Shawn Collins' Blog

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

Archives for January 2016

Help Affiliate Summit East 2016 Fight Breast Cancer by Exercising

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We just donated over $11,000 to fight breast cancer from the Race to Affiliate Summit West 2016, and now it’s time for affiliate marketers to start over again with battling breast cancer through exercise.

hand holding pink breast cancer awareness ribbon

Affiliate Summit has created a dailymile Challenge where we will donate $1 to benefit the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in support of the Affiliate Marketers Give Back team for each mile exercised: cycling, fitness classes, running, swimming, or walking.

The challenge runs January 27, 2016 through July 15, 2016.

We always get a complaint get from some non-cyclists… but it’s not fair that cyclists pile on miles faster. Remember that this is a charity challenge to fight breast cancer, and it’s also a nice reason to get more active. If you are only here to try and get a free pass, there are plenty of other promotions for freebies.

dailymile syncs with a number of iPhone and Android apps, and there is also a dailymile iPhone app.

If you are going to Crossfit, OrangeTheory, a bootcamp, etc., where you measure calories, but not miles, the conversion is 100 calories = 1 mile for this competition.

This should go without saying, but please don’t fudge your numbers.

In order to participate in dailymile activities, you will need to friend me on dailymile and I will invite you to the challenge. If you participated in a past dailymile challenge with Affiliate Summit, I have invited you to this one.

Do you accept the Race to Affiliate Summit East 2016 Challenge?

Affiliate Summit East 2016 is taking place July 31 – August 2, 2016 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York, NY.

The participant with the most total miles at the end of the challenge will receive a VIP Pass to Affiliate Summit West 2017.

2nd to 5th place finishers will each receive a Networking Plus Pass to Affiliate Summit West 2017, and 6th to 10th place finishers will each receive a Networking Pass to Affiliate Summit West 2017.

And in the end, we all win by getting healthier.

I came in tenth place in the last challenge, and I plan to finish up higher in this one. You can beat the miles from my nearly 46 year old legs, right?

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.

Video of Greg Gifford Keynote at Affiliate Summit West 2016

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Greg Gifford, Director of Search and Social at DealerOn, gave a keynote presentation titled “Turn Your Affiliate Marketing Up to 11 with Local SEO”.

Greg Gifford keynote at Affiliate Summit

The keynote was at Affiliate Summit West 2016, which took place January 10-12, 2016 at Paris Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV.

DealerOn is a software company that provides websites and online marketing to new car dealers all over the country.

Greg has over 16 years of online marketing and web design experience, and he speaks internationally at both automotive and SEO conferences, teaching thousands of small business owners and marketers how to get their sites to show up higher in local search rankings.

Greg also spends his time doing freelance website design and SEO for local businesses. He graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BA in Cinema and Communications, and has an obscure movie quote for just about any situation.

He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the DFWSEM, an organization dedicated to promoting search engine marketing through best practices.

See slides from Greg’s keynote and watch the Greg Gifford Keynote video

Video of Kerri Pollard Keynote at Affiliate Summit West 2016

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Kerri Pollard, former President of CJ, gave a keynote presentation that focused on attracting and retaining great talent.

Kerri Pollard keynote at Affiliate Summit

The keynote was at Affiliate Summit West 2016, which took place January 10-12, 2016 at Paris Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV.

Joining affiliate marketing company, Be Free, in 1999, Kerri possesses sixteen years of industry experience.

Having started her affiliate marketing career as a client account manager, she found her passion with publishers in the creation of the CJ Performer solution, the industry’s first publisher development and recognition program.

Following Be Free’s acquisition by Conversant (fka, ValueClick) in 2002 and eventual merger with CJ in 2003, Kerri assumed the helm of the combined companies in 2007.

Under Kerri’s leadership as President, the CJ Marketplace grew to over 3,000 advertisers, 70,000 active publishers, and according to Internet Retailer, is the number one affiliate marketing provider “by a long shot.”

At the onset of 2015, Kerri made the difficult decision to step down as CJ’s President and currently operates in an advisory capacity.

See slides from Kerri’s keynote and watch the Kerri Pollard Keynote video

6 Rules for Evolved Adults

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Business and personal relationships can turn sour over the smallest actions or cues, so it’s important to follow some simple rules.

Angry dog

These might seem basic to you. If so, congratulations, because your parents taught you how to do things. For everybody else, get your act together.

Never Arrive Empty Handed

You’ve been invited over somebody’s home, and there is no clear indication that you should bring something, right? Wrong, you always bring something… a bottle of wine, dessert, a small gift that shows you put thought into it.

Something! You are thanking your host for their hospitality. Oh, and if the plate of brownies or case of beer you brought are not all gone, you still don’t touch them, you savage. You don’t take some of your thank you back.

Be on Time

Are you one of those people that is perpetually late, and you like to play it off as being a thing you can’t help? That’s not charming or cute – it is jackass behavior. You don’t have to miss flights, hold up meetings, keep lunch companions waiting, or show up late to work.

The secret solution here is to leave earlier. Wasn’t that easy?

Respond to People

An email or a text comes in, or maybe an invite. Don’t ignore it. That’s obnoxious and careless. Acknowledge when somebody reaches out to you. Feeling overwhelmed? Work some efficiencies into your day, so you are on top of things.

You are not too busy to do it. You’re too selfish.

Honor Your Word

You made a commitment to do something, be somewhere, handle a task, or whatever. Do it. That’s the end of the story. Don’t forget to put things in your calendar. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t look for scapegoats to get you off the hook.

Say what you mean and do what you say.

Be Reciprocal

I knew a person once who joked that they were a much better guest than a host, so they didn’t bother hosting. The punchline was that they were also a lousy guest – the late, empty handed kind who may or may not show up when they say they will.

After a while, I noticed that they were not being invited to social functions anymore. And just for the record, it does not take any special skill to host. It takes effort, care, and consideration.

Meet Deadlines

If you agree to have something done by February 1, there are two times that are acceptable to finish, and they are by the deadline or before it. Don’t turn your lack of planning into somebody else’s emergency. Instead, plan out how long something will take, and prioritize it.

Deadlines make the world go around. Failure to meet them is a personal failure.

The good news is that it’s the start of the new year. You can pretend these are resolutions or whatever nonsense you want to call them. The important thing is that you cut out your bad habits and get yourself right.

This article appeared in issue 33 of FeedFront magazine.