Affiliate Marketing Conferences

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by Riyaj Shaik

Affiliate Conferences are great forums for both affiliates and affiliate program managers to learn and share ideas.

Affiliates interact with other affiliates or "super" affiliates attending the event to get ideas about how to make money from affiliate programs. Most of the conferences have free or discounted admission for affiliates. Some even have an affiliate's day or session, where all the topics, discussions and presentations are geared towards affiliates.

Affiliate program managers can meet other program managers who have successfully implemented an affiliate program and share ideas on how to improve, promote and attract new affiliates to their program. Also, they get a chance to meet the affiliates in person and get to hear their perspectives or suggestions.

These conferences can also be a great starting point for merchants who are looking to start an affiliate program. By attending these conferences, new or prospective managers can get a good feel for the affiliate marketing industry. Also, they get to meet all the experts in the industry in one place, as most of them either do presentations or attend these events on a regular basis.

These conferences will also help answer various questions that merchants have. Questions like:

Should I outsource my program to a third party software solution provider or develop it in-house? How do I develop proprietary affiliate technology? Is a third-party provider the best choice? If so, which ones can meet my requirements? What is an acceptable commission to pay an affiliate? How often do I have to pay my affiliates? Do I have to accept all affiliate applications?

Here are a few conferences and seminars that are held on a regular basis which you can attend.

1. Affiliate Force

Affiliate Force, the Internet Marketing Extravaganza, is held yearly in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. It was the first conference dedicated entirely to affiliate marketing. The convention consists of three days intensive training and education about affiliate marketing and two days of optional weekend activities.

Last year, it attracted a significant number of attendees from all over the globe.

Day 1 was dedicated to affiliate marketing solutions. The leading solution providers were invited to display their technology and services to merchants and affiliates.

Day 2 was intended as a showcase of merchants currently using the services of solution providers. Independent merchants were also present to argue their case for maintaining affiliate programs in-house.

Day 3 was a forum for affiliates to discuss various aspects of revenue sharing and techniques for leveraging additional income from affiliate programs. The leading experts on affiliate programs have been invited to address the attendees. More details click here.

2. Affiliate Solutions

Affiliate Solutions is held 3-4 times a year in various cities across the U.S. and Europe and is organized by internet.com. If you are a merchant interested in creating an affiliate program or fine-tuning your existing program, then attend this one-day event and you'll learn inside secrets from industry leaders and successful online marketing companies. Affiliate Solutions features panel discussions focusing on revenue sharing and affiliate strategies for the online industry. For more info visit: seminars.internet.com

3. Commission Junction University

CJ University (CJU) is the first in a series of corporate events designed to offer CJ merchants and affiliates the most comprehensive series of seminars on affiliate marketing available, as well as tips and techniques to maximize the CJ.com tool set.

CJ's goal is to help you gain a competitive advantage by offering insights from leading industry experts on a wide range of topics. These experts will share their personal strategies and tactics with you and help you perfect your own affiliate programs. CJU provides you with the resources to do your job better.

After a highly successful event in February, Commission Junction announced that it is committed to continue developing CJU into the premier Affiliate Marketing educational experience.

Details about enrolling in CJU can be found here.

And to attend some conferences, you don't even have to leave your desk.

4. Affiliate Webinar

Affiliate Webinar is the first affiliate marketing seminar conducted entirely online. You can benefit from moderated chats, a virtual display floor, and a variety of affiliate resources. The event will take place entirely on the Internet, so the "broadcast" will be a series of live Internet chats.

The first Affiliate Webinar will be taking place on December 6, 2000, 12-5pm ET and it is free for affiliates and merchants. For more information visit:
www.affiliatewebinar.com

Mark your calendars and don't miss these good learning resources. I still remember when I attended my first affiliate marketing conference. I got a kick out of putting faces to the names I had been communicating with over the phone and via e-mail for the last few years.