Haiko de Poel, Jr.: The Affiliate Voice? by Missy Ward

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“The secret of success is constancy of purpose.” – Disraeli. This quotation appears over 18,000 times on ABestWeb.com – the largest affiliate marketing forum with more than 43,000 registered members. The founder of ABestWeb, Haiko de Poel, Jr, has included this citation in every one of his posts to remind readers that if one commits to their goals and those objectives are honorable, they will triumph. In these words, you will find the formula to ABestWeb’s and Haiko’s success.

Before ABestWeb, or ABW as it is frequently called, Haiko was one of the progenitors of prepaid phone cards and owned a small, long distance resale company. He also experimented with a few inventions and design trademarks.

Haiko learned about the potential of the Internet while watching television. He quickly ascertained that the domain name would be crucial and in 1998 he began to buy and speculate in popular domain names.

Once the domain name market crashed, Haiko turned to affiliate marketing to derive revenue from the domain inventory he had acquired. His first website was a personal website containing Homer Simpson eating a donut in space. This site, he readily admits was the kind of site that members of ABW would tear apart.

In 1999, he created his first business site, MarlboroMiles.com – an online petition to have the Marlboro Miles catalog placed online. He soon realized that his visitors were also looking for a place to redeem their miles. His long-term goal was to convince Phillip Morris that MarlboroMiles.com had become the source for Marlboro Miles information, so that they would eventually purchase the website – or so he hoped. (Keep in mind that at this time, selling trademark domain names was not against ICANN nor Trademark rules.)

In an effort to offset the costs of the site and what he felt would be impending legal issues with Phillip Morris, he affiliated with Ask Jeeves to promote their search engine. While he didn’t quite figure out everything there was to know about affiliate marketing then, he did realize that tracking was an inherent problem as he earned a whopping $0.30 on millions of hits.

Needless to say, his first brush with affiliate marketing left a sour taste in his mouth and he decided to take leave, post-haste.

About a year later, he decided to join Commission Junction in an effort to monetize his remaining domain inventory. After a major tracking incident and what he felt was unacceptable responsiveness, he realized the need to facilitate the affiliate’s right to be heard. In 2001, ABestWeb was born with a goal of becoming a trusted third-party to protect and allow for the unencumbered affiliate voice.

The forum began to gain critical mass and cause quite a few stirs in the affiliate marketing community. In its infancy, moderators were recruited who were respected and trusted, including “Leader”, who Haiko believes added additional credibility to the forum.

By 2002, ABW became known as the forum to go to when you wanted to know about affiliate marketing. Later that year, ABW was featured in three articles covering Parasiteware™, a term Haiko coined to describe, in a nutshell, any technology that overwrites affiliate links.

Today, with nearly 1 million posts and an Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Marketing Advocate under its belt, ABW is more than just a forum that focuses on the challenges within the affiliate marketing industry. It’s a community of affiliate marketers that share ideas, joke around, talk about their lives and families and challenge each other.

However, the fundamental principles in which the forum was founded are still first and foremost. There is and will never be any love for affiliate marketers that are unethical unless they are willing to change, prove it, and continue to stay that way.

For those individuals or companies bordering on the “grey area” with their policies, that wish to continue doing business “as is”, this author’s advice is to enter at your own risk.

Fundamentals

de Poel’s childhood was unique. He was born in Mexico City where his father worked for Jose Cuervo, Int’l and his mother, the Norwegian embassy. His parents separated when he was two and he subsequently moved with his mother and sister to the Upper East Side of NYC to live with his godfather, who was the Norwegian Ambassador. His life was privileged and fun and values were instilled in him at a very early age.

Today, Haiko lives in Jamaica Estates, NY, a small family community that had once been filled with Tudor-style, tree-lined streets. Unfortunately, the recent influx of a younger generation has changed the area dramatically by building what Haiko calls “McMansions” and as such, he’s currently looking to move to Florida, with Amelia Island being a targeted location.

One of his personal goals is to try to learn and make a difference in everything he does. He currently teaches Lacrosse to children in a non-profit organization in which he belongs. Haiko is also a vocal voice in his local community and has a passion for home-improvement and gardening.

Looking to the Future

Haiko believes that the largest hurdle that affiliate marketing faces can be summed up in one word. “Ethics. Those who have them will keep fighting those that don’t.” In his opinion, ShareASale and AvantLink are good examples of companies that are doing affiliate marketing right. He attributes their success to good principles and open-communication, which leaves no room for speculation or doubt.

One piece of advice that Haiko gives to affiliates just starting out is, “Get the best hosting plan that they can get. If their site is down, they’re not making money.”

de Poel also points out that “Affiliates need to pay attention to the economy. They need to realize which niches and keywords will work in a recession.” He also suggests “staying away from niches like travel, car sales, and high-end electronics and looking more towards eco-friendly and savings type offers.”

When asked to provide a wish-list of things he would like to see happen to the affiliate marketing industry, Haiko took no time in sounding off a laundry-list of items including:

• “Industry reputation improvement. The bad players have besmirched it through almost heinous activities so there needs to be some major damage control.”
• “Policing. We either do it as an industry or some other entity will.”
• “Standards and best practices. As an industry we need to get together to develop standards and best practices that we will all adhere to.”
• “Enforcement. If we don’t legally enforce these standards and best practices, then all we will do is continue to have to work on our industry reputation. Enforcement is crucial for the long-term viability of affiliate marketing.”
• “Separation. The industry needs to be separated so that the individual voices of the group can be heard and their interests protected. If this doesn’t happen, larger money groups within the industry will continue to steam roll the smaller ones and we go back to reputation management once again.”
• “Communication. As I’ve always said, communication is the key. You just have to allow all to speak and all to listen.”

When asked what he wants to do in the future outside of ABW, he chuckled, “You mean, what do I want to be when I grow up? I don’t know. Maybe a police officer or fireman. All I know is that I want to keep helping people no matter what industry I’m in.”

Missy Ward is the Co-Founder of Affiliate Summit, the premier conference for the Affiliate Marketing Industry and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine. She is also an active affiliate.

Download issue 2 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue2.pdf.

Articles from issue 2 of FeedFront will also be posted at http://feedfront.com/archives/category/issue-2/.

Guide to Conference Networking by Shawn Collins

Face-to-face networking during conferences is key to creating new business relationships and growing existing ones.

Here are some key strategies for optimizing your time before, during, and after Affiliate Summit or any other conference you attend.

Define Your Goals

You can’t get ROI if you don’t identify the targeted “R”. So, determine what you hope to achieve from the conference in order to gauge how effective the trip is for you.

Stay in the Conference Hotel

Conferences will have a special rate at the hotel where the conference is taking place. Book early, because the blocks of rooms typically sell out.

In addition to the convenience of being physically close to the conference, you are also able to engage in the informal networking all over the hotel before and after conference hours.

Target List of Attendees

Review the list of attending companies for the conference and seek out people in the conference social network to pre-network in advance.

This will enable you to break the ice and set up meetings.

Also, search Google images for people and create a discreet compilation of headshots of your targets to help identifying folks you wish to meet.

Map Out Exhibitors

Check out the conference Web site for a map and list of exhibitors.

Print out the map and mark it up with the companies you want to visit and make notes with questions you have for each company.

Business Cards

Create a customized business card that will stick out. I would suggest designing a new business card for each conference you attend.

Include a reference to the conference to help people remember where they met you.

Make it bigger or different in some other way… maybe a theme. Just do something other than the typical card that gets lost in a stack of similar cards.

Prepare for Networking Opportunities

There are a number of formal and informal networking events at a conference.

Any time there is a chance to meet people, whether it is a coffee break, structured networking session, or just milling around the hotel lobby, take advantage of these times to make business.

Pre-Engage

Become part of the conversation with industry leaders. In advance of a conference, there are a number of ways you can engage notable figures in the industry.

Call in to podcasts, post comments to blogs, send feedback to newsletters, respond in forum threads, and add them on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

This way you will have a rapport with these folks when you meet face to face at the conference.

Perfect Your Elevator Speech

Be prepared to deliver you elevator pitch (or elevator speech), which is a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project.

It’s called an elevator pitch, because it shouldn’t last any longer than an elevator ride – maybe thirty seconds or 100-150 words.

Follow Up

All the networking is for naught if you don’t follow up. Forget e-mail and phone. Touch base with a hand-written note.

Most importantly, be memorable and concise. Start up relationships at the conference and build them afterwards.

Shawn Collins is a Co-founder of Affiliate Summit and Co-Editor-in-Chief of FeedFront Magazine.

Download issue 2 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue2.pdf.

Articles from issue 2 of FeedFront will also be posted at http://feedfront.com/archives/category/issue-2/.

FeedFront Issue 2 Editor’s Note

It’s all about you. Well actually, it’s all about all of us.

We’re all in the affiliate marketing industry together, and when we act in concert for a common cause, great things can happen.

That is a guiding philosophy of Affiliate Summit, where we strive to run a true user- generated conference. An event by affiliate marketers and for affiliate marketers.

The whole operation lives and breathes on feedback, input, and participation from the industry.
And that’s the way things are going with FeedFront Magazine, too. The articles here are from the people of affiliate marketing: affiliates, merchants, and networks.

We figure the movers, shakers, and doers in affiliate marketing are the best to share perspectives and ideas, rather than folks that have to research how it’s all done.

But we can do more than come together to share information. We can also make a difference in the world.

It’s been inspiring to see affiliate marketers mobilize via Affiliate Summit to raise funds for a number of charities, including Susan G. Komen for the Cure, March of Dimes, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada, and the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation.

Most recently, we’ve been working to benefit The LEAGUE, a school-based system that combines state standards-based lesson plans with community service events that teach students the value of giving and recognizes them for their efforts.

What can you give back today? Volunteer your time, ideas, and resources for a better industry and a better world.

To whom much is given, much is expected.

Missy Ward & Shawn Collins
FeedFront Co-Editors-in-Chief

Download issue 2 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue2.pdf.

Articles from issue 2 of FeedFront will also be posted at http://feedfront.com/archives/category/issue-2/.

Contribute to Issue 3 of FeedFront Magazine

The second issue of FeedFront Magazine is out and landing in mail boxes right now, so we’re on to issue 3.

The next issue of FeedFront will be coming out in October to coincide with the Affiliate Summit Social Media conference.

The deadline for articles for issue 3 of FeedFront is August 22, 2008.

If you are interested in writing an article, go to the FeedFront contact form to submit a one sentence summary on what you’d like to cover.

Articles are a maximum of 500 words - no exceptions. Anything longer will not be considered.

Also, if you take some good pictures at Affiliate Summit 2008 East, upload them to Flickr.com and tag them as feedfront

One picture will be picked as the cover photo for issue 3 and the person who took it will get a free, full conference pass to Affiliate Summit 2009 West, taking place January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas.