As in previous years, a number of affiliates, merchants, network and agency staff from the good old North West have met up for a much needed Christmas drink.

The tradition continues with the next drink organised for tomorrow Thursday 10th December from 5pm at The Paramount pub at the end of Portland Street / Oxford Road.

It’s been organised by Diane (better known as Mogga) from the A4U Forum - see the full post here.

Where: The Paramount (a JD Wetherspoon) on Oxford / Portland Street (Map)
When: Thursday 10th December 09 from 5pm
Who: Anyone involved in Affiliate Marketing

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Seeya there!

Here in the UK, the main online shopping day is generally known as Cyber Monday or even ‘Mega Monday’, which is usually the first Monday in December.

This year, the first Monday in December doesn’t fall until the 7th and I reckon we could be in for two Cyber Monday’s, with the first falling this coming Monday November 30th.  Last year it was Monday December 8th and the BBC reported that the busiest times would be between 1300 and 1400, when people would be in work and sat at their desks shopping online.

Let’s face it, most days are busy in the run up to Christmas especially as the date draws closer and people realise they need to start their shopping.  Already myself and a few others have reported a surge in sales, with some reporting their best days ever which is great to see!

According to the Guardian, last year on Cyber Monday Amazon received a whopping 16 orders every second, with a delivery truck leaving their warehouses every 5 and a half seconds!

Having the postal strikes called off has certainly removed any uncertainty and has hopefully restored the faith in online shopping, especially as people order right up to the last minute.  Last year, over 4 million logged onto the internet on Christmas Day, so they’re even going past the last minute!

Have a great Christmas everyone!!

Matt and this team at Existem really do put a great event on and this year was no different, with over 1000 people heading down to the Excel over the 2 days.

I have to say the sessions from Conversion Rate Experts were probably my favourite and would’ve missed them, if it wasn’t for Keith Bond recommeding them, having seen them at A4U Europe in Amsterdam.

Affiliate Doctors were great too and good to get tips on how to improve,  which are always handy, as were the Search Cowboys.

Wasn’t too impressed with the Google Site Clinic and the guys from Google really weren’t for letting out any secrets….maybe we should’ve kidnapped them!

The hot food this year was very welcome and a massive improvement on the sandwiches provided by Excel last year.

Whilst we’re on the subject of food, many thanks to Clarke from Paid On Results for the all you can eat Brazillian meal at the O2 - I’ve never eaten so much meat and it certainly was a protein overload!

It seems like there’s always something that goes wrong on the first night party, following last years issues with the food on the boat.  First night gremlins re-appeared this year, with the Inc Club running out of beer and generally just giving terrible service and not to mention surly and rude bouncers.  The volume wasn’t ideal either and it wasn’t the easiest place to chat to people in, with plenty of people leaving and heading back to the Novotel as mentioned by Jason from Loquax.

To be fair to Matt, none of these problems were his and it must be extremely difficult to please everyone’s tastes, budgets and general perceptions.

The A4U Expo is always a great opportunity to meet up with people and this year I managed to catch up with lots of people who I’ve spoke to only via email, so it was great to meet face to face.  It’s always nice to catch up with old friends too and all the usual suspects.

It certainly helped having a bit more of a plan this year, as there’s so much to cover and people/things to see.  There were sill sessions that I missed, due to them clashing but the slides will be available shortly so I’ll catch up on them.

Thanks again to Matt and Existem for putting on a great A4U Expo and hopefully see you in Munich next year for A4U Europe 2010!

Last year I spotted quite a few people clutching bottles of Evian, so it might be a wise move to purchase some before heading over to the Excel.

Here’s my agenda for the second and last day of the 2009 A4 Expo:

09:30 - 10:30: Killer Link Building Strategies

Again, link building is so important these days and this will be the perfect opportunity to glean some tips and hopefully implement them to increase my rankings.

11:00 - 12:00: Barriers to Conversion

I’ve recently followed Joanna Butler on Twitter and also noticed she’s now one of the latest Affiliate Doctors, so it’ll be to see what tips and tricks she has on conversion.  Joanna is joined by Will Critchlow from Distilled and Lisa Myers from Verve Search and also blogs at Search Cowboys.

12:15 - 13:15: Start Up And Launch Strategy

Having launched a few new sites such as Footy Shirts and Wii Search lately, I’m looking forward to seeing how some of the bigger sites launch such as Spotify, Seatwave and Kieron’s great site - ShareMyPlaylists.com

Whilst I doubt my two new little sites will be looking for VC investment, it’ll be interesting to see how big sites go about it and how to keep that competitive edge.

Lunchtime

After grabbing some lunch, now’s the chance to catch up with the networks and people exhibiting at the A4U Expo.  It’s good to see how many freebies you can grab too!

14:30 - 15:30: Affiliate Apocalypse

Any session that has the words ‘apocalypse’ in the title has to be well worth a look in.  This session touches on some of the challenges that affiliates and the whole industry could be facing and how to deal with them in the future.

Great panel too, with Robert Glasgow from Webgains, Duncan from Total Search Solutions, Seth Richardson from DC Storm, Helen from Sky (previously DGM) and Julia from Vodafone (previously Affiliate Window).

16:00 - 17:00: Meet The Super Affiliates

Last year’s ‘Meet The Super Affiliates’ was a great finish to what was a fantastic expo and this year looks to be no exception.  Moderated this year by Kieron, this is always an informal and fun session but an interesting insight into a ’super affiliates’ world.

17:15 - 18:00: Domain Names

I have dabbled in the past with domain names and sold a few on for several thousands, so this will be interesting to hear from the horses mouth, so to speak, on the future of domain names.

The session is hosted by Angus from Giraffe, who owns domains such as three.co.uk , egg.co.uk and many more.

That then rounds up the end of the sessions and exhibition itself, all that remains is to grab some food and then make the most of the ICE Party at the Fox.  Last year’s was great, in fact too great, as I got up late the next day and missed my train home costing me £60 for a standard ticket!  To be fair it was me misjudging how long it would take from Excel to Euston that made me miss my train, although having a sore head certainly didn’t help!

I know it’ll be a busy time for everything involved with the A4U Expo and I’d just to like to say thanks to Matt and his team for organising a first class event - well done guys and see you all on Monday.

The A4U Expo is just a few days away, so I thought I’d add my plans for the two days here…. and so I don’t forget them!

Day 1

Pre-registering and picking up your badge the night before at the Ignite pre show party, means you can head straight into Excel and also grab an extra few minutes sleep!

09:15 - 10:15:  SEO Strategies To Make A Splash with Dave Naylor

I thought I’d jump in at the deep end and get stuck straight in to an  SEO session and Dave really know’s his stuff.

10:30 - 11:30: Voucher Codes

I was tempted to go to the ‘Meet The Search Engines Q&A Session’, but after already having SEO for my breakfast I’ve decided to head over to the Voucher Codes session with Paul Dixon and Gavin Male.  It’s always a hot discussion and hopefully this will provide some info on consumers perceptions and behaviour.

12:00 - 13:00: The Affiliate Doctors Live

The Affiliate Doctors are well worth following and I think it’s a great idea to have a ’surgery’ and always good to get good, frank and honest answers.  Moderating are Kieron, Chris G, Duncan Jennings and Dixon Jones.

Lunch Time

Have to say I wasn’t too impressed with the sarnies last year and it’s good to see there’s now ‘hot food on the go’.   Depending on time, I may pop in on the ‘Landing Page Success session’ which is a bonus lunchtime slot.

14:30 - 15:30: Beyond Link Bait

Getting links is the bain of my life and I probably don’t do enough of it, so this is a chance to get some tips on ways to get more incoming links.

16:00 - 17:00:  Google Site Clinic

Nadeem’s ‘My 12 Biggest Affiliate Marketing Mistakes’ looks well worth a visit and he’s also a top guy.  However, the chance to hear some of the top guys from Google has just thrown it….sorry Nadeem.

17:00 - 18:15: You Want To Tweet What?

I thought this would be a lighthearted end to what can a busy day of taking things in and trekking around the exhibition hall.  I’m fairly new to Twitter and this looks like a great chance to hear some of the success stories and tips of using social media, from the likes The Hodge and Naomi from Firebox.com

Phew, I think I need a drink and that leads us nicely to the reception drinks, before making our way over to the O2, which I’ve not not been to the O2 since it was the Millennium Dome,  for the Breakout Party at the Inc Club.  Really looking forward to the DJ Competition and also the chance to meet a few people from DFDS Seaways who are co-sponsoring the party.

Day 2 is always a killer if you over indulge on the first night, so I’m tempted to take it easy…. although that never happens!

Day 2 Agenda

Excel is about 30-40 minutes from the centre of London by public transport, but is well connected and it’s an easy enough journey on the DLR.

Custom House is the closest stop on the DLR for Excel and is where you’ll find the main hotels too for the A4U Expo - Novotel, Custom House and Ibis.

Last year I made use of the Oyster card, which made the fares a lot cheaper and meant I could explore London a bit more too.  Might be worth grabbing an Oyster card if you’ve not got one already.

Here’s a PDF for directions to Excel that I stumbled upon the other day.

For those driving into London and to Excel, here’s the postcode for Excel: E16 1XL - although I don’t envy you at all!

Safe travels everyone and hopefully catch up with you next week.

Sadly, it’s coincided with my son’s 2nd birthday and I couldn’t really miss that.  I did meet organiser, Dom the Hodge, a weeks ago in Manchester and he assured me the little fella would love it and to bring him along!

I am gutted again as it looks to be another cracking event and ticks a lot of boxes too.  It’s in the North for a change, as well as being at the weekend so you can have a few more cheeky pints afterwards!

The schedule for Think Visibility is great with a wide mix of areas covered, such as SEO, Social Media, Analytics and Usability.

Affiliate marketing is also covered by (I’m sure they won’t mind me calling them this!) ‘old hats’, Elaine from All Kids and Chris from Sunshine.co.uk - both talking about the up and downs of affiliate marketing and transition from affiliate to merchant.

If anyone is still considering attending Think Visibility, I’m sure an extra 30% off will help courtesy of Al Carlton’s Conference Calendar site who are sponsoring Think Visibility.  Simply use the code confcal for a massive 30% off your ticket price and get yourself over to Leeds next weekend.

Date, time and Venue: Think Visibility - Saturday 12th September 2009 @ Alea Casino Conference Arena from 10am.

Have a great time everyone, especially at Drink Visibility too!

Having arrived around lunchtime, I met up with some of the regular affiliates in the Pitcher & Piano for a bite to eat and the first of many beers - thanks to Mark from Existem-AM for sorting lunch out!  Top man!

Going to see Banksy at Bristol Museum was on my original agenda, but hearing stories of huge queues and looking out of the window and seeing the rain, the plan was to stay inside the Pitcher and Piano and ‘network’ even more!

Moving over to The Living Room, where the roadshow took place, it was great to see old and new faces - and possibly the newest face in affiliate marketing - Brodie Taylor, Claire Taylor from Existem’s new baby.

The night (and day) was fantastic and thanks again to Existem-AM for sponsoring the bar, although I need to pace myself next time!

Matt Wood announced plans for a competition to win a ticket for the most funny or original picture with the A4u Expo stickers.

Here’s a few pictures of us lot abusing some of Bristol’s statues:

The proper and slightly more tame pictures from the A4UExpo Bristol Roadshow can be found on Flickr.

Thanks again and seeya at the A4U Roadshow in Manchester on the 4th of August.

It’s my second trip to Barbados with Affiliate Future and this time, over 50 affiliates and merchants headed out to the Caribbean for some networking - mainly over rum punch!

Thanks go to everyone at Affiliate Future, especially James Little for sorting stuff out and of course everyone at Sunshine for making my trip possible.

I’ve just heard I’m one of the winners thanks to promoting Sunshine.co.uk and their new Caribbean holidays section, on our new St Lawrence Gap website.

Thanks to everyone at Sunshine.co.uk and of course Affiliate Future for sorting out the trip.  There are still a few chances to join us all in Barbados, check the Affiliate Future site for more info.

This will be my 2nd time out in Barbados and if the last time is anything to go by, we’re in for another treat and a fantastic holiday!