Avoiding Sick Leave Guilt

Posted on Jan 6, 2009 in Career | 4 comments

So I’m up at 2:00 am with the compulsion to note that I’ve already broken one of my blogging goals this year: to blog daily. Unfortunately, I was struck down today with a fierce migraine which, until now, kept me in bed hiding from noise and light. My dedication has not wavered, but I know had I not flushed away the migraine it would be worse tomorrow, taking me out of the count for work for two days instead of one.

So quickly I’ll pose a question for my fellow workaholics out there – how do you deal with the guilt associated with being sick?  You WANT to work, but just can’t.  Are there techniques you employ or a mantra you tell yourself?  How do you avoid the guilt associated with taking a day off to take care of yourself when you’re a workaholic?

Share… let the healing begin!

Goals for 2009

Posted on Jan 1, 2009 in Career |

There seems to be a rule in blogging that on January 1st, any self-respecting blogger will take a few minutes to wax poetic on one of two topics – a recap of their year previous, or an outlook on their goals of the new year ahead.  All the cool kids are doing it, so I’ve decided to jump into the mix.  I’m not doing anything better today, so why not? :p

I’m going to opt for the latter, and set forth some goals for my 2009.  Some more important than others, but listed in no particular order.

1. Work out the technical kinks on my blog.  I’ve got some issues with the CSS on this theme regarding spacing in lists, so Id like to either learn enough about CSS to fix this or find a new theme that I like as much as this one.  I also had a problem upgrading to WordPress 2.7 and had to revert back, so I’ll figure out what the heck was causing that & upgrade.
2. Post every day.  Even if it’s just a quick note about how work is going or something interesting I saw online that day.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to post crap, but just a bit more current things than necessarily waiting until the end of the week to mention some things in my Cribbed Content post.
3. Get back to doing the Free Toolsday and Saturday Shopper features.  I enjoy doing them, I’ve just been slacking.
4. Write more guest posts & accept more guest posts.  I’ve been given the opportunity, so I should collaborate with fellow bloggers more than I do.

That’s really it.  If I set a lot of lofty goals, I’ll never finish them all.  So these few are here.  Keep me honest on this and we’ll friends.  Check back here in a year to see if I succeeded!

Affiliate Summit Mentor Program – Deadline is CLOSE!

Posted on Dec 23, 2008 in Affiliate Marketing, Conferences & Networking, Rambles, Social Media | 3 comments

For those of you who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, at the last Affiliate Summit in Boston a great new tradition was started.  The Affiliate Summit Mentor Program.  This program, headed by the gracious Teresa Caldwell for Affiliate Summit East and now headed by awesome Jen Goode for Affiliate Summit West, is a way for first time conference attendees to learn the ropes.

I remember my first summit, not that long ago, in Miami in July 07.  SO overwhelmed with information, especially considering that was my first trade show at ALL and I was relatively new to affiliate marketing and hadn’t been exposed to the industry at large.  I’m not the only first time attendee to feel consumed by it all, hence why the mentor program was created.  The program matches up volunteer mentors who have experience attending the shows and know generally what to expect and how to get the most out of your attendance, with newbie first timers who’ve asked for a bit of guidance.

At the last summit I agreed to be a mentor, having that be my 3rd show attending, and I felt the experience didn’t go all that well.  I exchanged a few emails with my assigned newbie/”mentee” and after they didn’t respond to the last email, that was it – unfortunately I didn’t know if they even ended up attending the show or not.

Hence my reluctance to sign up this time around.  I didn’t feel like I was that helpful, and I guess the person was less-than-impressed with who I was the first time, which made me think that perhaps I’m not the best person to be a mentor.  But the ever wise Jen Goode convinced me to give it another shot, so I’m happy to say that once again I’m participating in the mentor program for Affiliate Summit West 09 in Las Vegas next month.

I just received the email with my newbie’s information, and I’m off to shot them a welcome – if you’re a veteran attendee of the Affiliate Summit, and haven’t signed up yet, DO IT!  Go to http://blog.affiliatesummit.com/affiliate-summit-mentor-program and sign up today – the deadline is December 28th!

Also, watch this video that former mentee turned mentor Michael Buechele of 11|15 Media did if you need more convincing!

Geek Dads At Home Podcast

Posted on Dec 22, 2008 in Rambles | 5 comments

A few geeky stay at home dad’s I know decided to convene during their daddy day care days for a new podcast, aptly titled Geek Dads @ Home.

Happy Birthday Ian Clark | Geek Dads @Home: “The premise of our podcast revolves around three dads working from home while we provide day care for our kids. We will share our insights on the tools that allow us to function in this set up, but more importantly the podcast gives us a record in our own voices of the experiences of raising our children. The hope is that some time in the future, when they can best appreciate it, our kids will subscribe to this RSS feed and hear their dad’s perspectives on their lives growing up ….”

Joe did a guest post here last week, Tales of a Home Office Worker Dad, so I’m stoked to listen to this.  I’m sure it will be good stuff!  Take a listen if you’re interested in dad’s doteing on their daughters and talking marketing and working from home!

Cribbed Content for December 22nd

Posted on Dec 22, 2008 in Affiliate Marketing, Rambles |

The holidays are upon us finally!  I suck and forgot to post this shorter version last week!  Hanukkah started on the 21st, and Christmas is around the bend this week!  Do you have sugar plum fairies dancing in your head yet?  Here’s a few interesting things from this past week to keep your feet on the ground until you’re off for the holiday officially!

• Are you an affiliate?  Take the AffStat Survey Here and let your voice be known in the industry.  This coming year the results will be made available through FeedFront Magazine rather than by purchase.
• Speaking of FeedFront, publishers Shawn Collins & Missy Ward of Affiliate Summit have put together a compilation cover complimenting their story about the women of affiliate marketing.  Yours truly is on the cover in the lower right hand portion, sharing space with some truly awesome and amazing women that I both adore and admire!
• ShareASale hosts a great party at every Affiliate Summit, and this coming January for Affiliate Summit West 2009, they’re hosting an 80s prom themed “Under the Stars” party.  Righteous, dude.

Affsum Session: Copywriting Clinic

Posted on Dec 18, 2008 in Conferences & Networking | 2 comments

Yes, that’s right.  It’s been MONTHS since Affiliate Summit East 2008, and we’re less than a month away from Affiliate Summit West 2009.  And I’m just now getting around to giving you the skinny and my notes on this incredibly helpful session.  Why now?  Now there’s video:

The panel consisted of:

• Lisa Riolo, Founder, Hammock Ventures (Moderator)
• Adam Gilad, CEO, Gilad Creative Media, Inc.
• Scott Polk, CEO, Purplestream Marketing
• Anik Singal, CEO, Affiliate Classroom Inc.

As I mentioned, this was a fantastic panel.  In fact, I might consider this hands down the best panel I’ve attended at any trade show.  It was FULL of useful information.  Watch the video for yourself (ignore my head in the front row :D) or check out my notes!

Bullet Point Review!

• Copy writing is salesmanship in writing (Anik).
• Headlines are huige – your copy can suck if your headline kicks butt, but the other way around doesn’t work (Anik).
• Simple video dresses up your content (Anik).
• Making an ugly order button actually helps because it stands out – believe it or not, conversions go through the roof (Anik).
• Think of headlines as plot points (Adam).
• Act I is the Familiar World.  Turn pain into calling.  If you can articulate their pain better than they can – it will bring trust & bring them to the calling (Adam).
• Act 2 is the Road of Trials.  Meet new allies and villains – in copy writing allies can be testimonials, villains are negative – brings you to the death of the protagonist (Adam).
• Act 3 is the Resolution.  Give them to sword to slay the dragon – the order information and a promise of how great it will be when they get there (Adam).
• Write for your reader (Scott).
• Optimize against the competition (Scott).
• 350-450 words is a good start (Scott).
• Use main keywords you’re optimizing for in the 1st sentence, twice in the first 200 words (Scott).
• Editorial content is what powers the web (Scott).
• People have difficulty getting started, but the key is tight copy.
• Use of active verbs – creates motion & engages users.
• Try to evoke senses when selling -> smell/scent works well.  They’re related to positive emotions.
• Listen & read things around you – it will inspire you to get started.
• Process of writing and process of editing are two very different processes.
• Take 12 hours in between the creative of writing and the technical of editing as a buffer period.
• Build momentum – make them want to turn the page (Adam).
• Take note of evocative words.
• There are good books that are just lists of words.

Points brought up during the Q&A

• Adjectives are your enemy.
• Reading out loud helps develop the rhythm of language.
• How does attention span factor in?
  • -> The story should be compelling enough and people are drawn in.
  • -> The sub-headlines should tell the story.
• Never assume people have read the page before or after on a website – have good site navigation too.
• Tone – more professional robot or real person writing?
  • -> That personal aspect is what draws people in.
  • -> Talk to them in your voice.
  • -> Consistency of voice is important.
• Humorous content is vital.
• What can brands with stuffier businesses do to liven up without adding personality?
  • -> If you can’t do it within the funnel, ask affiliates to try stuff or do stuff elsewhere on the site.
• Any tools to check what you’ve written to improve it’s SEO?
  • -> SEO Toolkit – keyword density analyzer
  • -> Make title tag for search engines
• Have depth – don’t be too dumbed down.
• Supporting information is good, but don’t clutter the conversion funnel.
• It’s difficult to speak in absolutes and don’t disrupt the process.
• Multi-variant testing with copy gives you a realistic picture of what’s going on.
• Pop your sentences into Google to see how many others use those same phrases.
• Copyscape can analyze your content to see how unique it is.

I easily took the most notes of the conference at this session.  Great tips all around, and I espeically loved hearing Adam relate copy writing to screen writing – my major in college was Theatre Arts, emphasizing on dramatic writing, so that was a nice way to bring together my visions of what I was going to do for a career and the reality of what I am doing for a career.  Very awesome and I hope to see similar clinics like this offered at future shows!