Web Affiliate Marketing Blog

Dropbox is one (free) utility that I can’t get enough of, and have sung it’s praises over and over again.

Having your important files sync with any other computer you choose, and making them availabile online so you can grab them from anywhere, anytime, has proved invaluable to me in the past especially when travelling.

Whethers it’s your CV, plans for a holiday, website ideas or simply a way to quickly transfer an image or word document, Dropbox is a nifty utility.

Nearly all of us carry USB Pen Drives around with us making files mobile, however Dropbox goes one step further – collaboration. You can create and share a folder with other colleagues, friends or family members and allow read or read/write.

I use Dropbox, amongst other things, to keep a spreadsheet updated that I share with a content writer. No need to email what I want and remind them about what topics they’ve already covered. I simply update as and when, knowing that 2 minutes later they have the most up-to-date information to hand.

Now Dropbox have gone one further!

If you’ve ever wanted to use your Dropbox but didn’t have a computer nearby, Dropbox‘s mobile website makes it happen. With Dropbox mobile, you can browse and open files in your Dropbox directly from your phone or mobile device’s browser. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch, you should download the Dropbox Application for an even better experience.

Worry not Blackberry & Android phone users. Dropbox promise plenty more mobile magic soon!

My body’s got over the jet lag, but I’ve a feeling that my livers recuperation may take a little bit longer following the Affiliate Summit in Vegas last week.

This was the second time I’ve headed over to the Summit and was surprised at how much it had grown and improved when compared to 2007. This year I not only had a lot more fun, but also met up with a lot more people. I continue to find it a little strange that I have to go to Vegas to meet with some UK Affiliate Marketing people (I’m not complaining!).

I finally met Jim Banks, Charlie Calabrese, Jane Copland and the and one and only Steve Pavlovich (even if he did appear very FORWAD at times). Sadly missed this year were Fraser, Shane and Dave & Elaine – a get well present should be on its way ;). In their place, as a welcome addition were Matt Wood, Raymondo and my breakfast partner Chris Clarkson. It was also great to see Steve Brown again (now involved in Poken) and James, Mark and Jamie (cheers for Jet!).

The Summit itself was big. Very big! Sadly, for one reason or another, I didn’t manage to attend all the sessions I’d ear-marked, missing CPA Affiliate Marketing Opportunities in Europe faced by the UK contingent of Matt Wood, James Little and Jim Banks and also missing Drew Bennett’s – Monetizing Blogs for Affiliate Marketing and SEO. One session I did attend and found to be quite informative was Wil Reynolds – How to Fix Failing SEO Efforts. Hopefully, some of the sessions I missed, will have been recorded and should be available to Platinum Pass holders to view at a later date :)

Once the Summit was over, 7 of us headed off for a bit of culture and went to see The Phantom of the Opera in the Venetian. The show was fantastic and is certainly one I’d recommend seeing if you ever get the chance.

Now I need to buckle down and put into place some of the things I heard, discussed and dreamt up whilst over in Vegas. One interesting discovery was an alternative to iCodes/Promotions that is due to hit our shores later this year.

Thanks to everyone for making ASW10 so enjoyable… same again in 2/3 years time?

We’re almost there! It appears there’s more people from the UK attending than originally thought which is great news!

If you’re a Twitter user then there’s two lists that are worth following in the run up to ASW10:
UK Travellers
ASW10 Speakers

Most of us are arriving on either Fri 15th or Sat 16th and it appears that the UK contingents chosen hotel is the Bellagio.

This time round, I’ll be taking very basic business cards, but will also be using Poken, if my device arrives in time! Poken is an online service that allows the exchange of contact details between two keychain devices, using a very short range wireless technology.

Poken allows me to instantly swap my electronic business card with any other Poken device at the Summit, or one of the evening functions. All details are then stored for retreival once I get home making it a bit more convenient than having 100′s of business cards.

The only down side, the devices currently available in the UK aren’t exactly business like! Ah well!

Other suggestions before heading over to Vegas are to have a read of some of the following presentations put together by Shawn:

• Exhibitor Guide
• Build your own ASW10 itinerary
• Read the 1st Timers Guide
• Read Guide To Networking At ASW10

Looking forward to meeting up with a few old faces and a few new ones :)

Early this morning I saw that the much awaited Kindle DX was available in the UK for pre-order, and I know a lot of people who will be rushing to be first in the queue.

A few of us talked about this in work yesterday and we discovered that the “book” prices aren’t exactly cheap. In fact I don’t think I would ever recoup my money over the lifetime of a Kindle which to me, is the first stumbling block.

Its grayscale!

• as I read biographies, old B&W photos relating to the story, wont have the same impact as a real book
• I like photography so any guides, other than B&W Basics, will be 100% useless on the Kindle
• We travel.. a lot! In the next 12 months, we’re hopefully going to see temperatures of between -25°c and 35°c. I’m not convinced leaving it out in the sun while I take a dip, or taking it out in the cold, won’t break my “book”
• Travel guides will not have the same impact as colour photographs

I haven’t looked in to the Kindle that much so I’m not sure on power but hear it lasts 4 days (Kindle2 set to last 7 days), but already when I travel I take 3 or 4 chargers with me. The last thing I’d want to do is add another to my collection, or try and find someone that sells batteries in the middle of a Kenyan reserve, Brasilian village or the Antarctic!

I do think its a fantastic invention which will revolutionise the way we read access in the future – similar to what iPod did for music, or iPhone did for smartphones. Currently the Kindle does have 100′s of practicle uses as shown in the online video.

I never buy technology for the sake of it. There has to be a REAL use for it and sadly, for me, I haven’t found one with the Kindle DX. If I was planning a 12 month world tour and read a lot of books that weren’t dependant on colour, then I would think about it. Unitl then, I’ll be sticking to colourful books that operate in all temperatures and don’t mind getting wet at the side of the pool.

As we enter the last minute of 2009, I’d like to post a very quick entry to thank everyone for their kind words and wishes. Special thanks to the following companies who, over the past few weeks, have filled my kitchen cupboards with a host of goodies;

• Affiliate Window (Hotel Chocolat Hamper)
• BBC (Nature’s Great Events Book)
• Demon (Food Hamper)
• Existem (Food Hamper)
• Gone Digging (Bottle of wine)
• House Of Fraser (Sweet Hamper)
• Laura Ashley (Christmas Stocking)
• Linkshare (Duchy Food Hamper)
• Paid On Results (Bottle of JD)

My 2010 resolutions…

• Invest monthly in new startups
• Move a few websites over to the WordPress platform
• Enjoy Affiliate Summit West in 2 weeks time
• Stop and buy The Big Issue from our local seller whenever I see him

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, is enjoying their New Years Eve… and here’s to 2010!