ASE09 Session: How to Monetize your Site with Widgets
Guest Post by Dominic Fawver.
Session Description: This presentation discussed how to enhance your site using various widgets, what works and what doesn’t, and how effective different widgets are to your site. The panel consisted of:
- Woody Wood, Product Manager, Amazon (Twitter @AmazonAssociate)
This session gave an overview of what a widget is, and what it can bring to your site. Many examples were given from the Amazon Associate program and a couple of examples from other sources. One of the chief reasons for using a widget is to add interactivity and functionality to your website. A key point that was mentioned was that a widget should be used to augment your site, along with all of the links and banners, instead of replacing them. Several suggestions were made as to what works and what does not. Included in the what works category were things like:
- Use the right widget for the job: focus on targeting the widget at relevant material to your site.
- Place the widget in the most effective spot: for example, in the center of the page for a one off topic specific item, or on the sidebar for something that is more long term.
- Use the widget as a self expression tool: add comments and recommendations to the items to make the relevant to your audience.
- Change content regularly: make sure that people want to return to your site.
The only negative thing I took away from this very well put together presentation was the mention of the very short duration of the cookie given by the Amazon Associate program. This will most likely not stop me from using Amazon widgets on my site, but is a little disappointing.
ASE09 Session: Advertising Tax Impact, Accomplishments and the Future
Guest Post by Dominic Fawver.
Session Description: Discussion on the Advertising Tax by industry leaders that have played a key role in organizing industry advocates and educating legislators on the impact of state tax nexus legislation. The panel included:
- Brian Littleton, President / CEO, ShareASale.com (Twitter @Brianlittleton) (Moderator)
- Karen Garcia, Partner, GTO Management (Twitter @karengarcia)
- Beth Kirsch, Volunteer, Performance Marketing Association (Twitter @bethkirsch)
- Melanie Seery, President, Affiliate Voice (Twitter @mellies)
This session was very informative and gave a lot of information concerning the current problems affiliate marketers are having with some of the new tax laws, or rather the new interpretations, of the tax laws. One of the most important facts given was that the definition of “Nexus” has been recently changed, or rather updated. For a business to have Nexus, they must by physically present in the state. The change in definition holds that affiliates living in a state count as Nexus in that state. This is important because it requires all of the merchants to charge their customers the state sales tax. The issue is not that the companies should charge this sales tax, but that it is often cheaper for them to drop their affiliates in whichever states are affected, instead of adding the ability to charge the sales tax on their site.
The chief purpose of this session was to bring people up to speed on the legislation that has been put into affect or has been defeated in several states such as New York, Hawaii, and California. This is important because it will soon affect any state that charges sales tax, which is most of them.
From the standpoint of someone new to the industry this was a very important session to attend, as it helped to bring me up to speed, so to speak, with some of the major issues which are currently impacting Affiliate Marketing.
Read MoreASE09 Session: Getting Noticed FAST
Guest Post by Dominic Fawver.
Session Description: Regardless what your role in the industry is, it’s important to be noticed within the industry. Learn the networking and social media techniques that make it possible. The panel consisted of:
- Lisa Picarille, Online Marketing Consultant, LisaPicarille.com (Twitter @lisap) (Moderator)
- Michael Buechele, Owner, MikeBuechele.com (Twitter @mikebuechele)
- Trisha Lyn Fawver, Affiliate Manager, Paulson Management Group (Twitter @trishalyn)
- Jen Goode, Doodler in Charge, JGoode Designs (Twitter @JGoode)
- Stephanie Lichtenstein, Affiliate Program Manager, Andy Rodriguez Consulting (Twitter @MicroSteph)
This session, Getting Noticed FAST, contained a lot of valuable information from people who have gone from being a nobody in Affiliate Marketing to being well known by many of the top people in just a couple of years. Some of the suggestions were:
“Get involved in the response…go to other sites and comment” Jen Goode
“Start blogging” Stephanie Lichtenstein
“Don’t flame people” Trisha Fawver
“Do something different the first time you meet in person” Mike Buechele
Many tips were given on the importance of using social media to get your name out there. Also mentioned was the importance of personal branding and being consistent between all of the different forms of social media that you are on.
From the standpoint of someone who is new to Affiliate Marketing, this was a very good session with plenty of examples from the panelist’s personal experience. It gave me ideas on where to start on getting noticed so that I can further a career in Affiliate Marketing (if I so chose) by meeting people who are already successful in the field and learn from their experiences and mistakes, while at the same time possibly being able to help them out with my own expertise. In many cases it is not what you know, but who you know.
Goals for 2009
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Get back to doing the Free Toolsday and Saturday Shopper features. I enjoy doing them, I’ve just been slacking.
- 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!
Read MoreTales of a Home Office Worker Dad
Guest Post by Joe Magennis.
Just over a year ago we completed a restructuring of the agency that would allow us to eliminate the massive overhead of an office. My biggest hesitation for disbursing to home locations was what to do about the phone system. I did not want to go through the hassle of notifying clients of a bunch of new and unique phone numbers. When our local CLEC service provider informed me that we could have a virtual system that allowed me to have the same number right down to the same extension, I pulled the trigger.
This is the second time that I have worked from home. In the late nineties I converted the upstairs bedroom into an office and established a diligent work routine. I function much better within some structure, so I complete the typical morning rituals, grab a cup of coffee and head upstairs to start the workday. I derive a great sense of productivity from this new work from home operation since it saves me an hours commute on each end of the day. It also means I can get to the daycare to pick up my toddler earlier than ever before.
On November 3rd of this past year things changed drastically. My wife and I decided that due to the enormous cost of placing a second child into daycare, she would head to work while I would keep our three month old daughter Lily with me during the day. This new arrangement was certainly made easier by having a home office work environment, but has greatly extended the length of time that I spend in the office each day.
It’s not realistic to attempt to give work full attention during the typical work day and attend to all of Lily’s needs. Her feeding requirements every three hours with interspersed diaper changes, play time, and prep for the next round of feeding limits my day time functionality to short bursts of tasks while she is napping. When my wife comes home at the end of the day we share dinner time with both of the girls and I retreat to the office to focus on the greater tasks of the day.
However, I still attempt to arrive at the desk by 9:00 am with a coffee in hand and a bottle for Lily. It’s typically a good time to catch some podcasts since my hands are tied up. I still have numerous standing Skype appointments throughout the week and so far there have not been any huge conflicts due to Daddy Daycare. It is a work arrangement that is completely manageable with the right determination, the right technology and the right home office set up …. for how long is the big question.
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Joe Magennis is the founder and principal of Fluid Media Inc. an online marketing and brand development company in Atlanta Ga.
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