Affiliate Summit Recap – Las Vegas

I have been impressed so far with the Affiliate Summit show in Las Vegas. Here is a Affiliate Summit Recap from Las Vegas. There are many affiliate programs here that have made this show for the first time. The number is too high to list them all but let’s just say there are many that have not been to previous Summits.

I have spoken to many affiliate managers that I have had dealings with in the past and I am currently working a few deals that could not have been made without face to face conversations. One of my main goals was to get a merchant that sells bedding products, although it is not a main niche for me I have been ranking very well for without working for it. When you have a lot of pages online that just happens.

When I get approached by an affiliate manger that I don’t really know I say “Hi I am Vinny and you have been on my website.” Not to sound cocky but odds are they have been as most people that use the internet have stumbled onto my sites without knowing it. At almost a half million pages on “how to” articles will do that for you.

I have had a great breakfast with James and Arlene Martell who I have had numerous conversations since I have been here, mostly about the industry and where it is heading. Once again there is a lot of talk about mobile marketing, it is fascinating to see people thinking outside the box with that in mind. Everyone here is either on their Blackberry or their Iphone so this conference is filled with tech minded people.

It is amazing to me that the city of Las Vegas is so empty, I have been here many times and the casinos are at at 20% full and its a surreal scene.  With no lines at the restaurants it really is a good time to come to Las Vegas. I am so glad that this affiliate convention was held here at this time. It also doesn’t hurt since its 8 degrees at home as I am typing this.

I did a quick walk through the affiliate booths and talked to one affiliate manager that has some very interesting products that will be incorporated into one of my sites asap. This merchant offers 4% commissions on their sales but since I talked to them face to face I am getting 10%, I just can’t tell you how much coming to summit can improve your bottom line quickly.

One of my favorite sessions so far was “How to pitch to the media” It was moderated by Lisa Picarille and had two of my favorite people on the panel Jim Kukral (the web coach)and Peter Shankman from Helpareporter.com. I was a pleasure to meet Peter as he is so full of good karma that its scary in a good way. It was very nice of Lisa Picarille to make sure I met Peter (Thanks Lisa). The session had some interesting comments about the media and it gave me a few ideas about how I can get my sites in the media. Maybe I should walk people through the process as I am going to use HelpaReporter forever in my online building business. Sounds like another www.nyfalcon.com forum post is upcoming.

I have met a lot of affiliates that I have known over the years and it is always good to see what they are trying to do on their sites lately. As I was speaking to a few affiliates I discovered that there are words that should never be used in affiliate marketing. I have been calling them Affiliate Stop Words: One is the word “Generic” There is never a good reason to be using this word in affiliate marketing. If you are building a site that is generic then its probably going to be a loser. There are a few more words but that is for another day and another post.

One topic that keeps coming up is how I chose the name NYFalcon and I am getting so tired of answering it. For those that are curious it is because I am from NY and I am an Atlanta Falcons fan. I am seriously thinking about just using my real name at this point.

All in all it was a great show and I have to thank Missy Ward and Shawn Collins for putting on such a great show. Looking forward to the next one in NYC in August.