Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for June 2010

Brian Solis to Keynote Affiliate Summit West 2011

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Brian Solis will be the keynote speaker at Affiliate Summit West 2011 on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Brian Solis at Affiliate Summit East 2009

Brian Solis is Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning New Media marketing and branding agency in Silicon Valley. 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 an original member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup.

BrianSolis.com 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. Solis is also the publisher of bub.blicio.us, a popular lifestyle and technology blog, and is also a contributor to TechCrunch, BrandWeek, and Mashable.

More details soon on Affiliate Summit West 2011 at http://www.affiliatesummit.com.

Drew Eric Whitman to Keynote Affiliate Summit West 2011

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Drew Eric Whitman will be the keynote speaker at Affiliate Summit West 2011 on Monday, January 10, 2011 at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Drew Eric WhitmanWhitman is an internationally renowned advertising trainer who specializes in teaching the psychology behind the response.

Drew Eric Whitman is the author of “CA$HVERTISING: How to Use More than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone.”

Previously, Drew Eric Whitman was a Senior Copywriter for the direct response division of the largest ad agency in Philadelphia, and Senior Direct Response Copywriter for one of the largest direct-to-the-consumer insurance companies in the world.

He has created powerfully effective advertising for everything from small retail shops, to giant, multi-million dollar organizations, including Day-Timers, Faber-Castell Corporation, Texaco, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Automobile Association, Amoco, American Legion, and many others.

More details soon on Affiliate Summit West 2011 at http://www.affiliatesummit.com.

A New Day for Dell Customers

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Dell has long been plagued by stories of consumers dissatisfied by their customer service. But times are changing with the way Dell services customers.

Last week, they invited two groups of 15 people each for the first Dell Customer Advisory Panel (Dell CAP Days). Day one of Dell CAP Days was focused on people who were unhappy with the brand, and day two consisted of Dell evangelists.

Dell Executive Business Center

I was in the day two group, and I enjoyed the opportunity to have Dell fly me out to Austin, TX and take care of the hotel for me, so I could share my feedback on Dell products and my thoughts on the brand, as well as seeing some new products.

The morning was dedicated to a discussion of the Dell brand, and what they are doing to improve customer support. Artist Sunni Brown was on hand to create a graphic summary of the interactions.

Dell Customer Advisory Panel

It was an exciting and encouraging atmosphere, as a wide array of Dell employees, including Chief Marketing Officer Erin Nelson, provided an open forum to share opinions, complaints, and suggestions.

Dell Chief Marketing Officer Erin Nelson

You can see the running commentary from both Dell CAP days on Twitter with this hashtag: #dellcap

In the afternoon, we got to visit the Dell Design Lab to hear about the evolution of Dell product design and see some of the latest products from Dell.

Dell Design Lab

I was intrigued by the Dell Streak, a tablet/Smartphone hybrid that uses the Android operating system, and I plan to get one when it is released later this summer.

Dell Streak

Another product that caught my eye was the Dell Adamo XPS, which is a tiny 9.99mm thin. I’m thinking this should be my new travel computer.

Dell Adamo XPS

And I’ve been increasingly connecting my laptop to my TV, which can be a bit cumbersome. So, I think it could be time to get a Dell Inspiron Zino with a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Dell Inspiron Zino

Preferred Link Types for Affiliates

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Affiliates were asked “What are your preferred link types?” for the latest Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

For every method of online marketing, there are many affiliates out there leveraging it for affiliate marketing, but there are still too many affiliates using antiquated methods.

More than 25% of affiliates prefer banners as affiliate creative, the most popular option, which was closely followed by text links at 24.5%.

Preferred Link Types for Affiliates

I tend to focus on particular products from merchants, and I guess I am on the endangered species list, because only 0.4% prefer product photos.

Then again, I like that few affiliates are doing what I do – it makes things easier for me. Keep running those banners – 468×60 banners rock!

Over eleven-hundred and fifty affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

More details on AffStat at http://affstat.com/.

Long Tail Meets Retail in the Blogosphere

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Long Tail Meets Retail in the Blogosphere from Affiliate Summit East 2007, which took place July 8-10, 2007 in Miami, FL.

The exponential growth of blogs has created vast new marketing and advertising opportunities. We will discuss the unique advantages that blog ad networks offer bloggers, readers, and advertisers.

Note: the companies and positions listed above were current as of the time of the conference. Some of this information may have changed since then.

Video: Long Tail Meets Retail in the Blogosphere

Shawn Collins on Relevantly Speaking

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I ran into Scott Parent of Relevantly Speaking at Search Engine Strategies a few months back in New York City and he had me on his show.

We chatted about my typical workday, charity work, and why Affiliate Summit West is moving from the Rio to the Wynn Las Vegas next year.

Affiliate Summit West 2011 is taking place January 9-11, 2011.

Watch this episode of Relevantly Speaking.

Factors for Affiliates in Choosing Merchants to Promote

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Affiliates were asked “What is the most important factor in choosing a merchant?” for the latest Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

There are lots of reasons why affiliates choose a given affiliate program, but the most popular was the payout amount with 30.7% of the vote.

Brand awareness came in a close second with 25.6%.

What is the most important factor in choosing a merchant?

Personally, I focus on product or service quality or uniqueness mostly, but I don’t plan to promote a certain niche and build a site or landing page.

I create content and then find a relevant product or service.

Over eleven-hundred and fifty affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

More details on AffStat at http://affstat.com/.

Free Gold Passes to Affiliate Summit East 2010

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Affiliate Summit East 2010, taking place August 15-17, 2010 in New York City, is just two months away. As I’ve done in the past, I’ll be giving away free gold passes to Affiliate Summit, but this time the process will be different – entries for the Affiliate Summit Ticket Sweeps can be made by Facebook or Twitter.

There will be fifty Gold Passes to Affiliate Summit East 2010 given away, each valued at $549 per pass. Winners will be notified by email or Twitter DM.

Gold Pass to Affiliate Summit East 2010

Some details on the Affiliate Summit Ticket Sweeps:

  • Prize Eligibility: Only persons residing in United States who are at least 21 years of age can enter.
  • Sweepstakes Starts: June 16, 2010 @ 12:01 am (PDT)
  • Sweepstakes Ends: August 04, 2010 @ 11:59 pm (PDT)

Read the Affiliate Summit Ticket Sweeps Official Rules for more details.

Enter the Affiliate Summit Ticket Sweeps by Facebook or Twitter.

Podcasting Tools

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Q: What do you use to record podcasts?

Shawn CollinsA: I like the Plantronics brand a lot for the headphones I use to record podcasts, and I am currently using the Plantronics .Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset. It’s good quality and plugs into the USB.

The podcasts are recorded over Skype, because it provides a cleaner sound than a telephone call, and there is a software program called Pamela that integrates with Skype to record the show.

There are other programs you can use to record a podcast, depending on whether you’re using a Mac of PC. In my case, I record on a PC and Pamela has been my favorite.

After the podcast is recorded, I edit it with a program called Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio. This software is easy to learn, and it renders the audio fast.

When I want to record a podcast and I am away from my computer, I use either the M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 Professional 2-Channel Mobile Digital Recorder or my Nexus One phone, which has an app called DroidRecord. You could also use an iPhone.

Recently, I picked up the Alesis USB Microphone Podcast Kit, because I thought it would be fun to have a free-standing microphone on my desk when doing a podcast, instead of having the microphone attached to the headset and hanging in front of my mouth.

I need to sneak a drink once in a while when podcasting, and also the separate microphone enables me to pretend I am on the radio, rather than some hack making a podcast.

But this podcast kit has some stuff that I didn’t need (but would be good for a new podcaster), such as a trial account for free web hosting of a podcasts (mine is on GeekCast.fm, Audacity software to record podcasts, and some other stuff.

As far as uploading the audio files, I used an FTP program called FileZilla. I post podcasts to a WordPress site using the PowerPress plugin, which enables me to provide an audio stream and download link, and it publishes the podcast to iTunes.

On some other sites, where I syndicate the stream of my podcast, I use a plugin called Audio Player.

Finally, when I am recording a podcast, I typically open tabs on a browser for all of the stories I plan to cover, and then I use those links as the show notes in the blog post.

HARO Acquired by Vocus

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HARO (Help a Reporter Out), a free service from Peter Shankman that links up reporters and sources, has been acquired by Vocus, Inc.

According to the HARO site, the service has “published more than 75,000 journalist queries, has facilitated nearly 7,500,000 media pitches, and has marketed and promoted close to 1,500 brands to the media, small businesses and consumers” since it was founded in 2008.

Last summer, Peter Shankman was a keynote at Affiliate Summit East 2010, where he gave an entertaining talk about HARO and shared lots of entertaining stories and advice. Read the transcript from Peter Shankman’s keynote.

Peter Shankman, Missy Ward, Chris Brogan and Shawn Collins at Affiliate Summit East 2009

You can see video of Peter Shankman’s keynote on YouTube and hear audio of Peter Shankman’s keynote on GeekCast.fm.

Congratulations, Peter!