Archives for January 2016

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

The 10th annual Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards, which recognize exemplary affiliate marketers, were held at Affiliate Summit West 2016, which took place January 10-12, 2016 at Paris 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 innovators with vision and influence.

Congratulations to the winners…

• Affiliate of the Year: Rae Hoffman (runners-up: Brad’s Deals, RetailMeNot)
• Affiliate Manager of the Year: Adam Riemer (runners-up: Greg Hoffman, Karen Garcia)
• Exceptional Merchant of the Year: Fanatics (runners-up: Amazon, WP Engine)
• Affiliate Marketing Advocate: Greg Hoffman (runners-up: Brian Littleton, Tricia Meyer)
• OPM/Agency of the Year: AffiliateManager.com (runners-up: Acceleration Partners, Schaaf PartnerCentric)
• Tool/Service of the Year: UpSellIt.com (runners-up: BrandVerity, FMTC)

Thank you to everybody who submitted nominations and congratulations to the finalists, too!

See a list of the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award winners by year.

Video: Affiliate Summit West 2016 Pinnacle Awards

Affiliate Summit West 2016 kicked off on January 10, 2016 at Paris Las Vegas.

I gave my First Timers Orientation for Affiliate Summit West 2016 session at 10:00 AM, and I was glad to see a packed crowd of folks eager to learn how to optimize their time at the conference.

After I wrapped up my presentation, the room erupted into a big networking party.

This was followed by breakout sessions throughout the day that covered blogging, buying and selling sites, image optimization, legal issues, SEO, WordPress, and more topics.

The Meet Market opened at noon and ran through 6:00 PM with a steady stream of attendees meeting with the table exhibitors.

During the day, exhibitors built out their booths in the exhibit hall for Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday also included the first RevShare Roundup, which was designed to facilitate discussions between the revenue share programs represented and affiliates/publishers/bloggers looking for new revenue share programs.

There were lots of networking options in the evening for Affiliate Summit West 2016 attendees. I checked out the ShareASale Under The Stars Party with a Great Gatsby theme.

The second day of Affiliate Summit started with a bunch of tasty brain food at the networking breakfast.

This was followed by an awesome keynote from Kerri Pollard, former President and current advisor of CJ Affiliate by Conversant.

The exhibit hall opened on day two and thousands of affiliate marketers came together for a full day of networking.

In addition to all of the business talk in the exhibit hall, there were also educational sessions throughout the day.

And we had a nice spread for lunch that included marinated artichoke salad, penne pasta with Roma tomato basil sauce, grilled chicken breast with pesto roasted garlic sauce, Sicilian meatballs with Lyonnaise tomato sauce, biscotti, tiramisu, lemon tart, ricotta tart, and espresso tart.

Throughout the day, attendees were getting together to network in the Refuel, Rendezvous & Refresh Room.

The Ask the Experts roundtables, where conference attendees have an interactive discussion with a variety of experts, took place towards the end of the second day.

Day two of Affiliate Summit wound up with the Affiliate Ball, which featured E-40, Tha Dogg Pound, Dr. Dre’s son, Curtis Young, Rump Crew, industry rock band Megapixel, and DJ Diamond.

The final day started with a tasty attendee breakfast, and I got nice and fueled up on fruit, yogurt, and other healthy stuff. Just kidding – I was all about eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes, but we had a variety of healthy and junky breakfast foods.

Then the tenth annual Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards were given out to recognize exceptional members of the affiliate marketing community.

Congratulations to all of the nominees, finalists, and winners. Here are the finalists and winners (bold) for the Pinnacle Awards:

Affiliate of the Year
Brad’s Deals
Rae Hoffman
Retail Me Not

Affiliate Manager of the Year
Adam Riemer
Greg Hoffman
Karen Garcia

Exceptional Merchant of the Year
Amazon
Fanatics
WP Engine

Affiliate Marketing Advocate
Brian Littleton
Greg Hoffman
Tricia Meyer

OPM/Agency of the Year
Acceleration Partners
AffiliateManager.com
Schaaf PartnerCentric

Tool/Service of the Year
BrandVerity
FMTC
UpSellIt.com

Shortly after, there was a fun and informative keynote from Greg Gifford, Director of Search and Social at DealerOn.

The final day of Affiliate Summit also featured a series of breakout sessions and lots of networking in the exhibit hall.

The Tuesday networking lunch included southwestern Caesar salad with crispy tortilla strips and a chipolte Caesar dressing; tomato, pepper, and avocado salad; black bean, corn, and jicama salad; tortilla chips with roja and verde salsa; grilled beef and chicken fajitas; sautéed seasonal vegetables; Spanish rice; Flan, chocolate cake, and Kahlúa cheesecake

The exhibit hall wrapped up with a Pub Crawl for some cocktails and last visits to the exhibiting companies, as well as a chance to meet 1-on-1 with speakers.

As the companies broke down booths in the exhibit hall, all of the work and play was officially coming to an end.

Thank you to everybody who came out to network, learn, and have fun with us at Affiliate Summit West 2016.

Register now for the early bird prices for Affiliate Summit East 2016, taking place July 31 – August 2, 2016 in New York City.