Vouch for my Expertise: Utilizing Affiliate Manager Relationships
Photo Courtesy of Affiliate Summit
For the first time ever, I submitted a solo speaker proposal for Affiliate Summit. I’ve spoken on 5 panels in the past, all of which were terrific experiences. For Affiliate Summit East 2014, coming up in August back in New York City, I decided that I’d dip my toe into the solo speaking with an Ask the Experts round table discussion proposal.
You can vote for it here: Utilizing Affiliate Manager Relationships
Whenever affiliates ask me for advice, I always recommend creating a good relationship with their affiliate manager. I think there is endless possibility to grow your business when you take advantage of someone who has expertise that you don’t have. This goes for any person, but it’s the most accessible for affiliates to reach out to an affiliate manager. There’s nothing a good affiliate manager wants more than to make a connection with an affiliate, so why more affiliates don’t take advantage of good managers who work with the merchants day in and day out is beyond me.
Why Should You Vote For Me?
I have been an affiliate manager since late 2006, managing a variety of programs in different niches. I’ve been both an in-house manager working for the merchant and an outsourced program manager working for a third party agency. I have been a speaker at marketing conferences in the past, as well as contributing many guest articles for industry-leading publications like FeedFront Magazine, Marketing Pilgrim, and others. I know what I’m talking about, I promise 🙂
Take Action
Please do me the favor and vote for my proposal. You will have to register for the site in order to vote, but it’s a very quick registration process so please don’t let that deter you! Voting closes on March 14th, so be sure to vote before then. Speakers at Affiliate Summit are based on this voting process, so your vote for my proposal definitely makes a difference. If you haven’t already, you can also register for Affiliate Summit East 2014, taking place August 10-12 at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
I’m very happy to report that, as of last night, my submission is among the most popular, so thank you to those that voted already. I’m looking forward to making a return to being a speaker at summit after a few Summits off. If you’ve already voted, please do me a favor and share the link with your audience for more votes! Thank you!
Read MoreIt pays to have Klout!
Seriously, it pays to blog! Well, mostly in freebies so far! Last month I told you all about the Poshly Custom-Tailored Freebies I received. I’m still giving those products a good testing, so I’ll have reviews for them soon I hope! Since then (okay, and a bit before that) I’ve been paying more attention to Klout, more specifically the Perks section.
Klout has come through with a variety of perks that suit the variety of things I blog about perfectly! First, it was Blowfish for Hangovers. I intended to give it a good try after my planned Halloween shenanigans, but I ended up with a cold so I didn’t drink. I think I’ll be really tying one on at Thanksgiving, so let’s hope I’ll be able to test on good old Black Friday! Check out Blowfish for Hangovers on Twitter!
Next, I was invited to host a #RTGirlsNightIn and provided with a fantastic set of makeup brushes from Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman. My small Girl’s Night was a success and the brushes are fabulous! I haven’t worked with makeup brushes this nice since I was doing stage makeup in college, and let me tell you, it makes a difference! I’m stoked to have these brushes and I think I converted a few of my friends! Check out Real Techniques on Twitter or Real Techniques on Facebook!
Changing gears from beauty products, the next Klout Perk I received was 50 custom business cards from MOO Cards. Again, I’m totally a believer in MOO now! Coming from a background working for a professional printing company for 5 years, I’m very picky about the quality of my business cards and where I get them from. I remember getting a set of cards from MOO when they first came out, back when you could only get the very small cards (I think they’re still in a drawer somewhere in the recesses of my desk!). I’m super happy that the printing looks good, the stock is nice and thick, and even the obligatory Klout logo looks good! More on these in a later post, but in the meantime, check out MOO Cards on Twitter or MOO Cards on Facebook!
Back to beauty, just today I received TWO packages – a Klout Perk from Freeman and my very first Vox Box from Influenster!
The Freeman Perk contained three lovely masks with a great card full of suggestions for creating a Multi-Mask routine for folks like me with combination skin (i.e. oily in some places, dry in others). There’s a Freeman Feeling Beautiful Cucumber Facial Peel-Off Mask, an Avocado & Oatmeal Facial Clay Mask, and a Charcoal & Black Sugar Facial Polishing Mask! The first two I’ve seen on shelves before but haven’t tried yet and the third I’ve plain never seen! I can’t wait to try them out! Check out Freeman Beauty on Twitter, Freeman Beauty on Facebook, or Freeman Beauty on Instagram!
I have more Klout Perks coming to tell you about soon! Check out the brands who were kind enough to send me some stuff to try! You can also give me more Klout by giving me a +K on these topics and check out my Influenster profile too!
Disclosure: I was given complimentary products or samples because I’m a Klout influencer. I am under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about these companies. I get no additional benefits for talking about the product or companies. Affiliate links for the products are contained in this post.
Read MorePoshly Custom-Tailored Freebies
Recently, I discovered an interesting site to enter to win different beauty products, Poshly.com. In order to enter, you answer a few questions that, I know now, are market research questions. These questions range from things like “How often do you wear foundation?”, “Do you watch what you eat?”, “How would you describe your skin?”, and “How old are you?”. In hopes of winning items from brands like Clinique, Makeup Forever, and Urban Decay, I’ve answered a lot of questions trying to win!
Last week, I got an email saying that some free samples were on my way from Poshly, but no specification as to what would be coming. Great, I thought, whatever it is will be cool. I expected a little sample size lotion or something that I may or may not care to use. Instead, today I received a MASSIVE box full of full-sized products that seem to be hand-picked based on responses I gave on those little quiz questions while trying to win stuff. All of the products in the box seem to address issues I identified in my quiz responses. Turns out, this is Poshly’s goal. From their site:
Our mission at Poshly is to build personalization technologies that connect beauty brands with beauty consumers in innovative, data-driven ways. On Poshly, members discover beauty products that are best suited for their characteristics while brands better understand the preferences and personas of consumers in real-time.
So my beauty exploration and marketing worlds are overlapping! Many of these items are organic, botanical, cruelty-free, and even vegan! All the Sia Botanics products are free of Gluten, Parabens, Sulfates, and Synthetic colorants or fragrances. The Sia Botanics and L’Oreal Paris products are 100% vegan, and they plus the Infinity Sun lip balm are all cruelty-free. I tallied up the prices and the value of what I was sent is easily over $150! So thanks, Poshly! I’m going to try to post reviews of all of them over time since they’re all new products to me. Here’s the list of what I got, and where you can get them for yourself!
- Sia Botanics Desert Aloe & Jojoba Cream Cleanser
- Buy from Amazon for $16
- Sia Botanics Super C Glowing Skin Tonic
- Sia Botanics Prickly Pear Rescue Cream
- Buy from Amazon for $22
- Sia Botanics Prickly Pear Daily Moisturizer
- Buy from Walmart for $14.99
- Femme Couture Prime Wear Long Wearing Lip Creme in Glowing Grapefruit
- Buy from Sally Beauty Supply for $7.99
- Femme Couture Shiny Color Crayon moisturizing lip color in Very Berry
- Buy from Sally Beauty Supply for $5.99
- Maybelline ColorSensational lip color in Red Revival
- Buy from Walgreens for $7.99
- Infinity Sun Avance Balme in Vanilla Bean, SPF 15
- benefit They’re Real Beyond Mascara
- Buy from Amazon for $20.51
- benefit the POREfessional pore minimizer
- Buy from Amazon for $8.89
- Haus MetaDerm 100% Organic lotion for Psoriasis
- Buy from Amazon for $14.50
- L’Oreal Paris EverCreme Sulfate-Free Moisture System Cleansing Conditioner
- Mystic Divine Argon & Monoi Oils Nourishing Hair Masque
- Buy from Sally Beauty Supply for $7.49
My Affiliate Management Days Goal
I’m always looking to learn from those colleagues in our industry who have been doing this longer than I have. It’s for this reason that I’d LOVE to attend Affiliate Management Days 2013 in San Francisco. I wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel, or flight, or much of anything outside of my normal daily expenses since it’s just across the SF bay from me. There’s just one not-so-tiny problem.
The registration price tag.
It’s a lot to ask – $1200 – not that it’s not worth it. This will be their second conference in San Francisco and I heard terrific things about last year’s show. Which was their first-ever, so that’s considerably impressive. I’d love to go hear insights from folks who do the same things I do. They’ve been where I’ve been. They know the daily stresses, challenges, and rewards that being an affiliate manager holds. So I’d be pretty crazy not to want to go!
These are challenging economic times. While it’s an incredible investment and can easily be claimed as a business expense (because it is), bills are still due. In an effort to offset the costs and make my goal of attending a reality, I’m asking for your help. You can help in a number of ways:
- If you’re a fellow affiliate manager and haven’t already registered, but intend to, please do so through my affiliate link. The commission I earn will help me to pay for the pass.
- Share my post so others can potentially help.
- If you’re not attending, but want to help me reach this goal, I’ve set up a ChipIn campaign to help raise funds towards the conference registration cost. If I do not make my goal, you will be refunded your donation. You can donate through the widget below:
Thank you so much. Please – share my goal and help me contribute to the industry I so love by learning more and sharing my own knowledge at Affiliate Management Days SF 2013!
Read MoreWhy Site Layout Matters
Guest Post by Ken Myers.
Website design entails more than just a few images here and there with possibly a table in the middle to organize content. While you don’t have to go overboard and design an overly extravagant site, you could still benefit by having something that is simple and eye-pleasing to your visitors. There are millions of styles on the Internet and many of them constantly restructure the design. It is important to have the perfect design in many ways.
Easy Access
You don’t want your visitors getting lost on your website. Information and relevant links should be easy to find and click. Most websites will put categories and such in a navigation bar on either side of the body.
Jigsaw
If your site looks like someone through a puzzle on the computer screen, chances are the visitors are going to move on. A dynamic smooth feel is needed to have a successful website. Organization of your content is very important.
Busy
You don’t want to cover your website with too much flash. Images, banners, and other add-ons could distract from the content making it difficult for visitors to read. People want information when visiting a website, not an art gallery – unless that is what your website is for.
Clean
For the best results from search engine optimization, you want to make sure your coding is cleaned up. There may be errors in the code that can cause search engines to not crawl your website or cause visitors to see a dreaded 404 error.
Audience
Many designers will use the information from programs such as Google Analytics to determine what the content dimensions should be. For instance, if most of your visitors are using tablets or smartphones with a low resolution, then having a website that is 2400 pixels across would make viewing difficult. Know your audience and the technologies used to browse your website.
Scripting Additions
Most of your visitors would rather have a functional website that provides the information they are looking for. Adding too features and java-based scripts could make the experience unpleasant. Do your visitors really need to know what the temperature is in your home town?
Knowledge
It is not difficult to come up with a design that works. If you’re in doubt, take a look at other websites and see how the designer put them together. For the most part, important links are across the top, informational links are along the left side, and the content is in the main body.
A website isn’t set in stone. If you are unhappy with your current design or are bored with the same look day-in and day-out, you can always change it. Depending on how the information is linked through coding, changing how a site looks and feels isn’t as difficult as it may seem. As long as it is functional for your visitors and the code is clean, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem re-envisioning your website.
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Ken Myers is the founder of http://www.longhornleads.com/ & has learned over the years the importance of focusing on what the customer is looking for and literally serving it to them. He doesn’t try to create a need; instead he tries to satisfy the existing demand for information on products and services.
Read MoreWill There Ever Be A Yahoo – Google Partnership?
Guest Post by Dan Chaney
Before Google dominated the search engine market, the #1 place to go for information on anything was Yahoo. No one could go outside or watch TV without seeing one of their ads each day. Today, Yahoo is not in good shape. Some internet users either think it’s dead or have no idea what it is. At one point, a few companies tried to buy the company but the execs and shareholders refused the offers. However, no one has thought of a partnership. Will Yahoo ever do such a thing with Google or someone else? The short answer is maybe.
Yahoo could use some help in some form or another. Their net income is at $228.5 million according to their Q2 2012 earnings report, which has been in decline for some time. They’ve also had many of their top-level execs either leave or have been let go over the past six years. Add on the fact that they’re having to compete for business with two juggernaut-sized companies (Google and Microsoft) and it becomes clear that Yahoo has a massive hill to climb if they wish to stay open.
A partnership of some could work in their favor, but it depends on what the other party would offer them. The first thing they need is more people using their search engine. Without that, there’s not much of a reason to visit except to check e-mail and read the news. Original content would also help. If Yahoo offers something people want to see or read that can’t be found elsewhere, there’s a good chance that they’ll be able to convince users and investors to give them a second look. In short, they’d have to utilize multiple services from one company or team up with multiple companies to remain afloat.
At some point, Yahoo will have to do something big to attract the attention of internet users and businesses alike. If they can’t offer better services and content than its competition, it’ll have to put itself up for sale and hope for the best. A partnership with Google would help, but only if it’ll convince people to come to their site on a regular basis aside from checking and sending email. Also, it’ll depend on which services the partnership will improve. Otherwise, the deal may turn out to be an expensive waste of time for all parties involved.
One way or another, Yahoo needs to get its house in order. Will that include a partnership of some kind? Only time will tell. Given the history they’ve had when it comes to being bought up, the folks in charge may choose to do things on their own until all of their efforts fall flat before striking a deal with anyone.
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Dan Chaney is a blogger for HirePulse advertising with a background in social media and marketing.
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