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Archives for January 2017

Is Your Business Planted or Buried?

January 9, 2017 by Shawn Collins

I was chatting with some people at a recent conference about the origins of Affiliate Summit, and they were surprised to hear that we started with nothing, but some passion and ideas.

Our initial investment was literally the domain registration. The rest was a matter of using our hosting and email accounts, calling in favors, and making things up as we went along. The whole thing came together as a solution to a problem. The industry didn’t have a professional event.

Also, Missy and I were sort of bored with the “right” way to do corporate events. We had our own ideas on how to start up a business that was all about the attendees/customers. We don’t get lost in the problems, but rather focused on solutions.

Affiliate Summit was planted on May 19, 2003 when we bought the .com. That began a long season of cultivating the business for our first harvest, which was the inaugural Affiliate Summit in NYC on November 3, 2003. We didn’t make any money with that one, but we didn’t lose any, either. We did, however, grow our experience and list, as well as connections.

More than a year after we started, the second Affiliate Summit took place, and another year passed before the third one. By this time, we were finally making more than minimum wage, but still working full-time at other jobs.

There were options to grow faster. We had offers from people to invest in Affiliate Summit over the years, and we could have leveraged credit cards to speed things up. Instead, we opted for organic growth.

We started small by throwing some seeds in the dirt. How about you? Are you willing to dig deep to plant your business… to be patient through the darkness and uncertainty? Sometimes there will be conditions beyond your control and unpleasant circumstances, but you can’t stop if you are dedicated to your harvest.

There are no shortcuts when you plant your business. A lot of people like to believe they can reach that end result without the various mundane processes. Those businesses are buried from the start, whether it be by debt, grandiose plans, or other factors.

It all comes down to your perspective and how you design your business. Are you planning for the future and taking the time to develop things slow and steady, or are you trying to do too much too soon?

You know that sinking feeling when money is going out faster than success is coming in? When that happens to you, it’s by design. You have buried yourself, and only you can push away some of the things that are getting in the way of your success.

Figure out what you need for your business to move forward and not want you want. Cut your spending, become more efficient, and outsource things you are lousy at doing if you have the funds to do so.

You reap what you sow, so don’t obstruct your own growth.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Jamie Birch on Inbox Zero, Ghostbusters, and How He Started on Twitter

January 5, 2017 by Shawn Collins

Jamie Birch, CEO of JEBCommerce, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

I wanted to learn more about the real Jamie, so I asked him a variety of questions I figured he had not been asked in previous interviews.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Jamie Birch on Inbox Zero, Ghostbusters, and How He Started on Twitter.” quote=”Jamie Birch on Inbox Zero, Ghostbusters, and How He Started on Twitter.” theme=”style1″]

We discussed…

  • His first Tweet and why he wrote it
  • Getting into triathlons (some gremlins killed part of the answer)
  • His favorite quote
  • How he achieves inbox zero
  • Helping adults with developmental disabilities
  • The old and new Ghostbusters

Links from this episode

  • Jamie’s first Tweet
  • Jamie on Twitter
  • Renewed Horizons
  • Jamie on LinkedIn
  • Jamie on Facebook
  • JEBCommerce

Subscribe to This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins on iTunes.

If you enjoyed this episode of This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins, please share it.

This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins is focused on the people behind the affiliate management/OPM companies, advertisers/merchants, affiliates/publishers, and affiliate networks.

On each episode, Shawn interviews a new guest related to the industry, so you can learn more about the people of affiliate marketing.

After all, affiliate marketing is about the people; not the companies.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

Affiliate Summit West 2017 Donates $14,601 to Fight Breast Cancer

January 4, 2017 by Shawn Collins

The Race to Affiliate Summit West 2017 has ended. This was an exercise challenge where Affiliate Summit committed to donating $1 for each mile to benefit the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.

Participants cycled, ran, swam, walked, and did other workouts to add up miles for the charity competition.

There were 67 folks involved in the challenge, and overall, there were 14,601 miles tallied by the participants, so the total donation was $14,601.

Additionally, everybody who tallied 50 miles or more in the challenge received a pass to Affiliate Summit East 2017 (July 30-August 1, 2017 in NYC), and 34 participants had 50 miles or more.

Thank you so much to everybody who participated and helped to make this charity donation from Affiliate Summit.

The participant with the most total miles at the end of the challenge was Justin Ball with 3,014 miles.

If you would like to participate in the next Affiliate Summit exercise challenge, be sure to keep an eye on the Affiliate Summit blog for an announcement later this month.

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Filed Under: Affiliate News

Dress for the Job You Want

January 2, 2017 by Shawn Collins

My first job out of college required me to wear dress pants, a button-down shirt, and a tie to work each day. I was working at the front desk of a Comfort Suites for $5.50 an hour.

The next job had a more standardized uniform of khaki pants and a blue button-down shirt. I was on the way up the corporate ladder as I landed an Assistant Manager gig at Blockbuster Video at $7.00 an hour.

Subsequent positions had similar dress codes and increasing compensation, but these weren’t jobs I wanted.

The work uniforms became sort of symbolic to me. I could work hard and share lots of ideas, but at the end of the day I was constrained by a certain paradigm of what I could and should do.

In the mid-90’s, I worked with a variety of computer magazines at Miller Freeman and ZiffDavis on the business side.

These were sort of old school environments, and I was expected to wear a suit.

I still cringe at the memories of walking across town in New York City on humid August days in my 2 for $79 suits, and how I’d be as sweaty as a college basketball coach by the time I reached my office.

In 1997, I left the magazine world for my first dot com startup job at a place called Medsite.com. This was also my first affiliate manager position. It was one of those open lofts where employees were encouraged to be creative in their marketing efforts.

That was good, because I had never had a marketing job, or even a class, before then. The dress code was more relaxed than I was used to at previous jobs. We could wear jeans every day. Every day!

That might not seem exciting to many affiliate marketers, but it was a fashion revolution for me. Gone were the cheap suits in favor of a closet of jeans and collared shirts.

This sort of dress code continued with my next affiliate marketing jobs at Refer-it.com and ClubMom.com. But even that started feeling restrictive.

I used to get a weird thrill on work days when I would be heading to a Yankees game at the end of the day. After work, I’d switch from my jeans and collared shirt to shorts and a Yankees jersey. It felt forbidden and magical to walk among the corporate cubicles and show a little leg.

I finally went out on my own in 2004, and dressed comfortably, I never looked back.

My wife, Vicky, asked me recently why I wear shorts and a t-shirt to work every day. The answer was simple… because I can.

You know the old saying about dressing for the job you want? I guess I want to always have this job.

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Filed Under: Affiliate Resources

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