You don’t have much time left….

Well, we’re down to the last two weeks of the year….can you believe it.  Of course, I’m running around like crazy getting ready for the Christmas holiday, and on top of that my son’s birthday is December 24^th, so this time of year is even busier for me than for most.   For all of you who celebrate birthdays either the day before or the day after Christmas you know what I’m talking about, and you hold a special place in my heart.

I’m also gearing up for 2011, and rumor has it that this year will be a game changer in the world of affiliate marketing and I am super excited that I will be a part of it.

First, my husband Greg, along with two other very smart affiliate marketers (Jon Shugart and Luke Sample), have partnered and are kicking it off in Las Vegas on January 8, with a seminar on media buys, monetization, and automation.  I am truly blown away by the content that they will be sharing, and I promise that if you implement their strategies, your affiliate marketing business will absolutely explode.  Click here to learn and register for the event:  https://www.therockstaralliance.com/vegas.html

Second, immediately following my hubby’s seminar, I’ll be heading over to Affiliate Summit West, one of the premier industry events for affiliate marketers.  If you are serious about your affiliate marketing business, you need to make it your business to head to Vegas and attend.

Third, after Affiliate Summit, I will be attending a closed door masterminding session strictly for affiliate marketers and I’m positive that I’ll be walking away with some gems.  So as you can see, there’s lots going on in January, and if you want to be a part of it, you don’t have much time left.

I’m getting fired up for 2011 and I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you.   My goal for 2011 is not only to share information, but for those of you who are still on the fence, to inspire you to take the leap and start doing it yourself.

Wishing you a joyous holiday season, and a phenomenal New Year!!!

Love and success in 2011,

Kim

It’s 11PM Wednesday night, and I’ve spent the evening with my mother-in-law (which has been wonderful) preparing for our big Thanksgiving feast. This year I am hosting my in-laws, and for those of you who don’t know, my husband is one of eight children, so there will be lots of aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. At last count, I’ve got over 30 people descending on my home. As a matter of fact, I’ll be up at 4AM to start cooking a 25 pound turkey. I swear it’s the biggest turkey that I’ve ever seen….LOL!

Me and my mom-in-law after stuffing the turkey.

Of course we all know that Thanksgiving is more than just about a meal, so I want to take this time to thank you for being supportive by reading my blog and reaching out to me via Facebook, Twitter, and sometimes in person. I’ve had a great 2010, and have met so many wonderful people. Not just in affiliate marketing but in various entrepreneurial ventures.

Of course we should always be thankful, but it is at this time of year, we are reminded how important it is to take this time to reflect and be thankful for all our accomplishments over the past year.

Wishing you a joyous start to the holiday season,

Kim

Are you careful who you spend your time with…

I just returned from another awesome industry event for Affiliate Marketers… AdTech NYC. As usual I had a great time, and once again I was reminded of the power of networking but of like minds coming together.

Now I know that for many of you starting out in this industry you may be thinking, “I’ve got to spend all my money buying traffic; I can’t afford the expense of traveling to an event just to network”. Well, I used to feel the same way. I figured that my time AND my money was best spent learning about the industry, not hanging out with people I didn’t really know. I just couldn’t see the value… but after attending just one of these events my eyes were opened, and I realized that there is more going on at these events than just going from booth to booth of the convention floor, or partying the night away….although the parties are great. LOL! There is power in association.

First, these events offer you the rare opportunity of meeting and learning from the top affiliates in the industry, and by being around such high performers, it challenges you to think big. Second, you walk away with so many innovative strategies and ideas that you’d be crazy not to implement. But more importantly events such as these are where some of the biggest deals in the industry are made, and you want to be a part of that.

So no matter what your niche, you owe it to yourself to attend an industry event, get plugged in, and watch your business skyrocket.

Spending time with the husband…

During this year’s AdTech, my husband and I decided to do something different and invited two Diamond Level Coaching clients to join us in NY. It was a huge success. Not only was it a great opportunity to get to know our clients better, but it was also a wonderful opportunity to treat some really great guys to a good time.

Hangin’ out in NYC at
one of the industry
parties hosted by
ECM…of course.

Many people ask how it is that my husband and I have been able to create a successful business, live together, raise two children, and not strangle one another. Now having a business partner can be stressful, but when that partner is your spouse it can really get crazy. However, as a couple you share a unique dedication to the success of the business.

If you and your spouse have a business together here are a couple of tips to keep your business and marriage strong:

1. Maintain clear and separate responsibilities – If you role is sales and his is finance, keep it that way.
2. Keep your personal lives out of the office – No arguing about who left the toilet seat up in front of clients.
3. Keep business out of the bedroom – I don’t think I need to explain this one.
4. Get away with each other – Take time to enjoy the time together and with the kids away from the business.
5. Get away from each other – Take time to hang with the fellas or the girls.
6. Capitalize on the benefits of working together – You are in the unique position to make your own schedule. Schedule your time and agenda to fit your life, not the other way around.

If you and your spouse are in business together, you know it can be challenging. However, when everything clicks, when everything works right, there’s nothing better. Work hard. Make money. Have fun.

Spending time on your business…

One last note about AdTech. I’ve mentioned this in a number of my previous blogs and my predictions are becoming more and more evident. What is the biggest growth industry in CPA right now? You guessed it…I hope. Mobile advertising. I even ran across a couple of new advertisers who are strictly running mobile ads for CPA. That would have been unheard of just a couple of years ago.

Last year, there were a few mobile advertisers at the show. This year, there were at least three times the previous year, and I’m sure that number will continue to grow. Let’s face it, who doesn’t have a cell phone, so if you’re not seriously thinking about adding this advertising medium to your current business model now. You will miss out. The money is made by early adopters, if you wait too long, the opportunity will still be there, but the profits will become saturated as more and more affiliates jump in.

Well, I’m headed to Baltimore this weekend to attend Dan Kennedy’s Info Summit, and spend some time with some of the top info-marketers in the business. I expect to do lots of networking, and walk away with some great ideas that will continue to grow the business. How will you be spending your time?

To your success,

Kim

http://www.KimADavis.com

I’ve been cheating….

I know it’s been awhile, but I promise you I haven’t been lazy.  As a matter of fact, I’ve been doing a little cheating, but probably not in the way that many might think.  By cheating, I mean I took a look at everything on my “to do” list and decided that if I was going to make the impact that I wanted in my business, that I was going to have to do a little cheating and become hyper-focused on those tasks that were most important.

So I took a step back from email, Facebook, and Twitter to put all my efforts into product creation and developing marketing strategies for coaching.  Well, 30 days later, I’m really beginning to see the results of my efforts, but of course it was not without some sacrifice.  I stayed up waaay too late, too often (cheated on my sleep); I missed a few social events (cheated on my friends); and yes, I did have some stressful moments (cheated on myself), but I can honestly say I’m pleased with all I’ve accomplished.

No one who is successful in business can have it all, all the time.  There will be times when you will need to “cheat” in a particular area of your life in order to take your business to the next level.  Do you need to do a little cheating of your own?

One thing I’ll NEVER cheat on….

Although I gave up a lot these past 30 days, the one thing I refused to cheat on was my family.  As a matter of fact, just last week, my husband and I were blessed to be able to sneak away with the kids to spend a few days in Cancun.  Believe it or not,  I didn’t touch my laptop or cellphone the entire trip (I cheated on email, Facebook, and Verizon…LOL).  We had an awesome time and I was quickly reminded why it’s so important to get away from time to time.

My beautiful children enjoying the BEACH!!!

Cheating…and winning in CPA….

… and I’m not talking about being unethical.  When I talk about cheating with CPA, I’m referring to using shortcuts and tools that allow you to “cheat” on the amount of time you spend managing your CPV campaigns, but still enable you to accomplish just as much if not more in your business.    A great example of such a tool is CPV:Lab™ .  Now if you are an affiliate for Elite Clicks Media, you already know all about this, but if not, you owe it to yourself to check out this amazing tracking tool that allows you to generate leads, collect date, optimize campaigns, collect emails to build your own list, AND split test in less time than other similar platforms, and definitely faster than you can do on your own.  WOW!  Now that’s the kind of cheating I can live with.

To your success,

Kim

It might be time for a change if….

Fall is in the air, and as the seasons begin to change, I start looking at both my business to see if there are things that I should be changing there as well.  Oftentimes we can become very comfortable with doing what we’ve been doing…especially if there aren’t any immediate negative results.  But there is always room for improvement.  Take a look at your business.  Are there some things that you can do or change to make certain areas of your business operate more efficiently?  Are you still doing some things that you know you need to outsource, which would free you up to focus on taking your business to the next level?  It’s very easy to fall into the trap of “nobody can do it like I can”, and you just might be right, but as your business grows and changes, you have to grow and change to.

I was sick of myself, so I decided to make a change…..

So not only did I take a look at my business, but I also took a look at my personal life.  After all, there can be just as many things in your personal life you need to improve on (if not more), than your business.  For me, it was my diet.  I’ve been having a GREAT time this summer.  Probably a little too great.  LOL! I’ve been traveling, attending sporting events, family reunions and cookouts…..translation….eating and drinking too much of the wrong things.  By time summer was winding down, I was feeling sluggish and my energy level was low.  I was ready to get my eating back on track, so just this past weekend, I decided to do a 3-day juice fast.  Of course the first day, I was kicking myself because I was soooo hungry, but by day 2, I was feeling better, and on day 3, I felt great.  I had more energy and I even lost a couple of pounds…woo hoo J.  Now I’m back on the path to healthier eating and I feel better than ever.

You need to change your mindset about affiliate marketing….

If you feel like your affiliate marketing campaigns are humming along, and you’re ready for a little change in your marketing strategy that will increase profits, consider mobile advertising.  Mobile we advertising is a hybrid of traditional banner, search advertising, and PPV.

As with PPV, the user is seeking a specific bit of information, so your ad better be a good one if you want to get their attention.  Now moving from PPC on the web to mobile marketing definitely requires a “change” in your mindset, but because it’s a relatively untapped traffic source that is expected grow exponentially as mobile web becomes the standard.

So what works?  CPA offers that such as zip/email submits, mobile coupons and downloads.  The focus of your campaigns should be simple.  The intent of the mobile web user is to search for specific information.  Your mission is to make your information what they are looking for.