I recently read this article on walletpop.com that I found interesting relating to finance (http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/11/12/debit-card-donts-for-black-friday/). It seems for the first time ever debit card purchases are becoming more widely used then credit card charges. With “Black Friday” and the rest of the holiday shopping season rolling up it appears that consumers are “Trying to keep their credit card balances low.” Purchases in general are not expected to decline at all over this season but even with the economy in its current state people would prefer to pay cash.

Debit Cards do have their advantages to the mind since your payment is made instantly instead of a weight on your shoulders however, experts are recommending that while shopping online it is important to use care while using your debit or credit card. While placing orders it is important to check your cart before paying. Since using your debit card is essentially like wiring cash it makes it that much more difficult to return orders as well as pick up fradulent orders. Your bank does not moniter your spending habits like a credit card company would. It is important to moniter your account and report fraud usage immediately to your bank. It promises to be an exciting holiday season coming up so be smart and do your research and you can treat yourself as well as everyone you are shopping for!

I think most successful bloggers can be coined as Mavens, when they find something that offers a genuine usefulness, they will share this information with everyone, not for their own gain, but with the hopes that others will enjoy this information as much as they have.

I have come across an awesome (free) twitter tool that I would love to share with everyone who owns a site that is also looking to grow twitter followers, while making additional revenue!

My long time industry friend Mike Tito hit me up a few months back to let me know he was involved with a new start up company called LiveIntent led by Matt Keiser (founder of Datran) that had developed a new very cool technology to help grow twitter followers. I was intrigued….

How it works:

- A free drop down window allows for multiple follows on a single click.

- The user can go through and select or dis-select which social personalities they like.

- Once they hit the “follow” button a pop up will ask them to log into twitter (unless they are not logged in). The user is never taken away from the website.

- Along with the website publisher personalities they could also bring advertisers within the window, to bring extra revenues to the site.

If you are interested in adding this tool to your site, reach out to me and I will queue you up directly with Mike.

We all know how Apple made the iPod and the iPhone staples around the world - so what’s next?  We are now waiting for Apples next big move - and this time its with a tablet computer.  The rumored tablet is supposed to “be the gadget to end all gadgets” says CNN.com.  The thing is, Apple doesn’t disclose any information on anything they have in the works - so technically were not supposed to know that this tablet even exists.  But the rumors are flying around - and this tablet is gaining a lot of hype.

They say that it will makes its debut sometime in the next few months.  Price is still an issue, some are saying it could cost anywhere from $600 to $1,000.  But for the features that this tablet will include - its worth price.  Its an e-reader, a gaming device, music player, TV/movie viewer, all while allowing you to surf the internet.

There are plenty other tablets out there, but my guess is that this Apple tablet will revolutionize the handheld world just like the iPhone changed the world of smartphones.

So you’re an online marketer. You have a self-proclaimed “hot new offer” that converts on an email submit, with an EPC of $58 and a click through rate of 109%! You are sure it’s going to be the new Acai! Just one problem: You don’t know anyone to market it!

As online performance-based marketing becomes more and more competitive, leveraging your network of connections is of utmost importance. Without them, your chances for growth are stifled. With them, the world of online marketing is at your fingertips and opportunities are endless!

Here are a few networking tips from a self-proclaimed “social networking butterfly”:

1. Use LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn and update it often. Of all the social networks, it is the most professional, and has the highest caliber of professionals to choose from. You can find and connect with anyone from the marketing director for Wal-Mart to the CEO of Microsoft! LinkedIn also has great advanced search options that allow you to target by keyword, location, industry and even common groups.  It’s important to keep all of your info up to date as well so people can find you. If you’re looking for gold buyer leads, say so! Keywords are pulled from your profile in searches, so the more info the better.

2. Facebook, Facebook, Facebook. Facebook gets a lot of bad publicity these days, but nevertheless is an essential networking tool for the affiliate marketer. Not only does it give you the ability to be a fly on the wall to the inner workings of the CPA universe,  but you can also gain insight  as to who is connected with who in the space, look at comments and posts on the walls of all the players, and most importantly be able to put a face with a name. I can’t tell you how many times adding a potential client to Facebook has allowed me to better adapt to a potential business partner’s personality. If I notice that someone is interested in the same band or movies as me, a  commonality is created that would have never been discovered otherwise and virtual bonding is sometimes the best you can do if you work worlds away from each other!

3. Trade Show Bonding. We all go to them, they are the 4-5 times a year us industry girls go shopping for sexy black dresses, new shoes and cute hand bags to prepare for a week of meeting with clients, VIP status at parties, and you guessed it; booth duty! Since most of our work throughout the year is done behind a computer screen, the importance of face to face meetings is heightened and making a good and lasting impression is key. You should attend these shows as frequently as you can, and bring as many business cards as you can fit in your suitcase! Also, smile! People are more likely to remember smiling face than Crabby Patty. Find a common ground with whomever you are speaking with, people always remember someone who likes what they do. Pass out cards, shake as many hands as you can find, laugh at mediocre jokes, and whatever you do, SMILE.

Ciao!
Arikka Greene - International Sales Director
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/arikka

Facebook: www.facebook.com/arikka

Follow us on Twitter! www.twitter.com/AKMGAlerts

This is the week where we all use our blog sessions to share our feelings about ad:tech NY. Having it been my first show, I expressed my expectations of it on my blog prior to going, and can now provide my opinion on what I personally gained from it.

Being an exhibitor at a trade show so large was incredibly overwhelming…in the best way possible. The opportunity to connect with new advertisers and well-known brands was at my fingertips. And seeing the eagerness of some of the advertisers to run their campaigns on our network was quite a reassuring feeling.

Coming back to the office this week has been nothing short of productive and successful. I have realized that advertisers are willing to compromise for the sake of building a relationship with us, knowing we pride ourselves on providing quality traffic for their campaigns.

I can only hope that all future ad:techs will be as successful as the last. In the meantime, if you have a campaign that we can promote on our network, shoot us an email, and let’s get this relationship going!

Ad Tech NYC has come and gone. And you know what that means (well besides a massive wave of swine flu or lengthy facebook untagging sessions). Let’s just say I am mere weeks from trading in my Pumpkin Spice lattes in for Peppermint Mochas, and somewhere outside of the 70 degree and sunny SoCal bubble in which AKMG calls home (I might add, a short two blocks from the beach), it is cold and snow is falling.

That’s right my affiliate friends, it’s officially Christmas marketing season. Start early with holiday promotions and keep the specials running up to the last minute — this will make it easy for consumers to purchase during Black Friday or any other shopping day.

According to October’s Adweek article hilighting an Accenture study, American consumers remain hesitant about the economy and about spending their money during this upcoming holiday season. BUT online Christmas shopping is expected to surpass 2008, with 64 % of respondents saying they’ll do some buying online, 46% of which expect to do the majority of their shopping online. Bottom line? Consumers are minimizing trips and hunting online for the best values. So give the people what they want!

86% of Accenture’s respondents said they “will not be moved to buy without a discount of at least 20 percent,” according to the research firm’s report of the findings, “and a quarter of shoppers will be looking for an aggressive 50% discount before they open their wallets.” I don’t know how else to say this merry marketers, but VIVA LAS COUPONS Y PROMO DISCOUNT CODES!

And according to Nielson, 25% of those polled would like to “to buy regular, staple products rather than treating themselves to something more expensive.” How about discounted ink and toner, which almost every data list responds to consistently.

Per Nielson, gift cards [email submits], toys and letters from Santa, at-home entertainment products (recipes [quality health], cookware [slap chop], home accessories [snuggie] and food and alcohol [coffee and wine clubs]) are going to be big business for Santa’s online helpers. So it’s up to you affiliteers, either get a move on and be handsomely rewarded, or slack and be left out in the cold.

Signing off from Santa Monica (yes, it’s a gift),

E

Today I was looking over the website for a growing Affiliate Marketing Software “HitPath.” At first it didn’t really wow me and just seemed like another version of LinkTrust. So as I dug a little deeper into the features I found some great ones that could potentially make my accounting life much easier. The reporting is still very similar in the ways you can filter data by Affiliates, Campaigns, Advertisers, and Categories. What really caught my eye was the customizable accounting reporting that is available with the software. You have the option to finalize month by month numbers to ensure that test/ fraud leads have been removed from the system.

 The best feature that I noticed on the list was the custom export to QuickBooks reporting. The HitPath team will consult with the Accounting Department of your company and create specific reports that the accountants can export and use for their day to day accounting procedures. Seeing that our company uses QuickBooks as our software this would be great to be able to reference and combine everything to one platform! The accounting features that blend with the Tracking Software sound great with this system. Now that we are growing to focus on an International Market more and more we have the need to track revenues and commssions in international currencies. With Hit Path we can trak them in Euro’s, Pounds, etc. This makes it much easier on the accountant not having to convert every international campaigns revenue to get a true report of earnings or payments owed to affiliates. These are just some of the few features that impressed me with this system. You can view all of the features on their website at http://www.hitpath.com/. Have a Happy Halloween!!!

It’s finally here…the highly anticipated Ad:Tech New York trade show. Why am I so excited? Let me count the ways…

First off, this is my first industry trade show. After this, I will no longer be considered a rookie! My eyes will be opened to a whole new dimension of the online marketing world - a world I am pretty anxious to explore and to learn about from old trade show pros.

I also cannot wait to finally put faces (and personalities) to names of all the advertisers I work with day in and day out. There’s just something about meeting someone in person that helps makes business/professional relationships a little more casual. Or maybe it’s the drinks that you told yourself you would only have one glass of….

Most importantly, I am eager for the opportunity to network and begin to build long lasting, quality relationships with more online advertisers and other industry folks. 

And yes, my friends, Ad:Tech NY will also be the debut of our coolest skate deck to date, handed out to only our favorite affiliates! Make sure to sign up as an affiliate at http://www.akmg.com/affiliates/SignUp.html for your chance to snag this one-of-a-kind collector’s item!

Come visit us at booth #1734. See you in New York!  

Many people have been waiting patiently for Microsoft to unleash Windows 7 - and it’s finally here.  Microsoft’s Vista was plaguing an unfortunate number of Microsoft Windows users for far too long (many considering Vista as Microsoft’s biggest failure).

Some of the features of the New Microsoft OS: Windows 7 were simply enhancements from now-mature technologies that were introduced with Vista.  New hardware and improved security seem to be some of the key highlights of this new OS.  Some of the obvious features within the new user interface is something called Aero Peek, which makes every open window transparent except the one you’re focusing on.  This feature, along with the new ‘Jump Lists’ feature can be a gift from heaven.  Jump Lists file and organize all of your most recent documents directly in the taskbar.  Now for people like me who have 14,309 windows open at a time, this is something that I find pretty useful.  Another obvious upgrade is the Taskbar.  This taskbar (after 14 years of very subtle changes) has finally changed for the better.

I would recommend Windows 7 to any PC user.  I’d say it is their best OS yet.  And let’s be honest, anything is an upgrade from Vista.  Windows 7 is a solid, easy, and eye pleasing OS.  The new features, along with the hardware, are all improvements that should make Windows 7 a great success.

The Ladies of AKMG are headed out to Ad Tech New York, and to say we are excited would be the understatement of the year. And while I will undoubtedly forget to pack until the very last minute, let me tell you a few tips I won’t be forgetting and neither should you.

1. Study Up. Do your homework on who you want to meet. Affbuzz.com should help you narrow it down to a few industry peers to look out for. And for goodness sake, if you see someone you follow on Affbuzz but don’t quite had the gumption to approach just yet, do like Mike and just do it. No time like the present to introduce yourself to him or her, lest you wait yet another three months to try for round two.

2. Comfort trumps fashion. Ladies, why would you wear heals, and fellas, skip the sweat stains and the suits. The venue is busy, the lights are hot, and the show room is (aff)buzzing. 

3. Are you gellin? Dr. Scholls Gel-ins are mandatory. Because lets face it ladies and gents, after 18 hours straight in stilettos you will adapt quite the pimp limp by day two.

4. H20 is your friend. Be sure to pack a spare bottled water or two, and have plenty on hand at all times. I mean, let’s face it. You’re going to stay out far later than originally planned, you will then drink too much coffee to overcompensate for your lack of sleep in the morning, and this is surely a recipe for dehydration. That, coupled with the two long days of jib jabbering sure to come, leaves for one very sore throat. So keep the H20 within arms reach at all times.

5. Come armed and dangerous. Bring your business cards or be forewarned, I will make you fill out your contact info in my little black biz dev book. Always keep an extra pen and if you’re a pro’s pro, a Sharpy for those weird glossy to write on, for each card you get from someone, you should jot down a quick note about that particular person so you remember them post show.

6. Keep your eye on the prize. Maximize your showroom time by making meetings, keeping a mental wish list of your goals in coming. Make meetings with everyone relevant, and be sure all for your conversations keep on point.

***Mandatory stop by booth #1734 for the best affiliate managers in the biz and quite possibly AKMG’s sickest skate deck yet. Had to go out with a bang, and the final deck in the Gary Taxali series does not disappoint. Oh, and if you don’t work with AKMG yet, you better sign up. Just 100 decks for current affiliates…. http://akmg.com/affiliates/SignUp.html

Ready to take a big bite out of that shiny apple…

Blog-O-Rama Mama!