Who's Stephan Spencer?

Stephan is an SEO authority expert, author, speaker and consultant helping some of the most prominent companies in the world.

Stephan is the author of The Art of SEO and he's one of the foremost experts in the field of search engine optimization. Stephan is also the host of two popular podcasts. The Optimized Geek and Marketing Speak. I'll tell you a little bit more about each podcast next, and you can find out everything else you need to know about Stephan at his website, stephanspencer.com

The Optimized Geek

I listened to a few episodes of The Optimized Geek when he first told me about the podcast, but it wasn't until recently that I started listening to every episode.

The Optimized geek talks about "life-hacks" for lack of a better term. Stephan interviews interesting people that have achieved high-level accomplishments and amazing personal transformations.

The podcast is about biohacking, personal transformations, I would say they're about self-optimization (is that even a real term?). Its official tagline is: Reboot and Improve your Life.

Stephan went through his own amazing transformation. If you knew him 6 years ago, you wouldn't recognize him today. I was flabbergasted when he first showed me and told me about his transformation.

I'd recommend it to anybody looking to learn how to master your body, your life, and relationships.

Marketing Speak

The other podcast, Marketing Speak is also a high-value podcast covering monologues and interviews with field and industry experts. I don't recommend it to everyone because it isn't for everybody.

If you're an entrepreneur, marketing geek like me, blogger, vlogger or business owner, then this is a must podcast to add to your subscriptions.

Both podcasts are available everywhere it matters: iTunes, Google Play, Sticher and probably other podcasting apps

So what did I ask Stephan Spencer During the Interview?

Our interview was about voice search and how it's changing the landscape of SEO.
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Imagine that in the future, actually... right now, Google will not be showing you 10 blue links to pick one you like. Instead, it will be reading the summary of the top one result.

I say reading it because we have a boom in virtual assistants being deployed in our homes. Google Home, Alexa, Cortana and others are listening to your commands and queries triggered by your voice commands.

Most of these devices take the top-most result on a search query and read it out loud. This is the featured snippet of search engines. You might have noticed these the last time you did a search online.
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Those little summaries in the search engines are called featured snippets and Stephan tells us the steps we can take to take advantage of those results so that our websites provide those results.

via GIPHY

If you can answer a question on your website, and your answer shows up on that spot, then Google Assistant in Google Home, Alexa, Siri, Cortana and other "smart" assistants will use your answer to give people searching with their voice.

The tricky part is making your blog or website the one that provides that answer. The interview is short, but packed with useful and actionable information to help you rank for featured snippets and start integrating voice search results as part of your overall SEO strategy.

The post How To Rank For Featured Snippets appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I much prefer Affiliate Summit West, but East is really cool too. This year there are two new editions of the beloved event, one in Asia, and one in Europe. Affiliate Summit Europe takes place about a month after Affiliate Summit East, and Affiliate Summit APAC is taking place on October in Singapore.

I'll tell you more about both events in posts coming up, but I wanted to share this video talking about why I love going to Affiliate Summit, especially in Las Vegas.

Check out Affiliate Summit here.

The post Why I Love Affiliate Summit appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The panel, from left to right on the photo:

• John Chow - Dot Com Mogul and blogger, Johnchow.com // Twitter
• John Rampton - Entrepreneur, blogger and connector. Founder of Due.com // Twitter
• Syed Balkhi - Award-winning entrepreneur with several 7-figure online businesses, blogs at SyedBalkhi.com // Twitter
• Zac Johnson - World renown blogger and entrepreneur, founder of Blogging.org // Twitter

The experts in the panel have remained the same for some time because these guys are the top bloggers in the industry and their blog's income range from 7 to 8 figures yearly.

As a side note, before I get on with the rest of the article, Affiliate Summit East tickets are now on sale and you should take advantage of the early bird pricing. Tickets usually sell out well before the event so if you're interested, make sure you get yours check here for more info.

How to Become a Millionaire Blogger.

This panel is also one of the highest rated sessions at Affiliate Summit, this year it was ranked as the number one session.

The recurring theme of this panel revolves around a discussion of the strategies and techniques these super bloggers use to achieve the massive success they enjoy now.

Specifically, I felt the tips were very practical and I want to focus on a few.

Everybody talked about quality over quantity

Blogging has evolved significantly in the past 10 to 15 years. You have to produce great content. It used to be that you could just post as much as possible and you would get people to your blog because the competition was low.

Now you need to produce content regularly and it needs to be high-quality content.

Zac Johnson doubled down on quality over quantity.

Zac doubled down on the point about quality over quantity. Forget about producing a lot of content, instead, write the best you can he said.

Zac also suggests that a way to increase quality when you're building your reputation growing is to gather information from other experts and create round-up blog posts.

Syed suggested analyzing your most successful posts.

One of the things that you can do to improve quality and maximize your efforts is to write a lot of content and then analyze it by looking at your statistics and see what is the most sought after content. Then, write more of that.

A great tip that Syed reminded us about was to use the advanced search feature in Twitter to find new ideas for content. Use the "questions" filter to narrow down to topics people are talking about in your niche, Syed suggested.

John Rampton talked about promoting.

All bloggers should know that just because you wrote it, doesn't mean people will find it. You have to spend time promoting and making sure your posts reach the intended audience.

My personal rule of thumb is to spend at least 10 - 12 hours of promotion for every 1 hour of creation. John made it a little more simple by suggesting you split your efforts to about 40/60 on creating and promoting. So spend 40% of your time creating content and 60% promoting it.

John Chow talked about leveraging your efforts across various platforms.

There's a trick that all bloggers should leverage and that is to reuse your content in different formats and mediums.

John suggested that a video can become a blog post, and a series of blog posts can become an eBook and you can turn that into an e-course and even a live workshop, thus maximizing the monetization potential for what amounts to virtually the same information.

How do you actually become a millionaire blogger?

First, start a blog about something you are knowledgable about. Follow the other advice I've given you about that, then I highly recommend you attend an upcoming Affiliate Summit and make it a point to attend the millionaire blogger session if you want to learn how to make money from blogging.

The post How to Become a Millionaire Blogger Session at Affiliate Summit appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

We met up during Affiliate Summit at the EIG party to have some drinks, food and to hit some golf balls at Topgolf. But the rest of the event was all about sharing tips, tricks, and learning how to take our blogs, videos, and businesses to the next level.

Hitting golf balls with my buddy Harsh, @denharsh from @shoutmeloudcom during #ASW17 At the EIG party. #lasvegas #topgolf #enduranceinternationalgroup #hosting

A photo posted by Oscar Gonzalez (@notagrouch) on Jan 21, 2017 at 10:02am PST

This time during Affiliate Summit West 2017, we met again to catch up. I also interviewed him and asked him some questions about blogging, his new project and I asked him for some tips to share with you. You'll see those in the video.

Want to help me share this post? Tweet it out with the link below, or share it on your favorite social network. I'd really appreciate it.

[bctt tweet="Interview with one of the world's most influential bloggers, Harsh from Shoutmeloud." username="notagrouch"]

Last year, Harsh attended Affiliate Summit as a regular affiliate. But this time around he was also a speaker. His session was dedicated to sharing his growth hacking tips which helped him double his affiliate revenue in about 1.5 years.

Naturally, I asked him about his growth hacking techniques during the interview. Even though I hate the term growth hacking because most people misuse it, I really got value out of Harsh's presentation. If you are a blogger, you should have been there. He was one of many speakers why it is always worth going to Affiliate Summit.

I asked him about his newest project which might surprise a lot of people. It's related to bitcoin and other alternative currencies; an emerging market to say the least. The name of that project is Coinsutra. And at the end, I asked him to share three tips for bloggers going into 2017.

On a side note, you can get the early-bird pricing for Affiliate Summit East 2017 already here. If you attended but missed Harsh's session then you should get access to a recording of the session soon.

You can watch my interview with Harsh in the video below:

The post Growth Hacking Tips From Harsh Agrawal – Affiliate Summit Interview appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

1. Interview with Harsh Agrawal from shoutmeloud.com.
2. Interview with John Chow and Syed Balkhi

During the last Affiliate Summit my friend Michelle Simmons from momsvilleusa.com decided to interview two of the most influential bloggers that attend the event, John Chow and Syed Balkhi.

I met John Chow several years ago during a local social media meetup in Costa Mesa, California. Then John introduced me to Affiliate Summit when I won his contest for a free ticket and I've been going to Affiliate Summit ever since.

He is famous for taking the revenue for his personal blog, johnchow.com from $0 to $40,000 per month in two short years and then teaching countless people how to do the same.

Part of the reason I keep coming back to Affiliate Summit is because of the amazing opportunities to meet new people like-minded individuals, bloggers, entrepreneurs and  influencers. The word influencer is getting thrown a lot around in social media lately. But I don't use the term lightly, these two individuals are some of the most influential bloggers in the planet.

I met Syed Balkhi during my first time at Affiliate Summit, and he was friendly and approachable. I had heard about him from WPbeginner, but I had no idea I would meet him. John introduced us and we hit it off talking about tech stuff, like WordPress and servers and MySQL, just geeking out. At the time, he was working on an early beta version of a plugin that has become the gold standard for lead generation online.

Whether by teaching or by inspiring others to start blogging and to try entrepreneurship, both John and Syed have influenced hundreds of thousands of people over the years.

Syed broke into mainstream with his WPbeginner blog which is the number one WordPress resource in the world, second only to WordPress.org.

They both contribute incredible amounts of time and effort into the communities that they belong to. And this willingness to participate and help others is part of why they are so successful.

They are both bloggers, but they have now branched outside of just blogging into additional ventures. But let's not forget that blogging helped them achieve incredible levels of success. They are both part of that exclusive internet millionaires club.

In this interview that took place shortly after their panel on Six figure blogging, they talk about things like how to get started, how to meet other like-minded individuals, goal setting, how to measure your progress and more.

Hope you enjoy, and your feedback is welcome!

Thank you Michelle for doing the interview, thank you John and Syed for participating and always giving back so much, and Thank you Missy Ward and Shawn Collins for putting Affiliate Summit together for all of this to happen.

If you found this interview useful or interesting then get yourself a ticket for the next Affiliate Summit event. You can still get the tickets on sale without a coupon or anything, just hurry up because the sale doesn't last long, and the event will sell out.

The post Interview with John Chow and Syed Balkhi – Affiliate Summit Profiles appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Update: The second post in the series is available now.

1. Interview with Harsh Agrawal from shoutmeloud.com
2. Interview with John Chow and Syed Balkhi

During the last Affiliate Summit, I had a chance to hang out and interview one of the most influential bloggers you've never heard of. How can that possibly be?

Well, Harsh Agrawal (@denharsh) runs the largest blog in India. His site has an Alexa rank of 1,888 in the U.S. Ranked 198 in India, his blog Shoutmeloud.com ranks higher and probably gets more traffic than Oracle, Mailchimp, The guardian, Searchengineland, Entrepreneur, and even Techcrunch (source).

His following is just under three-quarters of a million people. And he's a young dude, but his blog is serious business.

He works as a full-time professional blogger and he probably makes more money than you, just by blogging. Harsh considers himself a blog scientist and a digital nomad. He employs one person and outsources some of his work to different virtual assistants.

Living the Dot Com Lifestyle

He truly lives the dot com lifestyle by leveraging all the technology to make sure his business runs no matter where he is. When I met him, we were in Las Vegas for Affiliate Summit West 2016, then he was going to San Francisco, then to Atlanta before making a stop in Los Angeles, then back home to India.

But how serious can a blog be? You may be wondering, how much money can you really make with a blog. I've told you in the past that you can make a full-time income by blogging if you do it right. And Harsh is one of the best examples of this.

Shoutmeloud's income report from September 2015 shows Harsh made almost $17,000, yes, that is USD. That is amazing considering most people in the US only dream about 200,000 per year! When you consider the cost of living in India, Harsh is living like a king.

But Harsh isn't someone to boast or brag about what he does or how well he does. When I met him, I expected someone full of himself, a young kid with a head overblown by the ego that often comes with such success. Instead, I met this humble man, an old soul if you would. Soft spoken and friendly.

We got along great and made the rounds about the meet market and the exhibit halls. He is thorough in his work and even though I've been doing this thing longer than he has, I felt like an apprentice. As we walked the aisles filled with vendors and exhibitors, he tried to talk to every single vendor along the way.

Speaks softly but carries a big stick

Never bragging, but always asking How can we work together? Most vendors dismissed him at first. Probably thinking "here's another affiliate that's just going to suck up my time, move along." Probably because Harsh doesn't stand out from the crowd. But the demeanor of most vendors would change when they would hear about his blog.

Other vendors knew him already and were glad to finally meet him in person. From walking up and down the aisles with Harsh, I picked up a few tips from him.

• Ask questions, many more than you may feel comfortable with.
• Listen, many people want to get their words in, instead Harsh listens.
• Oh yeah, and when it is necessary, drop in the fact that you generate 1 to 2 million unique per month.

Harsh is a perfect example why I attend Affiliate Summit. I have met and continue to meet amazing people there. Of course, you can meet online and chat, and Skype and do the Google hangout thing, but nothing beats a face to face conversation. Nothing beats having lunch with someone and talking shop and talking life.

I had only learned about Harsh and his blog about a month before when for some strange reason I started getting many people from India following me on Facebook and asking me questions about blogging. During my conversations with these aspiring bloggers, the topic would come up every single time.

They would say to me: I am very inspired by Harsh from SML. SML has great tutorials and the guy makes a lot of money, I wish to make only a small portion of that.

So I had to find out what "SML" was and who this Harsh character was.

Once I learned more about him and his blog I felt a little embarrassed that I didn't know about him before. But in the end, I'm glad I had an opportunity to meet him and get to know him. If you're a blogger, you should get to know him too.

Video Interview with Harsh Agrawal

Before we parted ways I had a chance to interview him. Here's the video, enjoy.

Don't forget to check out Harsh's blog, Shoutmeloud.com, or if you prefer, get the app (Android, iOS).

And don't forget to get your tickets for Affiliate Summit East 2016 coming up in the summer. Early bird prices are going on right now. Don't complain later and tell me you couldn't get tickets or they were too expensive.

Update: I met up with Harsh again during Affiliate Summit and interviewed him again. You can see that here.

The post Interview With Harsh Agrawal from Shoutmeloud – Affiliate Summit Profiles appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Minds is an open source encrypted social network with the ability for you to monetize your content. It's not like anything that is already out there.

For example Tsu tries to pay you a share of the money made with advertisements shown on your content; but nobody is really making money with it and it has become a spam and junk center. I dont think it will survive much longer.

So this is not Tsu, and it's not Facebook, but it has some gamification incentives and a way for you to make money with your content on a P2P basis.

In Minds, I can pay for boosted posts and you can also make deals with individuals to help promote content. You set your price, you call the shots.

Let me give you a quick getting started guide with Minds.com

Please keep in mind, that the site is still in beta so a few things may seem clunky, but it's very promising.

Sign up for an account

You sign up by visiting Minds.com, you don't need to provide any personal information beyond a username of your choice, and your email address. You can also do all this through their mobile app (Android, IOS)

My username is Oscar Gonzalez, feel free to follow me, or as it is called here, subscribe to me.

Customize your profile

The first screen you'll see is your profile and you can edit it by clicking on the pencil icon. You can always get back to this spot by using your profile icon on the top right corner.

You can customize your header banner, your avatar and bio from this page. It's a really elegant interface. The date picker to select your birthday is a little odd, but it's simple enough.

This is what I came up with on the first try, it feels a little similar to Facebook but the whole thing is a lot simpler and cleaner. I really like it.

Getting acquainted with the user interface

The top right corner has a small navigation menu with some neat features. Because the network is fully open sourced, you can actually submit a bug here and it will get looked at. If you are feeling adventurous you can also submit a feature request.

There is also an area where you can review your stats on your boosted content. Unlike Facebook, you can promote your regular posts on your profile so they get more visibility.

The small bell represents any alerts that are new since you checked lasta.

The last icon before your profile, gives you access to your wallet screen. In order for you to boost your content, you need to have credits and this is where your credits show up.

Your avatar button takes you to your profile where you can edit your profile picture, banner picture and bio.

Lastly, the three dots next to your profile open up a few more options. You can logout, adjust your global settings for the site or switch to the old interface.

This is a refreshing experience

The user experience is clean and even though the network is still in Beta, it feels solid. The user interface is clean and elegant and everything is simplified compared to Facebook or Twitter.

When you visit your alerts, you can see everything that has happened recently and you can take action from there.

The first few alerts help you get started with finding new content to explore. And as people find you, you'll be notified here when someone subscribes to you.

There is a gamification element too

This has been the downfall for many networks that have tried it but I think Minds.com has the right idea and execution. Certain actions give you credits which you can then spend to promote your content.

As you join, you'll get about 110 points or so to start. 100 for joining, then you'll get 10 points everyday for a "daily login" and you get one point for voting on someone else's post.

One thing I noticed is that they seem to be breaking the secret rules of social networks. That action which takes the most effort or commitment is, or should be the most valuable. For example, a comment is more valuable than a like, and a share should be more valuable than both comments and likes.

Case in point, if you like someone else's post, you'll get a point. But you will not get a point if you leave a comment, you should get more than one point because this is arguably a more valuable action. It represents more engagement.

After your profile is done, you can start using the site. Here's a quick rundown of what's available.

The action menu

The site features an icon-only action menu on the left hand side and if you're new to the site, the icons may not be intuitive enough for you to just figure it out. Here's a breakdown of what you can find there.

Some of the sections highlighted above have a few sub-menu actions. For example, the blog section lets you view featured blogposts, search for blogposts and create your own.

The blogging section is pretty standard and it has a WYSIWYG interface that works fine. Here is the first blogpost I created with it.

The most compelling features of the site

Social networks come and go, but the need for privacy is increasing and this may just be the best attempt at helping us with that. Minds.com is addressing this in two ways, the chats and the network are encrypted so people can't sniff what you're doing on the site.

The other way to help with privacy is to make the software open source. Developers can read through the code and figure out how things work, there is no hidden algorithm and "secret sauce."

The guys from Diaspora tried this before, but unfortunately a few years later the project is almost dead because it was too disjointed, Minds.com addresses this issue by offering a central location to interact with your connections.

Monetization is important for me and for other people that use social media sites for networking and business, and I really like the model offered by Minds. I acquired about 3000 credits and I will be putting the promoted and boost features to the test over the next week or so. I'll let you know how that goes.

For now, why don't you give it a try. Come join me, explore this new network.

The post Minds The New Social Network appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

For bloggers that have found at least some level of success, what they present during this panel may seem common sense. But If you really want to make money and really build something substantial around your blog then this is a great session to attend, even if you have been blogging for sometime already.

Here are some takeaways.

Building a blog to make money is like building a business. You need at least a plan and strategy to achieve your goals. You have to be disciplined and stick to it for the long term.

A blog is not something you can just do and start making money right away. It is a long term investment in time and effort.

You must be building your email list as soon as possible because many people will never come back to your site. They forget, they are uninterested, so try to get their emails with a tool like this one. This will help you reach out to them and establish a relationship.

You can use something like Aweber.

Some of the struggles for bloggers include lack of focus and lack of goals. You have to stick to it, avoid distractions and set clear goals. Don't compare yourself to others because you can be demotivated.

Don't compare your chapter 1 to my chapter 40.

John Rampton

You can compare yourself to try to achieve more, but stick to your goals and persevere. If you compare yourself to much bigger or advanced bloggers, that can be demotivating.

Try to hold off on diversifying too much early on. Instead stick to what is working the most and focus on that. Once you're established and have resources to diversify then you can do it but avoid this at first.

Find something that works for you and double-down on it!

Syed Balkhi

Quality content and valuable services trump aesthetics. Syed says that you shouldn't worry about your photos for example, if they are super high definition, or regular images the normal naked eye can't tell the difference. Work on your content, work on the value you're bringing to the reader and visitor rather than imagery.

Spend time building relationships. A great tool for this is to use the search Twitter feature and use the advanced searches to narrow down your query by location and emotion. Then engage with those people talking about the topic you want and build a loyal fan base this way.

A great way to find good guest spots is to engage with the gatekeepers of the site. Find out who the editors are for the sites you want to guest blog for and engage with them on Twitter.

Recommended tools

• Optinmonster - increase subscription rates
• Adobe Post - graphics
• Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer - write better titles
• Canva - graphic
• Aweber - email list
• Hootsuite - social media
• Youtube - share videos and slideshows to enhance your content

The post Six Figure Blogging at Affiliate Summit appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Shawn Collins is the co-founder of Affiliate Summit and he usually delivers the 1st time orientation session to kick things off at the summit.

Some of the great tips that you can take away from this "session" are pretty simple and sometimes, common sense.

Send a couple of texts to your loved ones to let them know you're missing them because you're going to be busy for the next 3 days. The event is jam packed with sessions and with over 5000 people attending, you should be networking and learning all day long, you are going to be busy!

When you go grab a meal, always try to find someone to eat or drink with. Sometimes you'll create great relationships when sitting down over a meal. Even if you came by yourself, this is a great way to network so don't just go out on your own to grab food and come back.

Get connected to the WiFi, the information is in the agenda.

Use the agenda to plan your days. There is so much to do and the days go fast. Make sure you have a plan of action, set some goals and follow through.

Be present here! Don't spend time on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or Social Media (unless you're posting about the event). You may be tempted to talk about the latest episode of your favorite show, or talk about your sports team, or whatever. But you'd be wasting your time if you did that!

Stay away from the noise and chatter that's not related to the event because in 72 hours or so, you'll be heading home so make sure you take advantage of it while you are here.

The post First Time Orientation at Affiliate Summit appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you didn't get a ticket, check with your favorite vendor or partner and see if they have an extra one to give away or if there's a way to get invited. Some vendors have last minute giveaways and raffles for tickets and some are reserved for top performing partners.

Or check with ASW and see if they have a waiting list you can get on. But frankly, next time plan ahead. This is a premier event and it's quite exclusive even though it continues to grow each year.

Unfortunately, due to an incredible busy holiday season I did not request tickets to give away this time around. But I will try to get some for Affiliate Summit East 2016.

Next time, register and reserve EARLY!

I also recommend that you book your accommodations NOW if you haven't done so. The event is being held at Paris Hotel and this has been sold out for a while now. Staying at the same hotel where the convention is being held is the best thing you can do, but if you didn't book it yet you have two options.

Book the next best hotel or find a roommate willing to split/share their room with you.

The closest hotels to Affiliate Summit are: Bellagio, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo and Caesars Palace. Just a little further you'll find The Westin, Bally's, Harrah's and a few others.

But really, if you have to go back and forth from your hotel to the convention, you are going to waste a lot of time that you could spend networking or attending other events.

If you want to give the whole roommate situation a try, after you have registered for the event use the official Affiliate Summit West app (Android, iTunes) to network with people and find if they are looking for a roommate. You can also do this in the official ASW16 private Facebook group.

I have many friends that have done this in the past and are doing it this year. It's up to you to work out the specific details with your potential roommate.

But avoid getting scammed!

The one thing you want to avoid are companies claiming to be working with or working for Affiliate Summit. At least a few people have gotten scammed by these companies which claim to have reserved rooms for ASW attendees.

They basically take your money and tell you a room is guaranteed, but the whole thing is a scam. They'll keep your money and when you arrive you'll find there is no room for you, and likely the hotel doesn't even have you on record.

The scam also targets registered attendees that already booked reservations with the premise that they can get a better deal. The scam targets attendees or exhibitors and it is not exclusive to Affiliate Summit.

Here's a 4 min video with more details

DO NOT fall for these scams. The best way to book a hotel room is directly through the hotel's website, 800 number OR maybe through a travel agent you already trust and have used in the past. You could also use globally recognized and reputable websites like Hotel.com, Expedia.com and the like.

Here's more information about the Affiliate Summit West/East Scam.

See you in Las Vegas!

The post Affiliate Summit is Next and Scam Alert. appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

But you are not interested in becoming an affiliate, instead, you have a product. You want to get affiliates to sell your product or service. And you wonder, how do you get an affiliate program started so Joe will sell for you?

This is what I am exploring with you today. I guess, the first thing I would ask is not How?, but Why?

Should you start an affiliate program or not?

As with most marketing decisions, starting an affiliate marketing program isn't something to be taken lightly.

I am think that nearly every company, product or service can benefit from an affiliate program, if you deploy and manage it correctly. With that premise, it is easier for me to explain when you should NOT start an affiliate program.

You should NOT start an affiliate program...

Do not start an affiliate program as a way to save your company or as a last-ditch effort to generate revenue . If your company is in trouble and you need money, you need to fix the problems before you introduce a whole new set of complications to your business.

Do not start an affiliate program without sales statistics or brand recognition. If you are new and don't have a brand or endorsements, then most affiliates will want to see some proven conversions and sales before joining your program.

If you don't have these numbers to show, or if they're too low for your industry then your program may lose affiliates' attention quickly and then it can easily stagnate and make it hard to get traction later.

Do not start an affiliate program expecting the affiliates to do your work for you. You need to guide your program with strong direction and leadership. Even though they are selling for you, they are a type of customer to you as well.

Affiliates are a hybrid of employee, customer. You need to have strong communication channels that work for you and the affiliates. You need to give marketing materials, a good infrastructure, and most importantly, motivation and fresh campaigns to promote.

But if you think you are starting a program for the right reasons, then here is a list of a few basic things to keep in mind as you get ready to start your affiliate program.

If you think you are ready to start an affiliate program, then...

Study the best ones and most popular in your industry and overall. Study the networks, study the affiliates, study the competition, study, study, study.

Get yourself an affiliate manager with a decent track record to help you set it all up and maybe even manage it for you. You can find people and agencies that do this. You can attend local meetups and regional or national events to meet them as well.

Get your self to events with other affiliates and affiliate managers. Immerse yourself in the industry and culture so you can better understand how to work more efficiently, and effectively.

Join other affiliate programs as an affiliate and go through the experience. Did you find it enjoyable, inviting, motivating? What would you change in your program? Ask yourself questions to hone in your skills and develop a better program.

Affiliate Summit West is coming up in January and this is perhaps the best event you can attend to learn about all the different aspects of affiliate marketing also known as performance marketing. If you are serious about starting a program for your company then you owe it to yourself the due diligence of attending. Click here to find out more.

The post Should you Start an Affiliate Program? appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Affiliate Summit West 2016 is coming in January and taking place in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel. Affiliate Summit West seems to always be in Las Vegas.

If you are in the industry, I highly recommend you attend this event. It is where all the companies and individuals in the affiliate marketing space meet up to plan world domination.

Tickets just went up a bit from their early bird registration prices, but the prices are still a bargain for what you get. I recommend you get the All-access or VIP level pass. Check out the passes here.

The post Affiliate Summit Tickets are Available Now appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you want to work from home then you gotta take the leap. There is no reason to continue dealing with a soul-sucking job that takes up so much of your time and gives you a minimal reward.

Working from home is awesome and I highly recommend it. But there are risks, and pitfalls and things you'll learn along the way.

This is another great video that will save you YEARS of experience with a barrage of excellent tips. It's like a compilation of things you forgot about and things you never knew could be a problem.

They also cover some of the best tools you could use to get your work done at home and some of the best productivity tips I've seen.

The post Working at Home. Tips, Hacks and Q&A appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you're considering starting an affiliate program for your business or your product then this is recommended viewing.

The Top Five Affiliate Management Myths Debunked.

One of the best takeaways:

If your site is not already primed to convert visitors to buyers, then affiliate traffic will NOT increase your revenue.

The post Top Five Affiliate Management Myths appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I thought that staying home with my newborn and recovering wife was probably more important. I missed catching up with friends and learning some new tricks, but there is Affiliate Summit West coming in January. I'll be there!

But check out what I got in my inbox! Affiliate Summit is having a 1-day conference series for digital marketers. The  next one coming up is in San Francisco on September 15.

This is the announcement:

AFFILIATE SUMMIT IS COMING TO CALIFORNIA!

Produced by Affiliate Summit, Performance Marketing Summit is a 1-day conference series for digital marketers, that takes place in various cities, around the world.

Performance Marketing Summit San Francisco is taking place on Tuesday, September 15th at the Mariott Fisherman's Wharf. The event agenda is packed with networking opportunities, and sessions covering:

• affiliate marketing
• branding
• email marketing
• landing page optimization
• public relations
• SEO
• social marketing

View the full agenda here. | View the speaker list here.

The price for the event is just $99 and also includes a luncheon and networking cocktail party.

A handful of seats remain. Don't miss out on a great opportunity right in your home state.

Register today, before we are completely sold out.

Hope to see you in San Francisco!

Missy Ward & Shawn Collins
Co-founders of Affiliate Summit

---

I am not sure if I can make it yet. It's still a little crazy at home. I might be able to do make a quick 2 day road trip out of it but we'll see, but if you can make it I know you'll appreciate it and learn a lot.

The post Affiliate Summit Coming to California! appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The short answer is NO, it isn't.

When you think you found a niche that isn't competitive, there is a reason why. Option 1, because there is no money to be made there, or option 2, the niche isn't developed.

Option one means that the niche exists but nobody is going to pay for products in there, or the products available are so low profit that it will take you years to make a profit. This is definitely not a place for beginners to go. I promise, you will quit and quitters fail.

The second option is great if you have the next five to ten years available for yourself and almost an unlimited budget to educate the people and market your product well enough for that niche to mature. If the first option is only reserved for experts, then this second option is the one that only bored billionaires should try.

If you watch this video, at least the first 6 minutes. You'll hear the same thing, and take it from an established expert, Jeremy Schoemaker aka Shoemoney.

The post Affiliate Question. Isn’t it Better To Find a Niche with Low Competition? appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

This should get the new winners of my free passes excited. Affiliate Ball is one of the big parties going on at Affiliate Summit. They usually have some big names and this time is no exception. They are bringing in Sean Paul!

Yeah, you know that song with Enrique Iglesias, "Bailando"? I had it stuck in my head for like a week when I went to Napa because it played everytime when we drove from winery to winery. But... I ended up liking the song. Anyway, yeah, that guy will be there.

And may I remind you, this party is free to Affiliate Summit Attendees and it cost nothing to everyone else. Because they can't get in. They can't beg, plead, cheat, steal or even pay their way in. If you don't have an Affiliate Summit pass, you will not be able to see this show.

Check out the video and official announcement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6ilGoFpg70

Sean Paul is among one of the hottest names in music today. His vocal style and music is a refreshing change for this event with his unique twist of dancehall reggae mixed with hip hop. Known for mega hits like “Temperature”, “So Fine”, “Gimme The Light”, “Like Glue” and his current hit with Enrique Iglesias topping the charts “Bailando”

Paul has won a Grammy Award, and is the most successful Jamaican artist on the U.S. Charts of all time and has sold over 10 million albums.This will be a high energy, super fun show.

The Affiliate Ball is an official party of The Affiliate Summit once again taking place at Chateau Nightclub located inside of the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas in January 19.

Darren Blatt, promoter of The Affiliate Ball says “This Affiliate Ball will be jumping, people will be amazed when they hear just how many hit songs Sean Paul has”.

You can still register for Affiliate Summit, click here to register.

The post Sean Paul is Confirmed for Affiliate Summit West appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I announced that I was giving away five free passes for Affiliate Summit West taking place next january in las Vegas. This is the industry standard event for affiliate marketers. So today I'm announcing the winners.

In no particular order here are the five ticket winners.

Muhammed
Michael
Deepa
Bobbi
Charles

To the Winners and anyone else attending:

To claim your pass, check your email and then visit the link I sent you and enter the code I gave you. The pass you have is the networking pass but I recommend you upgrade to the next one so you can have access to the meals. Great place to network! Either way, click here to get registered.

Check your ticket and upgrade it if necessary. You can upgrade during your registration period.
You MUST attend once you register. If you don't attend, you will be banned from the event. Seriously.

• Book your hotel as soon as possible.
• Get the App
• Plan your days now so you aren't left wondering alone
• Join the FB group after you register

See you there!

The post Affiliate Summit West 2015 Free Pass Winners appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If I had this with me everytime someone asks me what is Affiliate Summit? then I would have the answer always in a short little video.

Watch this and you'll understand why they say Affiliate Summit is not your average tradeshow. The Draw Shop nailed it with this animation.

I got a chance to talk to Draw Shop at Affiliate Summit East back in August and we tweeted a couple times. They seem like a great service.

Affiliate Summit is More than a Tradeshow

The post Affiliate Summit is More Than your Average Tradeshow appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you are attending the event, (did you know I'm giving away five tickets?), then the app is a must. It is available for Android and iOS and it's free.

I just uninstalled the app for Affiliate Summit East 2014 and got the new version for Affiliate Summit West 2015.

The app also features the conference agenda, speaker bios, personalized schedules, attendee directory, message area, and more.

This time the app is different and I can only assume that the app isn't part of the App store or the Play store because this way only actual attendees will see and have access to the app.

I find this change interesting, and intriguing. I wonder if there were other factors that played into switching from a native app to a browser based app.

Even though it isn't as easy to install, you really just have to create a browser shortcut on your mobile device, it is just as functional as it has been in the past. So give it a try and make sure you have setup your account prior to the event so you're not fumbling with it at crunch time.

Complete instructions and additional information is available on the official Affiliate Summit Blog.

The post Affiliate Summit 2015 Attendees, Did You Get the App? appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you want I can even give you a ticket. Well maybe. If you earn it and deserve it then perhaps. Here's the deal. I go to Affiliate Summit every time since I went the first time and I think it's a terrific event.

The West coast show is always better than the east coast because it takes place in Las Vegas. This is where you go to learn what works and what doesn't with internet marketing. You want to make money with your blog right?

You want to get hundreds of people to promote your products right? Or you want to meet the industry leaders that can help you find the right partnerships. Yup, this happens at Affiliate Summit.

If you're serious about growing your blog and your business, then you need to go there.

So here's the deal with the tickets. I have five tickets to give away, but they came to me with great blood, sweat and tears so you are going to have to work for them.

Here are the steps to Win a ticket.

• Read this blogpost (you're reading it).
• Watch the video below.
• Then complete the rafflecopter tasks below.

I will select the winner and announce it here on the blog. Please note that only some of the tasks are mandatory. The other ones will give you brownie points but you have to do the mandatory tasks for your entry to count.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Free Tickets for Affiliate Summit West 2015 appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

So you're home now and depending on how you well you followed my advice, you may have 100 opportunities or you may have a few. Either way, now there's work to do.

If you did all according to plan while Affiliate Summit, you've made a lot of new friends. You must have, otherwise you totally ignored me, but I'll let you read on just in case you hadn't had a chance to read my post yet.

You may have even talked about following up about something with somebody. Maybe you met someone that can help you finish building something you've been working on. Or maybe you found out one of the presenters lives 10 minutes from you and you guys talked about getting breakfast or lunch soon.

So now what?

Follow Up!

It is so easy to talk and talk. But very few people do, during one of the sessions I attended, a panel with John Rampton, Zac Johnson, John Chow and Syed Balkhi, it was said several times to follow up. I am guilty of doing it myself too and sometimes we genuinely run out of time, but this is why I highlighted a few scenarios just a minute ago. It is critical you follow up.

Follow up with all and everyone you talked about following up first. Even if it's an email or a message. This is your first thing to do. Follow up especially if there was some interest in partnering up or working for one an other at any level.

After you've done that, follow up with everyone else that you met even if you didn't tell them you would follow up with anything. Just follow up to stay in touch, if they haven't asked about your business yet, then don't tell them yet. Don't be that guy. Fell free to leave your signature as is, feel free to go on about your business, but just let them know that you remember them and wanted to make sure you two stayed in touch.

That simple gesture will go a long way. You've just planted the seed for a great friendship anything else after that is icing on the cake.

Following up can be as simple as sending a picture of you together, a short email, a short fb message, a quick phone text. Whatever you want but think about this. Each one of you met possibly 15 - 300 people. How many of those people do you think will follow up? Very few if any.

You will be remembered, and that is worth attending the entire event. So once you're finished following up?

Use the Information and Content

It's a given that you should start using the stuff you learned right away. These are cutting edge techniques and the latest information to hit the streets. The only other way you can find out the information here is if you follow the speakers and their work independently of Affiliate Summit. But as far as the public is concerned this is the first time most people are learning about this stuff.

Again, just like meeting people, learning and applying is a numbers game. If you go back home and apply what you've learned to your business, you'll be ahead of all your competitors. How many of them attended Affiliate Summit? How many of them know what you know? your time to own them is now.

Besides applying the lessons learned, you have a huge opportunity to write about the event. You might have heard me saying this before, or maybe heard other people say it too. Your company is now a media company, whatever you do you now need to add media to the end of it. Creating interesting, educational or entertaining media must be at the core of your marketing strategy. But we'll talk more about that later.

For now, take advantage of the pictures you took, any videos you recorded, notes you took during sessions and publish some stories on your blog. I do this for Affiliate Summit after each event and I still have tons of unpublished stuff, here's my Affiliate Summit section by the way. You have an opportunity to take a corner of your niche, a piece of your vertical and be the source of cutting edge information or strategies that will help your business and your clients. Get creative, but you should have enough raw content to last you for weeks!

If you don't think you have enough content of your own to write about or produce blogposts, then do some curation. Write about your experience and highilght the best parst of the events. Reneta from Siteground did that exact thing, adding a lot of insight and her own experience of the event to a blogpost.

Something I do with photos I take at Affiliate Summit is that I add it to my Affiliate Summit Photos Album. It's fun to look at and also reminds me to follow up with those people I've met in the past.

Plan the next Affiliate Summit

If you've done all of the stuff I mentioned earlier then it's time to plan the next one. Affiliate Summit happens every six months and every single time I've attended it is awesome. Worth every penny. I've made friends there for life, I've made thousands of dollars from working with people I met there and I've grown and learned more than I ever imagined possible.

Once you attend, you need to keep the momentum going and come back for a second one.

In case you didn't know, you can still buy the Video Pass for Affiliate Summit East 2014. But more importantly, you can start registering for Affiliate Summit West 2015, coming back to the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. Believe me, you want to be there. Get your tickets early because Vegas usually sells out. Video pass or ASW15 Registration link.

The post Your First Affiliate Summit. Back Home. So Now What? appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

After a long night of partying and hanging out with the Clickbank folks, I couldn't really sleep for more than a couple of hours. My roommates were also a bit of a factor in that they were snoring a little bit.

I guess it was payback from the night before when I was snoring up a storm. But in any case, I was wide awake at 6 AM on the last day of Affiliate Summit. If you know anything about #ASE or #ASW (Affiliate Summit West), then you know that the last day is when everyone is tired. Everyone is done and ready to head home after 2 days or more or networking, cocktail parties, club parties, dinners, and appointments, but here I was up and moseying around the hotel.

I made my way over to the exhibit hall to take the photos.

My main camera ran out of battery after a few photos so most of them are with my phone. I apologize if some are a little blurry but I'll do it better next time. (Turns out I had the spare battery I thought I left in the room in my backpack the whole time)

Here's the result.

The post Affiliate Summit 2014 – Vendor Booth Pictures appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

As you would guess, the conference is about affiliates, Clickbank happens to be one of the best established networks out there to do what they do. Digital products. They specialize on helping you launch your business or enhance it by promoting the products in their catalog. This is one of the most common affiliate marketing models.

I promote several products from Clickbank and they have products in a niche that would probably fit you. But here is Josh Valencia from Clickbank and he explains way better than I can.

Oh yeah, Clickbank also will have beer for you at Affiliate Summit.

The post Josh Valencia Explains What is Clickbank? #ASW14 appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

That's why I go to Affiliate Summit, to learn, meet people and partner up. This is the premier event to talk affiliate stuff. But here are some things I wish I knew the first time around.

Affiliate summit is teeming with people looking for new business and partnerships. Bring your A game, be prepared and most importantly, be open to meeting potential clients, vendors or partners. These people are unlike any other group of people I've ever met or hung out with.

Tip #1

Never, ever, judge a book by its cover. Unlike other professional events I've been to, people here are comfortable with who they are. To you and me, they may appear to be something completely different than they are. One moment  you could be sitting next to a regular Joe like you, and the next minute you could have a millionaire blogger or a super affiliate on the seat next to you. During one of the parties you could be having a drink with the owner of a multi-million dollar company. I can't emphasize this enough, do. not. judge. Get to know everyone you can, and listen before you are listened to.

Tip #2

Take pictures. This may sound trivial, but if you are at Affiliate Summit, you most certainly have a website or a blog that will need content. Pictures are excellent source of material for blogposts and articles. Do not miss this chance to take pictures of, and with some really interesting people. Don't worry about your outfit, your hair, or the background too much. Take the picture and seize the moment!

Tip #3

Start listening and researching now. Start doing some google searches and finding out who is going to be there, who they are and what they do. Look for companies that may provide a product or service or potential clients or partners, but don't forget to just make friends. A good place to start is Google+ and Twitter by using the hashtag #ASW14. Here are a few good links to help you get more involved:

• Missy Ward is co-founder of Affiliate Summit. I highly recommend you check out her blog.
• Shawn Collins is the other founder for Affiliate Summit and you should also keep an eye on his blog.
• List of exhibitors coming to Affiliate Summit West 2014.
•  Tricia Meyer is a blogger and affiliate marketer very much in tune with the industry.
• #ASW14 on Twitter listen to what's going on Twitter about the event.
• #ASW14 on Google + If Google+ is your cup of tea then check this out.
• Shareasale, one of the big players at the event. They host a great party and you'll see their booth in the meet market.

Tip #4

Leave a little extra room in your luggage. If you like schwag, leave some room in your suitcase for it. Lots of vendors will have little giveaways or gifts for you. Some of these are actually useful or just plain cool. In some cases you could even win prizes and stuff.

Tip #5

Bring a backpack. If you're a girl, you may want something different but I would still recommend a backpack over anything else. You can put your laptop or ipad in there along with a bottle or two of water, some snacks and other stuff. You'll have room to put swag away too until you go back to your room to unload the loot! There is wifi connectivity for attendees and you should find a place to plug in your laptop & phone charger so bring those with you as well.

Tip #6

Must wear comfortable shoes! Whether you go from one session to the next or prefer to spend your time networking and meeting vendors at the meet market, you'll be doing a lot of walking. Just like any other big conference, the hallways are spread out throughout the convention center... but don't forget, this is Las Vegas. Everything is more in Vegas, including walking.

There are other tips that you can find throughout the internet, and here is a little video I asked my friend John to do for you. He's the first person that invited me to ASW back in 2013, and so I thought it would be fitting for him to give you some of his tips as he has attended every event since it started.

Tips from John Chow

So, are you ready?

The post Affiliate Summit Tips for New Attendees appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Please only apply for the pass if you intend on going. Read this carefully:

These passes cannot be transferred, and the pass codes become invalid in the event the conference sells out. Also, anybody registering for a complimentary pass who neither checks in at the conference, nor cancels, will be ineligible for future complimentary passes.

In other words, if you win, you must go!

If you are a new internet marketer or have just joined the ranks of affiliate marketers, online marketers or plan on implementing an affiliate program for your company, this may just be the best event you'll go to all year. It could be a life changing experience as it was for me in January 2013.

You'll get a chance to rub shoulders with some of the giants in the industry as well as make some really good connections to help you develop your business. Not to mention all the learning that goes on during the sessions. Of course, in the evenings the parties are on and this is in Las Vegas so you know the parties will be fun.

Remember: Please only enter if you actually plan on going. If you are selected, you must attend. The pass is not transferable and cannot be resold because it will have your name on it. I am only giving away the passes. I am not paying for your travel or hotel.

So to apply, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me why you are deserving of a pass. I'll be picking out the winners over the next couple of days and announce next week.

See you in Affiliate Summit!

The post Win a Networking Pass for Affiliate Summit 2014 appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

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I didn't want to be. Fast forward to today and the same exact thing is true for me being a marketer. I am one, always have been and always will be. This means that I accept this as it is, I am a marketer and a sales person. Over the past few days, I've helped a few people come up with new ideas for their businesses. Ideas that could and should revitalize their business. I do this all the time, but I always felt that other people were just lazy and didn't want to think about the ideas.

It was effortless for me to come up with these ideas to help them out. It is what I always do and have been doing. I guess it isn't easy to recognize that some of our talents or gifts are valuable to others. When I say "I am a marketer" I mean that from a DNA point of view. That is in my bones, I am always thinking about stuff that turns out to be marketing. I am not saying I am a good marketer, but I just know I am a marketer.

During Affiliate Summit West #ASW13 someone I admire and recognize as a leader mentioned to me that I should be a full-time marketer instead. Funny they should say that because I've been working on this since the summer. I've been realigning my vision and goals with my interests and natural gifts.

In fact a few years back when I was visiting with a good friend from my church days back in Highschool, he said jokingly as I approached: "Oh no, here comes Oscar what are you going to sell us today" -- and everyone chuckled. I replay that moment in my head all the time, that was one of those tiny pivotal points in one's life where something just clicks.

So I am a marketer. And with that, I officially announce that in line with my new rebranding of my site, I am a marketer and will be doing a lot of that to help my make money and build wealth section.

Remember, know thyself! -- Learn what and who you are. Understand why and what it means. Move forward full throttle, unrestricted.

The post I am a marketer. appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Not only is this my first time at Affiliate Summit West, but I get to hang out with John Chow and meet his baller friends too. Tomorrow we're heading to the Las Vegas Speedway to race in Ferraris and stuff like that. An event put on by All Phase hosting and DK from the thinktank party I went over the summer. This should be fun.

If you are going to be at ASW, perhaps you can still get in to this cool event. I applied to race too but doubt I'll get in - More info on how to attend the racing event is right here http://www.johnchow.com/come-race-me-at-las-vegas-motor-speedway/.

I'm looking forward to meeting some of the big names in the affiliate industry. I've met tons of people last year during the summer. These people pretty much inspired me to shift my business model around a bit and over the past few months that's exactly what I've been doing.

In fact, my business partner and I are working on our very own product which will launch in the next month or two. So meeting people like Shoemoney and talk more to DK and other big names in the industry. I feel extremely lucky to be able to be here and hang out with them so I'll try to do this event justice and blog about it while I'm here and then give you a recap.

I'll be tweeting and checking in to a lot too if you want to follow me on Twitter or Foursquare. I'm also going to try to live blog, but not sure if that's going to work well. we'll see!

The post Affiliate Summit West 13 Here We Go appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.