Taking Action after Affiliate Summit East 2010 to Grow Your Affiliate Business

John Chow, Murray Newlands & Heather Smith in the Affiliate Summit Blogger's Lounge

Affiliate Summit East 2010 was my first Affiliate Summit and my first time in New York City.  For weeks, I have excitedly looked forward to the conference and now that it’s finished, I’m at the airport waiting on the plane to take me home.  Both the conference and New York were awesome in that they were both bigger, but friendlier than I imagined.

In my mind, Affiliate Summit and New York would be scary places, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Being new to Affiliate Summit, hardly anyone knew me, so I had to make the extra effort to speak to new people and introduce myself.  Everyone was polite, but some people are just more comfortable talking with a stranger than other people.

I found New Yorkers were nothing but helpful when asking directions on how to get around on the subway and bus.  I expressed my surprise of the willingness of people to help me on the street to a native New Yorker at my table during an Affiliate Summit lunch.  He told me New Yorkers are friendly, but very busy trying to get somewhere.  Of necessity social interactions have to be quick, but he said to think of it as quality time, not quantity. For maybe up to 30 seconds, you can have their complete attention.

Shawn Collins in the “First Timers Guide for Affiliate Summit” session said you can literally meet hundreds if not thousands of people during conference and exchange business cards.  He stressed that introductions and conversations are often very brief, but it was important to follow up with people you want to do business with after the conference, preferably with a hand written note.

The Opening Remarks & Keynote, the presentations, the Meet Market, and Exhibit Hall Booths were all excellent but the networking was priceless.  As an Affiliate, how is all this going to change your business?  It won’t unless you apply what you learned or follow up with new contacts that can help you grow your business.  As Jim Kukral stressed in his Keynote speech, take action.