I was thinking today about just how important it is to stay on top the latest information and issues in your industry.  While this is important for almost every industry, when it comes to the technology it is imperative.

I remember when I got out of school how top-of-the-line and state-of-the-art everything seemed.  Had I not made it a habit to constantly keep up with today’s standards by reading industry literature and publications my knowledge would be obsolete.  No question about that.

In nerd vision:  When I left Pittsburgh, a dual processor cost THOUSANDS of dollars.  You can get one for a few hundred now…and the technology inside is a million times more sophisticated than it was.

When it all comes down to it, you have to grow with the times, but why wouldn’t you want to?  Staying on top makes for a better view.

Industry standards and physical technologies change on the daily and so do I.  It has to be that way, and I love it.

It’s crazy how much you can be into something when you get the opportunity to be in the middle of the mix.  You may be wondering what the heck I’m talking about….. LAKERS BABY!  I just found out my boyfriend bought the both of us tickets to the game!!!  We will be sitting in the schnazzy section where  we will be able to see the actual striations of the players muscles (pretty cool).  Don’t get me wrong, I like basketball (during the playoffs), but it is a whole different ball game when you get to go sit in the middle of the madness!  To say I’m excited is an understatement.  I don’t get too many opportunities like this, so I definitely had to jump on this one.

This got me thinking about opportunities that our affiliates have when hot offers come along -seizing the moment, getting the first stab at sending a fresh offer to their list(s) or placing it on their site when the offer is fresh and new.  I see a lot of good campaigns come along and wonder if this one will be the next winner.  Is the page bright enough?  Is the payout competitive?  Will it fit many of the lists or websites out there?   The cool thing about AKMG is we have a goal of setting ourselves apart from the others networks out there.   We want to have unique offers that are not over saturated and (do I dare to say)… stale.  By no means am I saying all other offers have those qualities, but it is nice when they can be set apart from the rest.   This is one thing we will do – give all of you great opportunities to make a lot of money through our network – and make it enjoyable in the process.

 It was funny to realize that I’m a person of habit when it comes to my work day. It dawned on me earlier this week when I was thrown out of my routine while working in Pittsburgh after the “Big Fat Italian Wedding” (which lived up to the name by the way). I’m so used to waking up every day…getting a coffee at my local Starbucks (where they all know my “regular” order)…checking my email…and easing into the day while the West Coast is still sleeping. Then the afternoon moves at light speed once everyone is up and at ‘em with the phone ringing off the hook, AIMs going crazy and emails flyng in and out at maximum speed. That’s what I’m used to and how I function best during the week.

Well, as you can imagine, there is no Starbucks in walking distance in suburbia Pittsburgh so I wasn’t right from the get-go. Then I didn’t have time to ease into my work day since it was a condensed day with my late afternoon flight. So I spent the whole time at the airport answering emails erratically from my iPhone which doesn’t really fit into my normal daily work ritual. By the time I landed back in Miami, I just wanted to start the day over and get back into my comfort zone.

What’s your daily work ritual? Take a minute to think about it…it can be pretty amusing once you break it down.

We recently moved our office from the back of the building to the front, so now we are overlooking lovely 3rd Street Promenade. For those of you that don’t know about the Promenade, it is like a classier Venice Beach with all the well known clothing stores, restaurants and of course the famous street acts.

I grew up in Los Angeles, so I made many trips to 3rd street, but it is a little different when you work where all the action is day in and day out. To give you an idea of what we experience everyday at AKMG, here is a youtube video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5_MpvnxpTaE

This office location is a perfect fit for the group at AKMG, because our staff is so full of energy. For example, if you read the Josh’s blog, who is head of tech, you will see he was in the Blue Man Group, so you see, it’s a perfect fit! If any of you make it out to Santa Monica, we would be more than happy to show you our office and put you in the center of the non-stop entertainment.

Do you ever wonder why people don’t say “Thank You” more? Its obviously easy to say, doesn’t cost anything to say it and when said, brings joy to the individuals to whom it is directed to. I’ve been saying “Thank You” with increased frequency lately, especially to the people who have helped AKMG get to where we are an amazingly short period of time.

Thank you for the referrals
Thank you for the introductions to your colleagues
Thank you for the vote of confidence
Thank you for giving us honest feedback
Thank you for the loyalty in an seemingly un-loyal business
Thank you for the support
Thank you….for everything!

I’m humbled by the support some of the largest affiliates in the world have shown us. We don’t take that for granted and spend every waking hour finding ways to continue to earn your business.

THANK YOU…for everything. It is greatly appreciated,

SGP

I never take California for granted. Almost every single day, I find myself looking at the palm trees, sun, and beaches with complete disbelief and overwhelming satisfaction. I have been in Cali for about three years now, and nothing about it seems to get commonplace.

I don’t find myself having bad days out here. Sure there are moments, but they are fleeting, and can dissipate as quickly as I can plant my foot in the sand or wander outside to submerge myself in the gorgeous sun and in what I call, “The California Smell”. It’s a really good one, in case you were wondering! I’m not talking about about the downtown Los Angeles smell.

Anyway.

Peace and satisfaction .  I can honestly say I have found the intangibles that compose me as a happy person. My work here plays a huge part in that serenity. I get to see my work realize itself daily into large factors that help the company maintain to the fullest extent and grow to an even more amazing one. The passion I have for continuing to do so completes me in more ways than one.

At the end of every single day, I get to look at that big cinnamon sky, smell that saltwater air, and go on my way with a smile on my face, never touching the ground. It never gets old, and I’ll never take it for granted.

Not many people are lucky enough to work in such a mobile industry. We can literally work from anywhere in the world as long as we’re connected, of course…to our cell phone…email…and AIM! Taking advantage of this mobility, I packed my bags last night for a trip home. My entire “work related luggage” was a small Apple computer bag with my computer, charger and flash drive. Not a bad way to live. Most people are basically tied to their gray cubicle with a clunky desktop. Sigh, what a sad existence for those people.

So I’m here in Pittsburgh for my sister’s wedding and the best part of it that I don’t really have to skip a beat since I can work from here without a problem. The wedding festivities will begin tomorrow and what a production that is going to be. Over 350 people were invited and 295 have said yes. It will be an Italian version of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”! My Italian family is huge with a gazillion family members and my sister is marrying someone with an identical kind of family. And guess who will be giving the speech in front of 300 people?! You got it, ME. Great…wish me luck!

Keep those exclusive offers coming!!

Well, its just about my second week at AKMG and I am finally starting to get the hang of things. It is very exciting to start fresh with a young energetic company and learn about the affiliate side of our industry. To give you a little history, I have been in the affiliate marketing space for a few years now and have had experience working on the advertiser side of things, but never had a chance (UNTIL NOW!) to work with the affiliates. I have wanted to work on this side of the industry for a while, so I am looking forward to delving into it – learning about all the different affiliates; what their likes are, about their families, and of course find out how I can help them run the offers that will work best for their type of traffic. My goal at AKMG is to help everyone make the most money possible and have a great time doing it. I look forward to working with each of you daily and meeting you at Affiliate Summit Boston this August.

I can’t think of a time in recent memory when I didn’t obsessively think about pixels firing, conversion metrics & EPCs. It feels like I’ve entered this parallel universe where my brain is only programmed to think about these things…I even dream about them. I’ve been in online marketing for over 8 years but it’s only been since I started doing affiliate marketing that I actually found myself in this interesting corner of the universe. I constantly evaluate every piece of advertising I see whether it be on TV, in print, online or other random methods and my first thought is how we could make that work for AKMG. When I’m not working and with friends, I sometimes want to say something that only other affiliate marketing people would understand. Like, “oh that campaign would be great for a 1st page submit”. Um, what?! Lord help me and my conversation skills lately!

I know so many people in this industry are just like this so they can relate to what I’m saying…which is why we’re able to get along and have such a social industry. People looking in from the outside definitely think we are a bunch of nerds, but I guess they are not capable of envisioning dollar signs in the sky from just about any type of advertising we’re exposed to.

It’s coming up on over a month since I joined the AKMG team as the Director of Technology and Information Security. What a fantastic company and group of people to work with! I really get to use all facets of my abilities and knowledge here. We have integrated state of the art affiliate and advertiser systems with our phenomenal anti-fraud and security techniques.

So a little bit about myself, let’s see… I went to school in Pittsburgh, PA (let’s go Steelers!) for Computer Science, focusing in cryptography and reverse engineering. When I was younger, I was known for taking things apart and putting them back together, specifically computers. Later down the road, I started doing the same with software.

I love what I do, and I love helping others resolve any problems related to technology, or anything else for that matter, while talking to them in a language they can understand! Being able to do this for AKMG and our business associates really hits the spot for me.

Being satisfied creatively with the work I do is so important. I’ve gotten more creative satisfaction than I imagined with my work here. In fact, when I’m not working as the techie over at AKMG, I’m playing the drums all of the time! I’m a professionally trained drummer, and I’ve had the opportunity to tour the country, play with top recording artists, cut tons of records and even work with the Blue Man Group.

I take a little Blue with me everywhere I go. If you haven’t seen the show you need to. I keep requesting PVC pipe, trash cans, and fluorescent paint for my desk. This is to no avail yet, but I’ll keep trying.

Anyway! I look forward to the days ahead, the people I’ll meet, and the shared success here at AKMG!

Josh