FeedFront Magazine, Issue #29 by Affiliate Summit

Affiliate Summit West 2015 in Las Vegas: January 18-20

Issue 29 ― January 2015

Fight Breast Cancer with Affiliate Summit Page 31

Networking Do’s and Don’ts at Affiliate Summit By Missy Ward - Page 2

Self Worth > Net Worth By Shawn Collins - Page 5

Why Travel Is Good For Your Business By Travis Glenn - Page 20

Affiliate Summit West 2015 Agenda Page 35

FOR THE PAST FIFTEEN YEARS,

THANK YOU.

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SHAREASALE IS BUILT FOR AND BY PEOPLE LIKE YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS! SHAREASALE.COM BLOG.SHAREASALE.COM

TWITTER.COM/SHAREASALE

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Issue 29 · January 2015

Table of Contents

Staff Co-Editors in Chief Missy Ward, Shawn Collins Co-Publishers Missy Ward, Shawn Collins

Editor’s Note: Networking Do’s and Don’ts at Affiliate Summit

Data is Your Frenemy

By Todd Crawford

Self-Worth > Net Worth

By Shawn Collins

Facebook Advertising Tips for Affiliates

By Kyler Patterson

3 Simple Habits to Harness Stress

Get Your Brand Found on “Google Now”

Overcoming Hurdles to Publisher Engagement

3 Tips I Give Affiliates Daily

By Missy Ward

By Liliana Chan Ventura By Michael Pomposello By Kim Salvino By Stephanie Robbins

Staying Positive When Starting an Online Business

By Dale Ballard

Missed Connections: Improving the Affiliate Approval Process

By Karen Garcia

3 Unique Ways to Get Your Brand Noticed

By Kristin Kinsey

Finding Affiliate Programs to Fit Your Audience

By Rae Hoffman

Get More Done By Working on Less

By Zac Johnson

5 Cornerstones of Managing Your High-Risk Business

Why Travel Is Good For Your Business

By Travis Glenn

Prioritize Quality Over Quantity in Affiliate Recruitment

By Justin Zwack

New Year’s Resolution: Strengthen Your Marketing Strategy

Questions to Ask about Lead Generation Publishers

North American Stumbling Blocks for European Programs

By Matt Wool

The Future of Marketing is Editorial Traffic

By Oliver Roup

5 Tips for Effective Search Campaigns

By Nadia Tatlow

7 Tips for Promoting Mobile Offers

Fight Breast Cancer with Affiliate Summit

6 Merchant Essentials for Affiliates to Succeed

Pinterest is Perfect for Content Marketing

Affiliate Summit West 2015 Show Agenda

Chad Hymas - Keynote Bio

Noah Kagan - Keynote Bio

Other Speaker Bios

People to Follow on Twitter

Thank You Affiliate Summit Top Sponsors!

Paris Las Vegas Map

Think Like a Bear, It’s Hibernation Time

Contributing Writers

Dale Ballard, Jackie Lane Bates, Dave Bird, Shawn Collins, Todd Crawford, Karen Garcia, Travis Glenn, Michelle G. Held, Rae Hoffman, Zac Johnson, Josh Kent, Kristin Kinsey, Kyler Patterson, Heather Petersen, Michael Pomposello, Stephanie Robbins, Oliver Roup, Kim Salvino, Jennie Scholick, Nadia Tatlow, Liliana Chan Ventura, Missy Ward, Matt Wool and Justin Zwack

Graphic Design Logan Gattis Designs www.logangattis.com Magazine Coordinator Amy Rodriguez

By Heather Petersen

By Jackie Lane Bates By Jennie Scholick

By Dave Bird By Shawn Collins By Josh Kent By Michelle G. Held

By Rachel Honoway

Affiliate Summit 9532 Liberia Avenue, #127 Manassas, VA 20110 tel (417)-2SUMMIT (278-6648) fax (908) 364-4627

Articles in FeedFront Magazine are the opinions of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine, or its owners. FeedFront Magazine always welcomes opinions of an opposite nature. For more information, visit: www.FeedFront.com Interested in advertising? Please visit http://feedfront.com/advertising/ or email us at: feedfront@affiliatesummit.com © 2015 Affiliate Summit, Inc. and Individual Authors.

tl;dr – My three best tips for making the most of networking opportunities at Affiliate Summit.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Editor’s Note

Networking Do’s and Don’ts at Affiliate

Summit by Missy Ward

Missy Ward

your seat. And remember, don’t just strong arm people into taking your business card; collect theirs as well. Here’s a se-

hey say affiliate marketing is all about relation-

cret: if you ask for theirs first, they will be much more willing

ships. So, whether you’re attending Affiliate Sum-

to take yours.

mit West 2015 in Las Vegas (or any other event, for

that matter), you’ll want to make the most of networking while you’re there.

2. Pay Attention to Body Language You’ve spotted that affiliate you’ve been dying to meet

Networking, however, is a rather overlooked art form. All

across the room, so you rush over to speak with them. How-

too often – particularly those of us that work on the sales and

ever, they aren’t noticing you because they are deep in conver-

marketing end of things – we can approach people too ag-

sation with someone else.

gressively with unreasonably high expectations.

Instead of interrupting, perhaps wait somewhere nearby

So how do you avoid those pitfalls?

until they are through with the conversation before you intro-

I’ve spent nearly two decades building relationships

duce yourself. Now, if they are moving away from the area

through conferences, and I’ve never once done it by marching

quickly, give them space – even the most well-known affili-

up to someone with an extended hand to shake, armed with a

ates need bathroom breaks! Please don’t follow them in to the

business card. I’ve done it by approaching people, getting to

rest room, just try again later.

know them, and trying to determine how I can best help them – rather than trying to see how they can help me.

3. Don’t Always Try To “Close the Deal” On Site

My more organic approach has led to my contacts list

Look, we all know you are attending the conference to

being full of smart folks that I often partner with. So how do

benefit your business. It’s the same reason we’re ALL here.

I do it? Here are my three best tips for making the most of

But ramming your “hottest campaign” down someone’s throat

networking opportunities at Affiliate Summit.

while at the show isn’t the best way to do it. Dr. Ivan Misner, who wrote “Networking Like a Pro”, sug-

1. Don’t Huddle With the People You Know

gests you should take the approach of being a farmer at con-

Yes, it can be nice to catch up with folks you only see

ferences, and not a hunter. Don’t act like you’re shooting into

at conferences – but those people are already connections,

the crowd; you’re not here to get heads to mount on your wall.

and by spending too much time with them you will miss the

Instead, take this time to sow the seeds that can grow into a

chance to meet new people.

potential connection at a later date.

Always be sure to introduce yourself to anyone you sit next to, and seek out people you don’t know when you choose

You never get (It’s hard to get) a second chance at a first impression.

Missy Ward is Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine, Co-Founder of Affiliate Summit and blogs on MissyWard.com.

tl;dr – Marketers are accessing more and more data, how do they make sense of it and effectively leverage it?

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Data is

Your Frenemy by Todd Crawford

Todd Crawford

s marketers, we are surrounded by data. We rely on multiple third-party reporting solutions, as well as

So what’s a marketer to do to make data more friend than enemy?

internal databases, to measure our marketing ef-

Forget about what you currently have and start from

forts, and the number of data sources seems to be increas-

scratch by determining the data you need to do your job. In an

ing every year.

ideal world, what would your perfect reporting suite look like?

We now pull data from affiliate networks, paid search

What reports do you need daily, weekly, monthly? What

tools, analytics, ad servers, attribution solutions, and tag

data do you need to analyze? Do you need to review traffic

managers to get information. All this information sounds

and conversions for potential fraud? Are there specific internal

great, right? Unfortunately, data is your frenemy - sometimes

metrics and goals that you are being measured on?

it works for you and sometimes it works against you.

Once you’ve mapped out your data needs, you now need

I talk to a lot of marketers and hear the same issues when

to figure out where you can find this data and preferably how

it comes to getting the data they need to do their jobs: the

to automate the delivery of it. If there is more than one source

data is not accurate, the systems are hard to use, keeping up

for the data you need, determine which one is the most ac-

with the data takes too much time and resources, and the

curate source.

data is missing key metrics. The biggest frustration is that

The best way to figure this out is by running a small data

these marketing teams are often measured by data that does

set from at least three sources and comparing them to see

not accurately reflect their efforts.

where they differ and which seems more realistic.

Most marketers rely on disparate reporting systems for

Your business must do more than simply collect arbitrary,

their data. I have heard stories of discrepancies between

siloed data points, and attempt to make sense of fractured

multiple sources of data that vary by as much as 30% for the

intelligence. Avoid manually downloading data reports from

same information. If there are three sources for the “same”

different sources. Processing the data and presenting it in a

data and each varies by 10%-15%, which one do you use?

meaningful way requires highly sophisticated “Big Data” tech-

Another big issue facing marketers is the ease of data ac-

nology and analytics tools.

cess. The harder the data is to get and analyze, the less likely

Consider investing in a solution that aggregates all of your

you are to use it. Many systems are not user-friendly or built for

data into one system so that you can track across channels

speed, requiring time and energy to pull relevant information.

in real time. Only then can you make data your new BFF.

Todd Crawford is the co-founder and VP Strategic Initiatives at Impact Radius, a global SaaS marketing solutions company.

tl;dr – Lots of affiliate marketers focus on financial goals, but they should be focused on satisfaction goals.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Self-Worth > Net Worth by Shawn Collins

Shawn Collins

here was a post on Reddit last November titled “TIFU my whole life. My regrets as a 46 year old, and advice to others at a crossroad”, where the guy posted de-

tails on how he had an awakening.

A recurring theme was that this guy doesn’t have real problems, because he has money. That’s a myth. If you are focused on attaining and obtaining what other people have or appear to have, you’re doing it wrong. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” And at

“Today I found out my wife has been cheating on me

the end of the day, joy, freedom, and self-worth are the curren-

for the last 10 years. My son feels nothing for me. I

cies that matter.

realised I missed my father’s funeral FOR NOTHING. I

Here are some suggestions to build your self-worth…

didn’t complete my novel, travelling the world, helping

»» Schedule time for friends and family

the homeless. All these things I thought I knew to be

»» Take care of your body and mind (exercise, hobbies,

a certainty about myself when i was in my late teens

sleep, etc.)

and early twenties. If my younger self had met me

»» Learn new skills and open your mind to new ideas

today, I would have punched myself in the face.”

»» Create milestones to look forward to and celebrate »» Consider the advice of others, but make your own deci-

He went on to talk about how he focused on financial security, and let everything else he ever cared about, or should have cared about, slip away. That alone was a cautionary tale that hit home, since I spent many years being hyper focused on building financial

sions »» Make a list of the things you enjoy doing, outsource the other stuff »» Acknowledge that you control your attitude and reactions

security, and not enough time on the people around me, and

»» Value your time and let others know that you do

myself, too. Over the years, I achieved a degree of financial

»» Take credit for your successes and your failures

success that pleased me, but then I realized it’s all about your people and you. It seems this guy reached a similar conclusion. That’s

Think about this quote from Jim Rohn: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Are there people in that equation who bring down your average?

good, as it’s never too late for some things. But what really

Don’t let other people define you or your success. That’s

surprised me were a lot of the comments on various sites that

a privilege only you have, and you shouldn’t give it away. When

wrote about his story.

you build up your self-worth, then you are rich.

Shawn is Co-founder of Affiliate Summit and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine, and blogs at affiliatetip.com.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Stop sending cold leads and losing money from Facebook.

Facebook Advertising

Tips for Affiliates by Kyler Patterson

Kyler Patterson

acebook advertising can be tough. Especially when

Don’t be afraid to get personal with it by adding your

you’re an affiliate sending traffic to someone else and

name in your article or landing page. Then take it a step fur-

you can’t always directly track conversions through

ther and give them some background information about yourself, or even the product owner, so that they can feel at ease

different channels. This article isn’t going to break down how to create an

when purchasing.

ad or how to set your budgets, but it will provide you with the tips you can use to be a successful affiliate promoting on Facebook.

Capture Emails When you send your hard earned traffic to someone else, they’re potentially getting all of those emails. If they are a good

Warm Up Leads

marketer, there’s a great chance that they will put those peo-

Sure, some product owners create some amazing land-

ple in their email funnels to continue to upsell them. So while

ing pages designed to convert even the coldest of leads. How-

you got paid once for that lead or conversion, they’re making a

ever, not all of them do so. If you’re sending people straight to

recurring income off your traffic.

the offer from Facebook, any number of things can happen.

If you’re sending them to your landing page, attempt to

Either Facebook’s URL structure breaks the affiliate link,

capture their email before sending them away. You can also

thus losing your sale, or the viewer is immersed in the offer

send them the affiliate offer coupled with a whitepaper or

without fully knowing what’s going on. This is especially true if

Ebook to encourage the email submission. Prepare for future

it’s a flashy page with bright colors and a screaming video that

selling opportunities.

starts almost immediately. You know what I’m talking about. Instead, send them to your page first. It should be less

Wait. What?

flashy and “salesy” but prepares them for the offer. You can

This all looks like stuff we should be doing in the first

do this with a video, personalized review, or whatever you pre-

place. So why list it out here? The answer is simple. Whenev-

fer. If you understand your target market, you’ll know which

er I talk to affiliates about paid social advertising, they seem

method is best.

to be lost. A lot of people attempt to send visitors straight to the of-

Authority and Trust

fer and wonder why they aren’t seeing sales. If you take some

Someone comes to your site and their first question is “Who are you?” They don’t want to shell out money to someone they don’t know or trust. How do they know you’re not just some guy off the street pitching a product?

time for the basics and do a little ground work for your offers, you’ll start to see higher conversion rates. And if you capture those emails, you have the opportunity to send related products down the line for more revenue.

Kyler Patterson is the Marketing Coordinator for HostGator and passionate about digital marketing.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Take charge of stress by practicing three simple habits.

3 Simple Habits

to Harness Stress by Liliana Chan Ventura

Liliana Chan Ventura

e often blame stress for sleepless nights, caf-

2. Plan ahead to feel in control.

feinated mornings, physical aches, mental fa-

Stress can sometimes lead us to focus on worst case

tigue, emotional breakdowns, and interpersonal

scenarios, obsess about shortcomings, and suffer analysis

conflicts. Stress shadows us in our workplaces, lurks in our

paralysis. It can instill a sense of helplessness and hope-

homes, and invades our lives.

lessness.

Although we might not be able to completely avoid stress,

Eric Barker, main blogger at Barking Up the Wrong Tree,

what if we could practice habits that transform stress from a

recommends planning ahead to increase the feeling of control

trap of worries into a trigger for improvement?

and reduce the impact of stress.

Here are three ways to help you alleviate stress.

Outlining specific actions for the next day, gathering in-depth information for a crucial meeting, and practicing

1. Redefine positively to gain purpose. We are in the habit of portraying stress as the villain, wreaking havoc wherever it goes. This may not have to be

responses to difficult questions are good preparations for stressful events. The key is to take action before the going gets tough.

our reality. “When you change your mind about stress, you can

3. Seek and offer support to heal.

change your body’s response to stress,” affirms Dr. Kelly

Stress may bring out a sullen, withdrawn, annoyed, and

McGonical, health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford Uni-

even explosive side to our characters. This may cause us to iso-

versity. In essence, we can help our body manage stress in a

late ourselves or give antagonizing signals to those around us.

healthier way by thinking differently.

Surprisingly, stress is actually supposed to bring us closer

She suggested reinterpreting stressful symptoms such

to others. Oxytocin is a hormone released when we encounter

as rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and increased sweat-

stress. It propels us to seek support, and to care for others in

ing in a more positive context. Instead of picturing these as

need. Dr. McGonical explained that this cycle of social support

signs of anxiety or fear, we can reframe them as symbols of

allows oxytocin to also counter inflammations, relax blood

readiness to face the challenge and succeed. This positive

vessels, and repair heart cells damaged by stress.

purpose allows us to press onward to achievement, instead of being overcome by anxiety. The next time we start feeling stressed, let’s redefine it and concentrate on the good we are trying to accomplish (for example, closing an important deal, coping with a mountain of projects, or establishing a healthier lifestyle).

The effects of stress can be regulated and remedied by sympathetic and empathetic interactions with others. Discussing problems with friends or volunteering to serve the less fortunate are a few methods for healing stress. Practice these three habits to transform stress and trigger improvements.

Liliana Chan Ventura (@LilianaCVentura) is the Affiliate Marketing and Business Development Manager at Tours4Fun.

tl;dr – Work with blogs to ensure content about your brand is being found on Google Now before people search for it.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Get Your Brand Found

on “Google Now”

by Michael Pomposello

Michael Pomposello

readers updates from that blog without them needing to offer n October 2012, Google released Google Now, a product

an email address or adding an RSS feed to their reader.

that seems straight out of a sci-fi film. Google knew that

Brands can follow these four easy steps to have their

they were the place to go when you are actively “searching”

products found on Google Now cards of people in their tar-

for something. This project was Google’s first foray into pro-

get market:

viding information you want before you even explicitly search

Ask yourself what blogs your target market are read-

for it. The information is then presented on cards with one tid-

ing. Loyal readers to these blogs are very likely having

bit of information per card, just as you would keep index cards

the content appear in new Google Now cards when new

with notes on them.

posts are published. No opt-in needed.

How it works seems simple compared to what it delivers.

tween them and your brand.

Google aggregates all the information they know about you from your various interactions with their products and uses it

Offer these bloggers an opportunity to try your product if they are willing to review it on their blog.

to determine what is applicable to you and when it is relevant. One example of a product they collect data from is your

Contact those bloggers and establish a relationship be-

If they agree, loyal readers who frequent the site will have

GMail inbox, where they can determine things like shipment

a post about your brand sitting in their Google Now cards

tracking information from things you order online to informa-

once the post is published.

tion about upcoming flights.

Can you imagine a future where your target market has

Another example is that they can make a sound assump-

content instantly recommended for them based on what

tion about where you work and live, based on where your

they are reading, instead of them having to proactively search

phone’s GPS is positioned throughout the day.

for it? Even though Google is being reasonably quiet about

The most pertinent example to marketers is that Google can use data from people who browse the web using their Chrome browser to understand what sites they frequent and what time of day they typically read those sites. This is crucial because Google can now understand when people are reading certain blogs frequently and send those

Google Now, it is very likely that we are peeking at the future of content discovery. Brands can begin preparing themselves to be found in this new recommendation engine today by ensuring they are being mentioned on blogs that their audience frequently reads and trusts.

Michael Pomposello is co-founder of Influencer Connect and blogs for “The Connection” at influencerconnect.com.

tl;dr – Overcome common hurdles to publisher engagement by communicating, educating, and being unique.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Overcoming Hurdles

to Publisher Engagement by Kim Salvino

Kim Salvino

ustomers are actively seeking your product. Your e-commerce site is thriving. Customers are actively

price? Do you pay a higher commission rate, offer tiers based

seeking your product. Your affiliate program has

on performance or regularly bonus publishers? A program

1,000+ approved publishers.

that pays 10% commission but has a poorly converting site is

So why are less than 100 of those driving traffic? More

less profitable than a program paying 8% and converting at a

importantly, why are only 30 driving conversions? Consider

30%+ rate. Payout does not always equal earning potential, so

how you fare against the hurdles to publisher engagement

clearly address that with your publishers.

I’ve outlined below.

Publishers Receive The Same Sales Publishers Don’t Know You

Pitch From Everyone Else

There are publishers who sign up for every program.

The best affiliate program managers are already doing

Every. Single. Program. If there are four other merchants

the above and more. Get crafty with your communications.

that specialize in blue widgets, what makes yours different

Emails are an option, but publishers aren’t likely to respond

for them? Do you offer something above and beyond? Why

to an automated email when they receive hundreds per day.

should they place you in their top promotional areas or recom-

Send a personalized email, addressing items most relevant

mend you?

based upon site theme or promotional method. I once sent out handwritten holiday cards to hundreds

Publishers Don’t Know How Best To Promote You

of affiliates because mail that arrives with a handwritten ad-

Do you manufacture your product using a specific pro-

dress is less likely to be thrown away. I have sent custom mag-

cess consumers would find unique? Are your products made

nets with the next year’s calendar printed on them, thinking

of recycled materials? Reach out to publishers that indicate a

that a useful item with my contact information and branding

specific specialty based on their URL with personalized ideas.

would be kept in a visible place. My hope was that a magnetic

If you can’t find a unique angle independently, reach out any-

calendar would incite the need to work with my program more

way. Ask for a few minutes of their time and educate them on

in the coming year. It worked! Be different from the rest of the

a new angle for your brand.

affiliate managers vying for the same publisher’s attention and site traffic.

Publishers Don’t Understand The Earning Potential Not all blue widgets are created equal, but publishers won’t know that inherently. Are yours available at the lowest

In the end, the best ways to engage publishers and encourage promotional activity remain steadfast. Communicate. Educate. Inform. Be different. Your current dormant affiliate could be your top earner with a bit of effort on your part.

Kim Salvino is Client Services Director for Performance Horizon and has been managing and optimizing affiliate programs since 2005.

tl;dr – Discover my top three affiliate marketing tips to increase conversions and commissions.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

3 Tips I Give

Affiliates Daily by Stephanie Robbins

love working with affiliates. I admire their passion and drive. But, even the best need direction at times. Here are three tips I provide on a daily basis to content niche sites,

bloggers, and social media pros. Stephanie Robbins

Tip #1: Drop the AdSense and Commit to Your Topic. Often, I see great content placed alongside distract-

Make your call to action compelling. Even a simple ‘Try It

ing and irrelevant side banners. When using Adsense (a free

Today’ link can do wonders for your conversions. Another op-

Google tool that auto-generates targeted ads on your web-

tion is to provide short term coupon codes to create a sense

site), you relinquish control over your page to Google. They

of urgency. It may sound cliché but there is a reason advertis-

now decide what your visitor sees. Do you think Google knows

ers use these techniques, they work.

your followers better than you? Of course not! Invest time in selecting banners that reflect your brand and values.

Include your call to action at the beginning, middle, and end of your post. Don’t bury it in the last paragraph. We are a

Brand protection not compelling enough of a reason to

society of short attention spans. Your loyal followers may be

give up Adsense? How about conversions? With Adsense,

ready to purchase in the first paragraph, but new visitors may

you create your own leak by directing your audience to an-

not. Provide multiple opportunities. Make it as easy as pos-

other website.

sible for people to buy. Ideally you should place 3-4 affiliate

Additionally, AdSense doesn’t allow for long-term rela-

links (text links, images, and banners) throughout your post.

tionships with the merchant to leverage for future earnings. Replace AdSense with affiliate banners that support

Tip #3: Make Friends with Your Affiliate Manager

your post content and call to actions. Many networks provide

Affiliate managers are an experienced group. Personally,

custom banner opportunities in the form of product widgets.

I bring over 20 years online marketing experience. I am not

These dynamic options reflect your voice and values allowing

the exception. Connecting and helping you be a success is

you take back the steering wheel for your site.

the best part of our job. Ask your affiliate manager for optimization tips, a site review, and for insight on your next niche

Tip #2: Create a Solid Call to Action A call to action is an instruction to your audience that provokes an immediate response. For affiliates, that means clicks on your affiliate links and purchases.

site or product selection. If you approach us with respect and passion, I guarantee your site and commissions will benefit. I hope you found my tips useful. I look forward to hearing from you. You know I will respond.

Stephanie, owner of Robbins Interactive, works closely with affiliates managing multiple merchant programs.

tl;dr – Don’t take things personally, build a support network, and celebrate achievements when starting a business online.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Staying Positive

When Starting an Online Business

by Dale Ballard

Dale Ballard

tarting an online business is exciting. Like any busi-

2. Have a positive supporting cast.

ness, however, staying motivated to keep working

Unfortunately, when you share the news with your family

towards your goals can be challenging. Planning, ex-

and friends that you are starting an online business, some-

ecuting, testing, refining, etc. when it comes to the tasks you

times jealousy starts to rear its ugly head. Those people will

have at hand each day can seem overwhelming at times.

throw in their two cents to tell you that your idea will not work

In addition, when you have others you are depending upon to help you with those tasks, and they let you down by not follow-

or otherwise try to pull you down. You will quickly realize who is on your side and who isn’t.

ing through or not providing quality work, your motivation can

Stay positive and talk with your supporting cast of people

take a dive. Don’t think this can’t happen to you because it can.

who really do have your best interests at heart and want you

So how do you handle these types of disappointments and other setbacks? Here are some strategies to help you

to succeed. Encourage them to give you honest feedback regarding how you might improve your business.

stay positive:

3. Look back at where you started and 1. Don’t take it personally. Let it go.

appreciate all that you’ve learned and achieved.

When people let you down, understand that it is not be-

Good entrepreneurs are always learning about new strat-

cause of you. There could be a number of reasons why a per-

egies, tactics, tools, and technologies that can move their

son didn’t call you back or didn’t follow through with what they

startups forward. Because of this, sometimes we don’t see

said they were going to do.

how far we have already come. When things don’t go your way

Put your best foot forward and give that person an opportunity to explain. If the explanation is reasonable, you can

or you are in a rut, take a moment to reflect on what you have already accomplished and how much you have learned.

give the person more time to complete the task if you choose.

Also, take pride that you had the courage to start a busi-

If the explanation was just a poor excuse and/or the work was

ness. That’s something no one can take away from you. Don’t

poorly done, you can cut the cord and move on. Just don’t

ever forget that.

beat yourself up because of their mistakes or your own mistakes. Learn from them and move forward.

So utilize these tips. They will help you to stay positive when starting an online business.

Dale Ballard is the Founder and CEO of eGlobal Mashup, LLC which owns DatingMashup.com.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Make a better first impression for a longer lasting affiliate relationship.

Missed Connections:

Improving the Affiliate Approval Process by Karen Garcia

Karen Garcia

particular merchant at the time of approval can ward off many ll affiliate relationships begin with the join button, but

missteps, such as approving an affiliate whose plans are not

after that point, sometimes things get a little murky

congruent with the program terms, as well as provide oppor-

and there can be missed connections and hard feel-

tunities to work closer together.

ings all around when an application is declined.

When an affiliate is clear about their plans, it makes it

There are many things that affiliates can do right off the

easy for a manager to immediately reach out after an ap-

bat to put their best foot forward on an application. It’s always

proval with additional resources and assistance. Contacting

important, for example, to ensure your domain is operational

affiliates when you’re uncertain about their site or methods

and correct in the network, and that your email is working, but

to get clarification is another great way to open lines of com-

there are several other missed opportunities that we frequent-

munication.

ly see that are easily fixed.

Also, merchants should take full advantage of the net-

A common omission is additional domains. An affiliate

work system emails to further interact with affiliates, as they

might be developing the perfect site for a particular niche, but

can provide general application timelines, possible reasons

if it’s not included, and the only domain listed in the applica-

for a decline, manager contact information, and ready to post

tion isn’t relevant to the merchant, there’s a high likelihood of

pre-coded links.

a decline by a manager. Make sure any domains you plan to

Finally, both merchants and affiliates should always com-

use are listed and set a reminder for yourself to review your

municate professionally. A declined application is not a per-

network profile regularly.

sonal critique of an affiliate, nor is it always the final say in the

Also, many networks have a way for affiliates to provide

matter. If you’re an affiliate who feels strongly about a brand,

additional information to a merchant, whether it’s a gener-

and you’ve been declined, reach out to the affiliate manager

ously sized text box, or a listing of promotional methods. Mak-

for clarification.

ing judicious and accurate use of these tools can help tip the

Most managers will be happy to take a second look at

scales in your favor when a manager’s mouse is hovering be-

an application, and at a minimum provide useful feedback.

tween the decline and approve buttons.

We all know that tomorrow’s successful affiliates are today’s

Merchants need to be just as diligent with reviewing ad-

new applications, and if both affiliates and managers work

ditional application information as affiliates are with provid-

together, there will be far fewer missed connections down

ing it. Keeping a close eye on affiliates’ plans for promoting a

the road.

Karen is the CEO of the affiliate management agency GTOManagement.com and loves rehabilitating affiliate programs.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Three tips for getting affiliates to pay attention to your affiliate program.

3 Unique Ways

to Get Your Brand Noticed by Kristin Kinsey

Kristin Kinsey

attention to the ‘Interests’ options. This shall be your Venn diat’s getting harder and harder to get noticed by affiliates, and

gram to find your niche audience. Might I suggest using ‘Affili-

you’ve got to start thinking more outside of the box. Here

ate Marketing’ or ‘Blogging’ as one interest?

are a few techniques to get your brains moving:

The Ad – Special attention must be paid here. With all the ads that affiliates are exposed to everyday, the last thing you

1. Affiliate Managers are So Bae Do you network with other managers and OPMs? You better start! They are great people. You can learn a lot from each other and equally important, about each other. As you learn about your fellow managers and develop a bond, you may discover

want to do is make it look like any other ad. Call out the affiliate, be bold and tell them why they need to learn more about your brand with something that will ‘speak’ to your very targeted niche audience. With any ‘pay per’ channel, be careful. Set your budgets, and stay niche.

that they have a need for your brand. Send it to them. Affiliate managers are loud people. If they discover

3. Send in the Competitors

something they needed and now love, you can bet they will

DISCLAIMER: Your mileage may vary! This is heavily de-

comment about it, and who are their friends? Say it with me

pendent upon your product, how you stack up against your

now: affiliates.

competitors, and always understand that the affiliate is 110%

Affiliates pay close attention to those they trust, and that can pay off in spades. HOWEVER, do me a BIG favor. Don’t start sending friend requests to every affiliate manager. This only works if it is genuine and organic.

entitled to their opinions with every right to express them. So you say you have the best widget, eh? Even better than their widget, huh? Then prove it. Simple. Send them your product, and your competitors. Ask them to post who they think is better and why. »» DO NOT send them a sales pitch – let your brand do

2. Facebook You may have used Facebook Ad Manager to drive traffic to your website or page. Let’s jump a little outside of the box here, and consider targeting affiliates. GENIUS! Right? Okay, slow down – a few things to consider: money, demographics, and the ads themselves. The Money – Define the acquisition cost per affiliate you are willing to pay based on your business goals, and your total allocation. Be sure to set your budget for your ad. The Demographics – When setting up your ad, pay close

the talking! »» DO NOT offer special incentives (if that worked – then you wouldn’t be doing this). »» DO offer unbiased feature lists with matter-of-fact differences. »» DO offer to answer any questions, and provide any supporting documentation. »» DO respect the affiliate’s opinion – even if it doesn’t swing your way. »» Don’t stop with these techniques – keep innovating.

Kristin, former OPM, runs Ecommerce & Digital Strategy for brands manufactured by Performance Health.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Five tips for affiliates to identify the best products to promote to their audience.

Finding Affiliate Programs

to Fit Your Audience

by Rae Hoffman Rae Hoffman

talk with a lot of publishers that have traffic, but are undermonetizing it. In these situations, it’s usually that publish-

Solve Problems

ers simply don’t know what to offer their audience. Below

You can check out free tools like Ubersuggest.org to see

are some ways to help you find the products your audience

a listing of the problems people in your niche have. Doing a

wants to buy.

search for “how to garden” will return a list of search phrases containing those terms. Let’s say I’m searching for a solution

Sell What You Know

to “how to garden on a hill.”

If I’m following your yoga blog, it is probably because I

If you offer me a how-to guide, complete with a link to

think you have awesome information about yoga – and I ac-

your preferred garden box for the job, I (personally) would buy

tually welcome you telling me which is the best yoga mat to

it because you’re an expert. I had a problem; you showed me

purchase. So start with the things you use in whatever it is

the solution.

your developing content around. If you run a recipe blog, tell me about your favorite mixer.

Find Top-Rated Products

You don’t have to go for the “hard sell” either. You can create a

This mimics the process behind searching through the

“favorite products” page and link to it in your primary naviga-

top selling items on Amazon, but this focuses more on ratings

tion. That’s the setup I have on my site, and that page is one of

/ product quality then sales. Many large retailers allow you to

the top 10 most visited pages on my site each month.

sort their product offerings by ratings, which can allow you to identify the higher quality products to offer your audience

Find Top-Selling Items

within your niche.

Did you know that Amazon publicly displays a list (updated in real time) of their best selling products? They do:

Stalk Your Competitors

amazon.com/Best-Sellers/zgbs. And not only can you see

Putting together a report each month detailing out how

what the top selling items are overall, but you can also drill

much money your blog made and from promoting what spe-

down by category.

cific programs - and then publishing that report for the entire

If you own a pet site, you can see the top selling items

world to see has become a “thing.”

for pets, and then drill down to dogs, and then dog furniture,

Do a search in Google for “[your niche here] income re-

and then dog bed pillows. Keep an eye on your niche’s best

port” (without quotes). You may get lucky and find some com-

sellers to find new (and in demand) products to put in front

petitors outlining exactly which products are making them the

of your audience.

most money.

Rae Hoffman AKA Sugarrae is the CEO of PushFire.com & blogs about marketing at Sugarrae.com.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Simplify your life and business with these quick tips and tricks.

Get More Done

By Working on Less by Zac Johnson

s entrepreneurs, we know the importance and value Zac Johnson

of our time. After all, isn’t that why most of us started our own businesses in the first place?

So without wasting any more of your time, I’m going to

now provide you with three effective tips for getting more

business-related and simple tasks that we all deal with on a

done by working on less.

daily basis. (e.g., house cleaning, laundry, shopping, social media updates, content creation, email, and customer support)

Focus on What Matters Most

Outsourcing little tasks that take only 5-20 minutes per

If you want to get the most out of your time, you need

day can save you hours per week and even days over the

to stop spreading yourself too thin. This is something that

course of the year. Take the time to write out your daily sched-

I and many other bloggers, affiliates, and entrepreneurs

ule and see how many of these tasks can be outsourced at a

struggle with.

minimal cost.

A clear example of this is how often we see exciting new ways that someone else is making money online. We get excited and inspired, and then try to replicate the process, instead of focusing on what we already have in place.

Automate Your Business Where Possible Just as important as outsourcing is automation for your life and business. A great example of this would be paying your

Not only is this a huge distraction, but it’s also taking

monthly bills manually by writing and sending out checks, or

away your time and efforts from the established business

logging into your credit card system to make a payment right

or ad campaigns you already have in place and making

before it’s due. Instead this can all be done through automatic

money for you.

bank payments and scheduling.

In short, put on your blinders, and keep your distractions to a minimum.

These are just a couple simple examples of how automation can not only give you more time, but also make your life less hectic and frustrating in the process.

Outsource What Can Be Outsourced

These simple tips and tricks may seem obvious enough,

In addition to the various distractions that we deal with

but how many of us are actually implementing them into our

on a daily basis, the majority of us are also putting too much

businesses and lives? Take the time to save your time and see

effort into daily tasks that can easily be outsourced – both

how much of a big difference these little changes can make.

Zac Johnson blogs at ZacJohnson.com and is the founder of Blogging.org.

tl;dr – Find out if you’re high-risk and how can you mitigate the risk associated with high-risk processing.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

5 Cornerstones

of Managing Your High-Risk Business by Heather Petersen

Heather Petersen

earn what makes a business high-risk, how to process

3. Understand the common ramifications

with the right partner, prevent common problems, and

associated with high-risk processing.

avoid fraud.

When it comes to high-risk processing, I’ve met many

merchants who aren’t aware that they fall into the high-risk

Oftentimes, with high-risk merchants, the processing develops patterns. The ability to foresee possible risks associated with your business is a skill that’s fine-tuned with experience.

category, and many ISOs who don’t know how to handle high-

With high-risk merchants, there’s always probability for

risk merchants. If you’re not aware that you’re high-risk, how

chargebacks, returns, and customer dissatisfaction. Knowing

can you mitigate the risk associated with high-risk process-

the risks and difficulties your business may face allows you

ing? Here are five easy tips to assist you.

to take the necessary steps to prevent these predicaments.

1. Know what makes a business high-risk.

4. Know how to reduce and prevent the problems

The Card Brands, banks, and government municipalities

associated with high-risk processing.

have outlined criteria that categorize certain business types

Using the tools and knowledge around you can prevent and

as high-risk. Criteria is as simple as “business has a high

repair processing problems, and reduce associated risk. Consult

chargeback ratio” to complicated parameters regarding age

your sales agent and ISO about preventative measures. Whether

and geographic restrictions.

solutions that overhaul the customer service process, integra-

The key to managing the risk associated with these busi-

tion with fraud prevention services, or even working directly with

ness types is to understand exactly why you’re high-risk and

your ISO and sales agent to improve your business model, the

build a processing game plan for mitigating that risk.

precautions taken to mitigate risk and decrease potential complications can allow you to continue processing smoothly.

2. Find the right processing partner. Find the right processing partner that is experienced in han-

5. Know fraud when you see it.

dling your type of business. Make sure the sales agent and ISO

The trick to managing your high-risk business is to op-

that you work with are Certified Payments Professionals (CPP™).

erate by the book. Industry veterans created standardized

This certification signifies that an industry professional has the

guidelines that regulate the high-risk world. Work with your

expertise required to provide excellent merchant services.

ISO and sales agent to stay proactive. Keep a negative data-

A list of CPPs is available on the Electronic Transactions As-

base to cross-reference your customers’ IP addresses, emails,

sociation’s website. The right processing partner will coach and

phone numbers, and other information that keep track of your

consult you about the best products and services for your busi-

website visitors.

ness. A merchant services provider that specializes in high-risk ac-

Frequently check your transactions on your gateway. If

counts will stay proactive in notifying you of protective measures,

you’re getting a lot of declines, you may have a problem. Be

fraud prevention programs, and the condition of your merchant

aware of suspicious patterns, and learn how to protect your

account. This partnership can benefit your company immensely.

business.

Heather Petersen is CEO of National Merchants Association, a merchant services provider specializing in high-risk.

tl;dr – Business travel can be an outstanding investment in the affiliate marketing industry, here are a few top reasons to travel.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Why Travel

Is Good For Your Business

by Travis Glenn Travis Glenn

nyone who has worked in the affiliate marketing space has probably picked up on the fact that our

your existing contacts. Readers of this publication have prob-

industry is spread out all over the world. The global

ably attended an Affiliate Summit, which is a great place to

nature of the business will force interactions with people from

network and build relationships. There are many other great

different countries on a daily basis. Affiliate networks and

conferences to attend in the United States and abroad. One of

merchants are based in nearly every geo you can think of.

the easiest ways to find worthwhile conferences is to talk to

The global, multicultural nature of our industry is one of the best things about it. This provides an excellent opportu-

those who you do the most business with and find out which shows they attend.

nity to travel. Many affiliates work from home or have the flexibility to setup an office anywhere they see fit. This freedom

Tax Deduction

can lead to communities of affiliates popping up in exotic

Business travel is typically considered a business ex-

locals (Bangkok, for example). A large number of merchants

pense, and may result in tax deductions for a business. I will

and affiliate networks have offices in multiple countries.

not go into much detail on this section, as I am not an accoun-

As you can see, many in our industry have found the outstanding benefits of travel. I will share of few of my favorite

tant or tax attorney. Please consult a local tax professional for more information on this.

aspects below.

Finding New Perspective Relationship Building

I believe that seeing new sights, meeting new people, and

If you are an affiliate, a merchant, an affiliate network

experiencing a new culture is a powerful thing. It can help

employee, or other professional in the industry, the primary

you better understand and relate to the clients, customers,

reward of travel can be building relationships. Meeting a busi-

and contacts. I learn something from every trip taken. Gain-

ness associate in person can establish trust and give you a

ing knowledge of customs and etiquette can make you more

chance to learn the best way to move forward. In contrast to

effective in dealing with people of those cultures, as well as

the typical back and forth emails and Skype chats, getting

broaden your perspective on life and business.

some direct face-to-face time with someone can give you a

The benefits of business travel are numerous. With proper planning and follow through, there is very little downside.

huge advantage over your competitors.

I urge you to see if there are conferences or events outside

Conference Attendance

of your city, state, and even country that are in line with your

Conferences are a great reason to travel. It allows you to find new potential business, as well as build relationships with

business goals. Analyze the results afterward, and you’ll likely find the trip was worthwhile.

Travis is PeerFly’s Director of Business Development, you can follow him @TravisPeerFly on Twitter.

tl;dr – The more the merrier does not apply to affiliate recruitment. Focus on relationships, and not the number of affiliates.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

in Affiliate Recruitment by Justin Zwack

Justin Zwack

reach—things that may not be readily available in their application. Using resources like Alexa and Compete, or browser plugins like MozBar will help you complete the picture.

bad affiliate can cause untold headaches and costs

These tools give you information that can help assess

for any affiliate program. Instead of cleaning up a

the potential of new affiliates when you compare the data

mess, it’s better to prevent a problem before it starts

against existing partners and top performers—that can

by focusing on recruiting quality affiliates.

serve as a benchmark.

Here are a few best practices to ensure you’re prioritizing quality over quantity when it comes to recruiting new partners into your affiliate program.

Know Your Target Market Internet retailers and merchants know their target demographic and likely have established customer profiles. Estab-

Set Expectations Early

lished affiliates will have demographic data available, which

For someone who has not spent time in the trenches

will help you understand their audience and user base. Make

managing an affiliate program, it’s easy to think more affili-

sure you’re focusing recruitment efforts around affiliates that

ates will mean more sales. That couldn’t be farther from the

will get you in front of the right audience.

truth, so it’s important to set expectations early—internally or with the 3rd party agency you’re working with.

Make an Introduction

If new customer acquisition is the top priority, there could

If you’re selective about affiliates you approve into your

be more value from smaller affiliates bringing net new cus-

program, take a moment to contact them before you accept

tomers vs. an affiliate that is driving significant volume via

their application. Affiliates who are interested in advertising

arbitrage paid search on branded terms.

your product or services will take the time to respond. While they’ll appreciate the attention, you’ll get a sneak

Define What a Quality Affiliate Means The value of affiliate partners is often in the eye of the beholder. It’s important to define and understand the goals of

peak at how responsive they are as an affiliate partner. Establishing a personal relationship with your affiliate at the beginning makes it easier to reach out to them in the future.

your program, so you can identify what types of affiliates you should recruit to reach your objectives. Once active, analyzing

Due Diligence of an Affiliate Manager

clickstream data will help you evaluate the value of individual

Don’t evaluate an affiliate based on their URL alone. Take

affiliate partners, as you can see whether they’re driving in-

time to actually visit their website and search for content rel-

cremental revenue or cannibalizing other marketing channels.

evant to your industry or competition. Next, put your “consumer hat” on. How is the user experience on the website?

Use the Right Tools When evaluating a potential affiliate partner, it’s important to understand the partners business model and their Justin is a member of the Client Development team at iAffiliate Management.

How will your brand be represented? Make sure it is consistent with how your brand is represented elsewhere online before approving them.

tl;dr – Launch an impactful yet cost-effective affiliate marketing strategy with this three-pronged approach.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

New Year’s Resolution:

Strengthen Your Marketing Strategy

Jackie Lane Bates

2. View the Marketing Landscape Through

by Jackie Lane Bates

the Eyes of Your Affiliate Sales Team What do your affiliate partners need to succeed? What promotions (or permissions), tools, or content would help

them promote your products? ant to jump-start Q1 with a highly effective, yet

Reach out and ask them. Identify the affiliate strategies that

lean marketing plan? Insights critical to acceler-

most effectively produce your desired activity (e.g., drawing in

ating your bottom line are available at your fin-

new customers versus increasing return customers) and arm

gertips, and getting started does not require a huge budget.

affiliates with the tools they need to implement those strategies.

Apply this three-pronged approach incorporating input

Maybe this means opening up trademark plus search

from internal and external sources, such as revenue trends,

rights, or simply providing affiliates with a list of high convert-

customer needs, and peer insights, to develop a comprehen-

ing keywords by season and referrer. Perhaps an exclusive

sive strategy for the New Year.

coupon code or vanity coupon will open the door to a previously obstructed marketing channel.

1. Leverage Deep Data to Intimately Understand What Drives Your Revenue

Take it one step further while you have your affiliate partner on the phone. Inquire about the needs and desires of their visi-

Whether using Google Analytics or SQL queries against

tors—your potential audience. What resonates? Do any of your

your internal data warehouse, harvest the numbers and dive

affiliates maintain customer reviews? If so, learn how people

deep. How does performance vary by seasonality, customer

are using your products or services and where you can improve.

profile, product type, and channel? How do your customer segments behave when offered a discount or free shipping? How important is mobile and what is the trend?

3. Stay Current Attend industry conferences, meetups, and events—step

Understanding what drives your revenue—and where you

outside of your box and evolve your perspective. You will un-

can improve—enables you to make informed marketing deci-

cover questions you did not even know to ask and a variety of

sions. Once you have a handle on revenue drivers and trends,

approaches on how to address them. Assess how your mar-

encourage affiliate partners to strategically focus their ef-

keting efforts measure up firsthand in the competitive land-

forts on such. Maybe you want affiliates to target new female

scape and stay on top of emerging trends.

customers in Q4, for example, as the data indicates that this

Talk to other retailers learning through trial and error in

segment will have the highest loyalty rate with the greatest

the affiliate channel. What tools and resources do they find

per-cart purchases over time.

most effective? Attend an Affiliate Summit—there are sure to

How would this affect your affiliates’ verbiage, landing

be sessions directly addressing your top struggles, questions,

pages, and targeted keywords? This brings us to the second

and concerns. It is also the ideal environment for connecting

prong—tapping into your front line resources.

with new and existing partners.

Jackie Lane Bates is the Director of Marketing at LinkConnector Corporation.

tl;dr — Business Brands travel may open can be themselves an outstanding up to many investment issues,inincluding the affiliate marketing industry, here are a few trademark poaching, top reasons by working to travel. with lead generation publishers.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Questions to Ask

about Lead Generation Publishers by Jennie Scholick

Jennie Scholick

ccording to the Internet Advertising Bureau, lead

tions both the brand and its competitors, or c) a landing page

generation made up about $1.75 billion in advertis-

and affiliate links only for other brands. Trademark poach-

ing spend by brands in FY 2013. Unfortunately, many

ing increases CPC (cost-per-click), decreases CTR (click-

brands are unaware of the potential risks in working with lead

through rate), and potentially results in a brand’s lead being

generation publishers, including a lack of visibility in how they

diverted to a competitor.

drive leads, the possibility for trademark poaching, and the po-

This point brings us to the final issue: that the same leads are often sold to multiple brands, even if a consumer arrived

tential sale of your leads to your competitors. Lead generation sites collect personally identifiable infor-

at the site by searching for a single, specific one. This stan-

mation from customers, via an online form or by phone, and

dard business model for lead generation sites should raise

sell that information to interested parties. These sites usually

concerns for brands, not the least of which is: how much is a

work with publisher networks, which act as marketplaces for

lead worth if it also might be sold to your biggest competitor? These issues can be largely prevented through brands’

the leads generated. This distance between brands and lead generation pub-

auditing of the networks and publishers with whom they

lishers opens the door to a variety of issues. Because brands

contract. Brands should ask in-depth questions about how

usually contract with publisher networks, rather than individu-

networks generate leads and monitor their publishers before

al lead generation sites, it is difficult for brands to regulate the

deciding to work with them. Ideally, lead generation networks should have compli-

activity of these publishers. Further, because lead generation networks aggregate

ance systems in place. Manual paid search monitoring by

the information their publishers collect before selling it,

brands can also give insight into which lead generation sites

brands have little insight into the process. Brands do not

are trademark bidding. Making the choice not to purchase

see where the lead came from, how it was driven to the lead

leads from sites that bid on your or others’ brand terms is a

generation site, or how a brand is represented on that lead

major step toward ensuring a relationship built on trust. Thoughtfulness in whom to partner with, combined with

generation site. This inability for brands to see which of a network’s af-

careful monitoring of those partners, can allow brands to vastly

filiates provided the lead also creates an environment ripe

increase the value in working with lead generation networks. In

for trademark poaching. A site will bid on a brand’s search

addition, encouraging lead generation networks to increase vis-

terms, use the brand name in the ad copy, and then provide

ibility into how leads are generated should ultimately result in a

either a) a generic landing page, b) a landing page that men-

more transparent and compliant industry overall.

Travis is PeerFly’s Director of Business Development, Jennie Scholick you can is follow a Marketing him @TravisPeerFly Assistant at BrandVerity. on Twitter.

tl;dr – By understanding the differences between affiliate industries on either side of the Atlantic, European companies can successfully export their programs.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

North American Stumbling Blocks for

European Programs by Matt Wool

s the world of online retail grows increasingly global,

Additionally, large European advertising and marketing

many European merchants are looking to expand to

agencies have well-developed affiliate management. As a re-

the mega markets of the United States and Canada.

sult, there are fewer independent affiliate marketing agencies

However, many of these companies have stumbled with their

or OPMs. This contrasts with the United States and Canada,

affiliate programs as they cross the pond. Why?

where full service networks generally charge additional stand-

One likely factor is the difference between the affiliate in-

alone fees for program management services (with a few

dustry in North America and Europe when it comes to regula-

exceptions, such as Affiliate Window, which originated in the

tions, the agency/network landscape, and attribution.

United Kingdom), and large advertising and marketing agencies generally do not have affiliate practices.

Regulations

The result is a confusing array of management possibili-

In Europe, the IAB (an association representing the digital

ties that run the gamut of cost and sophistication, including

businesses of twenty-seven countries) has been instrumen-

many small OPMs with limited capabilities. European mer-

tal in creating affiliate industry standards supported by major

chants may assume most management is created equal in

industry players. These standards make operating an affiliate

the United States and Canada, and can be disappointed with

program in Europe a little safer than in the United States and

the outcome.

Canada, as much of the activity around software downloads, cookie stuffing, and other activities is self-policed by the industry, especially the networks.

Attribution Across Europe, it is increasingly the norm for merchants

In the United States and Canada, however, no such stan-

to look at cross-channel attribution to determine whether or

dards exist. While some networks make efforts to limit certain

not to pay affiliates. They look at their attribution model, and

affiliate activities, the onus is ultimately on the merchant to

if an affiliate is in a certain place in the click stream in relation

be the last line of defense. European merchants are often un-

to paid search, email, or other channels, they withhold com-

aware of this dynamic and may be surprised to discover cer-

mission. In the United States and Canada, changing payouts

tain behaviors that leave their programs vulnerable.

based on an affiliate’s position relative to other affiliates has gained traction, but companies rarely withhold commissions

Agency/Network Landscape

based on multi-channel attribution. As a result, when a Euro-

The delivery of program management services is quite

pean company looks at their US and Canadian affiliate pro-

different In Europe than in the United States and Canada. Eu-

grams, the data and costs could be quite divergent from what

ropean networks typically include a level of program manage-

they are used to.

ment services along with their technology platform services.

European affiliate programs can still find success in

The logic being that if they can help the merchant grow their

North America, but only if they keep these major differences

program it will increase the overall fee level.

in mind.

Matt Wool is the General Manager of Acceleration Partners, overseeing day-to-day operations for the firm.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Editorial traffic is becoming the “must buy” marketing channel as recent crossdevice consumption trends provide opportunities for new revenue strategies..

The Future of Marketing

is Editorial Traffic by Oliver Roup

Oliver Roup

he increasing uptake and adoption of cross-device web use is shaking up previously held assumptions about the most revenue-rewarding advertising

and Audizine all epitomize this new phenomenon. The other

streams available to merchants, publishers, and the affiliate

positive outcomes of this approach range from the lack of ad-

landscape.

ditional overhead to content links being much more economi-

The most significant outcome has been the transposi-

cal than search, display and native strategies.

tion of the banner ad from the standalone premier revenue

The importance of this more mobile and cross-device

position to a complementary method used alongside other

world is repeatedly evident in mainstream news. Although

innovative revenue strategies. Consider the growing number

mobile is yet to be most brands major revenue stream, they

of mobile users who consume editorial content on small

are seeing a sharp increase in both usage and influence.

screens, which guides their purchasing behavior, and it be-

Shockingly, even large traditional editorial houses have

comes very clear that banner ads cannot remain the only ad-

seen a turnaround in their dwindling readerships due to uptake

vertising solution to speak to customers and drive revenue

of mobile and monetization strategies. The New York Times,

to publishers. There needs to be additional marketing strate-

for example, is growing due to programmatic and native mar-

gies brought forward to effectively manage advertising ef-

keting. Their EVP of advertising, Meredith Kopit Levien stated,

forts across multiple devices.

“Only 10% of digital revenue comes from mobile. In the past

In the mobile heavy content consumption ecosystem, the

year, though, mobile increased from one-third of user ses-

advertiser’s landing page can actually serve as the ad, arrived

sions to over half of user sessions”. Mark Thompson, Times

at after being directed by links located within non-sponsored,

CEO followed Levien’s claim stating, “Smartphone, tablet, and

unique, and informative online content. The “ad”, or lack there-

video, taken together, are now a significant reason why we

of, should create a seamless channel from a publisher’s site to

turned what was a revenue stream that was in slight decline

an advertiser via the publisher’s own content.

to a revenue stream that is growing healthily,” said Times CEO

This positively reflects their brand and craftsmanship,

Mark Thompson.

rather than take away attention in an incommodious way.

Influential brands continue to tout their success with

This marketing channel should equally reflect the advertis-

marketing strategies that rely on content created by online

er’s brand and bring a seamless consumption experience to

enthusiasts to drive consumers to their site or app. For them,

the audience.

marketing channels must be integrated across mobile devic-

It is not surprising to note that this style of content is in-

es where space is at a premium.

creasingly created by enthusiast entrepreneurs on their edito-

The future of marketing in our cross-device world relies

rial sites and mobile apps where their passion becomes the

on harnessing the power of enthusiast content, not simply re-

driving force of consumption. For example, PurseBlog, J23,

lying on an ad unit.

Oliver Roup is Founder and CEO of VigLink

tl;dr – Knowing the landscape, following the rules, testing, not over tweaking, and focusing on quality are important in paid search.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

5 Tips

for Effective Search Campaigns by Nadia Tatlow

Nadia Tatlow

aid search marketing is either something you’re do-

is, if you want to play in the search space you have to play fair,

ing now, or you should be doing. Either way, if you’re

so make sure you’re up to date on any and all policy changes.

reading this, you already know that building a suc-

cessful search campaign can be both challenging, and extremely rewarding.

3. Split test like it’s your job. Because it is. Constant testing and optimization is the

To make it to the top of the search listings it takes

name of the game, and there’s no such thing as ‘autopilot.’

research, innovation, and attention to detail. You need to

Check out what your competitors are doing with a critical eye

know what your competitors are doing, and then do it just

and start to customize for your own campaigns. Select key-

a wee bit better.

words that target traffic that is looking to convert, and make

Easier said than done, right? Well, with a bit of guidance, and a whole lot of patience, you can do it. Here’s a checklist to get you on your way:

sure to test a few variations of text ads. Consider your variables (any and all text, images, calls to action, specs, recommendations, button position/color, product images/logo, system requirement, ratings), and finally,

1. Research and understand the landscape.

stay organized and strategic about your approach.

It may come as a surprise, but there is a lot of trial and error method going on behind the scenes, and you can get

4. Don’t tweak too much.

ahead of the game by simply doing your research. Only once

Yes, this is ironic coming right after the last point, but it

you have a solid understanding of the landscape should you

is a fine balance. Often, it can take a day or even two for a

start to build strategy, and a budget.

keyword to settle in at a bid, gather data, and start performing. Tweaking too much and having too many different bids

2. Follow the rules. SEM has come a long way in the past few years, as have

can throw off the algorithm, skew statistics, and have adverse effects on campaign performance.

policies around compliance. Following the rules may seem boring, but if you want to go after paid search, it’s something

5. Quality over quantity.

you’ll have to commit to sooner or later. Take time to review

The higher your quality score, the better your CPC’s,

quality score requirements, then take a step back and look at

and ad positioning will be. This, in turn helps CTR. Getting

your own ad copy, landing pages, and overall relevance.

a good quality score takes work. Aim for the top when it

Ask for a dedicated Bing and Google rep, and make sure you request their feedback whenever possible. Daunting as it

comes to quality score; time on the front end will pay off in spades later. Nadia is an Account Manager at Air Installer, the leading download platform.

tl;dr – Cap allocation, creative, target location, landing page, tracking, network, and the affiliate manager affect mobile campaign performance.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

7 Tips

for Promoting Mobile Offers

by Dave Bird lobal mobile internet usage grew by 70% last year, according to Cisco. I expect this growth to continue with the advent of 4G, and as data allowances fall in price.

Landing Page Must be Mobile Optimized

This provides affiliate marketers with an excellent oppor-

Amazingly, some mobile app’ developers still offer land-

tunity to buy high-quality traffic from ad networks that can of-

ing pages that aren’t mobile-optimized. Check to see how the

fer vast inventory capacity with relatively low buyer demand.

landing page renders over the devices you are targeting, and if

Although there is an immense opportunity for affiliate

the landing page isn’t optimized, build your own variation and

marketers to thrive in the mobile space, caution should al-

split-test against the direct link.

ways be taken to maximize success. With this in mind, I have decided to share a number of ‘top tips’ for promoting mobile offers from my personal experience.

Track Everything The traffic quality from mobile ad networks can vary wildly, so it’s imperative to make sure that you are tracking your ad

Importance of Cap Allocations

campaigns down to placement level. Most ad networks will al-

Mobile campaigns often have erratic budgets with cam-

low you to optimize by isolating and pausing non-performing

paigns frequently pausing and reactivating. Securing a suffi-

placements, so a solid mobile tracking platform is essential to

cient cap allocation will save you a lot of wasted time, so build

identify these. Your tracking solution should also enable you

a close relationship with your affiliate manager and make

to easily identify fake traffic (bot traffic, duplicate clicks, etc.)

them aware of your allocation requirements.

that can be rife with mobile media buys.

Use Mobile Banners

Split-Test Mobile Ad Networks

Mobile banners should make sense to mobile users. Don’t

Not all ad networks are created equally. Run your offer

try to cram too much information into each banner, and make

over multiple ad networks and track the performance of each.

sure your banner conveys a single message. In addition, your

Different ad networks will often offer different publisher place-

call to action buttons should, when possible, be large enough

ment inventory so ongoing testing and optimization is a must.

to be clicked easily with the user’s thumb.

Work With Affiliate Managers Who Get Mobile Research the Target Location

A number of affiliate networks are starting to jump on the

If you are targeting users in an unfamiliar location, you

mobile bandwagon, but some affiliate managers understand

need to conduct comprehensive research to understand

the mobile space more than others. Mobile affiliate market-

the market, preferred carriers, and the demographical be-

ing is a different animal from desktop, and your success will

havior of your target market. With mobile offers, campaign

largely depend upon the tracking set-up, cap management,

success does not port geographically as easily as it can

support, advice, and allocations you receive from your net-

with desktop campaigns.

work partners.

Dave is the founder of Monetise, the UK affiliate network.

tl;dr – There are three opportunities to walk with Affiliate Marketers Give Back in 2015 to fight breast cancer.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Fight Breast Cancer

with Affiliate Summit by Shawn Collins

ffiliate Marketers Give Back had two teams that participated in two 39.3 mile fundraising walks in two cities (Boston and NYC) last year, and they will be

doing three in 2015. Missy Ward is leading the team for Avon Walk Santa Barbara on September 12-13, 2015, Amy Rodriguez will be leading the team for the Avon Walk Washington DC on May 2-3, 2015 and I will be the team leader for Avon Walk New York City on October 17-18, 2015. The money raised from the Avon Walks funds research to find a cure or prevention, as well as programs that enable all patients to access quality care. A key priority is the medically underserved, including low-income, elderly, and

Shawn Collins

minority individuals. If you are interested, I would suggest training, because

On top of doing a great by raising money to fight breast

you walk a marathon the first day, and then a half marathon

cancer, there are the side benefits of getting to know some

the second day. Rest assured, they have lots of rest stops and

other affiliate marketing folks on a deeper level, and accom-

first aid areas, as well as food and drinks.

plishing a pretty badass physical challenge.

I was mostly walking 3-5 miles, with a handful of 10+ mile walks leading up to the walk in New York last October. There is a $50 registration fee to join, and Avon requires a

What do you think? It’s such an inspiring, humbling, wonderful, emotional, and transformative weekend, and I can’t wait to do it again.

minimum fundraising commitment of $1,800. If you are part

All money raised by the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is

of an Affiliate Marketers Give Back team, and you raise the

managed by the Avon Foundation for Women, a 501(C)(3) pub-

minimum, you will receive a complimentary VIP pass to Affili-

lic charity that funds a comprehensive network of programs

ate Summit West 2016. The pass is worth $1,249.

and services dedicated to serving breast cancer patients and

In addition, we will equally split the amount we raise dur-

their families through five areas of the breast cancer cause:

ing our Race to Affiliate Summit West 2015 and Race to Af-

awareness and education, screening and diagnosis, access to

filiate Summit East 2015, and add that to your fundraising ac-

treatment, support services, and scientific research.

count if you meet the minimum.

Go to feedfront.com/amgb2015 for more information.

Shawn is Co-founder of Affiliate Summit and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine, and blogs at affiliatetip.com.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

tl;dr – Be sure to do what you can to help your affiliates to succeed.

6 Merchant Essentials

Josh Kent

for Affiliates to Succeed by Josh Kent

or affiliates to truly succeed, they will need a combination of tools and information. Are you providing these

specific websites. Widgets are ideal for affiliate bloggers and

to your affiliates?

content publishers.

Reports

Layout Configuration

Analytical data is king. At a minimum, show your affiliates

Give your affiliates the ability to configure the landing

the traffic and sales that they are pushing to your website. If

page. Perhaps a different default product view or the ability

your affiliates are paying for traffic, this will be essential in de-

to turn cross selling on or off. Options like this will allow your

termining their return on investment. Without good stats, you

affiliates to conduct their own audience tests.

leave your affiliates in the dark.

Appealing Website Re-target

Even the most powerful affiliates can’t do their best with

If your affiliates are using Facebook ads, retargeting is

an un-optimized site. Make sure that your website is the best

a must. Retargeting allows affiliates the ability to show ads

that it can be. Have an outstanding landing page, clean navi-

directly to visitors, regardless of where they were lost in the

gation, clear product descriptions, and a user friendly check

sales funnel (landing page, shopping cart, checkout, and post-

out system. In doing so, you will produce higher conversion

sale). Some of the most effective affiliates will retarget visi-

rates for that affiliate traffic.

tors on all levels. Allowing your affiliates to retarget will greatly improve their conversion rates.

Communication

Widgets

(forums, newsletters, Facebook groups). Often times, affiliate

When it comes to communication, keep the lines open Widgets are typically snippets of code designed for quick

programs become cold to both the vendor and the affiliate. In

deployment within content websites. Widgets are a great way

the end, all affiliate programs are code based systems built on

of delivering your products or services. They allow your af-

rules and boundaries. Think of your affiliates as your partners,

filiates to strategically place content relevant products within

collaboration typically brings the best results!

Josh Kent is the owner and CEO of SunFrogShirts.com.

tl;dr – Pinterest is an excellent platform for content marketers and businesses. Attract followers and clicks with visually appealing graphics and photos.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Pinterest is Perfect

for Content Marketing by Michelle G. Held

Michelle G. Held

ontent marketing means creating and communicating

tion text. An example of this is, “Teach an old dog new tricks.

stories, information, and images for the purpose of edu-

Click here!”

cation, entertainment, or productivity. Content market-

Tall images are repined more often than wide ones. Cre-

ing is a relationship building strategy, minus the sales pitch. The

ative pinners can use photo editing software or PowerPoint to

goal is to earn interest by adding value, rather than to sell.

develop infographics. Infographics are especially popular on

Pinterest is a purely image-based social network that

Pinterest and used to convey instructions, data visualizations,

uses graphics and photos to convey content to the audience.

or other knowledge. Pin infographics with simple, visual tuto-

It is an excellent platform for content marketers and any busi-

rials, and relevant text descriptions.

ness that can creatively represent itself visually. A Pinterest content marketing plan should directly relate to what you sell without actually selling it.

Optimize for Mobile Over 75% of Pinterest traffic comes via mobile devices (1). Be sure your graphics are high quality, vertical, and easy

What Do I Pin?

to read. Fill in a keyword rich description for each pin. Mobile

Attract followers and get clicks by pinning information

devices cut off the description at about 100 characters, so

such as tutorials, case studies, videos, newsletters, guides,

be sure to include your message or call-to-action at the top

and blog posts. People love stories. Tell your followers about

of the pin.

your successes, failures, education, or backstory. Common content marketing pins include: »» Blog posts

Increase Your Following The strategy begins with setting up the right Pinterest

»» Books

boards. Take time to look at others in your sector and see

»» Newsletters

what they are pinning. Find a niche to add value and to em-

»» Presentations

phasize your strengths.

»» Podcasts

Establish boards that will fit your content. If they don’t al-

»» Videos or Webinars

ready, include boards that gel with popular Pinterest topics by

»» Case studies

weaving in a few of the “big five” into your pinning plan. These

If you are an author, pin the cover of your book. Develop other materials such as worksheets or bullet lists of industry tips. If necessary, add content to your website. Be sure to develop a pinnable graphic to go with each topic.

are the most popular Pinterest topics and include quotes, food, crafts, décor, and fashion. Content marketing works by setting the groundwork for trust and establishing credibility. Marketers can succeed by

Craft pins from photos, graphics, or text. For live presen-

being human and giving their audience content that contains

tations, pin a thumbnail from the video. For worksheets and

attractive visuals, is interesting to read, and most importantly,

white papers, create and pin a graphic that contains call-to-ac-

is useful to them.

Michelle, author of Pinterest Tutorial and an Affiliate Summit West 2015 speaker, blogs on pintalk.net.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Day 0 Saturday, January 17

Refuel, Rendezvous & Refresh Room All attendees are welcome to grab some coffee or tea and take advantage of the tables and WiFi to have meetings,

Early Attendee Check-In

catch up on work or simply take a break. 8:00 am - 6:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome C

Come by Saturday evening to pick up your badge and attendee bag so you can enter immediately on Sunday when

(Open to All Attendees)

the show opens! 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 2-3

First Timers Orientation for Affiliate Summit All first-time attendees are welcome to join Affiliate Summit

Day 1 Sunday, January 18

Co-Founder Shawn Collins for tips and advice for getting the most out of your time at Affiliate Summit. 10:00 am - 10:30 am @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 (Open to All First-Time Attendees)

Attendee Check-In Pick up your conference badge and attendee bag, and get started with Affiliate Summit. 8:00 am - 6:00 pm Champagne Ballroom 2-3

Affiliate Program Showcase This is a chance for affiliates to discover the affiliate programs available to them. Attendees with a badge type of Advertiser, Affiliate Management, OPM/Agency or Network will have a chance to claim one roundtable and camp out at

Meet Market Table Setup Companies with tables in the Meet Market on the Sunday afternoon of Affiliate Summit can setup their booths during this period.

it. There will be limited tables, so it’s first come, first serve. After claiming a table, Advertiser, Affiliate Management, OPM/Agency or Network attendees can put out business cards, pamphlets, etc. 10:00 am - 12:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A

9:00 am - 12:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC (Badges with Exhibitor or Sponsor Ribbons Only)

1a - A Step-by-Step Plan to Earn $100 a Day in Passive Income

Exhibit Hall Booth Setup Companies with booths in the exhibit hall on the Monday and Tuesday of Affiliate Summit can setup their booths during this period. 8:00 am - 6:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Rivoli ABC (Badges with Exhibitor or Sponsor Ribbons Only)

A visually-rich presentation detailing 5 tips for choosing profitable topics, 5 traffic building strategies, 1 often overlooked strategy to build a massive list & 10 tips to get on the fast track. 11:00 am - 12:00 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 1 »» James Martell, Founder, The School of Internet Marketing Experience Level: BeginnerAUTH Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Passive Income (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

1b - Pro Email Marketing Tips (Non Bulk Email)

Press Room

In this session I will show the key tips and tricks that I have

The Press Room is an area reserved credentialed Press

used to sell over 50 million dollars worth of my own and

only to grab some desk space, blog, interview, relax, and

other people’s (as an affiliate) products and services, and

network.

much more. 11:00 am - 12:00 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 4

12:00 pm - 6:00 pm @ Bordeaux (Attendees with Press Ribbons only)

»» Jeremy Schoemaker, President, Market Notify Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Email (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Meet Market Affiliate Summit kicks off with an extended session of structured, face to face networking. Merchants will have tables set to meet with affiliates to discuss their affiliate programs and cut deals. Vendors that cater to affiliates and merchants will also have tables to share information about their prod-

1c - How to Optimize WordPress Like a Super Affiliate Are you an affiliate using WordPress? Watch WordPress personalities Syed Balkhi & David Vogelpohl share pro tips for promoting and optimizing affiliate offers using WordPress. Don’t miss this session!

ucts and services. Each table is a meeting spot for teaching, learning, closing deals, creating partnerships and finding new opportunities. This event is open to all pass types. 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC (Open to All Attendees)

11:00 am - 12:00 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2

»» Syed Balkhi, Founder, WPBeginner »» David Vogelpohl, CEO, Marketing Clique Experience Level: Beginner Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: WordPress

2a - Conversion Mythbusting There are many common myths that are circulating among digital marketing professionals. Break through and dispel them with common sense, and watch your profits skyrocket! 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 1

(Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

»» Tim Ash, CEO, SiteTuners Experience Level: Intermediate

1d - 20 of the Most Effective

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/

Strategies in Digital Marketing

Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Conversion

I will be covering 20 of the latest trends, tools, companies, softwares, and strategies in digital marketing, affiliate mar-

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

keting and social media. 11:00 am - 12:00 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Evan Weber, CEO, Experience Advertising Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Advertising (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

2b - Case Study: Drinking Wine and Making Money (The Full Monty) How 3 friends turned a Mastermind Group into a profitable business. We tell all: from technology to content creation to outsourcing to revenue. Learn how you, too, can build a profitable niche site.

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 4

· Issue 29 · January 2015

»» Tricia Meyer, Owner and CEO, Sunshine Rewards »» Eric Nagel, President, Eric Nagel & Associates, Inc. »» Todd Farmer, CEO, Performstreet Media Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Monetization (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

VIP & All Access Attendees Snack Break 2c - Rise of the Six Figure Blogger - Will You Join Us? With over 35 cumulative years of experience and success in online marketing & blogging, this panel of experts will dive deep into what it takes to grow your blog, brand and busi-

Take a break from the networking and education for some snacks and drinks in a relaxed networking environment. 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A/B (VIP and All Access Attendees with Snack Tickets Only)

ness to the next level. 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» John Chow, Titles Are For Wimps, John Chow dot Com »» Zac Johnson, CEO, MoneyReign Inc »» John Rampton, President, Adogy »» Matthew Woodward, Owner, MatthewWoodward.co.uk Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Monetization (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

3a - Develop a CRO & Testing Strategy Convert Traffic Into Sale If you aren’t testing, you’re leaving money on the table. In this session you’ll learn how to identify pages, forecast, measure effectively, and see real-life case studies to give you new test ideas. 2:00 pm - 2:18 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 1 »» Justin Rondeau, Conversion Optimization Manager, Digital Marketer Experience Level: Intermediate

2d - You Suck! Prevent & Address

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/

Negative Customer Feedback

Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Testing

Customers air frustrations publicly via social media, reviews, etc. Mishandling them hurts your reputation. Gain

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

tips to prevent & address issues, turning negative experiences into positive outcomes! 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Bhavik Modi, Owner, Inkdatabase.com »» James Thompson, Co-Founder, Daft Labs, LLC »» Sean Steinmarc, Founder, psGive »» Nathan Smith, President , Zynali Incorporated Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Customer feedback (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

3b - Missed Opportunities to Monetize Your Site Learn where you could be making money with your website, blog, newsletter, rss feed and even social sharing buttons. This session helps you to make money & helps merchants make more with affiliates. 2:00 pm - 2:18 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 4 »» Adam Riemer, President, Adam Riemer Marketing Experience Level: Beginner Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Monetization (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

2:00 pm - 2:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4

3c - Mobile Marketing & Pay Per Call: The New Face of Paid Search

»» Ashley Coombe, Marketing Director, Prosperent Experience Level: Advanced

Have you successfully transitioned to mobile paid search?

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher

If not, you are missing the chance to tap into the mobile

Niche/Vertical: Social

market – and generate more $$$. Learn how to jump in to mobile marketing feet first.

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

2:00 pm - 2:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Ron McKinney, Director of Business Development, mobileFUSED

4a - Does (Affiliate Program) Size Matter? Is more always better when it comes to the number of af-

Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Pay Per Call (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

filiate networks you’re working with? Learn to drive an affiliate program to success: find incremental value, grow it, consolidate it. 2:30 pm - 2:48 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 1 »» Cristian Miculi, Sr. Manager, Affiliate Services, Avangate

3d - Advanced Social Media: 30 Tricks & Tools

Experience Level: Beginner

to Save You Time

Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser

Walk away with my favorite advanced social media tech-

Niche/Vertical: Networks (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

niques and tools that you can start using today to increase engagement, grow your audience, get more traffic, and increase your commissions.

The most technologically advanced tracking software in the universe Oﬃcial launch SEPT 2ND 2014 38

· Issue 29 · January 2015

4b - Automate, Outsource, and Free

5a - Strive for Inbox Zero and

Yourself to Grow Your Business

Unclutter Your Business Mind

Are you spending time on the right things? Learn which of

Learn efficiency methods from Shawn Collins that he uses

your marketing you can automate and outsource and what

to keep his email inbox at little or no emails, which helps

you should spend your own time on to grow your business

him to be highly productive

and make more money. 2:30 pm - 2:48 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 4 »» Scott Jangro, Founder, Shareist.com

3:00 pm - 3:18 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 1 »» Shawn Collins, Co-Founder, Affiliate Summit Experience Level: Intermediate

Experience Level: Beginner

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher

Advertiser, Network

Niche/Vertical: Automating and Outsourcing

Niche/Vertical: Productivity

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

4c - Tools for Mobile Media Buying An overview of how mobile media buying works and the tools needed to be successful. I’ll look at adserving, tracking, and optimization, with some bonus tools that I use. 2:30 pm - 2:48 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Mike Buechele, Founder, Adalytical Session Description: An overview of how mobile media buying works and the tools needed to be successful. I’ll look

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

5b - Behavior Technology and Lead Gen Programs: Working in Tandem Learn how to take advantage of accessible technologies to track leads generated by your partners and excite them with a program that offers additional value on improved conversion rates. 3:00 pm - 3:18 pm @ Champagne Ballroom 4 »» Vinayak Ahuja, Business Development Director, Jungle Media

at adserving, tracking, and optimization, with some bonus

Experience Level: Intermediate

tools that I use.

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/

Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Mobile

Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Lead Gen (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

5c - Battle of the Email Offer Types: CPL vs. CPM 4d - Understanding Profitability in the Affiliate Space An in-depth look at metrics and profitability. Learn the importance of running detailed profit analysis reports. 2:30 pm - 2:48 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Paul Schroader, President, PS Web Solutions, Inc.

CPL or CPM email: the decision isn’t easy. We’ll look at pros and cons of both offer types, and provide best practices and tips on how to maximize revenue no matter which email offer type you run. 3:00 pm - 3:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Daryl Colwell, SVP, Matomy USA

Experience Level: Intermediate

Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Network

Niche/Vertical: Analytics

Niche/Vertical: Email

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

»» How to Utilize a Book to Get Website Traffic and Leads

5d - Predicting The Future of Business

(Deborah Carney): Books bring traffic and leads to your website plus raise your level of authority in your topic.

Predicting what trends are changing consumer behaviors is a powerful skill. This session will review emerging technologies & look at how they could impact consumers & businesses in the next few years. 3:00 pm - 3:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Duane Forrester, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Trends (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Publishing eBooks or Print is free & not hard. Bring your book idea & I’ll help you get started. »» It’s Still About Providing Value (Michael Coley): Techniques change. Tools change. New challenges arise. But success as an affiliate still boils down to one thing... providing value, both to consumers and to merchants. »» Monetizing a Niche (Anne Parris): Building a community, and finding and promoting products that do well with a niche. »» Using Polyvore for Eye Catching Affiliate Roundups (Emily Vanek): Learn how to create eye-catching roundups and gift guides that incorporate your own affiliate links to boost your pageviews and Pinterest

Ask the Experts Roundtables

shares by harnessing the power of Polyvore. (Open to All Attendees)

Handpicked experts will handle topics in their specialty, and conduct chats, answer questions and share opinions during this networking and education session. 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A/B »» 10 Tools You Should Be Using To Automate Your Social Media (Vinny O’Hare): Automate some of your social media. I will show you 10 sexy tools that will get your social media automated and provide quality information to your fans and get them into your sales funnel quicker. »» The Best Tools for Business Management (Kelly Whalen): Brands and and bloggers will learn management tools to help stay organized, on task,

Blogger Meetup Hosted by Missy Ward, Co-Founder of Affiliate Summit and Anne Paris, Managing Partner of MidlifeBoulevard.com, this networking event is specifically for bloggers that are monetizing their blogs using affiliate marketing. There is no agenda, just time for you to meet new blogging friends and catch up with old ones over cocktails. 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm @ Burgundy (This event requires a separate registration. Attendees must have an Affiliate Summit Conference badge with “Affiliate” Attendee Type on it.)

network, and follow up.

Newcomer Program Meetup The Affiliate Summit Newcomer Program helps connect first time attendees with Affiliate Summit veterans. 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A/B Conference veterans volunteer their time to share their past experience ideas and information to help newcomers optimize their time at the conference. This is an opportunity for those first time attendees and conference veterans to meet. (You must be enrolled in the Affiliate Summit Newcomer Program to participate in this event.)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Day 2 Monday, January 19

6a - Putting the Brand First, DeCoupling Services & Technology One-stop shopping was once the gold standard in the affili-

Attendee Check-In Pick up your conference badge and attendee bag, and get started with Affiliate Summit. 7:30 am - 5:00 pm @ Paris Foyer

ate industry. Learn why brands are now seeking more control and separately evaluating independent representation and technology partners. 10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Todd Crawford, VP, Impact Radius »» Robert Glazer, Managing Director, Acceleration Partners »» Brook Schaaf, CEO, Schaaf-PartnerCentric

Refuel, Rendezvous & Refresh Room All attendees are welcome to grab some coffee or tea and take advantage of the tables and WiFi to have meetings, catch up on work or simply take a break.

»» Jeff McCollum, Consultant Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Independent Representation (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

7:30 am - 5:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome C (Open to All Attendees)

6b - Monetizaton is Not “Selling Out” : Bloggers & Affiliate Mktg Press Room In the blogger community, monetization is often viewed as The Press Room is an area reserved for credentialed press

“selling out” or a betrayal of the craft. Our panel of moneti-

to grab some desk space, blog, interview, relax, and net-

zation experts, who also happen to be bloggers, will debunk

work.

this notion.

8:30 am - 6:00 pm @ Bordeaux

10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B

(Attendees with Press Ribbons Only)

»» Karen Hoxmeier, COO, FMTC »» Brian Littleton, President/CEO, ShareASale »» Keri Lyn Renner, Blogger/Owner, SheSaved, LLC

Exhibit Hall Refresh Exhibitors may use this time to refresh their booth, catch up with their employees and enjoy a selection of morning pastries and coffee before the Exhibit Hall opens. 9:00 am - 10:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Rivoli ABC

»» Missy Ward, Co-Founder & President, Affiliate Summit Experience Level: Beginner Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Bloggers (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

(Attendees with Exhibitor or Sponsor Ribbons Only)

6c - Finding a Perfect Fit: Selecting Buffet Breakfast 9:00 am - 10:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC (VIP and All Access Attendees with Breakfast Ticket Only)

The Best Affiliate Program 3 seasoned affiliate managers & an experienced affiliate share the top criteria for choosing best performing affiliate programs. Program types will include CPA, CPC and CPL in a variety of verticals. 10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2

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· Issue 29 · January 2015

»» Amy Ely, Sr. Manager, Ecommerce Marketing, Canada, Under Armour »» Karen McMahon, Affiliate Marketing Strategist, The Affiliate Whisperer

»» Chad Hymas, President, Chad Hymas Communications, Inc. »» Jon Levine, Director of eCommerce, All Inclusive Marketing (Emcee)

»» Kim Salvino, Director, Client Services, Performance Hoirzon Group

(Open to All Attendees)

»» Elizabeth Silvermaster, Director of Affiliate Marketing, LeadQual Experience Level: Beginner

Luncheon Buffet

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC

Niche/Vertical: Affiliate Programs

(VIP and All Access Attendees with Lunch Ticket Only)

(Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

7a - 55 Must-Haves in Every 6d - Affiliate Legal Issues: Three

Affiliate Manager’s Toolbox

Immediate Action Items Geno will uncover 55 tools that effective affiliate managers Explore affiliate tax nexus legislation, FTC disclosure re-

use to streamline processes of affiliate recruitment, compli-

quirements and trademark protection in this panel discus-

ance policing, communication, program optimization, and

sion that includes a lawyer, a retailer and a trademark pro-

more.

tection specialist. 10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Celena Dwyer, Manager, Search Marketing, Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, Inc. »» Sam Engel, Marketing Manager, BrandVerity »» Gary Kibel, Partner, Davis & Gilbert LLP »» Carolyn Kmet, Chief Marketing Officer, All Inclusive

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Geno Prussakov, CEO & Founder, AM Navigator LLC Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Affiliate Management (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Marketing Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Legal (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

7b - Beat The Competition With The Right Intelligence Tools Learn how merchants can provide affiliates with the same competitive intelligence that top marketers deploy on paid/

Exhibit Hall Open Hours Meet with a wide selection of affiliate programs, networks, affiliate program managers, and vendors. All attendees are welcome. 10:00 am - 5:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Rivoli ABC (Open to All Attendees)

organic search & display ads, plus the impact of PLA’s on affiliate page rank. 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» Greg Shepard, CEO, AffiliateTraction »» Max Teitelbaum, COO, WhatRunsWhere »» Lori Weiman, CEO, The Search Monitor Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser

Opening Remarks & Keynote 11:15 am - 12:15 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC

Niche/Vertical: Competitive Intelligence (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

7c - Smart Remarketing for Maximum Returns Learn how to squeeze the most revenue from your retargeting campaigns - and how to find & implement the creative (and revenue producing) opportunities you’ve been missing out on. 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Sean Dolan, President & COO, Pushfire, Inc »» Tim Mayer, CMO, Trueffect Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser Niche/Vertical: PPC (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

7d - Creating Unique Partnerships for Publisher Success

8b - Building Multiple Streams of Income with Affiliate Marketing Learn how you can use affiliate marketing to build a well balanced diversified business. By utilizing different traffic types and promotional techniques, you can build a stable long term business. 3:30 pm - 3:48 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» David Ford, Owner, Aff Playbook Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Affiliate (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

8c - Follow the Leaders – A Data Analysis of Top Affiliates

Learn how new partnership models drive the future of affiliate marketing, as advertisers, networks and publishers

A deep dive session into the strategies and tactics of the

work to balance each party’s needs in the quest to opti-

leading affiliates from key selected industries.

mize earnings for all. 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» John Toskey, Interim Director, eBay »» Oliver Roup, CEO, VigLink Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network

3:30 pm - 3:48 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Or Offer, CEO, SimilarWeb Experience Level: Advanced Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Competitive Intelligence (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Niche/Vertical: Collaboration (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

8d - Beyond PPC: Multi Channel Bidding and Traffic Monetization

8a - Full Review of a $2000/day Facebook Campaign A full reveal behind the Facebook ads, audiences, optimization efforts, ad copy, targeting and offer I used to get a campaign that is making me $2000 per day. No slides. Just Facebook ads manager. 3:30 pm - 3:48 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» John Crestani, Founder, Results Driven Marketing

native traffic bidding platforms has changed the way we do business in both the supply and demand side. 3:30 pm - 3:48 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Yancy Naughton, Founder, WantsTraffic Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/

Experience Level: Advanced

Advertiser, Network

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher

Niche/Vertical: Traffic Monetization

Niche/Vertical: Facebook (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

In this session we will discuss how the emergence of alter-

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

9a - How To Successfully Run a Dating Campaign on Facebook & POF Learn how the top affiliates at PlentyOfFish run their dating campaigns! Gain an insight on things that PlentyOfFish do to acquire users! I’ve coached $10/day affiliates to $1000/ day super affiliates! 4:00 pm - 4:18 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Benjamin Louie, Advertising Manager, PlentyOfFish Media Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Dating

9c - Pinterest Clinic: Pin Your Way to More Clicks! Learn to integrate Pinterest into your marketing strategy. Users are female, educated and affluent! Pinterest now drives 10% of retail site visits. Construct the perfect pin and be re-pinnable. 4:00 pm - 4:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Michelle Held, Owner, MetroNY, LLC Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Pinterest (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

9d - Security Doesn’t Have to Be a Nightmare 9b - How to Leverage Display

An overview of security risks that affect affiliates and ad-

Advertising Tactics for Success

vertisers. Learn how to protect your business from security

Pointing to examples of successful campaigns, this session will share display advertising techniques for building better landing pages and using analytics tools to know your competition. 4:00 pm - 4:18 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» Jeffrey Reitzen, SVP of Account Management, CCDR Media, a division of CPXi

vulnerabilities. 4:00 pm - 4:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Mohammed Khonizi, CEO / President, Panda CashBack LLC Experience Level: Beginner Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Security (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Analytics (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

10a - Five Disruptive Marketing Predictions for 2015 No other industry changes and evolves as fast as marketing, So what will 2015 hold? Explore five disruptive predictions and learn how you can be prepared to make 2015 your best year yet. 4:30 pm - 4:48 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Victoria Clark, Founder, VictoryRiot Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Trends (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Experience Level: Intermediate

10b - SEO Link Audit - Advanced

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/

Techniques to Protect Your Website

Advertiser, Network

The Link Audit is an essential part of any SEO strategy. Links & External Factors account for almost 50% of Google’s Al-

Niche/Vertical: FTC (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

gorithm and links that used to help could now be hurting your chance to rank. 4:30 pm - 4:48 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» Scott Polk, Founder / CEO, Marketing Nomads Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: SEO (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

11a - What Is Your Business Worth and What It Might Sell For? Before selling, you need to determine what it’s worth. Jock Purtle of Digital Exits, will provide a detailed analysis of how to value your online business and tips on how to increase it’s value. 5:00 pm - 5:18 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Jock Purtle, Director, Digital Exits Experience Level: Intermediate

10c - The Role Nutritional Products

Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher

Play in Affiliate Marketing

Niche/Vertical: Buying and Selling Websites

The breakdown of an online nutritional offer and expla-

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

nation of why health and beauty products work in direct response. Education on liability, manufacturing best practices and how nutra is evolving. 4:30 pm - 4:48 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Jim Gardner, Vice-President, Planet Fulfillment - Private Label Nutra Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Nutritional Products (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

11b - SEO Q&A Get real answers to your current SEO problems and challenges live from industry experts. Submit your site to get advice and actionable recommendations to improve your SEO strategy. 5:00 pm - 5:18 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» Kenny Hyder, Founder, Hyder Media Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: SEO

10d - Tips from an FTC Pro: How to

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

be Smart and Avoid FTC Hell The FTC is more aggressive and merciless than ever. Any-

11c - From PC to Mobile: Marketing

one in the chain - advertiser, affiliate, network, payment pro-

Tactics that Mimic the Consumer

cessor - could be its next target. Learn how to avoid an FTC action against you. 4:30 pm - 4:48 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Bill Rothbard, Attorney, Law Offices of William I. Rothbard

Consumers are moving from PC to mobile in droves. Don’t get left in the dust! Hear how to retarget consumers across screens, maximize conversions and attribution, and avoid common missteps. 5:00 pm - 5:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2

· Issue 29 · January 2015

»» Ted McNulty, Senior Director Performance Advertising, Millennial Media Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Cross-Screen (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Press Room The Press Room is an area reserved credentialed Press only to grab some desk space, blog, interview, relax, and network. 8:30 am - 4:00 pm @ Bordeaux (Attendees with Press Ribbons only)

11d - The Convergence of Affiliate Marketing & Social Media

Exhibit Hall Refresh

Affiliate programs should be leveraging social media to find

Exhibitors may use this time to refresh their booth, catch

new partners but don’t know how. I’ll detail best practices,

up with their employees and enjoy a selection of morning

free tools and practical examples for adding incremental

pastries and coffee before the Exhibit Hall opens.

sales. 5:00 pm - 5:18 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4

9:00 am - 10:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Rivoli ABC (Attendees with Exhibitor or Sponsor Ribbons Only)

»» Sal Conca, Founder, Streamline Marketing Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Social Media (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Day 3 Tuesday, January 20 Attendee Check-In Pick up your conference badge and attendee bag, and get started with Affiliate Summit. 8:00 am - 3:00 pm @ Paris Foyer

Connecting the best oﬀers, advertisers and aﬃliates

Refuel, Rendezvous & Refresh Room All attendees are welcome to grab some coffee or tea and take advantage of the tables and WiFi to have meetings,

Visit us at Booth 8001

catch up on work or simply take a break. 8:00 am - 4:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome C (Open to All Attendees)

www.healthbullion.com 47

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Traffic (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

12c - Actionable Steps to Boost Your Affiliate Program in 2015 Become 10X more efficient with APIs & automation, dig deep into network tools & data in ways you never knew, capture low hanging fruit, streamline recruiting & more pro tips you can’t afford to miss.

Buffet Breakfast 9:00 am - 10:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC (VIP and All Access Attendees with Breakfast Ticket Only)

10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Kush Abdulloev, Affiliate Program Manager, VMInnovations »» Jennifer Crego, Affiliate Manager, Greg Hoffman Consulting

12a - The 10 Golden Rules of Social Media Marketing Digital Marketing experts will share the 10 most important strategies for using Social Media for business and personal brand development. 10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Jay Berkowitz, CEO, Ten Golden Rules

»» Karen Garcia, CEO, GTO Management »» Kristin Kinsey, Digital Strategy & Ecommerce Manager, Performance Health »» Joe Sousa, Affiliate Coordinator, Fanatics.com Experience Level: Advanced Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Management (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Experience Level: Advanced Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Social Media (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

12d - Industry Trust—Promoting Transparency in Affiliate Marketing How can we improve trust across the industry? Representatives from different sides of the industry (affiliate, affiliate manager, network) will discuss how these groups can work

12b - Driving Massive Traffic for Sales & Lead Generation In-depth discussion of various traffic sources & strategies to drive massive affiliate sales such as Facebook, Google, PPC, RTB, and extending the long tail. 10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» JJ Alan, Owner/CEO, Creative Ventures Media »» Ian Fernando, Managing Partner, Jersey Consolidated »» Bryant Hussey, Director of Online Marketing, Atlantic Coast Media Group »» Derek Lester, CEO, 4thGearMedia

together in harmony. 10:00 am - 11:00 am @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Van Chappell, Founder/CEO, 5IQ »» Carrie Rocha, Founder, Pocket Your Dollars.com »» Chad Waite, Marketing Manager, AvantLink »» Andrew Woolbert, Head of Affiliate Marketing & Lead Generation, Living Direct Inc. Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Transparency (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Experience Level: Advanced

Exhibit Hall Open Hours

Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Merchant Program Monetization

Meet with a wide selection of affiliate programs, networks, affiliate program managers, and vendors. 10:00 am - 4:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Rivoli ABC (Open to All Attendees)

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

13b - Mobile Marketing Secrets Revealed Learn how to make a successful mobile marketing cam-

Opening Remarks, Pinnacle Awards & Keynote The ninth annual Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards will be presented. These awards recognize exceptional performance in affiliate marketing. Also, get an overview of the day ahead, as well as hearing the keynote address. 11:15 am - 12:15 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC »» Noah Kagan, Founder, AppSumo »» Jon Levine, Director of eCommerce, All Inclusive Marketing (Emcee) »» Shawn Collins, Co-Founder, Affiliate Summit »» Missy Ward, Co-Founder & President, Affiliate Summit (Open to All Attendees)

paign. Hear about the latest tips and tricks from the companies that push mobile marketing to its limits. 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» Konstantin Dieterle, Managing Director, AppLift »» Brian Fox, CEO, AdAction Interactive »» Shirley Lin, VP,Global Business Development, YeahMobi/ NDP Media »» Benjamin Pomerantz, Founder and Managing Director, Pocket Media »» Cameron Stewart, General Manager, HasOffers by TUNE Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Mobile (Networking Plus, VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Luncheon Buffet 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Concorde ABC

13c - What’s Working, What’s Not

(VIP and All Access Attendees with Lunch Ticket Only)

Working in Affiliate Marketing? Want to learn insights from 4 influential industry leaders

13a - Four Hot Ways to Maximize Revenue Performance Now Squeezing every penny from your program is vital, so here’s how to maximize your network performance and site real estate, turn more clicks into sales, and take amazing care of your affiliates. 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Jeannine Crooks, Senior Account Manager, Affiliate Window »» Rick Gardiner, CEO, iAffiliate Management »» John LoBrutto, Director of Affiliate Partnerships, 1&1 Internet, Inc

about surprising, but effective changes introduced to their AM efforts, challenges they anticipate in 2015, relationship optimization & more? 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Sylvia Cintron, Digital Media Director, CheckIntoCash »» Tara McCommons, VP Sales and Marketing, LinkConnector Corporation »» Jackie Eldridge, Director of Marketing, DollarDays »» Helen Fang, Director of Marketing, Ecommerce, Coupons.com Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Knowledge (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

13d - Maximizing the Benefits of An Affiliate/Manager Relationship Learn how to make the most of your affiliate program, by building and establishing a relationship with your affiliate or your affiliate manager. 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Trisha Lyn Fawver, Affiliate Program Manager, Snow Consulting, Inc. »» Christen Moynihan, Editorial and Accounts Manager, The Broke-Ass Bride »» Dave Taylor, Blogger, Videographer, AskDaveTaylor.com

14b - Google Shopping: What You Need to Know Google Shopping has changed its considerations of affiliates and product listings within its engine. Find out what affiliate mangers and affiliates should know for 2015. 3:10 pm - 3:28 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome B »» Linda Bateman, General Manager, Vertical Rail Experience Level: Beginner Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser Niche/Vertical: Google (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser

14c - The Best Defense is a Good

Niche/Vertical: Relationships

Offense - Managing Legal Risk

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

How merchants and their affiliates can mitigate exposure to liability from both the FTC and private litigants by control-

Networking Pub Crawl Refer to your Pub Crawl map of participating sponsors and visit each one for great networking opportunities and, of course, free beer. All attendees welcome. 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Rivoli ABC (Open to All Attendees)

ling both their advertising message and how it is transmitted to consumers. 3:10 pm - 3:28 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 1 & 2 »» Rachel Hirsch, Senior Associate, Ifrah PLLC Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher, Merchant/ Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: FTC

14a - How to Develop 100’s of Useful

(VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

Content Ideas in 48 Hours How do you come up with great ideas for your content marketing strategy, even if you think your business is boring? Learn a process any affiliate can you use to discover hundreds of powerful ideas. 3:10 pm - 3:28 pm @ Paris Ballroom - Vendome A »» Arnie Kuenn, CEO, Vertical Measures Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Affiliate/Publisher Niche/Vertical: Content (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

14d - Recruiting and Activating Affiliates with Video Content A case study on how my team discovered an affiliate niche and used a 3 minute video to recruit and activate hundreds of new affiliates that generated six figure affiliates sales in 2013-14. 3:10 pm - 3:28 pm @ Versaille Ballroom 3 & 4 »» Wade Tonkin, Affiliate Manager, Fanatics Retail Group Experience Level: Intermediate Target Audience: Merchant/Advertiser, Network Niche/Vertical: Video (VIP and All Access Attendees Only)

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Keynote Bio

Chad Hymas

Company, Chad Hymas Communications, Inc., and is a recognized world-class wheelchair athlete. In 2003, Chad set a world record by wheeling his chair from Salt Lake City to

he Wall Street Journal calls Chad Hymas “one of

Las Vegas (513 miles). Chad’s speaking career in the areas

the 10 most inspirational people in the world!” Chad

of leadership, team building, customer service, and master-

HymasChad inspires, motivates, and moves audi-

ing change has brought him multiple honors. He is the past

ences, creating an experience that touches hearts for a life-

president of the National Speakers Association Utah chapter

time. He is one of the youngest ever to receive the Council

and a member of the exclusive elite Speakers Roundtable

Of Peers Award For Excellence (CPAE) and to be inducted

(one of twenty of the world’s top speakers). As a member of

into the prestigious National Speaker Hall Of Fame. In 2001,

the National Speakers Association, Chad travels as many as

at the age of 27, Chad’s life changed in an instant when a

300,000 miles a year captivating and entertaining audiences

2,000-pound bale of hay shattered his neck leaving him a

around the world. He has graced the stage of hundreds of

quadriplegic. But Chad’s dreams were not paralyzed that

professional and civic organizations including Wells Fargo,

day – he became an example of what is possible. Chad is

Blue Cross Blue Shield, AT&T, Rainbird, IHC, American Ex-

a best selling author, president of his own Communications

press, Prudential Life, Vast FX, and Merrill Lynch.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Keynote Bio: Noah Kagan

oah Kagan was #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint and has since created two multi-million dollar businesses, most recently AppSumo.com. His latest product

is SumoMe.com, free tools to help you grow your website traffic. He also is a top-rated taco connoisseur and writes about kick-ass marketing at Okdork.com.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Speaker Bios Kush Abdulloev

Linda Bateman

Khushbaht (Kush) Abdulloev is the Affiliate Program Manager at VMInnovations, a Lincoln, NE based online retailer that has served over two million customers since 2005. In 2014, Kush won the Affiliate Manager of the Year at the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards in Las Vegas. Under Kush’s management VMInnovations affiliate program has reached ShareASale’s Top 20 PowerRank and is experiencing consistent exponential growth. In addition to managing VMInnovations affiliate program, Kush is a passionate marketing strategist who specializes in increasing VMInnovation’s websites online visibility, brand awareness and sales by implementing and improving search engine optimization, online advertising and social media operations.

Linda_headA 15+ year veteran of search engine optimization and pay per click advertising, Linda began her marketing career in the remote “Internet wilds” of Alaska tourism… making her a true Internet pioneer. While honing her optimization and strategy development skills, she found her true calling in e-commerce marketing. She has worked in both agency and in-house capacities, and has an innovative understanding of how to overcome search marketing obstacles to find success. She identified the industry need for a specialized form of shopping channel marketing, then together with Andrew Arenson, formed the e-commerce marketing company Vertical Rail. Linda currently serves as the General Manager and Lead Strategist of Vertical Rail. She manages a staff of 13 and oversees a growing client list that combines for over $600 million in online sales annually in wide ranging industries.

Vinayak Ahuja

I have been in the affiliate space for over 5 years, attending Linkshare, CJ, and Affiliate Summit events for the past three. I received my start in the affiliate space with Empower Benefits, now Core Stream, were I was in complete charge of their power shopping portal. In a span of 3 years, I grew their business by 300% and their audience by 1000%. I had an opportunity to work directly with the marketing teams at a number of high-end brands including DirecTV, Wyndham Hotels, Lenovo, Dell, Best Buy, Pearsons Publishing, and more. The experience gave me great insight and perspective on the challenges between advertiser and affiliate challenge, the nature of “content” and “service” to a user, and finding the best partnerships.

JJ Alan

What began as an idea in JJ Alan’s entrepreneurial mind 16 years ago, laid the groundwork for his innovative and creative journey online. JJ Alan is a successful marketer, who has exploded into the affiliate marketing scene and is known for his “Scared Money Don’t Make Money” motto. His aggressive approach to online advertising and creative strategies is what really sets him apart from the pack. Armed with creativity and passion, JJ Alan offers entrepreneurs advice to make money online.

Tim Ash

Tim Ash is the author of the bestselling book Landing Page Optimization, and CEO of SiteTuners (a firm that improves website conversion rate via conversion-focused redesign blueprints, landing page testing, and training of internal optimization teams). In the mid-1990s he became one of the early pioneers in the discipline of website conversion rate optimization. Over the past 19 years, Tim has helped a number of major US and international brands to develop successful web-based initiatives. Companies like Sears, Google, Expedia, eHarmony, Canon, Nestle, Symantec, Intuit, Yahoo! and many others have benefited from Tim’s innovative perspective. Tim is a highly-regarded keynote speaker and presenter at industry conferences worldwide. He is the founder and chairperson of Conversion Conference and a frequent contributor to print and online publications such as ClickZ, and Website Magazine.

Syed Balkhi

Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner and List25 an extremely popular entertainment site with over 1 million subscribers and 150 Million video views. Syed’s work has been featured in NYTimes, HuffingtonPost, Yahoo Small Business, Wired, Mashable, and countless other well-reputed online magazines.

Jay Berkowitz

Jay Berkowitz is the author of The Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing, now in its fourth printing, and Ten Free Internet Marketing Strategies which reached #1 on Amazon’s Best seller lists for Entrepreneurship and Small Business. He is the founder and CEO of digital marketing agency TenGoldenRules.com.

Mike Buechele

Mike Buechele is a vet of the Ad Technology industry. He’s helped grow some of the biggest companies in digital media, including DoubleClick and AOL. He is a performance marketer, Ad Operations expert, and the founder of Adalytical, a mobile focused ad tech agency servicing advertisers, publishers, and media buyers.

Deborah Carney

Deborah Carney is founder of Team Loxly Outsourced Affiliate Management & Consulting and BookGoodies.com. A successful Outsourced Program Manager, past in-house affiliate manager & consultant for many networks & companies, Deborah’s experiences have brought her to a point to start sharing new information with affiliates to help them repurpose their content into books that teach or entertain & generate new traffic for their sites. Deborah founded BookGoodies.com where writers can connect with readers & learn to create successful books plus market those books. This successful community is growing rapidly to enable authors to collaborate, brainstorm & grow their audience. Books, both print and ebooks are a great way to get new traffic from the sites you sell them on (Amazon, Smashwords etc) plus have as something to sell or give away at live events. Books are the new business card and you probably already have content to create one.

Van Chappell

Van Chappell is the founder of 5IQ. 5IQ enables Affiliate Managers to grow their programs by providing targeted lists of publishers based on competitive intelligence. Van first began working in Affiliate Marketing in 2009 when he joined BrandVerity as the VP of Sales. He is very interested in making data transparent and visible. Prior to Affiliate Marketing, Van spent a number of years in the US Navy and working in the Healthcare IT industry. He has 3 children and a beautiful wife. The family is temporarily living in Brooklyn but they call Seattle home.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

John Chow John Chow, a damn fine person, friend of the community, Ultimate Fighting Championship contestant, member of the Save the Whales Foundation, the man who controls the black market on baby seal pelts and member of the “probably yo’ daddy” foundation.

Sylvia Cintron

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sylvia Cintron is a seasoned marketing professional with over 17 years of experience. She has proven herself to be an excellent manager and strategist, overseeing complex, multi-tiered teams and formulating long-term strategic account plans for B2B, B2C, and non-profit organizations. As Director of Digital Marketing at Check Into Cash, Sylvia is responsible for aggressive growth in revenue for multiple online products, as well as digitally initiated revenue for stores (more than 1,000 locations nationwide). She also manages all multi-channel efforts across SEO, paid search, email marketing, affiliate marketing, lead generation, website & landing page conversion optimization, and UX for Check Into Cash and its related brands. At the Affiliate Summit West 2013, Sylvia led a highly informative panel about the 4 M’s (Monitor, Motivate, Manage, & Mentor) of Effective Affiliate Marketing Management, her own take on successful business relationships.

Victoria Clark

In Victoria’s 12+ years as a consumer-focused marketer, she has led the digital marketing efforts (and done other cool stuff) for several top and emerging brands. She has leveraged the latest web, mobile and social technology to increase brand awareness, user acquisition, engagement, conversions, and revenue for a variety of B2C brands across multiple verticals. She has also worked directly with product development and technology teams to optimize and enhance the consumer experience. In 2011, Victoria founded the start-up, Gravy,

where we developed transformative proprietary marketing technology that provides unprecedented local offline analytics and actionable tools around a consumer’s daily experiences. As an entrepreneurial marketer - she loves to make mistakes and experiment. She is inspired by constant collaboration and like to surround herself with creative thinkers. When not working, Victoria loves craft beer, fantasy football, and chilling with her rescue dogs.

Michael Coley

Michael Coley is a veteran of the affiliate industry. He founded one of the first coupon sites, Amazing-Bargains.com, in 1999. Michael is a moderator and active participant on ABestWeb.com. He has been a long-time advocate for affiliate marketing.

Shawn Collins

Shawn Collins has been an affiliate marketer since 1997. He is a Co-founder of Affiliate Summit, the leading global conference and tradeshow for the affiliate marketing industry, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine. He has authored the books “Affiliate Manager Boot Camp“, “Extra Money Answer“, “How to Get the Most from Exhibiting at Conferences”, “How to Get the Most Out of Attending a Conference”, and “Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants“. Also, he co-publishes the annual AffStat affiliate marketing benchmark reports. Shawn blogs daily on affiliate marketing at AffiliateTip.com, and hosts the weekly podcast, 7 Minutes in Affiliate Heaven, on GeekCast. fm. Additionally, Shawn has been quoted in numerous publications, including Entrepreneur Magazine, Internet Retailer, Inc. Magazine, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Daryl Colwell

Daryl Colwell manages client procurement efforts for Matomy Media Group’s North American business units. Advertiser partnerships he has forged for the company include such blue-chip marketers as American Express, HSBC, Nielsen and The Home Depot. Prior to joining Matomy in August 2008, Colwell spearheaded the financial services and travel verticals for Relevance-X, the online behavioral and life-stage targeting division of Acxiom. Colwell also served as vice president of sales for SilverCarrot, where he provided strategic advice and counsel to leading direct-response marketers, including Lending Tree, Netflix, Overstock and Meredith Publishing. An established industry thought leader and speaker, Colwell is regularly quoted in business and trade publications, including The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Advertising Age, Direct Marketing News, MediaPost and Advertising Age.

Sal Conca

Sal is a Managing Partner at Streamline-Marketing.com that was founded in early 2014 with Jon Claydon and Samantha Peterson. Sal is an industry veteran and marketing geek with over 13 years of experience. and an MBA in Marketing from Hofstra University Zarb School of Business. Sal has a proven track record of growing business for advertisers such as Cabela’s, Bing Rewards, Audible.com, Red Roof Inn and Puritan’s Pride. His expertise is in relationship management and media planning with a focus on data and insights. Sal has had the privilege of managing and training a team of media managers while working across multiple online marketing channels such as affiliate marketing, SEO, display advertising including RTB, social media and content marketing.

Ashley Coombe

Ashley Coombe started in Internet Marketing in 2006 when she purchased a baby gifts e-commerce site. After two months of zero sales, she set off to learn everything about search engine and conversion optimization and got hooked. Since then, she has built a number of niche affiliate sites, consulted local business in traffic and lead generation with SEO & SEM, as well as increasing customer engagement and sales through social media management. She recently joined

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Prosperent, an affiliate tools vendor, as their Marketing Director. She continues to work with content marketing platform, Shareist, as their Content Marketing Evangelist. Ashley is a frequent speaker at Affiliate Summit and has been sought out by publications such as Forbes and the Shark Tank blog for her social media expertise.

Todd Crawford

As a co-founder, Todd Crawford evangelizes the opportunities presented by a multi-channel approach to the performance model. Prior to Impact Radius, he served as vice president of sales and business development for Digital River’s affiliate network, oneNetworkDirect. Todd also contributed to the founding team at Commission Junction in 1998 and led its business and sales development efforts as vice president for more than seven years.

Jennifer Crego

Jennifer Crego has more than 10 years of experience in e-commerce and online marketing. After years on the merchant side, she recently joined Greg Hoffman Consulting as an Affiliate Manager. Jennifer loves affiliate marketing and the incredible relationships the industry offers. When she’s not working with affiliates or merchants, she’s building WordPress websites or planning her next travel adventure.

John Crestani

John is the captain of the Results Driven Marketing, a fast growing digital agency with expertise in Adwords/Facebook marketing. He has some online trainings on Adwords and Facebook advertising which are pretty cool, one is called Adwords Buddy, the other is called BTFGold. He is most proud of this one mortgage company that he increased the leads from 25/day, to over 1000/day. It totally skyrocketed their entire business, that was fun times. He was named #1 most socially conscious entrepreneur by United Nations somehow. He loves affiliate marketing for the freedom its allowed him, he travels the world constantly, and does lots of cool stuff like kite-surfing, skiing, salsa-dancing, etc.

Jeannine Crooks

As the Senior Account Manager with Affiliate Window US, Jeannine works closely with many of their largest programs such as 1&1 Internet, Lonely Planet, Agoda.com, and eHarmony. She is also the organizer of the Denver Affiliate Marketing Meetup, and is a frequent speaker at numerous events. Jeannine is a prominent affiliate advocate in the fight against the affiliate nexus tax, and continues to testify and lobby against legislation in Colorado and assist in other states. Most recently she was honored by being voted “Best Network Rep” by the members of ABestWeb. Jeannine believes that the most important take-away from any session is truly actionable information – so that every attendee leaves with ideas to make their programs perform better. Jeannine loves sports and travelling, or hanging out at home with her husband, Brad, and two Siberian Huskies. immediately.

Konstantin Dieterle

Konstantin has a track record of 4 years in running successful performance marketing campaigns for games (mobile, browser and client). He is currently the Managing Director for the US office at AppLift. Before joining AppLift, Konstantin joined Google, where he managed and supported German-based online gaming clients with their online/performance marketing strategies. Konstantin holds a double diploma degree in international management from the ESB Business School in Reutlingen and Reims Management School + just finished the Berlin triathlon for the second time.

Sean Dolan

Sean Dolan is the President & COO of PushFire. Sean got his start in online marketing when he began marketing his popular Houston DJ company online. He was amazed with the return on investment he was getting and soon friends and family were asking him for

advice on their own marketing strategies - and he realized he had a new career. With almost a decade of experience in pay per click marketing, he’s also an avid fan of remarketing and the various opportunities it provides. Sean has spoken at various conferences in the online marketing industry including SMX, PubCon, Search Exchange and more. When he’s not managing operations, devising PPC strategies or coaching youth football, Sean can be found spending time with his wife and children in his native Texas.

Celena Dwyer

Celena manages the affiliate program and search marketing programs for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. With over 14 years of experience managing online marketing campaigns from both the client and agency sides Celena brings a well-rounded approach to managing and growing relationships with external partners. She looks forward to working with affiliates to create personalized content to help them promote Fire Mountain Gems and Beads in the most relevant way for their site.

Jackie Eldridge

Jackie Eldridge, Director of Marketing for DollarDays.com, the country’s premier online wholesaler, is an accomplished marketing professional who uses creative strategy to produce innovative marketing solutions that boosts sales and business development. Eldridge manages all aspects of marketing for the company as well as identifying innovative solutions to grow sales. Eldridge holds a bachelors degree in journalism from Ohio University and has 30 years of marketing experience.

Amy Ely

Amy Ely manages the Canada affiliate program for Under Armour, one of the world’s most technical performance apparel, footwear and accessories brands. Her role at Under Armour included growing program performance across multiple markets and her efforts contributed to UA receiving the 2013 Pinnacle Award for Exceptional Merchant of the Year. Actively involved in the affiliate community since 2006, Amy also managed US marketing operations for buy.at, a leading global affiliate network, where she designed and executed a marketing strategy to grow the company’s worldwide presence. Prior to this position, Amy spent 4+ years working for AOL as a Product Manager for Advertising.com’s Affiliate Network and as a Marketing Manager to support buy.at and Advertising.com’s Publisher Services division. Amy’s publications include articles in FeedFront Magazine, the book “Internet Marketing from the Real Experts” and she participates in ABCs podcasts to share best practice knowledge and advice.

Sam Engel

Sam aims to educate, inform and promote economic health within the affiliate marketing industry. Sam currently serves at the Marketing Manager at BrandVerity, which protect brands across marketing channels including paid search, social media and coupon codes

Helen Fang

Helen Fang is well-versed marketer with a background and passion for SEO, affiliate, and content for both B2B and B2C companies. She’s on a mission to create, build, and market consumer web products to improve the way we shop. Helen’s been a part of the affiliate community since 2007, when she helped launched a coupon and deal site as a “side project” for Vendio, a company acquired by Alibaba. com. She’s been hooked ever since and remains a huge advocate for the power of the coupon site. At Coupons.com, Helen serves as a Director of Marketing, responsible for leading the business strategy and marketing for in-store and online initiatives helping helping Specialty Retailers pCoupons.com romote their offers to over 17MM unique visitors each month. Helen is a proud Cal Bear, mom to two rescued pups, and can’t decide whether her best social media moment was when Dave Mathews or Matt Cutts tweeted at her.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Todd Farmer Todd Farmer is an affiliate marketing veteran (since 1997) and Affiliate Summit’s “Affiliate Marketing Legend” Award Winner in 2011. He is a wine lover and partner in Wine Club Group and a full time Affiliate Marketing Technology Consultant for Inuvo and Affiliate Marketing Strategy Trainer at AffPlan.com.

Trisha Lyn Fawver

Trisha began as an in-house affiliate manager in 2006 at PsPrint. com and grew their affiliate program exponentially. She then moved on to the life of an outsourced program manager to grow several affiliate programs to six and seven figure status. Trisha has spoken at essential conferences such as Affiliate Summit, Social Media Marketing Summit, and Affiliate Convention. She has given back to the Affiliate Marketing community in the form of mentoring programs, mastermind groups, podcasts, contribution to books, and articles appearing on Marketing Pilgrim and in FeedFront Magazine. Fawver graduated from Humboldt State University in 2003 with a BA in Theatre Arts (Dramatic Writing Emphasis) and a minor in Media Studies. She uses these super powers to win costume contests.

Ian Fernando

Ian Fernando is an influential blogger and affiliate marketer. His views and insights have been seen all over the Internet as he provides useful tools and tips on online marketing, affiliate marketing, blogging, and related topics. His blog, IanFernando.com, is geared to providing substantive advice to the up and coming online entrepreneur. Ian is an aggressive Internet marketer. He has utilize the power of the internet to become an influential and respected blogger and affiliate marketer. Ian is an ‘out of the box’ thinker and is an example of a successful entrepreneur that has made and continuous to make money online.

David Ford

David Ford started his internet marketing journey over 10 years ago. During that time he’s been involved in in the industry as an affiliate, product owner, speaker, and consultant. He created Aff Playbook in 2009 as a way to help other affiliates and bring together like minded people.

Duane Forrester

Duane Forrester was a Sr. Product Manager with Bing’s Webmaster Program. Previously, he was an inhouse SEM running the SEO program for MSN in the US & Americas. He’s also the founding co-chair of SEMPO’s In-House SEM Committee, was formerly on the Board of Directors for SEMPO and is the author of two books: How To Make Money With Your Blog & Turn Clicks Into Customers. Duane was a moderator at www.searchengineforums.com and maintains his own blog at www.theonlinemarketingguy.com. He’s written for publications ranging from SearchEngineLand and DuctTape Marketing, to Entrepreneur Magazine, the New York Times and Inc. He actively

advises startups and large corporations, and even spent time advising the staff who maintain the White House’s websites.

Brian Fox

With over 15 years of online and performance based marketing experience, Brian is a true expert in the field. His current company, AdAction Interactive, helps mobile app developers acquire quality users on a cost per install basis. Previously, he has lead the strategic execution, media planning and buying for key blue-chip clients such as Netflix, Discover Card, Experian, Disney and many others.

Karen Garcia

Karen Garcia, CEO of the affiliate program management company, GTO Management, has sixteen years of experience in e-commerce and marketing. Since 1999, she has consulted on and profitably managed dozens of affiliate programs on many different network platforms ranging from large national brands to niche merchants. She was awarded the 2009 ShareASale “Pay It Forward” Award for Industry Advocate for her work, speaks often at conferences, and has many published industry articles. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Performance Marketing Association for three terms as an officer.

Rick Gardiner

Rick Gardiner is the CEO of iAffiliate Management, a leading affiliate management agency for software and consumer technology brands. Rick has over 10 years of performance marketing and eCommerce experience and is responsible for finding and developing partners that align with client needs and the agencies core values. Prior to founding iAffiliate Management, Rick worked on the network side and was instrumental in growing oneNetworkDirect—Digital River’s flagship affiliate network. His tenure there enabled him to work with brands like Symantec, Microsoft Store, Uniblue, PC Tools, avast!, Targus, Roxio, Logitech, and Trend Micro. When unplugged, Rick enjoys spending time with his family in their Minneapolis home. He and his wife enjoy cooking and discovering new restaurants with their two sons. Rick holds a B.S. in Communications and Marketing from the University of Minnesota, where he was a member of the University of Minnesota men’s swim team and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Jim Gardner

Jim Gardner has a Bachelors degree in Marketing & Economics from the University of Florida and a Webmaster Certification from Florida State University. Jim currently serves as Vice President of Planet Fulfillment and Director of Business Development at Private Label Nutraceuticals. Jim has worked w/ AtLast/Newgistics, Saddle Creek Logistics, IslandSurf.com and IQ Strategies over a 12 year career in online sales, marketing and product fulfillment. Jim’s diverse back ground in programming, lead generation, nutraceutical manufacturing and private labeling, logistics, systems integration and small parcel shipping gives him a unique 360 degree view of online commerce w/ a strong focus on sales and distribution of Health and Beauty products. Jim was a speaker at the Internet Retailer Conference (IRCE) 2004, Supplement Millions Conference in 2007 and has been an integral part of helping AtLast/Newgistics, Saddle Creek Logistics and Private Label Nutrceuticals all find spots on the INC 500/5000 list the past 6 years.

Robert Glazer

Robert Glazer, founder and managing director of Acceleration Partners, is a customer acquisition specialist with an exceptional track record in growing revenue and profits for fast-growing consumer product and services companies. In demand by top consumer brands and investment firms, Robert has extensive experience and demonstrated thought leadership in the consumer, e-commerce, retail, online marketing, and ad-tech industries. Clients include adidas, eBay, ModCloth, One Kings Lane, Reebok, Shutterfly, Target, Gymbo-

· Issue 29 · January 2015

ree, Tiny Prints, zulily, and many other consumer brands. In 2013, Acceleration Partners drove more than $300 million in online revenue for its clients. The company was awarded the 2012 Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award for the industry’s top affiliate program, ranked #260 on the prestigious 2014 Inc. 500 list, and ranked #3 on the 2014 Boston Business Journal Pacesetters list of fastest growing private company in Massachusetts.

Michelle Held

Michelle is an entrepreneur, author and philanthropist involved in the technology industry for over 15 years. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Her company, MetroNY, LLC, specializes in customized web programming, search engine optimization and social media services. Michelle serves as a consultant to clients with respect to issues such as digital marketing, search marketing, and project management. As a speaker, she conducts seminars and training sessions on social media and web technologies. A proponent of corporate philanthropy Michelle currently serves on the board of directors of her township’s municipal authority and on the board of a start-up 501(c)(3) organization in addition to serving with other nonprofits. She is the author of “Pinterest Tutorial.” Follow Michelle on her blogs, metrony.com and pintalk.net. Connect with Michelle on Twitter (@metrony or @pintalknet).

Rachel Hirsch

Rachel Hirsch is an attorney at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Ifrah PLLC. Ms. Hirsch advises clients on compliance with FTC and state consumer regulations. Her clients include, among others, a variety of networks, advertisers, publishers, software and data providers, and her practice covers all federal and state consumer protection and privacy laws and regulations. Ms. Hirsch focuses her practice counseling clients on how to implement measures to reduce their exposure to liability. Often litigating cases against the government, Ms. Hirsch and Ifrah PLLC have achieved a string of victories for their clients in federal and state enforcement actions. Ms. Hirsch is a regular contributor to her firm’s blog, www.ftcbeat.com, where she writes about issues affecting online marketers.

Karen Hoxmeier

Karen Hoxmeier is the COO at FMTC, a service that provides tools and content for affiliate marketers and bloggers. A veteran in the industry, she launched MyBargainBuddy.com in 1999, has consulted for many top publishers, and served on CJ’s publisher advisory board for 2 years.

Bryant Hussey

Bryant Hussey is an online marketing professional with 16+ years of experience in e-commerce, SEO, SEM, media buying, email marketing and performance based marketing. Bryant got his start working for companies such as VitaminShoppe.com and Quality Health. He is now the Marketing Director and manages Online Acquisition and Partnership for Atlantic Coast Media Group – An International beauty company that builds iconic beauty brands through it’s multi—channel platform.

Kenny Hyder

Kenny Hyder has been helping businesses with their online and SEO strategies since 2004. Originally starting as an in-house SEO, Kenny eventually branched out to start his own internet marketing business. His first business was eventually bought out by a much larger internet marketing firm. Today he runs Hyder Media, servicing clients in the areas of: SEO, social media & ORM. His experience has led him to work with some of the largest brands online, including several Fortune 500 companies – helping them with their search marketing strategies. Kenny is also a speaker at some of the largest internet marketing conferences including: Pubcon, SMX, Blogworld, Affiliate Summit, & DMA.

Scott Jangro Scott Jangro is the president and co-founder of Shareist.com, a content marketing platform service that helps individuals and teams efficiently create content, publish, and share. He’s also the president of MechMedia, a firm specializing in performance and search engine marketing since 2004. Prior, Scott served as a Director of Product Management at Be Free, Inc. and later Commission Junction, both divisions of ValueClick. Scott is best known as an active and vocal member of the affiliate marketing community through his blogging, writing, and advocacy efforts. He served three years on the Performance Marketing Association board of directors, and the founding advisory board. Scott has been honored with multiple industry awards including the Affiliate Summit Affiliate Marketing Legend Award, the Best Blogger Pinnacle Award, as well as awards from ShareASale and Linkshare. Scott’s a Boston sports fan, a bad golfer, and an obsessed cyclist.

Zac Johnson

At the age of 15, Zac Johnson began making money online designing web site banners for $1 each. A self taught entrepreneur, Zac’s been making money online for nearly 20 years and has been involved in nearly every facet of affiliate and online marketing. One of Zac’s many successes includes his story of “How I Made $860,538.38 Profit in 4 Months!” from one web site, which can be read at his blog at ZacJohnson.com. Zac continues to focus on his blog, where he provides readers with firsthand accounts of his experiences, successes & failures. In addition to his own success stories, Zac reviews affiliate networks and informs readers how & where they should be making new money. Zac’s social reach and site traffic is now over 100,000 strong and has referred over $5,000,000 in new business to his advertisers and network partners. You can also listen to Zac’s new podcast “Rise of the Entrepreneur” on iTunes and connect with Zac through his new online training community at Blogging.org.

Mohammed Khonizi

Mohammed Khonizi is the CEO & Founder of Panda CashBack LLC. He received his Master’s degree in Information Security & Assurance in 2011 from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a Certified Ethical Hacker. Mohammed has been an internet marketer since 2007 and he currently lives in Michigan.

Gary Kibel

Gary A. Kibel is a partner in the Digital Media, Technology & Privacy; Intellectual Property and Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Practice Groups of Davis & Gilbert. Mr. Kibel regularly counsels clients with respect to new media/advertising law; privacy and data security; and information technology matters.

Kristin Kinsey

Kristin Kinsey serves as Digital Strategy and Ecommerce Manager for the Hygenic Corporation, a manufacturer of brands such as Biofreeze, TheraBand, TheraPearl, Bon Vital’, and Cramer based in Akron, OH. Kristin manages over 40 web properties including content and ecommerce sites, designs and builds unique online marketing tools for Healthcare Practitioners, and manages all online marketing efforts for the US Clinical team. Kristin comes from over 10 years of design, development, and marketing experience working with well over 50 brands and serving as a former OPM, VP of Ecommerce, and Director of Marketing.

Carolyn Kmet

Carolyn Kmet is Chief Marketing Officer for All Inclusive Marketing, a full-service digital agency that provides strategic marketing and management services for clients such as Abe’s Market, Julep and Southwest Vacations. Prior to this role, she was the director of affiliate marketing for Groupon, where she helped shape global affiliate strategy. In this role, she was honored with the Affiliate Summit

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Manager of the Year, and the New Advertiser of the Year award from Commission Junction. Kmet also helped build the client services team at affiliate network ShareASale.com, and has managed affiliate programs at Orbitz, CollectiblesToday.com and MyPoints.com. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches courses in marketing and information systems. Kmet earned a MBA from Loyola University, a MSJ in Journalism from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California, Berkeley.

Arnie Kuenn

Arnie Kuenn is the CEO of Vertical Measures , a search, social & content marketing agency in Phoenix, AZ. Arnie is a frequent speaker and author of the award winning content marketing book Accelerate! available on Amazon. Arnie is also an instructor for the Online Marketing Institute and the Content Marketing Institute. Arnie has held executive positions in the world of new technologies and marketing for more than 25 years. Mr. Kuenn served on the 2008 Arizona Super Bowl Marketing Committee and is a founder and past president of the Arizona Interactive Marketing Association (AZIMA). In 2014, Arnie was honored as the Interactive Person of the Year in Arizona.

Jon Levine

vices company. 1&1 offers domains, a full suite of hosting products and the MyWebsite web builder. John’s previous positions include; Head of Global Distribution for AllHotels, Sales Director for Holiday Autos USA (both divisions of Travelocity, LLP), President of Pencils Plus, and Technology Director for Sabre Travel Network. John has over 15 years experience in the travel, retail & technology sales channels and has managed affiliate programs for the last 5 years. He specializes in developing new programs with a focus on emerging markets, and recently launched the first rev-share affiliate program in Mexico for 1&1. He believes, “the best approach to affiliate marketing is to keep things smart, creative and out of box, whenever possible.” John is married with two children and is based in New York.

Benjamin Louie

Benjamin Louie is the Advertising Manager for the world’s largest dating website: PlentyOfFish. Along with affiliate management duties, Benjamin also is responsible for a 6 figure marketing budget to acquire users for POF. He has spoken at many previous Affiliate Summits and is excited to share some of his knowledge and experience with you!

James Martell

Jon Levine is a 14-year veteran of the online marketing industry and current Director of eCommerce for All Inclusive Marketing. Throughout the last decade, Mr. Levine has held the position of Director of Marketing for companies in industries such as luxury motor yachts, retail e-commerce, and GSA-contracted federal government sales. Jon has also been the founder of several online startups, such as TheBuzzNYC and AfterLock.com. Jon studied communications at the University of South Florida where he held various leadership positions in on-campus organizations. After college, Mr. Levine spent several years in the broadcast news business, having served as both a producer and on-air talent. In the last few years, Jon has been a featured speaker and panelist at ShareASale ThinkTank!, SFIMA, and Affiliate Management Days conferences and events.

Recognized as a leading expert in affiliate training, James the author of the top selling “Affiliate Marketers Handbook.” A soughtafter speaker, James has presented at Commission Junction University, Affiliate Summit, The System Seminar, Digital River Lab, and more. He is also the host and creator of both “The Affiliate Buzz” (the 1st and longest running Affiliate Industry Podcast) and “Coffee Talk,” a series of interviews with Industry Experts. James relies on outsourcing for the creation of his websites, graphics, articles, podcasts, and video in order to streamline his business, enabling him to break away from the daily grind. He credits this “autopilot” for the success and freedom he now enjoys. His latest project, the Affiliate Marketer’s “SUPER BootCamp,” is a collection of 26 recorded lessons, hours of audio, scheduled online events-such as live Q&A sessions-and a vibrant 24/7 members only forum.

Shirley is the VP, Global Business Development at YeahMobi—a division of NDP Media. Based in San Francisco, she joined YeahMobi in May, 2014 and is responsible for the international expansion in the US, Europe and Latin America. YeahMobi is a mobile advertising network and user acquisition platform. Previously, she served as VP, Business Development at iConsole.tv, building the next generation of Android game console as a multi-functional device designed for the high performance chips and deliver superior quality to the consumers. She was Executive Managing Director of 800 Birds, a platform to connect resources for early stage technology startups, based in Silicon Valley, and has grown to be a very active in the startup community. Prior to that, she was EVP, Business Development at Beintoo, an Italian mobile advertising platform. Shirley advises various startups in the Silicon Valley and those in China, Israel, Greece and Italy. She is a mentor at Pitme.com.

Tim is the Chief Marketing Officer for Trueeffect. Tim began his career with search pioneers Inktomi, Fast Search & Transfer, Overture and Yahoo as a product manager, marketer and general manager. During his 7 years at Yahoo, Tim led the Search Product Team, the Search Monetization and Search Distribution team, the Front Page Editorial and Content team and the Marketplace/Commerce properties. Tim is a well known speaker in the Internet Marketing Industry having spoken and keynoted at conferences such as SMX, Marketing Land Summit, OMMA, SXSW, SEMPDX, SEOktoberfest, SES/Clickz Live and Pubcon. Tim has a regularly featured Data Driven Thinking column on Adexchanger and has written for publications such as Clickz, MarketingLand and SearchEngineLand. Tim received his BA from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and his MBA, Cum Laude, in Entrepreneurship & Strategy from Babson. In his free time Tim enjoys golfing, skiing and playing soccer.

Shirley Lin

Brian Littleton

As the founder and CEO of ShareASale, Brian has connected thousands of merchants and affiliates alike, ensuring mutual profitability while preserving the spirit and core values of the affiliate marketing industry. Since 2000, his leadership and vision have helped shape the industry into what it is today. ShareASale celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and currently supports over 3,600 small- to medium-sized merchants, working strategically with its clients, both on the advertising and publishing end, to maximize their individual potential.

John LoBrutto

John P. LoBrutto is the Director of Affiliate Partnerships in North America for 1&1 Internet, Inc., the world’s largest hosting & web ser-

Tim Mayer

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Jeff McCollum With 10+ years of experience in affiliate marketing I have run an affiliate network, lead generation company, and most recently founded and built the CAKE tracking platform. I have been able to see the explosive growth in affiliate marketing and make an impact by providing the technology and business rules required to develop and maintain profitable companies. I am an advocate and regular speaker at events to educate, stimulate, and elevate the conversation around affiliate marketing. My network of investors, advertisers, publishers, and affiliate networks provides access to many views, opinions and data.

Tara McCommons

Tara McCommons is VP of Sales and Marketing at LinkConnector, a performance marketing network fanatically providing superior technology and service to affiliates and merchants for over a decade. Tara leads a high performance team that plays a pivotal role in identifying new merchant and affiliate opportunities to continually expand the LinkConnector Network, while also taking a hands-on approach to effectively optimize existing merchant and affiliate relationships. Tara possesses over 20 years of business development experience spanning both corporate and start-up environments within the technology and financial industries. Tara began her career in affiliate marketing with LinkConnector in 2004 where she has a proven record in the development and leadership of strategic partnerships and sales growth. Tara is a contributor to FeedFront and proudly serves as a council member with the Performance Marketing Association.

Ron McKinney

Ron Mckinney is a seasoned marketing professional with over ten years experience in multiple industries. Ron’s experience includes sales, client relations, marketing, and recruiting which allows him to provide expert solutions in the mobile marketplace. Through his experience, Ron has developed a keen sense of understanding clients and how to produce results. Ron stays on the cutting-edge of the constantly shifting mobile landscape with ongoing training and market research. Through his dedication, he’s built a broad resource base on which to build his career. Ron continues to build solid, long-term relationships through strong communications and inherently understanding the needs of mobileFUSED’s customers. He is passionate about delivering results. Ron currently lives in Peoria, AZ. When he is not working he enjoys outdoors activities including hiking and playing multiple sports.

Karen McMahon

Karen McMahon is “The Affiliate Whisperer,” providing strategic planning, in-house evaluation and coaching to guide advertisers to make the most of their affiliate programs. Karen has worked as an affiliate publisher for the last nine years, heading up a successful loyalty model affiliate program. In addition, she has worked as a high growth affiliate manager for over seven years. Karen began her career in advocacy and politics before joining her husband’s family business, helping to build it into a nationwide multi-million dollar company. Karen’s wide range of business experience, think out-of-the-box ideas and natural intuition direct her to successfully meet the needs of her clients.

Ted McNulty

As Senior Director of Performance Advertising at Millennial Media, Ted McNulty oversees the development and growth of performance-based advertising campaigns and revenue. He bring more than eight years of experience monetizing online and mobile traffic through a wide range of products, including CPM advertising, CPC search marketing, co-registration, integrated content sponsorships, email list rental and CPA models. Prior to Millennial Media, Ted served as Director of Performance Advertising Sales at Jumptap, which was acquired by Millennial Media in 2013. At Jumptap, Ted built the company’s performance team from the ground up, and was responsible

for growing performance revenue by over 500% in two years. Prior to Jumptap, Ted served as Director of Advertising Sales at NameMedia and led the search advertising team at Lycos.

Tricia Meyer

Tricia Meyer (@sunshinetricia) is the owner of Sunshine Rewards, Helping Moms Connect, and other niche sites. She frequently speaks and writes about affiliate marketing topics such as monetizing blogs, affiliate and affiliate manager relationships, and the basics of affiliate marketing. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Performance Marketing Association. She is also a partner in WineClubGroup.com and consults in Business Development for the Traetelo Marketplace. Tricia has been a finalist for the Pinnacle Awards for Industry Advocate and Affiliate of the Year and was awarded the Pinnacle Award for Best Blogger in 2012.

Cristian Miculi

Cristian is a seasoned professional in the digital landscape since 2005. He has been in charge with the Avangate Affiliate Network since 2008, coordinating its development and growing it many fold both in terms of affiliates joining the network as well as the software & SaaS product catalog. With hands-on experience in affiliate program management, Cristian is currently focused on growing merchants’ affiliate channel using internal resources and through outsourced program manager partners. In his spare time, Cristian enjoys traveling and playing the piano.

Bhavik Modi

Bhavik Modi has been in the affiliate marketing industry since 2010 as an affiliate. In addition to affiliate marketing, Bhavik is a process improvement consultant. He works with many organizations to reduce waste in their processes, which leads to improved quality, delivery performance, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. Bhavik has been consulting for over 8 years, and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Christen Moynihan

Christen Moynihan (@brokeasschris10) is the Editorial and Accounts Manager for The Broke-Ass Bride, a sassy, savvy award-winning wedding blog that helps brides use their creativity as currency to rock a badass wedding without breaking the bank. And she’s really good at high-fives.

Eric Nagel

Eric Nagel is an award-winning, entrepreneurial, dynamic, and self-directed Web expert with more than 15 years of solid experience in Internet programming, marketing and service. He delivers key solutions to corporate marketing challenges. Eric’s specialties include PHP Programming, Affiliate Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Analytics, Strategic Planning, Blogging, Social Networking Applications, Landing Page Optimization, as well as Team Building & Training. Eric was a finalist for the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards Affiliate of the Year in 2010, 2012, & 2014. and won the Best Blogger Pinnacle Award in 2011 for his blog at www.ericnagel.com. Eric is currently CTO at FMTC. As a partner at Wine Club Group, he keeps the technology humming along while drinking Argentine Malbec and various craft beer.

Yancy Naughton

Yancy Naughton has been in multi-channel advertising for over 20 years, dating back to his founding of the school data company NSRS of PA in 1992, and Golfer Magazines and Services in 1995. In 2003 he founded Definite Article Publications, consulting with established companies such as The Real Estate Book, Moose International and DFS in the US. In 2009 he expanded Definite Article to Europe, participating in the successful launches of two Direct Navigation traffic platforms, Elephant Traffic and ZeroPark. It was during these tenures that he saw the viability of applying the bidding model to multiple channels of traffic

· Issue 29 · January 2015

as a vehicle for optimization, and was inspired to launch HasTraffic. com and WantsTraffic.com as true Multi Channel Traffic Platforms.

not working, you’ll find Benjamin in the Alps, where he tries to clear his mind to make space for new ideas while freeskiing.

Vinny O’Hare

Geno Prussakov

Vinny O’Hare is the founder of Vincent O’Hare Consulting, (VinnyOHare.com) an internet marketing service that provides information on how to make money online with affiliate programs and optimizing websites. Starting on the internet in 1999 selling on EBay that lead to making websites for other products. Moved on to building niche content websites when everyone else was building sexy datafeed cookie cutter websites which were hit hard during the Google Florida update. He currently runs around 30 content filled websites that rank high on search engines for the niche topic of the websites. The “Prince of Content” is a long suffering Atlanta Falcons fan living in New York City He also enjoys photography and practicing SEO.

Geno Prussakov is a graduate of the University of Cambridge. He is the CEO & Founder of AM Navigator – an award-winning OPM agency. As an affiliate program manager and consultant he has contributed to the online marketing success of Forbes, Nokia, Hallmark, Warner Music, Skype, Forex Club, and hundreds of small businesses. Prussakov has authored “A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing” (2007) and “Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day” (2011) which have trained thousands of marketing professionals. In 2011 for influencing “change within the industry” LinkShare named him one of Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocates, while Small Business Trends recognized him with an “honorable mention” in their 2011 Small Business Influencer initiative. In 2012 Geno has launched Affiliate Management Days conference. He shares his knowledge through major digital marketing magazines, blogs, conference presentations, and also maintains his own blog (named Best Affiliate Blog in 2010 & 2011).

Or Offer

Or Offer is the Founder and CEO of SimilarWeb, the leading Web Measurement and Online Competitive Intelligence Company based in Tel Aviv. Or served three years as a combat soldier in the Israeli Special forces. Following his army service Or founded SimilarWeb In parallel to his BA studies in Business at the age of 24. In 2009 SimilarWeb won the first edition of Seedcamp Israel, attracting the attention of international media and VCs. SimilarWeb started as websites recommendation technology that analyzes every website on the internet, which then grew to become SimilarWeb measurement platform in 2011. Or was also a founding partner at AfterDownload, a company that built the largest CPC platform to monetize the download funnel which was acquired by IronSource in 2013. In addition, Or is an active early-stage investor and an advisory board member at other high tech start-ups including MoonActive, Spot.im and Spark Beyond.

Jock Purtle

Jock Purtle is the CEO of digitalexits.com a full service website brokerage. They help online business owners find a buyer when they want to exit their company. He personally exited his online business in 2013 and is on track to facilitate over 20 deals in 2014 ranging from $100,000 to $4,000,000.

John Rampton

John Rampton is an entrepreneur, blogger and tech enthusiast. He is also the founder of PPC.org and Blogging.org.

Anne Parris

Jeffrey Reitzen

Anne Parris is a partner in MidlifeBoulevard.com, an on-line lifestyle magazine for women over 40. Anne also manages a community of over a thousand midlife writers and bloggers, coordinates blogger/ brand campaigns, and is planning the first conference for midlife bloggers. A southern girl to the core, Anne lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her family between blogging conferences.

Jeff Reitzen knows direct response advertising. He has been developing successful ROI-focused direct response strategies for brand and niche marketers since 2002. Jeff’s intuitive understanding of the needs of direct marketers, combined with his more than 10 years of experience optimizing every kind of online advertising campaign to back into ROI-focused CPA metrics, has helped thousands of advertisers drive millions of conversions across every imaginable platform. Jeff’s particular strength is his comprehensive knowledge of CCDR’s proprietary mix of advertisers and affiliate partners and his almost uncanny understanding of what will convert across our network.

Scott Polk

Scott Polk has built his expertise as a knowledgeable and experienced Search Engine Optimization/Internet Marketing strategist for more than 16 years. He concentrates his resourcefulness and skills on the diversified aspects of Search Engine Optimization for clients, where he’s earned the distinction of consistent top rankings in all major search engines. Scott is consistently involved in technologies that maximize Conversion, Usability and Accessibility when optimizing & developing large web sites as well as identifying problems/solutions that result in major cost saving strategies. Highly successful and respected within the SEO industry, Scott Polk has consulted and been employed by successful internet companies such as: Bruce Clay, Edmunds.com, AT&T Wireless, ABC News, PGA.com & PGATour.com, Sports Illustrated, Toyota.com, Direct Brands, and numerous others.

Benjamin Pomerantz

As the Founder and Managing Director of Pocket Media, Benjamin is busy building Pocket Media in New York, Amsterdam and Singapore. Benjamin has been in the mobile advertising space for over 6 years now where he shifted from advertiser side to the agency/ network side in order to fill the gaps he believed were missing. Pocket Media is almost 3 years old and already an important player in the performance mobile market with a focus on apps. Benjamin has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in marketing and communication from the University of Amsterdam. A true entrepreneur, Benjamin is always looking for that gap in the market invisible to others, and nurturing the special relationships he’s built up over the years. When he’s

Keri Lyn Renner

Keri Lyn is a quirky artist, mother of a rough and tumble dirt magnet and a spicy little cowgirl, and the wife of a veterinarian. She lives with her family on their country acreage where she daily reminds herself to “Embrace the Chaos.” Keri Lyn is a self-proclaimed “brand loyalist” who is known for her strong and enthusiastic voice when it comes to the products and brands that she loves – a voice that has received renowned acclaim through her blog, SheSaved. Her 15+ years’ experience in brand marketing and passion for making the connection between brands and consumers has helped her to become a successful consultant to several successful affiliate companies, helping them to connect and build strong affiliate programs and relationships with bloggers. The Official eBay Bible named Keri Lyn one of the first artists to market an online gallery to Ebay Power Seller status.

Adam Riemer

Adam is the founder of Adam Riemer Marketing, LLC. (ARM). Adam has over 10 years of online marketing experience and is the trusted source for strategy, campaign creation & execution for companies from the Fortune 500 to mom & pop shops. Adam has spoken and been booked on panels internationally at various conferences & events. Some of the topics he has spoken on, and some of the services he can offer your company include; affiliate marketing, PPC, SEO,

· Issue 29 · January 2015

CSEs, email optimization, channel development, sales funneling, online strategy, user experience & conversion rate optimization & more. Prior to starting ARM, Adam worked in house at various Inc. 500 companies. He played a key role in the strategy & the implementation of their campaigns helping them grow into multi-million dollar corporations. Adam would like to invite you to join his managed programs as well as contact him at adamr (at) adamriemer (dot) me if he can help with your marketing.

Carrie Rocha

Carrie Rocha is a full-time blogger who shares money-saving and personal finance tips at PocketYourDollars.com. Within 10 months of Pocket Your Dollars’ launch, blogging became her full-time vocation. Along with an online presence, Carrie is sought after media personality and public speaker that has been featured in outlets like Wall Street Journal Radio, Yahoo! Finance, and Fox Business and taught financial wellness courses for employees at companies like General Mills, Cargill and Target. She is a regular guest on NBC, ABC and FOX affiliates in Minneapolis, where she resides with her husband and two daughters.

Justin Rondeau

Justin is the Conversion Rate Optimization Manager at Digital Marketer. He is a domestic and international optimization speaker, works closely with Boston-based ecommerce companies, hosts several Boston-based meetups spanning many digital marketing topics, and has provided hands on training for several fortune 500 companies. Justin’s mission to educate marketers about optimization and to get them to ‘Test Smarter, Not Harder’.

Bill Rothbard

Bill Rothbard has over three decades of experience counseling advertising and marketing clients on all aspects of compliance with FTC and state consumer protection laws. His clients include a wide variety of online and direct response marketers. He represents clients in federal, state and self-regulatory advertising investigations and enforcement actions. He also negotiates and prepares advertising and marketing agreements and prosecutes trademark applications. Mr. Rothbard draws on his experience as a former FTC attorney, serving in the Advertising Practices Division and as Attorney-Advisor to the FTC Chairman. He also served as Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Antritrust, Monopolies and Business Rights. Mr. Rothbard is a graduate of The University of Michigan and the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Brook Schaaf Brook Schaaf has been in the performance marketing industry since 2000. He is CEO of Schaaf-PartnerCentric, an outsourced affiliate program management agency. He has been the Affiliate Program Manager for multi-million dollar programs at Zappos.com, Shoes.com, and Edmunds.com, growing one from $25,000 to over $1,000,000 in monthly sales in less than two years. Brook has spoken at Commission Junction University, Affiliate Summit, Affiliate Convention, Google Affiliate Network Summit, ad:tech’s Content Revenue Strategies, and DOMAINfest. In 2003 he was recognized with the Commission Junction Horizon Award for Communications. He was featured as the Affiliate Marketing Guru at the DMA 2011 Conference. Brook is the past president of the board of the Performance Marketing Association.

Jeremy Schoemaker

Jeremy Schoemaker, aka “Shoemoney”, is a serial entrepreneur made famous by running one of the highest-trafficked websites in the world, Shoemoney.com, and by being a pioneer in the world of internet marketing dating back to the early 2000s. He launched and subsequently sold three successful businesses –AuctionAds, FreeSEOReport, and Fighters.com — and in 2010 was named the “Most Influential Person on the Internet” by Fast Company magazine. Jeremy has been featured in major news and media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, ABC News, Techcrunch, the New York Times, Business Week and dozens more. In 2012 he published his first book, an autobiography, called “Nothing’s Changed But My Change: The Shoemoney Story”. The book was announced #1 best seller shortly after. Later in 2012 Jeremy started a new company, PAR Program, to revolutionize the way companies are doing their email marketing.

Oliver Roup

After 15 years of software experience, most recently as a Director at Microsoft in charge of various media properties including XBOX Live Video Marketplace, Oliver founded VigLink. A tech executive who understands the power of native monetization like few others, Oliver is a board member of the Performance Marketing Association and chair of the PMA’s Content Monetization Council. Oliver received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from MIT and his MBA from the Harvard Business School and holds issued and pending patents covering micro-transactions, media and metadata. For more, check out @ORoup and @VigLink.

Kim Salvino

Kim has been an active member of the affiliate community since 2005. Her experience includes in-house program management, network program management, client support, network publisher development, agency relationship management and more. As Performance Horizon’s Client Services Director, she takes great pride in providing clients with world class service. An Affiliate Summit panelist, regular attendee, and 2012’s recipient of the Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Manager of the Year, Kim is a passionate advocate for affiliate marketing and a self-taught industry expert.

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· Issue 29 · January 2015

Paul Schroader Paul has been in Interactive Marketing since 1995 and he has spent the last 15 years focusing on Affiliate Marketing. Since founding PS Web Solutions in 2001, some of the clients Paul has worked with include TMP Worldwide (Monster.com), Oreck, Tabasco, Blue Man Group, Temp-tations and Bay Alarm Medical. Paul has worked with brands both big and small in pursuit of integrating efficient online advertising techniques into existing marketing plans. He has helped build very profitable online programs for numerous clients and constantly works to stay on top of developing trends. As the President and Founder of the Rocky Mountain Affiliate Marketing Association (RMAMA), Paul has helped affiliate managers and affiliates stay current on industry issues by providing a forum for networking since 2003. Paul recognizes affiliate marketing as a tremendous opportunity for clients and marketers, allowing for an extensive online presence within a set marketing cost structure.

Greg Shepard

Greg Shepard, the Founder and CEO of AffiliateTraction the largest multi-national affiliate marketing agency with offices in US, UK, CA, AU. Greg is has contributed to Revenue Magazine, ReveNews, DMNews, DMConfidential, ThoughtShapers, MThink, PerformanceIN, and the American Marketing Association. Greg has spoken at the University of Southeastern Louisiana, PerformanceIN, The Online Marketing Summit, Affiliate Management Days, AvantExpo and contributed to WebMasterRadio; and serves as a WebAward judge.

Elizabeth Silvermaster

Elizabeth Silvermaster started her career at a major platform, and while there explored many areas of affiliate marketing to get a strong understanding of everything it takes to develop an affiliate program. Elizabeth then decided to work for an agency, where she was tasked with building an affiliate department and was successful in securing many Fortune 500 brands. Recently she developed her own affiliate marketing consulting business, Silvermaster Consulting. She continues to deliver dedicated affiliate management services with expertise in business development, CPL/ CPA/CPS programs, publisher development, fraud prevention, multi-platform knowledge, and multi-client management.

Nathan Smith

A bottomless pool of creative marketing ideas, Nathan is a student of social media, and a specialist in the realm of online community building. He has successfully created and implemented several social media strategies for both local and international brands, as well as government agencies. Nathan enjoys all aspects of online marketing, blogging, and web site development, but his passion is creating connections between businesses and the people they serve.

Joe Sousa

Joe has been in the SEO/Affiliate industry since 1998. He started out doing SEO for clients but transitioned into a full time affiliate and affiliate manager. Over the years Joe has built hundreds of different sites in many different niches and has experience in PPC, SEO, video, and social media. Joe is currently the Affiliate Coordinator for Fanatics.com and their related properties. He blogs about affiliate stuff at http://whatdoesjoethink.com.

Sean Steinmarc

Sean is CEO & founder of psGive, helping brands solve digital marketing challenges through a combination of games & cause marketing. An avid social-entrepreneur, Sean sits on the steering committee for the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, and is currently a member of Goodnik and AlleyNYC. A graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Sean spent the first eight

years of his career in financial services leadership roles across a Top 5 global bank and a Fortune 100 company. His primary roles were converging technology & business strategies, and improving operational processes. From there, Sean was asked to join the executive team for a leading student financing company, where he overhauled their marketing efforts and extended their reach into new markets. Recognizing gaps in traditional digital marketing, Sean started psGive to solve those issues. In his free time, Sean enjoys finding new recipes to further his cooking skills, playing kickball, and whiskey.

Cameron Stewart

As General Manager, Cameron oversees operations of TUNE’s HasOffers product. Previously, Cameron was VP of Sales, actively contributing to business development and product strategies while working directly with HasOffers’ and MobileAppTracking’s global client base. Before joining the company in 2009, Cameron worked with Robert Half International for Fortune 500 clients, developing and maintaining relationships by consulting corporations on their organizational development and staffing needs. Since joining TUNE in 2009, Cameron has combined his business development and leadership experience with customer-centric views to deliver an experience that revolutionizes customer care standards in the industry. Cameron graduated from Washington State University with a Bachelor’s in Finance and Economics.

Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since 1980 and is recognized globally as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. He’s a columnist for the Boulder Daily Camera and Linux Journal and frequently appears in other publications both online and in print. You can find him online writing about tech and reviewing the latest gadgets at AskDaveTaylor.com, talking about parenting and his children at GoFatherhood.com and reviewing the latest indie films and Hollywood blockbusters at DaveOnFilm.com. Or, failing that, you can find him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor. Based in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs, as well as active member of his community and busy single father to three.

Max Teitelbaum

Max Teitelbaum is the Co-founder and COO of WhatRunsWhere. He attended the B.Comm program at McGill University and has been working in the online marketing industry since the age of 15. Prior to WhatRunsWhere, Max successfully operated a performance advertising agency. Max currently resides in Toronto and sits on the boards of numerous startups. He is also a mentor at GrowLabs Accelerator and the Baylor University Accelerated Ventures Program.

James Thompson

James Thompson (@jtgraphic), from Brooklyn, NY, is the cofounder of Daft Labs and Passive Metrics, a tool for managing social media analytics for brands. He started building websites in 1996 as a hobby and became a part of the affiliate industry in 2005. Most of his affiliate websites were focused on building free tools to add value to available offers. Since 2005, he’s made a migration from singular affiliate to merchant as he started charging for his tools. Now he operates on the other side of the table, employing affiliates of his own. James has built over 300 enterprise scale websites, been a partner in a real estate company as well as a popular online magazine, and done successful exits from 3 of his companies. Because of those experiences, he has learned how to build and manage highly effective business and tech teams.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Wade Tonkin Wade Tonkin has been active in the affiliate industry since 1999, working as an in-house affiliate manager, outsourced affiliate manager, consultant, and sales specialist with companies including Kowabunga! Technologies, Forge Business, The United Sharing Network and GTO Management before joining Fanatics in November of 2010. Wade currently manages the affiliate programs for the official online stores of the NHL, NASCAR, NBA, NHL and ESPN. Wade is a regular contributor to FeedFront Magazine, has spoken at Affiliate Summit, the Internet Marketing Conference and the ShareASale ThinkTank. Wade blogs at AffiliateWarrior.com and podcasts on affiliate marketing and sports on GeekCast.fm.

John Toskey

John Toskey served as the Head of Publisher Development, North America, for ePN for two years before being appointed as Interim Director of the program in August 2014. John has more than 15 years of experience in online merchandising and marketing with Internet Retailer Top 100 merchants including Blue Nile, Drugstore. com and Zones, Inc. In his most recent role with DBG Loyalty, John directed strategy for Fortune 500 companies including Bank of America, American Airlines, Marriott Hotels and American Express, building and managing online shopping portals to generate incremental revenue and create unique value for their customers. John is a well-respected member of the affiliate marketing community who has spoken at industry events and served on advisory boards for major affiliate networks. He is an avid Seattle Sounders fan who enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, biking and skiing.

Emily Vanek

Emily Vanek is the owner and editor-in-chief of ColoradoMoms. com, a site dedicated to helping parents feel normal and a place where she can share her passion for fashion, travel, events, family and advocating for autism awareness. Her work has been featured in a number of online and print outlets. Emily has been speaking at various conferences and events since 2011 and loves connecting with others who share her same quirky interests. She lives just outside of Denver, Colorado with her husband, three boys, dog and tortoise (yes, tortoise) and can be found on Twitter (@ColoradoMom) Instagram (/ColoradoMom). Also, #hashtags are her favorite.

David Vogelpohl

David Vogelpohl is the founder and CEO of Marketing Clique an advanced web development and online marketing agency servicing large brands with services like affiliate marketing and WordPress development. David speaks about WordPress optimization and affiliate marketing at national events like Affiliate Summit, Pubcon, WordCamp, WP Summit, and a variety of other events and publications. David has been in the affiliate marketing industry since 1996 and is an advisory board member of Affiliate Summit.

Chad Waite

Chad Waite is the Marketing Manager for AvantLink.com. He’s 28, loves all things internet marketing and can be found on Twitter at @ChadW8, likely asking for help on writing better bylines.

Missy Ward

Missy Ward has been an affiliate marketer since 1999. She is the Co-founder of Affiliate Summit Inc., a privately-held media company that produces the Affiliate Summit Conference & Tradeshow Series, Performance Marketing Summit, FeedFront Magazine, GeekCast.fm, AffStat.com and ReveNews.com. She is also the Co-Founder of itsaWAHMthing.com, Founder of AffiliateMarketersGiveBack.com and runs a number of her own niche affiliate websites. In addition, Missy

sits on the Board of Directors of the Performance Marketing Association (“The PMA”) and is their Marketing Committee Chair. Find out more on here affiliate marketing blog, MissyWard.com.

Evan Weber

Evan has been in the online marketing industry since the late 1990′s. He spent 6 years as the Marketing Director for a successful eCommerce portal in the health industry prior to launching his digital marketing agency, Experience Advertising, in 2007. He is wellversed is several online advertising channels including, SEO, paid search, affiliate marketing, social media management, Facebook advertising, Twitter advertising, email marketing, conversion rate optimization, and mobile advertising.

Lori Weiman

Lori Weiman is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Search Monitor, a leading provider of market research intelligence for search and shopping and affiliate/brand compliance. Lori has been a speaker at SES, SMX, Affiliate Summit, and AMDays, and writes a column for Search Engine Land.

Kelly Whalen

Kelly Whalen is the author of The Centsible Life, a website designed to help you live the life of your dreams on a budget. She started her website 6 years ago, and has since become both a successful freelance writer, social media consultant, and a respected voice in the personal finance realm. Kelly and her blog have been featured on The Today Show, local networks in Philadelphia, and she has been featured in magazines and print in both national and local publications including Money magazine, Kiplinger’s, and Woman’s Day. You can often find her on twitter and Facebook talking money and motherhood or pinning things she never makes. She lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia with her husband and 4 kids.

Matthew Woodward

Matthew Woodward is an award winning internet marketer and blogger known for his highly detailed tutorials and case studies recently winning the Affiliate Summit ‘Best Affiliate Blog’ of 2013 award. Matthew started his online career when he was 13 years old writing games reviews for a website which lead him to build his first website when competitive gamers needed a place to share their videos before YouTube existed. He gave up the corporate lifestyle nearly 5 years ago to focus on building out his own empire of sites one page at a time – In his professional career he has led international brands to success with his creative and out of the box internet marketing strategies. The award winning blog was born out of an SEO experiment to see if it was possible to rank a website without any link building, purely focusing on creating high quality content. The experiment was a great success and the blog has gone on to win a number of awards quickly growing to a 6 figure blog.

Andrew Woolbert

Andrew Woolbert is the Affiliate Manager at Living Direct, a leading supplier of appliances designed for small spaces and enhanced leisure. Under Andrew’s guidance, the Living Direct Affiliate Program has experienced 25% year over year revenue growth with an 80% increase in return on investment. He previously managed programs for 360training and Giganews. Andrew has managed network and in-house based programs using various platforms, including ShareASale, Avantlink, Commission Junction and HasOffers. His specialties are recognizing and strengthening strategic partnerships, eliminating inefficient spend, lead generation, social media and PR. In his free time, Andrew enjoys blogging about the randomness of the day with an occasional quip about the affiliate industry.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

People to follow on Vinayak Ahuja

Todd Crawford

Rachel Hirsch

JJ Alan

Jennifer Crego

Karen Hoxmeier

Tim Ash

Jeannine Crooks

Bryant Hussey

Syed Balkhi

Konstantin Dieterle

Ken Hyder

Linda Bateman

Sean Dolan

Zac Johnson

Jay Berkowitz

Celena Dwyer

Mohammed Khonizi

Mike Buechele

Amy Ely

Gary Kibel

Deborah Carney

Sam Engel

Kristen Kinsey

Van Chappell

Trisha Lyn Fawver

Carolyn Kmet

John Chow

Ian Fernando

Arnie Kuenn

Sylvia Cintron

David Ford

Derek Lester

Victoria Clark

Brian Fox

Shirley Lin

Michael Coley

Karen Garcia

Brian Littleton

Daryl Colwell

Rick Gardiner

John LoBrutto

Sal Conca

Robert Glazer

Benjamin Louie

Ashley Coombe

Michelle Held

James Martell

http://twitter.com/Jungle_Media http://twitter.com/TheJJAlan http://twitter.com/tim_ash http://twitter.com/wpbeginner http://twitter.com/VerticalRail http://twitter.com/JayBerkowitz http://twitter.com/mikebuechele http://twitter.com/loxly http://twitter.com/vanat5iq http://twitter.com/johnchow http://twitter.com/ sylviacintron http://twitter.com/NotVicki http://twitter.com/michaelcoley http://twitter.com/dhcolwell http://twitter.com/salconca http://twitter.com/ashleybcoombe

http://twitter.com/toddcrawford http://twitter.com/JenniferCrego http://twitter.com/ Jeannine_Crooks http://twitter.com/kdieterle http://twitter.com/_seandolan http://twitter.com/theroguemama http://twitter.com/aely http://twitter.com/BrandVerity http://twitter.com/TrishaLyn http://twitter.com/ianternet http://twitter.com/affplaybook http://twitter.com/tweetbfox http://twitter.com/karengarcia http://twitter.com/rickgardiner http://twitter.com/accelerationpar http://twitter.com/pintalknet

http://twitter.com/ifrahlaw http://twitter.com/karenhoxmeier http://twitter.com/BRY237 http://twitter.com/kennyhyder http://twitter.com/moneyreign http://twitter.com/PandaCashBack http://twitter.com/GaryKibel_law http://twitter.com/KC http://twitter.com/catango http://twitter.com/ArnieK http://twitter.com/4thgearmedia http://twitter.com/shirleylinc http://twitter.com/shareasale http://twitter.com/1and1affiliate http://twitter.com/benpof http://twitter.com/jamesmartell

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Tim Mayer

Jeffrey Reitzen

Emily Vanek

Tara McCommons

Keri Lyn Renner

David Vogelpohl

Karen McMahon

Adam Riemer

Chad Waite

Tricia Meyer

Carrie Rocha

Evan Weber

Cristian Miculi

Oliver Roup

Lori Weiman

Bhavik Modi

Kim Salvino

Matthew Woodward

Christen Moynihan

Brook Schaaf

Eric Nagel

Jeremy Schoemaker

Yancy Naughton

Paul Schroader

Vincent O’Hare

Greg Shepard

Anne Parris

Elizabeth Silvermaster

Affiliate Summit related Twitter Accounts

Scott Polk

Nathan Smith

Afﬁliate Summit

http://twitter.com/CoffeeNate

http://twitter.com/afﬁliatesummit

Benjamin Pomerantz

Joe Sousa

FeedFront Magazine

http://twitter.com/drcool73

http://twitter.com/feedfront

Geno Prussakov

Sean Steinmarc

GeekCast.fm

http://twitter.com/steinmarc

http://twitter.com/geekcast

Jock Purtle

Max Teitelbaum

Shawn Collins

http://twitter.com/maxteitelbaum

http://twitter.com/afﬁliatetip

John Rampton

James Thompson

Missy Ward

http://twitter.com/timmayer http://twitter.com/TaraMcCommons http://twitter.com/Aff_Whisperer http://twitter.com/sunshinetricia http://twitter.com/affiliatedoc http://twitter.com/bhavik_modi http://twitter.com/brokeasschris10 http://twitter.com/ericnagel http://twitter.com/yancyn http://twitter.com/vinnyohare http://twitter.com/notasupermom http://twitter.com/scottpolk http://twitter.com/pocketmediabv http://twitter.com/ePrussakov http://twitter.com/jockpurtle http://twitter.com/johnrampton

http://twitter.com/cpxsalesguy http://twitter.com/SheSaved http://twitter.com/Rollerblader http://twitter.com/CarrieRocha http://twitter.com/viglink http://twitter.com/kim_salvino

http://twitter.com/ColoradoMom http://twitter.com/davidvmc http://twitter.com/ChadW8 http://twitter.com/experienceads http://twitter.com/searchmonitor http://twitter.com/MattWoodwardUK

http://twitter.com/brookschaaf http://twitter.com/shoemoney http://twitter.com/pswebs http://twitter.com/afftraction http://twitter.com/leadqual

http://twitter.com/jtgraphic

http://twitter.com/missyward

tl;dr – What happens in Q4 stays in Q4. Start planning for leaner months ahead.

· Issue 29 · January 2015

Think Like a Bear,

It’s Hibernation Time by Rachel Honoway

Rachel Honoway

o, you had a great Q4. Record traffic, huge sales, and commission checks that are still rolling in every few weeks. While I’d like to pat you on the back, congratu-

late you, and celebrate your success, I can’t. Why?

Unlike a bear, you don’t need to sleep away the hibernation season; you can stay productive if you plan wisely.

Because I spent last Q1, Q2 and Q3 talking with affiliates

Here are 3 things to work on between now and Q4 2015:

that had done too much celebration and not enough hiberna-

»» 1 - Foster relationships with merchants. Who did you

tion. Unfortunately, they neglected one very simple fact: what

love working with this past holiday season? What can

happens in Q4 stays in Q4.

you do with them during the rest of the year? How can

A report from the National Retail Federation (issued in

you secure exclusive offers next year?

October, 2014) estimated that more than 19% of retailers’ total

»» 2 - Build more content. You’ve got a whole year to buckle

earnings for 2014 will come from sales in November and De-

down and write, design, and record great content. Take

cember. That’s great for November and December, but guar-

what you learned these last few months and build the

antees lower sales for the other 10 months of the year.

content that you know consumers will be searching for

So, before you run out and lease an office building, buy your staff new equipment and take your family on that vacation you’ve always dreamed of - stop and think like a bear.

and sharing. »» 3 - Train your subscribers. If you’re not already collecting email addresses, start now. If you have been, but

Bears spend all spring and summer preparing for win-

aren’t sending regular messages, start now. When the

ter. They know that when the air gets cooler, fish are harder

holidays roll around again, you’ll be able to speak directly

to find, berries don’t grow on trees and bees aren’t buzzing

to your readers with a voice they recognize, not one that

around leading them to honey.

just popped up for the holidays.

As an affiliate, you need to prepare for the traffic to

Just please don’t be one of the affiliates that I talk to

slow down, the customers to become harder to find, and

in June that says they were disappointed that the momen-

the merchants to stop enticing you with bonuses and holi-

tum from the holidays didn’t carry through the New Year. It

day discounts.

never does.

Now is the time to hibernate. Start planning for lower vol-

But as long as you plan for it, you’ll have no trouble

ume and fewer opportunities to earn commissions. It’s very

making it to another Q4 with more relationships, better

possible that you’ll need to “live off the fat” by June and July

content and engaged readers that combine for even greater

this year - so be sure that there is still some fat laying around.

success.

Rachel is the CEO of FMTC, a provider of tools for affiliates and bloggers.