Vouch for my Expertise: Utilizing Affiliate Manager Relationships
Photo Courtesy of Affiliate Summit
For the first time ever, I submitted a solo speaker proposal for Affiliate Summit. I’ve spoken on 5 panels in the past, all of which were terrific experiences. For Affiliate Summit East 2014, coming up in August back in New York City, I decided that I’d dip my toe into the solo speaking with an Ask the Experts round table discussion proposal.
You can vote for it here: Utilizing Affiliate Manager Relationships
Whenever affiliates ask me for advice, I always recommend creating a good relationship with their affiliate manager. I think there is endless possibility to grow your business when you take advantage of someone who has expertise that you don’t have. This goes for any person, but it’s the most accessible for affiliates to reach out to an affiliate manager. There’s nothing a good affiliate manager wants more than to make a connection with an affiliate, so why more affiliates don’t take advantage of good managers who work with the merchants day in and day out is beyond me.
Why Should You Vote For Me?
I have been an affiliate manager since late 2006, managing a variety of programs in different niches. I’ve been both an in-house manager working for the merchant and an outsourced program manager working for a third party agency. I have been a speaker at marketing conferences in the past, as well as contributing many guest articles for industry-leading publications like FeedFront Magazine, Marketing Pilgrim, and others. I know what I’m talking about, I promise 🙂
Take Action
Please do me the favor and vote for my proposal. You will have to register for the site in order to vote, but it’s a very quick registration process so please don’t let that deter you! Voting closes on March 14th, so be sure to vote before then. Speakers at Affiliate Summit are based on this voting process, so your vote for my proposal definitely makes a difference. If you haven’t already, you can also register for Affiliate Summit East 2014, taking place August 10-12 at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
I’m very happy to report that, as of last night, my submission is among the most popular, so thank you to those that voted already. I’m looking forward to making a return to being a speaker at summit after a few Summits off. If you’ve already voted, please do me a favor and share the link with your audience for more votes! Thank you!
Read MoreDo You Poken?
Poken seems to have taken over the techie space as the next big thing in conferences and networking. Don’t know what a Poken is? Well, it’s basically a USB drive with a cartoon character for a cover. The drive has software installed on it that automatically connects to the Poken website when you plug it in. It also has a sensor on the hand that flashes when you “high 4” with another poken, effectively exchanging virtual contact information.
I first learned of this product at Affiliate Summit East 2009, thanks to Peter Shankman mentioning them in his keynote. It seemed like everyone wanted a Poken after that – and many people bought some from Peter before the conference was over. Peter has obviously identified these cute little virtual business cards as a significant advance in sharing contact information, a “game-changer”, even.
But are Poken really the wave of the future?
It depends who you are. If you travel and network a lot, they could be incredibly useful as they pick up popularity and more people are available for you to “high 4” with. Shelly Good-Cook says of the device, “I bought one a couple months and other than my twin sister, for whom I also bought one, I haven’t found anyone to “high five” mine with. I took it to a networking event I attended in Arlington, VA recently where most of the attendees were young, hip and computer savvy, but none of them had heard of it yet. I even met a reporter who covered that beat and it was new to her, so I gave her the scoop on it, hoping she covers it. They may have won a Tech Crunch Award in Europe, but they still have work to do in the U.S. before they get wide spread adoption. For me, this is like the early days of the fax machine. I have one but there isn’t much value in it until a lot more people get one. Most of the people I talked to about it at the networking event thought it was a great idea, although some of the men were less than thrilled with the limited design options. Most thought $20 was reasonable for the functionality although a few balked at the price point, stating it was much too high.”
Poken has responded to the cartoon complaints and come out with a more professional looking Poken, the Poken Pulse, that looks much closer to a traditional USB drive and boasts 2GB of space and traditional USB drive functionality in addition to the Poken networking features. At a higher price point, I actually expect more professionals will go with it over the cartoonish regular Poken as it does have that added functionality. Most of the feedback I get about Poken are from my contacts in the affiliate marketing community, and I wonder now that there have been a couple more conferences if they’ve gotten more use. Elizabeth Hannan said of her Poken, “I have had a experience with Poken at SXSW 09 where I was first introduced to Poken. It was incredibly helpful and made awkward introductions into easy conversations.”. I can definitely see how that is beneficial for those of us that are friendly but not incredibly extroverted.
Whether or not these are the wave of the future, time will tell. The buzz has seemed to died down in the last few months, but they’re not being tossed aside with that m100 Palm Pilot just yet. Do you Poken? Share your story!
Read MoreUpcoming Speaking Engagements
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at two different affiliate marketing conferences this summer. One I applied to speak at with some dear colleagues of mine back in March after getting the idea in February, which has lead to a build up of excitement. The other came rather unexpectedly recently and I’m very happy to be speaking at both! So come hear me talk about cool stuff!
Affiliate Convention – June 18th & 19th – Denver, CO
Friday, June 19th. 10:15 – 11:15 am.
Super Affiliate Room I: Social Media Marketing
Do you Tweet? Have you found Facebook useful for fun and profit? Wade Sisson, David Snyder, and Trisha Lyn Fawver take this session through the various social media applications and teaches several ways to successfully harness the power of speaking to a massive audience of friends, followers and fellow social media users.
I’ll be speaking along side: Wade Sisson, Director of Marketing for PartnerCentric and David Snyder, Co-Founder of Search & Social
Affiliate Summit East 2009 – August 9th – 11th – New York, NY
Sunday, August 9th. 12:00 – 1:00 pm.
Classroom D: Getting Noticed FAST
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.
Our panel will be moderated by Lisa Picarille, Online Marketing Consultant at LisaPicarille.com. I’ll be joined by Mike Buechele, Founder of Comic Book Fury, Jen Goode, Doodler-in-Charge of JGoode Designs, and Stephanie Lichtenstein, Affiliate Program Manager for Andy Rodriguez Consulting.
Some come on out! I’ll have plenty of good things to say and you’ll be able to meet me live and in person!
Read MoreBay Area Affiliate Managers – Save the Date February 19th
If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, and you’re looking for some networking and a discussion of what’s going on in the industry, come join the Bay Area Affiliate Managers Coalition. The BAAMC is basically just a group of affiliate managers in the area that get together to discuss current industry events with the Bay Area perspective.
I’ve attended a couple meetings and really gotten a lot out of it. It’s nice to sit around with some colleagues over lunch and discuss issues. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the last meeting in the fall, but the next meeting will be in Menlo Park February 19th. The group tries to meet every quarter, but since it relies on a company being able to volunteer to host the group and provide lunch, it can’t always be swung.
If I didn’t work from home, I’d try to make a case to my boss to host, but I don’t have enough chairs :p
If you’re interested in joining the group, check out the website BAAMC.org and join the Yahoo! Group.
Read MoreLast Call for Affiliate Classroom Live! Pass
This is all she wrote, folks! I’m giving you until 7pm PST to enter to win my available pass to Affiliate Classroom Live! August 9th at the Boston Seaport Hotel in Boston, MA. This is conveniently the day before Affiliate Summit East kicks off, so if you’re attending ASE, you can work this easily into your schedule.
The Affiliate Classroom Live! pass is a $300 value. Learn from and interact with the industry’s top professionals… somehow including myself! This half-day workshop for affiliate managers will focus on:
- Networking – We’ll place you in peer groups where you can meet one another and begin building relationships.
- Roundtable Discussions – Join with your peers and a topical expert to discuss affiliate marketing best practices and advanced affiliate management strategies.
The speakers will be:
- Peter Figueredo
- Trisha Fawver (yes, that’s me)
- Lee Gientke
- Sam Harrelson
- Rebecca Madigan
- Heather Paulson
- Lisa Riolo
- Brad Waller
The winner will be drawn at random – all you have to do is email your interest to Contests@Trishalyn.com to enter! I will announce the winner tomorrow.
Read MoreNeed a pass to Affiliate Classroom Live? Enter to win one!
I posted a couple weeks ago that the kind folks at Affiliate Classroom Live have given me a free pass for the person of my choosing since I’ll be leading a round table discussion during the event. I’ve decided to have a contest, and as a reminder the deadline is July 7th, next Monday!
More details can be found at my original post. All you to have to do to enter is email your name and address to Contests@TrishaLyn.com. The winner will be picked at random from all entries on July 7th!
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