My first post of 2009! And you thought I had given up already on my blog…if I was “employed”, I’d be fired by now I guess…but luckily I’m still Masterless in 2009! I’ll try to keep this short, but just wanted to do an overall update before I get back to regular posting.

Affiliate Summit West: Vegas Style
Well, I started off 2009 well by attending Affiliate Summit West in Vegas. (Yeah, no ASW blog post with pics of debauchery…next time). As you can imagine, it was a blast. I didn’t network as much this time. I mainly attended for the parties, and the chance to further get to know some of the affiliates I had met in Boston. It was a good excuse to get away from the computer for a few days, have a few drinks with my affiliate buddies, and of course…meet Mystery from the Pickup Artist (only kidding, dude look homo!). But mainly ASW was a good way to motivate and energize me with ideas for 09′.

My main take aways are that I need to start using Facebook & social media. As much as I hate Google Adwords on some days, I spend the majority of my time and money on Google since creating and testing campaigns is fast. I totally ignored social media at my own peril being that most of the big affiliates I met at ASW were banking on Facebook, not Google. So 09′ is about diversifying and getting new traffic.

New Year’s Resolutions:
One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to get and stay much more organized. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m pretty scattered with projects and ideas. I have tons of projects that I started, then stopped, then started back up again. If I’d been more focused from the get go, I’m sure I’d be much more profitable.  My inbox is a mess, and my financial housekeeping is horendous. But I recently formed an S-Corp, so I’m commited to getting my financial house in order and knowing exactly where I’m spending my money. It’s a challenge, but I’m forcing myself to become more disciplined with my daily work routine (to limit my play time, Skype, Wicked Fire reading, etc).  I’ll still take 20 minutes out of my day to play some Call of Duty, but that’s it!

As for the future of MasterlessSamurai.com…
You can probably tell that I’ve finally ditched the UBD Moneymaker theme. I’m on a new theme temporarily until I outsource Unique Blog Designs to do a complete custom overhaul of this site.I apologize in advance if you see promotions for crappy ebooks like “Blogging to the Bank”. I simply haven’t had the time to fully customize this new theme with my own touch.

I’m thinking to model my new design based off of a very cool business card that my buddy Matt of WebPrint20 created for me for ASW. Check it out below!

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With regard to posts…I’ll keep the tutorials coming. I’d like to implement an easier way to do Camtasia screencasts with more video posts since type up tutorials are so time consuming. I may not post that often simply because I’m very busy with my own projects (taking action is key), but when I do post I’ll try to make it worth your time. I’d like to think  my blog is different from many of the affiliate blogs out there. You’ll never see a screenshot of my earnings. I won’t waste my time with the name calling that tends to plaque this industry. And of most importantly….no “dick rolls” (We’ll maybe just a few) If I can help a few people along their affiliate journey, that’s great. (you can repay me by signing up to some CPA networks under my referral link

Affiliate Marketing 2009
As far as the future of affiliate marketing…it’s here to stay in my opinion. At ASW I did hear some fear that we should make the money while it lasts because it won’t be around much longer. I see affiliate marketing as wee’ young teenager that just discovered his first pubic hair. This industry is still new and relatively unknown to most people, and with the economy in shambles, only more people will be drawn to “how to make a living online”.

I do see the scammy / shady offers either getting harder to make money with, or regulated. Google has pretty much removed most of the Acai Berry blogs, though you can still promote Acai with other types of landing pages. Facebook has become more laxed with their gestapo type oversight recently, so get your $25K Obama stimulus check now!

People now have less disposable income and are being more careful with their purchases, so figuring out where and what people are buying is key. It’s not too late to enter affiliate marketing for the first time. In fact, now is a great time since so many people are out of work, at home on the computer more looking for solutions to their problems. And tools abound…you can buy a tool that with simplify or automate almost anything.

I apologize for no posts in January. As many cool ideas as I had planned, I couldn’t bring myself to sit down and post since I’ve been working non-stop with ideas from Affiliate Summit. I’m not rich, so making money for my business will always take priority over posting free blog content. But when I do post, I hope there is always something informative for you to take away. Are you subsribed to my RSS feed?

I’m off to San Francisco for Meetup202. More cool stuff coming this week.

- SamuraiWes (a new nickname I seem to have acquired at Affiliate Summit)

Day 2: Continued from Day 1

Day 3: (Below)

Day 2 kicked off to a late start for me. I didn’t roll in from the partying the night before until about 5:30 AM, so waking up at 8 or 9 was far from my mind. Finally at about 12PM I began to stir, and about 1 or so, was back at the Seaport Convention Center to visit the booths and meet some more people.

The area where the booths were set up was much more spacious, making walking around and talking to new people much easier than at the Meet Market. Before I arrived in Boston, I had a nicely sized list of booths and people who I wanted to meet, but of course forgot to print it out and bring it along. I still managed to do ok, visiting just about (if not all) the booths I had planned.

Some of the highlights: Read the rest of this entry

Affiliate Summit Boston came and went, and without a doubt, kicked some major ass. My first, but certainly not last AS event. (Vegas is coming baby!)

I’m kinda bummed that it’s already over though, as 3 days literally flew by. As a guy I hung out with said (PJS from Israel), and I quote “I wish there were an Affiliate Disneyland of sorts where the networking, new friends, and late night partying would continue year round”). Touché.

I don’t think there was a dull moment from the time I arrived until the time I finally left (this morning).

I’m now in Houston visiting some family for a few days before flying back to San Francisco on Sunday. I had a rather bumpy flight from Boston to DC, causing one of the worst neck crinks I’ve ever had. An hour at the massage parlor only provided temporary relief. And like an idiot, I left my cell phone at the gate at Logan Airport. Luckily though, United found it and will be FedEX’ing it to me tomorrow.

Anyway, yeah…back to Affiliate Summit Boston, my thoughts & experiences:

Day 1: Arrival. I crashed out at p202’s room until my room was ready the next morning. (thanks again guys). Steven and I were hungry as hell when I got to the hotel and finally found a local pizza joint that was open at 1:30am, that would deliver to the Westin. What a dilemma this turned out to be.

The dumb ass delivery guy got went to the wrong hotel 3 times, and finally showed up with 2 very cold, flat, and stale pizzas at about 5:30am. By this time I had passed out and had all but gave up on eating that night. Gourmette Boston pizza at it’s finest.

I spent most of the next day at the Meet Market walking around meeting people & a few of my “new” affiliate managers, and hanging out with the Prosper202 guys.

I was happy to have a chance to dust off my networking skills, which were probably a little rusty from my past life as a systems administrator, on the off chance that the Navy sent me to a seminar or training course.

I managed to come about 20 cards shy of my goal of pawning off all 100 of my very ghetto homemade business cards. But I’ve gotta (smile on the inside) at how many positive comments I received for the fact that I included a small pic of my ugly mug on the front of my cards. I had no idea this was such as novel idea, especially among such well crafted marketing minds. Of the 100+ cards I received, I don’t think I saw one other card with a picture to go with the name.

Personally, I myself am usually good with faces, but terrible with names, unless I’ve had longer than a 3 minute conversation with you. And the whole point of the event was networking, so I figured I’d try to maximize it’s effectiveness. (I’ll give props to my mother for the idea, as this is a common networking strategy among real estate agents)

The Meet Market was a blast though, and the encounters were often casual and an personal. My only complaint was the lack of condiments normally provided at such events such as complimentary coffee, juice, or fruit. Water was made available, but that was about it. By dinner I was starving as breakfast and lunch apparently were not in the stars for day 1 of ASE.

Dinner that night was spent among about 25 other affiliates, as Ian Fernando was kind enough to invite me along for the event at Anthony’s Pier 4 seafood restaurant (thanks again Ian). The food was pretty good, though I somehow managed to eat two salads, not realizing a first salad came as an appetizer after I had already placed my order.

And then….ah the ShareASale boat party. Some people complained that this party was lame. I disagree. Yeah, the band blew (what was the deal with them playing sitting down? …gay). But an open bar, wasted affiliate managers, and secret outside blackhat talks was a good thing. I had a good time.

And then to top off day 1…a visit to Lucky’s bar out in town, followed by a private gathering in a $3000/night suite at the Westin, I thought the fun would never end. The events for the rest of the night will have to remain private between those who were there, but nonetheless…it convened into a rather interesting evening.

Day 2: To be continued…

Way of the Warrior: Tip of the Day: Meet your affiliate managers in person by any means possible. Attending an Affiliate Summit is a must. Get to know them, go have some drinks and build a relationship and possibly a friendship. It’s not who you know, its who knows you.