Affsum Session: Performance Marketing Association Q&A
Well, I think many people attending this session were expecting the topic to be heated, but l’m not sure they were expecting some of the venom that seemed to be in the room. Speaking for myself, I certainly didn’t. Originally there was only supposed to be one panelist fielding questions, but since 4 out of 5 working group leaders were in attendance, they were also recruited to speak. So ultimately the panel consisted of:
- Rebecca Madigan, Performance Marketing Association
- Sam Harrelson, Publisher, Cost Per News
- Brook Schaaf, Schaaf Consulting
- Brad Waller, VP Business Development, AdJungle.com
- Peter Bordes, CEO, MediaTrust
Guns were slinging! Unfortunately there’s not many bullet points to be had, but here you go.
Bullet Point Review!
- PMA is in germination phase – not a real entity yet.
- Why start now?
- Misinformation & lack of representation.
- Legislation.
- Lack of transparency.
- Maturity of industry.
- Formation process still underway.
- Interviewed over 60 industry leaders, Formation Advisory Board voted in by 100 peers.
- Working groups of 45 volunteers.
- Working groups make recommendations on formation.
- FAB 11 ratifies formation proposals (click here to see members).
- The working group committees are Scope/Objectives (headed by Sam Harrelson), Governance (Brook Schaaf), Fundraising (Peter Bordes), Membership (Durk Price), and Operations (Brad Waller).
Points (or other observations in this case) brought up during the Q&A
- Right off the bat the questions were hostile. There’s animosity about the PMA using the NY Tax situation as a launching point for formation despite the fact that they can’t do anything to help.
- Essentially there’s nothing the PMA can do since they’re NOT a fully formed organization, no matter how much they want to help.
- Rebecca acted as moderator and moved the conversation on after almost 20 minutes of hostile banter.
- The PMA blog as been quiet because the people in working groups have had their heads down working on things without much to report at this point.
- The term “Performance” has been used over “affiliate” because it is more inclusive of the larger base of members within the industry. Inclusive of a lot more relationships than just the affiliate – merchant relation.
- The PMA has a very similar model as a chamber of commerce but the scope is still being set up. They are looking at the chamber model in forming things. Mostly they want to improve visibility & credibility.
- Rebecca was questioned as to why she didn’t attend the meetings in Albany that the NY affiliates had since she’s actually the only paid member. It was decided that there was no reason because it would have been redundant and she can’t represent an organization that isn’t formed and doesn’t officially exist.
- They were asked why they divorced themselves from ABestWeb after the controversy, to which they responded that they didn’t divorce from it BUT once a particular few threads got ugly and became increasingly unprofessional they just stopped participating in those threads.
- There’s no conspiracy regarding Rebecca’s involvement – Anik Singal of Affiliate Classroom generously donated her salary for a year and she’s just being paid to “corral cats” and help form the organization. Her comment was that if she weren’t paid for this she’d have bailed long ago based on the assumptions about her involvement and what she’s had to deal with.
- An affiliate asked how they can be assured that the PMA won’t be overtaken by large company sponsorhips and forget the little affiliate? The affiliate industry is it’s own little ecosystem and the heart of it is the average affiliate. They’ve been very hypersensitive to the issue to ensure that affiliates are included.
It seems that there’s lots of confusion about the organization – or lack thereof – and hopefully the Q&A has taken things in the right direction. Perhaps Q&A wasn’t the right moniker. Maybe Suggestion Session or Feedback Forum might have worked better. It was disappointing to see one of the most vocal critics of the PMA – ABestWeb founder Haiko de Poel Jr – leave the session half way through in apparently disgust. I hope that future discussions going forward will be a bit more productive than the session in Boston.
Read MoreAffsum Session: Affiliate Marketing Basics for Merchants
Apparently this same session has been given for awhile now, and is usually referred to as Developing the Right Merchant Mindset. The speaker was:
- Andy Rodriguez, President, Andy Rodriguez Consulting Inc.
Overall there were some good basics here… but I guess I’ve graduated to where the basics are too basic for me.
Bullet Point Review!
- Lots of merchants don’t understand how affiliate marketing works and hence end up abusing the system.
- Affiliates work when they want and for whom they want – once you understand this you’re going in the right direction.
- Affiliates cannot be fired – they’re not your employees.
- Affiliates don’t work for you, they work with you.
- Affiliates have no fixed work hours and no time requirements.
- Affiliates have no fear of loss of compensation or sick days.
- Affiliates have more work than hours in the day.
- Affiliates don’t need you, you need them.
- Affiliates’ most important asset & ROI is TIME.
- Merchant’s most important & ROI is TRUST.
- Build the relationships and the sales will follow.
- Be sure your commissions are comparable.
- Most sales happen in the first 24-48 hours, but long cookies are still appealing to affiliates.
- Affiliates talk – so make sure it’s good.
- Important to notify affiliates of any downtime ahead of time.
- What does it take?
- Merchant mindset
- Affiliate’s first impression
- Program information
- Registration/Application
- Approval Letter – make sure all letters are genuinely personalized
- Rejection Letter
- Creating links – make it simple for affiliates to get links
- What’s in it for the affiliate?
- Commission rates
- Return days
- Creative inventory
- Clear call to action
- Deep linking
- Tools of the trade
- Link options
- Commission structure is flexible
- Affiliate relationship
- Trust
Points brought up during the Q&A
- Goldencan, popshops – some tools that are easy to help affiliates.
- Successful merchant/AM has 1st hand experience as an affiliate & is able to help partners to improve conversions, drive traffic, & motivate them.
- Just search for your top key words + affiliate to do a vertical analysis.
- There are pros & cons to direct linking that are based on the merchant – in general direct linking will have higher conversion rates.
- Stronger brands = not so good idea to allow TM bidding
- Smaller, weaker brands = might be good.
- Should have a program on one network
- There are problems with different networks and compatibility (adware).
- Transitioning is different – just be open & clear.
- How do you find niche affiliates to recruit?
- Tools Aurelius, visit forums like ABestWeb.
- .5% – 1% – 25% of affiliates in a program are active usually. 8-12% is about average.
- Don’t remove affiliates unless they’re doing something unethical or against terms – many will apply with an idea in mind but may not get them in gear right away.
- Continue to reach out to inactive affiliates offering assistance.
- Is everything okay?
- Can I help?
- Have you had a problem with this merchant?
- Is there anything I can do to help you?
- Remember to include links, promotions, CAB (Cash Activation Bonus) and incentives
- Merchants that have their program across multiple networks with different offers are probably looking to switch networks & are offer better terms on the network they’re moving to as an incentive to get affiliates switched faster.
- If you need contact information that your network doesn’t share, there are tools that will help you go around the network to get information – the network is more of a software application.
- Have contests – it’s a great motivator to get a non-performing affiliate active.
- A low percentage of active affiliates are usually due to bad activation emails or poor merchant support.
- Banners are becomming passe, articles are great, and data feeds are here to stay.
Affsum Session: Content That Kills
By writers that kill! But it’s important to remember, as noted in my notes below, that content isn’t just the written word. It’s pictures, videos, widgets, everything. The panel consisted of:
- Lisa Picarille, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Revenue Magazine (Moderator)
- Angel Djambazov, OPM, Custom Tailored Marketing
- Kim Rowley, Founder, Key Internet Internet Marketing, Inc.
Overall it was a great panel, and Lisa did really well as a moderator despite unfortunately loosing her voice between last night & this morning.
Bullet Point Review!
- People want to write but they’re generally intimidated when they don’t have the “education” to do so.
- Passion & a unique voice are key.
- Ask yourself: how am I going to constantly update the readers & provide something new?
- Know your audience and craft your message.
- Ask your users for submissions.
- Contests are great – sometimes merchants will give you freebies to give away for the exposure & talking them up.
- Readers can tell the difference between reviews that are genuine and reviews that are written just to make a buck (hint: usually they’re overly talkin’ them up).
- Content isn’t just the written word, it’s also pictures, UGC, videos.
- Engage your audience & it will create content & ideas.
- Ask questions to engage readers.
- Be sure your ads contribute to your overall message – example given was a site for memorials for loved ones who’ve passed on with a banner ad for a popular dating service. Message FAIL.
- Design does contribute to the content, and can make it “seem” better.
- The design sets the tone for the content – a good example is TheDailyCandy.com – the design is fun & so is the content.
- Have some content that’s controversial…sometimes it gets more hits.
- Ping.fm is a great aggregate that lets you post across MANY social networks at once.
- Create an affinity with your audience.
- How do you get help? Ask knowledgeable family members, friends, users, and a professional outsource if necessary.
- What makes content the most compelling? Angel says be organic & open, be yourself, have some humor, & give a takeaway. Overall, be consistent! His example was Chrisbrogan.com.
Points brought up during the Q&A
- Keep video to 2-3 minutes max to keep attention – unless you’re damn compelling.
- Stories are better than iteration of tech knowledge.
- You need to get specific with your niche.
- Promote new blogs to the readers of your current blog.
- Passion resonates.
- Archives need to be accessible and easy – if I just found you & really like your blog, I’ll want to see what you’ve written about before.
- Effective to use analytics to understand how your audience interacts with you. It helps narrow down the sweet spot of your topic.
- Use WordPress plugins to your advantage to highlight the most popular posts.
- ShareThis is a great tool.
It was totally great!
Read MoreAffsum Keynote Cory Booker
(c) Shawn Collins on Flickr
The keynote given by Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker was great… if you didn’t leave that speech leaving jazzed and excited to get in there and learn, network, and conquer the world – you weren’t listening. It was a terrific speech; very clear why he’s in demand as a public speaker, in addition to his mayoral duties. One note that was given by emcee Jim Kukral – 36% of the attendees of the show are affiliates.
Bullet Point Review!
- Knowing who you are is key before doing anything.
- You can always do a little more.
- “Poverty of Imagination” – nice quote from Corey.
- The world you see outside is a reflection of what’s inside.
- A challenge is just a hidden opportunity.
- What are you as an individual doing to improve the world?
- In the tech industry it was all about size…the bigger the better. Which was a reflection on the world before the mid 1980’s. Then everything switched from being about size to being about speed – faster is better.
- Newark, NJ is the #1 city in America reducing violent crime over the last 2 years – just in Q1 in 2008 murder has decreased 75%.
- What can we do to show our true selves?
- “You’re on the front line of America” to Newark cops. Booker actually went out on patrol himself at night that quarter.
- Get involved in changing the spirit of your community if you aim to help.t
- The primary cause of human suffering is forgetfulness.
- Deciding to do something is a cognitive process, not an act.
- Make your life resonate with what you do.
- Live your highest ideals to the most logical extreme.
- Believe in the miraculous.
- If you’re seeking success, find ways to live with resonance – believe in love that’s not just transactional.
- The heroes that we name days after are never the greatest ones.
Overall, everyone should have attended and it was an incredibly motivating talk that actually almost made me cry. Good choice for keynote!
Read MoreEarly Bird Price for Affiliate Summit ENDS TODAY
Boston, MA
Want to meet me?! Of course you do! Remember that today is the last day to sign up for Affiliate Summit East 2008 and still get the cheaper Early Bird Pricing. The full conference pass – today only – is just $949 while an Expo Hall Only pass is a very affordable $99. If you’ve been waffling about going, pull the trigger and do it now while it’s still cheap!
After tomorrow, the prices go up to $199 for the expo hall only pass and a whopping $1449 for the full pass. And of course, if you sit on your lazy duff until the last minute, you have to shell out $299 for an expo hall only pass or $1949 for the full conference pass.
There are a lot of great sessions already scheduled and on the agenda for the summit. A full agenda is online already. I’ve already added several to my TripIt account so I can plan out my time, including Sam Harrelson’s Leveraging Social Media, Andy Rodriguez’s Affiliate Marketing Basics for Merchants, and Lisa Picarille’s Content that Kills sessions.
There’s no reason not to save money and really, this is a great event for affiliate marketing professionals – both publishers and advertisers – to network and learn from. So go today and register for Affiliate Summit East 2008 in Boston while you can still get in with the best price!
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HOW Conference Post-Game Show
Well I’m back in the Pacific Standard Time Zone after 4 days in Boston. To date, it’s safe for me to say that the HOW Design Conference has been the best for PsPrint to attend so far! About 80% of people stopping by our booth had never heard of us before, which isn’t necessarily bad. This has been a relatively untapped resource for us, and we excitedly passed out samples of our printing, paper stocks, and information on the Reseller Program.
A neat feature of this show was that the expo hall wasn’t open the entire day – we only had to staff the booth from 8-9 am, 12-2 pm, and then 5-6:30p on Monday only. I believe the “Resource Center” hours (their moniker) were set this way to avoid stepping on the toes of too many special sessions. The real star of this conference is, of course, the educational sessions for designers. The expo hall is just a bonus for vendors to be able to toss some marketing voodoo at a prime audience.
I think we’ll definitely go back next year to the HOW Conference, being held in Austin, TX. Of all the trade shows I’ve been to as a representative of PsPrint, this was by far the most successful. Everything arrived on time, our booth looked great, and the audience was truly interested in what we have to offer. Overall, a great feeling!
Of course, I had to visit Faneuil Hall & Cheers, and did take some pictures that I’ll share tomorrow once I pull them off my camera. My hotel (pictured above) was pretty decent for a Best Western, and I have some tips & such to share about Boston for those of us going back for Affiliate Summit East in August. But that, my friends, I’ll leave for another day.
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