I apologize for my brief hiatus - I have just returned from a action-packed few days at the Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas. I had some great meetings, met some awesome people - all in all a very productive time….

Now as I have had a day or so to recover and process my Summit experience, here are 5 main things (there are many more, but I do not want to write a novel here:) I take away from this year’s conference….

1.  The DotCom Boom is in full effect!

I was listening to a couple of the comments Corey Newhouse made in the final wrap-up session. He said, “It is official, we are back!” Corey was speaking to the many Web veterans in the room that had experienced and weathered the Dotcom Bust at the start of the new millenium and are now riding a new wave of ”eProsperity” in 2007. In chatting with many merchants and ebusiness and hearing their success stories, it is clear the Internet World is a great place to work at this time in history! Web companies are learning from past mistakes and are better equipped to navigate this rapidly evolving Internet landscape.

2.  Diversify Communication Strategies.

With the growth in new communication mediums, this conference was a good confirmation of the great need to diversify the ways by which we communicate our marketing messages and content to consumers and users. Companies need to incorporate a diversified communication platform complete with Blog, Vlogs, Podcasts, Webcasts, Social Networks, Mobile Media etc… I was reminded and challenged to not grow stagnant in the methods way by which we deliver our content and marketing messages. Successful web companies are leveraging Web 2.0 Technology to more effectively pass their message and ultimately expand their reach..

3.  The Consumer is in control!

A continual echo in my discussions and sessions I attended was the transition into Web 2.0 has resulted in a corresponding shift in control to the Consumer and Internet user. User Generated Content and social networks will grow at a meteoric pace in 2007. I was personally challenged with how our company can better leverage the power of Social Networks and user-generated media to grow our business. Web businesses need to look at new ways to build community and collaboration with their consumers and users in order to successfully navigate these new “user-generated” waters.

4.  The shift from Affiliate Marketing to Performance Marketing

Michael Sanchez, CEO of ClubMom.com gave the keynote address and pointed out that the term Affiliate Marketing should  actually be re-phrased to Performance Marketing and that all our ad campaigns should be driven by true performance with clearly defined metrics. He affirmed that marketers should ONLY pay when they receive a desired outcome. Although this is not rocket-science, I fully agree with the shift in terminology from Affiliate Marketing to Performance Marketing - I think it is more descriptive of type of marketing that should drive our ebusinesses moving forward.

5.  Outsourcing is a fast-growing business practice in the Internet Marketing Space.

Now, since we are in the outsourcing business as you know and are just gearing up to launch a new Outsourcing Portal, I did have an opportunity to connect with many merchants and web businesses and discussed their outsourcing efforts and plans. A common thread from many of them was that due to fast growth situations, skill shortages and work overload, they were experiencing the need to outsource or out-task certain Internet Marketing-related functions in order to better sustain their existing platform and keep current with this rapidly moving industry.

On a personal note, we were extremely encouraged by the reception we received for the new outsourcing solution we will be launching specially targeting the Internet Marketing Industry. Most merchants saw great value in being able to tap into a industry-specific outsourcing solution for their evolving web marketing needs. That was nice to hear!

All in all a great show! Kudos to Shawn and Missy for coordinating a super summit!

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