Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for December 2010

Social Media Risks and Rewards

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Social Media Risks and Rewards panel from Affiliate Summit West 2009, which took place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speakers:

  • Gary Kibel, Partner, Davis & Gilbert LLP (Moderator)
  • Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami, Network Solutions
  • Will Haselden, Section Chief, Cyberfraud Section, Office of the Attorney General, State of Florida
  • Mike Kowal, Managing Director, Advertiser Services, LinkShare
  • Jivan Manhas, President, Advaliant, a Division of MediaTrust

This session will explore the potential risks in using social networking and user-generated content for marketing campaigns, and will give practical suggestions to help marketer’s campaigns succeed.

Social Media Risks and Rewards presentations: Gary Kibel, Mike Kowal, Jivan Manhas

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

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: Social Media Risks and Rewards

2010 Recap in Pictures from Shawn Collins

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No predictions and resolutions from me for 2011. I spend the whole year trying to predict trends and improve myself – I’m not some one day a year clown.

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 2010 in Las Vegas, where I was excited to have one of my favorite writers, Robert Cialdini, as the keynote speaker.

Shawn Collins and Robert Cialdini

That was the biggest Affiliate Summit to date with more than 4,000 attendees.

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

Sledding 2010 004

In March, I headed to New York City for Search Engine Strategies, where I spoke on the affiliate marketing track.

White Hat SEO

April started with some New York Yankees games – Affiliate Summit got a couple season tickets, so I hit more games than I ever have in a season.

I ended April running the 2010 Komen North Jersey Race for the Cure in Newark, NJ.

In May, we adopted a second dog, Mattingly Collins, from the North Shore Animal League.

Mattingly the Dog 012

On Memorial Day, I took my daughter Lexie to a Yankees game, and she got to meet Yankees super fan Freddy Sez (RIP) on the subway ride home.

Lexie meets Freddy Sez on the Subway

And with June came an invitation to visit Dell headquarters in Round Rock, TX for the Dell Customer Advisory Panel, where I got a peek and upcoming products and shared feedback about Dell.

Dell Design Lab

In July, we scrapped plans for a beach vacation and the whole family headed to Austin, TX for a week to see if we’d like to move there.

Austin, TX at sunset

August was all about Affiliate Summit East 2010 for me. Before the conference kicked off, we had an event called the Audience conference at the famous comedy club, Caroline’s on Broadway. I got a chance to do a little set on stage.

Shawn Collins at the Audience Conference 2010

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Then in September, it was off to Orlando for the first Affiliate Summit unConference at SeaWorld.

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October kicked off with a trip to Las Vegas for BlogWorld.

Affiliate Summit at BlogWorld 2010

And then I hopped a plane for ShareASale ThinkTank in Half Moon Bay, CA. In addition to being a great event, this trip was also marked by my conversion of Robert Scoble from the iPhone to Blackberry.

Robert Scoble Loves the Blackberry Torch

In November, I headed to ad-tech in New York City, and we held an Affiliate Summit meetup at the Oldcastle Pub on West 54th Street in NYC.

ad-tech NYC 2010 013

And then on November 11, we moved out of our house in NJ and headed off to Austin, TX. I chronicled my four days of driving with my dogs from NJ to TX: day 1 / day 2 / day 3 / day 4

Finally, it was Christmas, and Santa paid a visit.

Santa can't get Matti to flinch

Good luck in 2011.

Super Affiliate PPC Marketing Strategies

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Super Affiliate PPC Marketing Strategies panel from Affiliate Summit West 2009, which took place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speakers:

  • Anik Singal, CEO, Affiliate Classroom (Moderator)
  • Rosalind Gardner, CEO, WebVista, Inc.
  • Colin McDougall, CEO, VEO 2.0 Elite Certification Course
  • Amit Mehta, CEO, Performance Marketing Worldwide

In this panel, three top PPC super affiliates will reveal their exact strategies. Learn how to effectively use Google, Yahoo and MSN to drive inexpensive qualified traffic to any of your websites.

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.

First Timers Guide for Affiliate Summit West 2011

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I’ve put together a presentation with advice for folks attending Affiliate Summit for the first time.

Have a quick look for guidance on when to arrive, the dress code, what to bring, following Affiliate Summit West 2011 on Twitter, and more.

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I will be giving this presentation in person at 10 am on Sunday, January 9 before Affiliate Summit kicks off.

The session is open to all attendees and will take place in the Margaux 1 room at the Wynn Las Vegas.

You can pick up your conference registration materials between 4 pm and 8 pm the night before or starting at 8am on Sunday in the convention registration area of the Wynn Las Vegas.

Visit http://www.affiliatesummit.com for more details on the conference.

Video: First Timers Guide for Affiliate Summit East 2010

First Timers Guide for Affiliate Summit West 2011

View more presentations from Affiliate Summit.

How to Monetize Your Site with Widgets

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How to Monetize Your Site with Widgets presentation from Affiliate Summit West 2009, which took place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speaker:

This discussion by Amazon Associates will go over how to enhance your site using various widgets, what works and what doesn’t, and how effective different widgets are to your site. We’ll show you easy ways you can implement widgets to monetize your site right away.

Slides from this session are available at http://www.slideshare.net/affsum/how-to-monetize-your-site-with-widgets-presentation

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

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: How to Monetize Your Site with Widgets

Video as Affiliate Marketing Creative

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Q: When does it make sense for affiliate managers to promote video as an option?

Shawn CollinsA: Yesterday. There is no reason to hold off testing out video.

Just do it right now. You don’t need a highly produced video. Give it a shot with a low-budget, short video about your company or most popular products.

This is a low threshold way to gain some insight and get a feel for the interest level from affiliates.

The videos that I put out on YouTube are created with digital camera mounted on a cheap tri-pod. I edit the videos with a software that cost less than $100. I use a minimal amount of the features, and you can make them look really sharp.

Also, if you already have TV commercials, you could re-purpose them for affiliates.

Video: Video as Affiliate Marketing Creative

10 Success Strategies for Internet Marketers at Affiliate Summit West 2009

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10 Success Strategies for Internet Marketers presentation from Affiliate Summit West 2009, which took place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speaker:

  • Jay Berkowitz, CEO, Ten Golden Rules

Internet Marketing has become increasingly complex. This presentation will outline the multiple tactics available, and categorize them into one of ten focused strategies for marketing on the internet.

Slides: 10 Success Strategies for Internet Marketers

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.

Crazy Affiliate Summit Contest with Shoemoney

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Jeremy Schoemaker is running a contest through Wednesday, December 29 for a big Affiliate Summit price package.

Affiliate Summit East 2010 001

The winner of the contest will receive the following:

  • A platinum pass to Affiliate Summit West 2011
  • Two nights at the Wynn Las Vegas during Affiliate Summit
  • $500 Airfare reimbursement
  • $2000 to gamble on one hand of blackjack
  • Hanging out with Jeremy at Affiliate Summit
  • A pass to the Epic Advertising Playboy Mansion Party this fall

Check out the video of the winner from last year, Lyndon Reid.

More details at http://www.shoemoney.com/2010/12/27/affiliate-summit-contest/.

Using Social Media for Commodity Affiliate Programs at Affiliate Summit West 2009

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Using Social Media for Commodity Affiliate Programs presentation from Affiliate Summit West 2009, which took place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speaker:

  • Dave Taylor, Principal, Intuitive Systems

Affiliate programs are a commodity biz: you compete based on SEO or page design. We’ll explore other ways to approach your business, including how to use social networks to gain the upper hand.

Slides: Using Social Media for Commodity Affiliate Programs

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.

Affiliate Summit West 2011 is Officially Sold Out

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Affiliate Summit West 2011, starting on Sunday, January 9th at the Wynn Las Vegas, is now sold out.

This conference makes it 16 times in a row that attendee registrations for Affiliate Summit have closed before the event, due to capacity.

As we process cancellations, the registration page will open up and additional registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Affiliate Summit West 2010 027

Check http://www.regonline.com/asw11 for availability. If you’re able to enter your registration — you’re good to go.

In the event registrations are open onsite, based on last minute cancellations, the rate will be $449 for a Silver Pass, $749 for a Gold Pass, $1,749 for a Platinum Pass, and $2,749 for a Diamond Pass.

More information on Affiliate Summit at http://www.AffiliateSummit.com