

• Carsten Cumbrowski
• Nevada desert camper Sam Harrelson
• Jim Kukral
• Wayne Porter

Being “social” only makes sense because it’ll give you a leg up in:

• Tapping on the expertise of others by learning from their experience
• Branding yourself in your chosen niche
• Facilitating the search for joint venture partners for collaborative product development and marketing efforts

I’ve found these tips to be useful in establishing your “online turf”:

• Use your first and last name. There’s only one major “Gates”, “Dell”, “Branson”, “Trump” at any one time. Unless you’re confident of constantly dominating your chosen niche, it’s easier to identify yourself by your first and last name.
• Use your photo as your avatar. For branding purposes, I know using a bikini-clad model might help recruitments for your social network, but it will ultimately hurt you if you don’t build face-to-name recognition early on. My preference is for the slower-and-organic route.
• Participation in the community. The major problem with the Dotcom crash of 2000 was that most companies spent hundreds of thousands (and millions in some cases) on their websites and left them there in the virtual wilderness to rot. I believe one of the major developments in recent years has been the evolution of SEO and traffic generation strategies. Likewise for online branding purposes, we’d need to do the equivalent of “SEO and traffic generation” for our personal brands too. This may involve visiting blogs and leaving relevant and content-rich comments, participating in forums and doing likewise, and taking note, participating in and commenting on industry trends. The “blog in the wilderness” concept doesn’t fly anymore.

Are there other strategies you’re using?

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.