The Official Magazine of Affiliate Summit
Issue 7 | August 2009
Walking the Walk
in Affiliate
Marketing
Interview with Lauren (aka Turbolapp) Page 7
Affiliate Marketing Industry Ripe for Quality Effort By Will Martin-Gill Page 10 Ten Ways to Promote Facebook Business Pages By Mari Smith Page 32 Affiliate Summit East 2009 Agenda Page 34 It’s All About You.com By Ted Murphy Page 43 www.affiliatesummit.com
™
Table of Contents
03 Get In Your Subscribers’ Address Books Now
Justin Premick
04
07
Chris Brogan
Your Affiliate Agreement
David Naffziger
Walking the Walk in Affiliate Marketing
Shawn Collins
10
Affiliate Marketing Industry Ripe for Quality Effort
Will Martin-Gill
11 Reward Sites: Asset or Liability?
12
David Klein
13 The Five Most Common Missing Pieces to Affiliate Sites
Tricia Meyer
Privacy Is Good Policy
Matt McWilliams
14
Affiliate Software Essentials That Support Your Business
17
What is the Truth, Anyway?
05 Reduce Fraud Risk Through
16
Amanda Schwarz
Out of Commission Lisa Picarille
Affiliate Marketing
Jami Gibbs
19
7 Essentials When Making Affiliate Program Changes
Jamie Birch
20 Inside Information on
23
PPC Minefield
Deborah Carney
Affiliate Fatblogging
Why We Should All Believe in Trade Shows Michael Sprouse
27 Flogging – Will Your Blog Be Outed? Jason Dodd
29 The Workspaces of
Matt Enders
Shawn Collins
26
Affiliate Classifying
21 The Direct to Merchant
Affiliate Marketers
Mari Smith
34
Affiliate Summit East 2009 Agenda
43 It’s All About You.com
18 Emotionally Charged
Nicky Senyard
How Banner Advertising Can 32 Ten Ways to Promote Facebook Business Pages Boost Affiliate Sales
Ted Murphy
44
Chris Brogan Bio Affiliate Summit East 2009 Keynote
45
Peter Shankman Bio Affiliate Summit East 2009 Keynote
46
All Speaker Bios
60
Multicultural Affiliate Marketing
61
Brian Hawkins
4 Characteristics of Successful Affiliate Program Managers Geno Prussakov
63
Affiliates Unplugged
65
Why Integration Matters for Affiliate Marketing
Debbie Bookstaber
66
People to Follow on Twitter
68
Hilton New York Maps
Shawn Collins
FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2009 | 1
FeedFront Editors’ Note – 7th Issue
Issue 7 | AUGUST 2009
™
Training Your Mind and Body
STAFF Co-Editors in Chief Missy Ward, Shawn Collins
Co-Publishers Missy Ward, Shawn Collins
Contributing Writers Jamie Birch, Debbie Bookstaber, Chris Brogan, Deborah Carney, Shawn Collins, Jason Dodd, Matt Enders, Jami Gibbs, Brian Hawkins, David Klein, Will Martin-Gill, Matt McWilliams, Tricia Meyer, Ted Murphy, David Naffziger, Lisa Picarille, Justin Premick, Geno Prussakov, Amanda Schwarz, Nicky Senyard, Mari Smith, Michael Sprouse and Missy Ward
Graphic Design Lynn Lee Design
Magazine Coordinator
Missy Ward & Shawn Collins, FeedFront Co-Editors in Chief
Amy Rodriguez Affiliate Summit 1253 Springfield Avenue, Suite 327 New Providence, NJ 07974-1935 tel (908) 364-2767 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: contact@feedfront.com
It’s an exciting time for affiliate marketers with all indicators pointing to the growth of our industry. Each day, as the affiliate marketing industry expands, competition heightens. To be successful, an affiliate marketer must be on the forefront of unique and effective ways to market online. This requires creativity, and a lot of it. A fascinating study that appeared in the January, 2002 issue of the Physical Educator concludes that there is a constructive relationship that exists between the creative thought process and physical fitness. Additionally, research form a McCoy and Evans study in 2002 indicates that physical environment also plays a role in fostering creativity. In this issue, we explore the categorical effects of physical fitness on affiliate marketers in our cover story, Walking the Walk (p. 7) and in Affiliate Fatblogging (p. 23). In both articles, affiliate marketers discuss the role of physical fitness in
their efforts to live a healthier and more productive lifestyle. Whether you’re a cubicle warrior in an office; work from home or from Starbucks, you may also enjoy The Workspace of Affiliate Marketers, (p. 29) where we examine the sacred spaces where all things are possible. As athletes train their body and mind for maximum sports performance; marketers need to prepare the same in order to keep a competitive edge in the fast-paced world of business. Is your body and mind prepared to be successful? Missy Ward & Shawn Collins FeedFront Co-Editors in Chief
Get In Your Subscribers’ Address Books Now By Justin Premick Essentially, Yahoo! is making it easier for users to do the same thing with emails that we all do with our postal mail - we look through for messages from friends, family and other people we know and put it in an “A” pile that we actually read, and we take everything else and put it in a “B” pile that we typically don’t read.
Justin Premick
The writing is on the wall for marketers who aren’t getting subscribers to add them to their address books. Soon, if you’re not in there, it’ll be even easier for customers and prospects to ignore your email marketing campaigns. On their official blog, Yahoo! Mail announced that users can now toggle from viewing all mail to only mail from their contacts. “You get a lot of emails, some good (from friends, family, even favorite interests that you’ve added to your Address Book), and a lot of not-soimportant emails (special offers, newsletters, emails you rarely read).” So they’ve introduced a way to quickly separate those “important” emails from the “not-so-important” ones.
Many of us already do it with email, too, by using filters - but up until now we had to set those up manually. It’s not hard to do, but it is an extra hoop that most email users wouldn’t jump through. A one-click filter like the one Yahoo! has created makes faster email filtering accessible to even novice users. Don’t be surprised if you see other email programs do something similar. Make Sure Your Email Doesn’t Get Filtered Out It is vital that you get subscribers to put you in their address book, but how? 1. Ask on your thank you page. 2. Ask in your welcome email (and maybe other emails). 3. Build a relationship with subscribers.
Given a choice between viewing “all” email, and only email from preferred sources (like your contacts), which one are you going to spend time in? To take a “tree falling in the forest” view of it, if an email goes to an inbox, but nobody ever looks at that particular inbox, is it really delivered? If you think about it, as more email programs implement tools like Yahoo!’s and the email that’s important/relevant to the recipient ends up in a “contacts” inbox, the “default” inbox really becomes more of a “junk” folder than an inbox. And none of us want to end up there. Right?
Justin Premick is the Director of Education Marketing at AWeber and you can find more email marketing tips from him at http://affsum.aweber. com/blog.
The Inbox is Shrinking One could argue that this Yahoo! move is effectively creating multiple inboxes - one with all email and one only with email from contacts.
FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2009 | 3
By Chris Brogan
What Is the Truth, Anyway? An excerpt from “Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust” Chris Brogan
The way people use the Web is constantly changing. People have become more wary of where the information they receive comes from, and with good reason. We read articles about how the person beside us at the bar ordering the Miller Genuine Draft is actually a paid “buzz generator.” We read product reviews on the Web, believing that they are a reflection of what the reviewers think of the product—only to find out that products returning a higher cut of the profits are always rated higher than products that are perhaps superior in quality. We know how lessthan-honest advertisers and marketers work to influence us. We realize that those few lazy reporters in our media who just report on whatever a PR firm tells them without follow-up offer poor reporting. We are living in an age where the financial collapse of 2008 and 2009 shook our trust in our entire financial system, compromised the viability of our retirement funds, and sent massive waves of distrust through London, New York, and beyond. It is unclear in an age in which technologies such as Google prevail over almost all information whether either of the two gentlemen discussed earlier would have been able to pass as the people they did for so long. Conway’s elaborate Stanley Kubrick impersonation was eventually discovered as a fraud and exposed on television in a series called
4 | AUGUST 2009 | FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE
The Lying Game; by that time, he had already borrowed tens of thousands of dollars from people who believed him to be the real thing. As for Joe Pistone, his true identity was never exposed (that is to say, until the FBI revealed it). This enabled him to eventually send more than 100 members of the New York Mob to prison, striking a serious blow to the Mafia. How would he have done this in the twenty-first century, with much of our communication going through digital channels? Obliterating an identity online as well as in the real world is extremely difficult at best. It’s difficult to reach out and do business with people using the Web. This is especially true in an environment where trust isn’t previously established and where the prospective customer has access to far more information about your organization, products, and services than ever before.
strong level of trust among his online community. In the United Kingdom, JP Rangaswami is managing director of BT Design for BT Group. His blog, Confused of Calcutta, is often about cricket, music, food, and many things not related to a major telecommunications company; yet, because of his stories and conversational writing tone, we trust Rangaswami and have a positive opinion about BT. Those who are most familiar with the digital space—we refer to them as “digital natives”—have become accustomed to a new level of transparency. They operate under the assumption that everything they do will eventually be known online. Realizing they are unable to hide anything, they choose not to try. Instead, they leverage the way the Web connects us and ties our information together to help turn transparency into an asset for doing business.
How Humans Shape the Web
Although the general public’s level of mistrust is at an all-time high, there are individuals and companies who do successfully use the Internet to establish levels of trust in the communities where they operate. In the technology sector, a person such as Robert Scoble (circa Microsoft days) stands out as someone who, by the nature of how he communicated about his formerly faceless company, developed a
Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs, a social media agency and education company and blogs on ChrisBrogan.com
Reduce Fraud Risk Through Your Affiliate Agreement By David Naffziger
David Naffziger
The majority of affiliates create value for their merchant partners, however most affiliate programs have been subjected to fraud at some point. Affiliate fraud can take many forms; it can be outright transaction fraud or other illegal activity, manufactured leads, misled consumers or traffic from prohibited sources. The networks do a good job providing basic legal protections against these activities, but merchants should use their own affiliate agreements to ensure maximum protection. The supplemental affiliate agreement fulfills multiple roles, but there are several aspects of that agreement important to protecting your program from fraud: Identify Allowable Marketing Techniques
Affiliates use a variety of techniques to market your program including email campaigns, paid search, organic search, desktop software, incentivized programs and even offline advertisements or pitches. Your agreement should consider each of these techniques and describe in plain English which techniques are allowed in your program. Provide generic statements that can be applied to marketing techniques used in the future. A common approach is to prohibit marketing campaigns deemed to be detrimental to the merchant’s brand. If an unsavory technique is used by an affiliate
in the future, this clause may provide additional protection. Handling Trademark Bidding
If you prohibit trademark bidding, require your search affiliates to add your brand terms to their list of negative keywords. The search engines aggressively broad match and some affiliates take advantage of this to comply with your policy (not bidding on brand terms), while getting their ads shown for searches on your brand. Negative keywords provide the cleanest method for ensuring that affiliates do not advertise on your prohibited terms.
Once you’ve conclusively identified fraud, give yourself the ability to deny or reverse those payments. Keep in mind that these terms should only be used if fraud is legitimately suspected, not as a tool to manage disagreements with affiliates. Your affiliate agreement is an excellent tool for managing your fraud risk; however it is only one aspect of a comprehensive fraud prevention program that includes affiliate application review, regular communication and abuse monitoring. Make sure you consult legal counsel as you craft or modify your affiliate agreement.
Delay or Deny Fraudulent Payments
Affiliate fraud is frequently perceptible in the data provided by the affiliate networks. Sharp changes in affiliate performance or unusually high conversion rates can be early indicators of a fraudulent affiliate. However, this data is rarely enough to conclusively determine fraud. Credit card fraud can take weeks to surface. Other forms of abuse such as trademark poaching or spyware take time to collect the evidence necessary.
David Naffziger is CEO of BrandVerity, a firm that detects affiliate violations of merchant paid search policies.
Give yourself the right to delay payments if you suspect fraud. Don’t allow pressure to finalize your payments prevent you from making a good decision about suspected fraud. Delayed payments give you the opportunity to fully research the suspicious activity and collect the data needed to deny or reverse payments.
FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2009 | 5
Lauren, turbowalkstation.com
Walking the Walk in Affiliate Marketing By Shawn Collins
If you’ve spent any time at WickedFire.com, you’ve probably come across “turbolapp”, one of the moderators and active members on the forum. Outside of Wicked Fire, “turbolapp” is a Texas-based affiliate marketer named Lauren who works while walking on a treadmill, which she has dubbed the “ Turbostation.” FeedFront’s Co-Editor-in-Chief, Shawn Collins, recently talked with Lauren about her treadmill desk, why she works while walking on a treadmill, how to make your own treadmill desk, and her fear of ending up on YouTube.
Shawn: How did you get started with exercising on the Treadmill
hangs off a wall mount with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Desk?
Shawn: How long have you been posting your exercise Lauren: I was 9 months pregnant lounging on the couch (my
information on turbowalkstation.com?
favorite place to be at that time) flipping through channels and I came across a special on 20/20. They were interviewing Dr. Levine
Lauren: Actually, the stats posting all started with Twitter. With
from the Mayo Clinic about his in depth research of NEAT (Non-
the recent upgrade of the Turbostation (that’s what I call my walk
Exercise Activity Thermogenesis).
station) I was way pumped about it. I kept Tweeting about my stats on my @Turbolapp Twitter account. My fellow Tweeters
You know all those funny stats like: you burn 130 calories
were supportive, bless their hearts, but I know I was getting
vacuuming...9 calories kissing? That’s NEAT.
annoying constantly Tweeting stuff like :”ZOMG I JUST BURNED 1K CALORIES!!11!”
His idea was that if we could subtly increase NEAT in our daily lifestyles, then we would burn a lot more calories. He (literally)
Not wanting to alienate my followers, I decided it would be more
brought his lab to a corporate office setting and had the employees
appropriate to create a new Twitter account just for my Turbostats
walk on the treadmill all day at 1-2 mph.
and treadmill desk related stuff. So the @Turbostation Twitter account was born and I just kinda went crazy on it with all the stats
If you think about it, that’s fairly slow. Here they were, on these
updates.
treadmill desks, talking on the phones, typing at the computer, doing everything they have to do anyways for 8 hours, but they
Soon, I started finding other people on Twitter that had treadmill
were doing it on a treadmill and they were burning an extra 500-
desks (yeah, there are actually others out there) and we all keep
1000 calories a day.
each other motivated and challenged. It’s been very instrumental.
These people had the pounds just melting away! At this point in
Meanwhile, I thought, you know I’ve always wanted a blog but
the story, I just thought it was really cool. But then they interviewed
never had anything to say before (that I thought people should
a woman who worked out of her home office and had decided she
actually listen to, anyway. ha!) and I have friends and family that
could do the same thing with her treadmill.
aren’t on Twitter, so I created the blog at turbowalkstation.com.
She just laid a table leaf over her treadmill “arms” and put her laptop
It’s actually worked out well; combining the two (I have a plugin
on it. She had been doing it for a year and had lost something like
that feeds my Twitter messages to my blog, so yea! Instant content!)
70lbs just walking slowly on a treadmill all day while she worked.
and I get a lot of questions on Twitter like, “How do you make one of those?”, “Why are you doing this?” and “What the hell is that?” to
By then I was looking down at my bloated belly, thinking about the
which I just point them to appropriate page in my blog.
50lbs I had gained, how my back was about to give (I’ve had back issues since I was 12), and how I had this really nice treadmill in the
Shawn: Do you really get work done on there?
back room collecting dust, and thought, I could totally do this!
Lauren: I really do. Some people are mystified either because they My husband and I went to Lowes that day and got a flat piece of
just can’t picture it (there are a couple of videos on my blog for you
wood to screw down to the treadmill arms and VOILA there was
skeptics out there) or they think ‘yeah, that’s nice but it wouldn’t
my first my treadmill desk! There’s even a picture of me on my blog
work for my situation’.
when I was preggo and huge, just struttin’ my stuff. Basically, your only lifestyle requirements need to be: 1. Work from Of course, since then, there have been a few upgrades. I took away
home 2. Work on a computer. That’s it. I don’t care what it is you do
the laptop, and opted instead for a PC with a 32 inch monitor that
on your computer all day, if you meet those two requirements, you
8 | AUGUST 2009 | FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE
Walking the Walk in Affiliate Marketing can do this.
Lauren: No way. If anything it feels great to be challenging myself and motivating others. When I make my progress public I feel like I
I’ve had people say, ‘yeah, but I’m a programmer and it would be
have a responsibility to myself and others to keep at it.
too hard to code’. Sorry, doesn’t fly. I have a couple of friends on Twitter that are programmers and they code at 1 mph, baby. That’s
Shawn: How can people create their own Treadmill Desk?
the key.
Lauren: My hubby, Steve, was nice enough to do a video tutorial You increase and decrease your mph depending on your work load.
on my blog to help people make a treadmill desk with their own
Even at 1 mph you’re still burning an extra 100 calories an hour and
treadmill. It’s all going to depend on your treadmill, but as long as
at 8 hours a day...well if you’re a programmer, I’m sure you can do
it has some sort of “arms” to lay the desk on, you’re good to go.
the math. And remember there’s always the incline! For those of you that don’t have a treadmill you can get them off of
Shawn: I read on your blog that you’ve had back problems. So, is
Craigslist for cheap. I know a guy that spent 75 dollars on the whole
the treadmill desk more comfortable for you to work than sitting at
thing, including the treadmill, the desk attachment, and screws.
a desk?
Money shouldn’t be an obstacle.
Lauren: Totally. Sitting is about the worst thing out there you
For those that have the money to burn and don’t want to DIY, there
can do to your spine. Standing is better, but it starts to hurt after a
are already-made treadmill desks out there for a pretty penny (just
while. Walking is one of the best things you can do for your back.
be sure to check the mph limit, some don’t go above 2.0 mph. I, for
It slowly stretches and strengthens the muscles that support your
one, enjoy my options).
spine.
Shawn: Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in Truth be told, this is the real reason I’m doing it. For anyone who’s
shape?
ever been in chronic pain, it can be so debilitating and depressing. I was tired of being 30 years old and feeling like I was 80. Since I’ve
Lauren: Find what works for you and incorporate it into your
started walking everyday on the treadmill my pain is 99% better. I
lifestyle. Keep the NEAT mentality in mind while you work. It
haven’t felt this good since I was a kid.
doesn’t have to be a treadmill.
Shawn: What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped
Some people use stationary bikes, others use a giant exercise ball
when exercising)?
to sit on while they work at their desk (apparently the balancing on the ball encompasses the NEAT and it’s great for the back) It doesn’t
Lauren: I don’t listen to music. I think most people listen to music
matter what you do, just keep moving.
when they exercise because it’s a nice distraction from the tedious torture they’re putting their mind and body through. I don’t need
Shawn: Have you ever gotten really into something on your
a distraction.
screen and then flung off the back of the treadmill?
That’s the beauty of this whole thing. I’ve always been the type to
Lauren: LOL, No thank goodness. When I first started I was so
get absorbed in my work. It’s the same thing when I moved my
scared I was going to be one of those people on YouTube that go
work to my treadmill. I get lost in my work and next thing I know,
flying off their treadmills. I do make sure to attach that safety cord
I look down and I’ve been on for 100 minutes and burned 500
to my waistband every time, just in case.
calories.
Shawn: Any regrets about posting your progress online?
Shawn is a Co-founder of Affiliate Summit and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine.
FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2009 | 9
Affiliate Marketing Industry Ripe for Quality Effort By Will Martin-Gill During the past two decades, affiliate marketing has quietly grown into a multibillion dollar industry, with projected 13 percent year-over-year increases through 2012[1]; making it one of online advertising’s fastest growing segments. As the industry matures and the stakes get higher, issues of quality weigh heavily on affiliates and merchants alike. What kinds of traffic are affiliates sending to their advertisers? Are top affiliates compensated fairly? What happens when honest affiliates must compete with those who cheat the system? The affiliate community should be asking these questions and exploring quality measures that can elevate the industry, lifting reputations and profits with them. Consider the quality implications of modern pay structures. Generally, the more sales and leads an affiliate sends, the more likely the merchant will put them in special bonus tiers and pay more. In this scenario, smaller affiliates who may send more valuable traffic are undercompensated, while those who send large volumes of lower-quality traffic – some who also commit fraud – are unduly rewarded. When eBay brought its affiliate program in-house last year and analyzed performance data, the company re-examined those traditional notions of affiliate marketing. Traffic quality demanded attention. For example, the data suggested that many small affiliates, especially those with relevant content sites, actually do bring more engaged customers and better converting traffic. Small affiliates with fewer than 100 clicks per
10 | AUGUST 2009 | FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE
tools, including better options to target by customer and geography, and to optimize landing pages. 2. Affiliates – Build high quality sites with valueadded content, integrating links and ads in userfriendly ways. (For example, integrate merchant links within relevant content, not around it). Use more targeted creatives and tools to engage users in a merchant’s product and brand. Take advantage of landing page and geo-targeting functionality when available. Will Martin-Gill
day to eBay bring 44 percent more revenue per click than the program average. Sending buyer traffic from high-quality websites with a positive marketing experience sets the stage for a quality experience on a merchant’s site. If all stakeholders unite to promote quality, profits increase and perceptions of the channel improve. The following steps can help make that happen: 1. Advertisers - Calculate and compensate for the value delivered by affiliates. Reward and encourage by paying appropriately for engaging users through a positive experience. Some leading affiliate and ad networks already do this. AdSense adjusts cost-per-click payouts based on a series of quality-based metrics. Amazon encourages quality in a way by compensating more for deep linking and some of its tools, which it presumably has tied to better quality publishers and overall results. It’s also important to keep investing in affiliate
The affiliate marketing industry stands to gain much from increased debate and studies about quality, and ways advertisers and affiliates can work together to improve metrics. The more stakeholders can demonstrate the quality and impact of affiliate marketing, the larger the investments merchants can make in commissions, tools and people that can drive the industry and its best affiliates forward.
[1] Source: Jupiter Research US Online Affiliate Marketing Forecast, 2007 to 2012
Will Martin-Gill is Director, Internet Marketing for eBay, leading business development for eBay’s affiliates channel.
Reward Sites: Asset or Liability? By Tricia Meyer
Tricia Meyer
Every merchant, at one point or another, has heard a horror story about cash back/ reward sites and why they shouldn’t work with them, however, when done properly (avoiding known issues and ensuring that certain checks are in place), reward sites can actually help grow your program. Here are five ways: 1) Reward sites have strong membership
bases that can be leveraged. Whether you are a well-known or lesser-known brand, the reward site can use its relationship with its members to give your brand both exposure and credibility.
purchase, they often consider it the same as a discount, which can lead to higher purchase amounts. In many cases, it may even lead to a purchase where there may not been one.
2) Most reward sites keep track of the purchase histories of their members in some way. Using their databases, they can help you target particular demographics and types of purchasers for your products. They know who buys shoes, kids clothes, electronics, etc.
5) A good reward site will be able to quickly track down and minimize fraud. By monitoring accounts and watching spending patterns, reward sites can often alert you to fraudulent purchases before they are even shipped. This can include stolen credit card numbers and false information.
3) Because reward site members watch their accounts closely for credits, the sites can help you pinpoint tracking issues at the network level or even on your site. This can help you isolate particular landing pages or links that are not working before the problem becomes widespread. 4) Reward sites give people an extra incentive to make bigger purchases than they might have made otherwise. When a member is getting cash back on a
The degree of benefit will, of course, depend upon the particular reward site. Talk to the cash back sites with which you are interested in working and ask them how they can help you with some or all of the above.
Tricia Meyer is the owner of the cash back shopping site SunshineRewards.com.
When it comes to Affiliate Networks... You do have a choice. Safety. Comfort. Reliability. True Performance Marketing www.shareasale.com Come see the difference... Booth #1100 @ Affiliate Summit
Privacy is Good Policy By David Klein David Klein
Clients frequently inquire, skeptically, as to the necessity of posting privacy policies on their websites. While some clients might prefer to skip that step (and expense), my advice is always the same: If you operate a website that collects Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) from end-users (name, e-mail address, phone number, etc.), it is crucial that you compose an easy-to-read privacy policy that you make available to visitors on your home page. Letting website visitors know, via your privacy policy, what PII you collect, how you intend to use it; to whom you disclose the information to; and the security measures taken to protect that PII, is not only good policy from a customer-relations perspective, it is also required by state and federal law. In addition to making sure that your online data collection activities are compliant with state and federal law, a well-written privacy policy can form a key feature of your online business strategy. If proper disclosures are included in your privacy policy and above the “Submit” button on your website, you can monetize user data through e-mail marketing, telemarketing and, where permitted by law, mobile/text message marketing, to end-users. On the other hand, if you do not properly inform end-users of your intention to use their data for marketing purposes, any attempt to do so would almost certainly violate applicable law.
12 | AUGUST 2009 | FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE
In crafting your privacy policy, you must provide specific disclosures for each intended use of the data, and you cannot deviate from the range of options granted to you in your privacy policy. If you want to change your privacy policy to allow for greater uses of the PII in your database, you must contact the users that are already in your database and receive additional consent from them. For that reason, it usually makes sense to grant your business the greatest range of potential uses of the data when you first draft your privacy policy. Even where you state up-front in your privacy policy that you can use your end-users’ PII in various ways, that does not always grant you the right to such uses. For example, more restrictive laws apply to the use of sensitive information such as Social Security Number, health-related information and financial data. While properly collected end-user data may provide your business with a valuable revenue stream, collecting data also imposes a responsibility on your employees to safeguard such data. Various state and federal statutes require that you distribute to your employees a written manual on data security procedures, and that you notify end-users in case of any breach of security with respect to their data. With all the rules and regulations governing the collection and use of PII – and given the
potential financial benefits derived from a database of consumer information – it makes good business and legal sense to craft a privacy policy that is well-suited to the needs of your business, and that provides your website visitors with the information they require to make an informed decision. This is only a brief overview of some of the legal issues associated with privacy policies. Remember to retain a licensed attorney to draft your privacy policy.
David O. Klein is a partner with the firm of Klein Zelman Rothermel LLP in New York, NY, where he practices Internet Marketing Law. He can be reached at (212) 935-6020 or via e-mail at dklein@ legal.org.
5
By Matt McWilliams
The Five Most Common
Today it seems everyone has a website. You’re not everyone though; your site is your business. Your website should be professional and encourage your visitors to buy.
them. Place them throughout your site and create a prominent “Testimonials Page.” If you don’t have any testimonials, ask your affiliate manager if you can use the merchant’s.
Shoppers today are cynical and have more choices than ever.
5. FAQ Page Most people will never view this page, but the ones who do want answers; and they want them fast! Anytime someone asks something, add it to the FAQ. Ask your friends to look at your site and think of FAQs. It will lead to more sales, guaranteed.
I’ve found that many affiliates are missing or misusing these five critical pieces on their websites. Are you? 1. Informational Content Conventional wisdom tells us to get to the point and eliminate clutter on our site, but you need informational content to help convert the skeptics and less knowledgeable visitors. Informational content serves two purposes. First, it’s a great service that customers won’t forget, converting confused customers into ready-to-buy machines. Second, a good article is chock-full of keyword-rich content that can vault you to the top of search engines and drive substantial traffic from links from other sites.
Matt McWilliams
3. Privacy Policy Is my information protected? What data are you collecting? Will I get spammed? These are all questions that visitors ask themselves. Not having a clearly written privacy policy that answers important questions can cost you their business. In their eyes, you’re hiding something and must be a scam.
2. “Contact Us” Page Often, the hardest obstacle to overcome is consumer trust. These people are about to give some serious information. You must do everything possible to earn their trust.
A good privacy policy lets customers know about things like cookies, your anti-spam policy, form encryption, etc. Every page on your website should like to your Privacy Policy page.
In Geno Prussakov’s book, “Online Shopping Through Consumers’ Eyes,” 83% of web users say a physical address gives them more confidence than a P.O. Box. Almost all say that no address is a major deterrent. Geno also notes that by a 4-to-1 margin, users prefer an actual email to a “contact form.”
4. Customer Testimonials You may not get emails often thanking you for your service, but when you do get a thank you, do you make use of it?
Give them every way possible to contact you, it clearly pays off.
Any one of these missing components can cost you conversions and ultimately money. Check your site and make sure that you have all of these important pieces. If you have them, make sure they are thorough and upto-date.
Matt McWilliams is the award-winning Affiliate Manager for the Learn and Master Learning Program at http://www.learnandmaster.com.
The first thing you should do is to thank your customers and show genuine happiness that you helped them. Then ask permission to use their testimonial. About 50% of people will let you. Testimonials are priceless trust builders, so make sure you take advantage of
FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2009 | 13
That Support Your Business By Nicky Senyard from the dashboard so that users can quickly get a sense of their KPIs at a glance upon login. Merchants and affiliates should also be able to adapt reports to their business needs through an Application Programming Interface (“API”) or by exporting them in Excel, CSV, TXT, or XML formats. As for actual affiliate and merchant KPIs, reliable affiliate software should provide analytics on creatives (impressions), landing pages (click-through-rates), and conversions (transactions). This depth of intelligence provides insight into the full cycle of acquisition, allowing you to analyze where your strengths are in the acquisition process. Hyper-Targeting In addition to general marketing tools such as banner and flash ad management tools, affiliates need to be able to hyper-target their promotions in order to maximize promotions. There are two sides to affiliate hyper-targeting: (1) sending referrals to the most appropriate landing page, and (2) having customizable URLs so that affiliates can track and optimize their conversions.
Nicky Senyard
Affiliate marketing is a symbiotic relationship between advertisers and publishers, and the affiliate software that brokers that relationship should support the needs of both parties. The features of an affiliate platform should offer sophisticated tools for managing the merchant/affiliate relationship. Therefore, the software you choose to work with should facilitate this process with relevant reporting and proactive targeting tools. Relevant Affiliate Reporting Tracking reports are at the heart of success for both affiliates and the program they promote. Thus, a vital feature of reliable affiliate software is reporting that’s timely, accurate, accessible, and reports on all the Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) of a campaign. Current (e.g. daily) and accurate reporting is important because it allows both merchants and affiliates to monitor their campaign performance, and to make adjustments in a timely manner. A graphical overview of these reports should also be accessible
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Affiliates understand their traffic best; being able to choose what landing page to send their referrals to is essential to increasing conversions. Affiliate software that features deep linking tools helps affiliates achieve better results by allowing them to choose the landing URL/pages of their affiliate links. This enables the ability to adjust their call-to-actions so that they resonate with their customer-base. As affiliates can generate and refer traffic from a variety of sources (SEO, PPC, Twitter, etc.), it’s also important that they have access to analytics that show how well each campaign converts into a referral. Affiliate software that features custom affiliate tracking allows for the creation of tracking URLs with additional variables, such as keywords or campaign IDs. With these custom URLs, affiliates can then monitor how well each campaign is converting and optimize their efforts accordingly. Software & Business Relationships By providing merchant and affiliates with the reporting and marketing support they need to succeed, affiliate software can broker a prosperous business relationship.
Nicky Senyard is the founder and CEO of ShareResults.com, a relationship-focused affiliate network and software provider.
How Banner Advertising Can Boost Affiliate Sales By Amanda Schwarz
Amanda Schwarz
Banner advertising may not be your first thought when building your online marketing strategy. Maybe you feel that it is only effective for large companies, or that that search engines drive more measurable, impactful results. Perhaps the process of setting up banner ad campaigns seems a bit intimidating.
Reinforce your search campaign with retargeting Retargeting enables you to show banner ads promoting your site to people who have already visited your site and left. The goal is to convince them to return to your site to complete a transaction.
It turns out that banner advertising, especially on third-party networks, is both an easy and accessible way for you to promote your site or business. Here are a few goals that a banner advertising campaign can help you achieve:
If you are currently running a search campaign, implementing a retargeting campaign can visually reinforce a visitor’s previous brand experience on your site, or remind them why they visited in the first place. Click-through rates on retargeting campaigns are very high, as the audience is already familiar with your site.
Pinpoint and attract the right leads Many banner advertising networks offer a host of advanced targeting options, including geographical, demographic and site content. They can generate leads from specific locations, target to people who have particular online habits, or show banners on sites whose content appeals to your target audience. These people may not be looking for your business on search engines, but when they see your banner ad on a trusted site, they may take a second look. Optimize your advertising dollar Banner advertising has never been more affordable, especially on third-party networks that are able to deliver clicks across a wide range of sites. Look for a network that allows you to pay only per click, and to set your own price. Coupled with the ability to target customers effectively, each click can be both inexpensive and likely to convert.
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Banner advertising is more targeted, effective and affordable than ever before. This is a great time for affiliate marketers to take advantage of banner advertising – to find and convert new leads, stretch their advertising budgets, and reinforce their other marketing efforts.
Amanda Schwarz is a Product Manager for BidPlace SB, a banner advertising solution offered by Platform-A/Advertising.com.
OUT OF COMMISSION
By Lisa Picarille
Affiliate marketers know the importance of commissions, but few realize that what they are doing when they sit down at the computer, could put them out of commission. Many online marketers work from home. It’s one of the big perks often associated with self-employment and the affiliate lifestyle. While the freedom of working from home means there is no boss looking over your shoulder, it also means there is no one there to regulate and oversee basic issues like creating an ergonomic workspace. Most people find out the hard way that where you sit and what you sit on is a big deal. This is especially relevant for the majority of affiliates, who often spend upwards of 12 hours per day sitting in front of their computers in environments that are far from ergonomic. As a result, poor posture, eye strain, sore wrists and aching backs are common, as well as more serious conditions like repetitive stress injury, carpal tunnel syndrome and debilitating back problems. The bulk of people don’t address these issues until they are very serious, but there are ways to prevent them from happening at all. Here are some basic rules for a healthier workspace. Keyboard
• Use an adjustable keyboard/mouse tray • Make sure your keyboard allows you to keep an open 90 degree angle with your arms so they’re tilted downward and close at your sides
• Keep your wrists in a straight position; not bent up or down. Monitor
• Center your monitor
Lisa Picarille
• Sit only an arm’s length away wheels for easier movement
• Position the top of your screen level with your eyes • Beware of glare • Consider adjusting font size • Take a 20 second break every 20 minutes and look at least 20 feet away Mouse
• Keep your mouse close to your keyboard • Make sure you are using the right size pointing device • Use your elbow not your wrist to more the mouse • Don’t click too hard • Use keyboard shortcuts when you can
Lighting
• Use glare free lighting • Add a task light on your desk Phone
• Do not cradle the phone between neck and ear • Consider getting a headset or using a speakerphone Desk
• Use a desk that is large enough to accommodate papers, reference manuals, and other workstation tools, but arranged properly to access items easily
• Don’t hover over the mouse with your hand when you are not using the mouse
• Make sure the desk is at a height that allows enough space for your knees and thighs to comfortably fit under the desk
• Consider using your other hand to operate the mouse
• Be sure you can put your monitor at least an arm’s length away
Chair
• Look for a chair that is adjustable • Keep your feet flat on the floor • Make sure there is support for your lower back
Lisa Picarille is a consultant specializing in online marketing, branding and social media, and she blogs at www.lisapicarille.com
• Be sure you have adjustable armrests so your elbows will be kept at your sides • Use a chair that swivels and has
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By Jami Gibbs
Charged Affiliate Marketing Jami Gibbs
As an affiliate marketer, you will always be learning something new, be it designing landing pages, finding new keywords, or finessing your copywriting skills. However, there is one thing that you will learn faster than anything else – your plate will always be full. But, have you considered the emotional pitfalls of your affiliate marketing PPC campaign? More importantly, have you learned how to control those emotions to maximize your profit? The first emotion many of us experience is the euphoric high. It’s the excitement we feel when we get our first click, sale, or profitable day. Naturally it’s a feeling we want to maintain on a day-to-day basis. It’s a positive feeling, right? But in affiliate marketing, it can lead to obsessive stats checking and rash judgments. Pat yourself on the back for having a profitable campaign but be sure to call upon your inner Spock before jumping the gun on decisions. You must also prepare yourself for the anxiety of spending money without seeing an immediate ROI. These are the days that we question our place in affiliate marketing altogether. We say to ourselves, “I’m just a noob!”, “I’m way over my head!”, or, “I’m just wasting my time and money!” Every affiliate marketer must accept that we’re simply playing a game of risk and chance. How do we control our emotions to make sound business and life decisions? You must remember that every affiliate marketer rides the same emotional roller coaster. Sometimes remembering that you’re not alone can be enough to help you focus. Every online marketer has gone through the anxiety of a negative ROI day and every affiliate must learn to adapt to those days. Take comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone. Second, find a physical trigger to help snap your brain back to reality. For example, to stop myself from obsessively checking stats I use Google Lab’s “ Take a Break”, which when activated, logs you out of your Gmail account for a mandatory 15 minutes. While they haven’t yet made an application that logs me out of my PPC stats account for 15 minutes (I’m considering
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forwarding that idea to Google support), it’s still a nice idea to carry over. I then mentally assign that action to all applications on my desktop. This forces me to stand, walk away from my desk, take a breather, and center my emotions to help me take the next logical step in my marketing campaign.
Jami Gibbs (Twitter @JamiGibbs), a website publisher and budding affiliate marketer, is originally from Chicago and currently resides in Tel Aviv, Israel.
7
7 Essentials When Making Affiliate Program Changes By Jamie Birch commission rate, and/or other aspects of your program, here are some guidelines and things to consider: • Accurate data: When making changes to commission rates, for example, be sure to know the lifetime value of affiliate customers and look at the profitability of each partner before making a decision. Accurate data will guide you in your decisions. • Proven assumptions: Are your theories supported by data or simply the thoughts of someone outside of the marketing department? Good analysis will often stop bad decisions from being made. • Testing: Test out your assumptions in your program. • Top affiliate involvement: Affiliates are your partners. You shouldn’t make any big changes without consulting them first. It may serve only as a forewarning in the end, but bringing them into the process will help them understand any decisions you decide to make. Additionally, many affiliates have been in business longer than the affiliate managers themselves, they may have some ideas that you may not have thought of. Sometimes there is simply no way to avoid making changes to your program. Following these guidelines can help lessen the pain: • Involve your affiliates and be able to explain the issues and reasons for your decision Jamie Birch
Times are tough. There is no escaping the fact that our industry is not immune to the high unemployment rates and falling consumer spending. It is affecting all of us and merchants may need to adjust their programs due to the changing landscape; sometimes even just to keep them open to affiliates. As Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, “The only constant is change”. But you shouldn’t make changes without thoughtful, in-depth consideration and accurate information. Nothing will upset your partners more and reduce the overall performance of a program than affiliates finding an email in their inbox that tells of a dramatic change taking place immediately.
• Have data to back up your position • Be prepared to offer concessions to ease the impact on your partners • Provide adequate lead time (60-90 days) • Send email notices before changes are made and follow up with individual calls to your top-producing affiliates Accurate data, partner consultation, and adequate lead time will help you and your program maintain trust and the performance that we all need during these tough times.
Jamie Birch is the owner of the affiliate management agency JEBCommerce.com, MyAffiliateCoach.net, and NewsForAffiliates.com.
If you find yourself under pressure to change the cookie days (also known as commission duration or return days), overall
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Inside Information on Affiliate Classifying By Matt Enders
Matt Enders
When my company takes over the management of an existing affiliate program or launches a new one, we do so using the Structured Diversity Method I have developed. Affiliates are categorized into three distinct classifications: Aggregate Volume, High Potential, and Premium Partners. Each affiliate within any given classification is equally significant and must be treated with a high level of importance. This ensures that your affiliate partners are able to consistently improve their sales volume and helps your program become a significant portion of your overall online revenue. Aggregate Volume affiliates comprise the foundation of your program. These affiliates are what most would consider rookies to affiliate marketing. They will likely have many questions and may need to be taught the basics of generating traffic and converting visitors. These affiliates typically generate a few orders each, per month. Your program should be designed so that you have hundreds of converting affiliates at the foundation level who occasionally generate individual sales, but who, as the Aggregate Volume group, contribute a
significant amount of monthly revenue. High Potential affiliates are important both as a group and individually. This group does not typically make their living entirely from affiliate marketing, but they are generating consistent sales each month. Their commission earnings play a role in both their business and personal budgeting. High Potential affiliates are likely to increase their sales rapidly if they are given the right tools. Premium Partner affiliates are your top performers. They may or may not be considered an industry Super Affiliate, but regardless are generating a significant amount of your monthly sales. These affiliates should be viewed as a method of “sharpening the tip� of your affiliate program. They have the ability to drive significant amounts of revenue, often in a very short period of time. More importantly, their high performance level is often sustainable over time. You can build a significant revenue generating program through Aggregate Volume and High Potential affiliates alone, but overall growth will be inconsistent and slow. Likewise, a program built with Premium Partners alone may not
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be sustainable over time as any number of factors beyond your control could temporarily or permanently affect their sales volume. The loss of even a single Premium Partner in a program consisting only of this group will result in a significant decrease in overall revenue. In utilizing the Structured Diversity Method for your affiliate program design, you will be able to reach profitability from the sales generated by Aggregate Volume and High Potential affiliates alone. However, you must attract and recruit affiliates of all three classifications in order to realize the sharp growth curves you are looking for. You must manage your program under the assumption that each partner in each classification wants to earn more with your program and is actively working on improving their business. If you provide the tools and assistance needed, you will find a steady flow of affiliates advancing their performance level and generating more sales in your program.
Matt Enders is the CEO and Founder of mgecom, inc., a leading Outsourced Affiliate Program Management firm.
Deborah
Carney
The Direct to Merchant PPC Minefield By Deborah Carney Direct to merchant (DTM), pay per click (PPC) advertising has been increasingly restricted lately, with major merchants like Amazon and EBay stating they will no longer allow affiliates to use the merchant site as their landing pages in PPC campaigns. What this means to affiliates is that they will now be tasked with building their own websites and landing pages that convert. Even though many affiliates made a lot of money using DTM PPC, the technique is flawed and smart affiliates should have recognized that long ago. First, affiliates have been paying for traffic and sending it directly to the merchant. Unfortunately, when the merchant pulls the plug, as many are now doing, those affiliates will not have any residual traffic to a website of their own. With perfected keywords, ads and their own websites, affiliates would have been able to continue without issue and have a site with some authority and customer trust. Second, affiliates with their own sites could have been building a mailing list to use to contact people about similar or better products. Not a spam list, but a real list built from people that
were interested in the product being promoted and possibly other similar products that can be featured on the same site. Third, affiliates that perform well utilizing pay per click ads in the search engines have unique skills that many other marketers don’t have. Leveraging those skills to build traffic to their own websites provides them with an opportunity to increase their own authority and credibility with shoppers. Building their email list should take them to new levels that they weren’t aware they could achieve. If you’re not great at building websites and landing pages, I recommend partnering with someone who is, or utilizing sites such as Elance.com to outsource the portions you can’t do yourself. In the everchanging affiliate and online marketing landscape, the more you are able to utilize your skills and adapt to new requirements, the more successful you will be.
Deborah Carney (TeamLoxly.com) is an Affiliate Manager and Consultant that also hosts a podcast on Geekcast.fm to teach affiliates the ABCs of getting started (AffiliateABCs).
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Affiliate FATBLOGGING By Shawn Collins
Affiliate marketing is all about people and relationships. Some critics say that is a problem when trying to scale. But many affiliate marketers are crunching numbers on a different kind of scale these days. They’re getting into affiliate fatblogging, where they chronicle efforts about healthier living and weight loss on their blogs. Here are some affiliate marketers that are trying to achieve a net loss.
Ayako Bingham Where can people follow your progress? www.branding100.com What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped when exercising)? Don’t Cha / The Pussycat Dolls Any regrets about posting your progress online? I love taking pictures, but I don’t like being in them. But, this way, I am pushed to accomplish my weight loss efforts Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in shape? Find something that works for you. I am not a treadmill type and it took me a while to find something I actually enjoy doing.
Tyler Cruz Where can people follow your progress? www.tylercruz.com In particular, my weight loss challenge vs. Jonathan Volk started at the post www.tylercruz.com/bloggingweight-loss-challenge-cruz-vs-volk
What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped when exercising)? I’m currently listening to the best singles of No Doubt which have some nice fast paced songs. Before that, I was listening to the best singles of Michael Jackson such as Beat It and Billie Jean. Great running music. Any regrets about posting your progress online? Absolutely not. It’s all about public accountability and pressure. Promising to reach a goal to yourself is one thing, but promising it to the world is something completely different. Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in shape? Try announcing your weight loss or fitness goal publicly. It’s a lot harder to come up with excuses when everyone is watching you.
Scott Jangro Where can people follow your progress? There’s no easy way to do this. For a while I was using the Nike+ website but the battery died on the sensor. I go through phases
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of talking about my progress in blog posts or podcasts to keep myself motivated. I’ve also got a page on my blog: www.jangro. com/feeds-n-fat/ What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped when exercising)? Eminem “Lose Yourself” Any regrets about posting your progress online? No, I’m pretty open about stuff that I do. I like the pressure of publicly declaring my goals. When I do that on my blog, I find thatmy readers are both supportive of me and even inspired to get in shape themselves. That’s a nice feeling. Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in shape? Set goals for both work and exercise. For example, I might commit to a number of miles per week. To get yourself away from your work, schedule time to work out. I use exercise as both a break and a reward for getting stuff done. I also find that I can
get some fresh thinking done while on an hour run without any distractions.
Tim Jones Where can people follow your progress? www.therealtimjones.com What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped when exercising)? Fuel by Metallica Any regrets about posting your progress online? Not necessarily a regret, but I’ve found that now I’m accountable to a whole group of people that want to know my progress. Keeps you more motivated and keeps you from eating that double cheeseburger, but can also be intimidating. Could have quietly worked on my fitness and weight loss -- like I said, not a regret, per se, but a little unexpected. Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in shape? A few things -- 1) Just like in business, you have to set yourself up for success. Preparation is half the battle. Get the temptation out of your house. Clean out all the garbage food before you even attempt to eat better. 2) Get out from behind the computer! Even if you just walk around the block, you have to get some movement in, every day. (I have a lot of difficulty with this one). 3) We dine out a lot, as do many affiliate marketers (according to my own, completely un-scientific polling data), so you often have to work a little harder to find healthy alternatives when you’re out. They’re on every menu, but sometimes you have to get creative and eat a few side items or a couple healthy appetizers to avoid the nasty stuff.
Israel Lagares Where can people follow your progress? www.FatManUnleashed.com or www.twitter.com/israellagares What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped when exercising)? Any song by Eminem gets me going. It’s like I transfer all of his hate into my workouts. Any regrets about posting your progress online? I have no regrets at all about putting myself online. It has helped me tremendously. I’ve been able to identify negative patterns in my diet and exercise, plus have been held accountable.
Scott Jangro’s Treadmill Desk
Shawn takes a day off from Affiliate Fatblogging.
Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in shape? If you are trying to get in shape start off slow. Cut the little things out and replace them with positive choices. Instead of soda, drink diet soda. Then instead of diet soda switch to water. Get in small workouts. Hop on the floor and do some pushups then go for a walk in the park. Do that for a month and then step your game up. You can also try my Blogger Proof Workout. It’s made for those folks that live behind the monitor. Check it out at www. fatmanunleashed.com/bloggerproofworkout.pdf
James Seligman Where can people follow your progress? www.jamesseligman.net What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped when exercising)? Indestructible - Disturbed Any regrets about posting your progress online? No regrets, with other affiliates also getting in shape, it’s like you have your own little support system. Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in shape? Just take a quick 10-minute walk every day before logging on your computer. One of my biggest issues was sitting in front of the computer all day and eating snacks (junk food), so don’t snack!
Jonathan Volk Where can people follow your progress? My affiliate marketing blog, www.jonathanvolk.com every Wednesday. What’s your power song (song that gets you pumped when exercising)? Skillet, Comatose. ;) Any regrets about posting your progress online? None! It’s been a great motivation for me. When I gain or lose weight and I post it online; it’s a huge accountability tool for me. Any advice for affiliate marketers that want to get in shape? Even though much of affiliate marketing is done solo, do not apply this to your weight loss regimen. I had been trying to become healthier and get in shape for a while and it was not until I had a friend to work out with and push me that I was able to really have any progress.
Shawn is a Co-founder of Affiliate Summit and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine.
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Why We Should All Believe in Trade Shows By Michael Sprouse Michael Sprouse
I have to admit that when I entered this sector of online advertising as a profession, I totally underestimated the value of face-to-face meetings and relationships. I, like many, believed at the time that since a high percentage of daily business was done via IM, email and the telephone, that trade shows and other “physical” events were somehow less important. Was I ever wrong. In fact, key trade shows – including and most notably Affiliate Summit – have become indispensable parts of our company’s marketing budget and resource allocation each year. So why, in this day of economic cuts, bailouts and a recession, are these seemingly “non-ROI” spending activities still thriving? The first answer is because they are anything but “non-ROI” and have everything to do with making money. I’ve been in several different industries in my career, and I can tell you that at shows like Affiliate Summit, business actually gets done on the spot. This is truly a unique characteristic as trade events go. In so many other industries, you hear about the long boring days at the booth, or the dull/fluffy presentations by out-of-touch “suits” who don’t understand the workings of the business. (Some people consider me a “suit”, so I can say that.) How lucky we are to have shows like these that are busy, well-attended, and bring together successful people and companies in the spirit of doing actual business? The second answer is those all-important relationships. No matter how technologically advanced we as an industry get, there will never be a replacement for affiliates and affiliate managers meeting in person. There is something less “tangible” or trustworthy about never having put a face to a name, email, or IM. Looking people in the
eye is important. While you can’t measure this aspect of shows concretely, look at the volume of things that happen at the show, and during the evening events. People clearly value the social aspect of trade shows. The third answer relates mainly to the networks and merchants reading this: “Branding”; a word that connotes something not often pondered. But, consider a few of the major trends happening right now; more marketing dollars flowing online; more dollars flowing specifically to performance-based marketing from cash-strapped advertisers during this recession; and a never-ending expansion of new categories and verticals. All of this means more new people, affiliates and advertisers attending trade shows that are most likely unfamiliar with your company. No matter how “big” you think your company or network is, a majority of people that are entering this sector of online advertising probably haven’t heard of you. Being able to showcase yourself to these folks, and build new relationships with them, is huge. Trade shows aren’t cheap. For networks and affiliates alike, it’s an investment in time, money and people. But from where I sit, I wouldn’t “trade” (sorry) the benefits listed above for anything else in our company’s budget.
Michael Sprouse is the Chief Marketing Officer for Epic Advertising, and is based at the company’s headquarters in New York, NY.
Flogging –
Will Your Blog Be Outed? Jason Dodd
Using your blog to promote your affiliate campaigns can be like walking a tightrope. In order to do it correctly, you must learn how to monetize your blog without becoming a biased “flog” (fake blog); losing the trust of your readers and search engines alike. According to comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008), blogs received 77.7 million unique visitors in the US, out of a total Internet audience of 188.9 million. Armed with the knowledge that traffic equals money, it’s easy to see why blogging is catching on - merchants and affiliate marketers alike. Herein lies the trap. Perhaps it’s simply a reflection of human society but wherever there is money to be made there’s always someone who will abuse it. The abuse of blogging has been seen in a phenomenon known as ‘astroturfing’ or fake blogging. These bogus blogs, or ‘flogs’, are not just the work of small-time marketers; companies such as Sony, Coke, L’Oreal and Walmart have all been outed as running a flog. The damage is irreparable and criticism from the blogosphere harsh. How do I know if my blog is actually a flog? Worried that the blogging police
By Jason Dodd will soon be knocking at your door? Review these three symptoms of a fake blog to find out. You’re not transparent – You hide who you are and who you represent. You might even go as far as to have fake commenters on your blog. It’s important to remember the whole idea behind blogs – to give the little person a voice. A lack of transparency hides or obscures that voice. You’re adding content that is pure fiction or staged – Have you ever written a product review post about a product you’d never used but pretended you had? It’s all too easy to just copy review content and post it as your own and add your affiliate link. Your only goal is to monetize – It’s not wrong to monetize your blog. In fact you deserve to be compensated for the time and effort involved in crafting your wordy works of wonder. However, when monetization becomes the sole focus of your blog you run the risk of faking it. Problogger Jack Humphrey is guided by what he calls the ‘90/10 rule’. Essentially this means he is providing valuable, free content 90% of the time, and the monetization takes care of itself.
Genuine blogs have staying power. While it might feel like hard work to maintain a genuine blog, the rewards make it worthwhile. Over time you will develop a loyal tribe of followers who appreciate and respect your unique and refreshing openness. If you’re a real person with a real voice, your blog is bound to resonate with readers as they sense that you are actually interested in them and not blogging simply to capture a clickthrough, a sale or an ad view. Stay true and you’ll never have to worry about being called out for faking it.
Jason Dodd works as a technical copywriter for Affilorama.com, an online affiliate training portal that teaches you how to make money from affiliate marketing.
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The Workspaces
of Affiliate Marketers By Shawn Collins Some of those “gurus” with dubious claims of success try to sell the affiliate lifestyle as a long vacation with an auto-pilot business that makes them rich. You’ve seen them - the hyperbolic sales pages that feature some clown lounging on the beach. I always like seeing the environments where fellow
Shawn Collins , Affiliate Summ
it
affiliate marketers do their work - the real places. One of my favorite threads on the Wicked Fire forum is “What does your workspace/desk area look like for an Aff Marketer?” where lots of photos are featured of spots where affiliates get their work done. My office is far from a beach, but it’s a geeky oasis for me with a bunch of computers, gadgets, games, books, and caffeine. I spend a good part of most days there, and it’s sort of a “mullet office”. The business end is in the front with my main computer for most work, and then the setup in
ent Group
Trisha Lyn Fawver, Paulson Managem
the back is for editing videos and podcasts. Here is a look at the workspaces of some of the folks in the industry. So we don’t work at the beach (most of us), and it’s all harder than it looks on those sales pages. Still, we have some pretty sweet gigs, don’t we?
Shawn is a Co-founder of Affiliate Summit and Co-Editorin-Chief of FeedFront Magazine.
liateCREW.com
Chuck Hamrick, affi
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go
Brian Hawkins, Pin
Scott Jangro, MechMedia
Jason Lane,
Grandeur M
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Nick Mattern, The Mattern Group
Eric Nagel, ericnagel.com
arketing
irectNet, Inc.
xD Wendy Palmer, Re
Chris Park, Blair.com
Ashlee Pendleton, Clickbooth
Jeremy Schoemaker, ShoeM
Benny Tejed
a, BennyTejed
a.com
Dominic Yiadom,
buy.at
oney Media Group
Deborah Carney, TeamLoxly.com
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Ten Ways to Promote Facebook Business Pages By Mari Smith Facebook’s Terms of Use state you can only have one account and it must be in your actual name, not your business name. However, there is a place set aside to represent and promote businesses called Facebook “Fan” Pages (“Pages”).
fans on Twitter and send them an @ message. 9. Send email broadcasts. Send an email blast to your regular opt-in list inviting them to join your new Facebook Page. Consider offering an incentive to do so. Also, include an invitation to join your Page on your email signature file.
The Pages feature is somewhat obscured; scroll down to the foot of any Facebook.com web page and click on “Advertising.” Here are ten suggestions for promoting your Facebook Page (much of which can be delegated to a trusty assistant/team): 1. Choose a Facebook Username. Since Saturday, June 13, Facebook has offered usernames on a first-come, firstserve basis for profiles and the Facebook Pages. Details at www.facebook.com/ username/. 2. Talk about your Page on Twitter. Tweet about your Page URL regularly. Preferably not just, “Check out my Facebook Page [insert link].” Rather, offer something enticing like “New Affiliate Marketing White Paper just loaded at my Facebook fan page [insert link].” 3. Create content just for Fans. Add content to your Page for your Fans they cannot get anywhere else, e.g. videos, tips, special gifts, discussion threads, coupons, etc. (Of course, this content could be repurposed later. You might want to give your fans first dibs though). 4. Conduct weekly drawings. Run a weekly (or even daily) prize drawing where you draw a Fan’s name at random for a special prize, ideally connected to your business product/ service.
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Mari Smith
5. Play hide ‘n’ seek. “Hide” something on your Page and encourage your Fans to find it. e.g. a special link, or discount code. Have them tweet their answer to you. The first “x” gets a prize. 6. Promote regular contests. People love contests and video is real easy to create from computer webcams right onto Facebook. Create a photo and/or video contest. Have your Fans upload their photos/videos to your Fan Page. (Each activity your fans do creates a feed item for more visibility for you). 7. Provide a place for interaction. Start a thread on your Discussion Board that allows your fans to promote and/or network with one another. For example, invite your fans to submit their own (and/or their favorite) blogs and Twitter IDs. 8. Acknowledge fans. When new Fans write on your Page Wall, respond by writing back on their Profile wall. (This helps create visibility for both you and your Fans). Also, look for your
10. Test Social Ads. Promote your Page with Social Ads. Every time someone becomes your Fan their name and photo may appear alongside your ad. There’s a reason Facebook combines Pages with Social Ads under Advertising. Experiment with a weekly/monthly budget and see what happens.
Mari Smith is a social media consultant, speaker and trainer, and she blogs at http://marismith.com and http://www. whyfacebook.com
Thank You Affiliate Summit East 2009 Sponsors PLATINUM SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSOR
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FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2009 | 33
Saturday, August 8 Early Registration Location: 2nd Floor Promenade Time: 4:00pm – 8:00pm Come by Saturday evening to pick up your badge and attendee bag so you can enter immediately at noon on Sunday when the show opens!
Sunday, August 9 Booth Setup Location: Exhibit Hall Area – Americas Halls 1 & 2 Exhibitor Move In: 8:00am – 6:00pm Registration Location: 2nd Floor Promenade Time: 8:00am – 6:00pm Affiliate Meet Market Location: Rhinelander Gallery Time: 12:00pm – 6:00pm Exhibitor Move In: 9:00am – 12:00pm 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 products and services. Each table is a meeting spot for teaching, learning, closing deals, creating partnerships and finding new opportunities. There will be a silent auction to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City during the Affiliate Meet Market.
Microniches – The Way to Mega Profits
Session 1a Location: Classroom A – Gibson Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm Learn about how some affiliates are promoting products in a wide variety of very small and focused niches, also known as microniches, which little have competition and inexpensive ad costs. • Dush Ramachandran, VP Sales, Business Development & Marketing, ClickBank (Twitter @DushR) (This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only) Dynamic Shopping – Content, Conversion, Analytics
Session 1b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm This session will discuss dynamic shopping features for affiliate websites: banners vs. dynamic content, duplicate content, SEO & conversion impact, and merchant relationship impact, and reporting. • Mike Allen, President, Shopping-Bargains.com, LLC (Twitter @mta1) • Anthony Bajoras, President & Co-Founder, m o v e software • Sal Conca, Senior Media Manager, NETexponent (Twitter@netexponent) • Jessie Jones, CEO & Founder, PopShops.com • Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO, Pepperjam Network (Twitter @pepperjamceo) (This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only) Getting Noticed FAST
Session 1c Location: Classroom C – Concourse A Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm Regardless what your role in the industry is, it’s important to be noticed within the industry. Learn the networking and social media techniques that make it possible. • Michael Buechele, Owner, MikeBuechele.com (Twitter @ mikebuechele) • Trisha Lyn Fawver, Affiliate Manager, Paulson Management Group (Twitter @trishalyn) • Jen Goode, Doodler in Charge, JGoode Designs (Twitter @ JGoode) • Stephanie Lichtenstein, Affiliate Program Manager, Andy Rodriguez Consulting (Twitter @StephARC)
Affiliate Summit East | 2009 Agenda • Lisa Picarille, Online Marketing Consultant, LisaPicarille.com (Twitter @lisap) (This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only) Optimizing Google AdWords Performance
Session 1d Location: Classroom D – Nassau Suite Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm Join us to get the tricks for effective Google AdWords account optimization. Learn how you can use paid search techniques on Google to meet your marketing goals through search engine marketing. • Tyrona Heath, Program Manager, Customer Education, Google (Twitter @tyrona)
Advertising Tax Impact, Accomplishments and the Future
Session 2c Location: Classroom C – Concourse A Time: 1:30pm-2:30pm Discussion on the Advertising Tax by industry leaders that have played a key role in organizing industry advocates and educating legislators on the impact of state tax nexus legislation. • Karen Garcia, Partner, GTO Management (Twitter @ karengarcia) • Beth Kirsch, Volunteer, Performance Marketing Alliance (Twitter @bethkirsch) • Brian Littleton, President / CEO, ShareASale.com (Twitter @ Brianlittleton) • Melanie Seery, President, Affiliate Voice (Twitter @mellies)
(This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only)
(This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Creating Lasting Publisher and Advertiser Relationships
Igniting Viral Campaigns by Creating Relevant Conversations
Session 2a Location: Classroom A – Gibson Time: 1:30pm-2:30pm
Session 2d Location: Classroom D – Nassau Suite Time: 1:30pm-2:30pm
Results are what matter in performance marketing. These industry leaders will discuss how they work together to create long-term partnerships. It will explore communication, commission, policies & more.
Learn how companies of all sizes including major brands are taking advantage of the tools , trends and technology to cut through the noise and connect with potential customers.
• David Lewis, CEO & Founder, Cashbaq (Twitter @cashbaq)
• Larry Bailin, CEO, Single Throw Internet Marketing (Twitter @LarryBailin)
• Steve Schaffer, Publisher, Offers.com (Twitter @ SteveSchaffer)
(This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only)
• Chris Symons, Senior Account Manager, Partnerships and Alliances, Travelocity
Rolling Out Across Europe
(This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only) Personal Branding 2.0
Session 2b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 1:30pm-2:30pm Everyone knows the power Twitter, Facebook and social networks have in today’s online marketplace. How can building your own personal brand help you increase traffic and exposure? • Stephanie Agresta, EVP, Porter Novelli (Twitter @ stephagresta) • Sarah Austin, Founder & CEO, Pop17 (Twitter @pop17) (This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Session 3a Location: Classroom A – Gibson Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm Taking the leap across the pond? Find out where to start, what you need to take into account, the challenges & pitfalls, and the differences in the various markets via a recent case study. • Robert Glasgow, Managing Director, Webgains (This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only) What the Heck is a Website Nowadays?
Session 3b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm Businesses may be changing the way they look at web presence.
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Can you just have a blog? Is a Facebook presence alone a good idea? Does Web 2.0 mean the demise of websites? • Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami, Network Solutions (Twitter @shashib) • Kelly Harman, President, Zephyr Strategy • Melanie Mitchell, SVP, Search Strategy, Digitas (Twitter @ melaniemitchell) • Ramon Ray, Editor, Smallbiztechnology.com
SEO Site Clinic
Session 3d Location: Classroom D – Nassau Suite Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm Attendees can submit sites to the panel (in advance) for live site audits and suggestions on how to help the internal site structure, as well as ideas how to build a better site for organic rankings. • Michael Gray, Owner, Atlas Web Services (Twitter @graywolf ) • Rae Hoffman, Owner, Sugarrae Inc (Twitter @sugarrae)
(This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only) Offline Affiliate Marketing
Session 3c Location: Classroom C – Concourse A Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm This session will focus on the opportunity for online affiliates to drive consumers into physical stores on a CPA basis. This is a huge opportunity and represents the next frontier of our industry. • Jonathan Treiber, CEO, RevTrax (This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only)
• Michael Streko, Owner, Streko Media LLC (Twitter @streko) • Frank Watson, Owner, Kangamurra Media (This Session is Open to Gold and Platinum Pass Holders Only) Affiliate Summit Tweetup
Location: Sutton Complex Time: 9:00pm – 12:00am This is a networking social event open to all Affiliate Summit attendees to get together for drinks and conversation in a nonclub atmosphere. If your preference is to turn the music down and the lights up, join us to meet new people and create new business opportunities.
Do you know any SMALL BUSINESSES that want to DOUBLE THEIR SALES GUARANTEED? Offer them a free trial of Infusionsoft, the only CRM + email marketing + eCommerce software solution that offers a “Double Your Sales” guarantee. As the referring affiliate, you’ll earn revenue for free trial sign-ups and software sales. Join today. It’s free and easy.
Visit www.infusionsoft.com/affiliates.
© 2009 Infusionsoft. All rights reserved.
Affiliate Summit East | 2009 Agenda
Monday, August 10 Continental Breakfast Location: Sutton Complex Time: 9:00am - 10:00am (Breakfast is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Coffee Service Location: Sutton Complex Time: 10:00am–12:30pm and 2:00pm–6:00pm Registration Location: 2nd Floor Promenade Time: 7:30am - 5:00pm Blogger Room Location: Mercury Ballroom Time: 8:30am - 6:00pm The Blogger’s Lounge is an area reserved for credentialed bloggers/press to grab some desk space, blog, interview, relax and network. Heather Smith will be the BlogMistress of the Affiliate Summit Blogger’s Lounge, where she’ll be acting as liaison between Affiliate Summit and the press and bloggers attending the show. • Heather Smith, Blogger, Beautiful British Columbia (Twitter @heatherinbc) Exhibit Hall Location: Exhibit Hall Area – Americas Halls 1 & 2 Time: 10:00am – 5:00pm (Exhibitors may set up beginning at 9:00am) Opening Remarks & Keynote Location: General Session Room – Grand Ballroom Suite Time: 9:45am – 10:45am • Jim Kukral, Owner, TheBizWebCoach.com (Twitter @jimkukral) • Chris Brogan, President, New Marketing Labs (Twitter @chrisbrogan) (This Session is Open to All Pass Holders)
Advertising Tax: What Happened and What’s Next
Session 4a Location: Classroom A – Gibson Time: 11:30am-12:30pm An overview of the status of state advertising tax legislation, what to expect going forward, and how to fight it. • Wright Andrews, Partner, Butera & Andrews • Bennet Kelley, Founder, Internet Law Center (Twitter @ internetlawcent) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) How to Monetize Your Site with Widgets
Session 4b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 11:30am-12:30pm This presentation will discuss how to enhance your site using various widgets, what works and what doesn’t, and how effective different widgets are to your site. • Woody Wood, Product Manager, Amazon (Twitter @ AmazonAssociate) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Seven Deadly Sins of Landing Page Optimization
Session 4c Location: Classroom C – Gramercy Time: 11:30am-12:30pm Landing Page Optimization can lead to double digit conversion rate gains and skyrocket your profits. Learn how to avoid the most common landing page problems in this fast-paced. • Tim Ash, President & CEO, SiteTuners.com (Twitter @tim_ash) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) SEO Tools You Can Use Today
Session 4d Location: Classroom D – Murray Hill Time: 11:30am-12:30pm This session is a quick moving brain dump of how to use the most advanced powerful tools to help you with SEO. Expect to learn how you can walk out and use several SEO tools to grow revenues today. • Wil Reynolds, Associate, SEER Interactive (Twitter @ wilreynolds) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
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Luncheon
Organic Site Review
Location: Sutton Complex Time: 12:30pm-1:45pm
Session 5d Location: Classroom D – Murray Hill Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm
(Lunch is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Managing Privacy & Maximizing Data in Affiliate Marketing
Session 5a Location: Classroom A – Gibson Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm Affiliate marketing thrives on valuable data, such as lead gen, email marketing and campaign results/statistics. Privacy, data and security issues are critical today, especially in an industry where valuable data is a competitive advantage. • Alan Chapell, President, Chapell & Associates • Gary Kibel, Partner, Davis & Gilbert LLP (Twitter @ GaryKibel_law) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Social Media Marketing for Affiliates
Session 5b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm Learn from some of the top Social Media Marketers, how you can use social media to build links, drive traffic, and increase your site’s visibility. • Brent Csutoras, Social Media Consultant, Brent Csutoras, Inc. (Twitter @brentcsutoras) • Todd Malicoat, Owner, Meta4 Creations, LLC (Twitter @ stuntdubl) • Neil Patel, Co-Founder, KISSmetrics (Twitter @neilpatel) • Chris Winfield, President, 10e20 (Twitter @chriswinfield) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Web 2010 – Ten Trends Defining Your Future
Session 5c Location: Classroom C – Gramercy Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm As the internet becomes the critical hub for all business and personal communications, discover ten trends that will allow businesses and individuals to differentiate themselves and succeed online. • Jay Berkowitz, CEO, Ten Golden Rules (Twitter @ JayBerkowitz) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
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Have your site reviewed for SEO by a panel of experts in the SEO industry. • Todd Friesen, Director, SEO, Position Tech (Twitter @oilman) • Eric Lander, Owner, EricLander.com (Twitter @ericlander) • Kate Morris, Co-Founding Demon, Marketing Demons (Twitter @katemorris) • Scott Polk, Senior SEO Analyst, Bruce Clay, Inc. (Twitter @ scottpolk) • Carolyn Shelby, Owner, CShel (Twitter @cshel) • David Snyder, Co-Founder, Search & Social, LLC (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Affiliate/Merchant Networking
Session 6a Location: General Session Room – Grand Ballroom Suite Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm (This Session is Open to All Pass Holders – Must be Registered as Affiliate or Merchant) As you enter the room, you will drop your business card in the Bingo Networking box. You will then be given a bingo card where you will write your name in the center square. Next, you circulate with everyone throughout the room. To complete the bingo card, you will need to meet 24 other people, collect their business cards and have them write their names in the open squares. Then, we will call off the names on the business cards that everyone dropped in the Bingo Networking box when they arrived. Regular bingo rules apply thereafter. The winner is the first person with five names in a row, either across, down or diagonally. In addition to the prize (TBD) for the winner of Bingo Networking, everybody that participates will walk away a winner, because everyone will be making new contacts while playing the game.
Affiliate Summit East | 2009 Agenda The Conversation Prism v2.0
Ask the Experts
Session 6b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm
Location: General Session Room – Grand Ballroom Suite Time: 5:00pm-6:00pm (This Session is Open to All Pass Holders)
We will observe, analyze, dissect, and present the dynamics of conversations, how and where they transpire – becoming digital anthropologists in the process. • Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks, PR 2.0 (Twitter @ briansolis) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Advertising on Facebook
Session 6c Location: Classroom C – Gramercy Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm Learn about advertising on Facebook and how affiliates can reach over 100 million members. Join us for a panel discussion including a Facebook representative covering all you need to know. • Zac Johnson, President / CEO, MoneyReign Inc. (Twitter @ moneyreign) • Jeremy Schoemaker, President, ShoeMoney Media Group, INC (Twitter @shoemoney) • Alex Schultz, Manager, Facebook (Twitter @alexschultz) • Dennis Yu, CEO, BlitzLocal, LLC (Twitter @dennisyu)
Ask the Experts will be an opportunity for merchants, networks and affiliates to ask questions about various specialties and issues. Hand picked experts will handle topics in their specialty, and conduct chats, answer questions and share opinions during this networking and education session. • Advanced Landing Pages for Affiliates: Scott Brinker, President & CTO, ion interactive, inc. (Twitter @chiefmartec) • Advanced Search Marketing For Affiliates: Gab Goldenberg, Owner, SEO ROI Services (Twitter @GabGoldenberg) • Affiliate Strategies for Evaluating Merchant Partners: Michael Vorel, CEO, Vastplanet Corporation (Twitter @ michaelvorel) • Driving Consumer Action with Online Video: Bud Rosenthal, CEO, TurnHere (Twitter @turnhere) • Ecommerce Economics: What Affiliates Should Know: Daniel Assouline, CEO & Co-Founder, UpClick • The Face (Yours!) of Affiliate Marketing: Christopher Park, Affiliate/Partnerships Manager, Blair.com (Twitter @ BLAIRAffiliates)
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
• How to Get Your Niche Site Online: Evan Weber, CEO, Experience Advertising, Inc. (Twitter @experienceads)
Organic Site Review
• How to Make $70MM in 3 Years: Paul Moss, CEO, Moss Affiliate Marketing
Session 6d Location: Classroom D – Murray Hill Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm Have your site reviewed for SEO by a panel of experts in the SEO industry. • Todd Friesen, Director, SEO, Position Tech (Twitter @oilman) • Eric Lander, Owner, EricLander.com (Twitter @ericlander) • Kate Morris, Co-Founding Demon, Marketing Demons (Twitter @katemorris) • Scott Polk, Senior SEO Analyst, Bruce Clay, Inc. (Twitter @ scottpolk) • Carolyn Shelby, Owner, CShel (Twitter @cshel) • David Snyder, Co-Founder, Search & Social, LLC (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
• How to Motivate Affiliates: Geno Prussakov, CEO, AM Navigator LLC (Twitter @eprussakov) • Monetizing Social Media: The How-To GuideJoe Stepniewski, Co-Founder, Skimlinks (Twitter @digijoe) • The New Google Rules: Mike Jacobs, Chief Services Officer, iMarketing LTD. (Twitter @mikeyjake) • Removing Barriers, Creating Performance Marketing Dominance: David Dalka, President, Dalka Strategy Consulting (Twitter @dalka) • Removing the Payments Headache: Yuval Tal, CEO, Payoneer • Using Photographs in Your Websites to Gain Traffic: Deborah Carney, CEO, Team Loxly (Twitter @loxly) Intium Services Party
Sponsored by Click Progression, Intium Services Location: Ultra Nightclub (37 W 26th St., New York, NY. 10010) Time: 8:00pm – ?
FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2009 | 39
You come to Affiliate Summit for the best networking and more. Shouldn’t you get the best once the show floor closes? That’s why, to celebrate the launch of the best affiliate management solution, Click Progression, Intium Services is granting VIP access to one of the most exclusive New York nightclubs experiences – Ultra. We’re rolling out the red carpet with a premium open bar and LA DJ Solomon spinning the hottest tunes. You’ll take home fabulous gifts to remember us by, but it’s sure to be an evening you won’t forget. All the VIPs will be there; will you? RSVP at http://www.intiumservices.com/affiliatesummit.aspx Affiliate Summit Karaoke
Sponsored by TechKaraoke Location: Sutton Complex Time: 9:00pm – 12:00am Think you have a great singing voice? Come out and rock with TechKaraoke and Affiliate Summit. The mission is simple: choose the best song from the selected list of artists that will definitely get the crowd moving. Deborah (or “Debbie”) Gibson is not allowed. Ever. It is everyone’s duty to rock the mic!
Tuesday, August 11 Continental Breakfast Location: Sutton Complex Time: 9:00am - 10:00am (Breakfast is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Coffee Service Location: Sutton Complex Time: 10:00am–12:30pm and 2:00pm–6:00pm Registration Location: 2nd Floor Promenade Time: 8:00am - 3:00pm Blogger Room Location: Mercury Ballroom Time: 8:30am - 6:00pm The Blogger’s Lounge is an area reserved for credentialed bloggers/press to grab some desk space, blog, interview, relax and network. Heather Smith will be the BlogMistress of the Affiliate Summit Blogger’s Lounge, where she’ll be acting as liaison between Affiliate Summit and the press and bloggers attending the show. • Heather Smith, Blogger, Beautiful British Columbia (Twitter @heatherinbc) Exhibit Hall Location: Exhibit Hall Area – Americas Halls 1 & 2 Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm (Exhibitors may set up at 9:00am) Opening Remarks & Keynote Location: General Session Room – Grand Ballroom Suite Time: 9:45am – 10:45am • Jim Kukral, Owner, TheBizWebCoach.com (Twitter @jimkukral) • Peter Shankman, Founder & CEO, The Geek Factory (Twitter @skydiver) (This Session is Open to All Pass Holders)
Affiliate Summit East | 2009 Agenda Keeping Your Affiliate Program Clean
Lead Generation: Driving the Future of e-Commerce
Session 7a Location: Classroom A – Gibson Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
Session 7d Location: Classroom D – Murray Hill Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
Learn advanced approaches to running a clean affiliate program. A review of the systems, processes, tools and techniques used by leading affiliate programs to keep their programs clean.
Lead Generation allows publishers to add a whole new revenue stream to their repertoire. It not only provides quality control, but allows the publisher to predict commissions.
• Jamie Birch, Owner, JEBCommerce (Twitter @JamieEBirch) • Graham MacRobie, President & CEO, Alias Encore (Twitter @ grahammacrobie) • David Naffziger, CEO, BrandVerity • Joshua Sloan, CEO, Sloan Tech (Twitter @sloanzone) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Bullet-Proofing Your Affiliate Agreement
Session 7b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 11:30am-12:30pm Avoid catastrophe and build in great offensive weapons and defensive shields by a carefully-crafted affiliate agreement. Bear in mind that most lawyers do not understand this specialized field. • Pete Wellborn, Founding Member, Wellborn, Wallace & Woodard
• Russ Pechman, Vice President, Lead Generation, LinkShare Luncheon
Location: Sutton Complex Time: 12:30pm-1:45pm (Lunch is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Affiliate Marketing-MLM Convergence: How to Profit
Session 8a Location: Classroom A – Gibson Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm This session will define MLM, outline the opportunities and challenges, industry evolution, stats, and trends, as well as the comparison to affiliate marketing. • Debbi Ballard, CEO, International Network Liaison Corporation (Twitter @DebbiABallard) • Kevin Grimes, Member, Grimes & Reese, P.L.L.C.
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Profitable Performance Marketing: More Money for You
Hot Topics in Marketing Compliance and Enforcement
Session 7c Location: Classroom C – Gramercy Time: 11:30am-12:30pm Presenting actionable items for 7 main topics, including social media, negotiating, points of sale opportunities, content that pulls, partnerships, prioritization, and the expense of inefficiency. • Lisa Riolo, Consultant, LisaRiolo.com (Twitter @lisariolo) • Karen White, VP of Marketing, SquirtGun Media Group, LLC. (Twitter @KarenWhite_LV) (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Session 8b Location: Classroom B – Clinton Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm Hear from regulators and industry insiders on critical legal issues facing affiliate marketers today, including advertising practices, affiliate liability, and enforcement priorities. • Leonard Gordon, Director, Northeast Region, Federal Trade Commission • David Graff, General Counsel and Sr. Vice-President, Corporate Development, Epic Advertising • Jeffrey Greenbaum, Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC (Twitter @jeffgreenbaum) • Peter Marinello, Director, Electronic Retailing Self Regulation Program, Council of Better Business Bureaus (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Affiliate Summit East | 2009 Agenda The Truth About Coupons
Affiliate Triathlon
Session 8c Location: Classroom C – Gramercy Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm
Location: General Session Room – Grand Ballroom Suite Time: 4:30pm – 5:30pm
The current economy and the sophistication of online shoppers has created the “perfect storm” for online coupons. Come see how they can be effective for your program. • Michael Ouellette, Director, Publisher Development, Commission Junction • Kim Riedell, Vice President, Client Development – East, Commission Junction (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) Key Trends in Performance Marketing
Session 8d Location: Classroom D – Murray Hill Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm An informative discussion about the current explosion and future of performance-based marketing, including what it all means for advertisers, traditional agencies and publishers.
The Affiliate Triathlon is a three event contest of skill, determination and dexterity open to all attendees at Affiliate Summit East 2009. The winning athlete (highest cumulative score across the three competitions) will be awarded a 10’x 10’ exhibit hall booth (value: $5,195) for Affiliate Summit West 2010 in Las Vegas. Yes, the booth is transferable, so the winner can sell it at whatever cost they wish. The entry fee for the Affiliate Triathlon is $100, which is donated directly to Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. Enroll at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/affiliate-triathalonenrollment/. (This Session is Open to All Pass Holders)
James Little of Affiliate Future at Affiliate Triathlon
• Don Mathis, CEO, Epic Advertising (This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only) GeekCast.fm Live!
Location: Classroom C – Gramercy Time: 3:15pm-4:15pm A mixed bunch of podcasters from GeekCast.fm will have an open, candid discussion about the hot topics in affiliate marketing. • Michael Buechele, Owner, MikeBuechele.com (Twitter @ mikebuechele) • Deborah Carney, CEO, Team Loxly (Twitter @loxly) • Jim Kukral, Owner, TheBizWebCoach.com (Twitter @ jimkukral) • Vinny O’Hare, President, Vincent O’Hare Consulting (Twitter @vinnyohare) • Scott Parent, Vice President of Emerging Media & Strategy, MediaTrust (Twitter @americancliche) • Lisa Picarille, Online Marketing Consultant, LisaPicarille.com (Twitter @lisap) • Lisa Riolo, Consultant, LisaRiolo.com (Twitter @lisariolo) (This Session is Open to All Pass Holders)
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Photo by Brad Crooks
Ted Murphy
[ted_murphy_attribution_adam_wiggall_of_turnandface_dot_com. jpg Ted Murphy]
It’s All About You.com By Ted Murphy
aren’t going to be a rock star overnight, but if you start now you can build over time.
Jeremy Schoemaker. Gary Vaynerchuk. Zac Johnson. All names you know or should know if you read this magazine. But have you ever thought about why?
Ted’s Tips for Starting a Personal Brand
The reason you know their names is that these marketing mavens have taken the time to build and maintain a personal brand. You know them because they want you to know them. They work at it. They invest in it. They view building their personal brand as an integral part of their business endeavors. Personal brands are powerful. In many ways they can be more valuable than a product, service or corporate brand. Want to sell more wares? Slap Trump’s name on a building, have Britney Spears front a perfume or leverage the ShoeMoney name to sell a set of Internet Tools. People identify with people. Marketable people with solid personal brands can sell almost any product. I believe every affiliate marketer should invest time and money creating his or her personal brand. Whether you are working for yourself or an employer, a personal brand can be an incredible long-term asset that can open doors and create wealth. You
Define Your Brand Promise What are you all about, your interests, your specialty? Successful branding is about promoting your natural strengths. If you are a geek; be a super geek. If you are good looking; show off that pretty mug of yours. List out your assets and determine what will appeal most to your audience. Create a simple statement that defines your brand promise, such as “Creative disruption of the marketing industry with a smile”. Own Your Name If you don’t already have your own personal domain; go out and get one. Your domain should either be based on your real name or on a persona you plan to go by. Any persona you create should complement your brand promise. You should try to lockup the name throughout the socialsphere. Don’t be @johndoe on Twitter and have the domain technojohn. com. Be consistent whenever you can to avoid confusion.
Make Your Mark Every notable brand has a distinct logo mark, color palette, font and style. If you are not a designer, hire a real designer with experience in branding. Share your brand promise and collaborate to create a professional graphic identity you like. Share and Promote
Your new domain should serve as the hub for all things you. Update your content on a regular basis and use social media tools to start spreading the word. If you really want to grow you are going to need to invest some cash or other currency. Consider having custom swag made, attending industry events, and buying ads to get your name out as much as possible. If you want to be perceived as a rock star you have to promote like a rock star.
A serial entrepreneur, Edward “Ted” Murphy has founded six companies since 1994, has a reputation for disruptive creativity, and in a short time has built one of the most recognizable personal brands in the social media community.
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Keynote Bio
Chris Brogan Chris Brogan uses social media and technology to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals. He has merged his experience in technology (enterprise IT and wireless telephony) with his passion for social media, such that he’s showing organizations how to use these tools inside the firewall, as well as to build authentic conversations between coworkers, customers, and even competitors, and demonstrating how these tools drive business. Chris is Vice President of Strategy & Technology at CrossTech Media, an integrated marketing and events company. He blogs at chrisbrogan.com.
Speaker Bios
Keynote Bio
Peter Shankman Peter is the founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, a marketing and PR firm. He launched HelpAReporter.com to connect journalists with sources via social media. He launched AirTroductions, which was acquired and relaunched as TripLife. He is the author of “Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them.”
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Affiliate Summit East 2009 Speakers Stephanie Agresta
Stephanie Agresta has been a force in the online marketing industry for nearly 15 years. An expert in social media, affiliate program management and Web 2.0 strategies, her mission is to connect people, ideas, products and services using digital technology in new and inventive ways. Stephanie is the Executive VP of Digital Strategy and Social Media at Porter Novelli after five years of building her successful personal consultancy. Stephanie has been instrumental in developing innovative digital media strategies for Fortune 500 brands including Microsoft, Windows Mobile and PepsiCo. She started her career with iVillage, and has since held prominent sales, marketing and business development roles with Internet powerhouses such as Barnes & Noble.com, Register.com, SpaFinder and Commerce360. Stephanie holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s from Luther College. She blogs at internetgeekgirl.com and she tweets @stephagresta.
Mike Allen
Mike Allen founded Shopping-Bargains.com in February 1999 and currently serves as President and “Chief Executive Shopper.” Designed to be everything you need to save money online, Shopping-Bargains.com was a finalist for the LinkShare Golden Link Merchant’s Choice Award in 2005 and the LinkShare Golden Link Advertiser’s Choice Award in 2008. Mike received the Affiliate of the Year award at the 3rd Annual Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards in 2009. In addition, Shopping-Bargains was inducted into the Mississippi BBB’s Business Integrity Circle of Honor in 2007. Mike attends most affiliate marketing industry conferences and has presented at Affiliate Summit, BlogWorld and the Performics Client Summit. Mike serves on advisory boards for LinkShare, Affiliate Summit, the Google Affiliate Network and a4uexpo in Europe. He also blogs at ReveNews and authored a chapter about finding bargains online in a book for military families (Your Military Family Network: Your Connection to Military Friendly Businesses, Resources, Benefits, Information and Advice [2008] with a foreword by Senator John McCain).
Wright Andrews
Wright Andrews is founder of Butera & Andrews, a former President of the American League of Lobbyists and was included in Washingtonian Magazine’s Top 50 Lobbyists. His clients have included numerous major corporations, trade associations, Governors of various states. In the last several years, he had managed teams of lobbyists for large, multi-million dollar lobbying coalition efforts at both the federal and state levels. Andrews began his career as Chief Legislative Counsel to Senator Sam Nunn and has been featured on many television and radio programs dealing with lobbying.
Tim Ash
Tim Ash is the President & CEO of SiteTuners.com, a landing page optimization firm that offers consulting, full-service guaranteedimprovement tests, and software tools to improve conversion
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rates. During his 14 year involvement with the Internet, Tim has worked with Verizon Wireless, American Express, Sony Music, COMP USA, Universal Studios, Rand McNally, Red Envelope, Black & Decker, and Coach to develop successful Internet initiatives. He is a highly-regarded speaker and workshop leader at conferences including Search Engine Strategies, Affiliate Summit, eMetrics, OMS, and PPC Summit. Tim is a contributing columnist to several publications including SearchEngineWatch, Website Magazine, and Visibility Magazine. He received his B.S. and M.S. during his PhD. studies in computer science from UC San Diego. He is the author of the bestselling book Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions (Wiley Press, 2008) LandingPageOptimizationBook.com.
Daniel Assouline
Daniel Assouline is the CEO and co-founder of UpClick, the free payment processing solution for software companies which allows customers to cross-sell their products through a network of affiliates, sharing subsequent revenues and boosting profits. Daniel is a serial entrepreneur, having sold his first software business to Sanyo at the age of 17 and then going on to build a number of other technology and finance companies. Prior to building and running his own internet companies, Daniel spent six years at Dell Computer where he worked at Dell Labs drawing up long-term technology plans for the company.
Sarah Austin
Sarah Austin is a Manhattan-based alternative media producer and online lifecaster who interviews tech-oriented developers and Internet personalities, both well known and obscure. The New York Times, grouping her as a central figure in the new emerging subculture of New York techie night life, described her as “the founder of Pop17, a Web site posting her video interviews with techworld celebrities.”
Larry Bailin
Larry Bailin is bestselling author of the acclaimed marketing book, Mommy, Where Do Customers Come From? and CEO of the award winning Internet marketing company, Single Throw. Bailin is an expert in the fields of, sales, Internet marketing and the new customer culture. He has been hired as a speaker for the following organizations: Microsoft, UPS, HealthSouth, The Direct Marketing Association, The Conference Board, Business Marketing Association, Search Engine Strategies, Affiliate Summit, BlogWorld, Podcast Expo, American Marketing Association and others. Bailin has co-presented with industry leaders such as Ask Jeeves, Yahoo! and MSN. He has also shared the platform with bestselling author, Seth Godin. Mommy, Where Do Customers Come From? released on November 15, 2007 and within hours of release rose to number 3 on Amazon’s bestsellers list. The book has been dubbed “an instant classic” by readers and the media. Advanced praise was given by bestselling authors, Brian Tracy, Jeffrey Eisenberg and Harry Beckwith. Bailin has also written for Yahoo’s search marketing Blog and was called, “one of the top minds in the business” by the Yahoo search marketing team.
Speaker Bios Anthony Bajoras
As President and Co-Founder of m o v e software, Anthony has led the launch of AffiliateReporting.com, a software solution that dramatically improves affiliate search marketing campaigns by automating pay-per-click profit analysis, bid management, and optimization across numerous search engines by integrating data from nearly all affiliate networks. From 1999 to 2008 Anthony led the development and sale of m o v e marketing, a performance search engine marketing agency that generated tens of millions of dollars in affiliate commissions and more than $2 Billion in online sales for nearly 1000 partners, ranging from start-up to Fortune 500. Prior to co-founding m o v e, Anthony was Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships for DIRECTV Broadband and Vice President of Business Development for E-Tropolis, a Chicago based ISP and community/ social marketing innovator. Anthony earned his undergraduate degree in Business Management and Entrepreneurship from DePaul University in Chicago and has pursued non-degree studies in Design and Engineering at Northwestern University, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Arizona State University.
Debbi Ballard
Debbi A. Ballard is CEO of International Network Liaison Corporation, a marketing/management consulting firm for the multi-level marketing industry (MLM). For over twenty years, she has done consulting for start-ups and established firms in the U.S. and abroad. She is now also spearheading the development of mlm best practices at www.mlmconsultantsblog.com. She is well known for anticipating future trends in the industry and for her attention to details. An expert witness in matters relating to MLM network marketing, she is the author of the first book ever written for networkers on how to build their businesses with an entrepreneurial mindset. She is also author of the ebook “Sixty Things You Should Know About MLM Compensation Plans.” She has addressed business and governmental conferences on issues relating to MLM and the entire direct selling industry.
Shashi Bellamkonda
Shashi Bellamkonda works for Network Solutions as the firstever Network Solutions “Social Media Swami”. Helped Network Solutions aggressively move into the online space to listen to and interact with its customers and win the 2008 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Award for Online Reputation Management/ Corporate Division. A prolific Twitterer, blogger, and product innovator, Shashi loves technology, testing new things and helping people. A self-described “Internet junkie,” Shashi has presented previously on “How to Sell Social Media to Your Boss” and “Social Media tools for Small Business”. Shashi started his blog to keep his many on and offline friends up to date on the coolest new things to check out and answer their questions on social media and technology from what to use and how, how to prevent popups, how to avoid viruses, how to save computers from hackers, and the ever popular “Why is my computer freezing?”
Jay Berkowitz
Jay Berkowitz is a dynamic marketing professional. He has managed marketing departments for Fortune 500 brands: Sprint, CocaCola and McDonald’s and successful dot-com eDiets.com. Mr. Berkowitz is the author of the Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing Workbook, the host of the Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing Podcast and Founder and CEO of www.TenGoldenRules.com , an internet marketing consulting business based in South Florida. Ten Golden Rules helps companies get more traffic to their websites and convert that traffic to sales with a focus on improving internet profit. Mr. Berkowitz is the immediate Past President of the American Marketing Association South Florida and a founding Board Member of SFIMA, the South Florida Interactive Marketing Association. Mr. Berkowitz is a popular presenter at conferences and events such as Affiliate Summit, The American Marketing Association, The Direct Marketing Association, Search Engine Strategies, Ad-Tech, and the CEO Executive Forum.
Jamie Birch
Currently I am the owner of JEBCommerce. We manage affiliate programs for our clients as well as paid search, SEO, web development and more. Since 2005, I have also been a contributor at Revenews.com. Prior to JEBCommerce, I was the Director of Affiliate Relations at Converseon, where I managed all aspects of affiliate programs including recruiting, retention, strategy, while managing a team of experienced affiliate managers. At Converseon, I managed programs such as Hilton Hotels, Palm, Mikasa, Edmund Scientifics and more. Prior to Converseon, I managed a multi-million dollar affiliate program and search campaigns for Coldwater Creek, a top 5 national women’s apparel retailer. I have also held positions with a number of e-commerce and online marketing companies where my focused was on performance marketing and customer retention and activation initiatives. I also have many years of experience in Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing and other tech marketing areas.
Scott Brinker
Scott is the president and CTO of ion interactive, a leading provider of post-click marketing software and services in the search marketing industry. Clients have included American Greetings, Citrix, HSBC, Intuit, Procter & Gamble, Wellpoint, and Wyndham Worldwide. Scott has over 12 years experience in web technology and online marketing. He has spoken at SMX, SES, ad:Tech and EO on the topic of post-click marketing and landing page strategy. He has written articles for Advertising Age, Adweek, B2B Magazine, DM News, MarketingProfs, and SearchEngineLand. He is also a co-editor of the Post-Click Marketing Blog and a co-author of the book “Honest Seduction: Using Post-Click Marketing to Turn Landing Pages into Game Changers”. Scott has a BS in Computer Science from Columbia University and an MBA from MIT. He also writes a personal blog on marketing technology, Chief Marketing Technologist.
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Speaker Bios Michael Buechele
Since the early 90s, Michael has worked in publishing, both print and online. Before the Tech Bubble burst, he joined DoubleClick in NYC’s Silicon Alley to learn about ad serving from the best in the industry. Later, he went on to help some of the biggest and best publishers get even better; companies like Cartoon Network, Brightcove, Marvel Comics, National Public Broadcasting, CBS Radio, and NBC Universal. In 2007, he started 11|15 Media after seeing the tremendous opportunities in Performance Marketing, publishing and to have a platform to teach leadership.
Deborah Carney
Deborah has been a professional photographer for 30 years, including photographing weddings, other social events and conferences, on location cat shows, as well as a fine art photographer. She has been creating websites for 15+ years, that all included photographs optimized for the web, because back then they had to be since we were all on dialup! A selection of her photos hang in hotels, homes and offices, and are published in several cat breed books, as well as being scattered all over the web and some newspaper publishing along the way. Currently an affiliate and Outsourced Program Manager that teaches affiliates how to optimize their sites and that uses images heavily in her own sites. You can hear her tips on Affiliate ABCs and Make Your Mark (art marketing) podcasts.
Alan Chapell
Chapell founded Chapell & Associates in 2003. Since then, his firm has helped over 100 technology and media companies craft their privacy and data strategy – from working with startups as an angel investor to building programs for some of the largest agencies and advertisers in the world. Email Alan AT ChapellAssociates.com for more information.
Sal Conca
Sal Conca is a Senior Media Manager at NETexponent and manages affiliate programs for Audible.com, iChapters.com and the Financial Times. With a degree in Music Business from the University of Miami and an MBA in Marketing from Hofstra University, Sal has worked in the affiliate marketing industry since 2001 where he first helped manage the 1800Flowers.com Affiliate Program. From 2005 to 2008 he managed the Puritan’s Pride affiliate program, a division of NBTY, Inc. which is the largest vitamin and supplement manufacturer in the world. Sal was responsible for doubling the multi-million dollar affiliate program as well as increasing customer acquisition. While there he also launched the Vitamin World affiliate program. Sal has managed programs on multiple networks including Linkshare, Commission Junction and Pepperjam and has extensive knowledge of datafeed creation and integration, search engine optimization as well as landing page design and optimization.
Brent Csutoras
Brent Csutoras is a seasoned Internet Marketing Consultant who primarily specializes in Social Media, Viral Linkbait and Search Engine Marketing strategies. Known for his work on Weird Asia News, a popular website serving a growing audience of around a million unique visitors a month, Brent has built a reputation as a Social Media expert. Brent speaks regularly at some of the largest and well known conferences, such as SMX, Pubcon, SES, and InfoPresse. He has also been mentioned in Forbes.com, interviewed forEntrepreneur.com, and was recently recognized as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Online Marketers of 2008. Brent has made guest appearances discussing the arts of Social Media and the impacts it has on Search Engine Marking on highly popular internet marketing radio shows such as Good Karma, Rush Hour, and Webmaster on the Roof. Most recently, Brent was named a Senior Editor for Social Media in the SEM Journal and awarded a SEMMY.
David Dalka
David is a passionate voice for fully considering search engine marketing/optimization, performance marketing and social media innovation strategy at the c-level executive and board of directors level and integrating the activities fully into corporate culture. His interests are in seeing organizations outperform by acting nimbly, with a bias for action and utilizing current marketing technology to create customer focused experiences that drive revenue growth! You may ask David to speak at your conference or executive retreat, provide search marketing strategy management consulting, visit his online marketing strategy blog or follow him on Twitter.
Trisha Lyn Fawver
Trisha burst onto the affiliate marketing scene in 2006 with no shortage of enthusiasm. Quickly turning her passionate desire to learn into actionable items and real results, she lead the way in repairing a neglected affiliate program and establishing it as a top program, all while managing email marketing and other assorted marketing campaigns at PsPrint. Trisha is now an affiliate manager with Paulson Management Group, a leading outsourced program management and online marketing firm. Blogging about marketing and social media at TrishaLyn.com has set her apart from the pack and allowed her to gain insight and expertise within the dynamic industry of affiliate marketing.
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Todd Friesen
Todd Friesen is considered by many to be an SEO pioneer. He entered the SEO world in 1998 and has since worked with top-name clients like Sharper Image, Nike, Neiman Marcus and Accor Hotels North America on natural search optimization. He is an expert in search engine marketing, a former administrator at Webmasterworld, and a former moderator for Search Engine Watch. He is co-host of the popular SEO Rockstars on WebmasterRadio.FM, as well as a regular speaker at Search Engine Strategies, WebmasterWorld Pubcon, SMX and other conferences. Todd holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary and currently resides in Seattle, WA.
Karen Garcia
Karen Garcia is a co-founder and partner at GTO Management, an outsourced affiliate program management company. Karen has ten years of experience in e-commerce and marketing. Beginning in 1999, Karen successfully developed and managed the affiliate program for Shari’s Berries. While at Shari’s, she increased brand awareness, affiliate performance and customer retention through the effective use of digital methods, e-mail marketing and promotions, print advertisements, SEO and SEM campaign development. Karen has consulted on and profitably managed dozens of affiliate programs on many different network platforms ranging from large national brands such as National Geographic and MediFast to niche merchants like BowlingShirt.com and MakeBeer.net. Karen is also a co-founder of CAMA, the Christian Affiliate Marketing Association, a faith-based organization formed in 2007 to promote fellowship, wholesome Christian affiliate programs, and integrity and fairness in affiliate marketing.
Robert Glasgow
Robert co-founded Webgains together with Peter Dunham, Webgains Technical Director, in 2004. Robert’s primary responsibilities include the day-to-day management of Webgains in the UK, and the strategic direction of the Webgains business across Europe and North America. In addition, Robert has been charged with developing Webgains into a sizeable pan-European & international media company. Webgains UK is now a significant, well-respected business and Webgains has fully localized platforms and in-country teams in France, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Spain and the USA, which opened recently. Robert has extensive experience in running both Internet-related and high-growth businesses, having spent several years bringing American web company AllAdvantage.com to Europe. Robert also has a number of years experience running online marketing companies, joining Trafficmaid in 2001 and Affiliate Window in June 2003 as Managing Director.
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Gab Goldenberg
Gab Goldenberg is passionate about SEO, and internet marketing generally. He’s been in the mainstream media (About.com, CNet, La Presse), trade media (Search Engine Land, SEO Book, SEOmoz), and spoken at several Search Marketing Expo shows. You can read his ideas on advanced internet marketing at SEOROI.com/blog.
Jen Goode
Jen is JGoode Designs, she is the founder and illustrator behind the unique apparel, gifts and handmade goodies that the company offers. She has been a professional in the design industry for 14 years, changing direction from client focused Graphic Design to becoming a self-promoted artist offering “doodles on t-shirts” in 2006. She has taken hold of the excitement surrounding new media, combining the fast paced worlds of performance marketing, social media, and print on demand as a means to promote herself and her work. Currently, her most recognized piece is a cartoon penguin often seen wearing artist garb. Jen’s motto for daily success is “Inspiring smiles every day”.
Leonard L. Gordon
Leonard L. Gordon serves as the Director of the Northeast Regional Office of the Federal Trade Commission, where he supervises the investigation and litigation of both consumer protection and antitrust matters. Mr. Gordon joined the FTC in 2005 as a senior attorney, and, since joining the agency, he has led numerous antitrust and consumer protection investigations. He became the Assistant Director in August 2007 and the Director in March 2008. Mr. Gordon also regularly speaks to legal, business and consumer groups on both antitrust and consumer protection topics. Mr. Gordon joined the FTC after 17 years as an associate and then a partner with the firm now known as DLA Piper, where his practice focused on antitrust, business tort and general business litigation and counseling. Mr. Gordon graduated from the George Washington University Law School with honors in 1988.
David Graff
David Graff is the General Counsel and Senior Vice-President, Corporate Development, for Epic Advertising, an on-line marketing solutions provider. Based in New York, Epic Advertising develops and coordinates comprehensive and strategic online marketing campaigns for advertisers across multiple industries. Mr. Graff is also the Chairman of Online Intelligence, a consulting firm providing services in the area of online fraud prevention and detection. Mr. Graff previously served as Executive Vice-President and General Counsel for Edison Schools Inc. He is a frequent guest speaker on issues related to online advertising and regulatory compliance. An active member of the IAB, DMA and the PMA, Mr. Graff regularly consults with industry leaders and professionals on a wide range of matters concerning internet marketing.
Speaker Bios Michael Gray
Michael Gray has worked in the internet world since 1998, when he became Webmaster for a major retailer in New York. He developed their website strategy and grew their online sales from $100,000 to over $25 million in annual website sales. Michael then moved into affiliate marketing and started his own consulting firm. Michael has worked with many businesses to develop and implement their Social Media Strategy. He also specializes in blog development and Search Engine Optimizations for businesses of all sizes. Michael has been a speaker at Search Engine Strategies, PubCon, SEOClass and SMX. He is also moderator at Sphinn and Webmaster World. Michael is President of Atlas Web Service, located in Long Island, New York.
Jeffrey Greenbaum
Jeffrey A. Greenbaum is a partner at the law firm of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC. Mr. Greenbaum counsels advertisers, online marketers, media companies, advertising agencies, and production companies on advertising and intellectual property matters. He also represents advertisers in connection with advertising litigation and regulatory investigations, as well as before the National Advertising Division and other self-regulatory organizations. Mr. Greenbaum is a director of the Promotion Marketing Association and has previously served as chair of the Committee on Consumer Affairs of the New York City Bar. He recently spoke at the “FTC at 100” workshop, and has also spoken at conferences sponsored by the National Advertising Division, the Promotion Marketing Association, the Electronic Retailing Association, and many others. He has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading lawyers in media and entertainment by Chambers USA.
Kevin Grimes
Kevin D Grimes is a 1982 graduate of Colorado College with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received his law degree in 1985 from the Southern Methodist University School of Law. After serving in U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, he joined a general civil law firm with a diverse corporate and litigation practice. He then moved to Metaluca, where he was exclusively responsible for day-to-day legal support of all departments. After leaving Metaluca, he began his own law firm to provide comprehensive legal services to direct selling, multilevel marketing, and network marketing companies ranging from start-ups to those of international prominence.
Kelly Harman
Kelly Harman is President of Zephyr Strategy, a strategic planning and marketing consulting firm located in Virginia. Zephyr specializes in helping companies integrate today’s online technologies with proven, sales-driven strategies to capture new clients, keep existing customers and grow revenue profitably. Zephyr’s clients have included MCI, Sony, Panasonic, Tandberg, Lockheed Martin, and Polycom. The company also has a roster of international clients. Ms. Harman is a serial entrepreneur with twenty years of business experience. Prior to starting her own firm, Kelly was part of a management team that grew a leading videoconferencing systems integrator from $8 million to $100 million in a five year period. She has been involved in six M&As, and assisted with the branding and launch of four technology companies. Learn more about Zephyr Strategy at www. z3strategy.com or email Kelly at Kelly@z3strategy.com.
Tyrona Heath
Tyrona Heath is a program manager for customer education specializing in the Google AdWords product. In this role, she develops programs to help Google customers meet their marketing goals. She also supports the needs of customers with the Google Advertising Professionals program (GAP). After joining Google in 2003, Tyrona spent several years helping advertisers as an AdWords account manager before moving on to manage Google AdWords customer education programs. Tyrona has delivered training to thousands of successful Google AdWords users and specializes in helping businesses and non-profits build awareness among their target audiences. Tyrona lives in New York City where she enjoys competing in track and field races.
Rae Hoffman
Eight years ago Rae started a small website about her son and his medical condition that became one of the first international support groups and largest website in general on the topic. It earned national media coverage and helped further medical research in the field. Investigating ways to support that site, she found affiliate marketing and became one of the most well known voices in the affiliate landscape and organic search engine optimization. Today, her current area of research is site auditing and advanced organic link development techniques relating to all of the major engines. Ms. Hoffman is the Principal of Sugarrae SEO Consulting. She also owns numerous successful personal websites on a wide range of topics.
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Mike Jacobs
Mike Jacobs is Chief Services Officer for iMarketing LTD, an online marketing agency serving clients like Yahoo!, Dow Jones, eDiets, Forbes, and AARP. A pioneer in online marketing and noted search guru before there was a Google, Mike is a consultant to several hedge funds, and his campaign work has been recognized in national conference presentations by Google and in eBay’s marketing training program. Mike has been featured in Revenue, E-Commerce Times, Enterprise 2.0, DM News, and The New York Times. He has spoken at venues including Commission Junction University, Internet.com’s Affiliate Solutions, and LinkShare Summit & Symposium. Previously, Mike was co-founder and Director of Marketing for Expression Engines / Bigfoot Interactive, sold to Epsilon in 2006. He also founded WebMogul – one of the original SEO firms – and worked as a venture capitalist and Fortune 100 strategy consultant. Mike graduated Yale University magna cum laude in three years with a BA in Economics.
Zac Johnson
At the ripe 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 over 10 years and been involved in nearly every facet of affiliate marketing. Still a one man company, a recent highlight of Zac’s success is “How I Made $860, 538.38 Profit in 4 Months!” from one web site, and can be read at his Super Affiliate blog. Zac’s latest focus is his personal blog “Inside the Secret Life of a Super Affiliate” (ZacJohnson.com), where he provides readers 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. He plans on releasing a case study of his secret tips free through his blog instead of in an eBook. Zac’s blog has grown to over 1500 subscribers and has referred over $100,000 in new business to his advertisers and network partners in less than a year.
Jessie Jones
Jessie Jones is the founder and CEO of PopShops.com, a leading provider of aggregated product content and search for over 50 million products from over 2,000 merchants across all major affiliate networks. Having spent over 16 years in the technology industry at Microsoft and its whirlwind spin-off, Expedia.com, she is a firm believer in maintaining a nimble development environment and a creative, user-focused team. Originally from Austin, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Jessie now lives in Seattle with her husband, son, and two dogs.
Kristopher B. Jones
Kristopher B. Jones is well-known throughout the search-engine and affiliate marketing community as a true pioneer and leading voice on trends and strategies for effective online marketing. As President and CEO of Pepperjam, an Inc. 500 Company and industry-leading search, affiliate and media management
company. Kristopher is looked to by thousands of businesses worldwide as one of a small group of pure internet marketing experts. Kristopher was recognized in 2005 as an Entrepreneur of the Year by Bank of America and as one of the “Top 20″ Business Leaders in Northeastern, Pennsylvania under the age of 40. Kristopher previously worked as a senior staff member to Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) and is a frequent speaker at conferences including Search Engine Strategies (SES), eTail, ERA, and Affiliate Summit, among others.
Bennet Kelley
Bennet Kelley is founder of the Internet Law Center and has been at the center of many of the hottest Internet issues over the past decade. Kelley, who previously was Assistant General Counsel for ValueClick, is Vice Chair of the California Bar’s Cyberspace Committee and a contributor to the Journal of Internet Law. Kelley spoke at the 2007 and 2008 Affiliate Summit West.
Gary Kibel
Gary Kibel (gkibel@dglaw.com) is a partner with the law firm of Davis & Gilbert LLP. He practices in the areas of New Media, Advertising/Marketing and IP law. Gary regularly counsels clients with respect to issues such as interactive advertising, search marketing, affiliate marketing, enterprise technology implementations, contextual/behavioral advertising, privacy and data security, gaming, content licensing, wireless services and entertainment, joint ventures, copyrights, trademarks, corporate matters and laws affecting the Internet. Davis & Gilbert is widely regarded as the premier law firm in the U.S. representing advertising, marketing and promotions agencies, from specialized shops to the largest advertising holding companies in the world, and also represents prominent technology and entertainment companies, marketers, and advertising trade associations. Prior to becoming an attorney, Gary was an Information Systems Analyst with Merrill Lynch.
Beth Kirsch
Beth Kirsch is part of a founding team that has boot strapped uAmplfy over the past two years and she is responsible for strategy, sales, and business development. Beth was previously the VP of Marketing and Sales at Like.com, where she brought the product to market and grew revenue from zero to millions. Before that, she was a Director of Marketing at LowerMyBills.com, an Experian Company and top five Internet advertiser. She also directed online media, search, and affiliate channels for Audible during its high growth period. Beth has been an expert speaker at industry conferences on a regular basis including, Ad:Tech, Affiliate Summit, and the Direct Marketing Association. She also blogs on ReveNews, and her entries have been redistributed in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal Online, paidContent.org, iMediaConnection, and MarketingVOX. Beth was part of a team at ReveNews that received MarketingSherpa’s “Best Blog 2006” award.
Speaker Bios Jim Kukral
Jim Kukral (The Web Coach) is an award-winning blogger, speaker, author and business web coach. For over 10 years, Jim has been working with both small businesses and Fortune 500 customers to help them find success online. Jim is a graduate of The University of Akron. You can read about Jim and his many online successes by visiting www.jimkukral.com.
Eric Lander
Eric Lander is a search marketing consultant with agency and in-house experience since 2000. Co-founding two separate SEO firms and later managing search marketing for ADP, Incorporated, Lander’s experience and familiarity in all types of web sites makes him a valuable asset to a website review panel. Previous clients of Lander’s include Johnson & Johnson, Automotive.com, Fleishman Hilliard, Career Education Corporation, Dealix, The George Washington University and The Carter Center. Throughout his career Lander has enjoyed writing articles and informative pieces that assist web site owners with addressing various challenges in the search marketing industry. Articles first began appearing in 2002 on sites like SEO Today, SitePoint and Search Engine Guide. Today, Eric serves as the Associate Editor for Search & Social Media’s online news resource, Search Engine Journal.
David Lewis
David Lewis is CEO and founder of 77Blue which operates online shopping websites including Cashbaq. David has worked for and founded Internet and software businesses for over a decade with companies including Overture / GoTo.com, Intuit, Edmunds.com, SeeBeyond, Union Bank of California and Digital Planet. Earlier in his career, David was a Certified Public Account and received his MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School. David was awarded the Horizon Award for Innovation by Commission Junction in 2006. David recently launched his first Facebook app, statustalker.
Brian Littleton
As the founder and CEO of ShareASale, Brian has connected thousands of merchants and affiliates alike, ensuring mutual profitability while preserving the sprit 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 currently supports over 2,200 small- to medium-sized merchants, and works with its clients, both on the advertising and publishing end, to maximize their individual potential.
Stephanie Lichtenstein
Since discovering affiliate marketing in 2007, Stephanie Lichtenstein has found her passion. She is a proud affiliate program manager with Andy Rodriguez Consulting in Miami, FL. Her lasting partnerships are built on a foundation of trust. Stephanie voices her opinion on industry topics and promotes advocacy on her blog: StephanieLichtenstein.com. She actively participates in forums and social media with an emphasis on her
addiction to Twitter. Stephanie’s key to success is maintaining open communications.
Graham MacRobie
Graham MacRobie is President and CEO at Alias Encore, a publisher focused on helping companies increase highly qualified traffic to their websites through strategic acquisition of misspelled domain names. Prior to Alias Encore, Graham was founder, President and CEO at CitizenHawk. Graham believes that it is no longer sufficient for a company to just own the domain name that exactly matches their trademark because significant revenues are surreptitiously diverted to competitors through literally millions of “typosquatting” sites that seek to improperly capitalize on the accidental keystrokes of unsuspecting Internet users. Passionate about helping the good guys win, Graham is an expert on many forms of Internet-based fraud. At Alias Encore and previously, Graham has designed automated systems to detect fraud and practical business processes for large-scale fraud management. Affiliate programs, and the particular challenges that they present, have been an area of special interest for him.
Todd Malicoat
Todd Malicoat is an independent marketing and business consultant. He’s done strategic consulting for companies large and small, and built and sold several sites of his own. Todd has been an active conference speaker at both Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster World Pubcon, and other industry conferences for several years, and is considered a leading authority on search and social marketing. He has been cited by Inc. Magazine, The Sydney Herald, Website Magazine, The New York Post, Infoworld, and many other media outlets on search, reputation management, social media, and other web related issues. Todd also runs a blog that covers all areas of web traffic acquisition called Stuntdubl.com – that echoes his mantra of “Getting hit by traffic…not cars.”
Peter Marinello
Peter C. Marinello is the Director of the National Advertising Review Council’s (“NARC”) Electronic Retailing Self Regulation Program (“ERSP”) and a Vice President of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (“Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.”). Before joining NARC in July 2004, Peter had been the Associate Director at the National Advertising Division of the CBBB (“NAD”) since 2000 and a Senior Staff Attorney with NAD since March of 1993. Peter has written over 500 self-regulatory decisions on various advertising topics and products including nuclear energy, dietary supplements, direct response and on-line marketing and has spoken on behalf of the NAD and ERSP at a number of trade conferences and workshop seminars throughout the country. He has also been the author of a number of articles regarding advertising self-regulation in various trade publications. Peter is a graduate of St. Johns University School of Law and has been a member of the New York State Bar since 1988.
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Don Mathis
Don Mathis is the CEO of Epic Advertising, and is responsible for the strategic vision and overall management of the enterprise. He was previously the company’s President and COO and, earlier, the SVP of Operations and Technology. Prior to Epic, Don most recently served as COO of Small World Sports. Previous posts include: CFO of the government consultancy organization FH Inc.; operational restructuring advisor for the turnaround firm AlixPartners; strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company; programmer and technology consultant with Accenture. Don’s background also includes service as a Naval Officer, most recently as a mobilized reservist following the 9/11 attacks, and previously as a P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft Flight Communications Officer. Don graduated with honors from Harvard Business School and Vassar College.
Melanie Mitchell
Melanie Mitchell is currently the SVP of Search Strategy at Digitas. She is responsible for managing the Digitas Search Engine Marketing Knowledge Center that ensures industry trends, new strategies and tactics, and best practices are continuously shared, enabling Digitas to stay on the forefront of this everevolving industry for the agency and their clients. Prior to this role, Melanie was VP of Marketing at Folio Investments, Inc where she was responsible for all marketing and PR; VP of SEO/SEM at AOL where she developed strategy, processes, procedures, tracking technology, reporting and managed the team tasked with driving traffic to AOL.com’s open web business (including all AOL sites, plus brands such as MapQuest, Moviefone, AIM, TMZ) via paid and organic search; and was a Sr. Marketing Manager at VeriSign/Network Solutions where she managed direct response marketing campaigns through online, SEM, SEO and strategic alliances for both Network Solutions and NameSecure.com.
Kate Morris
Kate Morris is one of the Founding Demons at Marketing Demons, a new twist on search engine marketing consulting and management. She specializes in paid search, natural optimization, social media, and everything fun about search marketing. Speaking and interacting with other search marketers and business owners is what really makes her tick though. Kate has spoken at SMX East and PubCon in the past year covering a plethora of topics. You can find her ramblings at KateMorris.com as well as other sites like Bruce Clay and Search Engine Journal where she has guest posted.
Paul Moss
Paul Moss has been developing online affiliate and cooperative business solutions for over 10 years in many diverse industries including insurance, medical, pharmaceutical, financial, sporting goods and various retail industries. His success centers on his ability to leverage business partnerships that are low risk/ high reward achieving positive cash flow at early stages. Paul’s
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profitable, scalable programs generate long-term revenue and qualified customers. Before starting Moss Affiliate Marketing, Paul built the affiliate program at Insurance.com through innovative solutions catapulting revenues well into the double digit millions. He also worked for MEBN, Inc. and Road Runner Sports a leading sporting goods retailer where he managed multi-million dollar partner programs. Paul holds a B.S. in Business Administration from University of Phoenix. He served in the U.S. Navy. Paul dedicates time mentoring high school and college students in business skills and career development.
David Naffziger
David Naffziger is President and CEO of BrandVerity, an online trademark monitoring firm. BrandVerity provides best-of-breed tools that monitor global brands and identify online trademark abuse. BrandVerity’s first product, PoachMark, provides a complete PPC trademark monitoring solution for merchants, their affiliate managers and their compliance departments. PoachMark currently monitors over 100 affiliate programs on behalf of leading brands, agencies and OPMs. David was formerly the VP of Engineering at Judy’s Book, a venture-backed reviewsbased yellow pages and social network. Prior to Judy’s Book, David co-founded and ran the Internet geolocation technology team at Quova, the provider of Internet geolocation technology to Google, Yahoo and MSN. The search engines use Quova’s technology to geotarget PPC advertisements. David received his BS from MIT.
Vinny O’Hare
Vincent has been a successful affiliate and webmaster for several years, starting out originally as an eBay Power Seller. He uses images and photographs extensively in his sites to help inspire authenticity and trust with his visitors, plus gain search engine traffic from proper use of images, images tags and image titles. You can hear his tips on the Affiliate ABCs podcast.
Michael Ouellette
Michael Ouellette is the Director Publisher Development at Commission Junction. Michael Ouellette leads Commission Junction’s Publisher Development team; including Publisher Channel Development, a business development team which brings new publishers and emerging technologies to the CJ Marketplace. He is focused on continuously growing client revenue with mid level publishers and is instrumental in growing the CJ Performer™ program that facilitates strategic relationships between top-performing publishers and key advertisers. Michael brings a unique perspective to the business, having worked in affiliate marketing for over 11 years as a publisher, advertiser and network representative. Prior to Commission Junction Michael was VP, Merchant Development at OneCause and Director, Business Development at Compete. He holds a Bachelors Degree from the Rhode Island College.
Speaker Bios Scott Parent
Scott Parent is the Vice President of Emerging Media & Strategy at MediaTrust. He has been involved in the online media space for the last ten years with expertise in content creation, production and social community building. In addition to his weekly writing for numerous blogs, he has been a contributor to Adotas Magazine, a member of the IAB UGC & Social Media Committee, and the host of the popular web programs Relevantly Speaking and American Cliche. Scott also served as the Executive Producer of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s online video series. Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast production from Franklin Pierce College and a master’s degree in corporate policy studies from Boston University.
Christopher Park
Christopher Park has been Blair.com’s Affiliate/Partnerships Manager since January, 2001, and has been working with Blair’s paid search program since September, 2004. Additionally, he has been employed by Blair for over 20 years. The Blair.com affiliate program was featured in the “premier” and Sept./Oct. 2006 issues of Revenue magazine, and Chris has been interviewed for articles in publications such as Multichannel Merchant and Marketing Today. Chris is an active participant on industry message boards, and a frequent speaker at affiliate marketing events. When he’s not living the dream that is affiliate marketing, Chris is a Councilman for the City of Warren, PA, and coaches Junior High School Football for the Beaty Dragons. Chris lives in Warren with his 2 sons, Jacob and Nathan.
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is the co-founder of 2 Internet companies: Crazy Egg, and KISSmetrics. Through these 2 companies he has helped large corporations such as AOL, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard and Viacom make more money from the web. By the age of 21 not only was Neil named a top 100 blogger by Technorati, but he was also one of the top influencers on the web according to the Wall Street Journal.
Russ Pechman
Russ is Vice President at LinkShare Corporation, where he is responsible for the strategy and overall management of the lead generation business including the Lead Advantage Network. He has worked at LinkShare for five years, previously as the founding Director of the lead generation business and prior to that, as a Senior Account Manager, managing the affiliate programs for some of the large retail brands. Russ previously founded and sold an online retail company for Israeli-made toys, Little Israel. In a previous life, Russ worked as a reporter and managing editor for Institutional Investor, Inc. Russ graduated with an MBA from Cornell University and a BA from Brandeis University.
Lisa Picarille
was the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Revenue Magazine. Currently, she co-hosts the popular Affiliate Thing podcast with Shawn Collins and is a regular panelist on The Spew, a podcast about women in online marketing. Lisa is a veteran journalist who began her career as a professional sports writer in Boston. She has also headed the news departments Wired.com, TechWeb. com, TechTV.com and CRN.com. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, CRM Magazine, PCWeek, MacWeek, Computerworld and InfoWorld. Lisa is a frequent speaker at industry conferences including Ad: Tech, the LinkShare Symposium, Affiliate Summit, Web 2.0, Blog World Expo, and the Social Media Marketing Summit. She is a founding board member for the Performance Marketing Alliance and the 2008 winner of LinkShare’s Golden Link Award for Most Vocal Performance Marketing Advocate.
Scott Polk
Scott Polk has built his expertise as a knowledgeable and experienced Search Engine Optimization strategist for more than 11 years. He is currently working as the Senior SEO Analyst/SEO Evangelist at Bruce Clay, Inc in Simi Valley, CA. Scott 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. He is consistently involved in technologies that maximize usability and accessibility when optimizing/developing large web sites as well as identifying problems and solutions that result in major cost saving strategies. Highly successful and respected within the Search Engine Optimization communities, Scott has consulted and been employed by successful internet companies such as: Edmunds.com, AT&T Wireless, ABC News (local),Turner Properties (PGA/PGA Tour, Sports Illustrated, etc …) and numerous others.
Geno Prussakov
Evgenii “Geno” Prussakov is a graduate of the University of Cambridge. He is the author of “A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing” (2007), the “Online Shopping Through Consumers’ Eyes” (2008), international speaker, senior editor for the affiliate marketing section of the Search Engine Marketing Journal, and regular contributor to Website Magazine, FeedFront Magazine and Econsultancy.com’s blog. Geno is the founder and CEO of AM Navigator, an outsourced affiliate program management company, and he was voted the “Best OPM of the Year” for three years in a row (2006-08) by the largest online affiliate marketing community, ABestWeb.com. He is now working on his doctorate, and continues to write and pro-actively manage a number of affiliate programs.
Dush Ramachandran
Dush Ramachandran is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development for ClickBank. ClickBank is the largest online retailer dedicated to digital products and operates a global network of 110,000 active affiliates.
Lisa Picarille is a consultant specializing in the online marketing, branding, social media and content creation. Previously, she
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Ramon Ray
Ramon Ray is editor and technology evangelist of Smallbiztechnology.com and has been using computers for over 20 years, is the author of Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses (Amacom) and has written thousands of technology articles & news posts for Smallbiztechnology.com. His freelance writing includes New York Enterprise Report, Inc Magazine, Black Enterprise, CNet, Var Business, TechTarget, Entrepreneur.com, Microsoft and File Maker. As a former small business technology consultant, Ramon has years of hands on expertise. He is often quoted in the media and his speaking includes PC Expo, Inc 500 and SMB Nation 2005. He is on the board of directors of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and a member of their technology committee. He is co-producer of the annual Small Business Summit.
Wil Reynolds
Over the past 10 years, Wil Reynolds has dedicated himself to doing two things well: driving traffic to sites from search engines and analyzing the impact that traffic has on the bottom line of companies. Wil’s career began at a web marketing agency in 1999, where he spearheaded the SEO strategies for companies like Barnes & Noble, Disney, Harman Kardon, Debeers, Doubleclick, Hotjobs, and Mercedes Benz USA. For the last 6 years, Wil and the team of search professionals at SEER Interactive have been assisting clients in maximizing their visibility and sales using search engines in both SEO and SEM. You can catch Wil speaking with anyone who wants to learn about search, whether it is in a coffee shop or a major conference, it just runs through the veins! His goal at every speaking engagement is simple: Make sure everyone walks out with at least 1 new piece of information or perspective on an SEO topic.
Kim Riedell
Kim Riedell oversees East Coast client account management. She joined Commission Junction from BeFree when the two companies merged in 2003 and has since managed account teams to consistently grow client revenue. Prior to Commission Junction, Riedell was a director at Student Advantage and has held sales and marketing positions at Lightbridge and MCI Telecommunications. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire and is currently pursuing her MBA at the Simmons School of Management. This is similar content to what was delivered in a CJ webinar that received excellent response. We had far many registrants than we had room for so we think this topic is still very compelling.
Lisa Riolo
Lisa Riolo is an active member in the performance marketing community and remains committed to its further growth and achievement. As a consultant, she helps online businesses transform potential and opportunity into profits and results. Lisa’s previous experience includes a senior vice president of business
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development role at Commission Junction and managerial roles at Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Bank of America. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Claremont McKenna College. In addition to speaking at key industry events, Lisa can be found online at lisariolo.com or follow her on Twitter @lisariolo
Bud Rosenthal
With over ten years of expertise in leading successful ventures and established technology companies, Bud Rosenthal now serves as CEO of TurnHere. A passionate entrepreneur and industry veteran, Bud is also on the advisory board of several national non-profits and technology start ups. Prior to TurnHere, Bud served as CEO of WorkMetro, an online job board acquired by Jobing.com in 2008. Before that, he was an Entrepreneurin-Residence at Charles River Ventures (CRV), an early-stage venture capital firm with $2 billion under management. In 2005, he spearheaded RealNetwork’s Rhapsody music subscription business. As Vice President of the $100 million division, he helped grow the Rhapsody subscriber based to more than one million subscribers, establishing and managing distribution partnerships with Cox Cable, Comcast, and Best Buy. In 1998, Bud cofounded Bigstep, where he served as Vice President of Business Development. He earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Steve Schaffer
Steve Schaffer is an Internet strategy and product marketing professional with a 20-year record of growing start-ups and established Internet and software companies. Vertive was founded in 2003 and is now a leader in performance marketing. The Company publishes more than 25 vertically focused websites with its Performance Publishing Platform™. Vertive launched Offers.com in February 2009 as the first place to go for all the best offers. The site combines intuitive categorization and design with unique editorial content and the perfect domain. Site editors select the best service and retail offers, adding ratings, descriptions and reviews. Offers.com is updated daily and provides over 4,000 offers from 1,000 merchants in 150 categories. Steve has been involved in the Internet industry since 1995 and is an active speaker at industry conferences. Prior to Vertive, he spent 10 years in product management and marketing roles at companies including eRegCard and Symantec.
Jeremy Schoemaker
From unemployment to eight figures in only four years, Jeremy “ShoeMoney” Schoemaker is a blogger’s “American dream.” Starting with absolutely no capital, he educated himself and began building ecommerce sites to earn revenue. During this time, he started blogging his experiences at Shoemoney.com and then used the blog to springboard new companies like Auctionads, which had one of the most impressive launches of any online advertising company ever. Jeremy continues to launch new startups and also chronicles his adventures on his blog.
Speaker Bios Alex Schultz
Alex Schultz has an MA, MSc. in Physics from Cambridge university. He paid his way through college through ppc arbitrage and seo. After college he joined eBay.co.uk moving to eBay HQ in San Jose in 2005 where he subsequently managed international paid search and affiliate marketing. He currently heads Facebook’s internet marketing team as a manager in the growth, mobile and international department focused on user growth, user activity and advertiser acquisition.
Melanie Seery
Melanie Seery is the President and Founder of Affiliate Voice, the organization which grew from the advocacy work that earned Melanie the Affiliate Marketing Advocate 2009 Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award and the ShareASale Industry Advocate Performance Award 2008. Co-chair of NY Affiliate meetings and speaker at industry events in 2008, Melanie continues to work on ways to improve the industry for everyone through education and addressing critical industry issues including the representation and protection of ethical affiliates and merchants. She believes that all affiliates, merchants and networks need to have voices. Also the owner of NYAffiliateVoice, Melanie continues to speak out on various industry issues including the internet tax issues. Melanie is also involved in several community service projects including raising awareness, acceptance and understanding of children with health challenges and serves as a volunteer tutor in reading and math for both children and adults.
Carolyn Shelby
Carolyn Shelby has been involved in developing and marketing Internet technologies since 1994, when she was the managing partner of an Internet Service Provider start-up near Purdue University. She has been professionally designing and developing Web sites for businesses and not-for-profit groups of all sizes since 1995. She is an advocate of including SEO in all phases of the SDLC and encourages businesses to be “search aware” from square one. She specializes in rehabbing under performing/ out-dated Web sites and helping larger corporations adjust their structure and focus to make the most of new media. Carolyn is based in Chicago and can be heard on the weekly SEO 101 podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com, or she can be found online at Cshel Chicago SEO.
Joshua Sloan
Joshua Sloan is CEO of Sloan Technologies, advising leading Internet Companies on their web marketing initiatives. Until recently, he was Director of Online Marketing at 1&1 Internet, the largest web hosting company in the industry – with a global customer base of over 7.7 million. Joshua is truly dedicated to CPA performance based marketing. First online in 1987, he describes himself as a proud “second generation geek.” Engaged in online marketing for several companies since 1994, Joshua has seen and experienced the various changes in online marketing practices
and the ecommerce landscape. His speaking activities range from private tutoring and public events, to teaching ecommerce and web marketing to college students. Next to online marketing, Joshua’s next favorite activities are mineral collecting and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit in those around him. Favorite mantra: ‘Everything is possible’.
David Snyder
David Snyder is a search and social strategist who has worked on both the agency and enterprise level. He currently co-owns his own consulting group, Search & Social, LLC. He writes for several web publications including MarketingPilgrim.com, SnydeySense. com, and contributes a column on online reputation management at SportsAgentsBlog.com.
Brian Solis
Brian Solis is Principal of, an award-winning PR and New Media agency in Silicon Valley. Brian Solis is globally recognized for his views and insights on the convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media. Considered one of the original thought leaders who paved the way for Social Media and PR 2.0, Solis is co-founder of the Social Media Club and is a founding member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup. His PR 2.0 blog is among the top 1.5% of all blogs tracked by Technorati and is ranked as one of the leading voices in the Ad Age Power 150 index of worldwide marketing bloggers. He actively contributes his thoughts and experiences through keynote speaking appearances, books, articles and essays as a way of helping the marketing industry understand and embrace the new dynamics fueling new communications, marketing, and content creation. His new book written with co-author Deirdre Breakenridge, “Putting the Public back in Public Relations,” is now available at bookstores nationwide.
Joe Stepniewski
Joe Stepniewski is the co-founder of Skimlinks, a service that helps publishers monetize their content via affiliate marketing, through converting outbound links into affiliate links on-thefly, providing a simplified process that aggregates together over 20 affiliate networks. Joe works with a diverse range of web publishers; with insights into reasons why big and small publishers have traditionally not embraced affiliate marketing, and how they are overcoming obstacles to make affiliate a focus of their revenue strategy. Joe’s background, and passion, is internet marketing: his other business buys/sells established content and affiliate websites, hence specializes in refining, driving traffic to and monetizing sites through SEO, PPC and decent site design. Joe is a self-confessed geek, enjoys the tech startup scene in London but misses the beaches and avocados of his home country Australia.
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Michael Streko
Michael fell into organic search when he was told by a former employer to “make the company site show up on Google”. Fast forward 3 years and Michael now owns Streko Media, which operates a network of affiliate sites across multiple verticals.
Yuval Tal
Yuval Tal is CEO and founder of Payoneer, the online mass payout solution that pays directly to universally accepted Prepaid MasterCard® cards. He has over 20 years of experience in Internet commerce-related technology startups, with in-depth expertise in prepaid card applications, currency exchange and security technologies. Before founding Payoneer in the spring of 2005, Yuval co-founded E4X, a provider of services that expedite cross-border payments on the Internet. The company was one of the first in the industry to provide an efficient infrastructure for global e-commerce. He grew the company to over $500 million in processing volume and achieved profitability in record time by winning numerous blue-chip accounts. Yuval also served as vice president of business development for RADWARE (NASDAQ: RDWR) and in an elite combat unit of the Israel Defense Forces.
Jonathan Treiber
Mr. Treiber is currently CEO and co-founder of RevTrax, a leading technology company focused on tracking the impact of online marketing efforts, including paid search, on offline retail sales. Jonathan has led the company through its initial product development, launch, several rounds of capital raising, team expansion and several key business partnerships with major media companies interested in RevTrax’s cross-channel tracking technology. Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur and has been actively involved in the online marketing space since June 2006 with a variety of businesses focused on the affiliate marketing, particularly in the online loyalty space. Jonathan is an active participant and speaker at many online marketing conferences. Most recently, he was invited to present at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas on the topic of tracking online advertising on offline in-store sales. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Arts, with distinction, from Cornell University.
Michael Vorel
Michael Vorel is president and founder of Vastplanet Corporation, a dynamic firm specializing in e-Commerce Web Development and Internet Marketing Management for a variety of top brands since 1998. Prior to Vastplanet, Michael worked within the computer industry for ten years in international product marketing, purchasing, sales management, pricing and strategic analysis. He has expertise in affiliate marketing and management, e-commerce web design, social networking strategy, video, ppc, search, email marketing and competitive analysis. As an affiliate marketer and outsourced affiliate program manager, he is actively involved in creating niche and coupon sites in addition to managing programs for clients. Based in Tampa, Florida, Michael is a member of the Affiliate Summit Advisory Board and 58 | AUGUST 2009 | FEEDFRONT MAGAZINE
recently helped with the formation of the Performance Marketing Association.
Frank Watson
Frank Watson has been involved with the Web since it started. For the past five years, he headed SEM for FXCM — at one time one of the top 25 spenders with AdWords. He has worked with most of the major analytics companies and pioneered the ability to tie online marketing with offline conversion. He has now started his own marketing agency, Kangamurra Media. This new venture will keep him busy when he is not editing the Search Engine Watch forums, blogging at a number of authoritative sites, and developing some interesting online community sites. He was one of the first 100 AdWords Professionals, a Yahoo and Overture Ambassador, and a member or mod of many of the industry forums. He is also on the Click Quality Council and has worked hard to diminish click fraud.
Evan Weber
Evan Weber has been in online marketing since 1998 with his first auction site. He then moved on to be the Director of Marketing for Dentalplans.com, where he helped grow the company to 70 employees and 25,000 affiliates. Currently, he runs an affiliate management agency in South Florida that has become one of the leading Commission Junction program management companies with 25 programs under management on CJ.
Pete Wellborn
Pete Wellborn is one of the most well-known practitioners of Internet Law in the United States. For nearly fifteen years, his primary practice focus has centered upon Internet Law. Wellborn has successfully represented a wide variety of Internetrelated businesses and clients, including affiliate managers and mailers charged with violations of CAN-SPAM. His practice areas also include litigation and a wide array of technology-related corporate, transactional, and IP services. Wellborn’s victories have been featured in/on the Wall Street Journal, Boardwatch magazine, CNN, 60 Minutes II, Newsday, NPR, and numerous other media outlets. Wellborn has been recognized as one of the top ten attorneys in the United States by Lawyers’ Weekly, as an “Elite Attorney” by Georgia Trend magazine, and as a “Super Lawyer” by Atlanta Magazine.
Karen White
Karen White is Vice President of Marketing at SquirtGun Media Group, LLC., a performance marketing agency that specializes in outsourced program management. As an OPM, Karen works with corporate clients to define, develop and execute performance marketing initiates. Prior to SquirtGun Media Group, she was Vice President of Business Development & Marketing for Partner Fusion, her role was to develop new agency accounts and oversee strategic development of client initiatives. Over the years, Karen has worked with companies such as Qwest Communications, The Blue Man Group, and TaxBrain. In 2006, as Affiliate Program
Speaker Bios Manager for Wynn Las Vegas, she received the Commission Junction “People Horizon Award” for her excellence in affiliate program management.
Chris Winfield
Chris is president and co-founder of 10e20, an Internet marketing company that specializes in social media and search marketing services. He is considered one of the leading authorities on social media marketing in the world today. Chris has been featured in multiple articles by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, The Boston Globe, and over 100 other media outlets.
Woody Wood
Over the past three years as a product manager at Amazon.com, Woody has overseen the design, development and launching of many of the Associates Program’s affiliate related technologies. These include the Omakase contextual links, the Associates Widgets and the revamped Associates Central website. Prior to Amazon.com, Woody was a Senior Research Scientist at the Distributed Systems Technology Center (DSTC) – an Australian research and technology transfer organization. Woody did research and consulting in the areas of resource discovery, large-scale distributed systems interoperability, and health
informatics. Woody drafted the Australian Governments technical interoperability framework and consulted to Australian state and federal agencies on the use of standardized metadata for resource discovery. Woody has lectured in Distributed Computing and represented the Australasian office of the W3C in promoting the use of open standards for the development of Web-based technologies.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is CEO of BlitzLocal.com, a 50 person agency based in Westminster, Colorado, specializing in local lead gen via integrating Facebook advertising with social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising, directory listings, web analytics, and call tracking. Clients include Quiznos, Equifax, AmazingMail, Famous Daves, and other national retail and franchised outlets. The company was funded by Markus Frind of PlentyofFish. com in 2006. Dennis is a 14 year veteran of online marketing via Yahoo! and American Airlines. He has spoken at SMX West, SMX Singapore, SMX Sydney, Affiliate Convention. He and his teammates also provide pro bono Google Adwords management to select non-profits, including March of Dimes, Grameen Foundation, American Rivers, International Rescue Committee, and others.
Brian Hawkins
By Brian Hawkins
Multicultural Affiliate Marketing You’ve invested a lot of time and money testing PPC on dozens of offers. Once you believe you’ve found a profitable niche, its time to go global. Attracting international traffic is relatively inexpensive because few merchants know how to best monetize it. Also, there are large, identifiable international markets to target online. Facebook alone has nearly 10 million Spanish-speaking users worldwide, a million of which are in the U.S. Experience a New Culture One of the most valuable assets for anyone marketing to an international audience is personal experience of the target customers’ culture. Fortunately, one of the best perks of affiliate marketing is that in most cases you can work from anywhere in the world. Take super-affiliate Josh from ScrappyBusiness.com, for example. He was able to travel the globe after just three months as an affiliate marketer. Josh found rental apartments with Internet access on Craigslist, all the while immersing himself in the local cultures.
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Build an Offshore Team Smart affiliate marketers are building strategic offshore teams. Try freelance site Odesk.com or Craigslist to find staff that can help you translate and position your offers for specific cultures. You might be surprised how easy and cost-effective it can be to build a virtual off-shore team of highly motivated, college-educated staff. “Translate” a New Affiliate Niche Taking the simple step of translating your copy will dramatically set you apart from most competitors. Using translation software tools or WordPress plug-ins are quick, but they are far from foolproof. These programs have limits, and native translators will ensure you are connecting to your target market with the correct dialect. Multicultural Inroads Always keep in mind that many ethnic groups rely heavily on word of mouth to build trust when making purchasing decisions. With this in mind, try personally connecting through social media and by building landing pages that help convey this trust. Also, consider sponsoring ethnic events, or taking advantage of the
lower advertising rates that often exist at media outlets such as local radio stations. The point is to be creative and avoid some of the bigger ad channels that charge a premium for U.S. ethnic targeting. Finally, know that you’re not going to get it 100% right on the first try. Keep enhancing your cultural knowledge, offers and vehicles to be on the path for international stardom.
Brian Hawkins has worked for two leading SEO agencies prior to his ethnic internet marketing focus as an Affiliate Marketing Manager for Pingo.com’s global telecom affiliate program, which pays up to a $35.00 CPA on Linkshare.
4 Characteristics of Successful Affiliate Program Managers By Geno Prussakov
Geno Prussakov
Have you ever wondered what makes an excellent affiliate program manager? What characteristics should one strive to possess to succeed in this capacity? In the course of over twenty-five years two luminaries of the organizational leadership, James Kouzes and Berry Posner, have been studying the characteristics of admired leaders. One of the methods they used was a survey with an open-ended question: “What values, personal traits, or characteristics do you look for and admire in a leader?” Several hundred different traits and characteristics were gathered, analyzed, and documented. The striking part was that in the course of decades some of the same characteristics were consistently brought up regardless of the countries and continents where the survey participants lived. These top four characteristics were: (i) honest, (ii) forward-looking, (iii) inspiring, and (iv) competent. As obvious from the table below, these four scored significantly higher than the other ones mentioned:
Top 15 Characteristics of Admired Leaders Characteristics
2007 edition
2002 edition
1995 edition
1987 edition
Honest
89%
88%
88%
83%
Forward-looking
71%
71%
75%
62%
Inspiring
69%
65%
68%
58%
Competent
68%
66%
63%
67%
Intelligent
48%
47%
40%
43%
Fair-minded
39%
42%
49%
40%
Straightforward
36%
34%
33%
34%
Broad-minded
35%
40%
40%
37%
Supportive
35%
35%
41%
32%
Dependable
34%
33%
32%
33%
Cooperative
25%
28%
28%
25%
Courageous
25%
20%
29%
27%
Determined
25%
24%
17%
17%
Caring
22%
20%
23%
26%
Imaginative
17%
23%
28%
34%
What can we learn from the above data? I believe the top four characteristics to also be the cornerstones of successful affiliate program management. Forward-looking implies a “well-defined orientation toward the future” and vision; inspiring is about enthusiasm, drive and motivation; competent reflects a well of knowledge that never goes dry; but it is honesty that is the greatest and the most valued characteristic. No matter whether it is a military leader, a president of a country, a CEO of a corporation, or an affiliate program manager, people want to be confident in their leaders; and confidence is always dependent on the leader’s integrity. Most frequently integrity gets challenged when an affiliate program manager commits a mistake. We need to remember that it is okay to commit mistakes. It is how we deal with them that shows who we really are. One of my favorite quotes about mistakes comes from Dr. Dale E. Turner who said that “the highest form of self-respect” is “to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character.” Admitting mistakes only builds up one’s integrity, and shows an individual as one possessing a strong and solid character. Another element that is extremely important to remember is that one’s honesty is always tied to values and ethics. Know your principles and stand up for them. This is especially important in an industry as vulnerable to unethical behavior as affiliate marketing.
Geno Prussakov is the CEO of AM Navigator, and author of “A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing” and “Online Shopping Through Consumers’ Eyes.
Source: Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z (2007). The Leadership Challenge (4th Ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, pp. 28-31
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Unplugged
The following is an uncensored view into the opinions of affiliates on a variety of subjects. Affiliates were asked to share any complaints, ideas, suggestions or opinions they have regarding affiliate marketing in the Affiliate Summit AffStat Report survey. • Please add Carousel Widgets. • 1. Don’t lie...the truth is too easily found out. 2. If you’re new, get training from other experienced AMs 3. Don’t cut me off because I only promote one or two products right now. Down the line, I may do a site where I can promote more. 4. Don’t ask me to promote products that my site readers would have no interest in. • I hate it when I reply to an unsolicited manager email because it has relevance to me and then the manager does not reply. I have quit programs over this. If you aren’t going to respond to me why bother sending me mail? Also, stop treating Canadian affiliates (and nonUSA publishers for that matter) like second class citizens. Some of us perform much better than “homeland” based publishers while honestly working within your service agreements. This is a global industry - keep this in mind and you will find some amazing markets out there. • Notification of a “Big Weekend Sale” on Friday night isn’t going anywhere. Get us the information in time to fit it into a busy schedule. Respond to emails, don’t set your email filters so tight that you can’t receive plain text with a link question. • NO toolbars in affiliate marketing. • I’ve been an affiliate manager, so I know the difficult job
they have ... trying to please the merchants, their bosses and the affiliates ... all at the same time. Dealing with a wide range of personalities isn’t easy either. My biggest issue is always communication. If there is an issue, it is handled and I know why there is a problem. Being well compensated is an issue too. I also like affiliate managers who follow up and ensure I meet the commitments I made. • I sell nearly $3 Million per year (gross sales) with zero PPC. Keep your programs clean (no parasites) if you want to grab my attention. • Know what you’re talking about. How can I ask a question if I know that you don’t know the answer? • I hate having to look all over the site for links for ads. I feel that all new links should be found in the links management area of the merchant. If not then all new ads should be provided with personal links. • If it were possible to program e-mails to contain the types of links requested by affiliates and only those links it would greatly speed up the process of changing them out on sites. It would be nice if affiliates were told in advance of things that affect their sites rather than after the event - for example, telling an affiliate that a merchant has made a decision that affects links immediately rather than as of, say, 7 days hence, is assuming that affiliates have nothing more pressing to do than make changes to links the instant they are asked to! • My main compliment to good affiliate managers goes to those who are willing to work with me on my level. They don’t assume I know everything and are willing
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Unplugged to let me learn. My biggest complaint goes to those affiliate managers who send me invitations to join their program “after looking at my site” and then reject me when I apply to their program. Or they approve me and then delete me after a month or so because of “poor performance”, but they never contact me to work with me.
theme is simply to push an affiliate program without providing any useful content, what’s the point? • Call us more often, and plan meetings with us in person at conferences. Stop the blog blasts and email newsletters. • More AM need to communicate with affiliates.
• Of all the affiliate companies I am signed under with, I am hoping they are all honest with paying out to the affiliates like me. One time I felt like I didn’t trust a big affiliate network and sometimes others. I wish there would be investigators to check these affiliate companies with their honesty.
• That publishers only have a limited amount of space for sales ads and needs to be taken into consideration when sending out emails. Weekly sales are better than daily as most affiliates have more than one merchant and they can become bogged down with emails. It is sometimes hard to answer 300 to 1,000 emails a day!
• The affiliate tools are either too complicated or severely lacking. Interfaces are usually too cluttered and the search options rarely work. Also, merchants should be required to provide basic banners such as the 125x125, 120x30|60|90 and 468x60. Skyscrapers, half-page, etc suck up too much screen real estate. Lastly, what’s with this nonsense of dropping an affiliate if they don’t make a sale in 6 months? If I’m serving up your ads, that means I’m getting your eyeballs. Maybe people just aren’t interested in your products!
• I’m at that stage where I’m finding a balance. A wellestablished merchant without PopShops will lose to a new merchant WITH PopShops.
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• It seems that if you don’t make any sales you get left alone. When money starts rolling in everyone wants to start asking questions. Affiliate marketing is a cut throat business. Many tactics take time and money to learn and affiliates should not be bombarded with questions having to explain how they market. If there is no spamming or deception involved, does it really matter? Everyone is making money and isn’t that what it’s all about. • I’d like to see more of them accept incentive traffic. As long as you don’t misrepresent the merchant it shouldn’t matter where the sales or leads come from as long as they are reliable. • Affiliate programs have too low a return rate. For a targeted site it should be higher than a mass marketer (think niche marketing). ROI is too low given the constant work involved. I would like to see more partnerships, for instance, if I run targeted sites I would lease that site to the advertiser rather than work with straight affiliate programs. I own targeted sites & once the economy improves I will sell them rather than work for a low ROI. Not worth the marketing effort under the current conditions. • I get the heebie jeebies when I see/read a lot of the affiliate marketing stuff out there. To me, an affiliate program should match the site’s theme. If your site’s
• I think AM’s need to scour their data. Even if there are solutions in place, they only work as good as your data; the keywords, prod names, descriptions, etc. The data you have for your site is far different than what I need to promote those items on my site. Cut the gibberish and give me shorter descriptions. Include keywords that customers would search for outside of your site. You have to think outside of your site to really provide valuable data to your affiliates. Any kind of industry news or alerts are great to share. Your affiliates will absorb your passion for this as a career and not just a quick buck. • Not being able to directly talk with the merchant. The “separation” of merchant and affiliate by networks and 3rd party AM’s discourages productive collaboration. • Stop sending useless emails. 5 emails from one program in a week is WAY TOO MUCH! Sending them once a month requires planning, but you are supposed to be a manager. Get the 2009 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report for free at http://www.affstat.com.
Why Intergration Matters for Affiliate Marketing Debbie Bookstaber
By Debbie Bookstaber
It seems clear that affiliate marketing should be an obvious win-win proposition for both advertisers and publishers. Affiliate marketing reduces financial risk and upfront costs associated with traditional marketing. Since advertisers pay for performance, affiliate programs are among the most cost-efficient marketing channels. So why do so many companies view affiliate marketing as risky or even detrimental? Although publishers work with advertisers, they do not work for them. Affiliate marketing requires advertisers to sacrifice control. As a result, tension exists between affiliate program managers and marketing departments. Whether you’re a publisher or an Outsourced Program Manager (“OPM”), it pays to understand how others view the industry. Brand managers worry that placing their banners on affiliate websites “cheapens” the brand. Search managers are concerned with brand management and competition. Marketing managers claim that respected loyalty sites such as Upromise, Ebates and FatWallet cannibalize sales.
who reap the benefits of publishers’ expertise in SEM, SEO, loyalty marketing, and social media. Gaining executive support is critical. Affiliate marketing must be seen, not as an add-on program or as a competitor, but rather as a key part of the strategic plan to increase revenue. After setting and enforcing program terms on trademark bidding, advertisers find that “search affiliates” strengthen the company’s search presence—blocking the competition, identifying longtail keywords and increasing reach. Placement on comparison, coupon and cash-back websites also increases sales. Above all, executives are concerned with the bottom line, and the bottom line is affiliate marketing, done right, is extremely profitable.
Debbie Bookstaber is the Director of Strategy at The JAR Group, www.thejargroup.com, an interactive marketing agency, which delivers a suite of online services that integrate search marketing, online advertising, affiliate marketing, social media, market research, and more, to grow our client’s revenue.
An affiliate program’s success or failure is a result not just of commissions but rather of the level of integration with the advertiser’s marketing plan. When an affiliate program is integrated with the overall marketing strategy, publishers complement advertisers’ branding, sales and search efforts. Correctly managed performance marketing aligns the goals of publishers with those of advertisers,
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People to Follow
There are lots of folks Tweeting about affiliate ma are some we’d suggest following - they are the sp Stephanie Agresta http://twitter.com/stephagresta
Deborah Carney http://twitter.com/loxly
Mike Jacobs http://twitter.com/mikeyjake
Mike Allen http://twitter.com/mta1
Brent Csutoras http://twitter.com/brentcsutoras
Zac Johnson http://twitter.com/moneyreign
Tim Ash http://twitter.com/tim_ash
David Dalka http://twitter.com/dalka
Kris Jones http://twitter.com/pepperjamceo
Sarah Austin http://twitter.com/pop17
Trisha Lyn Fawver http://twitter.com/trishalyn
Bennet Kelley http://twitter.com/internetlawcent
Larry Bailin http://twitter.com/LarryBailin
Todd Friesen http://twitter.com/oilman
Gary Kibel http://twitter.com/GaryKibel_law
Debbi Ballard http://twitter.com/DebbiABallard
Karen Garcia http://twitter.com/karengarcia
Beth Kirsch http://twitter.com/bethkirsch
Shashi Bellamkonda http://twitter.com/shashib
Gab Goldenberg http://twitter.com/GabGoldenberg
Jim Kukral http://twitter.com/jimkukral
Jay Berkowitz http://twitter.com/JayBerkowitz
Jen Goode http://twitter.com/JGoode
Eric Lander http://twitter.com/ericlander
Jamie Birch http://twitter.com/JamieEBirch
Michael Gray http://twitter.com/graywolf
David Lewis http://twitter.com/cashbaq
Scott Brinker http://twitter.com/chiefmartec
Jeff Greenbaum http://twitter.com/jeffgreenbaum
Stephanie Lichtenstein http://twitter.com/StephARC
Chris Brogan http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan
Tyrona Heath http://twitter.com/tyrona
Brian Littleton http://twitter.com/Brianlittleton
Mike Buechele http://twitter.com/mikebuechele
Rae Hoffman http://twitter.com/sugarrae
Graham MacRobie http://twitter.com/grahammacrobie
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arketing and issues related to the industry. Here peakers from Affiliate Summit East 2009: Todd Malicoat http://twitter.com/stuntdubl
Lisa Riolo http://twitter.com/lisariolo
Michael Vorel http://twitter.com/michaelvorel
Melanie Mitchell http://www.twitter.com/melaniemitchell
Bud Rosenthal http://twitter.com/turnhere
Evan Weber http://twitter.com/experienceads
Kate Morris http://www.twitter.com/katemorris
Steve Schaffer http://twitter.com/SteveSchaffer
Karen White http://twitter.com/KarenWhite_LV
Vinny O’Hare http://twitter.com/vinnyohare
Jeremy Schoemaker http://twitter.com/shoemoney
Chris Winfield http://twitter.com/chriswinfield
Scott Parent - http://twitter.com/ americancliche
Alex Schultz http://twitter.com/alexschultz
Woody Wood http://twitter.com/AmazonAssociate
Christopher Park http://www.twitter.com/BLAIRAffiliates
Melanie Seery http://twitter.com/mellies
Dennis Yu http://twitter.com/dennisyu
Neil Patel http://twitter.com/neilpatel
Peter Shankman http://twitter.com/skydiver
Affiliate Summit Related TwitterAccounts
Lisa Picarille http://www.twitter.com/lisap
Carolyn Shelby http://twitter.com/cshel
Affiliate Summit http://twitter.com/affiliatesummit
Scott Polk http://twitter.com/scottpolk
Joshua Sloan http://twitter.com/sloanzone
FeedFront Magazine http://twitter.com/feedfront
Geno Prussakov http://twitter.com/eprussakov
Brian Solis http://twitter.com/briansolis
GeekCast.fm http://twitter.com/geekcast
Dush Ramachandran http://twitter.com/DushR
Joe Stepniewski http://twitter.com/digijoe
Shawn Collins http://twitter.com/affiliatetip
Wil Reynolds http://twitter.com/wilreynolds
Michael Streko http://twitter.com/streko
Missy Ward http://twitter.com/missyward
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