I’ve recently been talking to a number of bloggers who are having a hard time understanding the types of products that they can promote through affiliate marketing. Many of them associate affiliate marketing with either ebooks or diet pills. I decided to try a little experiment and see how many products I used in one day that I could easily blog about and include affiliate links. Some of these products I would just mention in passing in a blog post. Others could be an entire written or video review. I actually got tired of writing them down there were so many. Here’s are some of the highlights. [Read more…]
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10 Things That Made Me Laugh at Affiliate Summit West
Normally this would be the time when I do a serious wrap-up post about everything I learned at Affiliate Summit. This time I can’t get out of my head just how much I genuinely enjoyed the conference. It’s not that I didn’t seriously learn a lot, it’s just that (shockingly) I felt myself giggling an awful lot the last few days. I think I’ve finally learned how to truly be 100% myself there so that I can laugh and learn at the same time.
In no particular order, here are 10 of the 100+ things that gave me a good laugh in Vegas.
1) Shawn Collins in the Patriot jersey. On the one hand, it was a sad moment for all of us AFC fans. On the other hand, knowing Shawn, it was pretty darn funny. And I won’t even start in about his “short pants….”
2) Not being able to find the Blogger Lounge for 2 hours. It was totally, completely my fault. I started feeling like I should be saying “Look, kids, Big Ben, Parliament” as I went around in circles seeing the same people over and over. I think maybe I was too busy socializing to find a map.
3) Jason Rubacky and the Jazzy. Jason could #GetSome serious senior citizen action rolling on that thing.
4) Trying to figure out how the curtains opened at the Wynn. Yep, I’m from Indiana.
5) Tiny coffee cups with baby spoons at lunch. The desserts were cute as could be, but watching people eat them was kind of a Gulliver’s Travels moment. (The book, not the movie. I haven’t seen the movie)
6) Trivia night and how competitive but not at all really competitive all my friends are. Did I mention that my team won?
7) The scared look on the faces of the merchants in the audience by the end of our Inside the Minds of Affiliates panel. We really didn’t mean to sound so grumpy. I promise I’ll be nicer if you email me. (Just don’t try to call me)
8 ) Putting on every single hat, boa, and pair of glasses in the ShareASale Photo Booth with Kim Rowley. And the number of people who asked if they could have a copy of the pictures that we took when I told them that we were making out in there.
9 ) My (non)sighting of Charlie Sheen before the Tuesday keynote and the fact that people back in Indiana actually believed it because it was retweeted so much. (Thank you, Erik Hom)
10) At least 50% of every conversation that I had with OPMs, affiliate managers, networks, and fellow affiliates. Each of you brought me so much joy that I couldn’t help but laugh at least a little. And I have to mention Eric Nagel specifically for putting up with more of my giggling than anyone else.
Thanks as always to Shawn Collins and Missy Ward for giving us an environment in which we can both work and have fun, ensuring that we will be back time and time again!
Indy Mini Marathon Training Begins
January is here and with it a new tradition for me–training for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon. I call it a “tradition” but really it’s only the third time that I have done it. The funny thing is that I have another “tradition” that starts around April 1 and goes something like this “This-was-the-stupidest-thing-I’ve-ever-done-remind-me-never-to-sign-up-again-I-hate-running-this-is-no-fun.” Only with a few more bad words thrown in. So why do I keep signing up over and over again?
First, I view the half marathon training as a “positive” weight loss/exercise goal rather than a negative one. By that I mean that even if the scale doesn’t budge a pound, I can tell myself that I am doing great and making myself stronger and healthier if I can continue to increase my runs each week. For a Pollyanna like me, that feels a lot better than fearing a scale every week.
Second, the Mini Marathon is one of the only things I have done in my adult life that has truly given me a sense of achievement. Sure, I birthed two kids. But a passed out teenager can do that. I started a business, but I’m not exactly Steve Jobs. Completing a half marathon is just one of those things that you have to feel good about and no one can ever take away from you.
Don’t get me wrong, I won’t be winning any prizes. My kids asked me the first year if I would be “sad” if I didn’t win my “race.” I tried to explain to them that to me, just finishing the race was “winning.” They didn’t get it at the time, but I have been able to use my race as an example with my kids many times since when they have tried hard at something but didn’t “win” or come in first. We can share together how good it feels to try and do our best.
This year I have a new incentive–my husband is running with me! He has never been a runner but has been working up to the training for the last 6 months. I bugged him and bugged him to do it with me and he already runs faster than me. That’s a little depressing but it’s nice to have someone to pump me up when I need it.
Back to the training part. I follow the Half Marathon Training: Novice program by Hal Higdon. It’s 12 weeks but I give myself 16 in case I need a “do over” week or if I am traveling and don’t get in a full week of training. You have to be able to run 3 miles to start the program. For the 2 days a week that he lists cross training or strength training, I used to walk but now I do an hour of Zumba. So it’s basically 5 days a week of exercise for me–2 Zumba and 3 running, with my Saturday always being my “long run” day.
I’m excited to get started but nervous as usual. Not enough exercise and too many cookies the last couple of months. But it’s good to have a goal and a plan!
Preparing for Affiliate Summit East 2010
Affiliate Summit is almost here again and many affiliates and merchants are getting prepared. From clothes to business cards to travel plans, a lot goes into preparing for the conference. I’ve been attending Affiliate Summits regularly since 2007 and am finally starting to get the hang of it without too much stress. Here is a basic time frame of what you should be doing if you are serious about making the most out of the Summit:
Anytime: Start following the #ase10 hash tag on Twitter. In addition to seeing who else is attending, you will get good tips about transportation, sessions, parties, and more. Also join the Affiliate Summit Social Network to begin your networking.
One month out: Finalize your travel plans. You’ve missed the Early Bird rate to stay at the conference hotel, but you may still be able to get rooms at the Hilton at regular prices. You should also be nailing down your flights so that you are sure to get in and out at the dates and times that are most convenient for you.
Three weeks out: Order business cards, a Poken, or both. Decide how much information you want to share with everyone, including cell phone, email, and address. There are pros and cons to all of the above! I tend to only share my Twitter, email, and blogs with everyone and give out my phone number more sparingly.
Two weeks out: Read through the agenda on the website and determine which sessions you would like to attend. Read the various posts on blogs (you’ll likely see them on Twitter) that give more information about the sessions and the speakers. You’ll even find podcasts that may give you information that you won’t find anywhere else or give you a sneak peek into hearing more from the speakers. Determine your sessions first so that you know when you will have free time. (I’ll post my thoughts on sessions next week). Then start contacting your merchants and setting up individual meetings with any of them that you will not see at the Meet Market or in the Exhibit Hall. You should also start seeing a lot of information about parties at about this time. Many of them will overlap, so you will have some tough decisions to make! Order electronic items that you need like a backup battery for your laptop or cell phone.
One week out: Start gathering up your clothes, shoes, and jewelry. Shop for things like mints, gum, and eye drops as well. Read my previous post “Real Scoop on Preparing for Affiliate Summit” to see what I think about packing.
Final days: Make a list of all of the merchants and networks that you want to be sure to meet up with, including ones that you already have relationships with and ones that you want to meet. Set your business on auto-pilot or delegate as much as possible because you will want to spend every minute possible taking advantage of the conference and not doing your normal work.
I love Affiliate Summit and always get so much out of it. I hope that you will, too! Are you planning on attending? I’d love to meet you. Do you have other tips for those preparing to attend?
Want To Be A Trust Agent? Find Out How
I’ll admit from the start that I haven’t yet finished Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Between two conferences in the last week, travel, and the first week of school, reading time has been short. But combining what I have read so far with what I have SEEN in the last 7 days, I can unequivocally say that everyone needs a copy of this book.
A week ago I could barely tell you who Chris Brogan and Julien Smith were. What I could tell you was only from what I read others said about them. Fast forward a week and I could talk your ear off about why I believe in them not because of what they say but because of what they do.
I first saw both Chris and Julien speak at Affiliate Summit. They outlined some of the main points of their new book. That would have been sufficient enough to make me read it. However, actually meeting them and talking to them about what they do and how they do it made me not only want to read the book but also tell everyone I know about it. Chris and Julien have that way of talking to you like you are the only person in the room. You WANT to believe them not because they are buttering you up or trying to sell you something. Instead, they are giving you little pearls of wisdom about how you can be successful.
A few days after Affiliate Summit I had the chance to meet Chris again at Blog Indiana. How excited was I when he called on me by name during a Q&A session? It was a perfect example of how he operates. You build trust, in part, by empowering people. I walked away from that Q&A feeling like a million bucks.
Trust Agents is all about how you use turn personal connections to leverage your message–whatever that message may be. In a “virtual” world where you are more likely to come across someone on Twitter or Facebook than at your local coffee shop, it can be difficult to establish trusting relationships. Trust Agents teaches you how to become a trust agent yourself and how to build relationships with other trust agents (what they call the Agent Zero of each network).
If all of that above isn’t enough to make you want to buy your own copy of Trust Agents, just do a quick Google search and see what everyone else is saying. Learn from people who are DOING it and not just talking about it. Learn from the people who are building networks of trust all over the place–Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.
(Chris Brogan and I at Blog Indiana after his keynote)