A friend and I are winging our way south to spend the next month in Mexico.
Aaaah, Negra Modelo, Sol and Corona by the bucket.
Aaaah, the benefits of being an affiliate marketer and I STILL thank Al Gore everyday for inventing the Internet.
LOL! 
We've rented a house a couple hours out of Cabo, without a phone and no cellular access. We were told that it has a wireless Internet connection, but I'll have to see it to believe it.
Connected or not, it doesn't really matter, because I worked my butt off for the last few weeks to make sure my affiliate business keeps ticking right along. Hmm… OK, my butt didn't really get worked off while sitting at the computer for that long… WRONG analogy.
Anyway, I wrote articles and posts that are now queued up in my Aweber autoresponder and my blog entries will be delivered on schedule.
Aaaah, the beauty of technology.
Speaking of the benefits and perks to being an affiliate marketer, I saw a post on an affiliate forum sometime back that asked if anyone had received gifts, cards or letters from their merchants at Christmastime.
The post reminded me that I hadn't shared this story with you.
My Favorite Affiliate Manager
Chris Reynolds is the affiliate manager at the Internet Marketing Center. Chris and I have talked many times and gotten to know a little about each other beyond the scope of affiliate marketing.
He's a really great guy with a super sense of humor.
Anyway, Chris calls me one Friday morning just before Christmas to ask if I'd be home later in the day because he was having ‘something' delivered to my house.
I was home all afternoon, but no one showed up.
On Monday morning, when I let him know that his delivery was a ‘no-show', he was really choked.
A little later that morning a package from IMC arrived. I opened it to find a lovely box of chocolates.
I emailed Chris right away to thank him for the gift and told him that I was enjoying its contents.
Of course, I'm privately wondering why Chris wanted me to be home for a box of chocolates, or why he was upset that it wasn't delivered the previous Friday.
He usually seems so laid back.
Whatever.
A little later that afternoon my doorbell rang.
There stood a guy with a big beer-gut holding two six-packs of beer; one Samuel Adams, the other Red Cap. It looks like he's ready for a party.
He asks, “Is this the right place?”
“It is as long as you're planning to leave that beer here”, I answer.
Now, if you've been reading the NPT newsletter for any length of time, (or even the second paragraph of this newsletter) you know that I enjoy a good brew, exactly like the stuff he was holding.
“This is from ‘some guy' in Vancouver” he replies, nodding towards the beer in his hands.
I could barely contain my laughter and told him that he had indeed come to the right place.
Then he asks, “Do you have a fridge in your garage?”
“Um, no… why?”, I ask.
“There's more.. a LOT more, and it's all nice and cold”, he tells me.
Yes indeedy… the trunk of his car was FULL to over-flowing with every kind of dark beer imaginable.
Now that's my kind of affiliate perk!
And Valentine's Day is yet to come!
Online dating service affiliates absolutely LOVE Valentine's Day. Customers are buying, affiliate managers are ‘perking' and we like both.
There are two things you should know if you want to be on the receiving end of ‘affiliate perks'.
1) Get to know your affiliate managers.
2) Work in a niche that you really enjoy.
For example, if you love to fish, build a site about fishing and sell to fishermen and women.
Affiliates sell much more when they're passionate about their niche, and selling more is a good way to get to know your affiliate managers.
Sell enough, and you might just find yourself with a fancy brand new rod and reel, or better yet… maybe even BEER!
In other news and views this week…
- The Cream Rises to the Top – Colin's site hits #10 on Google after 2 weeks online!
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Got a question? Get an answer at the Forum…
‘Til next time, promote and prosper!
Cheers,
Rosalind