Affiliate Marketing Blog

Affiliate marketing news and opinion from Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

  • Home
  • About Shawn
  • Contact
  • Learn Affiliate Marketing
  • Disclosure
  • Archives

Archives for February 2012

TEDx is a Transformative Experience

February 12, 2012 by Shawn Collins

I had the privilege of attending TEDxAustin 2012: Beyond Measure on February 11, 2012 at the Austin Music Hall, and it was way more than I expected.

TEDxAUSTIN 010

I had heard lots of raves about TEDx events, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. I really enjoyed the format of 18 minutes per speaker, mixed with trumpeter Jeff Lofton and the Austin Ballet.

The TEDxAUSTIN speakers were an interesting mix that wasn’t revealed until less than a day before the event.

I saw a Tweet that revealed the speakers after midnight the night before and jumped in for the details on my iPad before going to bed.

I had an idea about which would be most interesting to me and I was totally off.

While they all made me think and challenged me in different ways, my head is still spinning from the talks by David R. Dow on fixing the death penalty system, Penny de los Santos on when to live life, and Jason Roberts on quickly changing urban blight to beauty.

xLunch was pure pleasure. They partnered with Whole Foods Market and brought in six chefs to design a menu in their distinct styles from a list of the same ingredients.

I got to enjoy the work of Philip Speer of Uchiko. Yum.

The vegetables came from Johnson’s Backyard Garden, and I grabbed a card for them to check into their CSA program.

Also, there were chances to meet folks and get know them.

TEDxAUSTIN 007

A great day all around.

Keep an eye on http://tedxaustin.com/ for videos from the day.

Thank you to Nancy Giordano, Shawna Butler, Romy Suskin, and the TEDxAustin Team.

Photos: TEDxAUSTIN 2012

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate News

Repurposing Content to Extend Reach and Authority with Deborah Carney

February 11, 2012 by Shawn Collins

Affiliate Summit ran a free webinar featuring Deborah Carney on repurposing content, and it’s now available to watch on demand.

So you’ve got a blog, podcast, or site you’ve been building for years and you’re wondering if there is another way to recycle that content in different formats?

With the ease of video sharing, plus the breakdown of barriers to self publishing, there is a world of additional people you can reach by repurposing your existing content.

Make the most of the content you’ve already created.

This webinar will show you how to change your existing content and harness the power of other outlets.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Anybody Want a Free Networking Pass to Affiliate Summit East 2012?

February 10, 2012 by Shawn Collins

So you want to go to Affiliate Summit East 2012, taking place August 12-14, 2012 in New York City, but you’re a little light on funds? No problem, I’ve got an easy way for you to get a free Networking pass.

Affiliate Summit East 2012The Networking pass provides admission to the Meet Market and Exhibit Hall, as well as the three keynote speakers.

Here are the easy steps to get your free Networking pass in our take on Flat Stanley:

  • Download and print either the Flat Shawn or Flat Missy sign.
  • Take the sign with you to a local restaurant, park, etc. and have your picture taken holding the sign.
  • Then check into foursquare, including the picture with the sign in the checkin, as well as #ase12 and either #flatmissy or #flatshawn, whichever corresponds to the sign you used.
  • Email us a link to the foursquare checkin no later than May 11, 2012.

Here is an example of the way to do the checkin on foursquare:

Example of a Flat Shawn Checkin on foursquare

Be sure to do everything above, or no pass. Limit of one per company.

That’s it and we’ll send you a free Networking pass.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate Managers, Affiliate Summit

Behind the Scenes with Affiliate Powered Parent Resource MyJobChart

February 9, 2012 by Shawn Collins

My Job Chart is a great example of a useful site powered by affiliate marketing.

MyJobChart email alertThe site is a tool to manage chores for kids and provide them rewards, some of which are available through Amazon affiliate links for parents to purchase for their kids.

I’ve found My Job Chart to be a fantastic resource, as it makes my life easier in keeping tabs on chores with my four kids.

And they enjoy it, too, as they are able to monitor their progress and work towards goals. While it used to be a grind to get them to do little jobs, they now ask for extra things to do, so they can log them into their My Job Chart account.

My Job Chart solves a problem, which is one of the ideal purposes for an affiliate site, and my appreciation makes me happy to go through their links.

I was curious to find out more about My Job Chart, so I asked Founder and CEO Gregg Murset how he got started and the monetization of the project:

www.myjobchart.com was created out of necessity. We have 6 kids and trying to keep them all organized and understanding the value of work and a dollar is a challenge. I am also a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) and know that the younger generation is growing up with some weird ideas about work and money. So My Job Chart was born.

In a little more than a year we now have almost 130,000 kids registered and hundreds more joining each day. This is my first project using affiliate marketing and we have utilized Amazon from January of 2011. We have also done some work with ING Direct opening Kids Savings Accounts in our SAVE area. We had some really incredible results opening accounts.

Our message board system is new and we are refining it. A kid can click on the sticky note that is on their job chart and send a message to their parent. The parent can in turn send a message back and a closed loop communication sequence takes place with the kids. This is a great way to encourage and reinforce good behaviors and make something like chores more of a positive experience.

I’d imagine other affiliate programs will be lobbying Mr. Murset for inclusion on the site.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate News

FeedFront Magazine is Now Available on iPad

February 6, 2012 by Shawn Collins

FeedFront Magazine is now available on iPad.

FeedFront on iPadNow you can read the current issue of FeedFront and any of the past issues on an iPad, as well as online.

Check out issue 17 (January 2012) of FeedFront on your computer or iPad.

You can access all of the past issues of FeedFront at http://issuu.com/affiliatesummit/docs.

The magazine issues can also be downloaded as PDFs and printed.

If you’d like to receive print editions of FeedFront in the future, sign up for your free subscription (U.S. addresses only).

Feel free to embed FeedFront to your site, and please click the Facebook Like button on issues you enjoy.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate News

The Majority of Affiliates Do Not Cloak Links

February 4, 2012 by Shawn Collins

Affiliates were asked “Do you cloak/redirect links?” for the 2011 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

AffStat link redirect dataThe majority of respondents, at 59%, said no, and the remaining 41% indicated they do cloak their links.

I’ve been cloaking affiliate links for as long as I can remember – first through meta redirects, then via an .htaccess file, before I moved on to using a WordPress plugin called Pretty Link.

I also came across another useful affiliate redirect WordPress Plugin called ThirstyAffiliates last fall.

Additionally, I use bit.ly Pro, which is a free service that enables me to use my own domain to make redirect links. I use aff.bz there.

Over fourteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2011 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

More details at affstat.com.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate Managers, Affiliate Stats

Daniel M. Clark to Emcee Affiliate Summit East 2012

February 3, 2012 by Shawn Collins

Daniel M. Clark, Founder of QAQN, will be the Emcee at Affiliate Summit East 2012, which is taking place August 12-14, 2012 at the Hilton New York.

Daniel M. Clark speaks at Affiliate Summit West 2012

Daniel M. Clark is a podcast production consultant and the founder of QAQN, a collection of informative and entertaining podcasts.

A resident of the internet since 1992, he either is or has been: a t-shirt designer, an art reviewer, a system administrator, a video game designer and programmer, a blogger, an affiliate marketer, a podcaster, a space cowboy, and a gangster of love. He has, in fact, gotten his lovin’ on the run.

Mostly what Daniel is right now is a work-at-home dad, raising two kids, ages 6 and 3 with his wife, Angela. Daniel has written articles for FeedFront magazine and Blogworld.com. He publishes a variety of podcasts at QAQN.com, including Inside Internet Marketing, his most frequently downloaded show.

Daniel’s first Affiliate Summit was Affiliate Summit East 2006 and he has been a speaker at four Affiliate Summits since 2008.

More details soon on Affiliate Summit East 2012 at http://www.affiliatesummit.com.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate Summit

Affiliate Summit is Rewarding

February 2, 2012 by Shawn Collins

Affiliate Summit has incorporated games into the Affiliate Summit forum, where everybody can earn points for doing various things on the site.

Affiliate Summit rewards

Just jump into the forum and participate to earn points for visiting, posting, etc.

Along the way, you’ll accomplish achievements and be able to cash in points for rewards

Details on the Affiliate Summit Rewards Program and eligibility requirements will be posted in the near future.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate Managers, Affiliate Summit

Simple Page Tester for Affiliates

February 1, 2012 by Shawn Collins

Affiliates should be split testing their landing pages, but many I’ve asked have never bothered.

Split testing

For the uninitiated, split or A/B testing is a process where you serve up different versions of your page to different visitors to determine which is more effective.

I’ve tried various ways in WordPress and found they were largely a hassle, until I came across the Simple Page Tester plugin.

Split tester plugin

The plugin lives up to the name, as it was simple to set up and start a split test.

You just choose an existing page and then choose to duplicate the page, create a fresh page to test against, or choose another existing page.

Then you determine how many people see each version of the page by adjusting the percentage in either direction.

It’s up to you to track conversions from each version. After you run a test, you can declare one page the winner.

At that point, the winning page becomes the new master page and the old variation is deleted for you.

Simple as that.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Affiliate News

« Previous Page

Social

  • View shawncollins’s profile on Facebook
  • View shawncollins’s profile on Twitter
  • View shawncollinsatx’s profile on Instagram
  • View affiliatetip’s profile on Pinterest
  • View shawncollins’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View affiliatetip’s profile on YouTube

Blogroll

  • Affiliate Manager
  • Austin FC
  • Austin, TX Airbnb
  • Bose Hearing Aids
  • Extra Money Answer
  • Movies That Affected My Life
  • This is Affiliate Marketing

Return to top of page

Copyright © · Shawn Collins Consulting ·

 

Loading Comments...