Web Hostgods

Back in November 2003 at the first Affiliate Summit, we ran a speed networking session. We’ve done so at every Affiliate Summit since then. But this year, rather than have it resemble anarchy with suits, we’ve decided to clean up and formalize the process.

We are working with NetworkingMatch (the company that ran the speed networking at CJU the last two years) to facilitate the most efficient way for business professionals to make in-person connections.

Everybody that registers for a full conference pass to Affiliate Summit 2006 will be entitled to log in at the NetworkingMatch site, create a profile, and then select who they want to meet at the conference.

We will arrange a series of one-on-one meetings with those people at Affiliate Summit 2006.

I have recevied many requests for joining our affiliate program. After I accept them, I hardly find my link on their site in most of cases. I don’t understand why?

I think part of the problem is that you’re asking me, instead of asking your affiliates. If you are typical of most affiliate managers, you are not conducting any sort of activation initiative for your affiliates.

They apply, you accept them into your affiliate program… now what? There are some affiliates that will take the initiative to login, pick up their affiliate code, and promote your affiliate program.

But most affiliates aren’t going to do anything. That is, they won’t do anything if you just sit and wait for them to activate.

You have to reach out to them in any variety of ways: e-mail, phone, direct mail, etc. to encourage them to get active with your affiliate program. Ask them what you have to do to make your program more attractive - different sizes/types of creative, direct product links, new landing pages, etc.

Affiliates join dozens, if not hundreds of affiliate programs. What are you doing to stand out and merit real estate on their sites or in their newsletters?

If the answer is nothing, then it’s time to change.

I was just chatting with John Grosshandler, the eComXpo Event Director, and he mentioned that the original goal for eComXpo next week was 3,000 attendees.

But it looks like they are going to blow past that figure. Currently, they are over 2,500 and adding hundreds each day.

I have a limited number of free passes left. If you haven’t already registered for eComXpo, click here to register (compliments of Affiliate Summit).

Aside from all of the great speakers, networking, etc. at eComXpo, attendees are also going to have the opportunity to register for Affiliate Summit for $100 off during the days of eComXpo (Oct 6-8). You must login to the eComXpo conference during that time to access the coupon code.

Note - this code cannot be combined with any other special offer.

Though its not as big a part of their overall sales and marketing program as paid search or e-mail, affiliate marketing is an effective strategy to build broader brand awareness and drive motivated buyers to business-to-consumer e-commerce sites, say web retailers participating in the latest Internet Retailer survey.

Most web retailers have already made a multi-year investment in affiliate marketing and count on a network of several thousand affiliates to drive visitor traffic, according to the latest Internet Retailer survey. For instance, 43.2% of web merchants taking part in the survey indicate that their affiliate marketing program is at least 4 years old, compared with 23.2% who say theyve had a program in place for 2-3 years, 10.5% with programs only about a year old and 23.2% with programs in operation less than a year.

Complete article at http://internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=16248

Berkeley Heights, NJ — September 28, 2005 — The Affiliate Summit Convention will be held January 9-10, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Summit is presented by Ronald Bell and Missy Ward and provides the unique opportunity for affiliate marketing professionals to gather and learn from one another in a cooperative environment.

The Affiliate Summit 2006 Keynote Speaker, Anne Holland, is a 20-year publishing industry veteran. Prior to MarketingSherpa, Holland served as the Head of Marketing for Phillips Business Media, a $100 million publishing company. She helped launch one of the world’s first profitable subscription sites in 1995, and the trade publications Interactive Marketing News in 1994 and MIN’s New Media in 1995.

With the mission of helping marketers advance their careers by sharing their real-world marketing data and lessons, MarketingSherpa publishes a wide range of Metrics Guides, Buyer’s Guides, and How-to Reports plus a 500 Case Study Library. The Economist, Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge Site, and Entrepreneur.com have all praised MarketingSherpa as a useful resource for marketers.

“We are very excited to have secured Anne Holland as the keynote speaker for our January 2006 show,” stated Missy Ward, co-founder of Affiliate Summit.

“Anne is such a respected figure in online marketing. Many people throw around the label of thought leader, but Anne truly is one. Affiliate marketers will benefit greatly from her keynote,” continued Ward.

Registrations are now open for Affiliate Summit 2006, and attendees can take advantage of the Early Bird rate of $949 to register for the conference. After October 22, the rate will be $1,449.

During the registration process, attendees have the opportunity to buy MarketingSherpa’s Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005-2006: SEO & PPC Tactics & Results Data for a price of $200. That is a discount of $47 off the cost for this report when purchased directly from MarketingSherpa.

MarketingSherpa’s all-new Search Marketing Benchmark Guide includes 210 charts of reliable data and self-reported data from 3,271 marketers and 776 affiliate marketing experts on:

• SEO (optimization) versus PPC ad campaign costs, clicks, and conversions

• Conversion rate data for clicks-to-lead-generation and clicks-to-sales
• Cost per click plus monthly budgeting (actual dollars) for B-to-B versus B-to-C marketers
• 7 full-color eyetracking “heatmaps” show you how search engine users’ eyes actually “see” your search ads. Includes never-before-seen data for Yahoo, MSN, AOL and major shopping engines.

It is important to note that all previous Affiliate Summit Conferences have sold-out in advance. Attending Affiliate Summit is a worthwhile experience, providing you the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience of the affiliate marketing industry while networking with the leaders in this space.

For more information about the Affiliate Summit Conference, please visit http://www.AffiliateSummit.com. For up-to-date information about the affiliate marketing industry, subscribe to the Real Deal Newsletter – the Official Newsletter of Affiliate Summit at http://www.RealDealNewsletter.com

About Affiliate Summit, Inc.
Affiliate Summit, Inc. was founded by affiliate marketing industry veterans Ronald Bell and Missy Ward and serves the affiliate marketing professional community. With three consecutive sold-out Affiliate Summit Conferences under its belt, its mission to be the leading global source of learning and networking opportunities surrounding the affiliate marketing industry has been brought to fruition. For additional information about the conference, please visit www.affilatesummit.com or contact:

Missy Ward
407-786-9028

Ronald Bell
908-771-5574

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I was checking in at Dave Taylor’s blog today and the headline, It’s time for an Internet Sales Tax, drew me in.

Dave sums up his argument for Internet sales taxes with the following reasons:

1. Internet businesses no longer need to be sheltered from taxation to be competitive;

2. The U.S. Government needs additional tax revenue and usage taxes are easier to accept than income taxes; and
3. Businesses with retail establishments need to stop being penalized in the online world so that they can compete effectively.

Dave asserts that “A flat tax, perhaps at the 5% rate, that applied across all in-state and interstate commerce would be the most logical, truly simplifying the tax burden while generating tens of millions of dollars in city, county, state and national revenue.”

Who wrote that, Dave Taylor or Steve Forbes?
Anyhow, I agree and disagree with Dave’s points.

As far as Internet businesses no longer needing to be sheltered from taxation to be competitive, I am on his side. Not that I don’t think pure play Internet businesses need to be sheltered to compete, because I do. Not having to charge tax is a wonderful competitive advantage. I think companies need it to stick out, but I don’t think they deserve it.

I have divided loyalties here, because I run affiliate programs with a nearly pure play (only an offline presence in California) and a retailer with dirt world stores in every state. It’s absolutely a selling proposition of the near pure play that customers get to skip sales tax.

But the company with an established brick and mortar presence overcomes (they should be trying, at least) their non-taxing rivals with great offers and efficiencies that their Internet-only competitors can’t offer.

When Dave veers into this notion that there should be taxes all around for the sake of additional tax revenue for the U.S. government, I can’t help but to vehemently disagree. This is purely ideological, but I think the last thing the federal government needs is more money to spend.

All of the pork barrel spending and wasteful bureaucracy of big government should not be rewarded by fattening the federal budget. I’d much rather see the country operate as a business and streamline their spending. But I digress.

Dave’s last point is sort of tied to his first, where he states offers that businesses with retail establishments need to stop being penalized in the online world.

Again, this is my way of thinking, too. I think if all companies were on equal footing on the Internet, the customers would win, as the companies would battle each other on value propositions to the consumer.

Therefore overall more attractive deals on the Internet vs. offline, and the affiliates referring the customer sales would win by referring more sales.

I just found out that I am going to be managing the affiliate program for my company, and I don’t know a thing about affiliate marketing. Is there a training course to teach me to run an affiliate program?

In the past, I ran an Affiliate Manager Boot Camp with Beth Kirsch to provide this sort of training. Currently, we do not have another one scheduled.

However, Anik Singal, the CEO of Affiliate Classroom is picking up where we left off with his own take on the Affiliate Manager Boot Camp.

Anik is going to be running an intensive session for affiliate managers on Wednesday, January 11 at Bally’s Las Vegas. This Affiliate Manager Boot Camp is taking place the day after Affiliate Summit 2006 and you can register for it for $399 when registering for Affiliate Summit.

You can see more details on Anik’s workshop at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/agenda.shtml#day3