“And in the kingdom of transparency, he who creates technology to foster conversation is king” – Unknown

For years, many networks have taken a cryptic approach when it comes to connecting their advertisers with their affiliates in an effort to avoid the direct collaboration between the two and protect the network’s “cut” of commissions.

In my opinion, the lack of transparency is *one* of the major reasons why the affiliate marketing and performance-based lead generation industry has gotten a bum rap in years past.

As our industry matures and the need for transparency increases, those networks that foster a collaborative environment will wind up with the keys to the affiliate marketing kingdom.

To that end, I was pleased to hear about the launch of ShareASale’s Affiliate Aquarium during Affiliate Summit West 2010.

The Affiliate Aquarium is a social platform located within the ShareASale network which connects affiliates with merchants in all the usual “socially acceptable” ways such as searching and friending, groups, blogs, events, etc.

According to the ShareASale blog:

…Our goal is to create a more open communication platform where Affiliates and Merchants can be introduced to each other based on their mutual interests (either professional or personal). It has been our experience that increased communication leads to greater realized profits for both parties.

I for one am pretty stoked about the collaboration opportunities from both a merchant perspective (Affiliate Summit runs its affiliate program on ShareASale) and an affiliate perspective (I’m also an affiliate on their network.)

So, I spent some time swimming around the Aquarium today and found a ton of folks that I already know as well as some prospective affiliates to work with on the Affiliate Summit program and a few good merchants to feature on MissyWard.com and a few of my other sites.

To kick things off, ShareASale has also announced that they will donate $5.00 to the Mercy Corps efforts in Haiti, for each ShareASale affiliate or merchant that sets up their profile in the Affiliate Aquarium between now and January 31st. In addition, they will match the donation up to $15,000.

So my advice to any ShareASale merchant or affiliate is to set up your profile in the Affiliate Aquarium and find out how transparent conversation through social networking can really boost your profits and give Haiti a helping hand.

Then swim on over and Friend Me

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:

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My guest today is Brian Littleton, one of the sharpest and most humble online marketers that I know. He is the CEO of ShareASale, a Chicago-based provider of e-commerce tracking and affiliate management solutions.

Brian is known for being a crusader of fair affiliate practices for many years; he’ll tickle the ivories to entertain friends and business associates on command; and has to be one of the top ten most eligible bachelors in the affiliate marketing industry.

In this podcast, Brian talks about:

What he would be doing if he wasn’t doing what he’s doing now

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

ShareASale, the Gold Sponsor of Affiliate Summit East 2009 had one of those awesome photo booths in their exhibit area on the show floor.

I had missed it when they did it at the last Vegas show, so I was all geared up to hop inside this time around.

I dragged in Shawn Collins with me and we had a blast making some funny faces.
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If you’re up for a quick chuckle, check out the rest of the images from the folks who stepped inside at http://www.shareasalephotobooth.com

I giggled a few times.. I admit it

Since the early days of Affiliate Summit, our affiliate program has been run on the FusionQuest network.

Unfortunately, it appears that FusionQuest is closing its doors on August 10, 2009.

Tracking will not be affected for affiliates of the Affiliate Summit program as FusionQuest is closing after Affiliate Summit online registrations close down (we will be sold out sometime this week).

The good news is that we’ve partnered with ShareASale.com, and we’ll be up and going on their fabulous network within the next week or so. I am thrilled that they were able to get us up and going so quickly!

Additional details will be forthcoming in the near future.

ShareASale will be hosting another one of their famous parties at Affiliate Summit 2009 West. This one is sure to be a hit as they break it down 80′s style.

Whether you were a yuppie, a punk or a new waver, a preppy or something else back in the 80′s, you will, like totally, have a blast. They’ll be like, appetizers, booze (and my favorite, spiked punch!) and lots of 80′s decorations and party favors.

80′s attire is optional. So pull out those LaCoste shirts, Michael Jackson gloves, plastic bracelets or whatever else you wore back then and bring them on with you to Vegas. After all, who’s really going to notice you wearing that outfit on the Strip anyway?

The ShareASale “Under The Stars, Like Totally” party is taking place on Sunday, January 11th from 8:00pm-Midnight at the Rio Hotel in the Brasilia room. For an invite, contact Brian Littleton, CEO of ShareASale.com (brian /at/ shareasale /dot/ com)

This is one that I will definitely be going to! Fur Sure!

PS — it’s my birthday that weekend — buy me a drink

The ShareASale ThinkTank is just wrapping up now, and I for one am disappointed that I have to leave. Brian Littleton, CEO of ShareASale, outdid himself as usual. With the Grand Del Mar hotel in San Diego as the backdrop, the environment itself couldn’t be beat.

I spent Friday afternoon on the incredible golfcourse riding around with Scott Jangro, Brian Littleton and Emilio Yepez. Not being able to play because of my broken foot was disappointing, but the views were great and the company couldn’t be beat.

The evening opening gala was held outside and being in a room with 100+ top affiliate marketers sharing ideas over some great wine and food was nothing less then spectacular.

Morning came way to early but I became energized as I walked into the Main Session that was abuzz with ShareASale merchants, OPM’s and affiliates sitting down providing feedback thru a series of one-on-one scheduled sessions. Sitting down with merchants that I promote to provide suggestions on how we can enhance our businesses was extremely valuable. I also evaluated the programs of two merchants that I wasn’t promoting and gave them some feedback as to what it would take for me to join their program. The information sharing and enthusiasm during the one-on-ones sparked some great ideas and furthered the theory that affiliate marketing is all about relationships.

I spent the afternoon sitting at various roundtables discussing industry issues and brainstorming with some great people. The most engaging topic pertained to bloggers that were also affiliates and the we shared some lively debate on whether disclosure of affiliate links were necessary. Since so many bloggers are now finally beginning to monetize their blog through affiliate marketing I think it was very important that we opened up the dialogue to discuss this. Interestingly enough, we couldn’t come to an agreement on it.

We had a free night on Saturday, so Lisa Picarille, Karen Garcia, Jen Goode and my girlfriend who lives locally, headed into La Jolla to take in a wonderful dinner at the Crab Catcher. We headed back to the hotel and caught up with our fellow ThinkTankers and enjoyed some more networking opportunities in the lobby bar until the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday morning’s networking breakfast was terrific and I filled up on an egg-white omelette and multiple yummy cappuccinos. We spent a few hours afterwards in a general session discussing the format of this year’s event and provided some feedback regarding the ShareASale network to Brian Littleton. What’s great about Brian is that not only does he value the feedback that he gets at this annual event, but he actually acts quickly on action items that he’s presented with.

ShareASale as always, was a gracious host and I for one appreciated the opportunity to attend once again.

Here are some pictures of the event:

The pictures from the last ShareASale “Under the Stars” Party that was held during Affiliate Summit 2008 West in Vegas this past February are finally available.

The party was held in one of the Sky Villas on the top floors of the Fantasy Tower in the Palms Hotel. In keeping with custom, Brian Littleton of ShareASale.com, did it up again — upscale style — a tradition we could all get used to.

I’m glad that the pictures are finally available. It brought back some great memories!

I am on my way to Boston for a meeting with the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center, where the Affiliate Summit 2008 East show will be held in August. Shawn Collins is meeting me there, so we figured that we’d host a little Affiliate Marketing Get-Together at Cheers at Faneuil Hall this evening — just because.

In celebration of Good People Day today, the flash holiday masterminded by Gary Vaynerchuk (who is also Good People), I would like to honor Brian Littleton, CEO of ShareASale.com.

Brian is Good People. Watch my video and see why.