Affiliate Marketing Blog

Affiliate marketing news and opinion from Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

Brad Waller on Physics, Fraternity Brothers, and the LA Kings

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Brad Waller, CFO/COO at EPage, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

Brad Waller

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

Topics included…

  • The car he sped off in after his wedding
  • Going to an animal refuge in Costa Rica
  • Getting a degree in physics from MIT
  • The LA Kings
  • Staying in touch with fraternity brothers
  • Being elected to the school board
  • Using Drupal and Joomla

Links from this episode

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.

Shawn Collins on Soccer Twitter, Not Liking EWR, and His First Job

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Shawn Collins, Co-CEO of Affiliate Summit, joined Shawn Collins to chat on Shawn’s podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

Shawn in the Cowboys shirt

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

Topics included…

  • His first job
  • The bands he’s liked on Facebook
  • Why his Twitter account is soccer heavy
  • How he ended up in Texas
  • Why his Instagram was mostly beer in December
  • Giving EWR a 2-star rating
  • Why his favorite teams are spread around the country

Links from this episode

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.

Danielle Raybuck on Looking Like the Poltergeist Girl, Books, and Gluten Free Beer

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Danielle Raybuck, President of Danielle Raybuck Consulting, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

I wanted to learn more about the real Danielle, so I asked her a variety of questions I figured she had not been asked in previous interviews.

Topics included…

  • The cities she walked in AVON 39 The Walk to End Breast Cancer
  • The longest left turn signal in Florida
  • Losing Yelp Elite status
  • Why she gave Poltergeist a one-star review
  • Her gluten-free board on Pinterest
  • The kinds of books she likes

Links from this episode

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.

Warren Corpus on the Hottest Ramen, Pandemic Fiction, and Bacon

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Warren Corpus, Business Development at Hitpath, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

Warren Corpus

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

Topics included…

  • Eating the “hottest ramen in the world”
  • Doing college football commentary in 2008
  • The red sauce from the Halal Guys
  • The Fucking Fun Committee
  • Whether Contagion freaks him out as a frequent traveler
  • Being endorsed on LinkedIn for bacon
  • Getting a BS in Microbiology and Cell Science
  • An awesome crawfish boil

Links from this episode

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.

Heather Havenwood on People Watching, Bodybuilding, and ACL as a VIP

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Heather Havenwood, CEO of LIKE A BOSS Digital Media, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

Heather Havenwood

I wanted to learn more about the real Heather, so I asked her a variety of questions I figured she had not been asked in previous interviews.

Topics included…

  • Why she got a Bachelors in Applied Science
  • People watching at the Whole Foods in downtown Austin
  • Being a Dallas Cowboys fan
  • Her books on dating for men
  • Becoming a bodybuilder
  • Scoring VIP for ACL this year

Links from this episode

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.

Conference and Travel Hacks

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Do you remember how you felt on the first day at a new school? If you were like me, it was equal parts anxiety, dread, and disorientation. Lots of people milling around, and they all seemed to know each other, but I didn’t know any of them.

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Are we there yet? #ASAPAC

A post shared by Missy Ward (@missyward) on

It was similar the first time I went to a conference. I was rushed through the check-in line, given my badge and attendee bag, and just pushed on to figure things out. I didn’t know who was who – it was a blur of nametags racing by me.

But where were they all going? I had no idea. I felt like I was a stranger in a strange land.

One big problem was that I went into the whole thing without a plan. I just showed up and expected I’d just magically get it. My lack of advance planning made the time spent there, as well as the money for the trip, into a big waste.

When I got back to the office, I told the boss how lame it was, and how I wouldn’t recommend returning next year.

The next time I was sent to a conference, I made sure to do some homework in advance to figure out who I might want to meet, as well as educational sessions that might benefit me. It was a far more worthwhile use of my time.

Over the years, I’ve worked up lots of strategies and learned things from other folks to get the maximum value from attending conferences.

And the result is ConferenceHack.com – an ongoing blog of conference and travel advice. Some of it has been sitting in my head and other stuff is being shared as I think of it.

Michael Pomposello on Twenty One Pilots, Tuna at Panera, and First Class on Acela

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Michael Pomposello, Managing Partner at Blue Polo Interactive and Influencer Connect, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

Michael Pomposello

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

Topics included…

  • Does Panera really have the best tuna in the world
  • The band Twenty One Pilots
  • Delayed flight on Southwest Airlines
  • Origin of his company name
  • Riding the Acela train in first class
  • His first job

Links from this episode

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.

Mike Allen on Politics, Raising Chickens, and Elvis Presley

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Mike Allen, Founder at Businesswright Consulting, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

Mike Allen

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

Topics included…

  • Why he got a BS in Political Science
  • Asking for hen advice on Twitter
  • Elvis Presley’s birthplace
  • His day job before affiliate marketing
  • The last movie he saw
  • Using his name .me over the .com

Links from this episode

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.

Coping with Entrepreneurial Failure

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My name is Shawn Collins and I am a member of Business Failures Anonymous.

Shawn Collins at Affiliate Summit East 2018

I’ve failed more than I have succeeded in business if you look at the sheer number of companies formed and ideas implemented. Sometimes, I put the businesses down quietly and others were more noticed when they were gone.

There is some amount of grief involved each time, but I’ve always managed to push through to the other side and find my next victory.

I have found it helpful to apply the Kübler-Ross model, better known as the five stages of grief when I’ve failed. The stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

A side note to this: the five stages of grief are often thought of as transitions for grieving people who have lost loved ones, but they are actually a progression of emotional states experienced by terminally ill patients after diagnosis.

Anyhow, I’ve used it incorrectly to apply to myself and my failings, and being aware of the stages has made it easier to process things.

I have worked through the stages in a sort of unconventional way… with music.

I suppose I could keep a journal or something to chronicle things, but that’s too new age for me, and even in elementary school I was getting C’s in penmanship. It’s only gotten worse.

So anyhow, I make playlists for each stage. It sounds hokey, I know. But it’s really been therapeutic for me over the years. Those early-stage playlists are heavy on stuff like NIN and Eminem.

Moving on it’s some Smiths and other mopey 80s stuff. Finally, I get to some chilled out music from artists such as Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett for the point of acceptance.

It’s not that easy for everybody, though.

An article was published by Inc. in 2014 titled “The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship,” and it was about the demons and darkness that often accompany entrepreneurship.

The piece was shared frequently on social media among affiliate marketers because it struck a chord with so many. Additionally, research from the UC Berkeley Institutional Review Board that was published in the journal Small Business Economics painted a dire picture for entrepreneurs.

According to the report, entrepreneurs are significantly more likely than the general population to experience depression, ADHD, addiction, and a bipolar diagnosis.

Earlier this year people were shocked to hear of the suicides of high profile entrepreneurs Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. But they were just the latest.

In the past seven years, there have been lots of other well-known entrepreneurs who took their lives, including Faigy Mayer (CEO of Appton), Aaron Schwartz (Co-Founder of Reddit), and Ilya Zhitomirskiy (CEO of Diaspora).

No doubt there are people in our industry suffering every day. Know that you are loved by those of us in the industry and outside of it.

If you are in danger of acting on suicidal thoughts or are in any other life-threatening crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the U.S. at 800–273-TALK (8255), or visit suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html for other country-specific hotlines.

Angel Djambazov on Great Coffee, Farmer Profiling, and His Wide-Ranging Music Taste

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Angel Djambazov, Co-Founder, Marketing, Mayhem, and Business Development at Lab6 Media, joined me to chat on my podcast, This is Affiliate Marketing with Shawn Collins.

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

Topics included…

  • Angel’s music taste and serendipity with music
  • Being endorsed on LinkedIn for food
  • When his wife was profiled as a shoplifter
  • Best coffee in Maryland
  • His favorite films
  • What he wanted to do with his college degree

Links from this episode

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.