Shawn Collins is giving an unlimited number of FREE passes to Affiliate Summit. It's for affiliates only (if you want to learn affiliate marketing and can swing it, you should go!). Going to Affiliate Summit really got me into affiliate marketing.

Write an essay (150-200 words) about why you want to go. You've got until June 19th. The conference costs over $1K. Flights can still be found for around $350 (I use Sidestep)

This is a smart idea. There is definitely more incentive for people on expense accounts to go (affiliate managers) than for affiliates who pay their own way. One reason affiliate managers go is to meet new affiliates to promote their products. This will help get more affiliates there. And yes, I do miss traveling on an expense account.

When & Where: July 9-11 at the Disney World Resort Hilton in Orlando Florida

Let me know if you're going. It would be fun for a group of us from Utah could meet at lunch the last day to network and talk about what we learn.

Packet 8 VoIP – I'm tired of counting minutes. I'm going back to Packet 8, for just $19.99 a month. That includes caller ID, conference calling, call forwarding, call waiting, and voicemail. It's a better deal than Vonage. I had a good experience using it a few years ago. No sign up commitment.

If you've ever wanted to try VoiceoverIP, it's pretty easy. They send you a modem, it works on a regular phone using your high speed internet line rather than the phone company. You can't tell a difference, it's just like a regular phone.

I'm still smarting from the highest T-mobile wireless bill of my life (OUCH)! I'm going back to VoIP and cell for on-the-road calls. The big problem is they said I can't port my cell number.

Note: Packet 8 has an auto-approved afiliate program via Linkshare. $60 payout for a residential line. Not bad. I haven't checked it against Vonage but I heard their payouts just went down.

Seth Godin's blog talked about how bad web design can be better for marketing because it jars you into paying attention.  

He said: 

"…bad web design might actually be a good thing! Slightly bad design isn't familiar. It's off. It demands attention. (Very bad design demands the 'back' button, of course). One of the reasons that experienced power tool users–like table saws–can still lose a finger is that they don't pay attention… it's too easy to turn the thing on and just use it."

I've read this a lot lately and have been thinking of it as my newest site is being designed. Should I use colors that are slightly off on purpose? Should I try for unique beautiful or just plain white everything so a splash of color somewhere will draw the eye?

I have this debate. I tend towards trying to do both, make my design elegant and make it stand out. I really don't like bland but as a marketer I want to do what makes sense. After all, that's what pays the bills.

What do you think? Is it better to have a somewhat ugly design if your content is good? Can you have good design and make it stand out? 

Does anyone know what search engine senior citizens prefer to use? Do you know where I can find out?

John Jonas started a blogging community web site called Writing Up. It's an easy way to start blogging and making money.

I recommend Writing Up for beginners for these reasons:

- You can easily see how many people read each blog entry.

On WordPress you can only see the past two days most popular blog entries. WritingUp keeps a running tally. I like to see which entries are most popular and turn them into full-blown articles.

- WritingUp is optimized for keywords so you can make money off Google Adsense. Half of the time your ads show (you make money when someone clicks on an ad) and half the time Writing Up ads show.

- John is an expert internet marketer. The site is search engine optimized to maximize your writing for profit (getting paid is a great fringe benefit).

- At any given time there are at least 2,000 people on the site, much more traffic than most individual bloggers get.

- He gives great tips for beginners on keyword optimization and other internet marketing subjects.

- WritingUp allows affiliate links. Obviously this is a big selling point to me.

Blogging helps you keep your writing skills sharp. It's also a simple way to practice internet marketing techniques you want to try. I've made friends, gotten job leads, made money, gotten press passes, and even dates as a result of my blog. Jonas has been on TV because of his.

It's rewarding to watch your audience grow and to start a dialogue with them.

It was addicting to write for newspapers and seeing what I cared about in print. I liked the perks like getting a press pass or free concert tickets. I never did it full-time because the stress (constant tight deadlines to meet) and low pay. When I blog I get to write about what I want to write about when I want to write it.

I’m about half way through The Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner. It’s long but most of it reads fast.

This is an ebook for beginner affiliates. It covers everything from different hosting companies to forum etiquette (huh?!).

Rosalind for the most part avoids technical jargon. She writes to the average person. There doesn’t seem to be a particular system or strategy. She takes a long-term approach.

You will:

• Get her privacy policy for your web site. She lets you copy it word for word.
• Get 10 scripts you can use. Scripts allowing people to ‘bookmark this page’ or one to create pop-ups.
• Get tips on writing newsletters and articles (I recommend Turn Words into Traffic to learn how to write well online).
• See how things are done with her useful screenshots. These are especially helpful when she explains how to do keyword research.

If you’re just starting out you can learn about affiliate marketing in a non-threatening way. My biggest gripe is this book just tries to cover too much ground. It goes very wide and broad and therefore most subjects are just skimmed over. It seems like there are several mini-books and that including so many side topics, the main message is diluted.

The best new tip I’ve learned so far: use Amazon.com to find books on a subject. Scan index pages or tables of contents to get new keywords and to educate yourself about an industry.

This book could use another edit…

Straight from Guy Kawasaki's blog. He admits the shocking truth: I don't know HTML.

Digital Persona is a fingerprint reader. I want one.

Here's why: 

• No more passwords to remember!
• More secure than passwords which can be easily guessed and stolen
• One touch access to secure web sites
• Runs on Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
• Easy to install and use, plus it a sleek design (hipness factor)
• Pop-up menu allows you to encrypt or decrypt files

The bad:

• Doesn't work in Firefox
• No Mac version

Digital Persona – $111 on Amazon

Tahitian Noni laid off over 120 people today with more coming. I know many of the people. My friend who is a call center supervisor laid off 8 on her staff. I've also heard it was across the board except one complete department (Success Path) that catered to distributors is gone.

They say they're hiring more staff at local offices and trimming at corporate. 

Declan Dunn spoke at the last Affiliate Summit about how we learn.

He said we learn:

10% of what we read (increase by learning the "Love is the Killer" App method of reading books)
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we discuss with others
80% of what we experience ourselves (I think I'm at about 60%)
95% of what we teach others 

He's a great and energetic speaker. I hope he's on for Affiilate Summit this July in Orlando. If you're interested in affiliate marketing, you should attend this conference.