For The Heck of It Archives - Page 2 of 11 - Affiliate Marketing with Missy Ward, Affiliate Summit Co-Founder & Co-CEO

AffStat 2010: Affiliate Marketing Statistic Report Now Available

by Missy Ward

The 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report is now available for free at http://affstat.com/. The report can be viewed online or downloaded.

Over eleven-hundred and fifty affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

The report features dozens of charts of data, based on the responses from the participating affiliates on affiliate marketing, social media, search marketing, domains, email, and more.

Also included, an uncensored view into the opinions of affiliates on a variety of other subjects.

Affiliates were asked to share any complaints, ideas, suggestions or opinions they have regarding affiliate marketing.

Plus, there are resources for affiliate marketers: a glossary to explain industry terms, as well as lists of suggested message boards and blogs you should know about.

Feel free to use material from the report in blog posts, presentations, etc. Just reference that the information came from the 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

Below are the questions covered in the 2009 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report.

Do you maintain an opt-in e-mail list for your site(s)?
Do you promote your affiliate links in PPC search engines?
Finish this sentence: I have been an affiliate since…
When signing up for an affiliate program, do you read the affiliate agreement?
Do you prefer network or independent affiliate programs?
How many affiliate programs do you actively promote?
How many return days for cookies would you consider to be fair?
Do commission payment policies (how often a program pays) affect your decision to promote an affiliate offer?
Have you successfully requested an increase in commission from an affiliate manager?
How many domains do you own?
Do you own any domains dedicated to a particular affiliate program?
How do you most often find out about an affiliate program and then join?
How often would you like to hear from your affiliate managers?
What is your preferred method for finding out information from an affiliate manager?
How much information should an affiliate manager make available to you?
How would you prefer to be contacted by affiliate managers on an individual basis?
What is your preferred method of commission payment?
What is your preferred payment threshold?
What industry/merchant types do you prefer to promote?
What is the minimum EPC (earnings per 1 click) for you to promote an affiliate program?
What is the highest reversal rate you would accept?
What is the most important factor in choosing a merchant?
What are your preferred link types?
Do you cloak links (CGI, .htaccess, meta redirect, etc.)?
What is your average gross monthly income with affiliate programs?
Are you currently using any URL Shortening Services in your marketing efforts?
If you answered YES to the question above, which URL Shortening Services are you actively using?
Does your affiliate marketing plan currently incorporate marketing on social networking sites?
If you answered YES to the above questions, which social networking sites are you currently using in your affiliate marketing efforts?
Are you currently integrating video in your affiliate marketing plan?
Are you currently using any WordPress plugins or widgets designed for affiliate marketing efforts?
If you answered YES to the above question, which affiliate marketing related plugins and widgets are you currently using?
If you are currently using WordPress to build out affiliate sites, what is your preferred WordPress theme?

Get your free copy of the Affiliate Summit AffStat Report at http://affstat.com/.

2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report

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Free Your Feet; Liberate Your Soles! (And Maybe Win…

by Missy Ward

For those that know me well, you know that I'm seldom ever seen in public without at least being 5′ 9″ tall (and typically closer to 5′ 11″).

Truth be known, I'm barely 5′ 5″ tall and I have an *extreme* shoe obsession, which encompasses all types of beauties in a plethora of heel heights and shapes.

Many women (and men) are quite curious how I manage to spend countless hours on my feet, walking trade show floors during the day and partying it up at night, without shedding one tear. My guess is that after wearing heels for decades, one just gets used to them.

A couple months ago during a conference, Hagai Yardeny, a partner in DigitalMoses.com and a dear friend of mine, tried hard to convince me to ditch the heels and pop on a pair of Chuck's with my suit. ( I'm convinced it's one of those freaky fetish things with him.) While I was not complaining one bit about my feet, my Manolo Blahnik Caged Strappy Sandals, seemed to bother him immensely and together, we began to watch the other women in the conference drag by, crippled in pain from their shoes.

We both agreed that there seemed to be a double-standard when it comes attire at conferences. Women typically show up in smart business attire and heels, while our male counterparts tend to dress much more casually and cruise on by in comfy, rubber soles.

So, determined to impart his belief that “fashion is overrated” onto women in our industry, Hagai created the Chucks Challenge — a way for women to embrace their inner “techniness” and join the comfort movement.

Missy Ward wearing Chuck Taylors

His goal is to get the women of ad:tech to abandon convention and wear Chuck Taylor sneakers for the duration of the conference, to be as comfortable as the guys — if only for a few days.

The Digital Moses team will be walking around ad:tech photographing all the ladies bold enough to accept the Chucks Challenge. From this crop of adventurous women, they will randomly select 3 lucky winners who will receive one of the following prizes:

A full company profile in the DM Confidential affiliate newsletter
A “Tips of the Week” slot in the DM Confidential affiliate newsletter
An Apple iPad

Think you have what it takes to enter the Chucks Challenge?.

Head on over to http://www.dmconfidential.com/ChucksChallenge/ and complete the entry form.

Will I be wearing my Chuck's during ad:tech? Let me know what you think.

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I Love This Bar #ASW10

by Missy Ward

“Friendship isn't a big thing – it's a million little things.” ~Author Unknown

If you happened to be monitoring the #ASW10 hashtag on Twitter after Affiliate Summit West 2010 ended on Tuesday, January 19th, you may have come across some goofy tweets from me and my cohorts about heading off to Toby Keiths Bar.

For those of you that know me, you may have been surprised that I would go to a place that serves nothing but greasy food and has a modest wine list that features three simple choices: pink, white or red.

As if that isn't enough, the coup de grâce… Toby's only plays country music (something this die-hard rock chick just can't cope with).

Now, what if I told you that I've gone there 3 years in a row?

One might wonder why I would subject myself to this excruciating torture, year after year. The answer quite simply is that I've got friends in low places and I wouldn't change them for the world.

This restaurant, however agonizing for me causes my business partner, Shawn Collins such happiness. And that's the reason why our li'l internet family gets together every year. We love seeing him that happy over something as silly as this.

The video above was produced by Todd Farmer, my friend for many years. Besides being a master of video, he also happens to be pretty darn smart.

Enjoy!

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Getting Ready for the Avon Dempsey Racing Champion’s Circle…

by Missy Ward

Last September, Team Affiliate Marketers Give Back participated in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. During that walk, we raised over $53,000, but that wasn't the only highlight for me.

As a top-fundraiser of the event, I had the opportunity to meet my celebrity crush, Patrick Dempsey, who I've been a fan of since the first time I saw him in Can't Buy Me Love (1987). 🙂

And yes, while many people adore him for his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd (aka Dr. McDreamy) on Grey's Anatomy, my admiration for him stems from his commitment to giving back to communities through his efforts with the Avon Foundation and the his opening of the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing.

So when my contact at Avon called me to tell me that as a Top Fundraiser for the Avon Walk in LA this past year, I got into the “The Dempsey Racing Champions' Circle“, I think I nearly deafened her with my screams.

So this weekend, I'll be in Daytona Beach for the 2010 Grand Am Rolex 24 Race with a few other top fundraisers from the various 2009 Avon Walks. We'll be hanging in the trenches as “Pit Crew for a Day” with Patrick and the Dempsey Racing Team, and going for rides in the Grand-Am VIP Pace Car amongst other scheduled activities.

Missy Ward wearing RichWitness.com Apparel And, just in time for the event, I'll be wearing a couple of the shirts I received this week from Monica Griffin, the CEO of RichWitnessWear.com, whose “9Line Ribbon” supports breast cancer patients and their families.

So yeah, I'm pretty darn excited about the entire weekend and pleased to announce that Team Affiliate Marketers Give Back will again be walking in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer this coming May 5-6 in Chicago. If you're interested in walking with us this year, or just need a little encouragement to push you into it :), please shoot me off an email.

From what I understand, WordCamp Chicago is taking place the same time. But seriously…Boobies totally trump WordPress conferences. Everyone knows that! 😉

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