“Hobbies of any kind are boring except to people who have the same hobby.” - Dave Barry

I’m reminded of that quotation every time I try to explain Twitter to anyone, or defend its worth. As a performance marketer, or someone on the verge of entering into our world, this is a critical piece of information to understand. It may sound counterintuitive, but your lifestream (the daily journal of your life) is worth money.

From where I’m sitting, I’ve can safely say that lifestream marketing has kicked off more performance marketing careers than likely any other cause. Today, getting involved is even easier, due to the development of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and WordPress.

There is virtually no barrier to entry nor learning curve. Lifestream marketing simply involves telling the world about what you are good at and what you enjoy.

One of the largest communities of lifestream marketers includes those in the Tech/IT/Development world. Developers know that if they run into problems they can’t solve on their own, simple Internet searches can yield hundreds of results. This same principle holds true across all hobbies. At some point, an individual will come to the same bridge that an old pro has already crossed. This particular niche has developed some highly recognizable names such as “Experts Exchange”.

There are other niches that are much less developed, and are essentially wide open audiences waiting for someone to speak to them. While there is no current data on this theory, to my knowledge, my educated guess is that the majority of money to be made in lifestream marketing encompasses problem solving.

As most searches on the Internet involve finding an answer to a question (especially those embarrassing to ask in public), so think about what you do well. Are you good at fixing computer problems? Do you have experience repairing air conditioners? Are you an expert car technician? Have you been to the local deli today know what soup they are serving? You get the point.

It is extremely likely that the solution you found can help someone else. No matter how easily the solution comes to you, never make the assumption that the problem isn’t a big one to someone else.

Start with a WordPress blog and, quite simply, just start posting everything you do regarding your area of expertise. It doesn’t have to be technical, nor does it have to be difficult. It just has to solve a problem.

Use keywords or titles in your posts that match what you would say if you were asking the questions. For example: “What are the best low-fat Thai recipes?” Think about how another person would ask the question and tailor your post to that. If you stick to it, you’ll likely end up with a decent amount of traffic that you can begin to monetize using affiliate marketing.

Brian Littleton is the President & CEO of ShareASale.com, Inc., a performance marketing network based in Chicago, IL.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 10 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/29057000/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-10
FeedFront issue 10 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2010/04

As of August 2009, exactly nine years after launching and powering a peak of over 600 affiliate programs at one time, the FusionQuest affiliate network is closing its doors and the domain will be absorbed by ShareASale.

Yes, it is a sad day. I had a lot of great plans that may be delayed a bit.

However, in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, is there anything that has been learned from all of this?

Well, yes. Quite a lot actually. And I would like to share what I have learned with others in the hope that it may help them to avoid similar mistakes.

Stay Focused
If you start out with a plan, stick to that plan. Stay focused on your core project and don’t let short term enticements distract you from concentrated development on your long-term plan.

If you are not starting out with a long-term plan, get a plan.

This issue is most pronounced when starting up. Someone offers you involvement in a project that pays a fair amount of money. You may be tempted to do it to get the fast cash. Don’t.

Stay True to Yourself
You have the vision. You have the idea. You know how you want to reach your goal. You want to share your idea with others.

Unfortunately, this is the usual response: “Hey, great idea! But, you know, what you really need to do is blah, blah, blah.”

If they were so smart, why didn’t they think up the idea themselves? Believe in yourself and don’t let others confuse you.

Use Money Wisely
If you have start-up capital, please, hang on to it. Repeat this mantra: “Every penny counts!” Seriously consider every single expenditure, whatever the size.

And, if your best friend or relative is working for you for pay and it isn’t really adding value to your project, let them go. Now.

Affiliates Rule
If you are a network, or run an affiliate program, your number one asset you need to protect and develop is your affiliates. They are the foundation. Affiliate marketing does not exist without affiliates.

There is always a lot of talk about how affiliates defraud merchants. However, from what I have seen, it is the affiliates that really need the protection. They get ripped off more than the merchants do.

Stay Active in the Community
Give. Freely. And lots.

Participate in the community. Contribute everywhere possible. Encourage discussion. Get involved in any and all forums and movements.

Keep At It
Above all, keep moving forward. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t give up. Develop the mindset that you have already achieved your success.

What the future holds…

FusionQuest as an entity may be dead. But, by no means am I. The time and money I invested into FusionQuest is time and money I invested into myself, my education, my personal development.

I intend to use it. Bring on the next!

JB McKee is a passionate veteran of affiliate marketing and web application development who is game for the next big thing and can be reached at jb@informdorm.com.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 8 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/20220412/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-8
FeedFront issue 8 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/10

Until the recent sweeping effects of social media, companies generally were in charge of their brand perception. Companies dictated to us regarding specific products, who the market leaders were, and the reliability of their customer service. Even awards given for things like “Industry Leading Customer Service” came from a closed-looped organization.

The modern combination of powerful search products and social media has created a newly empowered consumer who now dictates, as much as anyone else, how brands are perceived online. How can you position your brand for the best possible survival rate in this new online reality?

Create positive online ambassadors

If you take good care of your customers, they will have good things to say about you online. This offers you an opportunity to mold a happy customer into an online ambassador for your brand. Legitimate customer praise is always better than company generated buzz, so take this opportunity to interact with your customer and help inspire them to take the leap from customer to ambassador.

Don’t be afraid to jump into a conversation and just be real. Customers are just like the rest of us and they love to feel like they have a connection greater than just ID numbers. Be genuine and gracious and you are likely to build up a great group of ambassadors.

Never talk back on the defensive

A customer who feels passionate enough to speak negatively about your brand has likely had a bad experience. Unfortunately, this happens to even the best-intentioned business and is unavoidable.

When interacting online, it is important not to blindly defend yourself from criticism. Instead, just accept that things didn’t turn out well and put forth a message of apology combined with real action to back up your remarks. Never talk back in anger even if the criticism becomes heated; there is no positive outcome for a brand in an online war of words.

Think of yourself in a crowded retail store surrounded by potential customers and one angry one; starting a screaming match would not be productive when surrounded by potential customers.

Monitor those vanity searches

There are a number of tools that can be a great help in managing your online reputation. Google Alerts and Twitter Search are two that you should be using to on a very regular basis.

Watch out for incorrect information

User-generated content is powerful, and you could find yourself in a position where the majority of perception surrounding your brand is simply incorrect if enough people talk about it. If you encounter incorrect information it is important to counter it as soon as possible before it becomes assumed fact.

The online world is vast, but using tools available allows for a great deal of understanding about how your brand is perceived. Don’t be shy in engaging the conversation online about your brand; be respectful and honest in accepting praise and criticism alike and you’ll be in a good position to further the image of your brand.

Brian Littleton is the President/CEO of ShareASale.com, Inc., a retail-focused affiliate network for businesses of all sizes.
Download the entire FeedFront issue 6 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue6.pdf
FeedFront issue 6 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/06

Connie Berg is one of the most respected names in affiliate marketing, where she has earned a reputation as hard-working and an innovative affiliate in her ten plus years in the business. Among her industry accolades have been the LinkShare Golden Link Most Vocal Advocate Award in 2004 and the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award – Affiliate of the Year in 2008.

FeedFront’s Co-Editor-in-Chief, Shawn Collins, recently talked with Connie about her career, fighting the advertising tax in Minnesota, and which Aerosmith song sums up her life.

Shawn: What was the first domain you purchased?

Connie: My first domain was FlamingoWorld.com in 1998.

Shawn: Most people know you for FlamingoWorld.com. How did you get started with it?

Connie: I was really poor and found out there were coupons for online stores so I started a website to collect them for myself. Then I found that on some of the store websites that they had this thing called an affiliate program where you got paid a percent of the purchase. I figured I would sign up and use the commission as a rebate. Somehow, I don’t know how, others found my site and started using the coupons and my links. I got the flamingo theme from an old boyfriend; he used to call me Flamingo Girl.

Shawn: How about ForMeToCoupon.com, what is that project all about?

Connie: For a long time coupon affiliates, myself included looked to the networks to give us consolidated, accurate data feeds of their merchant’s coupons, sales and special offers. Tired of waiting, a light bulb went off in my head; instead of looking for the solution I would be the solution. ForMeToCoupon offers an automated, customized affiliate coupon feed and deal feed from across all major networks. It covers all kinds of deals -not just coupons – but also rebates, clearances, product deals, deals of the day, and free shipping deals.

Shawn: What has been the highlight of your time in affiliate marketing to date?

Connie: The highlight has been all the wonderful people I have met whom I now call close friends. Some of the best people are in affiliate marketing. When I go to affiliate events it is like a family reunion. I have also gotten a better education in business than I could have gotten if I had taken business course in college. There are so many smart and inspiring people in the industry, they constantly challenge me and spark ideas.

Shawn: What has been the lowlight?

Connie: The cheaters, those who try to game the system. Those who find ways to steal sales and commissions from other affiliates and the networks who look the other way. There are a lot of unethical players out there. For each one that is outed there are ten that no one knows about.

Shawn: Which affiliate programs are your favorites? Why?

Connie: I don’t have a favorite program but I do have 2 favorite networks. ShareASale and AvantLink. Both are honest and ethical networks and I deeply respect the people who run them.

Shawn: You’ve been a vocal opponent of the advertising tax issue in Minnesota. Have you been in touch with your lawmakers?

Connie: I went to one hearing where they postponed hearing on the issue. Since then I have sent emails, letters and had a few meetings with lawmakers.

Shawn: I saw that you blogged, “Minnesota Affiliates Where Are You?” Have more Minnesota affiliates stepped up to fight the advertising tax?

Connie: I have heard from 2 affiliates in Minnesota total. I don’t know if there are no other affiliates in Minnesota that are active or that would be greatly impacted; if they don’t understand the issue or if they just don’t care and want to leave it up to others to take care of.

Shawn: Are you concerned about the impact if the advertising tax passes in Minnesota?

Connie: I am hoping the Governor will veto the bill, but if it passes I think I will lose a lot of merchants. However, we are hoping to keep some to use just in ForMeToCoupon and not post on FlamingoWorld.com. On ForMeToCoupon we don’t earn any commissions on any sales, those go to the affiliates using our service who are active in the programs.

Shawn: How many people do you employ?

Connie: I have 6 employees, whom I also count as friends. All work from home. One is my ex-husband.

Shawn: If the advertising tax passes in Minnesota, do you think you would have to lay off staff?

Connie: I don’t foresee having to lay anyone off since we still need staff for ForMeToCoupon. We have a lot of ideas we want to implement. We know that we can’t keep all our eggs in one basket, we have to have a game plan, in this industry anything can happen so we have to be prepared and have more than one niche.

Shawn: What is your favorite site today (not including anything related to affiliate marketing)?

Connie: I love TMZ.com, it is a nice distraction from the day-to-day grind. It is fun to see celebrities acting stupid and it makes me realize that my life is pretty good compared to some of them.

Shawn: You’ve sponsored music festivals to promote FlamingoWorld.com. Have you used other strategies to promote your site?

Connie: Most of my promotion is word of mouth. I sponsor Rock-Fest every year in Cadott, Wisconsin and that is about it for organized promotion.

Shawn: What is the last book you read?

Connie: The last book I read was “Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s “, by John Elder Robison. I also read a lot of true crime books. Forensics fascinates me.

Shawn: Complete this sentence: Affiliate marketing was __________ five years ago, but now it is __________.

Connie: Complete this sentence: Affiliate marketing was fun five years ago, but now it is a lot of work and politics.

Shawn: What’s your favorite movie?

Connie: Anything with Johnny Depp! My other favorite is Gone With The Wind.

Shawn: If your life could be summed up in an Aerosmith song, which song would it be?

Connie: Living on the Edge, although I wish it were Love in an Elevator!

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

Download the entire FeedFront issue 6 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue6.pdf
FeedFront issue 6 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/06

With more than 3,200 in attendance, Affiliate Summit West 2009 in Las Vegas goes down in the record books as a sell out and the largest show to date.

Opening up the conference on Sunday was the Affiliate Meet Market; the room was full of energy. A scaled down version of the exhibit hall (tables instead of booths), the Meet Market was the place to be for networking and continues to be a show highlight.

Concurrent breakout sessions took place on Sunday as well. Hot topics of the day included monetizing chat, automating websites, merchant mindsets, ethical issues, and expected trends.

On Monday morning, Gary Vaynerchuk spoke with vigor and intensity. His excitement and motivational keynote set the tone for the rest of show. You’ve got to love how he said “I think what I’m passionate about, is crushing it every day for making yourself happy. And I think when you talk about, and you build a business around a passion, that’s when you can really knock it out of the park.”
Gary oozed enthusiasm and it was infectious.

Days 2 and 3 also brought a full agenda of breakout sessions via panels and solo presentations. Session themes included anything social media, SEO, PPC, videos and mobile. Audiences were thrilled with the lineup of speakers and the rooms were packed with eager attendees ready to learn.

Traffic and networking in the exhibit hall were awesome on Monday and Tuesday, with attendees visiting over 100 booths. New products and tools in the industry were demonstrated and lots of business cards were exchanged.

One of the culminations of the show was the annual Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards, which were given to affiliate marketing leaders in six categories.

Congratulations to this year’s winners: Affiliate of the Year – Mike Allen, Affiliate Manager of the Year – Angel Djambazov, Exceptional Merchant – CelebrateExpress.com, Affiliate Marketing Advocate – Melanie Seery, Best Blogger – Scott Jangro and Affiliate Marketing Legend – Kellie Stevens.

As the show drew to a close, everyone let loose and had some fun to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation at the Affiliate Summit Triathlon. Dozens made donations to enter the 3 events: adult tricycle, virtual golf and basketball challenge.

Congratulations to the winner, Charlie Calabrese of Buy.at.

Lastly, special thanks to all of our distinguished speakers, exhibitors, general sponsors and metal sponsors: AzoogleAds, ShareASale, OneNetworkDirect and Buy.at. Your contributions helped make Affiliate Summit West 2009 a huge success.

Like folks did at this past show, instead of concentrating on the country’s troubled economy and uncertain future, focus on working smarter and more efficiently. Learn ways to adapt and grow despite the nation’s challenges. This will be pivotal to making it a banner year.

See you in the Big Apple, Affiliate Summit East 2009 – August 9-11, Hilton New York.

Amy Rodriguez is the Conference Director at Affiliate Summit.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 5 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue5.pdf
FeedFront issue 5 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00category/issue-5

I am not a fan of the “hard sell”. Infomercials, long-form sales letters and persistent aggressive sales calls cause me to zone out, rather than creating any interest, on my part, in the product.

As a sales alternative, I have advocated “soft sell” techniques, focusing on the product, needs of potential clients, and letting demand build organically, instead of by force.

For years, I’ve often been told that I am wrong on this point. However, recent reactions from social networks, with respect to the emergence of marketers, have shown that soft sell techniques are already playing a big role in the new marketing arena.

EARLY RETURNS ARE IN
Many marketers agree that social networks are the next big playground. Unfortunately, most have seen disappointing early results. I believe it is because their marketing approach has been off the mark.
Strong-armed sales techniques are nearly universally ignored on social sites. These types of campaigns can actually have a negative effect on brand; not to mention an enormous waste of time and resources.
Members of social networks prefer to interact amongst each other, peer-to-peer. Hard sell techniques serve as an interruption to that conversation.

A means to encourage conversation and interaction, such as a person or application is far better suited for this marketing channel. Marketers shouldn’t be afraid of jumping in to social networks, but they need to be respectful of the people who make up the community, and the unwritten rules of engagement.

SOFT SELL
In social networking, a marketer’s best play is to become part of the community, not just to market to it. This approach takes considerably more time, effort, and creativity, but has far greater long-term potential.
Quality conversation, sincere opinions, and just being an interesting person to follow, builds loyal bases. Followers don’t want to see just your latest and greatest deal; they also want to get to know you.

Social networks are communities, and, as such, have different expectations and tolerance levels for the marketers among them. Carry yourself more as if you are a new guest at a party.
You wouldn’t be to popular if you just walked in saying “Buy my stuff!”

REPEAT BUSINESS
Repeat business is the core of any business’ success. Selling a customer on a product which doesn’t deliver on its expectations or providing poor customer service will result in less overall success – even if the original sale technique is working.

On the flip side, marketers drawing in followers or friends in social networking will have difficulty in the long term if their feeds don’t continue to deliver.

Even worse, a marketer can experience a drop in followers if their feed is consistently filled with over-marketing that annoys their readership.

Using social networks to interact with and help current customers is one of the soft sell techniques gaining a lot of traction as well as media attention.

Companies who have a real presence on message boards, blogs, and other social platforms can build brand loyalty and increase the chance for repeat business.

Brian Littleton is the President/CEO of ShareASale.com, Inc., a retail-focused affiliate network for businesses of all sizes.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 4 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue4.pdf
FeedFront issue 4 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/category/issue-4/

Earlier this year, the State of New York passed legislation using affiliate programs as a way to force merchants to collect sales tax.  Rather than rehashing the legal ramifications, I’ll focus on three choices that merchants are making regarding this new law – and share some of my opinions on each of them.

Before I share my thoughts, I would like to go on record that I believe the fault ultimately lies within the law itself, and those who wrote it.  It is ambiguous, confusing, and I believe overreaching. 

In enacting this law, New York placed Internet retailers in an impossible position, and I believe the law has a very good chance of being challenged successfully. 

Merchants Dropping New York Affiliates

Personally, while I understand wanting to “be on the safe side”, I think this was a mistake.  I’ve read through the law countless times and didn’t find anything that allowed for amnesty from the law if affiliates were dropped. 

Assuming a merchant qualified, it would appear the only way to receive amnesty for prior tax periods was to begin collecting tax – there was no such allowance for closing the program to New York affiliates.  

In a non-Internet analogy, imagine having an office in Manhattan for 364 days/year, and then closing on December 31^st and pretending it never existed.

Merchants Modifying Terms

One of the more ambiguous sections allowed for the presumption of nexus to be rebutted.  The allowance was possible when an affiliate’s only action was placing a link on a website.  Some merchants re-wrote terms to disallow affiliates from email, PPC, and several other channels.  

It is my opinion that rewriting terms could only be considered if the merchant had already received approval from New York.  The law indicates a process whereas a merchant establishes proof, and possibly gains exemption.  

I gathered that merchants who were taking this route were assuming that they could declare themselves exempt when I am not sure that is truly the case. 

Merchants Who Began Charging Sales Tax

I argued on my blog that this was the only real option available to merchants.  While the ambiguous and confusing law has many gray areas that could be exploited – most merchants are very conservative when it comes to pushing tax law. 

 I anticipate other states emulating New York and enacting similar legislation.  When other states follow suit, there will be two groups of merchants:  those who geared up for this and are ready to begin collecting tax for certain states, and those that are not prepared.  I believe it will be a competitive advantage for merchants that are equipped to adapt. 

Those who dropped New York affiliates, for example, will be faced with the prospect of dropping another group, and then another, and so on. 

There will come a point when they will be forced to start collecting the taxes, but will be far behind in the process, and the alienated affiliates will be busy promoting programs that have already adapted.

Brian Littleton is the President/CEO of ShareASale.com, Inc., a retail focused affiliate network for businesses of all sizes. 

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/.