Affiliate Marketing Blog

Mates are those you can confide in, enjoy great times with, share in life’s trials & tribulations with & appreciate the lifestyle associated with affiliate marketing … like my good buddy Eric.

When we attended Affiliate Summit East 2007 in Miami, there was one golden rule we swore an oath to .. which was “what happens in Miami, stays in Miami”… Comprende Eric.

I guess now that the cat is out of the bag … take one … action!

Please note this is Eric’s handy work & I would like to personally thank him for getting me over my holiday blues.

Courtesy of Chris at Holiday Watchdog and Affiliate Future, many thanks to their kind generosity, I am off to Barbados this morning for a week, after only just getting back from Affiliate Fat Camp in Portugal last Saturday. I am naturally going to miss my missus & our children, as we have only had a few days to catch up especially with it being my birthday this saturday, it means I won’t be able to share it with them, which will be a first. However, they did spoil be rotten on Fathers Day last Sunday.

I have no idea what to expect in Barbados, as I haven’t been there before, or who the affiliate crowd going will be, so here’s hoping to a good time.

Now that the cat is finally out of the bag, this blog is a warm congratulations to Princess Fiona & Fraser (author of Affiliateblog.co.uk) who are are expecting their first baby Shrek.

Myself and Julie are totally chuffed for you both & wish you every happiness in the world for your bundle of joy which is due on the 30th October, around All Hallows Eve … Wooo! Hooo!

It seems some affiliates are getting quite viril recently, what with Graham (from Buyagift) & Mel having their first child about 13 weeks ago and with Leona & Clarke (Supercod) (Affiliate Marketing Blog) expecting their 2nd in September .. Congratulations to them also.

If you are a dad and also an affiliate, an affiliate community has been set up on the newly relaunched Affiliates4U forum, called Affiliate Dads .. Click Here

This is just a little message to my good lady, I doubt she’ll see this message, but if she does.

Happy 13th Anniversary Darling.

This is more a personal diary note to say Happy Birthday to my Grandad “Charles Frederick”, he passed away a few years ago, but is always fondly remembered. It would have been his birthday today and he taught me quite a lot. I’ve been invited to a geeky WOW pub meet in London today, so I’ll have a beer on him. Happy Birthday Grandad.

This is a massive thank you to Buyagift for an absolutely fantastic few days in Las Vegas. We were one of half a dozen lucky affiliates to win an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas for a promotion they ran during the Christmas Period. Affiliates consisted of Neil, Steve, Romain, Richard, Wardy and myself together with Graham & Dan from Buyagift. It was a really good crowd and we all got on well.

Here is just a brief summary of what we did.

Friday :

Arrive at Las Vegas, 13:40 local time. Transfered to MGM Grand in a super-stratch-Vegas style vehicle! Our rooms were way up on the 28th Floor with a great view.

Afternoon & Evening we immediately hit the casino tables & bars. In the evening we watched the Crazy Horse Paris Topless Cabaret Show in the MGM Grand Hotel.

Saturday:

9am-5pm : Sports car driving tour to Lake Mead at break neck speeds along open roads, Sportscars included the Ferrari 360 Spyder, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Mercedes E55 AMG & a Ford Mustang GT Roush.

During this time period we had a short helicopter ride to Lake Mead, gourmet lunch at Luna Rossa together with a trip around the scenic Lake Las Vegas on an 86ft Supercruiser.

Full of adrenaline and all pumped up, it didn’t stop there!

9pm ’til late (vague recollections of about 5am) : VIP nightclub tour with a cruise of the Strip in stretched limo, with VIP host + Limo (filled with booze!) between each venue which included : Mix Ultralounge (spectacular city views from 55 floors up), Tangerine (outdoor terrace overlooking the Strip & burlesque performances) and back to Studio 54, picking up passengers along the way, where us unrhythmic affiliates strutted our stuff.

How most of us managed to get up for the following day I will never know!

Sunday:

1:30pm - 5:30pm : Helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon, taking in Lake Mead, Boulder City and Hoover Dam on the way - stopped for lunch, posed for pictures. I love flying in helicopters, even with a massive hangover like a few had, in fact a couple hadn’t even reached hangover stage .. it had to be done.

Evening: A delicious dinner at the Top Of The World revolving restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere Tower, over 800 ft up. With fantastic views all round.

For those who could stomache it, rides at the top of the Stratosphere. Unfortunately it was too windy and the ride was stopped when three who had the bottle were on it.

After that we spent some time in Cheetahs until about 3am, before inconspicuously being dropped on in the Pink Cheetahs Transit Van back at the hotel, where some of us played the tables or hit a bar.

Monday Morning:

Simply shopping & getting souveniers for my kids (who I always miss) before getting super stretched white hummer to the airport for the flight home for which I spent most of the time asleep. Arrived back home Tuesday morning in the UK.

Once again many thanks to Buyagift for what was a great prize incentive & will be a hard one to beat.

“St. George is the patron saint of England! His emblem, a red cross on a white background, is the flag of England! Adopted by Richard the Lion heart it was brought to England in the 12th century.

St. George’s Day is on April 23rd, so, in a sense, this is England’s National Day but unlike other countries, England does not have a celebration to mark this occasion !”

Which is a real shame! But for those of us who do have a bit of pride!

Happy St. George’s Day !!!

Many affiliates are what can only be politely referred to as possessing a physique which is considered portly, which is a natural side symptom of what goes with the territory when you are involved with affiliate marketing.

I am in the process of arranging an Affiliate Fat Camp, with a select few friends & business colleagues to spend 7 to 9 days in Portugal to enjoy a healthier lifestyle of exercise, good food and debauchery with the aim of losing a few pounds by the end of excursion, together with discussing new ideas and generally having a great time with friends & colleagues …

Because all of us will be leaving our good ladies at home, we have promised to leave out the debauchery. (Why have hamburger, when you can have steak at home)

The exericise regime is still to be finalised, it will be a mix of activities. However, to earn a beer .. and you cannot deny an affiliate a beer .. they would have to do 20 press ups between each beer to earn just one bottle.

However, we will have CCTV at the villa, with an option which yet to be voted on, whether or not to screen this live online in the form of a Celebrity Affiliate Fat Camp maybe to the extreme of Big Brother style diary room. It will depend what everyone else is up for or whether we wish to keep our flab under wraps.

Whatever is decided, those that have been approached so far are looking forward to it.

This evening was another one of those proud father moments. My youngest daughter scored her first goal in a competitive football match, a terrific volley on the half turn. All of the opposing team were probably two or three times the size of her & older, but she is a tough little battler who even pollaxed me in a football practice session once.

I have just awoken to the world in our hotel room & my good lady has a massive hangover with wine lips to match, bless her cotton socks, somehow I don’t think the hair of the dog will be a suitable remedy for her on this ocassion. It looks like this time I shall be the nominated driver going home.

Last night we both had a terrific evening an event called The Vaudeville Experience “Expect the Unexpected” at the Vinopolis in London UK, with approximately 200 to 250 guests in attendance. Organised & hosted by Affiliate Window and generously sponsored by themselves and e2save, DRL, Comet, Play.com, LowCostTravel Group, ELC, Next, CD Wow, Heals, B&Q, Woolworths, I Want One of Those, Party Gaming, Holiday Extras, The Body Shop, Provident Financial. All of whom also donated some excellent prizes in the raffle, in I won a prize too which was a £100 Gift Voucher for Next, which we will share between our children, plus about £55 in vouchers from Play.com which will go towards my daughters books who is studying English Literature at University.

This event certainly has raised the bar with regard to being an excellent soiree & a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

The title to this blog entry was prompted by a very apt comment provided by David Hall of Affiliate Window at the beginning of the evening.

Don’t Affiliates Scrub Up Nicely

If you are currently aware of the current “hot topic” considered in some areas of affiliate marketing, you’ll realise this was indeed an apt & amusing comment.

Last night was certainly a classy affair, where everybody seemed to made concerted effort, with practically all the men wearing tuxedos & bow ties, whilst the ladies looked extremely elegant in their ballgowns & cocktail dresses, such as our friend Jude who wore a dress for the first time since her graduation night and whoms husband Jason had never seen her in a dress before (not even on their wedding day at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas. She looked great & so did my good lady, naturally.

Once again kindly thanks for the invitation to Affiliate Window and the sponsors.