Now I have not actually met Karen, I was introduced to her by a mutual friend as she had a few questions about affiliate marketing. Since then we have spoken a lot via IM and email, I can honestly say I don’t think I have met a more passionate person about affiliate marketing and online in general. She has recently started at The Slice and is no doubt a future star in the world of

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Karen and I’ve just started working at The Slice London, which is a reasonably new franchise of The Slice – (but based in London– surprise surprise!). The Slice London is an account management network for primarily financial campaigns. The Slice and The Slice London share a pool of affiliates and software but we both run separate campaigns to ensure our affiliates always the perfect campaigns to run to each of their sites/mailing lists etc. As I’m completely fresh-faced on the affiliate scene, I’ve had a great time this past couple of weeks with Internet World on and being able to chat and get to know the people in the industry!

What is your day to day role?

So far, I’ve been speaking to all of our affiliates and learning about them: their ad models, preferred/ successful campaigns, what type of demographic they market to. I also send out alerts on new campaigns, help get the tracking in place and respond to any enquiries the affiliates may have. Once we’re familiar enough with an affiliate, we’re able to then send out targeted campaigns to them which we know will work well. Basically, I’m here to make our affiliates as much money as possible and help out wherever possible!

What was your previous job and was it related to affiliate marketing?

I worked for an online florist, which meant I ran a lot of digital marketing campaigns, primarily SMM, PPC, SEO, etc., though the role there included a lot of offline marketing as well. I took over the affiliate marketing account towards the end of my time there, so I’ve had experience of the industry, but more from a client’s perspective! I’ve also run a couple of my own SEO based websites which has given me some insight from an affiliate’s point of view, though there’s a lot more to learn still!

What do you love about affiliate marketing?

I simply love the model – pay on results! It’s a win for every side – a sale for the merchant and money made for the affiliate. After working across the channels, I’ve definitely found the affiliate marketing side as the best way to produce both measurable and sizable ROI! It’s also a hobby of mine – I’ve always loved the online environment and while I don’t make a huge amount of money back, I can safely say it’s my first hobby that actually pays me back for my time!

What is on your Ipod?

At the moment I’m re- listening to the Gatsby’s American Dream discography!

How can people get in touch with you?

You can reach me via email or msn on Karen.clarke@theslicelondon.com. Alternatively give me a call

I am Neil Mitchell, former UK Account Manager of William Hill Casino in the UK. These days I run 15 gaming review websites including www.casinosaurus.co.uk, www.bingosaurus.co.uk and www.pokersaurus.co.uk. I also consult for www.easyodds.com and work with 2 or 3 other affiliates on web based projects.

What is your day to day role?

I start each morning at 7.30. Working from home means that I can get a lot more done in the day without any ‘water cooler moment’ distractions. My day consists of checking stats and analytics, writing content, tweaking SEO, learning to program (I currently outsource all programming) and keeping up to date withwhat is happening in the market. For consultancy I research new markets and opportunities, conduct userbility studies and generate new revenue by introducing operators to the company.  For the other projects I work on with other affiliates it will purely depend on the work split – we utilise each others strengths to build the best possible sites.

What was your previous job and was it related to affiliate marketing?

I have been in Affiliate Marketing for around 8 years now, and have worked at SEO companies, Affiliate Networks and, in my role, as a Merchant running the UK Affiliate Management arm of William Hill online. I had a portfolio of around 5500 UK affiliates and would work with them to increase their conversions, provide new offers and to help them with any problems that they would have.

What do you love about affiliate marketing?

I love the fact that this is a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week industry. Even when you are asleep, you can potentially make money. I also love the fact that Affiliate Marketing is at the forefront of the retail economy – over the last couple of years merchants and Agencies alike have realised that using the Internet allows for maximum ROI and maximum targeting, leading to smarter through the line campaigns. Online is constantly evolving and there is always something new to learn, and always someone innovating. The other thing about Affiliate Marketing is that pretty much anyone can do it – this is a career that doesn’t depend on you having a degree, or access to vast sums of money to allow you to get a foothold – get a good idea, work hard and you can make a living on your own terms. The freedom to choose my own hours means that I also get a lot of quality time with my family.

What do you hate about affiliate marketing and what would you change if you could?

Hmmm…there’s not a lot I would change to be honest. I think any problems that exist are as a result of a lack of understanding between merchants and affiliates. Not everyone at a merchant understands how an affiliate works, and vice versa. This causes friction when terms and conditions are changed, or a program is pulled or amended. Maybe because I have worked as a Merchant, an Account Manager and now as an Affiliate I can see a more holistic view of all sides. Having said that, there are just as many affiliates that pull sharp practices as there are merchants – I guess thats endemic in any industry – even in areas like restaurants and garages there are more reputable people than others, I guess that because we work in an online space its easier to verbalise these niggles and grumbles anonymously!

List your top 5 resources that help you with your day to day job?

I use the usual websites – Affiliates4u, GPWA, CAP etc, but most of my knowledge is learned by talking to other people in the industry – sharing best practices is n my mind the way forward. Why work against another affiliates to get to position 1 in Google, when you can work *with* them and attain positions 1, 2 and 3?

If you were an affiliate how would you help someone in your role?

All Affiliates work different ways, at different speeds and with a different amount of outside input. There is no ‘wrong’ way of being an Affiliate (well…there are a couple!) but I think that more understanding of an AMs role and the pressure they can be under, and the limits they have within the role would make for a smoother relationship. When I was an AM, I would have Affiliates msning 5 times a day about a bonus code, or a missing player. Neither of which were actively done by myself – I would have to feed the information up to the relevant department for them to sort. After that I could feed back to the Affiliate. I realise that as an AM I am the focal point for the Affiliate, but now I am an Affiliate myself I realise what my AM can do immediately and what they have to refer. Pretty much all problems between Account Managers and Affiliates are just down to a lack of communication and understanding. There aren’t too many AMs who are also affiliates, so they don’t necessary understand the implications of their actions and vice versa.

In your opinion what is the future of affiliate marketing and how can affiliates take advantage of this?

I know what the future of Affiliate Marketing is in my particular sector, and I aint telling . However, as I say all the time, Look East. Look at the developing trends and products coming out from Asia – they are technically forward thinking and innovative, and almost all the products that are developed normally end up in the UK market about 12 months later. Look at mobile phones, computer games and TVs – all massively developed from China, Taiwan and Japan. So what have they got over there that will come over here? 3d TV anyone? A little bit of research and playing the long game (ie buying a domain with the understanding that you may not get anything from it for 12 months until the product is available over here) could mean that you pick up the premium domain for that particular sector.

What is on your Ipod?

Oddly enough I don’t have an iPod – I think I would lose it, so I tend to have all my music on my phone! I listen to all kinds of music, and in a previous life was in quite a few bands (I was signed to 4 different record labels both in bands and as a solo artist), but I got stagefright and so had to give it up. I like a lot of bands like Midnight Juggernauts, the Presets, Grandaddy and other similar sounding bands, but also have a soft spot for Indie, Rock and Metal – essentially anything written from the heart that has a pulse I can appreciate. My favourite band of all time is Nine Inch Nails – musically and sonically they are 10 years ahead of anyone else.

How can people get in touch with you?

Easy peasy – neil.mitchell@sohorocks, TheBoyMitchell@hotmail.co.uk, Twitter me – TheBoyMitchell, call me – 07815293507, and I have finally got round to starting a blog (even though there isn’t anything on it yet!) – can you guess the name? Yep – www.theboymitchell.com If anyone wants to contact me about working together on a project, doing some consultancy or just need help and advice with contacts or anything, then feel free to get in touch

This is not really a surprise to many as the acquisition of Double Click back in 2008 for a staggering £1.9bn was a clear indication that Google had some very serious plans to enter the display market.

No body questions that Google is the dominant force when it comes to online search and text advertising and they have dipped their toe in the display market previously alongside the AdWords platform but with limited success, this time however they are looking to change the game.

Google have promised to increase the display pie for everyone with three core principles that underpin how Google will approach display advertising.  Read more here.

For those of you not really familiar with ad exchanges it is a fairly simple process. As a site or media owner (seller) you would offer you available advertising space for sale via the exchange and invite people (buyers) to bid for that space in an auction. Now traditionally this form of advertising has been dominated by large media houses and big brands but with this launch Google are trying to address that balance, and apply the same methodology that was and is so successful for them with their Adwords platform.  They compare it to the stock exchange where only the large banks and investment companies plug directly into the exchange itself but individuals can still buy and sell shares through a broker without having to plug directly into the stock exchange. Same principle, but with advertising space. Existing AdWords and AdSense users will be given access to extra publishers and certified ad networks in the Ad Exchange, and have the opportunity to bid for space according to their given needs at anyone time.  This exchange mechanism along with the vast amounts of data that Google hold will tempt many advertisers.  Ease of use plus data plus massive scale will be a carrot that wil attract all advertisers great and small.  To date there a few other big players in this space the main one being  Right Media but the legacy and cache that Google provide will interest those, who to date, have not looked at this possibility for buying their media.

Where is the affiliate opportunity?

This signals a great opportunity for affiliates to bid on relevant ad space they think will convert for their merchant, add the clients banners or use Google custom banner service (with their affiliate link in) and watch the conversion roll in, much like they would with search.

Please feel free to comment with any thoughts.

It has been reported that Amazon have not been paying their affiliates when sales are refereed from Twitter or Facebook. According to the Amazon terms of service a sales has to be refereed from “your site” and not a third party, which it classes Twitter and Facebook as.

The only way around this is to twitter details of the deal or offer to a landing page on your site and ensure your affiliate link are there.

Please feel free to comment if you have any experience of this happening.

Over at Google they have many teams covering a whole raft of subjects including travel, retails and tech to name a few. Each dedicated team has recently launched its very own Twitter service to keep you informed of news and information from your relevant sector. The links can be found below as well as a bunch of other useful Twitter accounts from Google. Feel free to post anymore you know of.

Travel

Tech

Auto

Media & Entertainment

Finance

Retail

Creative

Google Official

Mobile Apps

Google Books

Ad Manager

Google OS