Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for February 2014

Email Compliance: The Latest News and Why It Matters for Affiliate Marketers

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Morgan Simon of UnsubCentral spoke about email compliance, from updated international laws to CAN-SPAM to looking beyond compliance at best practices for email acquisition, at the Affiliate Summit Meetup in Austin, TX on February 25, 2014.

2014-02-25 19.13.29

Morgan has worked with hundreds of clients, from small networks to Fortune 500 brands to help launch, grow and manage their affiliate programs. She currently works as a Marketing Manager at UnsubCentral, the industry’s leading compliance and suppression management solution. Morgan is passionate about the performance marketing industry – from tracking to strategy to staying compliant.

Want to Connect? You can reach Morgan at morgan.b.simon (at) gmail.com or on LinkedIn at http://Linkedin.com/in/morgansimon

There was also a lively Q&A time where Morgan helped lots of folks with their questions about email compliance.

Thanks a lot to Morgan and everybody that came out for some shop talk, and also a big thanks to WP Engine for hosting the meetup.

I’ve Been Blogging for Ten Years

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I was looking back on my archives and realized that I wrote my first blog post here ten years ago today.

Happy 10th Birthday to Affiliate Summit

So shortly after the first Affiliate Summit, I got into the blogging thing. And ten years later, I’ve got over 5,000 posts.

Initially, I was using Blogger to power the blog, but after a short time, I migrated to Movable Type and had the blog on my own domain, affiliatetip.com, which I registered on January 22, 2004.

I think it was probably two or so frustrating years with MT until I moved over to WordPress.

Everybody that was using WordPress was saying how it was so much easier to use, and they were right.

At some point, I decided to post daily to this blog, and haven’t let up. I enjoy writing and also I figured out the big secret with Google – they like new, original content on a steady basis.

Performance Marketing Summit 2014 in Austin

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There will be a Performance Marketing Summit in Austin, TX on April 23, 2014.

South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery

The one day conference is being held at the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery.

The Performance Marketing Summit in Austin will be limited to 50 people – we’ll all be in one room with a focus on networking and education.

All sessions will be just 18 minutes long.

This will be a very different kind of event from Affiliate Summit – it will last a half day with lunch catering from Torchy’s Tacos, and the cost will be only $25.

South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery Garage

More details soon on Performance Marketing Summit 2014 in Austin.

Affiliates Under Fire: Next Steps, Best Practices at Affiliate Summit West 2012

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This was a conference session titled Affiliates Under Fire: Next Steps, Best Practices from Affiliate Summit West 2012, which took place January 8-10, 2012 in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Affiliate Summit WestSession speaker:

  • Tom Cohn, Partner, LeClair Ryan

Session description:

Recent FTC cases showed it will act against anyone imitating news sites or making false ad claims online. This session will help you review compliance and avoid federal/state law enforcement actions.

Experience level: Intermediate
Target audience: Affiliates/Publishers
Niche/vertical: Compliance

Session video:

Affiliates Under Fire: Next Steps, Best Practices video

Session slides:

Affiliates Under Fire: Next Steps, Best Practices 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.

Killer Email and Social List Building Techniques at Affiliate Summit West 2012

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This was a conference session titled Killer Email and Social List Building Techniques from Affiliate Summit West 2012, which took place January 8-10, 2012 in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Affiliate Summit WestSession speaker:

  • Hunter Boyle, Sr. Business Development Manager, AWeber

Session description:

We’ll explore proven ways to optimize your marketing with email, from forms and autoresponders to social media and landing pages. These tactics and tips will help you grow your lists and profits.

Experience level: Beginner, Intermediate
Target audience: Affiliates/Publishers
Niche/vertical: Email

Session video:

Killer Email and Social List Building Techniques video

Session slides:

Killer Email and Social List Building Techniques 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.

Conscious Capitalism and Office Supplies

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I picked up the book Conscious Capitalism during a visit to Whole Foods recently (it’s written by John Mackey, Co-CEO of Whole Foods), and really enjoyed the message.

Conscious CapitalismConscious Capitalism is a movement that refers to businesses that serve the interests of all major stakeholders.

We aspire to operate Affiliate Summit in a similar way, and it’s nice to see companies doing this.

I just came across a company called Zuma Office Supply that has a focus on giving back.

The founder of Zuma was in the office supply industry over 25 years with some of the largest office product companies, and he decided to offer an alternative to today’s office supply stores.

Not only is Zuma an SMB serving SMB’s, so they really know their customers, but they donate a minimum of half of their annual profits to charities.

Plus, they have low prices, fast delivery (many orders arrive the next business day), and they provide free shipping for most orders over $75.00.

Check out Zuma when you need office supplies for your business.

They also have an affiliate program on LinkShare for any affiliates looking to promote office supplies.

Advanced Affiliate Program Management & Analysis at Affiliate Summit West 2012

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This was a conference session titled Advanced Affiliate Program Management & Analysis from Affiliate Summit West 2012, which took place January 8-10, 2012 in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Affiliate Summit WestSession speaker:

  • Geno Prussakov, CEO, AM Navigator LLC

Session description:

What is parasitism and channel cannibalization? What KPIs and metrics are important to analyze? How can competitive intelligence help you grow the program? We’ll tackle these & other vital questions.

Experience level: Intermediate, Advanced
Target audience: Merchants/Advertisers, Networks
Niche/vertical: Affiliate program management

Session video:

Advanced Affiliate Program Management & Analysis video

Session slides:

Advanced Affiliate Program Management & Analysis 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.

Exit Strategies for Interactive Companies at Affiliate Summit West 2012

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This was a conference session titled Exit Strategies for Interactive Companies from Affiliate Summit West 2012, which took place January 8-10, 2012 in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Affiliate Summit WestSession speaker:

  • Gary Kibel, Partner, Davis & Gilbert LLP

Session description:

Interactive companies undoubtedly speculate about their preferred exit strategy. When to sell; when to make acquisitions; when to engage in strategic relationships.

Experience level: Intermediate
Target audience: Networks
Niche/vertical: Finance

Session video:

Exit Strategies for Interactive Companies video

Session slides:

Exit Strategies for Interactive Companies 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.

My 5 Favorite iPhone Apps for Productivity

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I live the typical weird schedule of an entrepreneur where I do a lot of work at my desk, but I’m also out and about pretty often.

monkey-working

So, my iPhone is my desk for parts of a lot of days.

I’m a little psychotic about productivity, and while I have some goofy apps like Floppy Bird, I also have a bunch related to being more efficient in my work day.

Here are my 5 favorite apps for a more productive day:

  • BofA – I suppose they have an app for most any bank, but I like this one a lot for checking the balance, paying bills, scanning checks for deposits and more.
  • Evernote – take pictures of business cards and turn them into contacts – great at conferences.
  • ContactSync – I use Google Apps for my business email, and I want all of my contact information that I enter on Gmail to be available on my phone.
  • Podio – this is my project management tool of choice, and I often think of ideas to implement when I’m away from my office. I put them right in here, so I dont’ forget them.
  • RunKeeper – most days I go out for a run, walk, hike or bike ride to reduce stress, clear my mind, and get healthier. This is a great tool to track things, and set goals. Plus, lots of cool data.

I’ve got plenty of others, but these are my essentials. Let me know if you think I’m missing something.

Sell Me This Pen

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One of my favorite scenes from “The Wolf of Wall Street” was when the Jordan Belfort character, played by Leonardo DeCaprio, asked his friends to sell him a pen.

Sell Me This PenIt was an exercise in supply and demand and creating the urgency for somebody to buy something.

I came across an interesting question in Quora related to this scene…

What would be a great answer to the “Sell this pen to me” problem that Belfort dishes out in all his interviews in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, especially in today’s digital age, when a pen is hardly needed?

The first answer, which has been voted up more than 1,500 times, is a great example of how you can romanticize even the most mundane item.

This is a good reminder of the usefulness of a good story for your product or service or company or site or whatever.

How do you sell your “pen”?

Do you present it as something people want and need, or is it just a Bic pen – bland and workable for people willing to settle?