Happy Friday The 13th!  I personally like this day just for the weird television programming you get, so you should remember to check your local listings on channels like Discovery, TLC, and History for some possibly cool stuff.  That is, if they didn’t jump the shark with those types of programs last month!

Some varied things going on this week… some of which I covered!

• Google Calendar is Available Offline.  I reported on the story for Marketing Pilgrim.
• We finally got Episode 2 of Affiliate Marketing Fanatics up after some problems with recording.  Luckily editing was long but not bad.
• Commission Junction is webinar crazy!  They hosted one on Thursday for businesses considering affiliate marketing, and whether or not the channel is really right for them.  Next week on the agenda is The Consumer Cries, “Coupon!” How Will You Answer?.  This should be a good one to listen in on to see their stance.

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I learn so much just by hanging out on Twitter most of my day. I learned about a spectacular travel site called TripIt.com from Sam Harrelson.

This knocks TripAdvisor out of the park.  I got on TripAdvisor thinking that it would be great a resource with all the reviews of hotels and attractions in the areas.  But in the last year 99% of the travel I’ve done has been for work, where I’m not there for pleasure and I’m not necessarily choosing where we stay or go.  So I don’t think I’ve logged into TripAdvisor in months.  At least 6.

TripIt is a much more suitable replacement for me.  And the user ease is AMAZING.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  First, let me tell you the purpose of TripIt.  The site works as a great organizational tool that aggregates your activities, meetings, hotel information, flight information, etc into a centrally located personal travel assistant.  Just email your confirmation emails directly to plans@tripit.com and it integrates the details into your trip itinerary.

The itinerary itself is spectacularly thorough.  Not only does it add your hotel info and flight info through the email, but you can also add different types of events, restaurant outings, and meetings.  Everything is color coded and the site automatically adds Google Maps and Directions from one location to another into the itinerary.  Here’s an example from my current trip to Boston:

TripIt also integrates well with Google Calendar, which is my online calendar of choice, and adds exact time and details for each appointment, flight, check in, check out, etc.  The site has a printable itinerary that is currently keeping me on track here in Boston, and if you’re more of a mobile/smart phone reliant person there’s mobile features as well.  I only wish the printable version was color coded as well, but I understand why it’s not.

If you travel a lot for business, you should give this site a try at the least.  As all the free toolsday features, it’s FREE!  So you have no reason not to go check it out.

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My favorite month is here! Halloween… haunted/spooky programming on TV… candy… dressing up… it’s all too much! I even have created myself a totally separate Google Calendar to track all the different shows I want to be sure to record or watch this month. I really am a haunted places nut.

Which is funny because I am a wimp when it comes to horror/suspense films.

Of course, along with a new month comes end of the month reporting. Surprisingly, I’ve almost finished it all in one day. Some I will wait towards the end of the week so I can clear any straggling affiliates who need to send in W9 forms or straggling mailing jobs, but otherwise it’s looking pretty good.

Now, I hate to do this… but I have to give BlogRush an ultimatum. If they don’t fix their reporting by Wednesday, I’m cutting them loose. I thought long and hard over the weekend about the clutter in my sidebar and decided that if no traffic is coming my way, it’s not worth it. So far I don’t see any traffic coming from BlogRush. So… if I don’t see results, they’re 86′d.

I’ve also put together my first report for this blog. Not too shabby but nothing to write home about. Speaking of which, I don’t have much more to write about right now so until more comes about!

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