Didn’t go to AdTech? Yeah… me neither. Why didn’t you go though? Too expensive?

If you said yes to that last question then I think you are making a huge mistake if you are trying to jump from to the next highest “level” in affiliate marketing. (Who’s not?) Sure, if you are just starting out affiliate marketing and still haven’t done anything special then maybe you should keep choppin’ away but if you know what you are doing this networking opportunity is more valuable than anything you’ll ever come across online. Hell, if you can really afford it though and you are just starting out, go, by all means but most people aren’t in that situation and don’t have $1,000 – $2,000 free for travel.

Trust me, I’m one of the most frugal guys out there when it comes to spending money like that. It’s an investment that you really can’t gauge like stock investing or investing into a campaign/buy. It can only be considered a bad investment if you don’t try to be out-going or if you just go to the speaking events. (Although it would be pretty cool to hear Wikipedia’s founder speak this year) You aren’t really going to learn anything at those things unless it’s some super limited gold platinum pass that is through the roof. Trust me, I’ve been there done that. You can learn all that stuff by just reading blogs if you can absorb the concepts. Chances are the valuable stuff will be plastered all over blogs anyway.

You are going to learn the most by talking to people on the trade show floor and networking. If you don’t know anyone else that’s going, start by just reaching out to your affiliate manager. Tell them you are going and would like to meet up for some drinks or something. (Especially if your AM is hot and she won’t take it as a date if you aren’t too advancing) Hopefully one things leads to another and they can introduce you to something/someone or even better, invite you to a party.

It’s funny how a face-to-face conversation can make people click so much better if you’ve heard or talked to them online before. We put a lot of faces to names when we went to NY that turned into many, many dollars. Hopefully Ryan and Rich can take it even further and make this $2,000.00 investment have as much ROI as last time. I’m really looking forward to the next conference that doesn’t conflict with my school schedule so I can be apart of that investment.

PS: If anyone happens to be sitting in a NYC hotel right now, comment/email and I’m sure Ryan and Rich would love to chat or have a couple of drinks.