Events like Affiliate World and Affiliate Summit are enduring staples of the affiliate marketing industry.
They’ve achieved longevity by providing an avenue for important interaction. For networks, affiliates, agencies, and traffic platforms, conferences are one of the best ways to create and foster relationships with each other.
Unfortunately, holding an indoor event with thousands of attendees during a pandemic just isn’t feasible (or legal).
That obstacle has made 2020 the first year since the 2000’s that’s lacked a steady flow of affiliate marketing conferences.
If you’re an affiliate who found value in attending these shows, you may be experiencing a void in your life. Familiar faces are becoming less familiar and your grip is weakening without that stack of business cards to grasp.
Although there’s nothing that can replicate that conference experience, there are actions you can take that will provide you with similar benefits.
Even if you aren’t an avid conference-goer, doing the following can greatly improve your knowledge, awareness, connections, and confidence as an affiliate marketer.
Increase Your Presence on Industry Forums
Becoming more active on affiliate marketing forums is a great way to replicate the 1-on-1 interactions that conferences offer.
Forums are useful for creating open dialogue with other affiliates while educating yourself on industry trends and patterns. They’re simply a great way to stay informed of what’s going on in affiliate marketing right this second. Considering how quickly things can change in an online industry, that’s pretty useful.
You can also use forums as another form of contact with networks. For example, MaxBounty has a presence on most of the top industry forums. You’ll find us on there interacting with users and answering any questions relating to our network.
The best part is most are free to register and those with paid memberships more than pay for themselves quickly with their community and resources.
Here’s a few affiliate marketing forums that we think you should be joining and exploring right now:
affLIFT
AffiliateFix
STM(Stack That Money) Forum
Warrior Forum
Find an Affiliate Marketing Mentor
Finding an experienced mentor can help you discover new ways of making money as an affiliate.
In most cases, they’ve already achieved the success you’re looking for and know what’s required to get there.
Although conferences provide an avenue to meet potential mentors either on the exhibit floor or following presentations, the value they offer is still primarily found online.
A mentor can offer you several benefits, including:
- Allowing you to learn from someone else’s’ mistakes instead of your own
- Having your important questions answered
- Exposing you to new traffic sources, verticals, and campaigns
- Providing you with new resources to utilize
Mentorships are great because you get to decide the level of formality.
You can save money by just following blogs and social media accounts or accelerate your learning through paid coaching or e-books. You can learn from afar or try to build a real relationship with the individual or team.
A potential mentor can be found in any online environment where affiliate marketing has a presence. This includes:
- YouTube Channels
- Facebook Groups
- Social Media
- Forums
- Podcasts
- Blogs
We recommend you find someone who’s knowledgeable in what you need to learn, and whose communication style engages you.
Here’s some of the industry’s must renowned names to check out. Following them on Twitter and then exploring their blogs and other resources is a great starting point.
Charles Ngo @Dr_Ngo
John Chow @JohnChow
Luke Kling @LukeKling
Jeremy Schoemaker @Shoemoney
Zac Johnson @ZacJohnson
Keep in mind that these are some of the biggest names in the industry. You can still find plenty of valuable mentoring opportunities with individuals and teams who have less of a presence.
Enroll in a Training Course
Although there can be some crossover between mentorships and training courses, they differ from a mentorship by offering a more focused, structured form of learning.
For instance, in 2019 MaxBounty partnered with Charles Ngo to launch his Leadgen Engine training course.
This 21-module, 6-case study paid course was designed to teach those who enrolled white-hat lead generation strategies with a considerable focus on Facebook ads.
This is a more targeted approach to learning than you’d receive from forums or a regular mentorship. However, courses will cost you more.
How much you spend will be determined by:
- Your budget
- What you want to learn
- Who is teaching the material
- The length of the course
Since most courses are paid and we aren’t currently affiliated with one, we’re going to refrain from providing specific recommendations.
It’s likely that exploring industry forums and potential mentors will lead you to many training course opportunities.
What we can do, is tell you what to look for in your search.
- A teacher with a reputation of proven success
- NO dishonest claims of making money quickly or easily
- Highlighted, specific course material
- Fees that fit within your budget (don’t overextend)
Conclusion
Nothing compares to the experience of attending an affiliate marketing conference. However, if you’re missing what they offered, there are other ways to stay active in the affiliate marketing community until they return.
Increasing your knowledge and connections should be a continual process, no matter what the world throws at us.
