Category Archives: Affiliate Summit

This Is Why I Love Affiliate Marketing

20 November 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

I was working out today and when I came back I checked my email and saw this.

Dear jim kukral,

new sale / lead was registered by our affiliate program.

Sale details:
Total cost: 164.00
Commission from this sale: 54.12

I made $54.12 during my workout, for doing nothing. When I teach students about this, it blows them away. This is what good affiliate marketing can do for you. These are the kinds of things that happen multiple times a day for me because I put the right pieces in place to drive visitors to content that includes my affiliate links.

Make high-quality, problem-solving content and give it away for free as an eBook, or in an email list or whatever, and put your affiliate links inside of that content. And watch as you earn commissions over and over while you sleep. Literally.

This is what you’ll learn how to do when you visit the Affiliate Summit event.

Get Out There & Get In The Game!

26 October 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

Everyone always asks me why they should spend their hard-earned money in a crappy economy to go out to one of these trade shows like Blogworld or Affiliate Summit. They say, “Jim, what am I really going to learn that I can’t find for free online already?” Or, “Jim it seems so expensive when I can just watch the videos later.”

Good points… but wrong. You don’t go to shows like these to learn a ton of stuff (by the way you do). You go to shows like this to network.

There is absolutely no substitute for being seen. It’s the secret sauce that turns you from being someone’s recognizable Twitter icon, to being a real, human being. And in case you haven’t noticed, people do business with people… not icons.

There is a limit to how successful you’re going to be without being seen in person. You’ll never forge the friendships that will turn into business partnerships. You’ll never get in the “inner circle” of the top players in your industry without being seen.

You HAVE to get out there and mingle. You MUST!

By the way, if you haven’t been to a show in a long time, it’s not like it used to be where all the “big names” go and hide at a private party. Times have changed. Everyone is approachable. Everyone is accessible, just like social media.

Get out there and get in the game. See you at the Affiliate Summit in Jan. Oh yeah, another great reason to meet in person is to get disagreements or misunderstandings straightened out.

Believe me, pony up the dough for the next show in your industry. It will be the best money you ever spent.

Peter Shankman Affiliate Summit Keynote

28 August 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

Look, Peter is a wonderful guy. Great energy, smart and fun! So those are just a few of the reasons why you MUST take some time right now and watch him on stage as the keynote for the Affiliate Summit in NYC 2009, which I emceed.

Get a pen out and take some notes too, because Peter was dropping amazing nuggets of information and sounds bites that were being tweeted all around the world. I personally liked when Peter said the new average online attention span is 2.7 seconds… the exact time it takes to read a Tweet.

Click play, watch now, and tell me what you thought. I LOVED it. Oh, and go join Peter’s HARO.

Chris Brogan Trust Agents Keynote

27 August 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

I had the sincere pleasure of once again emceeing the Affiliate Summit in NYC 2009. This time I had the honor of introducing social media maven Chris Brogran, who has a new book out called Trust Agents. The video is below.

You will learn a lot about trust and influence and why they are VERY important. Chris was joined by his co-author and great guy Julien Smith. Please take some time to watch and learn.

Affiliate Summit Wrap Up – The Short Version

12 August 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

I just got back from another Affiliate Summit event. This time in NYC. I’m sitting here trying to get the energy to post a big long post about the show… but I thought I’d just give a few quick thoughts instead.

1. NYC is a great city, in case you haven’t heard.

2. Being around remarkable people reminds you that you have to “do” something remarkable to “be” remarkable. Get to work.

3. Trust and influence always meant a lot, but soon they’re going to overtake the “traffic mindset”.

4. Agent Zero is the person you want to be. – ala Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s keynote. – Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust

5. McSorley’s is the oldest bar in NYC. (1854, and I prefer the Darks to the lights)

6. The average attention span is now 2.7 seconds, or exactly the time it takes to digest a Tweet. – ala Shankman’s keynote.

7. See #2 again.

Take A Boat Ride With Me At Affiliate Summit

27 July 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

The good folks over at Market Leverage have done it again. This time they’re announcing a contest for you to win which will put you on an all expense paid boat ride in around NYC on August 9th right during the Affiliate Summit.

mlyachtcontest

I’ll be on the boat cruising, will you? You can be. Join me (and a guest you can bring) as we cruise around the island while eating a catered dinner from Top Chef contestant celebrity chef Casey Thompson. Go here to enter.

If you don’t know who ML is, well, they’re one of the many affiliate networks out there who shine above the rest. Most recently, ML is responsible for the wonderful use of Web video at MLTV. I’ve always been impressed with their crew and their company and I think you will be too. Definitely a company in the affiliate space to look out for.

As I said earlier, you can enter on the site. BUT… you can also get more entries by doing the following below. See you in NYC!

1) Tweet: I want to be on the @MarketLeverage A-List @AffiliateSummit (1 additional entry)

2) Blog about the contest and link to marketleverage.com and marketleveragetv.com (5 additional entries)

3) Send us a video to MLTV@MarketLeverage.com telling us why YOU should be on the A-List (10 additional entries)

Affiliate Summit NYC $100 Off Coupon

09 June 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

It’s almost here. Yep, the Affiliate Summit East (ASE09) in NYC is right around the corner. Were you planning on going? I hope so.

Today I’m not posting to tell you why you should go. I’ve done that many times over the years. Although, it IS going to be neat seeing Chris Brogran and Peter Shankman both do keynotes on two different days.

Oh yeah, I’m the emcee again and I’d love for you to come and meet me and hang out. I’ll also be holding a private networking group with TheBizWebCoach.com members the day before the event.

So go now… The early bird pricing ends June 12th. If you go here right now, and click through to order and use the coupon, you get an additional $100 off your ticket. Use that on cab fare from JFK… whatever :)

Just for Gold and Platinum passes.

See you there.

Affiliates, Customer Evangelists & Twitter

26 March 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

So let me ask you a question. I’ve been trying to be an outside customer evangelist for many companies for years now. I won’t name the companies here at this time, but if you know me and have followed me you know who I’m talking about.

Here’s the question.

kindlevangelist

Why is it ok for a company to “market” their services/products on Twitter, but it’s not ok for me to do it as an affiliate evangelist of that product/service?

Here’s an example. A fishing supply company monitors Twitter search for people talking about fishing. The company then follows the person on Twitter and begins to engage them in a conversation about fishing. Which ultimately leads to them maybe getting a sale for their fishing supplies. Or a backlink, or publicity, whatever. They get something.

Now what about me? I’m a partner or affiliate for the fishing supply company. If I do the same thing. If I engage a follower/friend and talk about a product I truly love… People might say that I’m spamming? Shilling for a commission.

I am.

But isn’t that what the fishing supply company was doing?

It is. Don’t deny it.

So, why is that different then when I do it, assuming I’m an evangelist?

Why does the company get a free pass promoting themselves and the evangelist doesn’t?

When they do it, it’s “outreach” and being social/cool.

If an affiliate/partner/evangelist does it, it’s “trying to sell something”.

Fair? No. The way it is? I guess so?

I simply find it interesting to explore this new dynamic in our current social media world of marketing and sales. I also find it very interesting how the same companies that worked hard to quell customer evangelists, are now leap frogging the evangelists by adopting their techniques from the corporate level on their own.

What’s your take? For more reading, check out Scott Jangro’s two part series on affiliate links in Twitter. Part 1, part 2.

You can also hear a spirited discussion of this in our Geekcast.fm podcast from the other day.

Lastly, make sure you attend the Affiliate Summit this summer in NYC to talk more about this type of thing.

I Made The Cover Of FeedFront Magazine With Gary Vaynerchuk

17 March 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

feedfront-cover-large-issue5I really don’t want to make super self-promotional blog entries, but c’mon, this is pretty cool. I’m on the cover of a magazine! With Gary Vaynerchuk! Pretty awesome.

You had better be coming to the Affiliate Summit in NYC this August. Chris Brogran and Peter Shankman are keynoting. Here’s a $100 coupon code, book now!

Thanks to Shawn and Missy for the opportunity and well, everything.

Affiliate Marketing Secrets Revealed

06 March 2009 Written By: Jim KukralComments: Comments

Over at my coaching site, TheBizWebCoach.com ($1.00 Trial), I’m constantly interviewing the movers and shakers and experts in the online marketing world. Here’s another interview you will enjoy. Please leave a comment.

Did you know that Affiliate Marketing is billion dollar business? Yep, it’s a big deal. And probably one of the most unknown business models out there too. I’ve been doing affiliate marketing since 2000 and I can tell you that it has made me a significant amount of my revenue every year since then.

Why? Because it works. If you want to learn about the affiliate marketing business, you’re going to want to learn from the master himself, Shawn Collins, the man who literally wrote the book on Affiliate Marketing, and who co-owns the largest trade show in the space called the Affiliate Summit. (Get $100 off the show by going here)

Listen to the podcast with Shawn here.

Talking about how to be successful with affiliate marketing with Shawn Collins, owner of the Affiliate Summit conference.