AbeBooks UK Affiliates Blog

A4U Expo vs. Affiliate Summit London

Well, it appears Shawn Collins has officially announced the much rumored Affiliate Summit London on September 28th.  This comes on the heels of the A4U Forum's parent Existem announcing their first major conference A4U Expo in late October.  After listening to some speculation that maybe Shawn and Matt would join forces for a large event in the UK, it appears as they will almost be going "head to head" with both major events happening less than a month a part from each other.  Having had the chance to attend both an Affiliate Summit (Vegas 06) and an A4U get together (Dixie Boat Cruise) I am very curious to attend these events, as they will both be new formats, a new market for Affiliate Summit and a new size for A4U.  There are some obvious questions, Will UK affiliates be willing to attend an event from an outsider? Will people be willing to make 2 trips to London in less than a month?

From my standpoint I would like to attend both events however the timing issue, both events being so close together, really comes into play, I just don't think I swing attending both events.  Let me know what you are planning; at least one event or both or none?

Get the AbeBooks Blidget

I love all the web-based gadgets and widgets that seem to be all the rage these days, Google Gadgets, Yahoo Widgets, Yahoo Pipes, and all the others.  Now AbeBooks is joining the crowd with a Blidget.  Yes, I have created a "Blidget", a Blog widget over at WidgetBox.  The Widgetbox site is very easy use and there are some great examples of affiliates using these widgets.  The first affiliate that creates their own AbeBooks Affiliate widget and drives 5 sales through it will receive a bonus of £50! (closing date April 30th).

Here are some ideas for Affiliate widgets

1. List of Bestsellers-  This could be any list of bestselling books.
2. Niche books- Create lists of popular books for niches such as: bird watching, cooking, or sports.
3. Take a look at other popular blogs and make a list of books related those subjects, this might encourage others to pickup your widget and generate traffic.
4. If you need support with your Blidget idea take a look at the Widgetbox forums
5. Of course remember to insert the proper tracking links in your blog

   

In London April 17th & 18th

I just wanted to let you all know I will be in London on the 17th & 18th of April.  Please let me know if you would like to get together. If you are not in the London area still drop me an email and we can setup something up for later in Spring or early Summer.  In case you don't have my contact details I have posted them below.

Email

Telephone: +49 211 711 7069 47

UK Affiliate Dinner Follow up

I attended the 1st official "UK Affiliate Dinner" as expected I had a great time and met lots of great people after reading many of the attendees blog's it was nice to finally meet face to face.  James did a great job of organizing the event, the location was great, easy to find and the food was good. I very much welcomed the unsponsored event it provided a great atmosphere to chat and discuss events in the industry with no specific pressure or focus for the evening. 

James has already planned another dinner on April 27th, it looks to be another great location. 

As with most good events the one downside with the event was it was too short, it would be great to try and squeeze a few more hours in somewhere.

New AbeBooks UK Creatives

As mentioned in an earlier post, we will be following up on the suggestions and ideas from the AbeBooks Affiliate Survey.  One of the suggestion was for new creatives and creatives in different sizes.  Below are two creatives that fit that request.  The first creative is based on one of our "Not Books" (300X250) and the second is incorporates a stack of books with some marketing copy (300X250).  This new size is great for: Newletters, Emails, Targeted landings pages, Homepage features and/ or Merchant specific pages.  Please post you feedback, are we on the right track? Or would you prefer something different?

To use these creatives PLEASE remember to incorporate your tracking urls from the networks.

eComXpo is coming soon

eComXpo is hosting it's 5th "Virtual Tradeshow for eCommerce Marketers"  between the 20th and 22nd of March. I have attended the previous four shows and I must say I have had a very positive experience at each event.  The interaction between attendees is great, you have the option to email, instant message or send your vCard.  All the top players in the online marketing world attend and have very elaborate and interactive booths.  The big PPC engines have great giveaways, keep your eyes out for great "free cash" coupons.  General admission tickets to the show are free, and tickets to the "University" which allow you to view archived presentations are just $50 US dollars.  Although the focus is more on the North American market, all the issues, ideas and hot topics are the same that we have here in the UK.

Now that A4U is launching a major conference in October and Affiliate Summit is rumoured to be planning a conference in the UK sometime later this year, do you think eComXpo should put together a show solely focused to the UK market?