Quantcast

Conference Benefits – Heavy Networking

Affiliate Summit West 2009 is over and I somewhat miss it, but glad to be back in Jersey. I personally enjoyed and definitely benefited from it a lot. Some people say affiliate summit west in vegas is non beneficial. It is all partying and affiliates go there to just party, which maybe true. But during the day, you really can’t party it is all business.

I believe in work hard, play hard – I always ball out. So why are some bloggers or affiliates saying ASW is non beneficial? Maybe the environment is too fast? You party, wake up, network, eat, party, sleep for 2 hours, back to conference – it is fast!

But if you are going to Vegas with the mindset of partying then you are really just going there to party. I actually accomplished a lot of things. I demoed my new web services to the affiliate networks in which I am closly working with. I started new partnerships with new people I just met. I gained new knowledge of how to make even more money. I network with the right people that I needed to.

Affiliate Summit

I have networked with a lot of people in the past and I have benefited from them vice versa. In the past I have met people online or via my blog or even through twitter. Jim from theNetFool has provided me some good insight on resources for content and we occasionally conversate on other topics. Though he did not attend ASW, I was able to use his knowledge and experience to help better establish my business.

But from ASW alone, I hooked up with people that will help me in my business later on. I have recently just partnered up with DiggaLive to work on a new project and release, I also will be looking forward to partner up with him on other projects as well.

I have hooked up with Big L from Yep! Revenue, thanks to Ad Hustler. Big L is a really great guy and knows and wants to take care of his affiliates. Other networks that want to help out are Ruck and his Convert2Media Team, as well as Smaxor from Ads4Dough. These guys are small networks BUT pack a heavy load when it comes to taking care of their affiliates. They were once affiliates and knows what it takes to help affiliates in the industry.

I also strengthened relationships with past friends like Joel Comm, Kris Jones, Wes and T202 Team, Shawn and Missy, Jim Kukral, and everyone I have met in the past and present. There is a huge benefit in going to conferences and conventions or even small meetups in your local area.

Strengthening relationship is important because they introduce you to more people that maybe of interest. While in Vegas NickyCakes introduce me to a couple of his peers and we discuss marketing and making money. I have been introduced to multiple new people and I introduced a lot of my peers to a bunch of people I know. It is almost an exchange process – you want your good friends to benefit from what you currently are benefiting from.

Now the big problem is a lot of people do not penetrate their network, they collect cards and that is it. You have to penetrate your network, get socially active with them and keep in touch, creating that relationship is important. My brother Christian from XY7 is my dude and we always hook up every time I land at a conference. I will also touch base with Ron Harrington which is one of Christian’s good buddies – which I met through my IANteract Dinner via Boston.

Networking is healthy and beneficial. If you do not do anything with your network what is the point in going to these conferences? Twitter is a great resource if you can not hit up a conference or convention, you stay socially active and able to network with your peers. Even then you need to try to penetrate your twitter network to use it to your benefit.

Well I typed too much so video below:

YouTube Preview Image
  • http://twitter.com/stoltsen Silver Stoltsen

    Hi Ian, nice post, It was my first AS and I met some new people in Vegas but also spent a lot of time with affiliates that I knew already to deepen my relationships with them. Steven from T202 asked me if I can at least make the money back that I spent on going to ASW and at this point I have not but I’m sure I will as I’m still building relationships and using the tips that I picked up. Overall, I think it was beneficial for me to go to ASW as I got a much better overview of the affiliate business and of course Vegas parties are the best and you have to be careful not just only party and build some lasting relationships as well.

  • http://briantoppin.com Brian T

    I wish I could have gone to ASW, it looks and sounds like it was great. I am still trying to figure out how to make money from a blog. I am new at this blogging stuff.

  • http://www.browie.com browie

    Great post.

    How about a post about newbies going to ASW/E and just introducing themselves to others and getting “lucky” with some inside information.

    Me for example: I don’t make a killing off of anything, I do my small money making but these conferences seem to be a hotbed for getting that 1 or 2 leads to really make your business grow.

  • http://linkersblog.com/ Donny Gamble

    If you are a true business person, you will know the benefits of networking at these events. I feel the opportunity to network with other like minded individuals is more powerful than making a lot of money.

  • http://www.ianfernando.com Ian

    > Donny
    I agree a whole lot on that!

  • http://www.ayakofromjapan.com Ayako

    Hey Ian,
    I agree with you 200%. I love hanging out with people I usually talk through chat/twitter/e-mail. Besides, attending last year’s Affiliate Social Media East led me to meet great people like you! For me, work = fun and I think it is important to love and embrace what you do for living. Just like you said here, work hard : play hard! I’m looking forward to seeing you again in NYC. We should definitely get together then!

  • http://otooo.com Best Deals Online

    I’ve never been to any event like this because I live too far away but someday i would really like to go along and see what happens for myself

  • http://www.focusrentacar.ro Inchirieri Auto

    Thanks for giving the information.

  • http://www.bestcleaning.ro Firme De Curatenie

    Great post, I will really use these tips what I need them. Thank you.

days
hours
minutes
seconds