Working on the advertiser’s side of the fence for two years has created a sense of bias in regards to maintaining brand reputation and avoiding any chance of shattering a strong brand name. I have always looked out for the advertiser, never understanding how much brand development goes on the affiliate’s side of the business, until now.

It is essential for a successful business to have a good reputation, build consumer trust and create a sense of loyalty. It is understood that the advertiser should build loyalty with their consumers, but the affiliate must do the same in order to maintain their user base. When an advertiser uses the affiliate list name, there may be a higher opening rate due to customers trusting the source of where the traffic is sent from; the list they have grown to know and trust. This is when balance is needed. Most advertisers have a need for affiliates so their products or services reach millions of potential consumers. In the same way, affiliates need advertisers so they have great offers to provide to their users.

Bottom line, it is essential to have both a strong brand name and a trusted affiliate list. Both take a lot of work to develop and are essential in potential leads or sales - which is the goal for all of us in this industry.

As can be clearly defined in history, crime adapts to the time in which it exists, the people who live in it, and the respective technologies that run it. In today’s high-tech world, we face many issues in the advertising industry that we must constantly be one step ahead of.

With the advent of lead / revenue tracking software and pixel implementations, inevitably comes the unshaven, mother’s basement-laden hacker who will make attempts to generate illegitimate profit with or without the intention of destroying the industry that we thrive in.

Here at AKMG, we’ve taken huge measures to ensure that our data and our clients’ data is dynamically protected, constantly changing and strengthening with the necessity of the times.

I have designed the custom-engineered software / hardware systems that will keep us on top of the changing world, and growing threat that we specifically experience here in the realm of advertising.

Making sure that every lead, every conversion, and every penny that we and our clients see is genuine is one of the most exciting and fantastic parts of my job.

In order to know how to prevent and stay on top of fraudulent methods, I have to know exactly how it’s actually done, and in turn, make the culprits methods useless through what I put in place. This is the foundation of reverse-engineering…making what’s useable unusable to the guy you don’t want using it in the first place.

The systems we’ve designed, and the ones we’re implementing right now, make it that much easier for us to stay way ahead of the fraud that goes on in our industry. These are big pieces that make up the integrity of AKMG’s backbone.

Beating the hackers at their own game is incredibly fun for a nerdy guy like me…and it takes one to beat one

In my life before affiliate marketing and AKMG, I used to do marketing and sales for a large brand name company where we sold ad space on a CPM basis (cost per thousand impressions, which means you pay based on the number of times your ad appears on a website). I remember the good old days when we would sit around the conference room table figuring out how to “pitch” advertisers on buying our ad space at a really high CPM. We would dig around and find the best stats possible about our audience in support of the CPM price. Then we would take away impressions from the internal house account to make the CPM price go down so it would be a great deal for the client. Now, this brand is one of the most reputable companies out there so it wasn’t that difficult to come up with great stats about their audience and brand loyalty. They have done studies that show that consumers trust a brand more if it is associated with this company. But looking at it from the advertiser’s perspective, I would want more out of my CPM buy than just a loyal audience that holds my brand on a pedestal. I would want results. I would want new customers and new sales.

Beyond just banner placement, email drops can be bought on a CPM basis. I also worked at a non-profit where I bought emails on a CPM basis. I laid out a big portion of my annual marketing budget and got nothing in return - no new leads, just money out the window and I had no stats to support why I spent that money. Not a fun predicament when I had to justify my spend.

Enter CPA (cost per action where you only pay when a new sale or lead is generated) to the rescue. What a change of pace this world is compared to CPM. We don’t have to sit around figuring out how to pitch clients, we just have to show results. Totally different mind frame. Clients are much more willing to work with you if they’re only paying for performance; it’s much easier for them to sell internally and the return-on-investment is as clear as day. The results are there so it’s NOT a matter of hoping that once people see an ad, they will remember your brand, go to your website and purchase something. We know within a day or two whether an offer works and if the media buy worked.

CPM media buys are beneficial for branding but in a tight economy, advertisers need to show results and prove that they are spending marketing money wisely. So there may be some uncertainty about when emails will be dropped when buying on CPA but the upside is that you’re only paying for leads or sales and not just when people view your ad or email creative. This is money better spent!

What a week! Offers streaming in, flying across the country to attend AdTECH and trying to maintain normality in the day to day workload in the beautiful city of Miami. Kim and I arrived in Miami late Friday evening and began our weekend of meetings (and of course a little relaxation and fun), only to realize this could be the week of total chaos, because MY PALM TREO CRASHED AND BURNED!!

We never realize how attached we are to our phones and PDA’s until they are left at home, they break or are lost. Until that moment, everything is cool and in control, we are not reliant on any technical device…. but soon the truth is exposed. You leave for work and reach over to call someone, realizing your phone is on your counter at home. Panic sets in, your heart begins to race. You try to keep your cool, but then immediately decide to turn around to retrieve your phone (completely ignoring the fact you are going to be late for work). Well, that was me this weekend, but I was on the other side of the country, two hours away from any Sprint store that could fix my phone and a scooter for transportation (forget about scooting two hours away!), so my options were limited.

Since I am not the patient type, there was no way I was going to wait until my return to get a new Palm Treo (which I hate anyways). I quickly Googled my nearest AT&T store in search of a new carrier and a new phone….why not get the sleek Curve while I wait 30 days for the new 3G iPhone that I’ve had my eye on for a while. I guess this Curve will do until I get the coveted iPhone….yes…THEN everything will be OK.

My Saturn recently bit the dust. For about 6 months now, I had to keep the engine fan running by turning on the air conditioning. Therein lies the “Catch-22″. The air conditioning also overheats the engine. So, I had to almost overheat the engine to make sure the engine didn’t overheat.

Last week, my engine-fan workaround stopped … working .. around. The engine began overheating no matter what. It was definitely time to say ‘goodbye’ to my ugly duckling of a car and move on, as sad as it was.

I just recently decided that I am the most indecisive person when it comes to purchasing a car, but I might change my mind about that.

First, I was set on an FJ Cruiser, then it was a Chevy Aspen. I finally made up my mind when I got an unbelievable, ‘once in a lifetime’ deal at the big Cadillac dealer in L.A. through a radio station I used to be affiliated with.

The new ride is officially a Cadillac SRX. It’s burgundy, gorgeous, and it has four wheels and moves when I press the gas pedal. My Saturn unfortunately lacked the last intangible of a “working vehicle”.

My Caddy is only a symbol of my new life out here. The real fast lane I get to drive in is on the Promenade at AKMG. Every day is new, fast-paced, exciting, and different, and it NEVER gets boring. Ever.

I can honestly say I love my job, I didn’t think that could be accomplished. It can. Now I can get here without my car igniting … and in a little more style, of course.

I will miss my Saturn SL1. It will forever remain in my heart and in my mind anytime I break down on Sunset Boulevard in the future.

Josh

RIP: Ugly Duckling
Hello: Dream Job

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?)

It seems like every time you turn on the news and browse any news websites, all you hear about is the recession and the terrible state of the U.S. economy. It seems as the though the CPA world is booming despite all of the doom-and-gloom in our economy. It makes sense that consumers cut their respective budgets in a recession, but that just opens up the window for advertisers to offer coupons and other discounts to entice those budget conscious consumers to continue to buy. From an online perspective, we know that marketers will move dollars from more expensive traditional media like TV to the web which leaves us in a great position to capitalize on this shift.

The news isn’t all doom and gloom which is another reason we’re seeing an upswing in the performance-based advertising business. Just today I read a story titled “The Strangest Recession in Economic History” which said that everyone is talking about the recession but we have had two straight quarters of positive GDP growth so far this year which doesn’t quite make you think of a recession. This is contrary to everything you hear about the current real estate market & housing crisis, credit card problems and constantly increasing oil prices.

We’re happy to report that our advertisers are seeing great ROI with their campaigns they are running with us even during this slowdown period. Makes me happy I’m in this business, versus the real estate business here in Miami (yuck)….

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.