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Everyone knows that the sausage parties at Affiliate Summit cannot be beat.  In case you haven’t seen it, here is a list compiled by Affiliate Summit + a few from me of the parties:

Saturday, January 8, 2011

buy.at’s Mixology Party
Sponsor(s): buy.at
Time: 8:00pm -
Location: Mix Lounge
How to RSVP: The event is invite only, but if you’d like to attend, please send an email to Amy at USEvents@buy.at
Who is invited?: buy.at affiliates, clients, partners, and industry contacts

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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Affiliate Summit Happy Hour hosted by Viglink
Sponsor(s): Viglink
Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Sin City Brewing – inside the Flamingo Hotel
How to RSVP: RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/viglink?v=app_2344061033#!/event.php?eid=180040735362470
Who is invited?: All.

ShareASale “Under the Stars” Party
Sponsor(s): ShareASale
Time: 8:00pm – 12:00am
Location: Tryst Nightclub
How to RSVP: Pick up an invitation at the Meet Market on Sunday @ the ShareASale Table.
Who is invited?: Everybody who picks up an invite.

The Mailer Meetup
Sponsor(s): RoboMail
Time: 8:00pm – 11:00pm
Location: Caesars Palace (The event will take place inside a suite at Caesars Palace. Free drinks and food will be provided.)
How to RSVP: Send an email to mailermeetup@gmail.com, subject :mailer meetup.
Who is invited?: This is a for mailers by mailers event. Anyone who has experience in the email marketing industry.

PMG Private Reception
Sponsor(s): Paulson Management Group, Inc USA, PMG Affiliate Management LTD UK
Time: 9:00pm -
Location: The WYNN Salon Suite
How to RSVP: Email McKenna@PaulsonManagementGroup.com
Who is invited?: Anyone interested in speaking with PMG.

Moss Networks Presents: Ultimate Affiliate Event
Sponsor(s): DankCash, Empyre Media, Webair
Time: 10:00pm – close
Location: Blush Boutique Nightclub inside the Wynn Hotel
How to RSVP: Guests must be invited by each sponsor. Contact one of the companies listed above, or find them during the Meet Market for your invite!
Who is invited?: Guests of sponsors only

Ads4Dough Presents: A4D & Wickedfire Party Time
Sponsor(s): Ads4Dough
Time: 8:00pm – 12:00pm
Location: Spearmint Rhino
How to RSVP: http://www.a4d.com/dough4hoes2011
Who is invited?: Ads4Dough Affiliates & WickedFire Members – Party will have top shelf open bar but only holds 400 people so get there early.

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Monday, January 10, 2011

2011 ASW Affiliate BBQ Lunch
Sponsor: Elite Clicks Media, Wickedfire, HeavyT
Location: Elite Clicks Media’s Zen Mansion
Time: 2:00pm-6:00pm
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=115087111894299
Who’s Invited: Wickedfire Cats who aren’t douches

Check ‘n Go Affiliate Launch Party
Sponsor(s): Check ‘n Go
Time: 5:oopm
Location: Suite at The Wynn
How to RSVP:  http://tweetvite.com/event/checkngoaffiliates & follow @checkngoteam for the suite number
Who is invited?: Everyone.

2011 PMA Member Meeting
Sponsor(s): N/A
Time: 5:30pm – 9:30pm.
Location: Maggiano’s Little Italy (across LV Blvd. from the Wynn)
How to RSVP: Complete RSVP form
Who is invited?: Everyone.

AffiliateWire Elite VIP Party
Sponsor(s): RevenueWire
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: TAO
How to RSVP: Contact your Affiliate Manager.
Who is invited?: Invite Only

Affiliate Summit Trivia Tweetup
Sponsor(s): Affiliate Summit
Time: 9:00pm – 12:00am
Location: Wynn Las Vegas Mouton 2
How to RSVP: Confirm at http://tweetvite.com/event/asw11.
Who is invited?: Everybody

Profit Kings Media presents the Affiliate Ball w/ Three Six Mafia, YTCracker
Sponsor(s): Blu Cigs, ClickBank, Market Health, Neverblue, OJQ, PeerFly, Profit Kings Media, Underground Elephant
Time: 9:30pm -
Location: Rio’s Crown Theater
How to RSVP: Please sign up at http://www.affiliateball.com/registration or contact a wonderful sponsor for a VIP code – VIP entrance is at 9:30 PM, general admission is at 10:30 PM.
Who is invited?: Everyone.

WICKEDFIRE THROWDOWN
Sponsor: Elite Clicks Media, Wickedfire, Advertiser X
Location: Wickedfire Zen Mansion
Time: 10:00pm+
RSVP: http://www.wickedfire.com/shooting-shit/112013-srsly-biznezz-vegas.html – There will be complimentary party bus and limo transportation provided by ECM & WickedFire from the front of the Wynn to and from the joint allllllll niiiiight loooooong….
Who’s Invited: Active Wickedfire members, PornStars

Affiliate Summit Tip Off Party
Sponsor(s):  Double Play Media, BMI Elite, Hybryd Ads and Infinite Traffic
Time: 10:00pm -
Location: The Palms – Hardwood Suite
How to RSVP: Head on over to www.AffiliateSummitTipOffParty.com and RSVP!!
Who is invited?: Everyone.

Affiliate Avalanche Party
Sponsor(s): Health Converter, Vantage Payments, CCBill
Time: 9:00pm – 12:00am
Location: Lucky 7 Suite Hard Rock Hotel
How to RSVP: Visit http://www.healthconverter.com/avalancheparty to RSVP for a chance to attend.
Who is invited?: Invite Only

Clickbooth Black Card Party
Sponsor(s): Clickbooth
Time: 10:00pm -
Location: To be revealed on January 10, 2011 at Clickbooth’s Booth #405
How to RSVP: Contact your rep for a black card + http://www.blackcardparty.com/
Who is invited?: Invite only.

I heard Jonathan Volk was doing some kind of get-together as well but have no details.

Know of any other parties?  Let me know and i’ll add them to the list…

Please Note:  No compensation was received in exchange for this post, although Ad Hustler may be attending some of the parties.

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If you’ve been following AdHustler.com for a while you may remember the case study I was doing on DataFeed sites.  Recently a blog reader asked me for an update on this case study so here it is.  If you need to catch up here is part 1, part 2 & part 3 of this case study.

Clicks Through a Product Affiliate Link: 5,988
Click Through Rate: 11.85%
Sales: 26
Conversion Rate: 0.43%
Gross Sales: $909.95
Commissions: $296.43
Ad Monies: $19
Total Revenue: $315.43
Total Cost: ~$27-$30

As you can see traffic has grown significantly since January.  The site gets a surprising amount of traffic considering there is no unique content. 2,680 pages are indexed at this time.

My overall opinion of datafeed sites like this one is that they can be profitable but they aren’t going to make you rich.  It’s nice having passive revenue rolling in but to make a serious income off of these types of sites you are going to need a lot of them.  Not every one is a winner either and there is no way to predict which ones are going to do well.  I did another datafeed site that has about 8,000 pages indexed and gets less traffic then this one and makes practically zero revenue.  An interesting experiment would be to knock out one datafeed site per day for a year but that would be a huge commitment.  I bet you’d find some serious winners if you made that many sites.

What are your results with datafeed sites?

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There’s nothing wrong with using your blog to make money.  If you want to make imprints of your penis in playdough and sell it for $999 it’s cool.  If someone is willing to pay you for that small of an imprint then there’s no reason you shouldn’t take their money.  However, I do see a problem with doing posts about new products and services without telling your readers WHY you are writing about the topic.  Whether you are being paid a flat fee, a free product or an affiliate sale, I personally think you should tell this to your readers about the compensation.  If your a blogger with an audience, people trust what you say.  Don’t abuse that trust by guiding people towards a product without giving them the information that your post may be tainted by compensation of some type.

To Blogosphere Readers:  If you start seeing a whole bunch of posts about a particular product or service you can rest assured that at least some of them are written due to some type of compensation.  Some products/services are great and some are terrible.  Don’t just trust what a blogger writes.  Do your due diligence before spending your hard earned money.

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Local lead generation is interesting because of the sheer variety of businesses it can apply to.   Every business has different pricing structures, sales funnels & regulation.  For these reasons you often see very generic landing pages when it comes to any type of “local” lead.  Let’s take a look at a “run of the mill” local lead gen offer that you can find on some affiliate networks:

It’s really not a bad looking landing page.  It’s professional, offers consumer benefits and makes it easy to get an estimate.  However, it’s generic.  This landing page probably sells leads to local contractors so it HAS to be generic so that the lead can apply to many businesses.

I’ve ran landing pages with a generic “Get a Quote” call to action and they typically do generate a good deal of leads.  The problem sometimes become quality.  Unfortunately, just because someone is interested enough to fill out the form does not mean they are a quality lead.  Some people are just surfing around dreaming of remodeling their basement and think they can get it done for $500.  Yea, it’s an unrealistic expectation but MANY consumers have unrealistic expectations about what things should cost.  When running a generic offer you typically get a mix of high quality buyer leads and low quality tire kicker leads.  That’s all part of doing a lead generation campaign.

Adding pricing to a landing page can sometimes heavily BOOST the amount of high quality leads coming through the landing page.  The downside is that it will REDUCE the overall amount of leads you generate.  Let’s use the example landing page above.  The current call to action is “Get Multiple Basement Remodeling Estimates From Local Contractors!”  If I were running this lead gen campaign (and it were possible to do so) I would try adding pricing.  Let’s say that 75% of  basement remodeling projects costs $10,000.  I would try a call to action like “Complete Basement Remodeling Package:  From Only $9999″ and then list what that includes and disclaim openly what the $9999 price gets you and applies to.  What this would accomplish is scaring off the tire kickers and delivering leads to the lead buyer which are MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BUY THEIR SERVICE.

The obvious problem with this is that if you generate less leads you could be getting paid less.  Remember that these leads are much more likely to buy so you may be able to negotiate a significantly higher price per lead or even a percentage of the total sale once the lead buyer realizes that these aren’t crappy leads that your selling.

Have you tried adding pricing to lead gen landing pages?  How did it go for you?

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I’ve been a long time Affiliate Summit attendee.  When Shawn mentioned that I should speak at the last Affiliate Summit I kind of thought he was kidding.  To be honest, before he said that I never really thought about speaking at a conference.  Well, the time has come and I will be speaking alongside the lovely & intelligent Amanda Orson.  The name of the session is “Local Lead Gen: Heaven & Hell” and will be on Sunday of Affiliate Summit West 2010.  I’ve been writing about local online advertising for quite some time now so if you have any questions about my local online advertising series, bring them and i’ll do my best to answer any of your questions.  I hope to see some of this blogs long time followers there.

In anticipation of this speaking gig I will be doing some more local online advertising/lead gen posts leading up to the event.

For those of you who have made it this far, Affiliate Summit has provided some passes for AdHustler.com to give away.  I will give away 1 gold pass this week.  To enter simply leave a comment on this post.  Friday 12/10/2010 I will put the names of everyone who left a comment in a bowl and draw a random winner of the pass.

Good Luck and start commenting.

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