Wow I had a great weekend! As many of you know, I made the long trip out to Orange County, California to speak at the Meetup202 about Media Buying. The event was sponsored by Habitat Agency and their CEO Ryan Rasmussen made sure everything went smoothly to get me out! This was actually my first speaking engagement that was conducted in person. I’ve done several audio and video interviews but this was the first going out and speaking.

I arrived on Friday after a very tiring flight from Atlanta. First class was sold out (I waited too long to book) so had to cram five hours in the middle where a lady had her eyes glued to my computer screen. She also insisted I show her how to see ‘all’ of her Facebook friends (isn’t that a no brainer?). Once arriving at the airport I was picked up by Ryan (Habitat Agency CEO) and was taken to my hotel in Huntington Beach. They were nice enough to comp me a beautiful room at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa. I’ve traveled a good bit and have stayed in a ton of nice hotels, but this one was definitely in the top as far as luxury goes. When I arrived at the hotel I decided to lounge by the pool and called it an early night.

Saturday, before my presentation, I decided to plan out my weekend. I first started by deciding to rent a car. Ryan offered me his sick S550 Mercedes Benz but I felt much better driving a car owned by Enterprise (I tend to drive a bit aggressive). We had also passed a Bugatti Veyron on the way from the Airport and I considered renting one of those. Somehow I couldn’t talk John and Richard into letting me spend the $25,000 a day (I don’t know why LOL). Anyways I settled for the $69/day Mustang (yeah I know I’m cheap).

Ryan picked me up for the meet-up around 11 a.m. so we could be plenty early to get things ready (I also wanted to eat before I started). He also gave me a tour of their office which provided me with a lot of ideas for myself. My presentation lasted around an hour and a half as I had a very lengthy Q & A session (this is my favorite thing to do). Surprisingly enough I saw a lot of familiar faces at the meet-up including, Mike Chiasson from IU and Jason Akatif (President of Ads 4 Dough). I really have to give it to Jason, he asked a lot of great, informative questions, as well as added to several of my answers. Nice meeting you man You can download a copy of my PowerPoint at this link.

Following the successful meet-up I made the trip to Los Angeles to enjoy a nice dinner with some friends. I capped the evening off by going to a few clubs in Hollywood.

I decided to leave Sunday open for sight-seeing. Driving my jet black mustang I drove a solid 100 miles from Beverly Hills, to LA, to Bel Air, to Sana Monica. I don’t think I missed a single sight! I also spent a good bit of the day doing some shopping in Hollywood (bought the same JCrew shirt as some movie producer btw). After a full day of seeing things I capped things off with a double lobster tail dinner and about an hour in a hot tub with a fire-pit beside it (so relaxing). Monday morning I hit up the beach one last time before Ryan and his business partner Matt picked me up to go to the airport. We enjoyed one final conversation together.

In conclusion I had an EXCELLENT trip to California. I wish I could have stayed longer but did need to get back to work. I want to personally thank Ryan Rasmussen and Matthew Marsh. They really did a great job of making me feel welcome. As I mentioned above I also want to thank Jason Akatif for coming out and adding to my presentation. Finally, I want to thank all of YOU who came out and heard what I had to say. I hope I gave you some great ideas that will make you lots of money . You can checkout what people thought of my presentation at this link.  You can also see pictures from the meet-up at this link.

Saturday afternoon I spoke at the Meetup202 in Orange County about Media Buying. As promised I’ve uploaded my Power Point presentation for those of you that missed it (you should have came we had some awesome food). You can download by clicking on the image below:

Keep check on the blog I’m going to be posting pictures shortly!

As most everyone know, Richard, John, and I spent most of last week at Affiliate Summit East in New York City (the rest of the week was spent catching up with tons of work). This year’s show didn’t disappoint and was the largest ASE to date. This was also the first show that John, Richard, and I have all attended together. It was really great going out and putting a face to many names in the industry. Here’s a daily breakdown of our trip:

Sunday, August 15th
We arrived at LaGuardia Airport at approximately 1:00 p.m. ET. For those of you that have never been to this airport, it’s nothing glamorous. I really prefer to fly into JFK but the schedule just didn’t work for us. We didn’t hang around long, but we happened to be on the same flight as Eric Schechter from Clickbooth. While waiting for our luggage we engaged in a nice conversation with Eric and he even hooked Rich up with a pretty sweet case for his iPhone. We then all four took a cab together to the Hilton.

After arriving at the Hilton we found out the suite we were on the waiting list was already booked. Therefore we had to settle for a small room on their executive level (boo). It ended up working out, but I would much rather the suite we had last year as it provided a lot more room to entertain guests. The executive level was pretty sweet though as they have a lounge that offers complimentary nonalcoholic beverages, a continental breakfast, snacks throughout the day, and my favorite, complimentary wifi access (beats paying $20/day in the room).

Finally after getting settled in we went down to the Meet Market to get some work done. As usual it was extremely loud and crowded. We did however get to talk to our buddies over at Convert 2 Media, Eagle Web Assets, Copeac, Epic, and even met up with Mike Chaisson who is one of our top guns inside Internet University! Overall it was a success and it should make Shawn and Missy both proud to see so much action in the Meet Market. Even with expanding to almost double the space as last year it was VERY crowded. I’m not really sure what they can do to make more room!

Following the Meet Market we went up to the executive lounge at the Hilton to get some quick work done (self-business owners understand work never ends). We then prepared to head to dinner. Richard and John met up with our good friend Jason Venters who is not only a SEO expert (and active at helping people in Internet University) but also works as a Performance Marketing Manager at Hybryd Ads. They went to a pretty sweet Japanese BBQ restaurant where actually cook your own meet in the center of the table. I was invited to attend Ian Fernando’s IANteract Dinner at the Capital Grille. I enjoyed an excellent meal with some of the top affiliate marketers in the world. Notable names included (in no particular order): Wes Mahler, Kris Trujillo, Morgan Thomas, Brandon Hoffman Ad Hustler, Bryn Youngblunt, Matt Wasserman, Brian Evans, Mike Chiasson, as well as several people from Kitara Media (the company who sponsored the dinner), and last but not least, my good buddy, Ian Fernando. We not only had a great meal together but enjoyed a nice discussion of the Internet marketing industry in general.

After dinner I went back to the Hilton to meet back up with Richard, John, and Jason and we enjoyed some drinks at the bar with Ken (founder of Point Click Track). It ended up being a great first night!

Monday, August 16th
We woke up a little late Monday missing the keynote. Before hitting up the exhibit hall we enjoyed a killer sandwich at the Stage Deli (Shoemoney had the same idea). John tried to explain to our waitress what the conference was about but she was more interested in his iPhone 4! After our stomachs were full Richard went back to the executive lounge to get some work done (Rich works harder than anyone I’ve ever met) while John and I made some rounds around the exhibit hall. Eventually we caught back up with Rich and enjoyed the show together.

After a day full of walking we enjoyed a nice sushi dinner and even ate beside actor Josh Gad (remember the movie 21). John claims that one of my pieces of sushi had a ‘fishy’ taste, but I didn’t get sick. Following dinner we went to one of our favorite bars on Wall Street and capped things off with the Clickbooth/Pulse 360 rooftop party. This was my favorite ‘Internet parties’ I’ve ever been too as it wasn’t so crowded and loud you could actually talk to others and enjoy yourself. Many notable bloggers were there such as Zac Johnson, John Chow, Ian Fernando, and many more (too many to name). After the party we had some killer NYC cart food and hit the sack.

Tuesday, August 17th
Once again we woke-up a little late (I hate being on a schedule). Rather than busting down to the exhibit hall we went to the executive lounge and did some more work before heading to 5 Napkin Burger with the cool people at Media Whiz. Honestly, this was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had as well as onion rings and fried pickles stuffed with pastrami (yes it’s possible). We then hopped a cab back to the Hilton where we walked through the exhibit hall a few more times and met with numerous companies interested in working together. Sadly, Affiliate Summit officially came to an end at 4:00 p.m. While I was sad to see the show end, I was happy to sit down and relax for a while. I actually lost my voice from talking so much.

After some more work was completed and goodbyes were said to all our friends, Richard, John, and I made our way down to Wall Street once again where we acted like tourists. We snapped pictures of all the notable sites and visited a sad ground zero. Finishing up our sightseeing we enjoyed a killer white pizza pie and made our way back to the Hilton. What started out as an early night ended up being a great time as we met up with Ruck and enjoyed a solid talk about everything in the industry. We even introduced him to our favorite cart food in the city (unreal Greek gyros). Btw Ruck if you’re reading this, what time was your departure flight, do you know?

In conclusion this year’s Affiliate Summit East was my favorite one ever! Shawn and Missy have done a fantastic job keeping everything organized as well as expanding the show so it was comfortable to navigate. While I’m really far behind on work it was interesting to hear the latest buzz and industry rumors. I also was very intrigued to hear some of the top affiliates are now focusing more on long-term stable business models and leaving the ‘berries’ behind (I don’t blame them). To everyone we met, it was certainly a pleasure. To everyone we saw again, I enjoyed it as always. I look forward to November when I return to the city for AdTech and Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas!

As I posted earlier, Richard, John, and I will ALL be attending Affiliate Summit East in New York City next month. Affiliate Summit has quickly became the most popular conference for affiliate marketing. It is held twice each year; once on the east coast, once on the west. This year’s east coast show will be from August 15th – August 18th at the Hilton in Downtown Manhattan in New York City.

For those of you interested in going, we’re going to GIVEAWAY three passes to the show. Here is how you can register to win:

* We’re giving away ONE SILVER pass to the show.
- A silver pass includes: Admission to Affiliate Meet Market and Exhibit Hall, Keynotes; and access to the Affiliate Summit Social Network.

Retail Value: $249 (After 4/30/2010)
Onsite: $449

* We’re giving away TWO GOLD passes to the show.
- A gold pass includes: Admission to Affiliate Meet Market, Exhibit Hall, Keynotes, Sunday educational sessions; access to all recorded session videos; PowerPoint presentations; and Affiliate Summit Social Network. This pass does not include Monday and Tuesday sessions

Retail Value: $549 (After 4/30/2010)
Onsite: $749

Here’s how you can register to win:

FOR THE SILVER PASS:
We’ll be selecting a random subscriber to our ‘Media Buying 101′ email list on Monday, July 19, 2010. We’ll contact the individual and if they’re not interested, we’ll select another. All you need to do is make sure your email address is subscribed to our list. You can do so now at this link.

FOR THE GOLD PASS:
We’re going to select two random subscribers to Internet University on Monday, July 19, 2010. You must either be a current member or be registered before July 19th. Only members with an active subscription will be selected.  You can register now at this link.

In total we’re giving away over $1,300 in passes for Affiliate Summit!  Take advantage of this opportunity today!  Good luck!

For the first time ever all of the ‘Super Affiliate Twins’ will be attending a conference together!  Richard, John, and I completed our reservations for Affiliate Summit East: New York City last week and are excited not only for the great show but a chance to meet many of you.  We’ll be arriving on Sunday, August 15th and will be staying throughout the duration of the show, Wednesday, August 18th.

New York City is one of my favorite places to conduct business as not only are there many affiliate networks located in the city, but also traffic sources who are eager to have us out to their office to setup and discuss strategies.  If you plan on attending the show feel free to walk up to either of us as I’m sure you’ll see us walking around (we’re not shy).  Additionally, if you work for an affiliate network or a traffic source feel free to contact us to arrange a private meeting.

If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, stay tuned as we’re going to be giving away ONE silver pass and TWO gold passes here on the blog.  I’ll have details on how to enter our drawing shortly!

Hope to see you all in the ‘Empire State’!

Affiliate Summit East is returning to New York City and I’m personally pretty pumped.  The Empire State is one of my favorite places to go on business simply because so many companies are located in Manhattan and the surrounding areas.  It seems like everyone is really focused on conducting successful business and ideas are constantly thrown around (I feel like in Vegas everyone is in vacation mode).  With all that said, if you plan on attending Affiliate Summit East you best get to booking as the conference sells out every single year!

Shawn has also been so kind to provide all of our readers with a special 10% discount on all passes: Diamond, Platinum, Gold, and Silver.  Simply use the coupon code ASE10TWINS10 on the registration page.

We finished booking our trip this week and John will be sharing more details tomorrow.  This will be the first conference where Richard, John, and myself will all be in attendance together!

Have you heard of foursquare?  If you haven’t chances are you will before too much longer.  It’s a social networking application for mobile devices with GPS that allow you to register for a free account and then ‘check-in’ when you’re at a certain location.  Those that check-in to a certain place a lot are awarded badges and those that check-in the most are named the ‘major’.  You can then add friends to your account where they can see all the places you’ve been or your current location.  This data can also be broadcast to your Facebook or Twitter account.

Certain retail establishments are even offering users who ‘check-in’ to their location exclusive discounts (Kate Spade, Starbucks are some I’ve seen).  Those that earn a mayorship could be entitled to an even better discount if the establishment participates.  When you click on one of your friends you have the option to send them a text, email, call, connect on Twitter or even Facebook.  You can also view their friend list.

This application is quickly gaining popularity in not only the United States but all around the world.   Utilizing the GPS in your phone only locations that you are a certain distance from allow you to checkin (this is to keep people from cheating).

While some may consider this the ‘ultimate stocker tool’ I actually think it’s great for use during conferences such as Affiliate Summit East in New York City.  How nice would it be to see who is where?  Last summer John and I had to constantly call people that we wanted to meet with to see where they were.  Sometimes this was pretty hard especially with music blaring in a nite club.  That is why I encourage all of the networks, advertising companies, etc. to make sure there reps have this installed!  It’ll make things so much easier for us affiliates to meet up and talk some business!

You can read more on the official foursquare website. What’s your thoughts?

As a full-time affiliate marketer/student, I find myself catching mild cases of cabin fever very easily.  Sitting a computer all day and looking for excuses for leaving the house is always a bad sign.  You are especially prone to catch cabin fever in West Virginia… Most of you probably can’t relate but trust me, there is literally nothing to do here.  (Which I suppose is a good thing, less distractions = more time to make money online but…)

Anyhow, I was invited to this “exclusive” membership site that offers discounts on travel packages across the globe called JetSetter.   It’s frequently advertised on Digg and other social media websites along with their sister site, Gilt.  (Which is also good but a little too fancy for my clothing tastes)  I catch myself daydreaming about visiting all these exotic places and I don’t know whether it’s because I’m stuck in a very slow-paced town or the near perfect pictures of all these beautiful places but wow!  The best part about this website are the inside insight sections, they really give it to you straight even though just about every single one of these places looks like paradise.   The insight sections are based on the editors visiting these hotels and reviewing the area and vacation spot so I imagine it’s pretty trustworthy.   Here’s one for the Nine Zero hotel in Boston I am thinking of visiting this weekend:

Iris scan technology?!  Haha, oh yeah!  Then it gives a section showing what to do for someone in my general age group.  This is a great feature because I feel like with other travel websites it’s either geared at pleasing the “family” or older tourists with suggestions to go to amusement parks and etc.

I did a little test to see if this was just another site with bogus claims of having a cheaper price than all the others out there and it turns out that JetSetter did in fact offer me a cheaper rate than the hotel for a Queen Deluxe room for $85 cheaper per night!  The only problem that I’ve noticed with JetSetter is that they can only offer premium rates on certain nights.   There are some nights that are marked as unavailable for the deal and other nights that are “peak nights” that often are more expensive.  It’s kind of annoying because they will be scattered around and sometimes you can’t get enough days in a row to make a trip.

I’m still on the fence as to when I’m going to make my first purchase from JetSetter because it’s kind of an impulse buy with these vacation deals only lasting a limited amount of time and only available for dates in the very near future.  Additionally,  JetSetter does have an affiliate program that offers $25 upon the first purchase of someone who signs up under your invite link.  I decided to write this post because I think it’s a great website, not to make money so if you need an invite just Google it.  If you can’t find anything, just post in the comments or email me and I’ll send over my link.  Keep an eye out for hotels in NYC and maybe you could catch a deal on ASE!

I want to start this post off with an apology. I was actually working on several posts to post automatically throughout this past week, but due to numerous other projects, I didn’t have time to perfect them. I don’t want to release subpar material on this blog, but assure you, I have a lot of good stuff coming. Anyways, I just got back home from an AMAZING cruise vacation and thought I’d share before unpacking my things and getting back to a massive amount of work!

For those of you have never been I suggest you go ahead and book one as soon as you finish reading this post! I had never been on a cruise and not only had my expectations met, I was KNOCKED off my feet impressed. After some research, I decided to take my girlfriend on a four-night cruise that left Miami, Florida on Monday, March 22nd, went to Key West, Florida on Tuesday, March 23rd, then to Cozumel, Mexico on Wednesday, March 24th, and returned to Miami on Friday, March 26th (Thursday was a ‘fun day’ at sea). Our cruise line of choice: Carnival, ship: Imagination

When I booked the trip I was a bit skeptical because of the low price. For this trip I paid around $550 per ticket. Some of the more luxury cruise lines were as much as $15-$25K! I was definitely not paying that much money for something I’ve never experienced. Before leaving, I asked John his thoughts and he said he went once, but his only compliant was the small rooms. To avoid this (and in normal Super Affiliate fashion) I booked the penthouse suite. It was approximately 400 square feet, included a private balcony with furniture, and a Jacuzzi bathtub. Still, given the low price, I was somewhat concerned.

After arriving at the Miami Seaport on Monday, we were quickly booked in and after a passing through a security checkpoint, were able to access the ship and our room. I was SHOCKED at how amazing everything was. I didn’t even feel like I was on a ship. I felt as if I was standing in a five star hotel in South Beach. Our room was very clean and the staff was very helpful. We decided it was time for a quick lunch before the ship set sail at 4:00 p.m. ET. This would be the true test? The food.

We made our way up to the deck where the pool was, which also included a ‘cafeteria style’ restaurant. Once again, I was taken back. Not only could you choose from the normal cheese burger and fry lunch, but you could also chose from Asian cuisine, pizza, deli sandwiches, and even more! The best part of all, it was included in the price of my ticket (seriously $550). We chose stir-fry from the Asian cuisine line. Simply pick out your vegetables, hand your bowl to the chef, tell him beef, chicken, or shrimp and how spicy of sauce you want, and it’s quickly made right in front of you! Unreal!

After eating, we enjoyed a glass of wine, and set sail for Key West, Florida. That evening we went to the main dining room, were seated promptly and indulged on a number of gourmet items. All freshly prepared, still, included in the price of the ticket. To cap off the night, we enjoyed some time in the adult area (21 or older) hot tub with some spring breakers (they were unusually calm and very polite).

The fun continued throughout the week with visiting the beautiful beaches of Key West, snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of Cozumel, Mexico, while enjoying the immaculate food, entertainment, and clean quarters of Carnival’s Imagination. You couldn’t go anywhere in the ship without seeing a staff of employees constantly cleaning or attempting to assist people. My hat is off to Carnival Imagination’s staff, their corporate leaders, and their CEO. I’ve been to numerous five-star hotels throughout the United States, but I have to say, this cruise is in the top three best vacations EVER. It is also without a doubt, the most affordable. I’ll NEVER go spend another $500 – $700 a night at a hotel in the US, while I could be spending it with a fine company like Carnival. I cannot say enough about my experience. I have no complaints, not one. For those people that complained on the review sites I visited, you must just hate life. I’m sorry?

In a nutshell, that was my vacation. I could go on for a few more pages, but it’s time to get back to work. Richard and John have been continuing to scale, optimize, and product excellent results while I’ve been gone. Thanks guys! Again, I want to remind you all to stay tuned to our blog as we have a lot of excellent material coming out. I also want to encourage people to be sure they download my Media Buying 101 Guide. It’s received a good amount of downloads this past week, so you’re not going to want to miss out! Thanks for reading, back to work!

After four nights in Las Vegas for Affiliate Summit West 2010, Richard and I are now back in the office. LOTS of catching up to do as I’m working on hour twelve right now with no break. It was nice seeing everyone again as well as meeting several new faces. I took some video footage from Vegas with the FlipVideo Camera Azoogle sent for Christmas. I must warn you, I’m no cameraman, but i thought they would be more fun to watch than a simple photo gallery! I want to thank Missy Ward & Shawn Collins for putting on another excellent show!

First Morning In Vegas:

Exhibit Hall At The Rio:

Azoogle’s Party in the Playboy Suite at the Palms (Richard and I got in an argument over if you were allowed to get in the pool or not. Did anyone get in?):

Our suite at the Wynn: