Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for October 2011

Want to Go to Affiliate Summit West 2012 for Free?

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We are bringing back the Pay it Forward Sponsorship for Affiliate Summit West 2012, taking place January 8-10, 2012 in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Once again, there will up to fifty (50) Pay it Forward Scholarships awarded to affiliates.

The goal of the scholarships is to make the education and networking experience of Affiliate Summit available to affiliates who might not otherwise be able to attend.

Each recipient of the Pay it Forward Sponsorship will be awarded one (1) Platinum pass (a $1,249 value) to Affiliate Summit West 2012.

Platinum passes include breakfast and lunch on Monday and Tuesday; admission to the Meet Market, Exhibit Hall, keynotes, all educational sessions on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; participation in the Newcomer program; access to all recorded session videos; and PowerPoint presentations.

Plus, attendees with Platinum passes will be able to get a free massage at Affiliate Summit West 2012.

Applicants will be considered based on current participation in and future contribution to the affiliate marketing industry. All applicants must also have a valid US address to qualify.

In order to enter, answer one of these three questions in essay form in 300 words or less:

  • What is something broken in affiliate marketing and how can we fix it?
  • What do you hope to accomplish in affiliate marketing?
  • My idea for an affiliate site is to…

All applications will be reviewed by the Affiliate Summit Advisory Board and winners of the scholarships will be notified by Monday, November 14, 2011.

You must complete the Pay It Forward Scholarship application by Friday, November 4, 2011 to be considered. Good luck!

Is Your Business Backed Up and Mobile?

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Last month I had to make a quick decision about what I needed to run my business, because I was forced to evacuate from my home, due to a nearby wildfire.

My files are in the cloud

Since I work from home, everything to do with my work is based there.

Fortunately, I’ve been a little crazy about having my files backed up and accessible in multiple places, and pretty much everything I do is web-based.

So, as I fled my house, I was able to focus on my family and dogs, as I needed minimal items from my office to continue working.

I grabbed my laptop, phone, and chargers. I also picked up my iPod and iPad, but those were not essential.

How did I set it up, so I could access everything I needed?

Well, a few years ago I switched over to Google Apps accounts for Gmail. This enables me to manage the Affiliate Summit email server easily and there is tons of space (25GB of email storage per employee). So no issues with email access and locally installed software.

Pretty much all of my sites are on WordPress these days, so they are not dependent on local software.

And for my files, I do four different things to backup my data. Not only for my various documents, but also my archives of podcasts, photos, videos, etc. for Affiliate Summit, and other projects.

I have an HP SimpleSave 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive that is set to automatically backup any new files nightly.

I also use Jungle Disk and SOS Online Backup to backup new files. These are also set to make an incremental backup each evening. Jungle Disk becomes a virtual drive on my computer(s), so I can access those files from anywhere, and SOS Online Backup can be accessed online, as well as through my phone and iPad.

Plus, I’ve got a lot of vital, current business files on Dropbox.com, which is a sync’d folder on each computer where I have it installed.

I use another online backup service, Mozy, for my wife’s computer, so her files, photos, and videos are backed up offsite.

Having all of this redundancy makes me comfortable. Some people might call it paranoid, but it’s a modest fee to know my data is safe.

And when I was forced to evacuate, I didn’t miss a beat. The same goes for whenever I travel – I can access everything I need and never have to freak out about lack of access.

If you had to flee your office right now, would you be able to keep your business running?

A Primer On Search Engine Optimization

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A Primer On Search Engine Optimization presentation from Affiliate Summit West 2010, which took place January 17-19, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speaker:

  • Josh Ziering, Owner, Full Speed SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t have to be a black art. It’s deceptively simple. Learn the basic and intermediate ways to increase your ranks in Google that the pros use, and you can too.

Slides: A Primer On Search Engine Optimization

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

Note: the company(ies) and position(s) listed above were current as of the time of the conference. Some of this information may have changed since then.

Video: A Primer On Search Engine Optimization

If you liked this video, be sure to register for the next Affiliate Summit. The session videos aren’t made public until a year or more after each conference.