Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for November 2011

Cyber Monday 2011 is Biggest Online Shopping Day in History

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comScore has reported that there was $1.25 billion in online spending on Cyber Monday 2011, which is up 22% from 2010.

Christmas Shopping OnlineCyber Monday 2011 was the heaviest online spending day in history and only the second day ever to surpass the billion-dollar threshold.

U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 28 days of the November – December 2011 Christmas season has been $15 billion, which is a 15% increase from the same days in 2010.

Another increase for Cyber Monday was the percentage of people who shopped from work.

Half of the dollars spent online at U.S. Web sites originated from work computers, but this increase was slight with just a 1% rise over 2010.

Purchases from home comprised the majority of the remaining share (43.2%), and buying at U.S. Web sites from international locations accounted for the balance 6.6% of sales.

Press release: Cyber Monday Spending Hits $1.25 Billion to Rank as Heaviest U.S. Online Spending Day in History

Affiliate Summit West 2012 Has Raised $1,120 So Far to Fight Breast Cancer

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The Race to Affiliate Summit West 2012, a dailymile challenge where Affiliate Summit will donate $1 to benefit the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in support of Affiliate Marketers Give Back team for each mile cycled, run, swam, or walked (up to $5,000) through the challenge, is running through 12/31/2011.

There are currently 42 folks involved in the challenge, and the top ten competitors have already tallied 710 miles.

Overall, there have been 1,120 miles tallied by all of the participants, so it’s $1,120 raised so far.

I am at #7 right now (see my dailymile profile) with 63 miles – catch me if you can.

Here are the top ten runners, as of November 28, 2011.

Race to Affiliate Summit West 2012

dailymile syncs with Garmin (205, 305, 310xt, 405, 405cx), Nike+ device and iPhone app, as well as a number of iPhone and Android clients.

You can also manually enter your cycling, swimming, running, and walking efforts.

In order to participate in dailymile activities, you will need to friend me on dailymile and I will invite you to the challenge. The challenge is going through 12/31/2011.

Get more details at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/race-to-affiliate-summit-west-2012/.

Affiliate Summit West 2012 is taking place January 8-10, 2012 in Las Vegas.

The participant with the most total miles at the end of the challenge will receive a Platinum pass to the conference. 2nd to 5th place finishers will each receive a Gold pass, and 6th to 10th place finishers will each receive a Silver pass.

Please note that all information you provide as part of the contest is public and may be used by Affiliate Summit in our marketing efforts for this event.

Huge Growth for Black Friday 2011 Online

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comScore has reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for Black Friday (November 25) was $816 million in online sales, which makes it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2011.

Black FridayOnline shopping for Black Friday 2011 was a 26% increase versus Black Friday 2010.

Thanksgiving Day (November 24) was also strong with an 18% increase over Thanksgiving 2010 with $479 million in online sales.

Further, $12.7 billion has been spent online for the holiday season-to-date, which is a 15% increase over the same days last year.

Fifty million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, which represents an increase of 35% over 2010.

Not surprisingly with all of the other growth, each of the top five retail sites achieved double-digit gains in visitors vs. last year.

The top five online retailers for Black Friday 2011 were Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and Apple.

Press release: Black Friday Boasts $816 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 26 Percent vs. Year Ago

Create Affiliate Site with Datafeeds

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Q: I have been let down by my developer, so now I’m seeking someone to create my web store using XML feeds from my Affiliate programs. I use Linkshare, Commission Junction and Affiliate Window. I already have the design, I just need the widget created for wordpress. Can you recommend someone or a company who does this?

Shawn CollinsA: Rather than getting this all created from scratch, I would highly recommend taking a look at Datafeedr.

Datafeedr is a paid WordPress plugin that I use. I’ve been happy with the ease of use of the plugin.

I wanted to break into datafeeds as an affiliate for more years than I care to admit, but the various solutions I tried previously still left datafeeds as a complicated mystery for me.

Datafeedr enables affiliates to create and embed an affiliate store into a WordPress blog, and there is no need to mess with the datafeed files or outsource a custom build from a programmer.

Don’t reinvent the wheel for a whole lot more money.

Affiliate Marketing by the Numbers

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Affiliate Marketing by the Numbers presentation from Affiliate Summit West 2010, which took place January 17-19, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speakers:

  • Nicole Williams, Advertiser Account Director, Commission Junction

Data from comScore, Commission Junction and Affiliate Benchmarks will illustrate the current state of affiliate marketing from these three perspectives: the industry, the network and the publisher.

Slides from Affiliate Marketing by the Numbers are available at http://www.slideshare.net/affsum/affiliate-marketing-by-the-numbers

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: Affiliate Marketing by the Numbers

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.

Law Enforcement Risks for Advertisers, Affiliates, Networks

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Law Enforcement Risks for Advertisers, Affiliates, Networks panel from Affiliate Summit West 2010, which took place January 17-19, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speakers:

  • Thomas A. Cohn, Of Counsel, Venable LLP (Moderator)
  • Dean Graybill, Assistant Regional Director, Western Region, Federal Trade Commission
  • David Katz, VP Corporate Development and General Counsel, Cyberplex Inc.

We will explore recent state/federal actions, assess legal exposure risks to advertisers, affiliates and networks, and discuss best practices for avoiding and dealing with unwanted regulatory scrutiny.

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: Law Enforcement Risks for Advertisers, Affiliates, Networks

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.

Podcasting for Affiliates: Using Audio to Drive Sales with Daniel M. Clark

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Affiliate Summit ran a free webinar featuring Daniel M. Clark on using audio to drive affiliate sales, and it’s now available to watch on demand.

Watch this webinar for the methods and steps required to make podcasting part of your affiliate marketing efforts.

From inserting ads into the podcast itself to using your show to bring visitors to your sites, this webinar will get you going in the right direction.

Product Datafeeds: The Next Level

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Product Datafeeds: The Next Level panel from Affiliate Summit West 2010, which took place January 17-19, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speakers:

  • Scott Jangro, President, MechMedia, Inc. (Moderator)
  • Larry Adams, Product Manager, Google
  • Shergul Arshad, VP, Business & Corporate Development, StyleFeeder, Inc.
  • Brian Smith, CEO & Founder, SingleFeed

Product datafeeds are among the most powerful tools available to affiliate marketers. We’ll discuss the current state of datafeeds and industry progress, best practices, and moving toward standards.

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: Product Datafeeds: The Next Level

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.

Killer List Building Techniques that Work (Email + Social) with Hunter Boyle

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Affiliate Summit ran a free webinar featuring Hunter Boyle on the power of list building, and it’s now available to watch on demand.

affiliate-summit-logoWatch this webinar for several ways to quickly and easily optimize your marketing efforts with email, from opt-in forms and autoresponders to social media tie-ins and landing page tweaks.

These proven tactics and tips will help you build up your email marketing list and increase retention for greater overall profitability.

How to Fix Failing SEO Efforts

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How to Fix Failing SEO Efforts presentation from Affiliate Summit West 2010, which took place January 17-19, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.

Speakers:

  • Wil Reynolds, Associate, SEER Interactive

There are many misconceptions about search engine optimization. This session will detail five reasons SEO efforts fail.

Slides from How to Fix Failing SEO Efforts are available at http://www.slideshare.net/affsum/how-to-fix-failing-seo-efforts

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: How to Fix Failing SEO Efforts

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.