Affiliate Summit Monday (Day 2)

The next day of the summit started early for my taste. I met James for breakfast at the free breakfast. Eric and Greg “The Hoff” were there, sitting across from some pretty ladies. I met them: “Sunshine” Tricia and her mom Cindy.

I was pretty shy at first, but Greg Hoffman, James Seligman, and Eric Nagel helped me out of my shell as I told everyone how I like to quote Star Wars, but nobody ever got it. The quote I used was “They’ll be back, and in greater number.” I explained where in the movie it came from, and the laughs continued on and on with everyone participating in the ever changing topics. Eric thought it best that whatever is said at the breakfast table, should stay at the breakfast table, to borrow from the Las Vegas saying.  So, I digress this part.

The first (of two) keynote at the summit was next.  We heard that it was the only event that was not getting recorded, so given our history at ASE09 (missing a keynote) James, Eric and I made sure not to miss it.  And boy was I glad we didn’t!

Dr Cialdini gave a great keynote! You can tell he did is homework. He explained his position in a way that impacts those in affiliate marketing very well. I was at the edge of my seat (in the 2nd balcony). What you can take away from his presentation works everywhere in fact. Here are the tips of the iceberg:

• Be the first to give, and you’ll keep receiving.
• Use exclusivety, where appropriate.
• Admit your faults up front, it builds trust.
• Be consistent and make friends.
• Listen to your customers.

After this it was all a blur, walking the halls, dropping in on sessions, and the exhibit hall. The best shwag bar-none was the Snuggie from Globalizer Network. Gretchen Muller was nice enough to pose for a pic.

I had a lot of Jack-N-Cokes and Margaritas to help me relax, but now it’s all a blur! I didn’t really get too much out of the sessions on this day, except for Peter Shankman’s though. “Self-Promotion will save the world” but it’s not what you think! It’s not self-promotion if YOU are the one talking about you or your brand. Self in this respect, means your clients and customers. They self-promote YOU. Be good at customer service, and customers will service you by word of mouth.

Monday’s lunch was awesome, very well catered. To bad I forgot to take pictures of the food. Next time, Gadget, next time!

Tagged as: affiliate summit, breakfast, eric, greg, james, tricia