It has been a week or so since getting back from Affiliate Summit East but a busy week it has been.

I came away very excited with tons of new ideas I am pumped to get going on. I think I need about 20 programmers to help me realize my visions, and wish I could implement them all right away!

I was surrounded by so many smart people who have done so much! It feels good to meet other entrepreneurs who took their ideas and turned them into their lifeblood.

Unlike other types of businesses, I like how you are greeted with hugs and treated like an old friend, not an adversary or competitor. Many of us so called competitors are more than happy to help each other out.

Missy Ward and Shawn Collins put on a great show, without them it wouldn’t be what it is. They put their hearts into the event, they genuinely care about the industry and take pride in bringing us all together to further the industry.

As someone who works from home, it is important to me to get together with others in my industry to share stories, ideas and feel the comraderie that many get in an office setting. I love working from home but it can get boring and lonely. The Buy.at Party and the Shareasale Party were great fun with great people.

The Performance Marketing Association put on a great event for it’s members. I would happily house sit for Peter Bourdes any day.

I came across a few companies that I had never heard of and need to check them out further. The great thing I found is going through my wish list, a lot of the things I want already exist, I just need to connect with the right people. Affiliate Summit is great for connecting!

I can’t wait until January and Affiliate Summit West 2012, until then I have plenty of work to do implementing all my ideas from Affiliate Summit East!

In a few days, I will be leaving for Affiliates Summit East in NYC. Shawn and Missy always put on a great show and I think this is going to be one of the most productive ones for me.

I am getting in on Friday early so I can spend at least one day relaxing and gathering my thoughts. I am taking my husband to see “Spiderman Turn off the Dark” on Broadway. He is a huge Spidey fan and has probably all of the Spiderman comics in existence.

Saturday morning I am attending the Full Day SEO Training Course with Rae Hoffman-Dolan. I am really excited, SEO has changed so much since I first started this business 12 years ago. I love Rae’s straight shooting no bullshit ways and look forward to learning a lot.

Sunday is the Meet Market and a panel I am looking forward to, including my own:

Taking Advantage of Seasonality in Affiliate Marketing

Session 2a
Location: Gramercy Suite
Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm

Learn how affiliate managers and affiliates can work together to maximize earnings during seasons and also extend sales throughout the year. Includes holidays, sports, bridal, graduation, and more.

Todd Farmer, CEO, PerformStreet Media (Twitter @toddfarmer) (Moderator)
Kristen M. Grace, Affiliate Marketing Manager, BuyCostumes.com | Celebrate Express (Twitter @kristengrace)
Tricia Meyer, Owner, Sunshine Rewards (Twitter @sunshinetricia)

The Future of Coupons in Affiliate Marketing
Session 4a
Location: Gramercy Suite
Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm

With the introduction of mobile & local deals to affiliate marketing, coupon affiliates must evolve. Experts will discuss the future of affiliate coupons & what trends benefit coupon affiliates.

Trisha Lyn Fawver, Client Services Manager, For Me To Coupon (Twitter @TrishaLyn) (Moderator)
Connie Arnold, Head Bird, FlamingoWorld.com LLC (Twitter @conniearnold)
Carolyn Kmet, Director of Affiliate Marketing, Groupon (Twitter @catango)
Carrie Rocha, Owner, Pocket Your Dollars (Twitter @carrierocha)
Kim Rowley, Owner, Key Internet Marketing, Inc. (Twitter @kimarketing)

The rest of the days are filled with other various sessions, meetings, brainstorming, and of course parties!

I feel like the last year or so my brain has gone stagnant, I need to refresh, come up with new ideas, and create something awesome! If anyone wants to get together at Summit just to pick brains let me know!

I will check in here during Summit to update on what I am doing, who I am talking with, and maybe pick some of your brains too!

For several years affiliates in many states have been fighting the affiliate nexus tax. Many of us have hoped for a federal solution to put an end to the fights and the legislation coming back time after time. Is this the solution we have been looking for? I am all for fairness and the way the states have been dealing with the issue have not been fair.

Senator Dick Durbin Friday introduced a bill that would require all retailers to collect sales tax. If passed, the bill would overturn a Supreme Court decision that prevents states from forcing Internet retailers to collect sales tax unless they have an in-state physical presence.

Come check out our Session at Affiliate Summit! I am humbled to be included with this awesome group of coupon experts!

Affiliate Summit East 2011, the premier affiliate marketing conference, is taking place August 21-23, 2011 in New York City.

The Future of Coupons in Affiliate Marketing
Session 4a
Location: Gramercy Suite
Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm

With the introduction of mobile & local deals to affiliate marketing, coupon affiliates must evolve. Experts will discuss the future of affiliate coupons & what trends benefit coupon affiliates.

Experience level: Intermediate
Target audience: Affiliates/Publishers
Niche/vertical: Coupons

• Trisha Lyn Fawver, Client Services Manager, For Me To Coupon (Twitter @TrishaLyn) (Moderator)
• Connie Arnold, Head Bird, FlamingoWorld.com LLC (Twitter @conniejarnold)
• Carolyn Kmet, Director of Affiliate Marketing, Groupon (Twitter @catango)
• Carrie Rocha, Owner, Pocket Your Dollars (Twitter @carrierocha)
• Kim Rowley, Owner, Key Internet Marketing, Inc. (Twitter @kimarketing)

This three day conference includes an exhibit hall with affiliate merchants, vendors, and networks, as well as multiple tracks of educational sessions covering the latest trends and information from affiliate marketing experts.

If you aren’t registered, it is a not to be missed event for all affiliate marketers. Register Here!

A few years ago I was frustrated trying to keep up with the thousands of coupons to hunt down in the networks and add to my coupon site FlamingoWorld.com. There were so many emails coming in daily and it was hard to keep up. Some of the networks had rss feeds or coupon feeds but they were sorely lacking. Because of the issue I decided to become the solution to the problem by founding ForMeToCoupon.com.

ForMeToCoupon.com is a service that aggregates all of the network coupon feeds, all of the emails and edits them, makes sure the links work, make sure the coupons work and put them in a standard form. It is a lot of work and I really wish the networks did a better job so ForMeToCoupon.com wasn’t needed.

I am heading a Coupon Feed Standards Working Group for the Performance Marketing Assocication. We a have a few people already interested in joining, but could still use some members. I would really like to see network involvment so we can fix the issues from the source.

Too many merchants add their offers and coupons into the network coupon feeds, but much of the information they add is not standard. They add the coupon code in the deal text, not in a separate field, they do the same with the expiration dates instead of putting them in the expiration date fields. Some add long descriptive text and it isn’t a deal at all. Maybe the networks themselves could do a little quality control before the offers go out? And if they notice issues they could contact the merchants to train them better. I really think if the networks were to require certain information, and in specific fields it would be easier for affiliates to use.

If anyone is interested in joining me on the working group email me at connie(at)flamingoworld.com Or feel free to just email me your gripes and suggestions on the network coupon feeds.

Everyone who knows Brian Littleton knows of his fashion saavy and how he can make a sweater vest look stylin. Recently I bid on and won one of Brian Littleton’s of Shareasale’s sweater vests that was up for auction to benefit fundraising efforts for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in Chicago.
My daughter Hillary was excited to model the official Brian Littleton sweater vest!

Several months ago Hillary created a one of a kind sweater vest for Brian, so she was honored to model this one.

Lisa Picarille came up with the great idea of a sisterhood of the travelling sweater vest, so who better to share it with first than her. Be on the lookout Lisa!

Perhaps you’ve heard about anti-affiliate state legislation that can have a devastating impact on affiliate marketers.
This has occurred in several states, and now it is being battled in Minnesota.

Today I attended the Senate Hearing regarding Bill S.F. 282, at the Minnesota State Capitol. According to sources, there are about 2500 affiliates in Minnesota yet I was the only one in attendance.

The basic premise of S.F. No. 282 is flawed and incorrectly targets affiliates.
Affiliate marketers are not traditional associates or an extended sales force for these retailers.
Rather, we are paid for performance marketing advertising. Affiliate marketers do not sell for the retailer – affiliate marketers advertise. We do not own the customer or know who the customer is; we do not transact a sale; we do not accept money for sales; nor do we deliver products or services to consumers. S.F. No. 282, Minnesota is attempting to define affiliates as a physical sales presence for out-of-state merchants such as Amazon or Overstock.com, so that out-of-state merchants would be responsible for collecting sales tax from all residents in Minnesota.

Many merchants have stated their intention to sever their ties with Minnesota affiliates if this bill is passed. So instead of gained tax dollars, the state will end up with more people out of work, more families devastated and in need of aid. If merchants sever affiliate programs in Minnesota, the state will not gain tax dollars, and many businesses will be devastated as a result.

The hearings ran long and they ended up postponing the hearing until Monday the 20th of April.

The Author of the bill, Senator Thomas M. Bakk is also the committee chair. He is a democrat.
Democrats have the majority in the house and senate. Unless we take drastic measures this bill will pass.

According to paperwork, the state isn’t expecting that much revenue from this bill.
We need to make it clear that while this may seem like an easy way to increase state tax revenue
they need to consider the devastating ramifications this bill can have.

Email your senators.
Use this Minnesota Senator Letter Template as a guide.
Email the newspapers.
The Star Tribune is a good place to start.
Do something, do anything!

I can’t remember the last time I got so many frustrating emails in one day.

Here is one:
“As a valued XXXXX affiliate partner, I wanted to let you know that we are currently working to make our program, and our partnerships, as successful as possible. In order to continue to support the success of our current partnership we are unable to continue to offer you a flat 4% commission on all goods. Starting at the end of February, our new offer will be lowered to 1.5% on all goods.”

This merchant is on all the big loyalty sites, which have software applications and toolbars. Many times they end up paying commission on sales where the shopper directly went to the merchant site, but then the toolbar reminded them to go through the loyalty site, or it automatically set their cookie so the merchant pays out where they never should have. These same affiliates cost them extra money when a shopper goes through the merchant paid search link but then the loyalty software overwrites the cookie and takes credit for the sale. So the merchant pays for their paid ad and pays commission to the loyalty site.

Maybe if they worked on cleaning up their program, maybe lowered the commission on those who really did nothing to make the sale except activate their software, us hard working honest affiliates who play clean could earn what we deserve.

From an email recieved a few minutes ago:

“As you may know from previous experience, XXXXXX works each month to a set budget. While in the past, if they surpass that budget, we have been forced to remove partners. This is never ideal and we want to prevent this from happening as much as possible. As of right now, we are on track to surpass our February budget. To prevent this, we are asking you to take a 1% commission cut through the rest of the month.

We ask that you opt into the lower-commission offer immediately, or we will have to remove you from the program. This is only a short-term adjustment, so we thank you, in advance, for your cooperation and understanding.”

So do they want us to make sales or not? If we make too many then they might go over budget and we will be removed. To make sure they don’t go over budget they want us to send the same amount of shoppers but get paid less?

I don’t understand companies that lump affiliate marketing into their advertising budgets. There should be no budget as they don’t pay out more unless more sales are made.

Rumors have been swirling that Twitter had noticed big brands using Twitter for customer support, general conversation and brand promotion and was planning on charging fees for commercial use.

Twitter, a micro-blogging service where users write short updates about what they’re doing, has attracted companies who want to create buzz online as well as those who want to see what customers are saying about them.

The source of the speculation was an interview with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, which appeared on the Marketing magazine web site early on 10 February. Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone told Marketing: “We are noticing more companies using Twitter and individuals following them. We can identify ways to make this experience even more valuable and charge for commercial accounts.” He would not comment on the level of charges. Stone said it could also create revenue-generating features to tap into the way brands use Twitter as a hybrid marketing and customer-service tool.

Twitter denies reports that it will charge companies.

In a Twitter blog post, titled “Nothing to report just yet”, Stone noted that Twitter had been “thinking out loud” for over a year about the use of the service by commercial organizations, and how the offering could be improved.

“We hope to begin iterating on revenue products this year,” Stone said. ” However, it’s important to note that, whatever we come up with, Twitter will remain free to use by everyone – individuals, companies, celebrities, etc. What we’re thinking about is adding value in places where we are already seeing traction, not imposing fees on existing services.”

Stone has stated that there was no official announcement at present as the plans are still at a very early stage but plans are afoot to generate cash from value-add services.