Reflecting on tips from Affiliate Summit
Affiliate Summit West 2009 was in Las Vegas again, and as we’ve already mentioned, the show was much improved over last year’s AffSum East 2008. Here are a few lingering thoughts about the conference’s high-points.
We arrived in time to see the keynote by Gary Vaynerchuk. If any speaker is going to pump you up after a 6:30am flight from San Francisco, it is Gary. His intriguing advice about the benefits of social networking combined with the positive energy he naturally exudes was a great introduction to the conference. If you possess an ounce of the entrepreneurial spirit, Gary’s keynote speech will inspire you to give all you have to get what you want out of life (heads up: he doesn’t hold back on the swearing).
Of the speaker sessions I attended at the conference, it isn’t a big surprise that the one that stuck with me most focused on the use of social media to gain the upper hand in promoting affiliate programs. Dave Taylor (of askdavetaylor.com) presented, and he did a great job of isolating some key points about internet marketing that should be on every business’ list of marketing reminders:
- Socialize where your customers are: don’t spend all your time on Twitter and Facebook if your customers aren’t computer savvy. If your customers are likely to be at your local better business bureau meeting, then sign up for the next BBB seminar.
- Gain influence by becoming a leader in your industry: make yourself visible and get your name out there as somebody ‘in the know’. A great way to do this is by blogging or publishing “how-to” articles online.
- Have a genuine presence when using social media: if you do use a social media tool, make it personal and reflective of your personality.
- Pay attention to your customers: they are the ones that keep you in business, so listen to them and their needs
Another memorable session from Affiliate Summit included one titled “Driving Leads through Smart Domain Development” (slideshow) - in which Moniker.com CEO Monte Cahn discussed ways in which businesses use multiple domain names to promote their businesses online. Particularly interesting were his case studies about Books.com (owned by BarnesAndNoble.com) and Baby.com (owned by Johnson & Johnson).
Overall Affiliate Summit West 2009 was more enjoyable than last year’s Affiliate Summit East 2008 in Boston. It’s back on our must-do list, and we’ll see some of you at AffSum East 2009 in New York!
