Affiliate Summit West 2010 Observations
This year I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak at ASW 2010 in Las Vegas. The first thing I want to say is that I had a blast speaking. Nothing gets me more excited than getting up in the morning and talking to people about something I love to do.
The first thing I noticed was from my friend Brent Terrazas. If you don’t know him, you should. He often plays in a realm of advertising that many of us don’t even give a second though to: traditional media. When it comes to ideas I’m unsure of, I always go to Brent for a second set of eyes, and a different perspective. He’s sharp. This year, he managed to come up with a great idea. If you’ve ever been to one of these conferences, you know it’s a circle jerk of “Let me have your business card!”
Capitalizing on this, Brent made some business cards that say, “Out of all the business cards that you’ll get today, This is the only one that promises a response. Brent Terrazas” The other side has instructions how you can donate to a charity. By donating you’ll receive: a thank you card, and a real business card from Brent .
I think this is an awesome idea. First of all it encourages people to donate to charity, second, at a conference of “Ballers”, $2 should be of no consequence for a good lead. Brent is a good lead. Second of all, it’s a really unique idea. It’s the kind of idea that intrigues people. I know when he told me about it, I was totally blown away how he is going to help people, weed out people fishing for email addresses, and promote himself all with a simple business card.
If you’d like to help Brent you can donate to his charity and get his contact information: here.
The other thing I noticed happening this year was exactly why I went to ASW last year: to find merchants and networks that weren’t predicated upon scammy rebills. I personally don’t push rebills because I don’t believe in the product. If there existed a product which provided value to the consumer, and had “negative option” billing, I’d be all about it. Right now, there isn’t one I can endorse with a clear conscience. Luckily, I’ve had a year on my competition while they got themselves wrapped up in lawsuits from Google and the FTC, I’ve been working on finding sustainable models of income where I can build value for the future, not just turn and burn websites.
So now everyone is concerned with “compliance” and “FTC Approved” offers. I could really care less. I’m looking for small, scrappy merchants looking to pay commissions on products they believe in. I was really impressed with the number of “Green” offers ShareASale had, and how they were promoting them. They see the coming trends, and they know where to place themselves to capitalize on them. I’m pretty excited about working with them in the coming year.
Finally, the last thing I saw that was worth noting were a couple of teachers. In the hotel bus they started complaining to the bus driver about how much money UPS drivers get paid. This absolutely infuriated me. They were complaining to someone who drives for a living that other drivers are overpaid. I don’t know about you, but every UPS driver I have ever seen hustles his ass off. It’s a busy job, and it’s very hard work. Imagine running errands for 8 or 9 hours per day. Same thing. These two teachers were upset that UPS drivers make more money than them and they have “no education, and just drive a truck”. I wanted to reach out and smack these two smug fucks. First of all, if you want to make that much money too, you need only go apply to be a UPS driver. I’m sure all your education will qualify, or over qualify you for the job. Second of all, for the love of God, the least appropriate audience for this tirade is the guy driving the bus to and from your hotel. His level of patience with these two idiots was above board.
All in all, Vegas was a great experience, and I’d love to do it again.
4 Responses to “Affiliate Summit West 2010 Observations”
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Blairsays:
I totally agree about the rebills and scammy offers that dry up in 3 days.