Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? In an industry anbundent with nicknames, entourages and personas, I’m begining to feel a little left out. Considering I work in marketing, perhaps it’s time to retool the personal brand. In the offline world, my name has always been pretty unique as it is (in fact, in elementary school, I used to be embarrassed that my name was too different, and I went by “Leah”). But in the affiliate marketing world, my name sitll doesn’t have enough sizzle standing alone.

So what’s a girl to do? Tack a baked good to the end of my name, say Eleah-pie(s)? Na, that would just make me hungry all the time I signed an email. How about Biggg Eleah (I know how my mailers love gratuitous extra letters). The problem there is I’m really more of a medium. Perhaps I should scratch including Eleah all together. I think two completely unrelated terms could work, as it seems to do oh so nicely for some of you affiliate rockstars out there. How about Shoe Honey? 

Ooh, I know. Aliterations always work. Click Chick. Or since I don’t personally generate clicks per say, perhaps something that more accurately depicts my one of my roles in the traffic game. Would the pixel pixie be more fitting?

The more I think about it the more confusing I’m afraid this new name buisness is going to be for my daily morning Starbucks barrista…who already has issues pronouncing and spelling my name. Did I mention I’m in there every morning? Perhaps its best not to mess with a good thing and just work on the image. Tune in next time for part two’s installment of “Pimp My Persona,” coming soon to an AKMG blog near you.

Cheers,
Eleah

Fraud and criminals are always, always here - and they forever will be.  The difference right now is that the ‘recession’ has cast quite a large shadow over the capability of online merchants / marketers to bring in legit revenue outside of the affiliate marketing space.

What this does mean is that the world is seeing an overall increase in scams, data theft, and general fraud practice (internally and externally!).  For affiliate marketing, this translates to more non-authorized incentive traffic and illegitimate lead-posting.  There is also an extremely notable increase in hack/denial of service attack attempts on data centers all over the world.

For the universe outside of the affiliate marketing space, here’s what you need to look out for (the below tactics are becoming harder to detect and less ’scam obvious’ every day):

- Watch out for  fake banking emails or any emails asking you to enter your password.
- Watch out for ‘Virus Protection’ or ‘Anti-Spyware’ downloads and pop-up windows as there is a huge wave of trojan viruses rolling in whose only purpose is to data mine through your files for credit card data, banking information, stored passwords, and any other data that can be used to give the end-sheister access to your money.

Questions?  Comments?  Email me!

For those of you that don’t know me very well I am kind of a health nut. These days I have been working from home since I moved. So I eat a lot at home throughout the day and I always have the dilemma of cleaning my dishes right after I eat or pushing it off until later in the day. Most of the time I am good about cleaning right away but this week I have been slacking. I looked at my oatmeal dish today after I left it their most of the day and it is dried HARD! That reminded me about how procrastinating on things makes it harder than it should be. It could be anything: daily chores, assignments at work, washing your car, working out, etc etc. The longer you put things off the harder they become. 

The internet industry, especially the performance marketing, moves at the speed of light. Trends, new better performing offers, new competition enters the space, etc. Procrastinating can be a killer to anyones business. 

The next time you think about putting off that last email, waiting to call your Affiliate Manager back, or not checking your stats think it could cost you thousands of dollars in revenue. 

How do you keep yourself on track and avoid procrastinating? 

Talk to me,

Chris Mello

Lets Take a Look Back Before We Look Forward

While everyone was tuned into the presidential inauguration happening this week it really made me think about good ol’ 2008. Now let’s think for a minute, because a lot of publishers made a freaking ton of $$$ in 08 and even more publishers didn’t. Learning from our mistakes and regrets can propel us to new level’s we never thought possible. So let’s put things into perspective:

-Look back, what do you think were the most significant themes to emerge in 2008 in the performance marketing space?

-Ahhhh Acai…..

-What will be the big thing that we can expect to happen in this coming year?

-How the economy and the new prez with effect the internet space.

-Will Acai continue to burn and dominate the market?

-What are the major challenges moving forward?

-Finding your niche. We all know what is hot! Don’t get greedy and find your own 

niche. 

-What’s the one word you would use to describe the current state of online marketing?

-Opportunity is wide open. Especially in the search world you have the ability to 

switch gears instantly.

What do you think? The questions are simple but can put a lot of things in perspective about 2008 and help you kick A@#$$ in 2009!

Talk to me,

Chris  

The recession is alive and kicking my friends. Less than a month before the Super Bowl, NBC has yet to fill about 10% of the ad inventory, or 6-7 ads…networks may have as many as 10 or 11 left. In 2006 Google launched Google Print Ads, believing they could to make newspaper ads work again with market-driven bid pricing and a little name dropping. Turns out that even the Goliath Google couldn’t quite figure it out, and they just announced they are terminating the program. Rough time for advertising…or is it?

Before you panic and pawn the china, remember what you do for a living and who you work with (shameless plug).

As our readers know best…life as an affiliate marketer is as fantabulous as ever. Not only are advertisers reigning in their ad spend on traditional media and moving those dollars to the web to actually see a little ROI, but the recession has left a digital arena rife with successful offers…financial, tax and debt reconstruction services, business opportunities, education, loans and grants, and job search and resume help…not to mention small splurges and “pick me ups” get us through these tough times…

And with Valentine’s Day around the corner (cough, can someone give the hubby a heads up, cough), those little indulgences will be in high demand. Rest assured, your friendly neighborhood AKMG has just the cure to scratch all of those itches. Stay tuned to your favorite affiliate manager extraordinaires for just such offers coming down the pipe…and go ahead and treat yourself to a little somethin somethin to reward yourself for paying attention…

Cheers,

Eleah

OK people, at what point did the over use of exclamation points and question marks??? Seems as though once the IM/email era hit, exclamation points started popping up after every sentence! Can you see how this can be annoying?!?!

Any copywriter will tell you that the over use of the exclamation point is faux pas. There are several reasons for this: As you can see they are a bit annoying as it feels like someone is yelling at you. Also the use of it lessons the effect of it - if everything is emphasized then nothing is. The use of multiple exclamation points looks immature.

So my suggestion for effective ad copy in email or text is to limit the use of exclamation points to one per page- yes we know you are excited about your product or how you can save me money, but there is an elegance in clean simply copy. Proof read your copy and have another look at it, are there colorful adjectives that better express the urgency or illustrate the point? One should only use the exclamation point for extreme emotion or command. Remember a well written ad copy portrays a legitimate, polished and professional image, thus resulting in more creditability and higher click rate.

Hey friends!

For all of you who I met in Vegas at the Summit, it was an absolute pleasure to meet all of you. I have to say, Vegas was a blast! While the trade show may have kicked my booty a bit, I very much enjoyed getting to know everyone and even sneak in a little time to learn blackjack from the pros (special thanks to certain super affiliates and members of the AKMG team)! l I can certainly vouch for Shanti’s previous blog about preparing for a show…cliff bars and gellins are definitely requirements for the next show…although I recommend adding to the list some Smartwaters stashed away in your booth with a prepaid Starbucks card!

Coming from the world of traditional offline direct response, there are a few notable differences that stood out to me with Affiliate Summit and the traditional DMA events I have attended in the past…

1. Age - Let’s face it, we have a young, hip industry. It’s absolutely refreshing to see such a young crowd so motivated for success. There certainly is something to be said for getting do take your affiliates out to the swankiest watering holes in Vegas to talk shop while actually being able to relate with each other on a personal level! While everyone is notably younger, let’s just say I have a hunch a few of you out there have really good fake ids… and I applaud you rockstars! As another wise Eleah (ok, Aaliya) once said, age ain’t nothing but a number. But ambition is timeless. Believe it or not, this is something lacking in the offline advertising world often more than you would think.

2. Dress code - It stands to reason given point number 1 that this crowd dressed a little more hip. It was great to not to be drowned in basic black suits that leaves everyone with icky shiny foreheads, but rather t-shirts, sneakers and plenty of accessories. Bonus points if anyone remembers the Vegas edition pumas the AKMG girls were rocking!

3. Stamina - Whew! Chatting all day, dancing and gambling all night and running to and from client meetings between checking our stats made for two long days. But when you love what you do (and all of us at AKMG certainly do) it doesn’t feel like work — and that was certainly the case! Everyone’s excitement and drive shined through. While I did notice the energy was slightly diffused on day two (ok, more than slightly for those of us there before noon!), the floor was buzzing both days with affiliates, networks and merchants meeting and greeting with strategic partners and plotting their next big thing. Kudos for running all day on an hours sleep…the energy was contagious!

4. Swag - Actually, I felt the t-shirts, koozies, foam darts, -insert cheap stuff you’re going to loose here- were all pretty similar to Affiliate Summit’s offline counterparts. But I have never seen custom skateboards handed out, nevermind ones that looked so sweet as our swag! I know, I know. You think I have to write this because I work here but seriously…hands down, AKMG boards were by far the most coveted items at the shows, and certainly the only things worth lugging home. I was hustled for boards for 48 hours straight…boards that were gone in minutes. My tip to future Summiters - arrive early.

So did I get it about right, was there anything I missed? Be sure to let me know your impressions and thoughts, and if you didn’t get a chance to say hello, drop me a line!

Cheers,

Eleah

I would like to thank everyone who stopped by our booth and had great things to say about us. It was a pleasure seeing you again and meeting those of you for the first time. 

Attending Affiliate Summit West is a very important event to be at no matter if you are a publisher or an Affiliate Manager like myself. There is something about meeting each other face to face that can rapidly speed up business ventures together. Now that we have made the connections and got a chance to hang out on a business/personal level the real opportunity happens after the show with the infamous FOLLOW UP.

Following up is the most crucial part of attending the show. What is the point of going if you don’t take your business to the next level. I will describe some keys points to following up with the valuable leads you have collected.

-”Do it now” - I know everyone is exhausted from all the long days and late nights, but do you want to make money or not. It can be very tempting to take the rest of the week off because “you work so hard at the show”. Statistics show that over 80% of the leads you collected will not be followed up with. What a waste. You have created this momentum, keep it rolling.

Have a follow up system - Something that I learned from going to my first show in Boston back in August is to organize your leads. While you are at the show and taking a prospects business card be sure to write notes on the back of their card. It will quickly and easily jog your memory to make an effective follow up. When you get back to the office start tracking the progress of contacting your leads.

Make the first follow-up. The easiest way is to send each lead an e-mail. Personalize the email with a thank you and something you remembered about them, remind them who you are and what your company does, and tell them they’ll be hearing from you again soon. 

Do what you’ve promised — immediately. If you’ve had good interactions with strong leads and promised to do something for them (like an AKMG skate deck) when you get back in the office, do that right away. These are very strong leads and you must move fast.

Follow up again. Of course, many of your contacts will also have been away from their office and will need some time to catch up, they all should be getting slammed. So you’ll probably have to follow up more than once. Don’t be discouraged get aggressive.

Trade shows are one of the most effective and efficient ways for entrepreneurs to build their businesses. But they take work — before, during, and especially AFTER the show. You’ll got to turn that pile of business cards into gold. If it was easy we would all be millionaires by now.

So what are your thoughts? Do you agree? Anything you would add to that?

Talk to me,

Chris Mello

I have to share this experience because it is like something out of a movie - something like Twilight Zone meets National Lampoon’s Summer Vacation. The last morning in Vegas I received a wake up call from Kim saying “we need to meet in 15 minutes in the lobby so we can beat LA rush hour!!”….(which later became quite a humorous statement). I literally throw all of my clothes and business cards in my suitcase, leaving behind a few trade show T-shirts, stress balls and other worthless swag strewn across the floor as I rush to try to beat the “traffic”.

This is where the fun begins…

For those of you who do not know - Interstate 15 is really the only route in (and out) of Vegas. As we approached the borders edge we notice a sign saying “road closed for blasting.” Apparently they are trying to blast away rock in efforts to pave a new path into sin city. How convenient or us there just so happens to be one last freak show of a casino at the state line - “Terribles Casino and RV Park” we have 3 more hours to kill before the road opens back up so Kim, Eleah and myself take this as a great opportunity to eat some B-fast. As we walk in we quickly realize this place has 2 themes - “The Wild West” and the word “Terrible” which they utilize in every pun imaginable. As I order my “Terrible” country fried steak I quickly realize I am trapped in a nightmarish western version of “Its a small world”. After breakfast is concluded we want to go back to sleep but instead begin a wondrous trek through this bizarre casino.

We find a wooden bridge look down and discover a serene river log ride that patrons are riding, laying down looking quite comfy. Its almost a no-brainer as to how we should spend our remaining time in this Disney-on-crank casino. We follow the river and purchase 3 passes for the “Adventure Canyon Log Flume,” a sweaty dentally challenged man built for 2 looks asks us if we had ever embarked on the Adventure Flume before, he wore a smurky half crooked smile as he looked us up and down. A little creeped out, we respond with a shake of the head and quick diversion of the eyes hoping the small talk would not continue with the Primm City local. He chuckled and said well then you’re in for a surprise, and winked.

Luckily our log arrived, we hastily climb in and quckily realize it was built for two. I holler “Eleah get in!,” certainly I would not leave her alone with the ogarish creepoid. As we pile in nice in snug we start to giggle as we realize how funny it is that three grown professional women are piled into a kiddie log ride stuck in a vortex somewhere in between Nevada and California. The ride starts off just as we had figured - calm and relaxing - just what we needed after a big meal and 3 days of non stop partying. The relaxing log ride soon took a sharp twist as it began to swiftly climb uphill. From my years of theme park experience I realize a hill is usually a prelude to a quick drop. All of a sudden we are screaming as we plummet into a pool of water outside in the freezing cold. The serene log ride quickly turns into a full on roller coaster with dips and curves and plummets. Once the log returns back indoors into a pitch black mine we suddenly become a little uneasy not knowing what to expect next.

The mine opens up back into the inside of the casino floating under bridges, just as we had initially found it….finally..we can relax…NOT!… as we are making fun of the miniature animated dolls singing we each suddenly get squirted right in the eye! I scream so loud we quickly draw a crowd and the water keep shooting from various dolls positioned all around us! AHHH! This is hell!! Kim gets her iPhone wet, cursing while Eleah and myself duck behind in efforts to not get squirted by the next psycho chucky miner doll. AHHHH!

As we get off the ride soaking wet we once again greet the toothless carny who is showing off his prize winning mug, laughing as we wring ourselves off. Funny. Real Cute. Actually we had a pretty good humor about the whole situation as we crack up almost to the point of rolling on the floor.

We decide to leave and pour into the parking lot filled with RV’s, mullets and beehives. I began thinking…who actually plans to come here? Being just 30 minutes from Vegas why not just go to Vegas and not this god forsaken bizzaro land?? Just as I am wondering this I see a sign that says “Dynomite Wednesdays!” where I realize that its probably just a trap - the blasting, the road closed- to make people get stuck in this “Terrible” casino zooland.

The line to get out of Vegas from the casino was about 200 miles long bumper to bumper and to top it off the 110 was a parking lot due to a bad accident and the 210 was also closed due to a chemical spill. 11 hours later I am in my bed reflecting on the days events, our “Terrible” road trip will surely go down in history.

Don’t have a Mac?  Well,  here’s yet another reason to use one.

A recent worm has infected more than 2.5 million Windows-based PCs since January 13, 2009.  I’m sure it’s increased since I’ve written this blog.  Yes, it’s happened again.

I’ve always thought that Microsoft Windows is holier than a block of Swiss cheese, so I’m frankly not surprised.  What’s better, is that this particular worm’s success is a direct result of Microsoft’s poor attention to their own product.  They released a ‘patch’ for this vulnerability months ago (October to be exact), but it turns out it didn’t take care of everything.  So, in the interim, this worm has had the time to feast on data of all types.  Reckless stuff, to say the least.

Here’s how you fix your PC if the New Year’s Worm ate you:
- Install the October update here
- Run the January version of the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) here

Like I always say, get a Mac - we don’t get Virii