Networking is the name of the game in any business. Any type of business is built on networking yourself and your company every single day. I make networking such a priority that is takes up almost half of my work day.Up until Affiliate Summit Boston in August all of my networking was been over the phone or online. Online networking was at its best 1 1/2 weeks ago with the online expo. It was a virtual online conference and I had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of affiliates in the comfort of my office. It was great because you could contact hundreds of people at a time. If I had a connection with a person I could continue to talk with and set up a follow up after the show. If I didn’t have a connection with someone I could just not answer back to them and quickly move on to the next one. All in all it was a worth while experience.The next major networking event for me will be Affiliate Summit Boston in August. I have heard this is going to not only be a major event to build my clientele but a lot of fun in the process. I will be able to meet a lot of affiliates I have been talking with over the last few months face to face. As well as a ton of new prospects. The great thing about in-person networking is an affiliate can meet the real Chris Mello. I feel I can make a real connection with people in-person and make a much more solid relationship.So my question to you affiliates: “Is it better for you (Affiliate) to meet someone like me (an Affiliate Mgr.) in-person?” or “Do you feel more comfortable just networking online?” In-person you get the benefit of meeting face to face and get a good sense of the person. Networking online you don’t get the in-person connection but you can potentially meet a lot more people at one time.So what do you think Affiliates? Face to face or over the web?Talk to me,Chris Mello

For those of us who are on the fast track to success. Putting in a ton of hours making calls, prospecting, emailing, closing deals is an everyday occurrence. So as we are hammering it day in and day out the question arises of: How do you break up your day?Do you go non stop for 16 hours straight? (I suggest you shouldn’t or you will go…insane)Do you workout? A workout can be a great option especially for all of us that sit for a majority of the day. It can get the blood flowing and recharge you for the rest of the day.Do you read? Some people feeling reading is great because it can be very relaxing and calm you down especially when the day is hectic.Here at AKMG we have quite a few “out-of-the-box” ideas we are implementing to keep us fresh and energetic throughout the day to hit our numbers. Here is an example of a typical week:Monday:  to kick off the week!Tuesday:  to cool off.Wednesday:  Remember our skateboards? Well we use hooverboards at the office.Thursday:  We have our celebrity friends stop by to hang outFriday:  We are just happy its Friday!Now that you know the secrets to our success what’s yours? How do you break up your day?Talk to me,Chris Mello

Lately I have been gearing most of my day to prospecting new affiliates for AKMG. So I am siting in my living room watching the Track and Field US Olympic Trials and I started thinking…does my quest to find the best affiliates on the planet have to be a sprint or an endurance race?

Well I think both.

When I think of building a great affiliate business sprinting and endurance must go together. Sprinting, to make the most out of each work day. A goal I set for myself this month to contact 50 new affiliates a day. Now if have the endurance and stay consistent that could be 12,500 contacts I make in a 1 year period. Not too bad. I’m sure I will come across some great affiliates along the way.

Our sprint vs. endurance mindset also happens in other areas of our life. One thing I love to do is workout. People will always ask me, “How do I lose this?” or “How do I lose that?”. They think if you workout hard for a couple of weeks you should have amazing results! The truth is it takes the daily hard work (sprint) and the consistent habit over time (endurance) to build anything great business, health, relationship, etc…

So what do you think affiliates? Do you have that sprinters mindset? How long do you think it takes to build a successful affiliate business?

Talk to me,

Chris

The question was posed to me this week, and it really threw me back and made me think. The affiliate industry as we all know is a BIG TIME business otherwise why would we be in it….right? The competition is fierce, and if you want to be at the top of the food chain you must have that one thing that separates you from the pack.  What is that exactly? I have a few ideas:

WORK ETHIC. Are you willing to put in the long hard hours to get the job done? Are you willing to take your business to the next level? Personally,  I have to love my job to get to the next level. Because I do love my job,  I get to new levels every day and I make huge strides to take my affiliates with me.

PERSISTENCE. Your ability to not stop until the job is complete even if it takes 50, 100, 1000 contacts to get that next BIG client. In my mind, affiliates will only know who you are if you tell them. There is no other way around it. If I’m bugging you, its because I want you to make money!

FOCUS. I was watching one of my favorites TV shows this week, The Big Idea , with Donny Deutsch on CNBC.  On the show he had a very successful Navy Seal and when he was asked what makes him successful, he said, “you have to be totally focused on your goal”. Distractions may slow you down and  take you off course, but if you stay laser focused you will win. With all the distractions of AIM, email, phone calls, company meetings, etc. this business can be very difficult to remain focused.

TALENT. God given gifts that you have been given. Do you use all your talent to reach your full potential? Some might say some people are more talented then others. They may have a point, but I believe each of us do have that one special talent that separates us. Some people find this talent, and some people never do. My talent in this business is adapting to everyone’s personality. If you are hyper; I can be hyper back. If you are quiet; I can tone it down. I feel making people comfortable is key when communicating.

Those are a few of my favorites. So what is yours? Talk to me Affiliates.

What separates you from the next guy or gal out there? There is lots of competition!

What is your work ethic? What makes you persistent? How do you stay focused daily? What kind of talent do you have?

What are your thoughts?

Talk to me,

Chris

As I start my 5th week here at AKMG I’m starting to get more comfortable each day with my internet lingo, my co-workers and especially my Affiliates. We had our Monday morning conference call this week and the topic came up about “what separates one Affiliate Manager from the next?” Obviously hard work, keeping your promises, being available, etc….but what can really separate you from the rest of the pack? Having Fun! Let’s be honest everyone, a good Affiliate gets inundated with tons of emails and phone calls daily. What do you think they would respond to? Would it be a normal email that says what every other email says (we are the best network, we are wonderful, run offers with us!), or an upbeat energetic Affiliate manager that always has something interesting to say?

Let’s take it one step further, I pose the question to the Affiliates affiliates of the world:

What’s the most interesting gift or idea that an Affiliate Manager has done for you?

Whether its prospecting you, trying to get you to run that hot new offer etc…

Is it flowers, candy, a singing telegram or a skateboard (haha)?

What is it? Let me know… I’m interested to hear your response.

Have a great week!

Chris

Allow me to introduce myself (and hopefully it doesn’t sound too much like a personal ad). My name is Chris Mello and it the start of my 3^rd week here at AKMG as an Affiliate Manager. I very excited to be here and thankful for the opportunity presented to me. I am new to the affiliate game so everyday is interesting and exciting to me.

Now for the brief personal ad: I am 27 years old born and raised in the OC (Orange County, CA) and recently gotten married and moved to Santa Monica 9 months ago. Straight out of college I worked for a financial firm doing sales and marketing and I have also been a certified fitness trainer for 7 years. My cousin, Kim White, President of AKMG, introduced me to the AKMG opportunity about 2 months ago. And I have always had a passion for sales, opportunity, meeting new and interesting people, and working out (of course). So when my cousin told me about this great place called AKMG, I thought about it for a couple of days and came back to her and said…”I want in!”

I look forward to the journey ahead, all the people I will meet and making a name for myself in the Affiliate industry with AKMG.

Chris

(how about that blast from the past pic?)