I just got back late last night from the ShareASale ThinkTank 2009 at The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, California, which took place October 23-25, 2009.

If I had to choose one word to describe the event, it would be “spectacular”.

What makes this affiliate network event so unique is that all invited guests are provided with complimentary accommodations in a beautiful resort, food and entertainment in exchange for their collective brainpower to help identify new ways in which to increase their respective businesses and enhance the ShareASale platform.

What is interesting is that one would expect that only top-tier affiliates and merchants would be invited, yet there were many up-and-coming affiliate marketers in attendance, eager to gain knowledge and build new relationships.

I arrived a day early and was fortunate to attend the Yankee game (although everyone in California was calling it the Angels game)with some long-time affiliate marketing buddies.

The conference started the next day with the annual golf-outing with ShareASale’s CEO, Brian Littleton. I preferred to sit the round out and instead take some pictures and video of the golfers as I tormented them (and the non-ShareASaleThinkTank-players) with my crazy golf cart antics.

That evening’s event consisted of the Sunset Welcome Reception and dinner which was a fun, networking experience loaded with yummy sushi, lobster, pasta and more. It was the perfect setting to rekindle old business relationships and forge new ones.

After breakfast on Saturday, the day was filled with sessions geared towards understanding various demographics including women, men, education and life experience and home/office. This was followed by a Vendor Lunch in which tables were set up so that attendees could have the opportunity to speak with the various participating companies. My business partner Shawn and I manned our Affiliate Summit / FeedFront Magazine table and it worked out great for us.

From 2pm-6pm, there were exhibit opportunities for Merchants to meet with current and potential affiliates. Unlike your traditional exhibit hall, there were no booths. Rather, each exhibitor manned their “Cabana” outside, overlooking the pool.

Saturday night was a “free-night”, so a bunch of us went out to Javier’s Cantina for dinner and headed back to the hotel to continue chatting the evening away.

Sunday’s breakfast was followed by the “Things We Need to Fix” session in which every attendee had the opportunity to express their opinions in person to CEO, Brian Littleton. Many feature requests, suggestions and even a few complaints were addressed which will help shape future ShareASale offerings and enhance their already dynamic platform.

This is my 3rd ThinkTank and by far, it’s been the best. Hopefully one of the suggestions that came up during the “Things We Need to Fix” session will be instituted. If it is, maybe I’ll see you in Hawaii for ShareASaleThinkTank 2010

To view the rest of my ShareASale ThinkTank 2009 Photo Collection, please click the image below:

I spend a good portion of my week talking about the features and benefits of Thesis for WordPress and their affiliate program.

Recently, DIYThemes put out some great videos on Thesis – the most innovative and user-friendly, SEO-optimized WordPress framework available on this great planet of ours.

In the video below, Brian Clark of DIYThemes and Copyblogger discusses why Thesis is more than just a WordPress theme and touches on the SEO benefits, design flexibility and support that users of Thesis receive.

Brian references additional videos that are available to review which can be accessed below:

If you’re on the fence about taking the Thesis plunge; if these videos or my personal endorsement don’t make you do it, I’m really not sure what will.

There is no better WordPress framework out there.

Get Thesis Now!

Additionally, as many of you know, I also manage their affiliate program on a performance basis for charity. There is no better time for you to become an affiliate than now. Between the crazy sales of the new 1.5 release, the marketing tools available to you and the promotion for free passes to Affiliate Summit; really, what are you waiting for?

Hit me up with any questions!

GeekCast.fm — the home for great podcasts for geeks, by geeks — is quickly expanding.

We are currently looking for additional Podcasters and VidCasters to join our existing talent currently producing high-quality programming covering social media, affiliate marketing, search marketing, video, mobile and more.

If you’re an independent podcaster or part of a podcast network that doesn’t supply the technological or customer support you need, forces you to broadcast their commercials, or charges their listeners to hear YOUR show, GeekCast.fm may be the solution for you.

GeekCast.fm will:

If you’re fresh new talent or simply looking for a smarter solution and GeekCast.fm sounds like the place you’ve been looking for, contact me so we can talk about it.

I’m all ears!

Tim Storm, the owner, founder and Chief Mucky Muck of FatWallet.com, an online community and shopping resource, is no doubt, a cornerstone of the affiliate marketing industry.

Known for his technical savvy, his strong emphasis on his employee’s welfare, his hands-on approach with his site visitors and yes, his relentless quest for the perfect golf swing, Storm epitomizes all that is good in affiliate marketing – ethics, innovation and commitment.

Back in 2002, Storm made headlines when he squared off against retail giant Wal-Mart. After one of the FatWallet.com forum members posted product pricing information scheduled to appear in the retailer’s Black Friday advertisements, Wal-Mart sought the identity of the member, invoking sections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Storm refused to provide the personal information of the forum member, and solidified his reputation as an advocate for the rights of consumers to gather and share information.

Since FatWallet’s launch in 1999, Storm has been featured in numerous media outlets, such as the New York Times, MSNBC, Fast Company, National Public Radio, and more. His vision and leadership is the driving force behind FatWallet’s outstanding growth.

In 2006, Storm’s contribution to the affiliate marketing industry was recognized as he became the second affiliate marketer to receive the Affiliate Marketing Legend award during the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards Gala.

I recently talked with the inspirational Storm about his business, and his views on life and affiliate marketing for FeedFront Magazine.

Missy: So, talk to me about your childhood. What was young Tim’s life like growing up?

Tim: When I was finishing 5th grade, my parents told me that they had signed me up for summer school. I had no idea what I did wrong. I thought I was getting decent grades.
Then they told me it was for a computer class. My next question was “What is a computer?”

A few years later, when I was in my early teens, I wrote a bulletin board program and took over my sister’s phone line when she moved out to college. It was my first online community, before I could drive, on a 300 baud modem and a Commodore 64.

Missy: And as I understand it, you still live close to where you grew up. Correct?

Tim: Yes, I live in a small rural community. I literally have cows in my neighborhood. It is close to where I grew up, and close to family. It takes me about 12 minutes to get in to the office in the morning, even though Google Maps says it should take 21.

Missy: So tell me about your first Web site and how you got started on the Internet.

Tim: While my online interactions started back in the 300 baud Compuserve days, I don’t think I did my first official Web site until the mid-90’s, when I was designing loudspeakers as a profession. I was working for a consumer electronics company (Mitek Corp) at the time, and built out their entire Web site in my “spare” time, and ended up taking over all the Internet projects across their brands.

Missy: How did you make the leap into affiliate marketing?

Tim: My first connection to affiliate marketing was through the Amazon Associates program, where I had added some links to some reference books to back up the content that I had been creating in a technical support area for the audio brands I was working on.

Missy: How did you come up with the idea for FatWallet.com? What were some of the first affiliate programs that you joined?

Tim: One day I was going to place an order at an online retailer that had previously sent me an email coupon. I didn’t have access to my email at the time, so I did an AltaVista search for coupons, and came across sites that weren’t current or didn’t look professional.

Amusingly enough, I recouped my $100 investment back in my first month in business.

Missy: When did you realize that you couldn’t run the whole site by yourself? What were some of the challenges that you faced when it came to juggling creativity and business?

Tim: Before I started working on FatWallet full time in September of 2000, my wife had been helping out while I was earning a steady paycheck at my “real job”. We started bringing on employees in 2001 to help keep the site up to date.

I learned early on that it was easy for me to gloss over some important details. I also began recognizing my strengths and I wanted to spend more time on those. It was then that I hired people that were better than me at the things that I would rather not do, or wasn’t good at.

Missy: When did you realize that FatWallet had “arrived” and what is the secret to its success?

Tim: While I do see FatWallet as successful, I still believe that we have yet to “arrive”. There is so much opportunity out there, so much room to grow, so many people that we haven’t been able to serve yet.

Our core values of Integrity, Commitment, Change, Respect, Balance and Passion will keep us on course toward our 10 year goal of 10 million engaged citizens.

Missy: Shifting gears here. How would you characterize the current state of affiliate marketing?

Tim: I see affiliate marketing as “maturing”. There is so much opportunity here, but unfortunately, there are also opportunists looking to make a quick buck . Luckily, I can usually sniff them out quite quickly.

It is important to me, and FatWallet that we focus on long term mutually beneficial relationships.

Missy: In your opinion, what are some of the biggest hurdles facing affiliate marketers right now?

Tim: Affiliate marketing is challenged by the view of it being a “second class citizen” in many corporations, despite being the most measurable and highest ROI methods of customer acquisition and retention.

Because it is still relatively new, it often isn’t understood by some folks in the “C suite” and dictations are made without understanding the implications.

Missy: So how does a company go about doing affiliate marketing “right”?

Tim: The key to doing affiliate marketing “right” is to understand the value of a customer, finding affiliates that understand what customer you are looking for, communicating that clearly, and compensating the affiliate for accomplishing the goal you have set out to do.

Missy: What is the biggest piece of advice you would give an affiliate just starting out?

Tim: Don’t get wrapped up in the “turmoil” of the day. Look for your opportunity to serve a customer, find the right business case and start it. If it doesn’t work the way you want, don’t waste a lot of energy complaining about it. Find the fit that works… the answer is out there!

Missy: What do you see as the 3 trends affiliate marketers should have on their radar in the next few months?

Tim: Mobile, offline integration, technology.

Missy: What is your vision of affiliate marketing 5 years from now?

Tim: I see increased transparency, and reduced feedback time. Companies will need to have deeper integration of their affiliate marketing program with their core business processes.

Missy: Let’s break it down personal here. What are some of your other passions other than affiliate marketing?

Tim: I’ve had a long term love/hate relationship with golf. I love the challenge of taking on something you can never truly master. I stopped playing for a couple years due to a thumb injury.
A few years ago, I started playing again and became an investor in the golf course right behind the office.

I see my passion for business in general, not just affiliate marketing. I am certainly a student of the game – something that can never be mastered. One of the most rewarding elements for me is that I know that I’ve helped create great jobs for great people.

Missy: OK – now really personal. Tell me something about you unrelated to the internet, that people would be surprised to know.

Tim: I don’t consider myself a thrill-seeker, but so far this year I have taken part in a zero gravity flight, a mock air combat mission, and plan to try bobsledding in December as part of a group I belong to called Maverick Business Adventures (www.maverickbusinessadventures.com).

Missy: Check you out Mr. Daredevil! Now give me the skinny. What do you really want to do in the future, outside of FatWallet.com?

Tim: Wow, I have no idea when that time will come. It isn’t on any timeline that I am aware of!

I don’t think I could be satisfied if I wasn’t constantly learning and helping people live better lives. I have found that creating jobs is one of the most satisfying results of starting FatWallet.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 4 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue4.pdf

Not getting Feedfront in your mailbox yet? Subscribe for free: http://feedfront.com/free-subscription/

Ted Murphy, CEO of Izea is at it again. He submerged himself in a bathtub full of cereal to launch a new promotion on Ted.me.

Ted’s giving away 52 boxes of cereal to a lucky winner on his blog. On top of that, if he gets 500 comments on his post, he’ll donate 52 boxes of cereal to a local food bank.

Here’s where I come in. I’ve already adopted a Central Florida family for the holidays and am also sponsoring some silent auction items at another holiday party benefitting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. But that said, I’m always up for another good challenge that benefits my local community.

So, if Ted gets his 500 comments, I will match his 52 boxes of cereal and donate it to whatever local food bank he desires.

While I must admit that Ted’s way of going about things is a little over the top at times, to quote a tag line in a Quaker Oatmeal (my favorite) commercial… “It’s a good thing to do and a tasty way to do it!”

So hop on over and post a little comment about your favorite cereal or how goofy Ted looks. Be a sport — It’s for charity!

Sitting here thinking about Ad:tech NYC next week and my vacation to Aruba, immediately following…. Wondering how on earth I’m going to get 14 days of clothing for two completely different climates into one piece of luggage. Why limit it to one you ask?

It’s the challenge.

Speaking of challenges, I took a look at my calendar for Ad:tech and I realize that I might have over-committed. Here’s what I RSVP’d “Yes” to:

Sunday:
Dinner @ Etrusca
The GLAM party @ Crash Mansion
The No Bull Party @ Johnny Utah’s

Monday:
Joe’s Shanghai Adtech Takeover Dinner
Oldtimer’s Party @ Thom Bar
Epic Party @ Marquee
Copeac Party @ Touch
MoneyMaker’s Party @ Pacha

Tuesday:
Sushi Samba Dinner
Omni Berskshire Overtake

Now, none of this would be overwhelming if it wasn’t for the fact that I will be trapped behind my booth (that’s #919) all day long, spending hours upon hours on my feet.

But given the fact that I’m not afraid of commitment (just ask my ex-hubby’s), I intend to fulfill all of my good-guest obligations and make it to everything I said “yes” to. After all, they were all kind enough to invite me, eh?

And let’s talk about that booth.

Affiliate Summit will be exhibiting at Booth 919 (in case you missed my previous plug). My fellow co-founder, Shawn Collins did a quick video on the stuff that will be going on at our booth, after checking with me late last night.

He apparently had some difficulties during the production, so I’m here to help out. Here are a list of items that we will not be giving away at our booth: pens, pencils, highlighers, stress balls, lint rollers (we already gave those away once before), paper holders that resemble roach clips, cups, mugs, sticky notes, pads of paper, gum, mints, clothing apparel, calculators, computer accessories, tools, or anything related to these items.

We will be giving out copies of the last FeedFront issues and something very special. In order to get the something special, you must use the secret phrase, “I Voted”.

So hope to see you in NYC and feel free to drop off as many cups of Starbucks (located downstairs in the Hilton Lobby) at my booth (#919)

Jim Kukral – Blogger, Online Marketing Guru, Entrepreneur and Geek Extraordinaire is now on Weviews.tv, telling the world what he likes and what he doesn’t through video testimonials. And, he’s getting paid $50 bucks a pop for them.

Don’t you want to get paid for giving your opinions? Watch the video and learn what it takes to be just like Jim Kukral.

The Loose Rules on Submitting Video to Weviews.tv:

• 1 to 2-minute consumer generated video reviews that discuss the features and benefits of the product or service along with the reasons why you are endorsing it.
• Video must display the Weviews URL and product name throughout your video. For instance, if you were reviewing an Asus EEE, you would display http://www.weviews.tv/asuseee throughout your video.
• The video must be transcribed (spell checked and grammatically correct, please).
• The product or service must be available for purchase online through a merchant with an affiliate program.

Any other questions? E-me at missyward at gmail dot com.