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!

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Unfortunately, the weather has gotten me down this week and I got sick mid-week.  I wasn’t able to attend the November BAAMC meeting, but here’s some other stuff I picked up this week.

• Dallas Mavericks owner and noted entrepreneur Mark Cuban was charged with insider trading on Monday.  Looks like a “he said, she said” for the time being, so we’ll see how this unfolds.
• Quick thanks to Lisa Riolo and Sam Harrelson for putting me in their blog rolls!
• This ventures into last week, but there was a big spam crackdown and many affiliate marketers saw a dramatic decrease in spam.  Check out the ABW thread with the discussions.
• In an Obama presidency, the weekly address is going to be done on YouTube instead of over the radio.
• I bought something from an infomercial this week.  Stay tuned for it’s awesomeness.  You have to admit that infomercials do work from time to time.  I’m just hoping that this product is as awesome as it seems.  (No, it’s not Listen Up or ShamWOW).
• Oh, and Ted Murphy from Izea is swimming around in cereal for fun.  And you can win!

That’s it!  Have a good weekend and get all geared up for the holiday next week!

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Well, while I’d intended to recap each day… that didn’t exactly happen as you can tell.  I do intend to post the notes I took from the sessions and the impressions to help everyone learn the great stuff I learned.  Some of the more hot button sessions can’t be covered in mere bullet points, so it will take me a day or so longer to get my thoughts together for those.

I covered Saturday & Sunday (mostly… the ShareASale party was nice although I didn’t stay long), so let’s jump right into Monday & Tuesday, the busiest days of the conference.

Day  2 - Divide & Conquer

1. In many ways this is the day that the summit starts.  In the past the breakout sessions have only been on Monday & Tuesday, however this year they were extended to Sunday.  Regardless, the keynote was given on Monday by Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker.  If you didn’t want to jump up ready to go, you didn’t listen to what Mayor Booker had to say.  It was a great speech, and I already posted my thoughts about it.
2. The blogger’s lounge helped save my sanity.  It was nice to be able to go in there in the 30 minute breaks between sessions & chat with people and do a little bit of work.  Had the wifi worked out better for me (not sure if it was my ancient laptop or the actual connection that was the issue) I would have been able to get more posts up during the actual conference.  I hope to have a better laptop by the next show I go to so I can just live blog it!
3. Of the 3 sessions I attended, the best was Content That Kills.  It was informative, had great tips and information, and there were good questions asked by the audience.  I may be biased being a writer by heart, but it was good stuff.
4. The other sessions I attended that day were the Performance Marketing Alliance Q&A, which turned more into a witch hunt filled with personal issues unfortunately, and How is Social Media Changing Affiliate Marketing, which apparently it isn’t because that question was never really answered.  More on those in their own posts.
5. The Great Affiliate Road Rally was a slaughterhouse win!  With just three cars in it this time, the first place car took off like a shot and left the others in their dust!  Congrats to them & to the others?  Well remember the entry fee went to charity & you won’t feel so bad
6. Monday night I had dinner with a lovely group of new friends & colleagues and then headed over to the LinkShare event at Tia’s.  The event was a whole new group of people to talk to and had a great time talking some shop and reminiscing over Police Academy flicks with Wil Reynolds & Jim Kukral.
7. Oh no, that wasn’t the end!  After that we headed back to the hotel where we shut down the bar there and moved across the street to a small bar by the water & had a great time chatting with people and generally schmoozing before rolling into bed.

Day 3 - Epic Games

1. It was a matter of sleep vs. sessions I wasn’t overly excited about attending, so I missed the Ask the Experts table discussions & The Future of Affiliate Marketing to sleep in & get refreshed for the Copywriting Clinic, which I very much wanted to attend.  I hear I didn’t miss much.
2. Speaking of the Copywriting Clinic, Lisa Riolo did an excellent job moderating and the panelists were excellent.  I took 3 full pages of notes on this session, so you’re in for a huge post later on!
3. The Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing session turned into the biggest fail session of the conference for me.  The moderator Haiko de Poel Jr was doing a pretty bad job… usually when you’re the moderator of a panel of “experts” your job is to pass questions to the best suited panel member, not challenge the question back to the audience member who asked it.  I have much more to say, so I’ll save it for later.
4. The un-keynote was very relaxed and I actually got up & talked…which was big for me knowing that it was being video taped!  I just hope when I look back at it that I don’t look like a fool lol.
5. Luckily I was able to attend the Red Sox vs. Rangers game at Fenway with some fellow baseball loving conference attendees.  Being a moderate baseball fan I was really thrilled to be there & the game was crazy!  The Red Sox almost blew a 10-0 lead in the 1st but came back in the last inning to tie it up and then ultimately overtake the Rangers with an epic score of 17-19 Red Sox.  We only spent a few innings in the stands before the rain started, but I got some great pictures and we continued watching the game from inside near the concessions so it wasn’t a waste.
6. More bar shenanigans, then some piano playing until late kept me up long enough to decide not to go to bed before my early flight out of town.  Overall what a great end to a great conference.

Final Thought - Springer Style

Overall I had the best time at this conference - not just because it was fun and I met a lot of terrific people who I’ve had the chance to get to know online and now have had the opportunity to meet in person - but because I just learned so much that I “get it” now.  I remember back in February going to the Affiliate Summit West and having a conversation with my husband that I was actually starting to understand more and more about the industry and that I really felt like this was an industry I could get excited about.

And I have… and this reinforced so much for me how much I really like this industry!  I’m back to the “real world” here and ready to conquer it!

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