Tag Archives: Affiliate

Affiliate Summit East 2010

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I went to Affiliate Summit West 2009 and loved it, so it was time to go again. I scored a pass from John Chow, but quickly realized I had an extra, so I ended up giving it to a buddy of mine who doesn’t even own a computer. I was apprehensive, but I knew everyone was nice and would accept him even though he’s a techno-turtle.

Friday

As many of you know, I live in Vermont, so the Hilton in NYC is about a 5.5 hour drive. I left with Charles from Perfectly Grand because I convinced him to go and check out this “affiliate thing”. We left Vermont around 2PM and ended up reaching New York City around 7:30.

Saturday

The Audience Conference was amazing. The small feel of the whole thing made it really easy to approach the big kids in the industry and start a conversation. Talking with people like Jason Calacanis or Chris Brogan was really great. It’s an awesome feeling when Jason can pick me out of a group and ask what I do. Brogan did a great speech. I think he was funnier than some of the comedians. Great job Chris. We all really owe Loren Feldman a standing ovation.

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St. Patrick’s Day Insights

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St. Paddy’s day is my favorite Holiday.  My birthday is in less than a week, and I still haven’t planned anything for it.  Hopefully someone throws me a surprise party.  Anyways – I digress.

I want to talk about capturing the attention of special days of the year – be them holidays, birthdays, etc.  People are in a purchase-friendly mood when they’re celebrating – especially when alcohol is involved.  When you’re thinking about your next affiliate project, consider what holidays are in close proximity.  You’ll want to be promoting things for that holiday up to two or three months in advance, because people often times buy their products early to get the best possible prices they can.

Brainstorming and Execution

Make sure you brainstorm as many monetization paths as possible when you’re beginning to formulate your first plans.  Here are some of my successful St. Patrick’s Day affiliate sites and how they were monetized:

  • A blog for hospitality businesses to brainstorm promotions for St. Patrick’s Day.  I directed people to offers for custom shirts, mugs, guiness, etc.
  • A holiday deals website giving out coupons for SPD schwag.  I all of the coupon offers I could find, centralizing a place where people could get discounts for all of their Paddy’s Day needs.
  • An Irish music website, complete with funny YouTube videos.  I focused on generating income from Audible.com, iTunes, and Amazon.
  • A website with the complete history of St. Patrick’s Day.  I just ran Adsense on this one – I’m not sure why it was so successful.

Conclusion

I hope this helped you decide what to do for your next affiliate project – or at least gave you a little treasure chest of ideas for projects you may want to do in the future.  The other thing that is great about holiday offers is that with a little tweaking, you can run with the same website next year.

Like any other project – the more insight you can give your customers, the better.  If you don’t know much about Easter, you probably shouldn’t build a niche site about it.  Luckily my birthday is so close to St. Paddy’s Day, and I have a little bit o’ Irish in me.  Hopefully this next week isn’t too blurry.

Have questions? Ask them in the comments.

Affiliate Offer I Stand Behind: Vermont Teddy Bear

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Vermont Teddy Bear is a company I can really stand behind.  1) I’m from Vermont, and 2) their business model and idea is awesome!

These folks are 30 miles down the road from where I live.  They’ve been in the business for 20 years and have an amazing idea.  I love going down to their shop and actually seeing the bears get built.  It’s a great idea to go down there and tour the place and then build a Valentine’s Day teddy bear for your husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/etc.

Anyways, here is an affiliate link for them (specifically to their Valentine’s Day deals): Vermont Teddy Bear

Disclosure:  I get paid if you buy something from their website.  I still stand behind their product.

My Goals for 2009

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goalsLose 33 lbs

I currently weight 213 lbs, and I would like to slim that down to a cool 180.  I have a treadmill and a rowing machine, so it should be pretty easy to exercise.  I will post my workout strategy in another post sometime.

Put $10,000 into my IRA

This goal may actually change, depending on what my financial adviser says about contributions to my IRA.  Essentially I would like to put the maximum legal amount into my IRA that I can.

Make $10,000 from affiliate marketing

I’d like to make what I put into my IRA from affiliate marketing. ’nuff said.  I think I can do it if I really put my mind to it.  I’m going to Affiliate Summit right at the beginning of the year, so there is no excuse for not reaching the goal right?

Shake Shoemoney’s hand

I think this would be great.  Shoemoney will have a booth at Affiliate Summit, so this should be easy.  He’s somewhat of a role model for where I’d like to go in the industry.  I’ll see you soon Shoe.

Reach 1,000 unique page views per day on this blog

I’d like to make this blog something people look forward to looking at each day.  I need to drive traffic here to create a more interactive, richer environment.  I think 1,000 uniques a day is very feasible.

Finish the concrete work in my basement

My basement has a whole mess of concrete issues that I need to clear up.  This is a big project, but it needs to get done in order for me to set up an office down there.  I hope to get it done by mid-august.  We’ll see how it goes.

Go to Las Vegas

This is easy.  I’m headed there for Affiliate Summit West next week.  I’ve never been to Vegas or a conference before, so this should be fun.

Make at least 250 blog posts

250 posts is about 2 every 3 days.  That kind of number will keep me honest.  I plan to put a counter somewhere…

Take a vacation that is not work related

The trip to Vegas does not count for this one.  My wife and I are planning a trip to Mexico sometime near the end of the year.  This one may happen early January 2010 if scheduling doesn’t permit during 2009.  We’ll see what happens!

What are your goals or resolutions for 2009?