5 Minutes with Gary Vaynerchuk - By Shawn Collins

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Gary Vaynerchuk, known as the “Social Media Sommelier” and for his in-your-face videos, is the host of Wine Library TV and the Director of Operations at Wine Library in Springfield, New Jersey.

His new book, “101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World”, puts all of his energy and passion for wine into print. Gary will also be the keynote speaker for Affiliate Summit 2009 in Las Vegas.

Shawn: What do you think is the most important social media site?

Gary: I would say it’s neck and neck between Twitter and Facebook, depending on how you use things. I think Facebook has a lot more power and could really go after Twitter and take them out by creating a Facebook mobile thing that looks a lot like it.

But Twitter or something like Twitter. If Twitter is unable to scale, whether it is FriendFeed or Pownce or something we don’t know about right now, will be the future, because mobile is the future.

Shawn: What do you think of FriendFeed?

Gary: I have not dabbled into it enough to answer, but I know a lot of people are enjoying the threaded conversations there. FriendFeed has a very legitimate chance to grab the market. I think they’ll be one of the places.

People realize that Twitter has scalability issues and FriendFeed is probably working on trying to compete with them as we speak.

Shawn: Why do you use Viddler to embed on Wine Library TV, instead of the Revision3 version?

Gary: Viddler has been good to me. We’ve had a two year relationship. When my company started using it two years ago, instead of YouTube, that was a risky move, because there was a lot more to gain, in theory, with YouTube.

But they have been great to me, they’ve had great service, and I believe in the guys over there, so I want to support them.

Shawn: Do you have any good stories you can share from your book tour?

Gary: I signed a dude’s chest the other day. It would have been cool if it was a chick, but you take what you can get. Nothing so crazy other than it’s so humbling to see a hundred people show up to your book signing in Seattle and Maryland and Portland.

Shawn: I saw the episode of Wine Library TV when you were in Boston. Was it tough working with a Patriots bucket?

Gary: That’s why I didn’t spit it in. So I had to drink the wine. That’s what made it tough. It was a really fun time.

Shawn: Since you talk about the importance of building a personal brand, which player from the New York Sack Exchange (defensive line for the New York Jets in the early 80s) do you think created the best personal brand?

Gary: Bar none Mark Gastineau. When you’d go outside of New York, a lot of people knew Gastineau. Of course, I loved the subtleties of a hard-nosed player like Klecko, but the fact of the matter is that Gastineau was able to create the biggest personal brand.

Shawn: Do you have any advice for people who are trying to build a personal brand through social media?

Gary: Authenticity, baby. Be a RAT. Be Real, Authentic, and Transparent. And know what you’re talking about. That means going as niche as you have to.

So, if you think you know a lot about basketball, but you realize you know more about the Houston Rockets, then do that. And if you know more about Hakeem Olajuwon than the Houston Rockets, then you can do Hakeem Olajuwon TV or the Hakeem Olajuwon blog.

I think people need to be champion of their sub-domain, and I think people need to go to their lowest common denominator to achieve that.

Shawn: One last thing… what do you see in your future after the wine life is over?

Gary: Then it will be the Jets life. I want to buy the Jets. That’s where I want to go. There will probably be one stop in between. I just don’t know what that is, yet, but I don’t know that the wine life can achieve the $2 billion I need to buy the Jets, but that is where I am going.

Shawn: In the meantime, are you going to get a box at the stadium?

Gary: Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I am so focused on not wasting any funds along the way, so I feel like that couple hundred thousand could cost me.

Watch Gary at http://tv.winelibrary.com/ and http://garyvaynerchuk.com/.

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 Magazine, Issue 3

The third issue of FeedFront, the official magazine of Affiliate Summit, has been published and it will be hitting mailboxes over the coming weeks.

Issue three will also be distributed at Affiliate Summit Social Media 2008 on October 5 in NYC.

The cover features Cory Booker, who delivered the keynote address at Affiliate Summit East 2008, and the issue includes a transcript of his speech.

There are also articles on widgets, the effectiveness of long-form sales letters, a profile of Melissa Salas of Buy.com, time management, and more.

Plus, this issue features the program for Affiliate Summit Social Media 2008.

Issue 1 and Issue 2 of FeedFront Magazine can be downloaded as a pdf file or you can read the articles online at feedfront.com.

Get the FeedFront RSS if you’d like to get all of the articles as they are published to the feed.

If you haven’t subscribed, you can get the magazine for free at http://feedfront.com/free-subscription/.

Affiliate Manager Communication Strategies - By Trisha Lyn Fawver

It’s been said over and over that the key to success as an affiliate manager is maintaining good relationships with your affiliates.

The foundation of any good relationship is communication, enforcing the need to be available across multiple channels for your affiliates to get in touch with you.

Making yourself available for your affiliates will increase your effectiveness as an affiliate manager, assist you in preventing fraud, and help to create a lasting bond with your affiliates.

People are all different, and so are their preferences in communications. Broad availability is your best bet. Make yourself available across more than one medium. In your communications to your affiliates, make sure they have multiple ways to contact you at their fingertips.

Your e-mail address, phone number, and physical address should append all messages and correspondence you send to the affiliate so they know immediately how to reach you.

When calling and leaving a message, remember to always leave your phone number - never assume they already have it. If affiliates know how to contact you easily, they will be more likely to get a hold of you before making any wrong moves.

This will help you to keep your affiliates on the straight and narrow with immediate feedback on their promotions ideas.

Communication is dynamic, and in this day and age the number of communication venues is increasing exponentially. Try to stay on that trendy wave and add new ways for affiliates to connect with you as the tide changes.

Create accounts across the popular Instant Messenger channels (AIM, Yahoo, MSN) and across the various microblogging ventures like Twitter, Plurk, and Pownce.

This quick way to get someone’s attention is incredibly easy to monitor with the right desktop applications, and provides affiliates with a way to instantly ping you if they need help. That kind of instant access to you will win over their business.

Social Networks are also a great way to connect with people and interact on a level that’s more human than corporate.

Networks like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn allow you to connect with your affiliates and share your interests and other ideas. A secure personal relationship with your affiliates will benefit both parties.

As the affiliate manager, your insight into the affiliates’ hobbies will help you to understand how they run their business, and might just give you some unique ideas that you can pass on to them to help you both grow their promotions of your program.

Their insight into your interests will also allow them to make a personal connection and extend some trust to you when you do make those hair-brained suggestions after learning they collect 1970’s McDonalds Happy Meal toys.

Keeping channels open for your myriad of affiliates to contact you will make you an affiliate manager to be trusted, and reckoned with!

Trisha Lyn Fawver is the Marketing Manager for PsPrint.com.

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/

Enhancing Your Customer Service Practices - By Emilio Yepez

After years of consulting merchants on best practices for developing strong, profitable affiliate programs, I have found that merchants sometimes fail to see the importance of implementing strong customer service practices to better support their affiliate program.
Below are three customer service practices to consider that can impact your affiliate program.

1. Merchants who display a toll-free customer service number on their site and provide service to their online customers via phone can have a negative impact on affiliates.

To ensure stronger affiliate relationships and happier clients, I recommend merchants consider
investing in software or a service that will help you track affiliate referrals from sales made over the phone.

Affiliate Marketers spend time and resources developing a stream of traffic to your site; go the extra mile and demonstrate your commitment to supporting their efforts. I assure you, putting this procedure in place will help you recruit new affiliates and strengthen existing affiliate relationships.

2. Typically, online consumers want to purchase products online for simplicity sake. However, if questions arise regarding shipping, returns, etc. it can cause them to place a call to the merchant instead.

Consider using a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section strategically within your site, to make it easier for the shopper to find the information.

Providing quick answers to simple questions will further encourage the shopper to complete the transaction online.

3. Finally, direct your Customer Service agent(s) to ask your customers how they found your company on the web.

By asking this simple question, you’ll be able to quantify the value of your affiliate program and your other online marketing channels.

You’ve spent resources and time on trying to develop a strong and healthy affiliate program. Don’t let phone tracking or inefficient customer service practices hinder your growth.

Emilio Yepez is Vice President of Operations for Andy Rodriguez Consulting and is directly responsible for Business Development and Affiliate Program Management.

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/

Merchants, Bring On the Videos - By Tricia Meyer

Psstt…hey, merchant! Yes, you. The one with the great products and good conversion rates but no videos, yet.

I’m talking to you. And I am quite certain that I am not the only one trying to get your attention.

Although I actively post my own how-to and product demonstration videos on my site, it is always good when I can give my visitors a variety of videos. This includes videos made directly by the merchants.

The merchants are the ones with all of the products on hand and the knowledge about how to use them.

The number of merchants with videos available for affiliates right now is incredibly small, compared to the number of overall merchants. Less than 1% of the merchants I’m currently promoting offer video to use in my marketing efforts.

The format of the video is not all that important. Affiliates will find ways to work with YouTube, Qoof, or whatever you give us. If we can embed the video with our affiliate links it is all the better, but it is not necessary.

Some of the merchants who are ahead of the curve are giving us a variety of options. For my visitors who like instructional videos, I love the Sephora how-to videos on YouTube that show everything from how to get the “cat eye” look to which waterproof makeup works.

For general sales, products like the Little Giant Ladder come across much better in their Avantlink videos than in any banner or text links I could put up.

What doesn’t help me is a link from my site to your site where you show the video yourself. That has been done for years. I want your video to put on my own site where I know that my visitors will watch it and want to click the affiliate links.

If the video is available on your site, give me a way to embed it on my site.

Merchants, if you share our vision for the use of video in affiliate marketing and choose to make videos for affiliates; we will find ways to use them. Well-placed merchant videos can be the key to success for all of us in the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Tricia Meyer is the owner of loyalty site Sunshine Rewards. See her mix of videos at http://www.SunshineRewards.com/videoblog.

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/

The 10 Affiliate Manager Commandments - By Kim Rodgers

Below is a listing of personal philosophies that I follow each day in my role as an affiliate manager.

I call them my Ten Affiliate Manager Commandments, because I see them as imperative, in order to do my job effectively and foster the bond between my company and the affiliates that are in my program.

Ponder them and try to incorporate some or all into your affiliate program.

1. Thou shall always be accessible.
Be available through different communication channels, including email, phone, forums and Facebook. If affiliates can’t get a hold of you, chances are they will move on to your competition.

2. Honor thy parent company and thy affiliate partner.
As an affiliate manager, your alliances are to both parties. Ultimately, both the company and affiliates share the same goals: generate revenue, experience growth and achieve a positive ROI.

3. Thou shalt not work with affiliates who steal.
This includes adware, loyaltyware, cookie-stuffers, and PPC violators. It’s your program. Take ownership and clean house. Educate yourself at ABestWeb.com’s Parasiteware forum and AffiliateFairPlay.com.

4. Thou shall adhere to a code of ethics.
If you are, or if you allow affiliates to partake in unethical activity, you are stealing from your company. In this business, reputation is everything. Do the right thing from the beginning and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

5. Thou shall pay commissions timely and fairly.
Pay commissions on time, every time. If the payment schedule is interrupted, communicate the issue. Affiliates are not employees, but they should be treated with the same respect employees deserve.

6. Thou shall be a champion for affiliates within the organization.
As an affiliate manager, it is your duty and obligation to advocate for your affiliates within your company. Educate C-levels to understand the value affiliates bring to the table. Hint: It’s more than just revenue.

7. Thou shall communicate effectively.
Affiliate partners must be kept abreast of any changes to the program, including changes to your site, product line and any tools they may be utilizing. Make it a common practice to communicate with them on a regular basis.

8. Thou shall be knowledgeable about the industry.
Learn by participating in forums and reading industry magazines. Attend Affiliate Summit and other gatherings to network and visit affiliate marketing Web sites. Take the initiative to educate yourself about affiliate marketing and Web marketing in general.

9. Thou shalt not remove affiliates for low or no performance.
These affiliates have shown interest. Now it is your job to help get the ball rolling. Reach out, ask if there is anything they need or if they have questions, but never hit the delete button. Doing so kills any possible chance of a relationship in the future.

10. Thou shalt not become idle.
Even the best in the business work hard to maintain that status. The sky is the limit. Rarely do wonderful things happen to those that sit around and wait for them.

Kim Rodgers manages the 4Checks.com affiliate program , which was voted Best Affiliate Program and Most Improved Affiliate Program (ABestWeb, 2007).

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/

Put Marketing Back into Affiliate Marketing - By Mark Olsen

More than ever, there is often something missing in affiliate marketing–the marketing!

Value-driven information about the product is the secret ingredient that helps some affiliates deliver quality results and bigger commissions. By forging the link between the consumer and the product, smart affiliates help create long-term value and profitable partnerships.

How can you use marketing to increase your profits? Follow the examples of super-affiliates who put marketing back into affiliate marketing.

Jim Kukral – the Flip Monger.

Jim is a great example. Featured in the first issue of FeedFront Magazine, he leads the way in using video to provide content that actually “markets” Flip cameras to the world.

I don’t own a Flip. But if and when I do, I’ll certainly credit that purchase to one man: Jim. Now here is an example of a true affiliate MARKETER.

He has created many sites such as thedailyflip.com and onlinevideotoolkit.com, written hundreds of posts, and posted tons of videos all about the Flip camera.

He is marketing their product because he either really believes in it – or does a very good job pretending that he does.

Real Stories Versus Spam.

I recently took a trip to Hawaii. I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki, enjoyed local restaurants, and visited nearby attractions.

My family loved it. We were crazy about Waimea Bay and the cliff we all jumped off, the perfect sand, awesome views, and the sea turtle that swam along side of us. Great family fun!

Now, I’m fired up to do affiliate marketing based on my experience–blogging, photo galleries, videos, articles, and reviews.

See, marketing isn’t hard–you simply promote things, places, services you love, need, or seek (or you do a really good job of pretending).

Giving Marketing Back it’s Groove

Building valuable content that drives results takes effort. Don’t waste effort on shallow sites that waste visitors’ time. Instead, take the time to convey your passion about a subject.

Make the site look great, include pictures of your own use of the product, and don’t forget to write, write, and write some more about it.

Google loves finding real content, and will reward you with traffic when it sees lots of unique valuable information.

Google can be an affiliate’s best, or worst, friend. Help the consumer imagine themselves using the product. Go crazy, the possibilities are endless.

As Kevin Webster of 72kilowatts.com recently wrote in a related ABestWeb Forum post, “What have YOU done to put value into a click today?”

Remember, the way to put marketing back into affiliate marketing is to be great at creating relevant content that actually sells the products you feature. It’s the smartest way to become a part of the super affiliate elite.

You’ll have passion about what you do, and be justified earning all those big commission checks many companies are dying to send you!

Mark Olsen is the Senior Affiliate Manager at SchoolClick.com

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/

Should you Diversify Your Affiliate Revenue? - By Dan Murray

I like talking to other affiliates about their businesses.  It seems that the topic of revenue diversification often comes up. 

What does diversification mean when it comes to revenue for an affiliate?  In general, diversification means spreading out risk so you don’t have all of your proverbial eggs in one basket. 

In an investment portfolio, for example, diversification can mean including different kinds of assets (like stocks, bonds, etc.) that don’t all move in tandem. One zigs, while the other zags, allowing you to sleep easier at night.

For an affiliate, diversification can happen in a number of ways.  The most obvious method would be creating a portfolio of merchants where no single merchant represents more that x % (say 15%) of your total revenue.   

Let me illustrate the flip side of this with a story.  One affiliate I know had a huge percentage of his total revenue tied to one merchant.  He had been happily promoting this merchant for years with great success.  Then one day the merchant hired a new affiliate manager to run the program and things suddenly changed. 

The relationship somehow soured and this affiliate was booted out of the program, rendering a devastating blow, to say the least.  Over half of his revenue dried up overnight.  By diversifying across merchants, you may be able to avoid this fate. 

You can also diversify your revenue in other ways.  You may choose to spread your business across a number of affiliate networks, so no single network can do too much damage if things go awry.

If you get most of your traffic and sales from SEO, you may decide to add some projects to the mix that use paid search and email lists as the main drivers.  Perhaps you are used to buying most of your traffic from Google and you move some campaigns over to Yahoo and MSN. 

Back to our original question — should you diversify your affiliate revenue?  There are two answers to this query, yes and no. 

The “yes” proponents cite all of the good reasons above for spreading out risk.  Hedge your bets.  Don’t rely too much on any one offer, product, merchant, affiliate network, business model or source of traffic. 

This is the prudent voice of reason that can save your hide if you hit turbulence in one area of the market.  The downside to this advice can sometimes be lack of focus and difficulty growing beyond a certain size.

Those in the “don’t diversify” camp are mainly focused on growth and leverage above everything else.  

The argument here is that to reach true mastery, you must focus all of your energy on one thing and do it extremely well.  Put all your eggs in one basket and grow that basket to the moon.    

Each affiliate must look at his or her business and make decisions on diversification that are best suited to their particular personality and situation. 

 

 

Affiliate Program Management: Leadership vs. Management - By Geno Prussakov

One of the major problems in affiliate program management is that many affiliate managers think of themselves as being merely that – affiliate managers.

Management, by definition, entails organizing a structure to accomplish the plan. Affiliate managers’ classic roles are those of recruiting, planning, optimizing, organizing, directing and controlling.

Affiliate managers, either outsourced or in-house, are perceived by merchants/advertisers as “thinkers”, whereas affiliates/publishers are viewed as “doers”.

The problem is that it often stops at that; the impersonal, efficiency-oriented, hardcore management. Such an approach and style works in classic teams, but affiliates are as far from being a traditional workforce as any group could be.

Very few merchants can afford to practice a rational management approach and still run successful affiliate marketing campaigns. Affiliates are generally not tied by contracts, but rather they are the born-to-be-free types, and do not tolerate directing, controlling, top-down management.

I believe many affiliate programs can be greatly improved if their affiliate managers understand the difference between rational management and leadership, and develop the skills and qualities of good leaders.

Richard Daft, author of “The Leadership Experience,” speaks of leadership as an approach concerned with “communicating the vision and developing a shared culture and set of core values that can lead to the desired future state.”

There is involvement of others as thinkers, doers, and leaders. Unlike management, “leadership occurs among people” and is “not something done to people”. 

Some of the best OPMs (outsourced program managers) and affiliate managers I have known are true leaders. Knowing that every soldier is important, they develop unique individualized relationships with nearly every affiliate.

They are not afraid of making emotional connections. They are inspiring and motivating. Their focus on people – as opposed to the concentration on the affiliate program’s ROI and growth only – is one of the prime characteristics of affiliate leaders.

Most of us have heard affiliate marketing is a highly relationship-centered industry, so we should foster relationships with affiliates. Most super affiliates I know won’t start promoting your program unless they have shaken your hand, or known you as a genuine and trustworthy affiliate manager.

What are the important personal qualities for an affiliate manager to develop to compliment his/her approach by good leadership?  

In “Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management,” author John Kotter  recommended addressing it on five levels: (a) heart, (b) mindfulness, (c) communication, (d) courage and (e) character.

It is no wonder why affiliate managers who constantly work on their leadership qualities attract more affiliates, have a more loyal affiliate following, and develop stronger affiliate programs.

Geno Prussakov is CEO of outsourced program management company, AM Navigator, and author of “A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing” and “Online Shopping Through Consumers’ Eyes”.

 

 

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/.

Perils of White Hat SEO - By Wil Reynolds