Chris and I don’t promote affiliate links on any of the programs we manage because we don’t cross that line. But we are still in the trenches as affiliates learning the best ways to promote programs. We dabble in SEO and SEM as a way to stay fresh and keep the creative juices flowing to help our affiliates. This industry of performance marketing is evolving and we don’t want to get left behind. That’s one reason why I’m taking on some of the programs in the middle of mobile marketing. I still say it’s where we are headed. The iphone and the Droid X are taking us whether we like it or not.

So don’t be surprised if you see affiliate links on here, they will be clearly marked in the tags. Like the one below…

Meet Me at Affiliate Summit East 2010!

Here are some new Flirty Aprons banners just for Valentine’s Day so get them up now and start the Valentine’s Day rush!

Here’s an example of the relationship building at Affiliate Summit. I was headed to the Carnival buffet at the Rio Monday morning and saw a guy holding an affiliate registration bag in front of me. I struck up a conversation and asked him what he was doing at ASW10. His name was Stu and he owns a growing retail site. He heard about ASW and took the time to attend and learn about affiliate marketing. The buffet line was moving slow so I asked if we could chat for a while and then sit down together for breakfast. By the time we were seated, my Sunshine Rewards buddies (Tricia and Cindy) showed up and joined us for breakfast. Over the next 30 minutes, this affiliate marketing newbie heard from an outsourced program manager and two super affiliates about the industry he came to learn about. We discussed network selection, affiliate communication, coupon strategy, landing page optimization and general definitions of affiliate keywords and phrases. We really talked his ear off and I’m confident we sent him in the right direction to research launching his new program.

It’s unpredictable chance meetings that make events like this memorable. I had incredible meetings with affiliates and vendors and other OPM’s but the lure of building new relationships at Affiliate Summit is the cherry on top. That’s where my PokenZoo promotion came in handy this year. Which by the way was spawned from an initial conversation I had with Adam Riemer back in December. The Poken Meetup was a success because of Twitter and word of mouth. We had about 20 people over a 30-minute period. During this time, I was fortunate enough to have a 15-minute conversation with Warren Whitlock. We actually had a conversation longer than 140 characters. I was able to ask him strategy questions about Twitter, discuss the future of Poken and learn a little bit about who he was as a person, not just a social media guru who wrote a book. It was a long enough personal conversation that he should actually remember me if we meet again.

Even the organized breakfasts and lunches are a great chance for networking at Affiliate Summit. I saw one of my best affiliates (Eric Nagel) at a table and sat with him but didn’t realize I would become friends instantly with everyone else there. That breakfast conversation was beyond hilarious and the centerpiece was my new friend David D Ochoa. David is quite a character and is eager to learn fast. This was his second Affiliate Summit but I think he’ll be one of my top affiliates very soon. He’s seen the potential from other affiliates and is willing to invest the time to make it work for him.

There are plenty of wrap-up posts from Affiliate Summit West and they cover everything from the keynotes, the sessions, the parties and events. But, I wanted to highlight the most important thing to me about Affiliate Summit – relationship building is king and if you want to be successful, this is the place to start.

Here’s an offer you can’t refuse. Any merchants I meet at Affiliate Summit West (ASW10) this weekend will get a 50% discount on the first month of affiliate management and recruiting from Greg Hoffman Consulting.

Also, anyone that gives me a referral for affiliate management during ASW10 will get a 20% commission from the first month’s full retainer. I would love to start working with a coffee affiliate program again and if you happen to find the next greatest Flirty Apron merchant, I will reward you handsomely. I’m currently managing programs in ShareASale, Commission Junction and Pepperjam. I have room for more and I can expand quickly if need be, I have an affiliate manager standing by on Skype.

I’ve got my dragon poken from PokenZoo and 250 new business cards from Easy Card Designer and I’m not afraid to use them! Here is a link to my schedule at ASW10.

Did you pick up your poken after the last Affiliate Summit because you missed out on all the fun? Maybe you still haven’t purchased the right poken for you. I have a deal for affiliates attending Affiliate Summit West 2010. My client, PokenZoo.com on ShareASale, is offering a free poken to select affiliates that write about using poken at industry shows and networking events. Tell us why you need a poken and we can arrange to have one shipped to you before the Summit in Vegas.

This is only open to affiliates approved in the Poken Zoo ShareASale program and have confirmed they are attending Affiliate Summit West 2010. But wait, there’s more….If you sell 5 poken from that unique post before January 15, I’ll give you a $25 bonus when you track me down at Affiliate Summit and show me your poken. You can probably find me at the Blogger’s Lounge. I’ll be blogging and tweeting from anywhere I can find a seat.

As an added bonus, any affiliate that exchanges poken info with me, will receive a 1-2% commission bump on any of my managed programs in ShareASale. I’d also like to hear suggestions on where all of us poken users can have a flash mob poken party during Affiliate Summit. Leave your comments.

After I ordered my dragon poken, I started a conversation with the owner of PokenZoo and found out he needed help managing his program. He has sooo many orders that he couldn’t keep up with building personal relationships with affiliates, nor could he be proactive in recruiting. I was happy to offer him my services.

What Is a Poken? Poken solves one simple problem: how do I remember the email addresses and screen names of everyone I meet? You Poken, of course. When you meet other Poken owners in the real world, quickly swap information. No more writing down email addresses or long blog names. Just touch Pokens and connect. Poken holds your contact information: name, address, email, mobile phone, and the rest, and it also holds your social networking account names. Poken contains your FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and other accounts. Already know all your friends’ profiles? Even better. When you Poken and they Poken, you’ll automatically have updates when they open a new social networking account. Ride the social networking wave with Poken.

30 Day EPC: $25.48
30 Day Conversion: 2%
30 Day Average Sale: $76.37
Commission: 20%

Join PokenZoo on ShareASale

I also just joined the Affiliate Summit Network and I’m looking for friends.

It’s hard to believe I haven’t attended a Summit since Miami in 2007. Time to reconnect. I’ll be blogging about the events for the entire Summit here on the Internet Marketing Gorilla Blog.