Tricia Meyer

Affiliate Marketer, Blogger, and Consultant

Affiliate Summit East Raves and Regrets

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Another Affiliate Summit has come and gone, and I have finally had time to reflect on it and draw some conclusions about my experiences. Not surprisingly, I have a lot to say!

Affiliate Summit Spice Girls

Rave: I loved having the opportunity to see New York with some of my favorite affiliate marketing friends. Whether it was Madame Tussauds with Kim Salvino or Times Square with Ashleigh Ball, I loved every minute of the atmosphere. Being in New York itself is a great conversation starter.

Regret: I wish that I had more time to hang out at Old Castle and eat Street Meat. I’ve come to associate those with Affiliate Summit but there just wasn’t time this year.

Seasonality in Affiliate Marketing Panel
Seasonality in Affiliate Marketing Panel

Raves: I was fortunate enough to participate in two different panels. It seems silly but I love preparing for Summit panels because I have to stretch myself to learn new things and learn even more about things I think I already know. I also love the opportunity to share what I know with others. Todd Farmer and Kristen Grace were nice enough to indulge me in some silliness in our Seasonality in Affiliate Marketing panel. I also got to meet Adhustler, whom I had never met before, for my How to Pitch Your Company panel.

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Counting Down to #ASE11 and Getting Prepared

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With just a little over a week until I leave for Affiliate Summit, the excitement is starting to set in. Are you almost ready? The crazy planner in me is going through all of this:

Packing: I posted in 2009 in my Real Scoop on Preparing for Affiliate Summit article the kinds of things that I pack that you might not think about: comfortable shoes, eye drops, gum or breath mints, and bottled water. I also now include hand sanitizer and ibuprofen. Don’t forget business cards! I’m taking some postcard-sized promotional sheets this year about my company that give more information than what I put on my business cards.

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Preparing for Affiliate Summit East 2010

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Affiliate Summit is almost here again and many affiliates and merchants are getting prepared. From clothes to business cards to travel plans, a lot goes into preparing for the conference. I’ve been attending Affiliate Summits regularly since 2007 and am finally starting to get the hang of it without too much stress. Here is a basic time frame of what you should be doing if you are serious about making the most out of the Summit:

Anytime: Start following the #ase10 hash tag on Twitter. In addition to seeing who else is attending, you will get good tips about transportation, sessions, parties, and more. Also join the Affiliate Summit Social Network to begin your networking.

One month out: Finalize your travel plans. You’ve missed the Early Bird rate to stay at the conference hotel, but you may still be able to get rooms at the Hilton at regular prices. You should also be nailing down your flights so that you are sure to get in and out at the dates and times that are most convenient for you.

Three weeks out: Order business cards, a Poken, or both. Decide how much information you want to share with everyone, including cell phone, email, and address. There are pros and cons to all of the above! I tend to only share my Twitter, email, and blogs with everyone and give out my phone number more sparingly.

Two weeks out: Read through the agenda on the website and determine which sessions you would like to attend. Read the various posts on blogs (you’ll likely see them on Twitter) that give more information about the sessions and the speakers. You’ll even find podcasts that may give you information that you won’t find anywhere else or give you a sneak peek into hearing more from the speakers. Determine your sessions first so that you know when you will have free time. (I’ll post my thoughts on sessions next week). Then start contacting your merchants and setting up individual meetings with any of them that you will not see at the Meet Market or in the Exhibit Hall. You should also start seeing a lot of information about parties at about this time. Many of them will overlap, so you will have some tough decisions to make! Order electronic items that you need like a backup battery for your laptop or cell phone.

One week out: Start gathering up your clothes, shoes, and jewelry. Shop for things like mints, gum, and eye drops as well. Read my previous post “Real Scoop on Preparing for Affiliate Summit” to see what I think about packing.

Final days: Make a list of all of the merchants and networks that you want to be sure to meet up with, including ones that you already have relationships with and ones that you want to meet. Set your business on auto-pilot or delegate as much as possible because you will want to spend every minute possible taking advantage of the conference and not doing your normal work.

I love Affiliate Summit and always get so much out of it. I hope that you will, too! Are you planning on attending? I’d love to meet you. Do you have other tips for those preparing to attend?

Affiliate Summit East: Memories of the Way We Were

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Now that almost 24 hours has passed since I left New York City, I am finally getting around to decompressing and reflecting on Affiliate Summit East. When I tell people that I have been to 7 Affiliate Summits, they always ask me if it is still worth it every time. “Don’t you just see the same people and hear the same things over and over?” Yes, and no. I see the people that I like to network with again to touch base and find out what is new with them. But I also meet new people each time and learn more than I can every imagine.

I could blog about all of the great friends I met with, the merchants that I now want to add to my site, and the swag I brought back for my members. I could drop in a few digital pictures (even video!) or complain about my feet hurting. But I would rather step back and give you the big picture that I ended up with.

Every Affiliate Summit turns out to be a different experience depending upon where I am in my career and what my goals for the conference are. In the beginning, I learned about affiliate marketing in general. Then I started making connections. After a few more, I started working on getting out the name of my business. Last time, I worked on getting out my personal brand.

For ASE09, my biggest takeaway way in getting up the courage to introduce myself to more of the “heavy hitters” and learning by their examples. For the first time ever, I introduced myself to the keynote speakers. I actually met and chatted with Chris Brogan, Julien Smith, and Peter Shankman (HARO). I even introduced myself to Ted Murphy (CEO of IZEA) at an after party and managed to get a couple of pictures with him. Each of them was engaging and conversational and made me feel like he was pleased to meet ME.

As I clean up my email and start sorting through business cards, I can’t help but keep peeking at Trust Agents (by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith). It really sums up my experience at Affiliate Summit this year. I trust some industry professionals because of the way that they act and the information that they provide. I do NOT trust some of the people in my industry because I see how they act when they think no one is looking (at least not the people who are important to them). I want to build a business that people trust because I treat people right and give them something of value in some way. Thanks to ASE09, I’ve got more tools to accomplish just that.