UPDATE: Submissions are now closed. Winners announced soon!
I hope everyone interested in affiliate marketing strategies and killer networking opportunities will be in Las Vegas January 11-13, 2009 for Affiliate Summit. It’s only the premier affiliate marketing conference around.
But 20 lucky people won’t even have to pay the conference fee to get in. More on that in a minute.
Let’s look at the value in attending Affiliate Summit.
Top Notch Affiliate Marketing Education
There are two types of people who make good money online without being at the mercy of a dismal advertising market—those with great things to sell, and those who sell other people’s great things. Some enjoy doing both.
Affiliate marketing is all about matching up other people’s great things with relevant people. And the smartest affiliate marketers are doing that with content.
There’s no reason anyone who reads Copyblogger can’t succeed with affiliate marketing. All you need is quality guidance and exposure to new ideas.
The brightest minds in affiliate marketing are at Affiliate Summit to teach you what you need to know. All you need to do is get to Las Vegas… which is such a drag of a town, right? 🙂
Top Notch Networking Opportunities
The educational sessions at Affiliate Summit are great, but it’s the deal-making and contacts that are truly golden. I’ve never attended a major conference without advancing my business simply due to the people I meet.
I love the story Jeremy Schoemaker (a/k/a Shoemoney) tells about sitting at the bar in Las Vegas and having a conversation with a guy from Ebay. The idea for Auction Ads (now Shopping Ads) was hatched on a cocktail napkin right there in the bar. Only four months after launch, Jeremy cashed out for big money.
Who knows what kind of opportunities are waiting out there for you?
20 Free Gold Passes to Affiliate Summit
OK, here’s the best part. I met Affiliate Summit co-founder Missy Ward earlier this month. I conned her into giving me a free pass to the summit. Then I saw that Shoemoney was giving his people free passes… and I needed the same deal for you.
Missy, being the sweet person she is, happily agreed. That means I can give away 20 Gold Passes ($549 regular price).
So, here’s what you have to do to be eligible.
1. You have to be ready, willing, and able to be in Las Vegas January 11-13. I’ll be there, and I’ll be looking for you.
2. You have to tell me in the comments below why attending Affiliate Summit will be great for your online business in 2009. Or how attending Affiliate Summit will allow you to start an online business next year. Good storytelling counts. 🙂
Have at it… and I’ll see a bunch of you in Vegas next month. Winners will be announced in a day or so (depending on the number of entries).
About the Author: Brian Clark is founding editor of Copyblogger, and co-founder of DIY Themes and Lateral Action. Get more from Brian on Twitter.
Reader Comments (59)
thanks brian!
as a recent web developer turned affiliate marketer i’d love to attend the summit to network and absorb as much info as possible. this sounds like a great opportunity!
I go to the Affiliate Summit East conferences, and they’re well worth the trip. Anybody who has the slightest desire to grow their online income should be interested in these free passes 😉
“those with great things to sell, and those who sell other people’s great things”
Yeah, my assessment has become that selling advertisement can make you money, but very little.
In the future, I would like to include the option of “selling other people’s great things” on my blog.
My blog is now my website. I want to be the first wedding photographer to have 30,000 unique visits a year plus double my income by offering advice and resources (affiliates) to married couples to keep their marriages strong. You know it’s not good business to use divorced couples as references.
I am also going to be the first photographer that is going to keep up with the stats of the couples that I photograph on their wedding. That way, I can say that their is a higher statistical chance to stay married if they have me photograph your wedding. Now that would be a HUGH selling point don’t you think? I do.
And this will come from getting the opportunity to head to the affiliate summit for free. And besides that, this opportunity is going to be in gladwell’s next book….Outliers 2.
We’re launching a new program to our contractor members whereby they only pay for leads that result in jobs. I’d like to meet with affiliate advertisers and discern their interest in participating in a model that earns them more money, but is based on results (quality leads, not quantity). I wasn’t aware of the Summit, but if you think its worth attending, and my wife lets me, I’ll go.
When all the top bloggers are giving away hundreds of Free Gold Passes and all the Izea Insiders (myself included) are giving away Free Silver Passes, not to mention all the press/blogger passes that were given, I wonder if anyone is paying to attend? 🙂
We’ve been working feverishly on writing lines and lines of code for our new service – website security for about 6 months. At the same time, I’ve been writing articles and trying to get the word out and establish some credibility with webmasters, IM’ers, etc.
I know that website security is based on trust. Someone with many websites isn’t just going to trust our security services. They will have to be recommended by someone they know – like an affiliate.
We are basing our marketing model on selling almost entirely through affiliates. We have one problem – none of us have any experience in developing affiliate relationships. We know we’ll have an outstanding product/service. We’ll be offering good commissions and providing everything potential affiliates told us they want. We just need to know more about affiliate marketing – like that taught at the Las Vegas event.
I would like to attend because we have spent so much start-up money on programming and building a strong infrastructure of servers, etc. that we have little left for attending such a mandatory event.
I would like you to strongly consider providing me the opportunity to not only attend this event, but to meet you as well.
Your blog is one of the few I read religiously. You provide incredible content and all of us have been studying your material so we can in turn become awesome bloggers.
Please consider me for one of your 20 spots.
Thank you in advance.
What bus do I get? 🙂
Would love to go.. but bit far.. unless I dont pay the mortgage??? Now there’s an idea.. 🙂
One day x
I need to build an awesome blog to draw new members to my site where I want to offer killer affiliate products. The seminar sounds like a great place to start the new year.
I’ve been in the online advertising industry working for agencies for quite some time now, and I can’t emphasize how important it is to go to conferences such as the Affiliate Summit, SMX, SES, Pubcon, etc. I have meet a lot of cool people such as Rand Fishkin, Shoemoney, Danny Sullivan, Mr. Collins, etc, as well as lot of unknowns who sometimes baffle you with their creativity in using some of these marketing mediums. That said, I think this is an awesome opportunity for everyone, so thanks Brian for making this happen.
Now about me…. I recently resigned about 4 months ago from the corporate agency world and since then have launched my own business. That said, I wasn’t planning on going since I’ve invested a lot of money getting an office space, office furniture, equipment etc. Obviously being an entrepreneur every penny counts, and a free pass will definitely sway my decision. Considering couple of my ventures have unique business models, I think it would be a great opportunity to connect with some of the masterminds & get their opinions/perspective.
In conclusion, this seems like the perfect time and place to mingle with the old and meet the new… but only if the price is right so to speak :p ….uhmm Free?
As I am launching 2 new sites in January, I would be jazzed to explore different monetization methods.
I am already planning to attend WordCamp Las Vegas on January 10-11 so it would only make sense to hang around for Affiliate Summit as well. The ticket would not go to waste!
In the beginning of January, I will be launching a website aimed at helping seniors find long term care options. We are largely a non-profit, donating much of our earnings to Voluntary Health Agencies like the Alzheimers Association and MS society.
One of our primary revenue sources is affiliate sales. I would love to be able to learn more about affiliate sales and network with other like-minded people so that I can help ConnectingCaregivers grow. ConnectingCaregivers is built upon a foundation of strong relationships with NPOs. Building relationships with influential marketers will be crucial to our development.
One more conference? Yes, you bet! I missed the early-bird pricing for Affiliate Summit and relegated myself to two months of non-conference attendance in Dec & Jan. Go ahead, change my schedule!
My goal for the week between Christmas and New Year’s is to develop my approach and learn as much as possible to kick-off a career in Affiliate Marketing. 2008 has been a pivotal year of change and revised goal setting, but I’ve allowed shiny objects to distract me from focused learning. That changed this past weekend. It’s time to learn, study, model, apply, evaluate, test, learn more…
You, Brian Clark, could add affiliate booster jets to help me launch my 5-point plan:
1. Model what successful affiliates are doing.
2. Set quantifiable objectives for desired outcomes.
3. Learn as much as possible.
4. Work hard w/o being distracted by shiny objects and perceived “needs.”
5. Provide value in niche markets.
Help me reach those goals. I have many domains that are waiting to be successful online businesses in 2009. You could make this happen!
We are who we associate with. Help me associate with some of the “brightest minds” at Affiliate Summit. Meeting you would be penultimate!
Hey Brian – thanks for thinking of us. I’m at the first stage of launching a website (schedule launch date: April 2009). Affiliate marketing will be a core component of the website service and monetization plan. My and my co-founders future online business would directly benefit from me learning and networking at this conference. And it would be healthy for me to get a shot of inspiration so I can keep trucking ahead, taking big risks to do what I love!
I can be there. I’d love to be there.
Thanks,
– Colin
I sure will!
With the 9-5 job giving me notice this past month, I have until the end of February to figure out what path to take my career before officially being out of a job.
Do I stick with the 9-5 thing and keep bringing in freelance where i can. Or make the jump to full-time freelance web designer, coder, blogger, inventor, professional Wii bowler and alligator wrestler?
In my past position I was able to tap a few resources and learn the basics of Affiliate marketing… but not nearly as much as I would need to in order to fund my beer drinking. This would be an amazing opportunity that would undoubtedly make my decision to stick with the 9-5 gig or go to full-time freelance much easier.
Cheers – TK
I will be at Affiliate Summit. I’ve been twice before and it is a great conference. The attendees are very relaxed and very entrepreneurial. It has a different vibe than most Internet conferences. It’s a great show, and the networking is top notch.
This sounds like an excellent opportunity. I recently started blogging about wholesale business and have dabbled with affiliate marketing in the past. One thing I’ve realized is that the wholesale industry is ripe to be dominated by someone with some web development and marketing skill. (aka: me after attending the Affiliate Summit) Attending the Affiliate Summit is exactly what I need to get the income flowing so I can begin my takeover of the wholesale world.
Hey Brian, I’ve decided to turn in my resignation for a board seat that I’ve been holding for over a year now. The results of my labor there are not nearly as fruitful as my Internet endeavors of 2008. I plan on making 09 a banner year with a strong career move to grow my Internet marketing business full time. I’m an experienced SEO with a small client base, all of whom are happy enough to keep me busy with referral only clients. My abilities encompass graphic design, web development (including programming), database management, SEO & SEM techniques. I’d like to mention that my affiliate marketing knowledge is less than par and I have literally no hands on experience other than having an account on a couple of the network sites. I think a conference like Affiliate Summit would give me a great opportunity to soak in a ton of knowledge on a subject that I’m extremely eager to learn about. This knowledge combined with my existing skill set could prove to create a blossoming endeavor for myself in 09. Not only do I have access to existing businesses which can provide affiliate offers, I can create marketing platforms for current offers which I could partake in. I can clear my calendar for the conference dates and I’m within driving distance (so cal). I wouldn’t otherwise attend Affiliate Summit due to capital restraints.
I’m going to launch an online business in 2009 for the 50 something and single market. The blog will offer upbeat, you-can-do-it solutions covering a number of topics. As a member of this demographic, my mission is to share what works, what doesn’t and create dialogs on how to make smart choices.
My first professional writing gig was in 1974, so I’ve been at this craft for longer than a bunch of bloggers have been alive. From White House Intern the summer Nixon resigned to copywriting about you name it, I’ve penned lots of words.
My new blogging business will let me use these talents and skills to promote meaningful conversations and build a collegial community designed to be uplifting for those of us in a strange place in life. I’m honestly more interested in contributing than in making a killing, though I do want to support myself. Attending this conference will help hone my business acumen and let the passion pay for itself.
So, in the words of Meredith Grey, “Pick me. Choose me. Love me.”
Thank you for sharing your wealth and generosity, Brian.
Hey Brian, thanks for the Awesome giveaway! Although I have never been to Affiliate Summit before, I have been to several other Internet marketing conferences (SMX, Pubcon, etc..) and the networking that takes place at these conferences can really change your life and kick-start your business. Up until now, my focus has mostly been on SEO and PPC for small businesses, but I have recently begun to promote CPA offers via PPC and try other affiliate offers. Affiliate Summit would undoubtedly be a great opportunity for me to network with both you and other great internet marketers, and i would love to snag one of the free passes you have available. I plan on going to Affiliate Summit West one way or another, and since I already live in Las Vegas, I wont have any problem attending. Thank you again for your consideration!!
Hi Brian – Ghost Leg Media has slowly been building a following for our How To products. This year, we concentrated on broadening our audience through blogging. Our goal for 2009 is to develop an affiliate program that will get our stuff into the hands of everyone who can benefit from it. We need to lay the groundwork for an effective affiliate network, and I’m just learning how. This conference sounds like exactly where I need to be to learn exactly what I need to know. One way or the other – hope to see you there. Thanks!
I would like to go to Vegas and meet Mr Brian Clark while attending every possible PPC meeting to get over the hump of purchasing and running ads profitably in Affiliate Marketing.
After attending ASE08, I am certain that attendance at this industry event is invaluable to the growth of our business. If you want to be successful, you have to surround yourself with successful people. ASW09 will be the biggest event of the Affiliate Marketing year and attendance is required whether I beg, borrow, or steal to get there!
I am currently spearheading the launch of our second niche site that. It has been incredibly exciting to brainstorm, design, and publish. But it would be more exciting to win a FREE Gold Pass to the event and ensure our success with the education, networking, and relationship building that are the cornerstones of Affiliate Marketing.
And of course, ASW09 is going to be an incredible party! Who wants to miss that?
I would love to attend this summit, unfortunately I am in Florida, and can’t afford both the Pass, and the Ticket, so a Free Pass would be amazing. Deffinetly don’t want to miss this experience, so please help me out! You can check out my site on my Sig, Internet Marketing Strategies. Thanks for your time!
Digga.
Brian,
I have been blogging and writing internet content for about two years. Entrepreneurial at heart, I’m fascinated by the idea of owning my own online “media” company. I am a writer and constantly trying to hone my copywriting skills as a means to being more effective in my own content creation efforts, but also because I want to be a freelance copywriter and help people build viable online businesses and blogs.
When I was working my last job, which I left about a year and a half ago, there were about three hours a day where it was essentially dead-time. There were no calls, few interruptions, and the area where I was located would sink into a strange silence.
The only thing I could during this downtime was surf the internet. I did not have access to MySpace or my own email–thankfully! I probably could have wiled away those hours looking at party pictures and listening to new bands.
Instead, I read everything I could find about online business and Adsense, which is what captured my interest early on. I started my first blog from that office. A week or two after starting it, someone found my site and clicked an Adsense ad. That was all it took. I was hooked.
Since then, I’ve delved into affiliate marketing and have started several niche blogs, and another blog, Gainfully Unemployed, which I hope to build into a “flagship” blog with a brand-spanking new customized theme. I’m interested in creating digital products and intellectual property of value. I guess I could go on forever here about my interest in the online business realm.
Attending this conference would be a big deal for me. I know that being around internet marketing pros would be inspiring, a little humbling, and hopefully eye-opening. As an entrepreneur, I feed off the stimulus of new ideas and new perspectives. Making connections with other people would be the most valuable thing I would take away from the experience.
Besides, it sounds like a lot of fun and I would never turn down an opportunity to go to Vegas!
Thanks,
Chris McCarthy
I’ve spent the better part of the last four years growing my personal finance blog from something only my girlfriend (now wife) and I read to something frequented by close to 10,000 visitors each day and over 7,000 via RSS subscriptions. During that time, I’ve kept true to my personal money management beliefs by running as lean an operation as possible. It’s enabled me to grow it enough that I could leave my successful day job as a software architect consultant in the defense industry and focus on the business full-time (yes, that makes me a problogger I suppose).
In 2009, I’m looking to make some investments attending industry conferences so I can meet others in the affiliate marketing industry. I want to see what else is out there in the world. I’ve been extremely successful thus far but it’s been too insular an experience. I want to expand and I feel that I have as much to contribute as I can gain from these types of conferences.
We just launched a terrific new SaaS that helps small business owners and webmasters do their own SEO (check out John @ Duct Tape’s review: http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/12/01/great-seo-tool-on-sale-today-only)
We’ve had great success with the limited affiliate marketing we’ve done so far, and recognize the massive potential it has to get the word out. We’d love to reach more small business owners to empower them with the tools they need to do SEO at a fraction of agency prices. I recognize that this opportunity would allow me to meet and network with top affiliates…an opportunity I’d make the most of.
I’m prepared and ready to attend the summit in Vegas…I’d love to meet you there!
When I first accepted my job in affiliate marketing, I didn’t have a lclue what it was about. Two months later I was being dragged to Miami for the Affiliate Summit. This slowly helped me put the puzzle pieces together of what it really involved, and yet, it confused me even more, hearing terms like PPC and SEO and many more. It also introduced me to a forum called ABW which has helped answer a great deal of my questions. Then came Affiliate Summit number 2 in Vegas, bigger and better and a lot more contacts. By now, I was really getting the hang of it, but, it helped me realize that no matter how many emails I send a day to my contacts, no matter how much blog reading I do, or forum reading I do, there is nothing like meeting your fellow affiliate marketers in person. They become more then just fellow workers, they become friends and help you even more. The Affiliate Summits are for both, learning and forming friendships.
Even though I have since attended a couple more Affiliate Summits since my first encounter, I am sure that ASW09 will provide me even more benefits, more friends and more information, which is why I will attend it. This industry is growing and learning, and attending the Affiliate Summits is the best way to keep up with it.
1. Come hell or high water I will be in Las Vegas at the Affiliate Summit if you give me a pass.
2. I keep reading blog after blog and study after study that discusses how traditional mass marketing methods are losing efficacy at alarming rates. Even many forms of internet advertising are becoming less effective due to banner blindness and clutter. I see an opportunity for credible affiliates to drive substantial returns for large and small businesses, but I haven’t come up with the how. I want to use the Affiliate Summit as my springboard to dive in.
My site, Dawdle.com, has grown by leaps and bounds this year. We had a new design and garnered lots of press from both the technology and gaming public. I personally spoke at Affiliate Summit Social Media on the last panel, where I questioned the use of social media to directly monetize traffic (I submitted that affiliates should use social media to build their own brand’s sites; I also suggested that link shorteners could be used to mask affiliate links, but the audience didn’t seem to find value in that suggestion.)
We launched affiliate programs on ShareASale and Google Affiliate Network. We’ve seen less traffic, although decent conversion, on the traffic that has been generated. This is despite the fact that we have a datafeed that’s updated daily on both networks. We’d love to come to Affiliate Summit to meet with a wider range of current and potential affiliates and brainstorm ways that we can deliver additional value to our affiliates and have the most successful program possible. We’re even considering dropping GAN and becoming a SAS exclusive program.
I hope you choose us to attend so that we can be a merchant that doesn’t dictate to affiliates, but rather works with them to build everyone’s income.
They laughed when Sarah registered a blog and started to use the it to create awareness for her foundation which is aimed at creating sustainable economic opportunities and clean water for the people of Bumpe Serria Leone,West Africa.
Who is Sarah Culberson? (I will make the story short, because of this medium ).
Sarah Culberson was adopted by a couple in West Virginia when she was 1 year old. Attended one of the best schools in West Virginia( American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to pursue an acting career.)
When she was 28 years old, she sought out her birth parents and learned that she was a princess – the daughter of the chief of Bumpe, a farming village in the southern province of Sierra Leone.
Her biological mother had been a college student in West Virginia, and later died of cancer. Her father’s country had been ravaged by civil war, and despite his royal title, her parents were too poor to raise her.
When she located her father, Joseph Konia Kposowa, he invited her to Africa, where she could meet her family and the people of her chiefdom. They met in December 2004.
Culberson was given an emerald African dress as a gift, and was greeted by hundreds of singing and cheering villagers, and given the tribal name Bumpenya, a Mende word for Lady of Bumpe.
Sarah’s bio :imbd.com
You must have seen some pictures of African Women/Men carrying loads on their heads http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=afican+women+with+load+on+head&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
It takes a lot of practice to able to actually do this and walk miles upon miles with both hands down by your sides without the load falling off.
What is the secret?
A piece of wrapper http://moderntraditional.com/magazine/tips/wrapper.html is actually folded in a round way. It is folded proportunate with the size of your head(bigger one for bigger head!).
It is this wrapper that acts as cushion. When you walk and get tired, your find someone to help you get the load down,rest a little bit then turn the folded wrapper on your head -the other way around.
Picture a 50 –70 pounds bag of cassava on your head and you still have more than 40 miles to go in a hot sunny, dusted road, with no shoes on.
Africans believe that before you ask for any form of assistance such as carrying bag full of cassava, you should at least attempt to lift such first. It help to build self reliance!
It is then you can ask others to assist you.
You see, Sarah has attempted to lift this huge load. She definitely can’t do it all alone.
She has a lot of miles ahead of her and she is walking all alone with no shoes on. She is all alone on a dusty, filthy road with pebbles. The sad part of this journey is that there are many beautiful cars driving by but none is stopping to give her a ride!
She has managed to start a foundation for a notable cause.
Sarah has managed to create a blog,
http://thekposowafoundation.blogspot.com/ but have no idea how to monitize such blog.
You see, Sarah does not have powerful headliners like Oprah Winfrey, Bono, etc to back her up and raise millions of dollars over night for her foundation.
In my email to her(I am on her list and I think you should join also. I know she is real.) When you hear of “it takes a village to raise a child, this is what it means”
I suggested that she could actually write ebooks and sell such online to raise funds for her foundation.
In her response, she said she has not created ebooks before and all that stuff but would look into it.
I took me sometime to realize that this is not the “matrix-movie” where Keanu reeves said he wanted guns, lots of guns and immediately he was flooded with avalanche of guns. Different kinds of guns. Probably more guns than the US government could ever supply her troops in Iraq. You should see the movie.
Sarah may not be able to get up to speed with the concept of creating contents that sell.
Heck, a lot of markers are still struggling to learn how to dance to the rhythm of online marketing!
Sarah may not be able to conjure money, lots of money like Keanu Reeves could have done in the movie.
What is definitely possible is that with a free ticket to the summit, I am perfectly positioned (ex-student of TS )to monitize one of my 40+ websites , power them up, put them in auto-pilot and create a “VIRTUAL ATM” that automatically pump out money for projects such as for Sarah’s Foundation and others.
Disclosure: I am not affiliated with the organization. I am on the list. I think you should join her to support her cause.
I gain nothing from this but the ability to help her foundation with my knowledge of online marketing.
Currently resident here in the USA
Visit here to learn more about Sarah http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2225132/
I am a resident of Las Vegas and I have been learning all that I can about Internet marketing for the last couple of years, and I really enjoy it. I am a person with some integrity, so I care about doing things right and supporting positive businesses that are environmentally sustainable, and it is to that end that I am putting this knowledge to use. The primary reason why I think that I should get a complementary ticket is because I can’t afford to attend otherwise. The next reason that comes to mind is that I am a nice person who is positive and intelligent, and I will bring good energy to the Summit!
Why I should get a pass to Affiliate Summit:
I went to pub con las vegas to see you.
I will buy you lunch.
I am working on a non profit site.
I will ask engaging questions at the end of your presentation.
I implement all of your suggestions.
I am trying to break the 4,000 a month barrier I need help.
I was at Blog World Expo and I saw you on the “Big Money Bloggers” panel and one thing that really struck me was that all the panelists agreed that affiliate marketing was the #1 way to monetize a blog. I currently run a network of sports blogs and earn a decent amount of money from them (by my modest standards) but very little from affiliate marketing so I know I have a tremendous amount to learn in this area.
My background is in web development so I’ve spent most of my professional career building websites for marketers. I’m now trying to build some websites for myself. Being able to affectively monetize my websites through affiliate marketing is going to be the key to my success in 2009 of being able to stop working for others and make a full time living off of the websites that I own. I hope to see you there.
Able to commit to getting to Las Vegas from Los Angeles – check.
Has WordPress site up and running with regular readership – check.
Drives traffice to website from multiple sources, including authorship of monthly column in a 25k+ circulated magazine – check.
Understands generic/macro power and presence of affiliate marketing – check.
Has already signed up as an affiliate marketer and is trying to pass this information on said website – check.
Knows best practices for implementation and after-marketing of affiliate business via this website and others already working or under creation – NEGATIVE.
Ready and able to absorb all that there is to learn from conference – check.
Thanks for the consideration.
This is the dog. Okay, cat is helping push the keys cuz my paws are too big, but I am the real mastermi*#&@Kjm,dn,m… Ouch. We are both the masterminds, and we are coloodi…coluuud…working together to enter owner in this contest.
She won’t go if we don’t force her by getting ticket. Cuz she is interv… intraver… doesn’t like crowds. I don’t know why. Lots of butts to sniff in big crowd.
She needs to go run with the big man pack though. Always she is typing on her sites and making money with the Google clicks. Sure, this pays for nice heated dog and cat bed, pig ears, cat nip, and toys, but what if something happens to Google clicks? We will have to run wild like coyotes in woods out back. Those coyotes are skinny and have no heated beds! Not a good life at all.
Our person needs to know about other ways to pay for pig ears and catnip. Our person needs to make real business. Our person needs to make friends with other stare-at-lighted-box-on-desk-all-day types in man pack.
Please don’t make us run wild and get skinny. Please send ticket to owner.
Uhm, also please don’t mention us (she hasn’t figured out that hairs in keyboard mean we use lighted box when she’s gone).
Goblin & Missy
P.S. Owner’s name is Lindsay.
P.P. S. Don’t worry. We will handle packing. You can know our person by cat and dog hairs placed very pretty on clothes.
Hi Brian,
A few days after my boss was laid off, the president of the company asked me to find a vendor file in his (my old boss’s) desk. Going through the drawers, I discovered a confidential file with my name on it.
Naturally, I opened it and read it.
Inside was a handwritten record, covering a three-year period, of every time I was late getting to work in the morning or returning to work late from lunch.
Keep in mind that this was kept by a person who every day for three years arrived at work one minute before starting time and left work one second after quitting time.
No lie, you could set an atomic clock by his comings and goings.
Now, I’m not one to bitch, but I haven’t worked less than a 55 hour week since I started this job. There have been nights when I’m here till 1 a.m. I almost always work Saturdays. Sundays, too.
My boss never recorded any of that in his secret, crappy little time sheet. Somehow, that got overlooked.
Man, when I think of all the times I made that tightass bastard look good either by my work ethic or the quality of my work…I am so damn glad that I decided months ago to spend any extra time that I could scrape together learning about Internet marketing.
The day that I prove to myself that I can make it as an affiliate marketer is the day I kiss this freaking Dilbert-Cube- Job good bye and say hello to a new life where I actually get rewarded for my efforts.
Brian, I’m asking you to supply me with a free ticket to the Affiliate Summit to help launch my new career and to strike a blow for every unappreciated, underpaid working stiff with a jerk for a boss.
Please launch me in this noble crusade.
Thank you.
P.S. Oh, and if sucking up is permitted…I bought John Carlson’s Simple Copywriting System through your affiliate link. Great course.
I am heading towards the light and it does not blind me. I have my favorite shades on. I am increasing my site visits and growing out my related topics. Scanning the affliate system with a fast and wary eye. I am going to use feeds and get a solid offer to all my customers that visit my main blogs. And allow more channels of access to future products. Time and better management is allowing me to do this. This is already starting to show with small steps. But we all start somewhere. I have my favorites and can let you get more for less. I just have to expand upon what is the best.
Hi Brian,
My webmaster days started in 10th grade when I began a free e-greeting cards website. After I started making more money than my dad, my parents got wary, confused, and eventually made me shut down my business (we lived in Idaho in the 90s, where nobody understood how the Internet – or Internet business – worked). In the end, rather than run away from home and live off of my website income, I took the site down and finished high school.
Once I was out of the house, I started a web design business, and used that to put myself through college. Subsequently, I have worked with various other people’s web startups for a few years, and now, as a 24-year-old, business-degree-holding kid who’s burnt out on working for other people’s fledgling dreams rather than my own, I’ve decided to return to my entrepreneurial webmaster roots.
I’m one of those people with a whiteboard full of web business ideas that are constantly being researched, scratched out, researched again, and occasionally launched (when I have a good one). Currently, I run four e-commerce websites, but I am the most enthusiastic about affiliate marketing, and I launched my first actual affiliate-based business website last Tuesday: http://www.printingchoice.com. I’ve also got several other affiliate websites in the works. Affiliate marketing is the model that I am hoping to use on all my sites in the future, and that’s one of the big reasons I want to go to Affiliate Summit.
Affiliate Summit will be great for my online business(es) because it will give me the opportunity to meet successful affiliate marketers, to network and seek advice from top web businesspeople, and to gain fresh ideas for enhancing my affiliate marketing plans.
Please give me the opportunity to get into Affiliate Summit with one of your 20 tickets. Your ticket won’t go awry if it goes to me!
Best wishes,
Shane Snow
great offering and good chance in first month on 2009….. thanks for nice opportunity
I’ve been running a site for a while now that focuses on giving freelance writers the tools to turn their careers into businesses. A corner stone of the move, in my opinion, is the development of income steams that don’t require the trade of time for money — while I’m relatively uneducated about affiliate opportunities (and working hard to change that!), I feel that it is a key method for freelancers wanting to move beyond a daily grind.
I’m looking for every opportunity I can find to improve my knowledge on the subject — and help other freelance writers do the same.
My day job at the non-profit has become a living hell of mandatory unpaid overtime. Welcome to the new economy.
Forget saving babies, I need to save myself from this life.
I have ability, credibility and a following but I’ve been pretty awful about making money online (aside from working as a code monkey). I’d like to turn things around and make 2009 the year I finally get a real business off the ground.
So last year, I actually attended the summit. I even spoke on a panel about Widgets. It was a great time, I met a ton of fantastic people, and learned a lot.
I was the Director of Online Marketing for a pretty large online retailer, and things were going great – or so I thought. There were some unfortunate politics in the works and shortly after the summit, my employer and I had to part ways. It was a rough separation, and I was in a bit of trouble for a while there (new house, new baby, all sorts of stress).
I was able to land on my feet at a great startup that does fantastic work with comparison shopping and datafeed management. Working at a startup has been great – so flexible, everyone is so smart and focused, and all sorts of fringe benefits like being able to work from home. Sadly conferences is not one of those benefits. 🙁
It’s a great company, but unfortunately I find myself focused a bit too narrowly for my taste. The company only does a few things, and although it does them very well, I am used to having my hands in a lot more areas of marketing. Take a look at the LinkedIn profile, you will see what I mean.
So since I have been craving more, I have looked to start working on my own side ventures. I have tried a few things, gotten involved in social media, blogging, etc. but haven’t really found something that works for me yet. I love to help others succeed, I love to build value and content, but am really looking for a jumpstart in that area. I’m hoping the summit can help in that respect.
So that’s the story, and why I would love a pass. I don’t live too far away from Vegas, the trip would be relatively easy. 🙂
Oh – happy to share more detail if you would like.. I tried to keep it as public-friendly as possible for the blog. 🙂
Thanks for the consideration – big fan btw. 🙂
I would like to attend my 1st Affiliate Summit because I would get a chance to chat it up with people like yourself. I’m launching a couple new sites in 2009, but I would like to get more ideas/feedback from people in this industry.
I just attended my first PubCon and I had a blast! I made some new friends & got tons of ideas.
If I don’t get selected to win, I hope to see you there Brian.
Thanks for giving us a chance to win a free Pass.
Ruben
To be honest, I want to meet many men like you, who had an idea in the mind and started a blog. How big it is, becomes obvious by having a look at copyblogger. In the Affiliate summit 2009, I may come across many ‘copybloggers’ from whom I may take up a sprout to be sown in the coming year 2009.
Hey Brian, another Las Vegas desert dweller here.
I’m a graphic designer and partner in a small online business. Although I’ve got the graphics down to a science, I’m always looking for opportunities to expand my knowledge base and increase my contributions to our business.
Marketing fascinates me and so far I’ve been observing from the sidelines. Now I want to get off the bench and into the game.
Thanks!
I am an online marketing manager who realizes the great potential of building and maintaining affiliate relationships. Though I see the potential, I currently lack the knowledge and experience to realize it. From the information I gathered from you and others, I believe that most if not all answers to my questions can be found at the Affiliate Summit. Our online business is stationed in Israel, so to really get ourselves out there to those who find us most valuable, good affiliate relationships can be the answer. I would love to make the trip to further educate myself and begin building solid relationships with potential affiliates.
Please pick me as one of the 20
Asi
Brian,
My name is Marcus. I live in Killeen (Fort Hood), Texas with my wife and four children.
I have had some success with affiliate marketing earning checks from clickbank, google, and a few other firms.
I can’t afford both the travel/lodging expense and the expo fees. So if I can win a free gold pass, then I should be well on my way to attending Affiliate Summit West 2009.
I would like to go so that i can grow my business to a full time enterprise during 2009. I believe the networking and education sessions will give me that much needed kick in the pants to grow my affiliate business and provide better for my readers/site visitors and a better income for my family.
On a side note, you have a great blog, that I look forward to reading everyday. Copyblogger.com is one of four sites that loads automatically each time I load my browser. Keep up the good work, I appreciate it!
As an aspiring and budding Internet Marketer, I would relish the chance to attend my first Affiliate Summit West. The opportunity to learn from and mingle with the top minds in the affiliate marketing world would be invaluable. Have recently attended PubCon, I know the opportunities are endless as long as I continue to put in the hard work that is required.
Most importantly, if I am selected, I will share the email addresses and phone numbers for the VIP hosts at Tryst, Tao, and Pure, which I have managed to garner over the past few trips to Vegas, which we will use to have the greatest party, I mean networking event, of ASW 2009.
Hi Brian,
I’m the Web Editor for the University of Las Vegas’ student newspaper, the Rebel Yell. We just relaunched our web site, using WordPress and are attempting to take our online presence into a far more integrated multi-purpose resource for UNLV’s students. We’d like to pursue partnerships with local or student bloggers and aggregate useful local news and updates from other sources.
I would love to attend the summit or send our advertising manager so that we can learn about how we might be able to implement this kind of thing and draw more traffic, and possibly increase our strained coffers so that we can expand our operation. We are of course non-profit and very underpaid for the amount of work we all put in, and we’re all students too.
Thanks,
Rob Ponte
Where do I start? I’ve been earning money on the internet since 2006 off of advertisements and I’m tired of it. I watched my income drop from more than 10,000 a month to less than 7,000 a month resulting from the falling CPM prices. So, the next logical step would be to move my business from the advertising based model to affiliate marketing and product creation.
In short, Affiliate Summit 09 will be the answer to this ball and chain that keeps me from going forward. Oh, and, I would get to meet you.
Affiliate marketing has become a huge part of my business model. Affiliate Summit will allow me the chance to network with others in the affiliate marketing field. I can advance my affiliate marketing skills throughout 2009.
Brian thanks for the opportunity!
Today, I officially decided to drop out from the Chemical Engineering program at Case Western Reserve University. It was a difficult decision that required intense analysis and half-dozen in-depth conversations with friends and mentors.
This experience has been unreal, but it is nothing compared to what I have come to realize as a major problem. It’s the reason why I dropped out, and it’s the reason why the United States is ranked “No. 18 out of 24 nations (1 being the best and 24 being the worst) in terms of the relative effectiveness of its educational system” (Kapi’o Newspress). The problem is our students have lost their PASSION, the basic fundamental for success.
As I walk through my campus, I rarely encounter someone who speaks passionately about their future. Many students go to school for one reason only, and that is to get a degree that will enable them to make more money. It shouldn’t be about the money; it SHOULD BE about what you love doing.
Ever hear “The future lies in our children?” Well, I fear the future of the United States is in jeopardy if we do not solve this problem. Six months ago, I set a life-long goal to resolve this problem and to instill the passion back into our students. I have been developing ways to accomplish this goal, but I have hit a major road block. I don’t have a social network ready to support my ideas.
Affiliate Summit West will be an excellent start for growing my network and improving my social skills. It will be Social Networking 101 boot camp. An Affiliate Summit West Ticket will enable me to create this essential network, and will give me the opportunity to watch and meet some of the best marketers in this country. Everything I learn there will be one more step to reaching my goal. With an established network, next year I will be able to initiate small projects that will lay the foundation to this colossal undertaking.
To be honest, as of right now, I can only afford the 2-night stay in Las Vegas. BUT, if I get an Affiliate Summit West Ticket, I WILL find a way to raise enough money to get to Las Vegas.
Brian, give me this opportunity to accomplish my goal. My name is Andrew Kuo, and I want to ensure students don’t lose their passions.
I throw in a vote for Andrew Kuo. Additional stories are worth voting for as well, and it will be exciting to see who goes to Affiliate Summit.
@Andrew I’d really like to talk with you about your passion for students and building that social network. I have a similar passion as well as a need and some ideas… Please look me up to connect.
@copyblogger Hope I’m not throwing your storytelling off-track, but you did mention this was also about networking. 🙂
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