Aac?

[webanalysissolutions]

My second biggest revenue stream doesn't even go to LAC, AAC, or BAC. I meet with them every month, and speak with them on Skype at least twice a week. Not telling you who it is though!

[Triple7]

Thanks Triple7, agree with you, networking with other affiliates is far more useful than affiliate managers I'm always happy to share open views and exchange ideas, I know we're all in competition with each other for the same people, but if I get as much as I give out I'm happy.

Even as a "newbie" as you describe yourself, you seem to have your head screwed on the right way I have done the same to programs I don't wish to work with over the years. However it's amazing how many newbies do turn up each year and are overwhelmed by the glitz and glamour, girls in short dresses and offers of free alcohol on each stand. It must sell though, as every conference is the same recipe - stuff that young 20-something guys are interested in - girls, alcohol, selfies with celebrities etc etc. You have to try look beyond that as the rewards can be massive if you do business with the right people, and you can also earn zero for a long time if you choose progams who have networked with you and won your trust but won't convert a single dime.

Thanks for your reply

I think that too. It is the main reason I am going. I don't expect to get better deals there and about affiliate programs I am not working with, I think it's like my mailbox every day: full of offers of brands that are dodgy and have to spam everywhere to get some affiliates working with them trying to impress with a high % of revenue share. A good converting brand with a trustable aff. program sell itselfs. They don't need to employ people to spam everywhere the whole day. Competition is competition, but I'm on very good talks with some of them. I give some advice, I receive some advice and in the end we've both won and a little wiser. Also it's good to discuss about legal things, new laws and things like that.

Thanks. I've red quite a lot here, on other forums and I'm having over 10 years banking experience. Ofcourse I do like nice girls in short dresses and I'll have a drink at the conference, but with affiliate programs I am working with and I have good experience with. I won't make selfies with people working at 888 or drinking a beer with RevenueJet.

I got some formula for affiliate programs, parameters are things like clickratio, number of clicks that leads to an account, deposits, payments, but also my own rating plays an important role. I look at things how the client support behaves, if they've got a license, how are the terms & conditions, etc. My visitors are important to me, I don't want to send them to crap casino's where they will never be able to receive their won prize (RevJet for example).

This formula also shows me what a casino has to improve to get better positions. Sometimes it's the revenueshare, but most of the time it is the casino itself or the conversion. Those two usually are going hand in hand. A parameter of 75% rev share, some beers at AAC and some selfies with hot girls and all the rest 0 or almost 0, won't lead to a good formula result. And, I will never send traffic to casino's that are really crap. This week I saw some affiliates here declaring in public that it's no problem for them. I don't understand that.

[Triple7]

My second biggest revenue stream doesn't even go to LAC, AAC, or BAC. I meet with them every month, and speak with them on Skype at least twice a week. Not telling you who it is though!

Most of my main revenue streams are going, but are not having a booth there. About the booths I'm not that enthusiastic. Few exceptions. I also do speak with them when necessairy and this event is nice to speak with them face to face...

[xecutable]

Same thing goes for this forum thought. That doesn't mean you don't log to post and stuff. Could care less about the predator programs around here. Could care less about them at the conferences too, or their booths or their promoters. Just like in here I seek to meet a few colleagues, have a few pleasant conversations and call it a day. And if I didn't live close enough, I admit I probably wouldn't get a ticket, unless I missed Beacon that much.

[Triple7]

Yep, same thing for this forum, skype or my mailbox... And if it is in Australia or Korea, I won't go.

[Marc Weinberg]

I have attended these conferences for many years, first as an affiliate and now as an operator exhibiting our program. Yes, they are exhausting and repetitive, and it is easy to waste your time at one of them attending talks and going to parties, especially as an affiliate. But they can be extremely beneficial to your business as well if you approach them with the right attitude.

As an operator with an affiliate program we need to exhibit, in order to market to affiliates and be seen by our peers. And we also have to display the attractive models, a colorful stand and silly fun giveaways because if it was just me sitting in a janitor's closet trust me no one would stop.

But a face to face meeting, over a beer or a coffee can make a massive difference. You, as the affiliate, might then come away from that meeting feeling that we have a lot in common and with a better deal in your pocket. It's great for me because I can introduce our brands and program to a number of affiliates that haven't worked with us or necessarily even heard of us.

My advice to affiliates is to go with a game plan: set up meetings with the managers you know in order to maximize your partnership, avoid all the bells and whistles and programs you never intend to work with anyway, and then check out the new stands and see if you can add anyone for extra value. You have to be open to that last part and also be determined to negotiate in your meetings otherwise there probably isn't any point in attending. You should also hoover up all the free stuff that programs are willing to throw at you, whether that's a memory stick all the way up to an all-expenses paid skiing trip and a free hotel room (that would be before London, tough to get the free skiing trip in June).

Our program already has several hundred affiliates, and we're still relatively new and by no means "big", so if you want to establish a true one-to-one relationship with us, with the personal attention and the best commission deal that comes with that, nothing beats a personal meeting - remember, you as the affiliate have to promote yourself a little as well at these things!

[universal4]

The sad part is that giving better deals to those that attend conference over those that don't make those of us that do not attend....feel, well let's just say I do not feel all warm and fuzzy about it.

Instead of giving me the feeling that I need to attend, it makes me want to stay away even more.

I have always agreed that they are fun, it's nice to meet the managers and fellow affiliates in that type of atmosphere, and networking is valuable.

Rick
Universal4

[Marc Weinberg]

The sad part is that giving better deals to those that attend conference over those that don't make those of us that do not attend....feel, well let's just say I do not feel all warm and fuzzy about it.

Instead of giving me the feeling that I need to attend, it makes me want to stay away even more.

I have always agreed that they are fun, it's nice to meet the managers and fellow affiliates in that type of atmosphere, and networking is valuable.

Rick
Universal4

That was not the message to take away at all. I was trying to say that if you develop a personal rapport / relationship in any business, but especially in ours where for most of the year we never get the chance to meet one another, then it becomes easier to get "on the radar" of a program, etc. Oh well, if one just posts on forums one can be so misunderstood - QED.

[Casinorep]

It's all well and good talking about the essentials of networking, face to face etc etc, I understand all that, but yes, you might get a slightly better deal, better rev share, some CPA etc, but if a brand doesn't convert, it just doesn't convert, and there's no amount of talking, socialising, drinking, wining and dining that will change that. You might get a few tips, but in general affiliate managers don't understand your traffic that well and advice is generally poor - like "put us on top of the home page" type requests.

In addition I'd say at least 50% of the advertisers you see at conferences either a) have a really bad reputation and dodgy past, and b) are still skimming, or cheating affiliates today. Just read the many posts you find across the affiliate forums.

That may well sound negative, but ultimately it's wise to choose who you invest your time in building business relationships with. I've been in the industry almost 15 years now and i'd say we're a super-affiliate with some brands, but we're only that way because we've chosen our friends wisely and haven't been over-awed by the hype of freebies, wining and dining and the rest of the stuff that goes on at conferences. We get loads of offers to go to sporting events, beers, meals, and other perks, but really only take up companies on about 1 in 10 offers, as a lot of time can be wasted chasing red herrings that ultimately don't earn you a penny.

All that said, I always go to London - that's enough for me to speak to the right people. I have done Barcelona in recent years, but Amsterdam doesn't serve much purpose - it's going into the summer where there's little football activity, and I've just spoken to most people a few months ago at LAC.

Yup, this is why I only schedule meetings with affiliate managers that I currently do business with, or interested in learning more about their products/offerings.

This will only be my second attendance, but I share your sentiment in that I see many unscrupulous programs there showcasing - and I can tell by their super aggressive demeanor among other characteristics.

When I said it's 25% business and 75% leisure, I mean that wholeheartedly - because I really enjoy meeting and socializing with the aff managers that I have great working relationships which doesn't even feel like business.

[TheGooner]

The iGB came to the Southern Hemisphere once (or it may have been a CAP conference?) - and I attended the Sydney conference - as it was only 6 hours away - compared to the 35-40 hours travel time required to visit a European destination.

Was it worth it? Maybe. It WAS interesting to see ONCE, and meet some people.
Was it informative? The seminars were basic - but in the 3-4 I attended I did take away a couple of new thoughts.
Did it have payback? No. Absolutely not. No deals, no discussions of identifiable value.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Venue was good. City was nice. I had a couple of great meals with my partner.

But the idea that I will get more out of a program because I've met directly with the people for 10-15 minutes is laughable. They've got meetings back-to-back-to-back and have done ZERO preparation and are unable to even have time to consider unique or varied partnership ideas.

If programs REALLY think that a-meeting-in-person provides massive benefits then the programs need to rethink their "virtual" business - because they should be delivering good value to all affiliates - and be able to do it remotely. (I certainly don't need to meet my visitors to deliver value).

Would I do it again? Maybe. If I could tie the event into something else I wanted to do so that the travel costs/time were not totally attributable to the conference. France is hosting Euro 2016 next June ... so maybe something this time next year would suit.

[webanalysissolutions]

The iGB came to the Southern Hemisphere once (or it may have been a CAP conference?) - and I attended the Sydney conference - as it was only 6 hours away - compared to the 35-40 hours travel time required to visit a European destination.

Was it worth it? Maybe. It WAS interesting to see ONCE, and meet some people.
Was it informative? The seminars were basic - but in the 3-4 I attended I did take away a couple of new thoughts.
Did it have payback? No. Absolutely not. No deals, no discussions of identifiable value.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Venue was good. City was nice. I had a couple of great meals with my partner.

But the idea that I will get more out of a program because I've met directly with the people for 10-15 minutes is laughable. They've got meetings back-to-back-to-back and have done ZERO preparation and are unable to even have time to consider unique or varied partnership ideas.

If programs REALLY think that a-meeting-in-person provides massive benefits then the programs need to rethink their "virtual" business - because they should be delivering good value to all affiliates - and be able to do it remotely. (I certainly don't need to meet my visitors to deliver value).

Would I do it again? Maybe. If I could tie the event into something else I wanted to do so that the travel costs/time were not totally attributable to the conference. France is hosting Euro 2016 next June ... so maybe something this time next year would suit.

Mostly my thoughts to Gooner. I don't want to sound negative, but in my case I do generally go to the non-London conferences for a holiday and to enjoy Barcelona for example. The meetings are short, I almost compare it to speed dating sometimes - you literally get 15 mins to talk to a manager and all you get out of them is - give us a go, put some banners on your home page, and let's see. For me, I need a lot more than that - time to talk about geo-targeting, player profiling etc

But to be honest, in my experience over the years most programs are pretty clueless as to what marketing works and what doesn't as they can rarely give you any more information than "put our banners in top positions". I've found myself telling affiliate managers what works well in the past and almost educating them! I suppose a lot of them don't have any experience from the affiliate perspective.

Seminars - yes, pretty amateur, and generally a chance for the speaker to blow their own trumpet and big up their own company. I see the same faces presenting every year, talking the same generic babble with no real detail.

Would I go again - yes, I go to London as it's near - that's my chance each year to see what's new and do what I need to do in person with the people I don't meet regularly anyway. I won't really bother with the overseas ones, unless I want to tie it in with a holiday.

[Triple7]

The meetings are short, I almost compare it to speed dating sometimes - you literally get 15 mins to talk to a manager and all you get out of them is - give us a go, put some banners on your home page, and let's see. For me, I need a lot more than that - time to talk about geo-targeting, player profiling etc

It sounds like the same thing I receive always in my mailbox or at Skype. "We convert very well, give us a go, put us on top, let's discuss a deal for a banner in top position, etc".

I'm short in business, but I am already fed up with that. Give things a go without any relevant arguments usually doesn't work. Also quite a bunch of affiliate managers really don't know too much about how things work. They act the way they act, because they're having some quota's to get banners on topposition, etc. If they knew how things would be working, they wouldn't be mailing the whole day, but they would have some succesful portals...

[xecutable]

o.O 40 hrs of flying... I barely sustain 3. My longest one was Chicago -> Frankfurt 8hrs and at the end of it I didn't care if we crash or not . Can only imagine flying 12-15 hrs. Nevertheless I'd be excited to meet you Paul, and discuss where down the road you went wrong to become an Arsenal fan

[thebookiesoffers]

o.O 40 hrs of flying... I barely sustain 3. My longest one was Chicago -> Frankfurt 8hrs and at the end of it I didn't care if we crash or not . Can only imagine flying 12-15 hrs. Nevertheless I'd be excited to meet you Paul, and discuss where down the road you went wrong to become an Arsenal fan

I find the longer I fly the better, flown UK to Sydney, with a cold, that wasn't too fun but long haul normally I find a piece of ****. Dont forget if Paul was just talking "flying" time you can do New Zealand to UK in 26ish hours, but door to door 40 hours travelling is no fun at all, totally agree with that

[Renee]

It's just a big booze up for the affiliate managers isn't it? I guess some of the best relationships are made over a beer in a more relaxed vibe.

Don't listen to Martyn. I think most of the managers pissing it up are the ones with families who never get out. Some of us rarely drink at the conferences.

o.O 40 hrs of flying... I barely sustain 3. My longest one was Chicago -> Frankfurt 8hrs and at the end of it I didn't care if we crash or not . Can only imagine flying 12-15 hrs. Nevertheless I'd be excited to meet you Paul, and discuss where down the road you went wrong to become an Arsenal fan

Settle down. Nothing wrong with the gunners.

Flying from Sydney is about 26 hours too, door to door even longer. Considering we are only in Amsterdam 3 days it sux a bit, so we need to make sure it's worth it for us.

[xecutable]

Where was everyone today. I barely saw anyone, but Beacon and he didn't even recognize me, or he's playing hard to get.

[Triple7]

Conclusion after two days in Amsterdam:

* It's nice to see the faces behind the mails / skype conversations.
* I agreed some nice bonus offers with affiliate managers. Usually with the ones I'm working already with.
* In some conversations with affiliate managers or game providers, I heard new and useful things that I can use for my websites
* The seminars were usually old news and quite basic.
* Some affiliate managers are worse than the jewelry sellers in countries like Tunisia, Turkey, etc. They keep on asking and asking...
* Some really are having a complete lack of education or are that desperate for traffic that they even interrupt when you're in another conversation or eating and talking with other people.

[webanalysissolutions]

* Some affiliate managers are worse than the jewelry sellers in countries like Tunisia, Turkey, etc. They keep on asking and asking...
* Some really are having a complete lack of education or are that desperate for traffic that they even interrupt when you're in another conversation or eating and talking with other people.

This made me laugh

Same thing every conference then! I was starting to think last conference to wear a t-shirt saying "no, I'm not interested in binary options". Luckily they relegated all these people to the top floor of London, so you could avoid them.

Some of the sales techniques are cringeworthy though. Had a guy interupt me on the stairs sticking out his hand and trying to shake mine. When I said "who are you?" he just ran off.

I've had the interuption technique too. Amazing, you can even be sat down in a meeting at another advertiser's stand and some of these guys are stood on the sidelines circling like vultures to try grab you when they see you talking to their competition.

[TheGooner]

Interesting to read of your experiences guys. Helpful.

[xecutable]

Nobody likes sports betting :P is the bottom line. For 3 days all I heard was "Do you do Binary Options". Extremely aggressive managers in terms of approaching that is. I don't think anyone else has approached me but Binary.

At day 2, I just put a deflated football on my head and walked around with it to show them im into sports.

Things that I liked:

- Was pretty well organized.

- Good atmosphere and lots of people to talk to.

- Talked to tons of people, though I had 0 appointments and no plans to talk to anyone.

- Met old friends from BAC 2011.

- Good 2 days of entertainment, if you have nothing else to do

- Played a few games of pool, air hockey etc, was pretty cool to meet some new people and have fun meanwhile.

Things I didn't like:

- Pre-registration, was behind the hotel's bar/restaurant. To get there, tbh I didn't expect I had to walk through 55 tables with people on them. I was a bit confused but finally found it.

- Pre-reg sponsored networking event was from 16:00 - 18:00, at 17:00 the sponsor decided to take away all of the beers and wine, and the people just got there, couldn't get anything. Felt sorry for them tbh, cause they kept coming and coming at one point i was chatting with the bar guy that he should put a sign if he doesn't wanna stand there deny people all day. Anyways found that pretty lame, especially when they didn't run out of stuff, but just took it away.

- I'm not into free stuff, and I didn't get anything, but I brought a friend who was looking forward to it. Other people also wanted to take advantage of my "yellow" badge, but ha ha there was nothing to get at all, besides snacks. Not even a flash disk or something they could use. I think they got some shirts and a bottle opener or something at the end idk.

- Aggressively approaching Binary Option Managers, that even grab you by the arm. I was pretty chill in the beginning, then I started telling them I'm not into the stealing money business. I like players to have a fair chance of getting something.

- I didn't eat lunch there, but from what i heard, there was no free lunch or anything at all? Maybe the followed the idea, alcohol on empty stomach will hit you hard .

- Not as interactive as I expected.

Overall, I would repeat, if it's here in Amsterdam, however I'd see if I'd go both days. Pretty sure I saw everything I could see and do on Day 1. Oh, apparently memorizing some of the bad terms for major companies, and opening up with it is "being rude" now

Also no other affiliate from around here approached me but Beacon and Renee said I'm a lot uglier in person than my picture here, so maybe that's why.