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Welcome to the AffiliateTip.com Newsletter. Be sure to check out the AffiliateTip.com blog for the latest news and information at http://blog.affiliatetip.com
Topics in this issue:
- Affiliates Are Entrepreneurs, Aren’t They?
- Make an Appointment with Affiliate Summit Sponsors
- Episode 2 of the Next Internet Millionaire
- Affiliate Program News
- Sergey Brin - the College Years
- Why I Love LivingDot for Blog Hosting
1. Affiliates Are Entrepreneurs, Aren't They?
There has been some chatter on Twitter lately about affiliate marketers and videos. A common chorus seems to be that affiliates are waiting for merchants to provide them with video.
While some merchants, like Gaiam and Moosejaw, are producing quality video content for affiliates, I think it’s a mistake for affiliates to sit on their hands and wait for everybody else to follow suit.
Successful affiliate marketing is all about innovation and offering up unique value propositions, so why are affiliates no shows when it comes to video?
Well. not all of them. One example of an effective affiliate video is “Small Schooling Bass on Lake Fork” from Scott Hazard at BigBassCountry.com.
Scott combines a short, entertaining video with a text description of his fishing trip. the content includes contextual ads, as well as being flanked by AdSense.
But he is an exception.
So my Affiliate Summit partner Missy and myself decided we’d get in on the action with a video affiliate site.
And so, WeViews.tv was born. We figured if most affiliates choose to wait for boilerplate video creative from merchants, that’s cool, but we’re going to pounce on the opportunity.
We’re going to churn out bunches of videos reviewing products and services that we use, and point the readers to our affiliate links.
Now that I think about it, it’s cool if affiliates don’t want to make videos. After all, comScore Video Metrix reported that nearly 75 percent of US Internet users watched an average of 158 minutes of online video in May 2007.
Ambitious, entrepreneurial affiliates would certainly want to seize this opportunity. But don’t mind me. Run those 468×60 banners and rock on.
2. Make an Appointment with Affiliate Summit Sponsors
We've set up a new tool to enable Affiliate Summit attendees to request a meeting with sponsors at Affiliate Summit London, taking place September 28.
The Affiliate Summit Sponsors page enables Affiliate Summit attendees to learn more about sponsors and to submit their information to set up a meeting during the conference.
Visit http://sponsors.affiliatesummit.com/ for more details.
Affiliate Summit London is just about sold out for passes and sponsorships. Register now at http://www.affiliatesummit.co.uk before everything is sold out.
Also, Affiliate Summit and buy.at invite you to join us at the official Affiliate Summit London Pre-Party.
We are hosting this event on September 27th starting at 6pm. We've booked a private club called Firehouse and will be providing drinks and canapés for the duration of the evening.
If you're coming to Affiliate Summit in London on September 28, don't miss this pre-party to get your networking started.
Space is limited, so we encourage you to sign up ASAP.
Please RSVP at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/07london_preparty.php.
3. Episode 2 of the Next Internet Millionaire
The second episode of the Next Internet Millionaire reality show, hosted by Joel Comm, is now available to watch.
During episode two, Armand Morin spoke about the importance of branding, and there was a challenge between the two teams on the Next Internet Millionaire to create a branding campaign for the next season of the show.
Contestants were also given the task of creating a blog and making a post in the span of an hour.
After watching this episode, I’ve got to agree partly with Lisa Picarille, Editor and Publisher of Revenue Magazine, from the comments on her blog:
“…there isn't anyone on the show who seems to perform any better at these tasks than I could. I'm willing to admit my many limitations but I know I could run circles around these contestants.”
The contestants came in with some compelling pedigrees, but I’ve got to say I was underwhelmed by their output in the challenges during episode 2.
That said, I’m into the show and anxious to see the next episode.
4. Affiliate Program News
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Latest Affiliate Deal at Payless.com
Make sure your Payless ShoeSource links are up to date and posted throughout your site. New promos every month. For more information please see the affiliate offers landing page. Visit http://www.paylessaffiliates.com.
Join Shopzilla and Get $39.99 Just for Signing Up
Shopzilla's Publisher Program allows website publishers to earn money by displaying sponsored shopping content on their site. Register for the Shopzilla Publisher Program. Once your site is approved, we will deposit $39.99 into your Publisher Program Account JUST FOR SIGNING UP!
5. Sergey Brin - the College Years
Back in May 1993, I graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park. One of my fellow graduates was Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google.
 I was just looking back at some old pictures of our college days, and have to wonder why Sergey’s days as a Terp are minimized in press coverage, in favor of his times at Stanford University.
We had good times back in College Park, didn’t we, Sergey?
I’d have to imagine that all the tailgates at Byrd Stadium, all-nighters in the computer lab in Hornbake, marathon sessions of Tecmo Bowl, and late nights at the Vous must have contributed in a big way to the foundation of Google, right?
Once a Terrapin, always a Terrapin!
6. Why I Love LivingDot for Blog Hosting
I currently use three Web hosting companies for a variety of sites I operate, and I’d say my hands down favorite for hosting blogs is LivingDot.
The reason I mention blog hosting in particular is that LivingDot, who refer to themselves as “Blog Hosting Experts,” make it supremely easy to get going with a blog.
At the time you set up an account with them (lowest plan is $10.95 a month and should be good for most blogs), they give the option to have the latest version of Movable Type or WordPress installed on your domain at no extra cost.
This alone was big to me, because I don’t like spending time installing and configuring software if I can help it.
Shortly after I moved this blog over there (thanks to a recommendation from Sam Harrelson - thanks, Sam!), I had some technical issues.
This usual brings dread to me when dealing with a vendor I haven’t used before - I’ve been programmed to expect lousy, slow service based on past experiences.
But LivingDot was fast (I submitted a ticket late on a Saturday and it was resolved early on a Sunday) and very helpful.
This is the sort of service I’ve come to expect from somebody like RackSpace on a dedicated server for exponentially more per month. But a low-cost, shared hosting account - not only was I pleasantly surprised by the quality of their technical support, I was astounded.
And it wasn’t one time thing. I’ve contact them multiple times to request upgrades to WordPress and other things - it’s always the same. Efficient responses and solutions.
Now I’ve got four blogs at LivingDot (Affiliate Tip, Affiliate Summit, Make Video and WeViews), and if the need arises for another one, I’ll get it going there, too.
Great job, LivingDot!
As always, I'd love to hear from you! Drop me a line and let me know if you have any suggestions or questions.
Visit http://www.affiliatetip.com/advertise.php for information on advertising in the newsletter or on the site.
Take care,
Shawn Collins
shawn@affiliatetip.com
http://www.affiliatetip.com/
(908) 364-2767
AOL IM: affiliatetip
ICQ: 297448317
MSN: shawn@affiliatetip.com
Yahoo: affiliatetip
Skype: affiliatetip
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