Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for June 2013

The Importance of Relationships in Affiliate Marketing at Affiliate Summit East 2011

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This was a conference session titled The Importance of Relationships in Affiliate Marketing from Affiliate Summit East 2011, which took place August 21-23, 2011 in New York City.

Affiliate Summit East 2011Session speakers:

  • David Gonzalez, Founder, Internet Marketing Party (Moderator)
  • Louis Cohen, SVP — Search & Affiliate Marketing, Citibank
  • Michael Lovitch, Founder, The Hypnosis Network
  • Paul Moss, Owner, Moss Affiliate Marketing

Session description:

Trust is built with great relationship skills. Most online and affiliate marketers tend to hide behind our computers, but most of the most successful business deals are based on solid relationships.

Experience level: Intermediate
Target audience: Affiliates/Publishers, Merchants/Advertisers
Niche/vertical: Relationships

Session video:

The Importance of Relationships in Affiliate Marketing video

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.

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.

Mobile Marketing Campaign Optimization at Affiliate Summit East 2011

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This was a conference session titled Mobile Marketing Campaign Optimization from Affiliate Summit East 2011, which took place August 21-23, 2011 in New York City.

Affiliate Summit East 2011Session speaker:

  • Gregg Stewart, VP, New Media Platforms, Neverblue

Session description:

The mobile revolution is changing the face of online marketing. What does it take to be successful as a mobile publisher and what are the keys to a successful mobile marketing campaign?

Experience level: Intermediate
Target audience: Affiliates/Publishers, Merchants/Advertisers
Niche/vertical: Mobile Publishing

Session video:

Mobile Marketing Campaign Optimization video

Session slides:

Mobile Marketing Campaign Optimization slides

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.

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.

Increase in Married Affiliate Marketers in 2013

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Affiliates were asked “What is your marital status?” for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

The results indicate that a majority of affiliate marketers are married.

AffStat 2013 marital status

When the same question was asked last year for the AffStat report, 57.3% were married, and that figure has increased to 64.8% this year.

More than sixteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

More details on AffStat at AffStat.com.

Education Levels of Affiliate Marketers in 2013

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Affiliates were asked “What is your highest level of education?” for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

The data reveals that most affiliate marketers have, at least, some college.

AffStat 2013 levels of education

When the same question was asked last year for the AffStat report, the results were similar, though now there are less who stopped at a 4-year degree and more who achieved a Master’s degree.

More than sixteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

More details on AffStat at AffStat.com.

Most Affiliate Marketers are Over 30 Years Old

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Affiliates were asked “What is your age?” for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

The biggest group represented in the survey was in the 31-40 range.

AffStat 2013 age breakout

When the same question was asked last year for the AffStat report, the results were nearly a mirror of this year.

More than sixteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

More details on AffStat at AffStat.com.

Turn Your Content into a Kindle Book

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I went through the steps to get a Kindle book published with your new or existing content at the Affiliate Summit Meetup in Austin, TX on June 24, 2013.

Extra Money Answer on KindleI explained how I outsourced the editing via oDesk, and formatting and cover at Fiverr for a total of $110 and published my best-selling book, Extra Money Answer, quickly and easily.

Plus, I shared my accidental discovery of how later publishing a paperback edition of Extra Money Answer led to a big surge in sales for the Kindle version.

There was also a lively Q&A time all sorts of questions about getting a book set up with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.

Thanks a lot to everybody that came out for some lunchtime Kindle talk.

Presentation: Turn Your Content into a Kindle Book

Follow Affiliate Summit East 2013 Speakers on Twitter

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The speakers for Affiliate Summit East 2013 are posted, so you can see who will be speaking, which company they represent, and their Twitter name (if they provided it).

TwitterFollowing speakers on Twitter is a good opportunity to start networking with them in advance of the conference.

Check out the Affiliate Summit East 2013 agenda to see when and on what topic they are speaking on.

If you’d like to follow all of the speakers in one shot, you can follow the Affiliate Summit East 2013 speaker list on Twitter.

Posts from the Affiliate Summit East 2013 speakers are also organized in an online newspaper format at the Affiliate Summit East 2013 Speaker Daily.

If you don’t want to have to remember to visit daily, you can opt-in to receive a reminder by email each day.

Should You Use Your Own Name for an Affiliate Site?

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Q: When setting up a new site/blog for an affiliate niche should I use my own name or go with a pen name or even anonymous? With the whole Google Authorship thing I’m wondering what the pros/cons are to using your own name for each affiliate site?

Shawn CollinsA: As far as I am concerned, I always use my own name.

I am not clear about what the cons would be to you, unless it is some sort of controversial topic that you don’t want to be attached to, such as adult.

I like to have my name associated with my sites, as I work on building credibility, and I find that using my name is an asset with my sites. And as you mentioned, Google Authorship is a factor and you will need to use your real name to get the benefits from that program.

Also, I think it’s a negative for a lot of people when they go to the “about” page and they see some generic information, rather than details on the person or people behind the site.

I would encourage you to use your name, unless you see some big peril in using it.

This whole topic leads me to another discussion on wishing to remain anonymous online, whether it be in registering domains or the information on your contact page. I would highly encourage you to use a PO Box or a UPS Store box.

Don’t put your personal address out there for anybody to see, or else you might get somebody who is a huge fan of your site who decides to visit you at home. Or it could be someone who is a little unhinged and they disagree with something you wrote. They might also pay you a visit.

Happy Tenth Birthday to Google AdSense

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Wow. Google launched AdSense ten years ago.

Google AdSense turns 10 years old

Since then AdSense has become a core part of Google’s advertising business. There are currently over two million AdSense publishers, and last year publishers earned over $7 billion from AdSense.

Impressive numbers. I remember when AdSense launched I saw it as a mortal threat to affiliate marketing.

But over the years I’d say AdSense has been complimentary to affiliate marketing. I see the best performance on my sites when I use relevant affiliate text links in content, but AdSense works better than banners for me.

Rakuten LinkShare Study: Online Advertisers Expanding Overseas

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Rakuten LinkShare has shared the results from a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on selling globally through the affiliate channel.

Rakuten LinkShareThe study, “Key Trends and Best Practices Selling Globally Via the Affiliate Channel,” is based on surveys of 2,574 online shoppers across eight countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Forrester also conducted interviews with advertisers and publishers who currently manage affiliate programs in several countries or are in the process of preparing to expand internationally.

Some findings from the research…

  • Over the last 12 months, 68 percent of affiliate channel shoppers made an online purchase from a company outside of their home country.
  • The affiliate channel is ideally suited for global advertisers to capture new-to-file customers in both mature and nascent markets.
  • Logistical issues are impeding some growth for advertisers expanding overseas yet the issues are solvable.

The findings were unveiled at the Rakuten LinkShare Symposium New York event today in New York City.

Download the study for free: Key Trends and Best Practices Selling Globally Via the Affiliate Channel