Shawn Collins just announced that registrations are now open for both Affiliate Summit Central 2012 and Affiliate Summit East 2012.

Never heard of the Central version before? That’s because it is new for 2012 and is taking place in Austin, TX on May 15-16 at the Hilton Austin.

According to Shawn, the Central version “will be a different kind of Affiliate Summit – rather than several thousand attendees, it will be capped at a few hundred. The conference will be a day and a half long with two tracks of educational sessions, and a Meet Market with a couple dozen tables“.

Wow… sounds like a good one to me! What a great chance to get together and talk with industry specialists without all the hub bub of the larger shows in New York and Las Vegas.

Of course, if you want to see all the Who’s Who in affiliate marketing, Affiliate Summit East in New York would be the show for you. It takes place August 12-14, 2012 at the Hilton New York.

I strongly recommend registering early for either show. Not only will the Central version sell-out very quickly, but you’ll also save up to $370 on your pass. I suggest you go for the Platinum Pass which gets you into all of the educational sessions.

Wondering if you should go to Affiliate Summit? Watch this video to find out!

Comments, questions or suggestions? Please leave a comment below!

Cheers,

ASW11 (Affiliate Summit West 2011) started for me on Saturday night with the Canadian Affiliate Meetup held at the First Food and Bar at the Palazzo. The event was arranged by Peter Koning of Affiliate Software Review with munchies sponsored by AdCanadian. Other than a group of five who stuck to themselves and then left without paying thair bar bill (how unCanadian), the get together was great.

Excellent in fact, considering the gathering was supposed to go from 5 – 6:30 and we ended up staying until 11 talking about affiliate marketing. No surprise that I later met quite a few folks who asked to be “honorary Canadians” at the next Affiliate Summit.

What I discovered that first night was repeated throughout the entire Summit — the bulk of new affiliate marketers with whom I spoke are professional people who either have chosen affiliate marketing to enhance or supplement their incomes, or have had their jobs eliminated during the recession and are using their skills to build new online businesses.

How refreshing to speak with newcomers who aren’t dewy-eyed with the ‘get rich quick’ dream, but know that success will take time and work. Like music to my ears, to be sure.

The best part of the conference for me always is meeting old friends, making new ones and meeting folks for the first time with whom I’ve done business for years.

During this Summit, I had the great pleasure of meeting my Rosalind Gardner’s Academy business parter, Justin Scott Parr, for the first time – as well as one of the Super Affiliate Handbook’s most enthusiastic promoters, Super Affiliate Lynn Terry of ClickNewz. Justin and I hashed out a whole plan for ABP in 2011, while Lynn and I had great fun sharing personal and business war stories over tasty treats and beverages.

Both Justin and Lynn attended my Ask the Experts rountable on Monday afternoon and contributed highly valuable information to the discussion, as did 2 of the industry’s most extraordinary and fun characters – Tom Bell and Dave Taylor. It was also a treat to meet up with a some of our Rosalind Gardner’s Academy members – special mention to Boots Gibson who attended the roundtable and told us about her very cool product for travelers - smart lady!! I really enjoyed doing the roundtable – a much more intimate and IMHO a more productive and informative session for the attendees than when I give a lecture. (Were you there? Your comments appreciated!)

Special thanks go to those Super Affiliates who took the time to find me to let me know that they got their start with the Super Affiliate Handbook.

The only ‘con’ that I experienced with ASW11 was in the exhibit hall. I would suggest that with SO many people in attendance (4600 at the conference), that exhibitors pay more attention to the lineups forming at their booth and attend to those waiting in the order that they arrive. When I wait 10 minutes at your booth to get more information about your product and am then passed over for someone who just arrived – YOU lose any chance that I will ever buy or promote your product. Sound harsh? First impressions count. Disrespect my valuable time and I won’t trust you to respect my referred customers.

One last point. Affiliate Summit venues are HUGE and it takes at least 10 minutes to walk from anywhere in the hotel to meeting rooms and the exhibit hall. So, wear comfortable shoes or get a foot massage like I did (see pic above).

Better yet, do both.

Nominations are being accepted for the six Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards through November 30, 2010.

These awards recognize exceptional performance in affiliate marketing in the following categories:

• Affiliate of the Year
• Affiliate Manager of the Year
• Exceptional Merchant
• Affiliate Marketing Advocate
• Best Blogger
• Affiliate Marketing Legend

Submit your nominations at http://www.affiliatesummit.com/pinnacle-award-nomination/.

The Pinnacle Awards will be presented on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at Affiliate Summit West 2011, at the Wynn in Las Vegas.

Last week I offered a complimentary gold pass to Affiliate Summit to NPT readers (hey! it literally pays to read my blog and newsletter!) who clicked the “Like” button on my Facebook page and today is the day that I announce the winner.

But before I do so, I have a couple of things to share…

I’ll be running another Affiliate Summit Gold Pass opportunity this week just for Rosalind Gardner’s Academy members.

Too, here’s a little more information about the Affiliate Summit conference:

Early bird pricing for Affiliate Summit West 2011, taking place January 9-11, 2011 in Las Vegas, ends October 15, 2010.

The keynote speakers will be Drew Eric Whitman and Brian Solis.

The Early Bird registration rates for the Silver Pass ($99), Gold Pass ($279), Platinum Pass ($879), and Diamond Pass ($1,879) are going up after October 15, 2010.

Starting October 16, the rates to register for Affiliate Summit will be Silver Pass ($249), Gold Pass ($549), Platinum Pass ($1,249), and Diamond Pass ($2,249).

So, if you are planning to go… you have just a few more days to enjoy some great savings on those passes.

YES, I’ll be there – wouldn’t miss it! I will be presenting at the Ask the Experts session on Monday January 10th and I really hope to see you there.

Now back to our contest winnner…

Congratulations to Donna Lynn Starling from Niceville, Florida!!

I can’t wait to meet you!

Cheers,

P.S. Likewise, if you are interested in BlogWorld Expo which runs October 14 through 16 at the Mandalay Bay in Vegas (I LOVE the Mandalay Bay), they’ve got a great last minute deal running now:

Register now for BlogWorld and save 15% on Thursday, Weekend or Full Access Passes.

Registration is now open for Affiliate Summit West 2011, taking place January 9-11, 2011 at the Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV.

Prices are as follows:

• Silver Pass ($99)
• Gold Pass ($279)
• Platinum Pass ($879)
• Diamond Pass ($1,879)

Keynote speakers include:

• Drew Eric Whitman, internationally renowned advertising trainer who specializes in teaching the psychology behind the response, and;
• Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning New Media marketing and branding agency in Silicon Valley.

Get more details about the Affiliate Sumit conference now.

And watch these clips from the last Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas.

Shawn Collins posted the following on the Affiliate Summit blog 2 days ago:

Affiliate Summit East 2010, taking place August 15-17, 2010 in New York City, is just two months away. As I’ve done in the past, I’ll be giving away free gold passes to Affiliate Summit, but this time the process will be different – entries for the Affiliate Summit Ticket Sweeps can be made by Facebook or Twitter.

There will be fifty Gold Passes to Affiliate Summit East 2010 given away, each valued at $549 per pass. Winners will be notified by email or Twitter DM.

Some details on the Affiliate Summit Ticket Sweeps:

• Prize Eligibility: Only persons residing in United States who are at least 21 years of age can enter.
• Sweepstakes Starts: June 16, 2010 @ 12:01 am (PDT)
• Sweepstakes Ends: August 04, 2010 @ 11:59 pm (PDT)

Read the Affiliate Summit Ticket Sweeps Official Rules for more details.

Don’t miss out on the chance for a free pass to this premier industry event!

The following is an excerpt of an article that I wrote for Issue 10 of Feedfront magazine, the official magazine of the Affiliate Summit conference.

Basically, I wrote it out of frustration after seeing the hyped-up promotion approach so many affiliate marketers, especially newbies, take then wonder why the heck their copy doesn’t convert to sales and commissions.

As an affiliate marketer, you’re far too smart to fall for a line like “Make $100 Million (Lose 20 Pounds, Score a Hottie, Cure Your Acne) by Tomorrow – Guaranteed!!!” Right?

Well, if you’re under the mistaken impression that your prospects are somehow less savvy than you, or that the best way to promote products online is by mimicking the copy that shows up in your spam folder, it’s time to reconsider your approach, as all but the most indiscriminate and unsophisticated buyers are sick and tired of hype.

Like you, they have endured “snake oil” pitch bombardment for years. And with less money to spend in this down economy, smart shoppers are even more resistant to blatant sales copy. Write just one word to make the needle on their B.S. detector flicker ever so slightly and you’ve killed the potential for a sale. Worse, you have also lost the opportunity to build a profitable long-term relationship.

If you really want “killer” conversion rates and “eye-popping” commission checks, learn to tone down your “amazing” promotional vocabulary and kick the hype habit with the following 5 tips.

Read the rest of the article…

I love attending Affiliate Summit West, held yearly in January or February in Las Vegas.

Catching up, hanging out and sometimes lazing around with my “Internet friends” – as Ed calls them – is a big part of the enjoyment.

From left to right in the picture above are Lisa Picarille former editor of Revenue Magazine who just got a deal to co-author the book, “Your Pitch Sucks” with Jim Kukral; Todd Farmer founder of Kowabunga!, now CEO at PerformStreet Media; Joe Sousa whose dad Frank (a dear friend of mine who was also outside enjoying the night air and sparking political discussions with me) runs TrafficGeyser; and yours truly, Rosalind Gardner.

Prior to our presentation on Sunday about video marketing, I had breakfast with Jeremy Palmer, one my most trusted and respected friends in the affiliate marketing industry.

With Jeremy, I can always count on free sharing of good information about what is and what is not working for him, despite the fact that we are supposedly competing Super Affiliates. That’s one of the things that I totally love about this industry – competitors actually share and help one another.

After the presentation, I headed to the Meet Market which has become absolutely HUGE. So big in fact that I had time only to do one side of the big room before it shut down at 6PM.

Of course, stopping to talk with the original Twitter guy, Warren Whitlock, (whose Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online was published long before Joel Comm published Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time) was so totally engrossing and informative that the next thing I knew, they were shutting the Meet Market down.

Warren truly GETS Twitter in a way that I didn’t before appreciate and I thank him for his graciousness in conveying its value, in a way that hit home – emotionally.

He’s GOOD.

One of the most informative conversations I had was with my old buddy, Andrew Wee, who has a few articles in the new book by Shawn Collins and Missy Ward, Internet Marketing From The Real Experts.

The book was included in attendees’ swag bags and consists of a number of 3-minute lessons about affiliate, email, search engine and social marketing. If you’re looking for a collection of short, to-the-point lessons, this could be a worthwhile book to add to your Internet marketing library.

Attending the Canadian Affiliate Meetup later that evening, arranged by my neighbor Peter Koning was a total blast.

I in turn invited the Martell’s via a comment on their post about ASW10 to join our gathering and it was a pleasure to finally have the opportunity to sit down and shoot the day-to-day with them and offer Arlene congratulations on a very special upcoming event in their lives. (James, a blogging tip. Reciprocal link love, i.e. Comment / trackback approval is nothing to be afeard of, it actually helps your rankings. )

As much as I love to get duded up for Vegas parties, I stayed in my Maple Leafs jersey after our Canadian event and went to Brian Littleton’s ShareaSale party, where it (the jersey) proved to be a big hit.

Lesson learned again – be different to attract attention if you want to talk to more people, especially if you’re shy like me and have difficulty striking up conversations with relative strangers.

Another lesson learned.

No matter how good your intentions are to hit the hay before midnight at the Affiliate Summit – don’t count on it. I was at the Shutter’s Bar alternating between Sam Adams, “Newcie’s” and water until 4AM… and a good time was had by all.

On Monday, I attended the Affiliate Showcase, a new venue at Affiliate Summit for merchants to meet up and pitch their products to Super Affiliates. That was very cool. As much as I can’t yet divulge which offers I’ve decided to run (you’ll see them on my sites in time), let me say that I was particularly impressed with WhiteSmoke — a very helpful product for bloggers and writers that I’ve been playing with for the last little while.

At the Affiliate Showcase, I was also thrilled to finally meet Michael Webb, THE Romantic. I’ve known of Michael since I started affiliate marketing and was tickled to learn that he and I share a very similar perspective on the work we do — it’s all about helping people and enjoying time with our friends and families. (Take the hint).

A short chat with any of the folks mentioned above leads to wonderful insights and a deeper understanding of our industry.

However, as much as I love catching up with friends’ business and family situations as well as entertaining new offers, I most enjoy meeting new people, particularly those who are new to affiliate marketing and are totally excited about the prospect of getting involved in our industry.

They should be excited – especially those who have done their homework fully and understand the opportunity that lies before them.

In that regard, BIG shout-out’s to Joan Miller and Kevin McIsaac, who totally have their heads on straight about where they want to go with this opportunity.

A special shout-out to Rob McFaul, who of all the people I met on this trip, has researched and understands the industry so well that I refused to let him refer to himself as a ‘newbie’. I know Rob will do extremely well once he gets a website up (that’s a BIG hint) to which I could have linked from this post.

OK, I confess, he’s a Torontonian (Canadian) who shares my penchant for good beer and RVing, so he might have had a ready-made ‘in’.

Bonus kudos to the ‘enthusiastic newbies’ I met, who, unlike me, attended most of the sessions — which is HIGHLY recommended for newbies until they attain Super Affiliate status and are invited to participate in the Affiliate Showcase sessions.

But make no mistake, I WILL watch the sessions on video. Every day, like every person you meet, is a learning opportunity.

See more photos from the event here.

Are you a merchant going to #AFFSUMW10 (Affiliate Summit>? Do you have an incredible offer in the Dating, Travel, Webmaster services or Green verticals that you’d like me to know about?

Then meet me at the Affiliate Showcase at Affiliate Summit.

It takes place on January 18th between 11:30am-12:30pm in Brasilia 4, 5 at the Rio.

Hope to see you there!

Shawn Collins, co-founder of Affiliate Summit, is randomly posting codes for free gold passes to Affiliate Summit West 2010 (being held in Las Vegas, January 17-19, 2010) on the Affiliate Summit account on Twitter (@affiliatesummit).

Each code is only good for one use, so the first person to register with the code gets the pass.

If you haven’t already registered for Affiliate Summit West 2010, the prices are going up on Tuesday October 20th, so be sure to register at the lower price.