The first session just started at Affiliate Summit East 2012, New York City titled “The Power of Blogging and Branding“.
Bloggers Zac Johnson, John Chow, John Rampton and moderated by Lisa Picanille presented to a large audience of beginner to advanced bloggers. The stories range from Zac Johnson appearing on news shows like Fox News to John Chow checking to see if sallychow.com was available before he and his wife named his daughter!
Zac recommends that everyone register their own name for a domain if possible. A great idea for branding. I registered my name, kirktaylor.com, in 2000. That was before I knew what blogging was, so make sure you take Zac's advice.
I've had dinner many times with John Chow, attended his sessions many times and have always learned something new from him. This time, he's suggested making “Demo Video's” to build credibility with your audience.
Here's John's Demo Video list:
- Make the video one to two minutes long
- Keep it to 3 key points
- Have testimonials
- Show the results
- Always have the demo with you
John also suggested that you create your own book, which you can self-publish through Amazon.com with their print on demand service.
John Rampton spoke of his venture blogging.com and selling his sites on Flippa.com.
John tells the audience to make the posts between 500-1000 words in length, three links, making twenty comments on other blogs and guest posting.
The question and answer session opened with a technical question, Can you get your blog to automatically post on Facebook. If you're using WordPress, you can use a plugin to connect.
Another question had to do with selling advertising on your blog. John stated OIO publisher is the tool he uses ( I also use) to run his advertising. Default advertisements run in the advertising slots until someone buys the ad position so you're able to keep making money on the site using affiliate marketing.
OIO publisher makes your advertising totally automated and you're able to get paid using paypal.
Another question came out of the audience asking how much do you outsource verses write yourself.
Zac Johnson answered he does 99% of the writing on his own personal blog, but others sites are primarily outsourced content.
The answers in the very first session make coming to Affiliate Summit East absolutely worth it. This is a great session that should be repeated every year.