21. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/05/mint-gets-a-mint/ read that. They are a company who fit into the thinking big and hundreds of thousands is peanuts category. The CEO of mint could probably earn the respect of your inner circle despite his - in your opinion - questionable monetization strategy.

And, btw, let's say you sold your last company for £25M. And, if we are being very kind, you took home half of that, you would be left with around £13M. This would lead me to believe six figures a month was the range you were working in. Correct me if I am wrong.

However, obviousy I have far more respect for you than shoemoney and co. I do think you are a level above them, and I do look up to what you have achieved. The difference between you and them is that you know how to create long-term value. That should have been the focus in your keynote.

The fact is you have yet to prove yourself in the $100M-$1B category. However, I think the lesson you were trying to teach is excellent but your relative ignorance towards the topic lets you down. Most affiliates who would class themselves as affiliate marketers do have to think bigger. But, CPA is just a monetization strategy LIKE adsense and LIKE direct Ad sales. Why do you find that concept so hard to understand?

I really hope you hit the ball out of the park with Mahalo. And, I am sure you will. But, until you do, you will have to accept - for now - you still have lots to prove.

And, I am sure you came out and told everyone you hard earned $1M from Adsense. Just because you didn't post the cheque doesn't make you much better. Shoemoney does it to show off for sure. The question is, did you?

Maybe you could make up for your lack of sensitivity by doing another podcast, or is that pushing my luck :-)

Posted at 5:38PM on Mar 6th 2008 by CA

22. Jason, it is not about making money .. hey you said that rightfully yourself. I monetize my "pet-sites" via affiliate links.. e.g. Cumbrowski.com and to a limited extend RoySAC.com (remember Bulletin Board Systems or are you too much of a newbie who started with Usenet? hehe). I would maintain the site as is anyway. It serves a specific purpose, a very niche purpose for a small audience.. nothing to make millions with, but then again, its not its purpose. Tip .. see my "editorial note" at the site, it's linked to from every page in the footer.

Posted at 11:17AM on Mar 7th 2008 by Carsten Cumbrowski

23. Our site http://www.aafter.com is completely honest about all affiliate links on our site.

Posted at 2:53PM on Mar 7th 2008 by Subhankar Ray

24. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com -- when he has affiliate links, he marks them with a footnote and includes a non-affiliate version of the link, too.

Posted at 7:35PM on Mar 7th 2008 by Richi Jennings

25. Jason,

Affiliation is just a form of relationship in my eyes.

This is probably what you are looking for too:

http://www.revenews.com/wayneporter/parasites-ecosystems-diversity-ecology/

You and I know affiliates aren't doing all of this.... I have looked at the structure of the SERP gaming. c'mon. LOL :)


After really scrutinizing your play I think it makes good pragmatic sense- and I see some elements of community (Don't shoot Steve Rosenbaum...)- . Most people don't go deep, or want that much, they just don't want to get bushwhacked when they surf right? Right. True. Most are creatures of habit.

I would know Jason- I actually tested Mahalo as I do any "search play" for security problems- and pleasantly surprised you passed- good- I am glad...

Personally I think you are shooting low you should be able to double the value of mahalo imho, if you made some investments that are different, quick, and interactive, yet wrap around a simple, solid core value proposition...help people stop getting bushwhacked...

So if all goes as everyone figures, Mahalo is an obvious compliment. Fills a void, etc.

On Affiliates- I see the IAB, SERP gaming (wow), and other factors, etc, etc.

Obvious. Again is uPromise micro? Is FatWallet? no and no, and there are many others...like most incentive sites that just got sued for patent infringement recently...(whatever- no idea if has merit)...there is good loyalty glue Jason.

Split those online and offline transactions, and a loyalty CC card- your targeted demographic will love you...(well probably not YOU per se, but Mahalo- yeah :).)

Anyway- I do understand your angle of attack, but unless you have ethereal traces galore, etc...how about rogues, criminals, or negligent and vile marketers....your demographic will understand that better anyway...

No, I see the role- but again affiliate marketing is "deal structure and relationship". Rev. share, etc. Not all affiliates are the same. e.g. I am a Next-Gen marketer...

http://www.massively.com/2008/02/28/second-life-windlight-headed-for-release/

Primula Rasa build I mentioned earlier I doubt you recall...yes SL has problems (scale), but 3D is just too fun to ignore (remember when you said before we made money on of the web? diversion, etc...). WHERE do you disclose? Seriously kids are in these worlds and terrain alot...teens....me...Actually a broad range.

Anyway I am done. I promise I won't spray paint your digits all over the walls, etc. Sorry about that...well no, I am not sorry. It even was better than Scoble and monkey phone calls.

regards,
Wayne



(Note: I Reserve right to own my own comments, URLSs, etc and grant them "fair use" to you on this blog, etc, etc.)

Posted at 9:46AM on Mar 8th 2008 by Wayne Porter

26. Hi,
I'm having a great time promoting Cybercamps tech summer camps for kids and teens. As an affiliate, I let people know that if they want a discount for summer camp they can register for Cybercamps using my Cybercamps Promotional Code: Spok117

We even have a cool name for our affiliates at Cybercamps, we're Buzz Agents!!! And even better yet, ANYONE can be a Buzz Agent, you don't even need your own website!! It's super easy, and here's the link to sign up: http://www.walkweightoff.com/buzzagent
The Buzz Agent Referrers Code is the same Cybercamps promo code: Spok117

Hope I was able to show you a fun and unusual affiliate site! (You can also see a few Commission Junction ads if you look very closely!)

Posted at 8:21PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Penny Gould

27. When I listened to you speak at Affiliate Summit (Las Vegas) I was distressed at being included among the "thin affilate, spammy affiliate" webmasters out there. I was in the audience as an affiliate marketer - period. I have no agenda other than to make a living by creating, what I hope to be, useful websites that also generate a good income for me.

I resented being lumped into the pool of sites that bring no value to the reader. One of my most popular and profitable sites is in the realm of travel. It contains over 1000 pages of information and hundreds of images of/about a local beach resort town and is found (if not useful, at least found) by nearly 3 million readers per year.

http://www.OCtheBeach.com has been online since 1999 and has grown each year. The revenue model is based on hotel reservations, some AdSense and [very] few banner ads, which vary in placement and content. This year I am adding a "Beach Store" section with items sought by beach-goers. It is thus far new and small, but already serving a few hundred daily page views and selling some products - and the season is still three months away.

Two years ago I added a section of Boardwalk Photos. Every street that intersects the 2 1/2 mile long boardwalk is shown, with narrative and captions, by at least four unique photographs. It quickly became the most popular 40 pages of the site.

I certainly hope this will help (in a small way) redefine your thinking about "all of us" being spammers...

I have other sites similar to OCtheBeach.

Cheers,

- Bill

Posted at 7:35AM on Mar 17th 2008 by Bill