eBay PartnerNetwork Blog

The dates for eBay’s 9th annual Developers Conference have just been announced, and if you register before April 9th you can attend this educational and inspirational event for only $99! Set to take place in sunny San Jose, CA, this year’s summit will take place June 8th-10th at the Fairmont Hotel in the heart of Silicon Valley.

This year’s DevCon includes three days of:

• 40+ hands on workshops, one-on-one sessions and best practices
• Sneak peak of eBay’s plans for the future
• Pre-conference workshops where you can learn directly from the Pros
• Fun network events, like our annual Beer Bash

For more information, including student discounts, schedule and further details about the location, take a look at the DevCon website.

Don’t forget to connect with us on Twitter and Facebook, and you can always find great information on our blog.

We look forward to meeting you in June!

The eBay Partner Network Team

Last February, PPCBlog published an interesting article called “The Ultimate Guide to PPC Affiliate Marketing”. Written for publishers who are new to using Search Engine Marketing to drive traffic to their affiliate sites, it gives a number of great insights into how to get started and be successful in this competitive area. There are no magic tricks or ready-made “easy money” formulas here – just sound advice on how to make sure you are relevant, you understand the market and you add value to your advertisers.

You can read the article here.

Although eBay Partner Network doesn’t allow you to redirect users straight from search engines to eBay, Giovanna’s tips may still come in handy in driving search engine traffic to your own websites.

Happy Reading!
The eBay Partner Network Team

If you haven’t seen it yet, the newly released “Internet Marketing From the Real Experts,” is great reading for affiliates. Edited by Shawn Collins and Missy Ward, the book includes more than 100 brief articles on all things Internet marketing from a group of 88 (the Gang of 88) experts in their fields, including Tim Carter, Brian Clark, Joel Comm, Jim Kukral, Ted Murphy, Jeremy Schoemaker, Mari Smith and our own Will Martin-Gill.

Easy to read between meetings, calls, and the myriad daily chores, the book is broken up into “three minute chapters,” highlighting ideas, advice, and insight most relevant to affiliate and Internet marketers. Those of you who went to Affiliate Summit West probably got a free copy. If you didn’t make it, you can buy one here or you can Tweet us your favorite affiliate marketing tip by midnight Tuesday night, March 2nd (PST) for a chance to win a free copy. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and use the hashtag #ePNTips. We’ll pick our five favorite tips and send the winners a free copy of the book.

Also, if you have some time this week for a good podcast on affiliate marketing, check out Susan Bratton’s latest DishyMix episode, where she interviews Shawn Collins about his thoughts on the hottest trends in affiliate marketing. He talks about where he sees opportunities for affiliates now – local, offline and video – highlights from Affiliate Summit West, finding the right affiliate marketing partner and a little about himself. Susan is a top-notch interviewer and it’s a great listen if you can make the time. It’s about 40 minutes long – perfect for your morning run or when you just need a break from the computer. Listen on iTunes or from the DishyMix website.

Happy Affiliate Marketing!

eBay Partner Network

Today is the 2nd day of Affiliate Summit West at the Rio in Las Vegas and it’s been quite an interesting show so far. A handful of ePN team members are in attendance at this years event, along with a couple of members of the Partner Centric team as well. The eBay Partner Network had a busy a meet market table on Sunday which proved to be big a success. If you’re here and would like to meet up with us, please drop us an email at affiliates-program-us@ebay.com and we’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible to set up a time to chat.

This morning’s inspiring keynote address was by Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of the best selling book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion“. Dr. Cialdini elaborated on his six “Weapons of Influence” and how they apply to today’s marketing communications and strategies.

With three separate educational and informative sessions taking place at once throughout the day, it’s quite a task to soak up all that Affiliate Summit has to offer. Just take a look at the schedule for some perspective on the hot topics at this year’s event. If you didn’t have a chance to make it to Vegas, make sure to check out Affiliate Summit East in NYC from August 15th – 17th, 2010.

Hello Partners,

If you’re going to be at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas this month and have any questions or ideas you would like to discuss with our team, make sure to stop by our Meet Market table! We always look forward to connecting with our partners, both current and new. As you may have heard the show is now sold out, but you can still find the conference agenda, hotel information and more here.

See you soon!

The eBay Partner Network Team

As you may already know, the Performance Marketing Association (formerly known as Performance Marketing Alliance) is an invaluable resource for news and information regarding the performance-based online marketing industry. The Performance Marketing Association (PMA) is a not for profit trade association that was founded in 2008 by leaders in the affiliate marketing industry and Will Martin-Gill of the eBay Partner Network has been on the association’s board since August 2009. It is the mission of the PMA to inform and advocate on behalf of performance marketers, along with share best practices, tools and information that will help cultivate and nurture their businesses.

Industry News & Information

You can keep up with the latest topics such as the advertising tax issue and industry fraud discussions and more on both their Blog and News pages. Check back with the PMA website regularly to stay informed of relevant and time sensitive information.

Calendar of Events

Find a list of relevant events and conferences of relevance to affiliates on the PMA calendar of events. Events to consider attending in January:

Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
January 7th – 10th
Las Vegas
http://www.cesweb.org/

Affiliate Summit West 2010
January 17th -22nd
Las Vegas
http://www.affiliatesummit.com

OMMA (Online Media/Marketing/Advertising) Social
January 26th
San Francisco
http://www.mediapost.com/mediakit/index.cfm?ip=content&sc=70

OMMA Performance
January 27th
San Francisco
http://www.mediapost.com/mediakit/index.cfm?ip=content&sc=81

LinkShare Symposium West
January 28th
San Francisco
http://www.linkshare.com/events/

Check back soon for more information and updates, as Rebecca Madigan, Executive Director of the PMA, will be submitting a guest blog post in the near future.

Finally, in addition to working with the PMA in the US, eBay is also involved in the Affiliate Marketing Council, part of the IAB in the UK and the council’s chair, Matt Bailey, will be writing a guest blog post for us next week.

To your continued success,

The eBay Partner Network Team

It’s that time of year again, we’re making our plans to head out to Affiliate Summit West next month! Several of our team members will be attending the show and hosting a Meet Market table at the conference. If you’re planning to be there, drop by and say hello! Here are the details of the show:

Where: Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas
When: January 17-19, 2010
Pricing: Platinum Pass ($1,249), Gold Pass ($549), Silver Pass ($149)

Special Discount for eBay Partner Network Affiliates
We have secured a discount of 10% off the above pricing for our partners. This discount is valid for any type of pass you wish to purchase. Simply use code ASW10EBAY10 when registering.

Also, be sure to check out Shawn Collins blog Affiliate Tip for more conference news and networking opportunities.

We hope to see you there!

The eBay Partner Network Team

Will Martin-Gill of the eBay Partner Network joined Brook Schaaf, Shawn Collins, Peter Bordes and Gil Abir on a panel moderated by Steve Schaffer at Content Revenue Strategies in NYC this past November. The panel entitled “Affiliate Marketing: A Better Alternative” was a platform for the group to discuss ways to add value for users by finding the right opportunities, appropriate partners and utililizing tools for deeper integrations, along with other strategies and topics such as the affiliate tax.

For more infromation about the panel you can walk-through this presentation.

To your continued success,

The eBay Partner Network Team

Last week, the European eBay Partner Network team and the eBay team at R.O.EYE attended the a4uexpo in London.  As usual, it was great to meet lots of our affiliates face to face and get their feedback.  There was a lot of buzz about Quality Click Pricing and we lost count of how many questions we were asked about it, with interest very high from affiliates, merchants and networks alike. Chris and Julia also presented on the topic, and their talk was called “How incremental is Affiliate Marketing and other difficult questions… or, why eBay introduced Quality Click Pricing!”  You can find the presentation on the a4u slide share site and if you want to take a look at it, we recommend you also look at the notes below as it was very visual!

The European eBay Partner Network team

Hello Partners,

Did you know that in 2007, billions of dollars were paid out to affiliates globally? Join us at Content Revenue Strategies, as we discuss why we believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our own Will Martin-Gill will be on a panel called Affiliate Marketing: A Better Alternative? (Nov. 5th at 11am), where experienced affiliates and advertisers will discuss the ins and outs of affiliate marketing, highlight the key areas of opportunity and offer tips and best practices to help new affiliates achieve maximum ROI. Joining Martin-Gill on the panel will be moderator Steve Schaffer, CEO of Vertive and President of the PMA, Shawn Collins, Co-Founder of Affiliate Summit, Peter Bordes, CEO & Founder of Media Trust, and Brook Schaaf, CEO of Schaaf Consulting.

What is Content Revenue Strategies?

Formerly known as Ad:Space, the re-named Content Revenue Strategies (CRS) is the first and only conference and expo dedicated to AdSense and contextual advertising. Publishers can gain useful knowledge and insights into performance based marketing at CRS. The first CRS conference was a huge success and this year is expected to be even bigger! Check out their website for additional schedule and speaker information.

Conference Details:

CRS is co-located with Ad:Tech New York. CRS attendees will have access to 2 full days of the Ad:Tech New York expo floor which includes a dedicated CRS exhibit zone and lounge. They also have access to 250+ Ad:Tech exhibitors, Ad:Tech special events and Ad:Tech keynote presentations.

Registration

As an eBay partner, you are eligible to receive $100 off the registration price! Act quickly, as this discount ends Friday, October 9, 2009. Simply register here with code CRSeBay.

We hope to see you there,

The eBay Partner Network Team