Shawn Collins' Blog

Affiliate marketing and other stuff from Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

Archives for July 2009

Affiliate Summit East 2009 Passes on eBay

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Affiliate Summit East 2009, taking place August 9-11, 2009 is sold out, but some Affiliate Summit passes are turning up on eBay.

Please note that Affiliate Summit is fully supportive of this secondary market, but we are not involved in these transactions. Buyer beware!

If you are interested in purchasing a pass from somebody, please ask the seller for their “Reference Number” for the conference registration. This was in their confirmation email when they registered. Also, ask for their name.

Then, contact registration@affiliatesummit.com to verify that the pass can be transferred – complimentary passes obtained through contests and other means are not transferable.

Do People Make Money in Affiliate Marketing?

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Q: Do people really make money in affiliate marketing… where should I start… and could I pay you to show me how?

Shawn CollinsA: Yes, people make money in affiliate marketing. Personally, I’ve been doing it since 1997. The amounts vary depending on the commitment, experience, site popularity, etc.

Some folks are making nickels and dimes, while others make enough to pay a few bills each month. And then there are some that are affiliate marketers as a full-time career, where they pull in $5,000 a month, $10,000 a month, $100,000 a month or more.

As far as getting started, I’ve created a quick video for affiliate newbies that details how to start up a new affiliate site.

And no, you cannot pay me to show you how to do it. But I do have some free resources that would really help you.

Check out GeekCast.fm for a frequently updated library of free podcasts on all areas of Internet marketing.

Also, you can get a free subscription (U.S. only) to FeedFront magazine, the official magazine of Affiliate Summit.

Affiliate Summit: Getting Prepared

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I was away at the Google Affiliate Network Client Summit this week, so Lisa Picarille brought Jim Kukral into the GeekCast.fm studios to co-host Affiliate Thing.

Entrance to the Affiliate Summit Exhibit Hall

They discussed getting prepped for Affiliate Summit East 2009:

  • The agenda and mapping out what sessions you want to attend, including the panel Lisa’s moderating Get Noticed Fast.
  • Affiliate Marketers Give Back at the Meet Market.
  • Ask the Experts and Problem Solvers.
  • The charitable aspects of Affiliate Summit.
  • The parties and networking. Shawn has the ultimate networking guide.
  • Sign up for Affiliate Summit Social Networking.
  • Are you in the mentor program?
  • Be sure to use the Twitter hash tag for the event: #ase09
  • See you in New York and don’t forget to bring plenty of business cards.

Google Affiliate Network Client Summit Recap

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The Google Affiliate Network Client Summit took place July 27-28, 2009 in Mountain View, CA on the Google Campus.

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The first day featured a Caucus where dozens of Google Affiliate Network merchants hosted tables where affiliates could get together with them for some face time.

The Caucus was followed by an outdoor Evening Reception on the Google grounds.

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After some quality networking, the entertainment kicked in from San Francisco 80’s cover band, Tainted Love. I was hoping for some 99 Luftballons, but no luck. Lots of cool music otherwise.

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The second day of the Google Affiliate Network Client Summit featured a packed agenda starting with a welcome from Chris Henger, Head of the Google Affiliate Network, and then a fast-paced and informative keynote from Andy Sernovitz on word of mouth marketing.

We all got a copy of Andy’s book, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, which I was planning to pick up, so now I’ve got another book on the to do list I’m looking forward to reading.

There were a number of other quality sessions, but my favorite of the day was from Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist at Google.

He was funny and engaging – something I didn’t expect for a talk on data – and I’m looking forward to picking up his book, >Web Analytics: An Hour a Day.

The second day wound up with a tour of the Google campus. All I can say is wow!

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Now I need to go and charge my Blackberry with the neat little solar powered charger they gave us. Thanks for a great time to the Google Affiliate Network.

Solio Classic from Google

Check out pictures from the Google Affiliate Network Client Summit.

Do No Harm to Your Brand at Conferences

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[audio:http://geekcast.fm/podpress_trac/web/2083/0/brandmouthing-18.mp3]

This week on the Brandmouthing podcast, I talk about the need to manage your personal and professional brands at conferences.

Don't be a conference dunceSome folks tend to act a little foolish at conferences… especially late night. Bear in mind that many people are snapping pictures and video with their phones, camera, and Flips.

Think about how you will look on Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, etc. during downtime at conferences.

And be sure to make meals a priority to maintain your energy, as well as to avoid drinking on an empty stomach.

Show Notes

Check out http://brandmouthing.com/ for a collection of all future episodes of Brandmouthing, as well as images, videos, etc. that I mention on the podcast. Subscribe to the Brandmouthing RSS feed.

New York Affiliates – Take the Advertising Tax Impact Survey

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It’s been a little more than a year since the advertising tax started in New York and Affiliate Summit has decided to gather information from New York affiliates.

We will be conducting an impact survey from July 29, 2009 through August 31, 2009.

All affiliates who resided in New York in 2008 are encouraged to participate. The aggregated data from this survey will be used to inform policy makers about the impact the advertising tax has had on New York affiliates.

Please take the survey now if you were a New York affiliate in 2008.

More details at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/2009/07/29/new-york-advertising-tax-impact-survey/.

Also, if you shop online, please answer my one question poll: When you shop online, are you less likely to buy if you have to pay sales tax?

Affiliate Fatblogging: Training for the Next 5k Race

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After conquering my first 5k a few weeks ago, I’ve signed up for my next one, the Berkeley Heights 5k, taking place on September 20, 2009.

I am excited about the next run, because it’s the same route as my first 5k, which punished me with hills I didn’t expect.

This time around I’ll be ready for those nasty inclines.

Also, I would like to give a shout out to Peter Shankman, author of “Can We Do That?” and head of Help a Reporter Out, as well as one of the keynote speakers at Affiliate Summit in a couple weeks.

Earlier this week, Peter completed the Nautica NYC Triathlon. An impressive and inspiring job, Mr. Shankman.

I aspire to do that one day. In the meantime, I had better focus on some 5k, 10k, and duathlon competitions.

Starting weight: 225
Last week: 217
This week: 217

Got a Question for any Sessions at Affiliate Summit East 2009?

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Do you have a question for the speaker(s) at any of the Affiliate Summit East 2009 sessions? If so, just submit your question for the speakers to cover during the session.

We will forward your question on to the speaker(s).

Overflow Crowd for the Facebook Session at Affiliate Summit

Take a look at the Affiliate Summit East 2009 agenda for details on each session.

Ask you question at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/ask-a-question-at-affiliate-summit/.

Display URLs vs Destination URLs

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Q: I am new to Internet marketing and, as such, I am very dumb. My question concerns display and destination URLs. Can you explain what exactly goes into the display and destination URL? Also, where does my affiliate hoplink fit in? I’ve asked Google and ClickBank and have not received a very clear answer.

Shawn CollinsA: The display URL is what people will see when your ad is run by Google AdWords on Google. It will often be the top level domain for the final destination page for the link.

The destination URL is your affiliate link, either the link supplied to affiliates by the affiliate program, or a tracking link that points to your affiliate link.

For example, this is my destination URL as an Amazon affiliate for the Kindle:

If I were running an AdWords campaign for this link, I would put www.amazon.com as the display URL.

As far as your hoplink, you would set that ClickBank affiliate link as the destination URL.

e-Commerce Shopping Platform from RevenueWire

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RevenueWire has created an e-commerce platform featuring a shopping cart (SafeCart) and a way for affiliates to track and account for revenue originating from their site.

This month, RevenueWire is is adding support for international currencies, starting with British pounds and the Euro, and other currencies will be added over the next 12 to 24 months.

SafeCart is also being introduced in multiple languages, including Spanish, German, Italian and French.

More details at http://www.revenuewire.com/.