Cribbed Content for December 22nd
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.
Arrived Safely in Boston
I have arrived & ready for Affiliate Summit East 2008! I have to first say kudos to Missy & Shawn for selecting a wonderful hotel & conference center to host the summit! It’s super close to the airport so it took me much less time to get here than I anticipated, great in-room accommodations (LAN connection FTW!), and speedy service. Let me illustrate my time line thus far for you.
- 6:50a – Plane landed
- 7:20a – collected bags & waited less than 5 minutes for a cab
- 7:35ish – arrived @ Seaport & checked in
- 7:40a – ordered some hot breakfast
- 8:00a – was eating wonderful hot breakfast
So, speedy service is always excellent! I’ve had time to take a shower & refresh from my red-eye flight from Oakland & am now getting ready ti head down to the Affiliate Classroom Live event to join everyone mid-morning as I’m expected. More kudos are in order for the Summit’s partnership with Jet Blue…I’d never flown Jet Blue before and it was delightful. Thanks to the wonderful timing of my flight, FX channel programming, and the fates, there is NOTHING as cool as watching the final climax of Batman Begins (the elevated train derailment) at the exact time a jet is taking off below you!
I’ll leave your morning reading with some tips regarding the hotel I’ve discovered thus far, and then I have to finish getting ready and go find the right room!
- The body lotion in the bathroom – a little goes a LONG way.
- I got a really low connection to the wi-fi, but that might just be my nearly ancient Dell Latitude laptop, so if you’re in room I recommend using the LAN cable on the desk.
- In room dining was SUPER fast this morning; could have been the time of day but I’m hoping it’s just fast & excellent service.
- Staff has all be enormously friendly.
- If your room is laid out like mine (and I didn’t opt for anything special) the cabinet below the TV & ice bucket has a fridge…I didn’t find it at first lol
Remember if you see me around I look like this – say hi!!
Read MoreTradeshow Madness
Is there really a “trade show season”? I’ve heard this referred to time & again, but I seem to go year ’round so I don’t know what that season is! Yes, soon it will be time for me to hit the road again and make my rounds of the country in search of truth, justice, and the American Business Way!
Actually, both of the conferences in my future take me to Boston, MA. I’m hoping since it’s on the coast that it won’t be as muggy and terrible as when I visited New Jersey in 2006 for a film festival. That was awful. I’ve never been to Boston, so I’m excited. This next trip is quick and won’t allow for a lot of time to see any sights except in the evenings, but for the second show I’ve worked a day or so in to see some stuff.
Boston, MA
First stop, the HOW Design Conference May 18th through 21st. I’m on booth duty the entire time, so no sessions for me. Which makes me sad, but I’m relying on a co-worker that is attending the sessions to take good notes because I’m sure it’ll be interesting. In a geeky designer way. In booking this trip, it was pretty last minute for the company to make up it’s mind in who would be sent, so costs were pretty expensive. I managed to get one hell of a deal on a flight for $380 on Hotwire, a feat which seems to not be repeatable as looking for the flight for my second outing only returned prices in the $420-460 range. Since it was also the last minute and there has GOT to be some other conferences or events going on the same week, almost every decent hotel in the area was booked solid or $500/night. So we’re staying at the Best Western near Longview Medical for $300/night. Never have I stayed in such a poorly valued Best Western – but we’ll see.
Next on my list, the always great Affiliate Summit. I won’t be attending this as a representative of PsPrint. This is on my own dime. I’ll be going as a member of the press, and will be reporting live (hopefully) on the sessions I attend and the different events I go to. I’m stoked, and BIG Shout Out to Missy Ward, one of the co-founders, for helping make this happen for me. I’ve booked my hotel already, luckily getting on on super fair group rate of $189/night at the Seaport Hotel where the event will be happening. As I mentioned above, I tried to get a great deal on a flight booking 3 months in advance, but still only got higher…so I’ll watch the fares for awhile and see what I can do to swing a cheaper flight. I’ve built a day into my schedule out there to HOPEFULLY see some cool Boston stuff…maybe if I win the lottery I can go to a Red Sox game at Fenway! I’m really excited and can’t wait.
And BEST news of all, the wonderful Scott Jangro found out the problem I was having with the RSS feed – Revver & PodPress were just not playing nicely together. It has been fixed so PLEASE remember to subscribe to my RSS feed!
Be sure to share some travel tips with me!
Read MoreSquished Boobs Save Lives
Periodically we’re reminded that Affiliate Marketing isn’t entirely about making money. There are good things that can be done with the passive income that we make (or wish we made). Regardless, this is something that affects everyone – even men have mothers, girlfriends, wives, sisters, and daughters.
Missy Ward has started the campaign & many affiliate marketers have joined her. They are raising funds for donation & participation in the Seattle 2008 60-Mile Breast Cancer 3-day walk in September. Along with Missy will be Jen Goode, Tiffany & Irene Spaulding, Anne Fognano & Tammy Carney, Heather Paulson & Jen Campbell, Karen Garcia, Laura Przybek, Angel Djambazov, & Lisa Riolo.
As they say there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and with Missy & Co’s forethought there’s more than one way to donate to the cause. Of course there’s the straight donation, which can be made at 60-MileWalk.com, where the team has already raised $2,312.00 of their $20,000.00 goal as of Friday evening. Your donation is deductible as a charitable contribution as allowed by law. According to the website, donations of $250 or more will be acknowledged in writing.
Or, if you’d rather donate AND support all at once, you can do what I did and make a purchase from their CafePress store. Deck yourself out with all kinds of swag under the sun and not only support the cause but spread the message.
So take time out from your day and spread the word and help the cause. Let’s help them reach their goal. I’ll be with you in spirit ladies! Make this baby VIRAL!
Read MoreWho’s on YOUR A-list?
What does it mean to be on the A-List? It’s subjective, I’m sure… A-List can be different depending on the industry, niche, subject, category, you name it. An actor on the A-List would never show up on the A-list of an affiliate marketer.
My A-List is pretty much the same people who appear in my sidebar links – I’ve chosen to give them the link love. Most of which are affiliate marketers like Shawn Collins, Missy Ward, Sam Harrelson, etc. But I’ve also got to give shout outs to some other good blogs out there like those belonging to Linda Sherman, Jim Kukral, and Andy Beal. These are the blogs I learn the most from, and these people are my A-Listers.
So who’s on your A-List? Give them some love & a shout out!
Read More
