In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell speaks with Todd Crawford, co-founder and vice president of Strategic Initiatives at Impact Radius, where he evangelizes the opportunities presented by a multi-channel approach to the performance model.

James and Todd discuss how attribution modeling and other cross channel insights can help more intelligently manage your affiliate program and thus help you discover which affiliates are driving the most traffic. Although aimed at advertisers and merchants, the episode offers information that affects affiliates marketers, too.

What Is Attribution and How Does It Affect My Commission?

Listeners may remember Todd from Affiliate Buzz #340, where he and James discussed transparency. This was the first time we were introduced to the multi-channel approach to the performance model.

Todd kicks off the episode by explaining the importance of attribution and revealing the biggest challenge for affiliate merchants.. Attribution is a road map for the path consumers take to make a purchase, which adds clarity to conversion crediting data.

From an affiliate point of view: we drive traffic to a site; traffic lands on the site; the consumer clicks through to the merchant. Now all kinds of things could get in the way, like retargeting on social media, email, paid advertisements. Attribution gives affiliate managers the big picture.

Using Attribution to Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

Todd recommends, as an affiliate manager, looking at revenue being driven over a given period (i.e. a month) versus individual transactions. Sophisticated tracking methods show which clicks hold the most value and allow affiliate managers to adjust commission rates accordingly.

In this episode you’ll also hear James and Todd discuss:

* Misconceptions with confusing crediting logic and attribution

* Where attribution modeling comes in and how it uses data to analyze different perspectives

* Two mistakes affiliate managers make and how that can affect their relationship with affiliate marketers

Todd will speak at Affiliate Management Days on the topic of “How to Make Attribution and Affiliate Management Work” and at Affiliate Summit East in New York about “How to Conduct a Social Media Audit”.

The episode wraps up with Todd and James discussing Impact Radius and products they offer.

Did you enjoy today's episode? Please head over to http://jamesmartell.wpengine.com/itunes where you can leave a review. It helps other people discover the Affiliate Buzz so they can also benefit from the knowledge shared in these podcasts.

There's a brand new way to sign up for the Affiliate Buzz. Send a blank email to [email protected] if you'd like to subscribe.

Resources:

Impact Radius - http://www.impactradius.com/

Affiliate Buzz #340 - http://jamesmartell.wpengine.com/ab340

Affiliate Management Days - http://www.affiliatemanagementdays.com/

Affiliate Summit East - http://affiliatesummit.com/events/ase16-main/

In this podcast, James and Arlene Martell share how to create marketing videos that are easy to make, inexpensive and can help increase conversions and sales.

Affiliate video marketing is a type of commission-based marketing managed by affiliates. These affiliates create videos to endorse products and services for a specific business. The business rewards the affiliates for each visitor or customer gained through these marketing efforts.

Videos can be a great way to experience a much higher increase of traffic to your website. This in turn, will lead to more customers and as a result, more revenue for your company.

An Easy Way to Share Affiliate Links

James kicks off the episode by sharing a text he received just before the show. The text requested details about setting up an email marketing campaign. As James sent the person a link to AWeber, it made him think just how easy it is to make money with affiliate programs.

Then James harkens back to last week’s topic, recurring commissions with a mention of AWeber. AWeber is an email management program which pays 30% recurring commission to affiliates. James and Arlene have been involved with the affiliate program for a while now.

James explains how he uses Page Links To, a WordPress app, to create links such as the one to AWeber through his website. After you download this app into the back end of your dashboard, use these instructions to create links.

* Log into WordPress.

* Click “add new post”. (For this example James uses AWeber.)

* Type “AWeber” into the headline field.

* Scroll down the page until you find the Page Links To field.

* Drop your affiliate ID in the Page Links To field.

* Click Publish.

James summarizes the next time you want to refer someone to the merchant, you can give them your website with a forward slash and the name of the merchant. James and Arlene link to AWeber with their affiliate information using the address: http://www.jamesmartell/aweber.

Then James goes on to outline how they’ve done a similar process for Bluehost, which pays $90 per sale. They offer two ways to link up via their affiliate information: http://wwww.jamesmartell.com/Bluehost and http://www.bluehost360.com, both of which forward through to the Bluehost site.

A New Interview on the Shoulders of Titans

Next Arlene provides an update on Shoulders of Titans, a podcast she talked about in the previous episode.

The most recent episode of that podcast, number 32 titled 100,000,000 Views and Counting - YouTube Superstar Aaron Marino Shares The Secrets To His Success, is completely relevant to today’s Buzz topic, which is video marketing.

Aaron Marino receives over 9 million monthly views on his “Alpha M” YouTube channel, which he uses as the primary platform for his men’s lifestyle blog. You’ll find the links in the references below, but the quickest way to locate it is via the interview at www.shouldersoftitans.com.

7 Steps to Creating a Video to Increase Conversions

James and Arlene return from a short break with an anecdote about ziplining. Despite her dislike of heights, Arlene allowed her daughter to talk her into riding the second-highest Canadian zipline not once but twice.

Then they dig into the meat of the podcast - increasing conversions with video marketing. In this case the videos are quick and easy to make. James started using them after taking Ryan Deiss’ video marketing course.

James encourages using video marketing because videos are very easy to produce and you don’t have to be personally on the screen. These steps can help you create inexpensive marketing vi...

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz podcast, James and Arlene Martell explain how it’s possible to develop a passive income stream that could earn you 15-35% lifetime recurring commissions for the rest of your life.

Recurring commissions are when an affiliate earns a commission for the initial sale, and then additional commissions for each new billing. The recurring commission could stop after a certain amount of time or go on for the lifetime of the referral’s interaction with the program.

Bloggers, podcasters, and content marketers use affiliate programs offering recurring commissions to get paid repeatedly for one-time referrals. Wouldn’t you like to do the same? Don’t you deserve to get paid what you’re worth?

Standing on the Shoulders of Titans

The episode kicks off with a discussion of one of Arlene’s favorite podcasts, Shoulders of Titans where host Dan Lok interviews some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time. The entrepreneurs include people such as:

* Dr. Gene Landram, founder of Chuck E. Cheese

* Sylvie Silver, a professional female wrestler

* Jairek Robbins, son of Tony Robbins

* and a lot of other high-end people who are in the business of wealth.

You can find the websites for the aforementioned entrepreneurs in the list of resources at the end of bottom of this page.

Arlene says there’s something different in every episode. Dan starts at the beginning, asking them how they got started in their business, and then segues into the raw information.

Then Arlene points out that in addition to getting his guests’ thoughts on various concepts, Dan also touches on motivational topics as well. James enjoys how in these interviews Dan isn’t scared to ask the questions everyone else thinks.

Each week Arlene works closely with Dan, who records the interview and sends her the MP3. Then she outlines it for her Virtual Producer who edits the show and adds additional audio details. The result is a beautifully produced MP3 which is also transcribed and available on the website.

James adds that the interviews not only talk about the people being interviewed, but also about things in life itself. Visit http://www.shouldersoftitans.com to hear recent podcasts and subscribe so you’re sure to be notified about future ones.

Programs that Pay 15 - 35% Recurring Commissions

After a short break, James and Arlene return to discuss some of the more lucrative programs offering recurring commissions. Arlene has thoroughly researched this information and put together a list which includes programs such as:

* AWeber  pays 30% recurring commission for referrals to its email management program.

* OnSpot Social, an iPad app for email collection & on-location marketing, pays 20% recurring commission for the life of the customer.

* Hootsuite  is a social media dashboard which offers 15% recurring commission over a 12-month period.

* TAPNET  offers 25% recurring commission for referrals to its online backup service.

* SocialOomph is a social media toolset which pays a 40% recurring commission.

If you’d like to get the entire list of programs offering 15 - 35% recurring commission, then head over to the Podcasting Mastery website: (http://www.podcastingmastery.com/)

James recognizes that affiliates cover various genres. He suggests doing a Google search for programs with recurring commissions for the topics you cover if the ones above don’t fit with yours. It’s worth it to get recurring checks in the mail versus a one-time payout.

FREE Podcasting Webinar and Report

Finally James wraps things up with an invitation to join his twice-weekly webinar: How to Architect a Podcast that Gives You an ...

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell and co-host Arlene explain how you can make an extra $500 a month or $1000 a Month with their 2016 PreBuilt Sites Package.

Have you struggled to get your first affiliate sale to take off? Maybe you’re not happy with the results. This episode teaches the benefits of using a prebuilt site, which may be right for you.

James and Arlene open the episode sharing an experience where a family member sent them a memory from their early days in the affiliate marketing industry.

Then James and Arlene segue into a review of the events leading to where they are today.

The History of How it All Began

During 2001, James and Arlene worked in an office outside their home. They offered trainings twice a week on how to make money with affiliate programs, which James reminds is a great way to earn passive income.

James explains when the trainings began taking him away from his own business, he and Arlene decided that wasn’t the direction where they wanted to go. This led to James writing the eBook titled Affiliate Marketers Handbook, now known as the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp.

Arlene says with so many people looking online for ways to make a little extra money, the book really took off. James confirms that although the goal of the book was to help others make $500 to $1000 per month, some of their students made several tens of thousands of dollars.

4 Steps to Faster Results with Prebuilt Sites

Next James and Arlene turn to the topic of the benefits of using prebuilt sites. During the podcast, some of the advantages they mention include:

* Using a prebuilt site can help you save a ton of time.

* Outsourcing the building helps you save time by getting your site up faster.

* The faster your site is up, the faster you can promote your affiliate offers.

* The quicker you can promote your affiliate offers, the quicker your site generates revenue.

Finally James adds that when building your site, work with someone who’s been in the industry for a while. They’ll know how to discern to find proven offers which are high in demand.

What Do You Do When You Reach Your Goals?

From there it won’t take long to earn $500 to $1000 per month with prebuilt sites. The offers James and Arlene have for the prebuilt sites for 2016 average $100 commission per referred sale.

James then brings the conversation back to the goal of making $500 per month. You don’t have to start there, but he’s found it’s a good average starting goal.

The strategy James uses is: first you set your goal. When you reach it, set your next goal, which should be slightly higher. Repeat as necessary.

For example, using the prebuilt sites for 2016 with a goal of earning $500 per month means getting 1.25 sales (that offer $100 commission per referred sale) per week. Once you meet that goal, double your sales to 2.5 per week and you should earn $1000 per month.

Local Is Where It’s At in Affiliate Marketing

Then James points out that their current prebuilt sites focus on local because that’s where the market is in a lot of cases. Google and others are focused locally as well.

In the early days, James explains, it was fairly easy to rank highly in Google nationally or even internationally. Today that’s almost impossible. James doesn’t recommend trying to rank for that wide an audience and advises that it’s not necessary when you’re first starting out.

Focusing on the local market is key because so many of them need the services offered by prebuilt site packages. An example James shares is Sawbucks Pub in Surrey, British Columbia, which has tripled its business after applying a few principles from within the affiliate space.

After a short break, James and Arlene return to discuss the following headline from Inc.com: It's 2016,

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell talks with award winning affiliate manager Angel Djambazov, who shares his role of affiliate manager and talks about behind the scenes secrets for identifying and nurturing successful affiliates.

Angel recently attended Affiliate Summit West, which took place back-to-back with the Consumer Electronics Show, and concedes with what James said in Affiliate Buzz #410 about Affiliate Summit being one of the best events for anyone in the affiliate marketing industry.

Introducing Angel Djambazov

James kicks off the episode by introducing his guest, Angel Djambazov, and sharing a bit about his background. Angel discovered the internet back when America Online (AOL) was sending out CD’s for people with dial-up modems.

A journalist in a shrinking industry, Angel knew it was time to switch careers when one of the papers he wrote for was about to fold. He switched professions and landed the position of Affiliate Manager of Online Shoes, which led to his first Affiliate Manager of the Year Award.

From there he ran his own agency for almost a decade, and then teamed up with Karen and Joel Garcia of GTO Management to form Lab6 Media in January, 2016. This merger, which Angel calls “a natural fit”, was the result of working and competing in the same industry and talking shop over the same types of foods.

The Role of Affiliate Manager: Behind the Scenes of an Award-Winning Agency

Next James and Angel discuss Lab6 Media’s process for finding and qualifying affiliates. Angel first looks at a potential client’s vertical by asking for access to their analytics. Lab6 Media wants clients want clients who are passionate about their vertical because these are the clients who attract passionate audiences.

Angel goes on to explain that the days of making a lot of money from coupon sites are on a downward spiral. Today’s affiliates have to focus almost solely on retail and e-commerce. He uses the upcoming film Captain America Civil War to demonstrate the need for having passion and knowledge about your content.

Then Angel explains how Lab6 Media attends Affiliate Summit to look for brokering large deals with powerhouse affiliates who are solely focused on affiliate marketing but want something extra. The trio from Lab6 Media also attend several blogging and social media conferences.

For example, Lab6 Media spoke recently at the Type A Mom conference, a conference that has teamed up with Affiliate Summit which brought a lot of self-identified Type A parents who were content creators and interested in producing content for the right advertiser.

Angel explains that Lab6 attends these types of shows because of the content creators who attend these shows to get inspired for new ways to produce content.

The More Things Change....

James adds that despite all the changes to the industry over the years, one thing that hasn’t changed is the need for affiliates to have great content. Angel points out that the type of content needed depends on the audience.

Then Angel mentions another change - people have gotten smarter. You don’t need to be a celebrity with 100,000 followers to be noticed. You need to be someone who can get people excited about what excites you, and then follow through on the recommendation you give them.

If you can get people excited about something you’re passionate about, then you’re the type of affiliate Lab6 wants to get to know. Getting people excited about what you’re passionate about isn’t limited to your blog, but also applies to:

* your videos

* podcasts

* Periscope

* and more

The one thing Angel says he hasn’t seen enough of is media kits, a type of public relations tool used to promote a company or brand. Despite being around forever, media kits are vastly underused and can be as simple as a on...

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell reviews two upcoming affiliate marketing conferences - ShareASale Think Tank 2016 and Affiliate Summit East 2016.

As mentioned in the previous episode, Affiliate Buzz #409, James and his guest, Asif Malik described affiliate conferences as a small, fun communities that can help you bring in great profits in the affiliate industry while making close friends who feel like family.

The episode kicks off with James introducing the week’s topics: conferences including ShareASale Think Tank and Affiliate Summit East, breakations, and U.S. politics, namely his fascination with Republican candidate Donald Trump.

ShareASale Think Tank 2016

ShareASale Think Tank 2016 is a 2-day conference that runs May 15-17 at the beautiful Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile. This will be the 10th year for the conference, and James and Arlene have attended annually since the first year.

James points out that one of the best things about ShareASale Think Tank is the price; for affiliates the cost to attend the event which includes a 2-night hotel stay, three meals per day during the course of the event, and passes to the event is $100. The only extra expense you have is travel, like airfare.

ShareASale Think Tank differs from other conferences in the way that you cannot just register, pay you fee, and attend. Brian Littleton, founder and president of ShareASale, picks a cross section of those who apply to attend for a mix of guests ranging from brand new affiliates to seasoned industry veterans.

James explains that Think Tank 2016 expects to have around 100 bloggers and 40 or so merchants and agencies. Unlike Affiliate Summit, Think Tank is a more intimate event with great training sessions, networking opportunities, and some type of surprise compliments of Brian.

Bookending Think Tank with a Breakation

As James explains a bit later in the podcast, a breakation is a term he and Arlene coined to describe the few days scheduled around a time where you work really hard. The benefit of a breakation around a conference is that you can write off everything associated with the conference.

If you haven’t been to Chicago before, James recommends book-ending a trip to Think Tank with a breakation. During your extra day or two before or after the event, you might take in:

* the Willis Tower (formerly called the Sears Tower)

* Navy Pier

* a dinner cruise on the Spirit of Chicago

* a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field

James describes Chicago as a friendly, clean city. He and Arlene look forward to making their sixth trip there for this event.

Affiliate Summit East 2016

After a short break, James harkens back to 2004 when he and Arlene attended their first Affiliate Summit, which took place on a Carnival Cruise ship from New York City, U.S.A. to Halifax, Canada.

Before boarding the cruise ship, James and Arlene attended a ShareASale event in a pub in SoHo where they met Vinny O’Hare for the first time. This event hosted approximately two dozen guests, so you can see how Think Tank has grown in the past twelve years.

Affiliate Summit East takes place July 31-August 2 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City. This massive event expects to host about 5,000 guests for training sessions and networking opportunities.

James reminds that if you go, be sure to stop by the ShareASale booth where they often hand out free passes to their ShareASale Under the Stars party. You can try to buy passes the ShareASale website but the party sells out in record time.

As with ThinkTank 2016, James recommends book-ending your trip to Affiliate Summit East with a few extra days before or after the conference as well. New York City is so breathtaking, you’ll find no end of sights and activities to enjoy including:

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell speaks with Asif Malik, the creator of GoldenCAN. GoldenCAN Datafeed Integration is a tool which adds millions of products to websites using only one line of code.

James kicks off the episode with an introduction to this episode’s guest, Asif Malik. James explains GoldenCAN is not only the secret weapon of affiliates, but also for bloggers, podcasters, entrepreneurs, and any type of content marketers.

Asif Malik is a well-known name in the industry with a Bachelor of Science degree in Double Math and Physics from Punjab University Pakistan. He also sits on the Amazon Web Services Developer Advisory Council and the Google Affiliate Network Publisher Advisory Board.

Upcoming Affiliate Conferences

Before digging into the topic of data feeds, James and Asif review why they enjoy attending industry conferences, including diverse classes and sessions and opportunities to meet other affiliates in person. Asif says meeting face-to-face changes how you do business with people.

Two of these conferences include Affiliate Summit and ShareASale Think Tank, which have provided lasting memories for both James and Asif. One memory they share is a golf outing which provided a few hilarious moments that wound up in a video (linked in the resources below).

Then James and Asif segue into things that make the ShareASale Think Tank a first-class experience. Registration for ShareASale Think Tank 2016, which takes place in Chicago, Illinois, is open now open.

For affiliates, the fee is a reasonable $100, which covers the hotel stay, food, and access to the conference. The only thing not covered are travel expenses for getting to the conference.

The Results of Asif’s Early Marketing Efforts

Next James harkens back to October 1999, a time when Asif was trying to solve some early problems which triggered his idea to come up with a data feed program. Asif’s first marketing effort involved using the Amazon affiliate program to link books on his website.

Asif explains this process was quite tedious. He knew there had to be a better way and, as a result, he was one of the first people to ask CJ Affiliate (then called Commission Junction) for their data feed.

A data feed is a type of spreadsheet with products you might feature on your website along with various attributes that define these products, such as their URL, name and ID, image, and so forth. You can then save the data feed as any number of file types, including text or Excel.

Then James and Asif discuss some of the benefits of using a data feed versus a wide range of merchant websites. Asif points out that a single data feed can hold all of the information pertaining to millions of products.

How Asif Simplified Data Feeds for Affiliates

After a short break, James and Asif return to discuss how data feed integration software works. The nightmare of trying to create static web pages from data feeds combined with constantly changing information within the feed led Asif to create tools to make data feeds more user-friendly.

This tool was GoldenCAN, which enables affiliates to display multiple products from merchant on their website with a single line of code. The tool also removes the administrative nightmare of keeping up with frequently changing information, like price and availability.

Signing up begins with clicking the “Get Your FREE Account” link (https://www.goldencan.com/newuser.aspx) in the left-hand column on GoldenCAN’s homepage. Asif walks through the process and explains:

* There is no setup fee. (It’s free!)

* You do not need a credit card.

* It is easy to install and use.

* You can try sample HTML.

* Create multiple stores on different websites.

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell reviews LeadPages, their secret for creating, editing, and deploying high converting landing pages without touching a single line of code.

James kicks off the episode by introducing listeners to LeadPages, a landing pages creation tool. He explains the multiple steps and work required in years past to get to the point of publishing a landing page.

James goes on to describe LeadPages as a game changer. Their platform offers more ways to engage potential customers than anyone in the industry, and it’s the only one that enables sign-ups via landing pages, websites, social media, email, and text messaging.

Upwork and Basecamp Updates

Then James reflects back to Affiliate Buzz #406. In that episode he and Arlene shared their views on Upwork, the platform where they find their contractors, and Basecamp, a web-based project-management tool they use to organize their work.

Matt Frary from SmarterChaos, the guest of Affiliate Buzz #407, says it completely changed his business. Basecamp helps him stay organized while working with several people on multiple projects at once.

Next James details recent changes to Basecamp. Their latest version, Basecamp 3, has an improved look and feel with the same great features. Sign up now and your first Basecamp is completely free.

James details that pricing is $29 a month, and when he signed up he enjoyed a 60-day free trial with no credit card required. Quoting the site, he shares, “Just last week, 11,226 companies got started with Basecamp 3!”

LeadPages Helps Create Better Landing Pages

Then James returns to the topic of LeadPages, which he puts on par with Basecamp for usability and necessity. LeadPages can help create a great landing page, which is key to building on op-ins, gaining more subscribers and followers, and selling more product.

James explains that a wide range of landing page types are free with a LeadPages subscription, which costs $50 per month when paying annually. This includes landing pages for:

* events

* book and video sales

* coupons

* crowdfunding

* contests and promotions

* webinar registration thank you

* testimonials

* tiered pricing with benefits of each tier

* blog resources

* eCommerce products and catalogs

* social shared thank you

* Facebook advertising

* podcasts

* opt-in page as a clever 404 page

* and so many more

James points out that any website owner should have a great 404 page because they get landed on quite often. A 404 page is the page you see on a website that no longer exists or perhaps was never there, such as when typing in a wrong website address.

LeadPages in Action

After a short break, James goes through the eight landing pages he has open during the podcast, which convert at rates ranging from 5% to 10%. One of his pages, http://www.podcastingmastery.com/recurring, which points to affiliate programs offering recurring commissions, is coverting at 21%.

Next James walks through setting up a landing page on Leadpages. The steps are:

* Select a template

* Use the WYSIWYG editor to open the full page

* Replace the sample content with your information

* Integrate with your email service provider, like AWeber or MailChimp

* Set up conversion goals

* Embed in your WordPress site or get the link to link directly from your site

James says if you’ve ever struggled to get opt-ins or pop-ups working on your website, then LeadPages will solve all that because it’s both elegant and easy to use.

Additional Services

After a short break, James returns to inform about additional services, which include:

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell welcomes guest Matt Frary, CEO of SmarterChaos, an internet marketing and sales agency based in Castle Rock, Colorado. In this episode they discuss building profitable companies and performance marketing.

Before the episode kicks off, James invites listeners to join him over at Podcasting Mastery for a free webinar, How to Architect a Podcast that Gives You an Unfair Advantage. You can sign up by heading over to http://www.podcastingmastery.com and clicking on the free training link in the upper menu.

Next James introduces today’s guest, Matt Frary, an internet marketer responsible for taking several businesses to extremely high levels of success. Matt shares a bit about himself and his background, including getting his MBA and the “a-ha moment” that led him to affiliate marketing. After finding success in his first job, Matt left that company and started back at zero again.

The Birth of SmarterChaos

When starting over, Matt looked at where he could add value to the affiliate marketing industry. Using what he learned in the book, The E Myth, he sketched out a plan that looked rather chaotic. Out of that was born a plan to build repeatable systems and strategies to benefit clients. It was the SmarterChaos of today.

From those humble beginnings they’ve worked with companies like Nationwide and Dollar Shave Club. SmarterChaos has also built other companies including:

* SmarterCreatives, a design firm aiding in things like website design and branding

* She Is Media, a blogger network connecting blogs with relevant brands

* Pollen-8.com, a platform where advertisers can get reviews of their products

Business Owners and Self-Promotion

Then James then directs the conversation back a visit he had to Matt’s SmarterChaos office. Matt explains how James watched SmarterChaos close a deal with Meredith Magazines, a company with brands like Martha Stewart Living, Family Circle, and Better Homes & Gardens. Matt goes on to share when closing a deal like that, confidence is everything whether you’re building a product or performing a service.

James and Matt attribute this mindset of company founders being their own advocates Trump’s popularity. Matt calls the U.S. Presidential candidate “a master of self-promotion” who is able to back it up. James agrees; he loves Trump’s confidence and experience.

Matt continues, explaining business owners who feel this way about their companies are in the best position because, “You’re not selling. You’re not telling. You’re guiding and showing and solving. And if I really feel I can solve your problem, I’m excited about that. I want to solve your problem.”

Next James segues into two services Matt put together, Survey Scout and Survey Club. After acquiring the two companies, Matt turned them into products with a back end and a list. He offered similar products like free webinars, and then ran it through ClickBank. Paying affiliates and partners really well, Matt advises, creates affiliates and partners that sell the product for you.

Is Performance Marketing the New Affiliate Marketing?

After a short break, Matt defines performance marketing as an evolution of both affiliate and paid marketing. Using paid marketing techniques in conjunction with your affiliate channel boosts your brand. Performance marketing is the next evolution or trend of affiliate marketing. Matt says it’s what advertisers, product owners, and merchants should be watching.

James looks back to their initial beginnings and points out the landscape has changed dramatically in the time since. A lot of the services Matt mentioned, like retargeting, didn’t exist in the early days of affiliate marketing.

In this edition of the Affiliate Buzz, host and Instructor of the Affiliate Marketers BootCamp, James Martell and co-host Arlene discuss the challenges of using Upwork, getting organized with Basecamp, trains, and if podcasting is the new blogging.

The episode kicks off with James and Arlene revisiting Upwork. Formerly Elance-oDesk, Upwork is the world's largest online platform where businesses and freelance professionals work together.

Using Basecamp to Upgrade your Upwork Experience

Despite some initial bumps, Arlene has found an easier way to navigate the platform. She says the messages bug her less and she likes the ease of adding new projects with existing writers. Although Upwork says it’s for the contractor’s protection, however she wishes it allowed funding multiple milestones at once.

James has noticed a number of upgrades, including some reminiscent of Elance. He wishes Upwork would use Elance’s method of attaching messages to their appropriate projects. He finds the current system of searching through messages frustrating.

Then James and Arlene segue into a discussion about Basecamp. As soon as they hire someone on Upwork, James and Arlene invite the freelancer to Basecamp. The only time Arlene goes back into Upwork is to release funds for the milestones and leave feedback.

James interviewed Matt Frary from SmarterChaos in Affiliate Buzz #407. During the episode, Matt credited Basecamp for giving him the organization tools to keep up with not one but five different businesses.

Although James and Arlene first used Basecamp to work around Upwork frustrations, combining the two platforms has upgraded the way they do business. James adds that now is the perfect time to sign up for Basecamp because your first project is free.

Riding the Rails Across the USA

Then Arlene turns the conversation trains with mention of a story that popped up in her newsfeed about taking a train across the U.S.A. for $213. She and their oldest son Adam, a train fanatic, decided to plan a train trip that would include the Mount Hood Railroad.

James points out that rail travel is a great way to take a breakation. He may work on the train from Vancouver to Portland, but anticipates relaxing during the the Mount Hood Railroad excursion.

Is Podcasting the New Blogging?

After a short break, James and Arlene return to discuss podcasting. James harkens back to his early days in the affiliate industry with the Affiliate Marketer’s Handbook, then gives a brief overview of the evolution since those times. He compares learning podcasting to the early days of WordPress.

James has spent the past 15 months on his Podcasting Mastery course, the most comprehensive course on starting your own profitable podcast. Stay tuned to future episodes of the Buzz to hear more about when it will launch.

Next James turns to a Wired magazine article, linked below, about podcasting becoming the new blogs. It refers to Serial, a 12-episode true-crime series which took off overnight and now has been listened to more times than the top three television sitcoms combined.

Why You Should Start Podcasting

The magazine says podcasting is open to anyone with access to a laptop, a microphone, and a web server. According to James, who agrees adding that a podcast is a marketing exercise, especially for affiliates and others who want to drive traffic to their business.

James goes on to quote the article as saying in 2005, there were an average of 40,000 new blogs being started each day. Fast-forward to today and there are 500 million blogs. Right now there are about 180k active podcasts. Would you rather compete with 500 million blogs or 180k podcasts?

Other reasons to consider blogging are:

* The recent iOS update puts the purple “podcasting” button on the main screen.

* 1.2 million phones with podcasting listening capabilities were sold last year.