Performance marketing technology provider Impact Radius announced the publication of a “Top 25 Performance Marketing Influencers” list.  Here is the infographic they provided in their press release:

According to their release,

“Designed to help advertisers, agencies and media companies seeking expert guidance in improving their revenue from performance marketing, the list, based on an Impact Radius independent analysis of the influence of more than 400 prominent performance marketing thought leaders, identifies the top people whose blogs, tweets and social metrics provide the most influential insights and advice for the industry.”

While I appreciate being included in the list, I’d like to go on record with my thoughts about this list, and lists such as this. This is not meant to be disrespectful to the folks at Impact Radius (and I know that they won’t take it as such) but in my opinion, it’s lists such as these which can lead to confusion, especially to those outside of the performance marketing/affiliate marketing industry, as well as to folks new to the industry itself. And, the last thing we need is more confusion.

Heck, we still can’t even agree on what we call ourselves in our own industry.

As I’ve been an affiliate marketer since the late ’90′s, I’ve been around the block a few times, so I’d like to share some points that I strongly believe should be taken into consideration when interpreting this list.

Caveat Emptor When it Comes to Folks that have “Made the List”.

I do not mean this as an insult, but there are people on this list that are simply NOT influential in the affiliate marketing/performance marketing space. They know who they are and they are likely wondering to themselves why they’ve been included.  That does not mean to say that they are not impressive in their respective areas of expertise; it’s just not affiliate marketing.  Just do your due diligence. OK?

Ranking People Using Social Scoring Does Not Give You the Whole Picture

Sadly, this list only used online social metrics to determine authority ranking.  Big mistake for many reasons:

1. Using social scoring immediately discounts the long term effects that the truly influential people have had for many years before Twitter, Klout and Peer Index existed.  And trust me, when these leaders do speak, their message is not only heard, it’s respected.
2. This list does not take into account a person’s offline influence or authority in alternative online sharing platforms, such as forums.  Just because these people do not choose to participate in Twitter, etc. does not mean that their influence is any less powerful.  
3. Klout, Twitter and PeerIndex can all be manipulated — easily. [Bots, frequency of posting instead of quality of posting, etc.)
4. Social scoring does not segment a person’s ability to influence within an industry, but rather provides just a single number to rank them across the board. So folks with large Twitter followings, high Klout Scores and PeerIndex scores in general, will likely outrank people that are truly influential in a specific industry.

For the reasons above, I’d like to recognize a few people who should have been included in this “Top 25″ list, as they actually have driven action and continue to drive the affiliate marketing / performance marketing industry.

• Brian Littleton, ShareASale.com
• Kellie Stevens, AffiliateFairPlay.com
• Todd Farmer, AffiliateMarketingPlan.com
• Scott Jangro, MechMedia.com
• Pat Grady, RhinoFish.com
• Eric Nagel, EricNagel.com
• Todd Crawford, ImpactRadius.com  (Yes, the Co-Founder of the company that put this list out, who has propelled this industry for many years, didn’t even make the list.)

Who do you think is missing from this list?

As many of you know, Breast Cancer awareness, research and treatment is a cause that I’ve been championing for several years.

In 2007, I started Affiliate Marketers Give Back, in an effort to rally the Affiliate Marketing Industry to help me kick Breast Cancer’s ass.

Since then, we’ve raised over $100,000 in unique ways; one of them being an annual Team-Walk for Susan G Komen for the Cure.

This year, Team Affiliate Marketers Give Back will be taking on the 40-mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Los Angeles on September 12-13.

The Avon Walk exists to raise funds to fight breast cancer and to bring awareness and education about the disease. It’s also an opportunity for individuals to join forces and generate significant progress in both the treatment of breast cancer and a quest for the cure – while simultaneously having an extraordinary experience.

Brian Clark of Copyblogger.com and Chris Pearson of DIYThemes have already joined the team and we’re looking for some more folks to come along with us.

If you decide to walk with the rest of Team Affiliate Marketers Give Back (“Team AMGB”), you will definitely have an extraordinary experience — we’ve had a blast each year!

Why You Should Walk with Team Affiliate Marketers Give Back

Below are the reasons why others have joined the team in past years:

Was schnookered into it by Missy Ward

While everyone has different reasons to walk, together we are connected by our shared commitment to do our part to end breast cancer.

Ready to Walk With Us Yet?

It’s a very simple process to sign up. Simply register on the Avon site and select “Affiliate Marketers Give Back” as your walking team.

Not Able to Walk, But Would Like to Donate or Sponsor the Team?

There are a number of sponsorship packages available to help support our efforts.

We’re happy with donations of any amount which can be made through our Team Donation Form.

I know the economy sucks and now is not the time to be asking for money. However, if you find it possible to help in any way, I’d be forever grateful.

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Listen above, on GeekCast.fm or download to iTunes.

I (@missyward) moderated this week with panelists:

• Karen Garcia (@KarenGarcia), Co-founder of GTOManagement.com
• Lisa Picarille (@lisap), a consultant focusing on online marketing, social media and content creation
• Kim Rowley (@KIMarketing), owner of Key Internet Marketing

Brian Clark (@copyblogger), the Founder of CopyBlogger.com was our special guest this week.

Brian Clark and I at the Blogger’s Lounge at SXSW 2009

The topics that were discussed today were:

• Brian reveals how he made the leap from his former “wicked” career to canonical copywriting blogger. He also gives us some insight into Teaching Sells and DIYtheme’s Thesis for WordPress (the affiliate program that I manage to benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation.)
• Is it imperative to be a good writer to have a successful blog?
• Is it worth taking a citation from the grammar police in order to get your point across?
• Are journalists dinosaurs?
• Can you blog about something you’re not interested in?
• Effective tactics for writing blog post headlines
• Strategies affiliate marketers can employ to get their visitors in a buying frame of mind
• Newspapers are on the endangered species list. Are they worth saving? Is Journalism as we know it we know it today, at risk?
• Digital reading: Can the book/magazine/newspaper to reader relationship withstand the Kindle to reader relationship?

Fortuitous tidbits brought up in today’s episode:

• Brian digs AC/DC and was formerly an exotic dancer in Austin, TX?
• I own 960 pairs of shoes, cut coupons for therapy and like to wipe my newspaper-covered hands on the jackets of random people on the NYC subway.
• Lisa subscribes to and reads over 50 magazines per month.
• Karen has only purchased 2 newspapers in the last 6 years.
• Kim does not like anything between her toes.

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I just finished reading a post that my business partner, Shawn Collins had up on his blog, entitled Cynical Marketing, which really hit home.

In the post, Shawn talks about how there are some marketers out there that simply don’t get the fact that not everything they do has to revolve around making money. They forget that sometimes, it’s more important to just give back.

The timing of his post couldn’t be more relevant to me. You see, today I was approached by someone who read my post regarding me coming out of affiliate management retirement to help support breast cancer research and treatment – a cause that is very close to my heart.

This marketer had the chutzpah to ask me what my angle was and why on earth would I bust my ass to grow someone else’s company when there was absolutely nothing at stake for me.

Rather than chastising him for his ludicrous implications, I simply told him how I felt.

Giving is in my DNA and since affiliate marketing is what I do best, it seemed like a natural fit.

He followed up with a “you’re nuts.”

You know what, Mr. Cynical Marketer? Maybe I am.

But I keep very good company.

Aside from the folks that Shawn mentioned in his post that give back to the online marketing community without ever asking for a thing back (Haiko de Poel, Jr., Scott Jangro, Jim Kukral, Melanie Seery, Kellie Stevens), I can think of dozens of marketers (including Shawn, who neglected to name himself) who do the same.

Chris Brogan who takes the time to answer every single questions he’s asked on Twitter; Brian Clark who provides amazing free content on CopyBlogger.com everyday; Brian Littleton of ShareASale who takes the time to educate his merchants and affiliate marketers to both make the affiliate marketing industry better and push it forward; all of the folks that walked 60-miles with me to raise money for breast cancer research; Jeremy Schoemaker who provides dozens of case studies and tips to marketers to grow their businesses — the list goes on and on.

Now, it’s not to say that I’m averse to making money. I think I do a pretty good job at it. So do all of the people that I’ve mentioned above.

Maybe I’m just an idealist, but I believe that when one does well, there is an inherent responsibility to give back to the industries that have helped us get to where we are today and to help the less fortunate.

So, to all of the other idealists out there that give so much, with no strings attached – I salute you. Please keep doing what you’re doing. You ARE making a difference.

Luke 12:48 “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.