Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for December 2011

First Timers Guide for Affiliate Summit West 2012

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

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Topics covered include when to arrive at the conference, the Newcomer program, dress code, what to bring, and business cards.

Also discussed were the educational sessions, networking opportunities, interactive schedules, Twitter hashtag, and following up after Affiliate Summit.

I will be giving this presentation in person at 10 am on Sunday, January 8, 2012 to kick off Affiliate Summit West 2012.

The session is open to all attendees and will take place in the Augustus I room at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

You can pick up your conference registration materials between 4 pm and 8 pm the night before or starting at 8 am on Sunday at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

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

Slides: First Timers Guide to Affiliate Summit West 2012
Video: First Timers Guide to Affiliate Summit West 2012

Pinnacle Awards Finalists at Affiliate Summit West 2012

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The sixth annual Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards will be presented on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at Affiliate Summit West 2012, taking place at the Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

The Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards are affiliate marketing’s most prestigious, competitive honor for the leaders in the space. Award winners are recognized because they are innovative leaders with vision and influence.

Affiliate Summit West 2011 Pinnacle Awards

Here are the finalists for the Pinnacle Awards at Affiliate Summit West 2012:

Affiliate of the Year

  • CouponCabin
  • Tricia Meyer
  • Eric Nagel

Affiliate Manager of the Year

  • Carolyn Kmet
  • Amy Miller
  • Kim Salvino

Exceptional Merchant

  • Amazon
  • Overstock
  • Tiny Prints

Affiliate Marketing Advocate

  • Brian Littleton
  • Rebecca Madigan
  • Tim Storm

Best Blogger

  • Mr. Green
  • Sam Harrelson
  • Tricia Meyer

Affiliate Marketing Legend

  • Kim Rowley
  • Brad Waller
  • Adam Weiss

The Pinnacle Awards are open to all attendees of Affiliate Summit West 2012.

Video: Affiliate Summit West 2011 Pinnacle Awards

The Secret to Success by Eric Thomas

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The Secret to Success by Eric ThomasI just finished a book called The Secret to Success by Eric Thomas, who a lot of people know as ET the Hip Hop Preacher on YouTube.

I’ve got to say I love this book. I bought it just recently, but we booked Eric months ago to give a keynote address at Affiliate Summit West 2012, because he’s an inspirational, interesting guy with a great story.

The Secret to Success is not some formula on how you can achieve success. Instead, it goes through the struggles Eric faced and what he did to get past his hurdles.

It’s an autobiography and motivating message, where Eric discusses how it’s all a mindset, and you’re the only one keeping yourself down.

The book is a fast read of about 200 pages – it’s touching and inspirational, and it gave me some ideas on how I can do things differently.

You can purchase the book at ETtheHipHopPreacher.com.

Video: The Secret to Success by Eric Thomas

Affiliate Summit West 2012 Has Raised $2,469 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 46 folks involved in the challenge, and the top ten competitors have already tallied 1,547 miles.

Overall, there have been 2,469 miles by all of the participants, so it’s $2,469 raised so far.

I dropped down to #6 (see my dailymile profile) with 149 miles – one down from last week. But I’m tied for 5th and a two miles from 3rd. Are you going to let me rank that high?

Here are the top ten, as of December 19, 2011.

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.

Affiliate Summit West 2012 Registrations Closing Next Week

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Affiliate Summit West 2012 registrations are on the verge of selling out.

It looks like the final day to register, before we reach capacity, will be Monday, December 26. So, if you’ve been sitting on the fence, now is the time to get your registration booked.

Affiliate Summit West 2011 Exhibit Hall

And as of right now, there are still limited sponsorships available.

As you may be aware, typically after we have to close registrations, a secondary market pops up with people selling passes on eBay. These are independent of us and the prices often go for 50%, 100%, or more of the face value.

Register now for Affiliate Summit West 2012.

NYPD Officer Mehtab Malhi is Landlord from Hell for @thegrok

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Online marketing pioneer Bryan Eisenberg has run into a renters nightmare with a new landlord, who also happens to be a New York Police Department Officer.

Bryan Eisenberg on WPIX

Bryan has turned to the Internet by detailing his plight with landlord and NYPD Officer Mehtab Malhi at 2842brigham.com.

This sort of story (too many details to list here – read 2842 Brigham Street -Terrorized by a Police Officer Landlord) of a bullying landlord is bad to hear, but all the more appalling when the behavior is administered by one of “New York’s Finest”.

It reminds me of an experience I had about 15 years ago when I was a big brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City.

One day my little brother mentioned to me how police were bad. I explained to him how they were the good guys, but I don’t think he was buying it.

I don’t know if it was something he saw, or maybe his family taught him that the police were bad, but at just 9 years old he held those negative stereotypes some people have about police.

I’d like to think I changed his mind, but I have to wonder what the Eisenberg kids will carry with them when they see this sort of behavior from Officer Malhi.

More information on this situation:

Social media for social justice… hopefully.

Announce Your Affiliate Summit West 2012 Party

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We will be compiling a list of the parties taking place during Affiliate Summit West 2012 and posting the details on the Affiliate Summit blog.

ShareASale Party at Affiliate Summit East 2011

Please submit your details below if you’re hosting a party or other networking event during the conference.




Name:

Email Address:

Name of the party:

Sponsor(s):

Location:

Date and time:

Link for more details:

How to RSVP:

Who is invited?

This is not a paid sponsorship – we’re planning to list any events that are free and open to Affiliate Summit attendees.

Which Type of Informational Video Do You Prefer?

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I’ve had this ongoing debate with my friend Calvin Barber of Fitness-Ed about informational videos, and I need your opinion.

He creates text and cartoon based videos with fitness advice, and I think his videos would have a more impact and become more popular if he got in front of the camera himself.

Here is an example of his video on Risk Free Foods:

The other night, I shot this video with Calvin about How to Lose Weight.

Disregard the low production quality, as we were out on the street at night – I think he should put out short, HD videos with quality audio and lighting, which can be achieved on a small budget.

I just wanted to get him in front of the camera unscripted to answer the sort of question his audience asks.

Please take a second and vote below for the type of video that you would rather watch to learn more about a given topic.

vBulletin Affiliate Program Boots Big Affiliates

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The vBulletin affiliate program sent out a “you’re fired” email to lots of affiliates yesterday.

You're fired!

Hello,

After very carefully evaluating all of our Commission Junction
publishers who generate affiliate revenue for the vBulletin Affiliate
Program, we have come to a decision to deactivate some of our accounts
as they are generating traffic, referrals etc. that we may already
receive. I regret to inform you that your account has been expired and
will take effect within the next 7 days. We here at vBulletin would
like to thank you for your past support and wish you the best of luck
in the future.

Best regards,

Valerie Janda

Marketing Intern, vBulletin

Internet Brands

Affiliate programs kicking out affiliates isn’t anything novel, but I think the way this was done was pretty poor.

Not only is the reason for termination ambiguous, but vBulletin was careless about the process by not using bcc with the emails. Oh, and we’re weeks from Christmas – sort of a hectic time for affiliates.

I think one of the problems with the vBulletin affiliate program is their lack of quality control on the front end. I applied to the program and was auto-approved.

vBulletin auto-approve

And no offense to the interns out there, but do they have an intern in charge of their affiliate program?

Anyhow, if any affiliates who were booted are still interested in promoting vBulletin, they could try going through SkimLinks.

Why You Should Get a Platinum Pass for Affiliate Summit West 2012

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There are four types of passes for Affiliate Summit West 2012, and we’ve found that some folks aren’t aware of what they get with the various passes.

If you’re not sure what comes with your pass, we’ve got details posted on the Affiliate Summit registration page.

Affiliate Summit East 2011 059

Anyhow, if you’ve got a Silver or Gold pass, I’d recommend upgrading to Platinum, because you’ll get…

If you’d like to upgrade, please call the Affiliate Summit registration team at 417-2SUMMIT (278-6648).

The cost for an upgrade is the current price of the pass you wish to get minus the cost of your pass at the time you registered.