Happy 4th of July Friends!
I am happy to share some good news regarding the advertising tax. I am sure many of you have already heard that Governor Schwarzenegger announced he was going to veto the advertising tax in California. More information was blogged about it by Shawn earlier this week. Shortly after, the Governor of Hawaii also decided to veto the tax. Following these announcements, Overstock decided to retract their prior statements. I wanted to take a moment to share the letter from the President of Overstock:
July 1, 2009
Dear Affiliate:
We are delighted to inform you that we have reversed the decision to terminate our contracts with our California-based advertising affiliates. Our Chairman and CEO, Patrick Byrne, today received a call from Governor Schwarzenegger’s Office and the Governor’s Office assured us that the Governor’s actions of last night will stand. He sent back to the legislature the revenue package, rejecting new tax initiatives, including that which provoked our termination notices. The Governor has pledged that there are to be no new taxes enacted this year, and the budget must be balanced by government cost-cutting.
We also were told that the Governor recognizes this is an issue that impacts California’s reputation for business which the Governor prefers to remain strong.
We were asked to reverse our decision of yesterday, and we happily obliged, based on these assurances. We will begin the process of canceling the expirations initiated last night and hope we do not have to revisit this issue again.
We apologize for any disruption of your business owing to these events, and thank you for your support of our position. We believe that the contacts received by the Governor’s office on this issue today were chiefly responsible for this turn of events.
Respectfully,
Jonathan E. Johnson III
President
Overstock.com, Inc.
This is a great victory for our affiliate partners in California and Hawaii. I am so grateful that this happened. I only wish for this to occur in all the other States. Make sure to keep in touch with your local State representatives and keep yourself informed. We live in a Country where we do not have to roll over and take it. We can make our voices heard. Remember to stand up for what you believe is right.
Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!
My Review of the Affiliate Summit Agenda Part II: Monday.
Day one was a good time: you went to the meet market, caught a couple sessions, even had a chance to stroll around New York City. Well I hope you are well rested because Monday it gets a bit more involved. The Exhibit Hall opens and the keynote speakers begin early in the morning. Not to mention that you probably went to an event last night and you could use a cup of coffee. Here is my review of the sessions going on and what you can expect on day two of Affiliate Summit.
Monday, August 10
Here is my guide for day two of Affiliate Summit East. Let the madness begin! Grab some breakfast to go, coffee, and if you haven’t registered by God what are you waiting for? Go Register! The Breakfast, Coffee and Lunch schedule will remain the same on Monday and Tuesday so I will post it once below. (FYI On Tuesday Registration is from 9 am- 3pm, and the Exhibit Hall ends at 4pm.)
If you didn’t have a chance to register yesterday. No worries this time the passes have been printed ahead of time, this way you can get your registration pass faster. I would suggest getting your pass before doing anything else that way you can get into the Exhibit Hall, Sessions, and grab some food. You will need your pass for all of this but it is made very easy to grab one.
Registration
Location: 2nd Floor Promenade
Time: 8:30am - 6:00pm
Grab a bagel before heading over to the keynote speaker. This does not have to be a sit down breakfast. If you are an early riser by all means take this as an opportunity to network. I on the other hand will not talk much until I have some food in my system. You must have a platinum pass this holds your meal and drink tickets.
Continental Breakfast
Location: Sutton Complex
Time: 9:00am-10:00am
(Breakfast is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
This year the conference has two keynote speakers both of which I am excited to hear speak. I will be running over to listen to them. The first speaker is Chris Brogan someone I have heard a lot about but not had the pleasure of meeting yet. I suggest following these speakers on Twitter so you can get a feel for who you want to listen speak. Normally at the keynote, I grab my inspiration. They remind me what I am at Summit for and give me that energy and extra excitement that I am looking for, this is what keeps me on my feet all day.
Jim Kukral as always does a fantastic job of announcing the keynotes. Jim is someone I use as a resource and example when it comes to innovative affiliate marketers. Feeling inspired? Good that was the idea. Now get your butt to the Exhibit Hall and meet everyone!
Opening Remarks & Keynote
Location: General Session Room - Grand Ballroom Suite
Time: 9:45am - 10:45am
(This Session is Open to All Pass Holders)
For all you sleepy heads that missed breakfast there is coffee service just for you. I hope you got up in time for the keynote. If you did not you always have tomorrow. Make sure you get up in time so you don’t miss the second keynote speaker. Now that you are well rested get out of bed and get out there. You can always pick up some coffee on your walk to the Exhibit Hall. If you are a coffee lover you may want to check out some other quality coffees that NYC has to offer. If so follow Todd Crawford and Scott Jangro through @coffeecast for updates and possible coffee field trips during the conference.
Coffee Service
Location: Sutton Complex
Time: 10:00am-12:30pm and 2:00pm-6:00pm
The day is just beginning but you have already accomplished so much. You have also met some interesting people. Lunch is the perfect time to ask someone you are interested in doing business with to sit with you. Chat with them and ask them questions. Don’t only talk about yourself. By getting to know eachother you can open doors to a friendship which will turn into a potential partnership. You never know who might be sitting next to you at the lunch table. Be sociable and approachable to others, if everyone at your table is quiet speak up! Introduce yourself and have eachother introduce themselves as well.
Luncheon
Location: Sutton Complex
Time: 12:30pm-1:45pm
(Lunch is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
If you have not stopped by the Exhibit Hall, where have you been? This is where the action is my friends. You will find big attention getters, games, giveaways, and interesting Exhibitors. This is the time to view the list and decide which people you want to talk to the most. You have two days to meet industry leaders and make connections. This is the time. If you have a friend that knows more people have them introduce you to others. You can meet so many industry leaders, you have no idea. This is your chance!
If you would like to speak to anyone including myself from the ARC Team we will be there. You can find us at Booth 1303. One of our newest merchants BeachAudio.com will be at T111. We will all be giving away prizes but most importantly we can partner you up with the affiliate programs that will be a success for you according to what you do. More than anything, I always love meeting those I speak to online in person for the first time. It is like seeing a long lost friend. Things get accomplished to a higher degree when you can speak to someone face to face.
Below are my favourite Exhibit Hall neighbors: Bruce Bortle and Cris Repoles from Education Dynamics. They had the most impressive booth ever. What was even more impressive was them fitting everything back into that box to ship everything back. I felt bad for them having to deal with packing that monster booth up. We shared some laughs and a couple drinks once all the Exhibiting was over of course. The next time they had other people setting it up for them. They learned to work smarter not harder; one of the sayings I try to live by! Exhibitors don’t make your lives impossible you can hire help and ship things to the conference rather than lugging things around.
Exhibit Hall
Location: Exhibit Hall Area - Americas Halls 1 & 2
Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Exhibit Hall map.
Calling all bloggers! You need to apply for a press pass to get into the bloggers room. It is a place I could not step foot in last time but not this year! I applied and got accepted. I am sure if you blog regarding affiliate marketing or your passion you can surely get approved for a press pass. I look forward to running in there at least a couple times to talk to some cool bloggers that I admire. I wish there were more hours in the day! Heather Smith will be the BlogMistress, I had the chance to briefly meet her at the last Summit and she is a delight.
Blogger Room
Location: Mercury Ballroom
Time: 8:30am - 6:00pm
The Blogger’s Lounge is an area reserved for credentialed bloggers/press to grab some desk space, blog, interview, relax and network. Heather Smith will be the BlogMistress of the Affiliate Summit Blogger’s Lounge, where she’ll be acting as liaison between Affiliate Summit and the press and bloggers attending the show.
Without further ado, here are my picks for the Monday Sessions to attend. I recommend them to different audiences and for different reasons. I will explain why I recommend them above each Session I pick.
The Advertising Tax, it seems like this saga will never end. We fight with all our might but it reappears. Any Session having to do with the advertising tax I will be in favour of attending. I am not saying you have to go to all of them but pick one and get informed. What I like about this Session is that it will explain to you what has happened so far but more importantly what is next. Where to go from here. I personally don’t know these speakers but I encourage you to get informed because this tax will affect us as an industry.
Advertising Tax: What Happened and What’s Next
Session 4a
Location: Classroom A - Gibson
Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
An overview of the status of state advertising tax legislation, what to expect going forward, and how to fight it.
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Wil Reynolds. Well I have heard what a fantastic speaker Wil is. I have not had the pleasure of hearing him speak before. Everyone speaks wonders of Wil saying he knows how to relate and how to captivate his audience. Therefore, if learning more about SEO is something you would like, this is the SEO Session to attend. You will not be bored and you are sure to learn some valuable tools regarding SEO.
SEO Tools You Can Use Today
Session 4d
Location: Classroom D - Murray Hill
Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
This session is a quick moving brain dump of how to use the most advanced powerful tools to help you with SEO. Expect to learn how you can walk out and use several SEO tools to grow revenues today.
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Who hasn’t been to a panel or session regarding Social Media? Well this one is for Affiliates in particular. Not only that but I personally cannot get enough when it comes to Social Media. Plus there are always new things to learn. Stay ahead of the curve and gain a competitive advantage as an affiliate. I would recommend this for Affiliates into Social Media or those that want to learn more about it.
Social Media Marketing for Affiliates
Session 5b
Location: Classroom B - Clinton
Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm
Learn from some of the top Social Media Marketers, how you can use social media to build links, drive traffic, and increase your site’s visibility.
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
If you are not an affiliate the last session does not apply to you. Besides that if you already have your Social Media down pact then this is the man for you, Jay Berkowitz. I have had the pleasure of hearing Jay speak in Miami at WordCamp. What I like about Jay is that he keeps it simple. He knows what he is talking about and he picks the Ten most important points to share with you. As a speaker, he keeps you engaged and he really understands personal branding. His Session will talk about upcoming trends that you need to know. Educate yourself and learn from Jay, I recommend this Session to business owners and go-getters that want to learn how to stand out from the crowd.
Web 2010 - Ten Trends Defining Your Future
Session 5c
Location: Classroom C - Gramercy
Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm
As the internet becomes the critical hub for all business and personal communications, discover ten trends that will allow businesses and individuals to differentiate themselves and succeed online.
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Merchants and affiliates this is a great networking session. I recommend all merchants to attend. Make yourself available to your affiliates. Be open to answering questions about your affiliate program. Now affiliates, I know you do not like to be hounded by merchants. You can do things in a way that you have a good time, meet the right people, and are not bothered. This networker is a laid back session.
Affiliates to stay in control do not put any information that is too personal on your business cards. You probably do not want to display your cellphone number this is a personal decision. Twitter is a good thing to have on your cards and have an email available since we all communicate online. In the worst case scenario, take their business card but do not give one in return. For the most part this will be fine so don’t be shy. The whole purpose of this conference is not only to learn but to create partnerships. Be open, you never know who you are going to meet!
Affiliate/Merchant Networking
Session 6a
Location: General Session Room – Grand Ballroom Suite
Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm
(This Session is Open to All Pass Holders – Must be Registered as Affiliate or Merchant)
As you enter the room, you will drop your business card in the Bingo Networking box. You will then be given a bingo card where you will write your name in the center square. Next, you circulate with everyone throughout the room. To complete the bingo card, you will need to meet 24 other people, collect their business cards and have them write their names in the open squares. Then, we will call off the names on the business cards that everyone dropped in the Bingo Networking box when they arrived. Regular bingo rules apply thereafter. The winner is the first person with five names in a row, either across, down or diagonally.
Many people are into Social Media. Obviously Facebook is one of the big ones. If you are on Facebook and you have a business there is no reason why you shouldn’t be leveraging this platform as another avenue to brand your business. If we are at Affiliate Summit it is safe to say our business are online. If we are on the web and our competitors are there it is important to have a strong presence everywhere you can. If you want to begin advertising or you want to improve the way you advertise online and on Facebook I would recommend attending this, Shoemoney is always noticed and he knows what he is talking about.
Advertising on Facebook
Session 6c
Location: Classroom C - Gramercy
Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm
Learn about advertising on Facebook and how affiliates can reach over 100 million members. Join us for a panel discussion including a Facebook representative covering all you need to know.
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
For starters, follow some experts that spark your interest on Twitter. From there you can narrow it down to who you want to speak to. Also you can begin to build a rapport with them so that when you meet it is like talking to someone you already know. I recommend to go to Ask the Experts especially for newbies whether you are an affiliate or merchant. Also if there is a topic of interest with an expert available by all means take this time to go and ask away. This is like getting free advice!
Ask the Experts
Location: General Session Room – Grand Ballroom Suite
Time: 5:00 pm-6:00pm
(This Session is Open to Platinum Pass Holders Only)
Ask the Experts will be an opportunity for merchants, networks and affiliates to ask questions about various specialties and issues. Hand picked experts will handle topics in their specialty, and conduct chats, answer questions and share opinions during this networking and education session you can view the list of experts and their Twitter accounts in the Affiliate Summit Agenda.
After you are spent and you think your day has to come an end. There is a lot to process in your mind. Well don’t even sit down, go to your room refresh and get ready because the night is just beginning. Decide what your dinner plans will be ahead of time. Take a brief break to get ready and head on to the night portion of the conference. Whether you are wining and dining or being wined and dined this is a time to wind down. You can do a private dinner with a select group to discuss business or you can join a big group for some fun with new acquaintances, New York can cater to all.
After dinner, there is always something cooking. One company is sponsoring a Karaoke night, this could be painful or awesome depending on the singer. I do not recall the last time I went to Karaoke. Okay fine, it was my sister and I. We attempted to sing Beyonce - Irreplaceable. It was not pretty. However this could be a fun networking event to attend on Monday night. I do not want to get into announcing other events yet. I am sure there will be some network events going on as well. I would say these are my favourite parts of Summit. The fact that it is in NYC is exciting and you all know that I love to dress up. I will keep the night networking events to their own special post.
Affiliate Summit Karaoke
Sponsored by TechKaraoke
Location: Sutton Complex
Time: 9:00pm - 12:00am
After a long days work, you deserve to have some fun. Don’t worry this is still a part of networking, so it’s like a part of the job. There are other ideas we have in mind for the nighttime festivities. Shawn Collins recommends a country bar around the corner from the Hilton hotel. It is called Johnny Utah’s, normally you would not find me at said establishment but I shall prove that I can hang with the country boys too! If Shawn gets up on the mechanical bull then I will too! Maybe we can wager something…In our industry we work hard and we also know how to party. Who’s in?
You may have noticed MySpace, LinkedIn, and others allow you to create a username. The username allows you to name your link something memorable. Most times it is the user’s name to easily send friends to view their profile.
Not only that but people rely on their names as part of personal branding. In the past Facebook did not have what they like to call a Vanity Name. When realizing this flaw instead of making it sound like they were missing something they turned it into an ocassion. As little as this change may seem to some, for online marketers this is a big deal.
Facebook made a smart move. They created a buzz. When logging into Facebook everyone had an accouncement about the the launch of the “Facebook Vanity Name.” The best part was the timing. They had people like me sitting at my laptop on a Friday night in anticipation for the clock to strike Midnight.
Everyone was online tweeting about their desired names and creating free press for Facebook.
Geek New Years Eve
All the geeks gathered and had their New Years type countdown to the launching of the Vanity Name. It was a race to who could get the rights to their name. The most sought after names were first names only but sadly Facebook employees had first dibs. I was not worried about someone stealing Lichtenstein from me but a Facebook employee already had Stephanie. So I settled for second choice. My Facebook Vanity Name is http://Facebook.com/StephanieLichtenstein.
Countdown to Facebook Vanity Name
If you have not logged in and snagged yours be creative or insert a middle initial because chances are the name is long gone. Keep in mind the names are permanent so make sure to be consistent with your brand when you pick it. Also for now it does not make a difference if there is a . or not between the first and last name they work just the same.
Mashable announced that there were 200,000 Facebook Usernames created in 3 minutes. While I waited to get my username I felt like it was a big moment as silly as that sounds. Facebook can get hundreds of thousands of people to sit by a computer in anticipation on a Friday night; that is called Power. I am also impressed that the system did not crash and all the users could log in. Right after the time passed you could see everyone announcing their new usernames with excitement.
What’s Your Facebook Vanity Name?
