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Archives for December 2009

2009 Recap in Pictures from Shawn Collins

December 31, 2009 by Shawn Collins

I am not going to make a bunch of ridiculous predictions about what’s going to happen in 2010. Really… why?

No, instead I’ll share a recap of what happened month by month from the lens of my camera.

The year started out with Affiliate Summit West 2009, and I stopped by CES the day I got to Las Vegas, and ran into Jackie the Jokeman.

Jackie the Jokeman and Shawn Collins

Then it was on to three days of Affiliate Summit, and what was the biggest Affiliate Summit to date with over 3,200 attendees.

Crowds at Affiliate Summit West 2009

Apparently I wasn’t doing much in February, according to my camera, because I just have pictures of me in a Snuggie.

Pointing at Something Snuggie

In March, I headed to Austin for SXSW, where I spent most of the time in the TechSet Blogger Lounge and checked out a live Diggnation.

Missy Ward Double-Fisted at TechSet Blogger Lounge - March 13, 2009

Alex Albrecht, some dude and Kevin Rose - Live Diggnation Austin

Later in March, I went to SES in NYC, where I saw Guy Kawasaki give a keynote about how he games Twitter.

Guy Kawasaki at SESNY 2009

The opening of the new Yankee Stadium was a big day in April.

Shawn Collins at the new Yankee Stadium

Then I went to San Francisco for ad:tech, where Affiliate Summit hosted a Beer Garden.

Affiliate Summit Beer Garden

During ad:tech, I caught a Giants game against the Padres.

Giants and Padres

I finished up April with a business trip in Maine.

Maine Sunset 3

Jim Kukral and Steve Rosenbaum

In May, I was off to Dallas for the Inbound Marketing Summit, and lucked into the Yankees being in town to play the Rangers.

Inbound Marketing Summit 1

Shawn Collins chomps a turkey leg at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

And with June came the LinkShare Symposium in NYC. The hotel for the show was right at the start of the new High Line park.

LinkShare Golden Link Awards 2009

The High Line 020

I jumped on 95 South for a trip to Baltimore in July, where Affiliate Summit and buy.at held a meeting about the advertising tax, and then a crab feast.

Tax Talk and Crab Feast

advertising tax, baltimore 026

I also took up running in the summer to try and get in shape, and I completed my first 5k in July.

My First 5k 1

August was all about Affiliate Summit East 2009 for me. Before the conference kicked off, it was time for another Yankees game.

Scott Jangro in Enemy Territory

Affiliate Summit East 2009 050

Then in September, it was off to Santa Barbara for CJU.

CJU Crowd during Jackie Kuba Keynote

Time for another 5k.

Shawn Collins at the Berkeley Heights 5k 2009

And then back to the west coast for the Google Affiliate Network Summit in Mountain View.

Google Affiliate Network Summit 048

Early October meant another trip – this time down to Orlando for IZEAfest.

Michael Gray and Raw Hoffman at IZEAfest 2009

And then I turned around and went home to get to SMX East in NYC.

SMX East 2009 005

Then a third October trip out to California, where I caught game 5 of the ALCS before going to ShareASale ThinkTank (and watched the Yankees clinch on TV from the airport before my red eye home).

Yankees Angels ALCS Game 5 010

ShareASale ThinkTank Laughter and Applause

More sports started November with the Dolphins playing the Jets.

Dolphins at Jets Nov 1 005

Game 6 of the World Series. Best game ever.

New York Yankees World Series 2009 Game 6 006

More conference action with the Affiliate Summit booth at ad:tech NYC.

ad-tech NYC 2009 002

ad:tech was followed by the Audience Conference.

Brian Littleton, Shawn Collins, Missy Ward and Brian Clark

Finally, my last conference travel of the year was Pubcon in Las Vegas.

Michael Streko and Wil Reynolds

Another 5k, this time at Yankee Stadium, to round out November.

Shawn Collins after the race 2

I finished up the year with a December of no travel, and lots of prep for Affiliate Summit West 2010.

Updates to the Affiliate Summit laptops before shipping to Vegas

Shipping stuff off to Affiliate Summit West 2010

Finally, it was Christmas.

The Christmas Card picture

Good luck in 2010.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Interview with Dr. Robert Cialdini by Susan Bratton

December 30, 2009 by Shawn Collins

Susan Bratton just posted an interview with Dr. Robert Cialdini from her latest DishyMix show.

DishyMix with Susan BrattonDr. Cialdini is President of INFLUENCE AT WORK, an international consulting, strategic planning and training organization based on the Six Principles of Influence. He will be delivering a keynote address at Affiliate Summit West 2010 on Monday, January 18, 2010 in Las Vegas.

It was an interesting and enlightening show, and a nice preview to Dr. Cialdini’s keynote, where they discussed the six principles of persuasion, as well as how to amplify and activate them.

Dr. Robert CialdiniSusan Bratton and Robert Cialdini also talked about the most common mistakes marketers make when employing these principles, and which of the principles should be given the highest focus in times of uncertainty.

Also, if you haven’t read them already, be sure to pick up Cialdini’s “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” (my favorite business book) and his latest best-seller, “YES! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive.”

Listen to the Dr. Robert Cialdini interview at http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/232-dishymix/episodes/70440-robert-cialdini-persuasive-marketing.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Managers, Affiliate News, Affiliate Resources, Affiliate Summit

Update to Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants

December 29, 2009 by Shawn Collins

It was nine years ago this week that I was writing the final words of my book, Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants, which came out in April 2001.

Successful Affiliate Marketing for MerchantsSince then, I’ve often been asked if I was going to write up an update of the book, since it gets increasingly outdated as time goes by.

The book continues to sell, and it does have some timeless advice, as well as lots of stale stuff. If you don’t have it, don’t get it.

Why? Because I created short recap videos for all thirteen chapters of the book a couple years back. The video chapters summarize the original chapters and include some updates.

They’ve been on YouTube since then, but I didn’t push them too hard.

Anyhow, here it is… the video edition of Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants

Part I: What Affiliate Marketing Can Do for Your Business

  • 1. What is Affiliate Marketing?
  • 2. The Benefits of Affiliate Marketing
  • 3. Become an Affiliate Yourself and Earn Income

Part II: Setting Up Your Affiliate Program

  • 4. Step One – Planning Your Affiliate Program
  • 5. Step Two – Affiliate Manager Guide to Creative
  • 6. Step Three – Getting the Word Out
  • 7. Step Four – Choosing the Right Affiliates
  • 8. Step Five – Creating Your Affiliate Agreement
  • 9. Step Six – Tracking Your Affiliate Program
  • 10. Step Seven – Paying Your Affiliates

Part III: Managing Your Affiliate Program

  • 11. Managing Your Program
  • 12. Communicating with Your Affiliates
  • 13. Supporting Your Affiliates

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

I Have Met the Enemy, and It’s My Gym

December 26, 2009 by Shawn Collins

I’ve been noticing something disturbing when I go to my gym. No, not that it’s a place that sends me home in pain.

Yes, that happens, but I am thinking more about how they are my competitor.

They have a rewards program that features lots of companies that have popular affiliate programs.

Life Time Fitness Member Advantage

Now, I don’t run a rewards program myself, but it’s the fact that they are luring potential customers with their great deals. And the gym has a frequent reach to the attention of online shoppers.

When I go there, I see lots of TVs and banners pushing their rewards. I get their emails, and I’m exposed to their Member Advantage program. Same if I go to check something on their site or enroll in a class.

Sure, there are tons of member rewards programs out there for different facets of our lives, but I usually don’t pay attention. I can’t avoid it here.

So just think to yourself how there is a constant influx of competition for customer mindshare. Start brainstorming how you can do things better in 2010 to combat it.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Managers

Early Christmas Gift from Comcast

December 23, 2009 by Shawn Collins

I was enjoying a dinner party at my house this past Sunday when I peeked in on my email shortly after a guy we use to plow the snow had cleared our driveway.

Comcast

Gmail was offline. Then I checked my blog – nothing. Same with Twitter and Facebook. So I looked at my cable modem and saw a single blinking light. Bad news.

My first thought was that the snowplow guy ran off the side of my driveway and took out my Internet cable, because he flew off the other side of my driveway earlier and nearly took out my lightpost and clipped my cars.

So, I went outside and my worst fears were confirmed. My cable was lying there dead in the snow.

Thank You, Comcast

Then I did what any Comcast customer on Twitter would do… I Tweeted a message to @comcastcares:

@comcastcares my snowplow guy severed my Internet and TV cables just now – help!

Just 2 minutes later (2 MINUTES!), Frank Eliason (@comcastcares), Senior Director of Comcast National Customer Service, responded and the ball was rolling. Did I mention this was a Sunday evening?

Help from Comcast on a Snowy Night

Long story short – my Internet was back up inside of 48 hours, thanks to Frank, @comcastbill, and some other folks at Comcast.

This was a big deal to me, since I have a lot of deadlines this week and work from home. The technician that came out had to deal with fixing the problem in sub-freezing temperatures in the dark. Afterwards, he came in and helped with an unrelated TV issue.

Anyhow, this prompt resolution comes as no surprise.

I had another great experience with Comcast on Twitter a year and a half ago. I had an issue that just wasn’t getting resolved when I’d call customer service, so I tried reaching out on Twitter.

Just like this time, they resolved things quickly, and after I blogged about it then, I was featured in a TV news segment that ran nationally on leveraging Twitter for customer service.

Thank you Frank, Bill, and Comcast – you guys are doing great stuff there.

Video: Customer service through online networking

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

December 22, 2009 by Shawn Collins

I just finished Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Robert Cialdini, Noah Goldstein, and Steve Martin.

The reason I picked up the book is that Cialdini is my favorite author, and I’d say his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, is the best business boook out there – one that every marketer should have in their library.

As you can tell from the title, the book is broken into 50 mini-chapters of practical tips and tricks on being more persuasive in your business.

That makes it really easy to digest the quick lessons when you have a spare moment.

And what other book mixes references to Britney Spears, the Smurfs and Sex and the City with academic concepts like loss aversion and the scarcity principle?

Robert Cialdini will be delivering a keynote address at Affiliate Summit West 2010, taking place January 17-19, 2010 in Las Vegas.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

FeedFront Magazine Issue 9 Now Available

December 21, 2009 by Shawn Collins

The ninth issue of FeedFront, the official magazine of Affiliate Summit, is at the printer and it will be hitting mailboxes in early January 2010.

FeedFront Magazine, issue 9 cover

Issue nine of FeedFront will also be distributed at Affiliate Summit West 2010.

This issue of FeedFront Magazine includes The Importance of Branding in Affiliate Marketing by Rae Hoffman, How to Recycle Your Affiliate Blog Content by Justin Premick, and FTC Endorsement Guidelines by Gary Kibel.

Also, people to follow on Twitter, affiliate marketing statistics, and the program for Affiliate Summit West 2010.

Issue 9 of FeedFront can now be viewed online, downloaded, and printed from Scribd.

Get the FeedFront RSS if you’d like to get all of the articles as they are published to the feed.

If you haven’t subscribed, you can get the magazine for free at http://feedfront.com/free-subscription/.

Also, become a fan of FeedFront on Facebook to see past issues, covers, etc.

FeedFront Magazine, Issue 9

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Filed Under: Affiliate Managers, Affiliate News, Affiliate Resources, Affiliate Summit

Newbie Guide to Affiliate Marketing

December 19, 2009 by Shawn Collins

Nicholas (NickyCakes) Koscianski has created a really useful guide for newbies breaking into affiliate marketing.

This isn’t new, but I just finally went through it and thought he did a nice job of breaking down how to do things for anybody new to affiliate marketing.

The Newbie Guide is broken down into the following sessions:

  • Part 1 – What is Affiliate Marketing?
  • Part 2 – Setting Up Tracking
  • Part 3 – Good Affiliate Networks and Getting Approved
  • Part 4 – Picking What to Promote
  • Part 5 – Landing Pages
  • Part 6 – Making Campaigns
  • Part 7 – Split Testing Campaigns
  • Part 8 – Taking Over the World

Check out the NickyCakes Newbie Guide at http://www.nickycakes.com/newbie-guide/.

Also, I created a 15 minute affiliate newbie video where I explain how I would set up a new affiliate site.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Affiliate Marketing is Dead Redux

December 18, 2009 by Shawn Collins

Affiliate marketing is dead… to people who can’t figure it out, consultants desperate for business, journalists with an elementary understanding of the space, and bloggers trying to create linkbait.

death-of-affiliate-marketingBut the claim floats around each year anyhow.

Some guy named Aristotle theorized about the death of affiliate marketing long ago. Ok, it was actually a writer named Rick Aristotle Munarriz at Motley Fool four years ago. Same difference.

A few years back, John Lemp, CEO/Founder of IntegraClick, purchased the domain AffiliateMarketingIsDead.com, yet as the industry thrives, the domain remains a placeholder.

I’m guilty of stoking the flames, too, as I wrote an article last year called “Affiliate Marketing Is Dead” for eMarketing & Commerce magazine. But I was employing the complicated literary device known as the head fake.

Anyhow, I have a pretty vivid indicator of the health and growth of affiliate marketing, and that’s the attendee numbers year to year at Affiliate Summit West.

Affiliate Summit West Growth Over the Years

Back in 2005, when we first held an Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas, we has a modest 550 attendees. That number has grown each year, and we are expecting 4,000 people at Affiliate Summit West 2010, based on past registration patterns.

That will be the biggest of all 14 Affiliate Summits to date.

Oh well, at least the Chicken Little thing isn’t unique to affiliate marketing. Earlier this week, Robert Scoble wrote about how the sky is falling for SEO.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Managers, Affiliate Summit

Winners of the 2009 ShareASale Performance Awards

December 16, 2009 by Shawn Collins

ShareASale has announced the winners of their second annual ShareASale Performance Awards.

The winners of 2009…

  • Exceptional Affiliate: Stylefeeder
  • Exceptional Merchant: Vann’s
  • Exceptional Affiliate Manager: Jared Saunders of JensonUSA
  • PowerRank Champion: Checks Unlimited
  • Emerging Technology: Spadout
  • Pay It Forward Award: Karen Garcia, Scott Jangro, and Michael Coley

More details on the awards at http://blog.shareasale.com/2009/12/15/shareasale-performance-awards-2009/.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

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