If you missed Affiliate Summit East 2009 (“ASE”), you missed a great business opportunity. While sessions are educational, the best networking occurs after-hours. You can wait until you get to town to plan your schedule, but your best bet to maximize your time is to plan ahead, stay connected, and always follow up after the show.

Before you book your plane ticket, know what your goals are. What does success look like to you? Whether it’s developing new connections or taking advantage of open bars, keep your end goals in mind when planning your show strategy.

Take a look at the attendee list and pick three potential partners you’d like to do business with. Set up meetings during the show well in advance. It’s almost impossible to track down big names during the show and when you do, they’re overbooked and may not be able to chat before hopping on a plane.

Do your research in advance; know what your business goals are and who can best help you accomplish them. Find those people now, set up a meeting, and put together a business proposal. Don’t oversell, but do show up prepared.

If you want to make a big impact and get the most out of the show, get the word out that you’re attending. Announce your presence prior to the show on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and the Affiliate Summit social network.

While you don’t have to set up meetings with every person who replies, you can stay in the loop with the important events that allow you to make the most of the show.

The biggest thing I learned from ASE and really all the shows I’ve been to is that it’s a 24-hour event. There are keynotes, panels, dinners, and parties. If you don’t plan ahead, you end up missing some great opportunities for meeting unexpected guests.

Pack some Red Bull and save up cash for cab fare around town, because the longest nights are the best for getting to know people.

When you exchange contact information, keep notes on the back of cards of conversations or points you want to remember. If you did your job, you’ve ended up with so many cards you won’t remember every person you met.

Even if you can’t place faces with names, do not make any exceptions when it comes to following up. At the very least, send a courtesy email to each person and try to include something memorable about your prior meeting.

While you won’t end up working with everyone you meet, connections go far in any industry. The social media whiz you meet today could be friends with the super affiliate who helps get your campaigns to the next level tomorrow.

Approach each and every show like a business opportunity; at the end of the day, the goal is always the same – to make more money.

Dina is the Marketing and Social Media Manager at MarketLeverage Interactive Advertising, Inc., a performance-based online marketing services company.

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

There was a time when travel and work were not possible simultaneously. But now, with the help of portable gadgets, staying productive while on the road is a reality.

I learned how to rely on mobile technology more than ever this summer due to a family vacation, sandwiched by two business trips.

With various destinations in mind, I needed a small arsenal of gadgets to be fully mobile. Packing also needed to be kept light, so multi-use items were high on my list.

The item that best fits the bill is also my most trusted gadget – the Apple iPhone. I was able to answer emails, take pictures, update social media, listen to music, watch videos, hear podcasts, read Kindle books, and more.

With the addition of useful apps, I transformed the iPhone into a social media powerhouse, updating Twitter and Facebook status in seconds. No one was the wiser that I happened to be on a sailboat.

Just as effective in aiding in productivity is the MacBook Pro 15, which truly became my mobile office while traveling. Because I use a PC Desktop, I had to be creative in getting this all to jibe, and VMware Fusion was the key.

By installing Vista on the Mac I was able to utilize remote access software from GoToMyPC and a mobile broadband card from Verizon to login to my office computer. With two operating systems I had the ability to run either software. The best of both worlds!

After five days, my vacation was coming to an end, and it was time for my mobile office to hit the road. I hopped on an Amtrak train heading to New York City and opted to upgrade to business class for $20.

I found the upgrade essential in order to optimize the two hour travel time. I could setup my office on board, access my desktop in Tampa, and listen to Pandora Internet Radio.

While mingling at the show I was armed with two essential items; the Flip Cam HD for video interviews and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 digital camera. These gadgets enabled me to catch footage of the show and photograph the highlights.

I uploaded the pictures and edited the video with the help of the iMovie software on the Mac and was able to put it all on my blog right on the spot.

As the show wound down and my business card collection grew, I almost forgot to reserve my JetBlue seat. With a few clicks on my trusty iPhone, I secured that instantly. Having some time before boarding my flight in JFK, I made a video call to home via Skype to check in.

On the flight home, as I was kicking back enjoying my glass of Cabernet I was relieved knowing that although I had been out of the office for almost two weeks, business was running smoothly with the help of some handy gadgets.

Now if only I had those noise cancelling headphones.

Michael Vorel is President & Founder of Vastplanet.com an E-Commerce & Internet Marketing Consulting firm in Tampa, Florida and blogs on ProjectGadget.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

I have to admit that when I entered this sector of online advertising as a profession, I totally underestimated the value of face-to-face meetings and relationships. I, like many, believed at the time that since a high percentage of daily business was done via IM, email and the telephone, that trade shows and other “physical” events were somehow less important.

Was I ever wrong. In fact, key trade shows – including and most notably Affiliate Summit – have become indispensable parts of our company’s marketing budget and resource allocation each year. So why, in this day of economic cuts, bailouts and a recession, are these seemingly “non-ROI” spending activities still thriving?

The first answer is because they are anything but “non-ROI” and have everything to do with making money. I’ve been in several different industries in my career, and I can tell you that at shows like Affiliate Summit, business actually gets done on the spot.

This is truly a unique characteristic as trade events go. In so many other industries, you hear about the long boring days at the booth, or the dull/fluffy presentations by out-of-touch “suits” who don’t understand the workings of the business. (Some people consider me a “suit”, so I can say that.) How lucky we are to have shows like these that are busy, well-attended, and bring together successful people and companies in the spirit of doing actual business?

The second answer is those all-important relationships. No matter how technologically advanced we as an industry get, there will never be a replacement for affiliates and affiliate managers meeting in person.

There is something less “tangible” or trustworthy about never having put a face to a name, email, or IM. Looking people in the eye is important. While you can’t measure this aspect of shows concretely, look at the volume of things that happen at the show, and during the evening events. People clearly value the social aspect of trade shows.

The third answer relates mainly to the networks and merchants reading this: “Branding”; a word that connotes something not often pondered. But, consider a few of the major trends happening right now; more marketing dollars flowing online; more dollars flowing specifically to performance-based marketing from cash-strapped advertisers during this recession; and a never-ending expansion of new categories and verticals.

All of this means more new people, affiliates and advertisers attending trade shows that are most likely unfamiliar with your company. No matter how “big” you think your company or network is, a majority of people that are entering this sector of online advertising probably haven’t heard of you. Being able to showcase yourself to these folks, and build new relationships with them, is huge.

Trade shows aren’t cheap. For networks and affiliates alike, it’s an investment in time, money and people. But from where I sit, I wouldn’t “trade” (sorry) the benefits listed above for anything else in our company’s budget.

Michael Sprouse is the Chief Marketing Officer for Epic Advertising, and is based at the company’s headquarters in New York, NY.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 7 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/17376069/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-7
FeedFront issue 7 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/08