Web Affiliate Marketing Blog

After watching The Apprentice in May and June this year, once again I found myself wondering why the hell Sir Alan Sugar would employ any one of the contestants. I guess at times, and with the pressure of having a TV crew and time constraints, you sometimes have to choose the best of a bad bunch. I know from my own previous experience!

So, with a bit of pressure support from Jane, I completed the online forms and fired them off. I didn’t expect to hear anything as I didn’t put the most effort into selling myself when applying;

Question: What makes you different to previous contestants?
My Answer: I’m real! I know what hard work is. I’m not a nodding dog. I never went to university. I don’t bullshit or brown nose. I play buzzword bingo. I’m trained to government standards and have completed successful projects. I’ve also failed. I was fed copper spoon, not silver spoon. I don’t crave Z list celebrity fame.

Although my answer is 100% honest, I didn’t think I would be the type that interested them, yet I’ve been asked along to the interview process in Manchester on 17th July. Unfortunately I don’t think I will be attending as the email then goes to say I should keep the following dates free:
3rd – 5th August 2009
10th – 13th August 2009
… a further 8 weeks commencing on 21st September 2009

Will you be seeing me on the TV next year?
Probably not! I’ve still a bit of time to think and decide, and of course let the interviewers know, but as some maybe aware we’ve kind of got our hearts set on moving to foreign shores which I find a little bit more tempting than working in London, although it would make attending networking events a hell of a lot easier!

My mind is also asking whether it really is a dream job or has it moved to a TV show that simply creates more Z lists celebrities? I’m not convinced that recent series have seen the “cream of the crop” when it comes to UK business minds, it does however make fun TV entertainment as these so called “high flyers” fail at some of the most basic of tasks! Finally, as Hildegunn from CJ reminded me on MSN, “I guess your dream may not be to work for AS” as Affiliate Marketing means you’re the boss and in total control of your destiny.

Who should you support?
Well I’ve also found out that James Little (aka J’Lil, Ex Web Junkie, Jimmy…) also applied, and he too has been successful. He’s been offered an interview on Friday 10th July in London and I’m sure would make a fantastic candidate for all the right reason! It would be brilliant TV (especially if they have a Karaoke task) and having worked with James for sometime, he has a lot of business acumen and even knows what it means!

James, my friend…
If you do choose to go forth, I wish you luck! 7 minutes of luck to be precise!

I survived another A4U Expo, slightly tired, but all intact.

Again, a fantasticly organised event represented by the key players in the industry from all corners which was well worth attending whether you were new to the industry or not. I even managed to track down the mystery person from the A4U Awards and was surprised that it was Darren from Linkshare.

The food was great and alcohol flowed as per usual, resulting in the A4UExpo Rap seen below. Be warned, some of the language is… well… expected from a rapper.

The usual suspects were there such as Kieron, Shane, Shak, Jason, John, Doug, Zak, Graham and a whole host of others, giving new affiliates the perfect opportunity to bleed them of their knowledge of the industry.

Sadly I didn’t manage to attend many sessions due to arriving late Tuesday afternoon, but from those I did attend, the quality of speakers was once again of a high calibre. The session I was involved in was full, with Hero from Webgains presenting and James Little (Affiliate Future), Duncan Jennings (eConversions), Richard Clark (Dxions) and myself making up the panel, sharing our views and trying to answer peoples questions. People had to stand due to lack of space which proves how hot a topic Voucher Codes are. Unfortuantely we ran out of time and were unable to give attendees the opportunity of asking many questions.

As some of you know, I’ve decided to cut back a bit on travel and stopped spending my affiliate earnings on general crap that I don’t really need, and for once, Im putting it to good use. Being a diver I fell in love with Egypt whilst there over Christmas and New Year and once back in the UK, suffering from the holiday blues, had a mad moment and bought a place in Egypt. As you can see from this picture, it’s really beginning to take shape ;)

Sadly, I’m not yet in the position where I plan to live out there permanently and due to previously arranged holidays, I’m not even sure if I’m going to manage a trip once the building is complete later this year. However the next best thing came courtsesy of Sunshine and Affiliate Future – Raga Raga!

Yup, I’m one of the lucky ones who is getting to go to Barbados with the Affiliate Future crew (again) for 7 days of… well I can’t remember what happened last time to be honest. I vaguely remember being kidnapped (a long story), seeing James Little winning Karaoke, scuba diving in the hotel swimming pool, Mary being so hungover she missed the WHOLE of Independence Day and getting Happy Gilmour (a jock) to cheer on England in the World Cup.

To be in with a chance to win a place this year, Sunshine.co.uk made it as easy as possible allowing all affiliates (new and old) to have a chance of grabbing a spot. One of the options, which resulted in me winning, was to simply use their deeplink RSS feeds which I blogged about in April. I know a few of the others that will be going and I’m sure, if its anything like 2006, it will certainly be an week to remember!

So I just wanted to say a big thankyou to the guys and Sunshine (Chris and Happy) and also those at Affiliate Future. Tell the Captain to crack open the MGR!