Are you interested in making money online? Pan for gold nuggets by sifting through the #ASWO9 hashtag. You’ll find tips, tricks, tools and insights into the lives of affiliate marketers.

Hashtag 101

A hashtag is a way of marking up a tag  with the pound sign, aka a “hash” – #. People who send messages via Twitter can use a common term (keyword or acronym) to ensure all messages related to the topic of the hashtag can be grouped together for reference.

Hashtag explained:

Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. They’re like tags on Flickr, only added inline to your post. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag.

Hashtags were developed as a means to create “groupings” on Twitter.

#ASWO9 = Affiliate Summit West 2009

Attendees of Affiliate Summit West posted their notes, emotions, current happenings, and emotions by appending #ASW09 in their <=140-character tweets. These tweets into Twitter were sent through laptops and mobile phones. The #ASW09 hashtag grouped all these updates together for viewing in Twitter search for #ASW09.

This screen shot was taken on Jan 15, 2 days after the conference. (Yes, the conversation continues after Affiliate Summit West ended.)

• Twitter search was displayed on many projector screens throughout and during conference sessions. To say “the crowd was engaged” is an understatement!
• Speakers received questions while moderators watched Twitter for #ASW09 during Q&A.
• I panned for gold throughout the conference by checking my mobile phone and watching the stream of #ASW09 nuggets. (I was unable to take copious notes, because my laptop battery wouldn’t charge. The hashtag was my lifesaver.)

I posted a tweet to let others know about one excellent note-taker:

Read @VegasBill tweets for good ASW09 notes.

(I later met Bill and learned he is quite well known in Las Vegas and is a real estate agent and entrepreneur who keeps his followers informed about local Vegas news!)

The #ASW09 hashtag was also the method of letting others know about “after parties” and networking events.

Thanks to #ASW09, I knew where @rickgalan, one of my friends on Twitter and fellow winner of Copyblogger’s Gold Passes to Affiliate Summit, was during the conference. We met up a few times, thanks to this shiny Twitter hashtag.

Twitter Marketing

Affiliate Marketers know the power of Twitter as a marketing medium. It’s obviously a strong, if not addictive, aspect of many marketers’ business models. Moderators in a few sessions asked how many people in the room were on Twitter, and the show of hands was almost unanimous!

Many who attended Affiliate Summit West without a Twitter account left understanding the power of Twitter. They setup their accounts immediately or discussed they needed to “get on board” this Social Media phenom.

Peter Shankman (@skydiver) of HelpAReporter.com mentioned there are two types of Twitters:

• Yogurt tweeters - those who post they just purchased a yogurt
• Information tweeters - those who share information

Sifting through the #ASW09 hashtags will prove this true. You’ll find insightful notes about Affiliate Marketing and also learn that some ate or drank too much while others left with extra money in their pocket from the Black Jack tables.

Pan for #ASWO9 Gold

Panning for gold is a process of separating the nuggets from the dirt, the worthless material. You can pan for gold and find nuggets that can help you make money online by sifting through the ASW09 hashtag.

Here’s where you can pan for your own Affiliate Summit gold:

• Search through links Twittered during Affiliate Summit.
• Check out profiles of usernames of active Twitterers.
• Spend hours reading through Twitter Search for #ASW09.
• View a few of my photos from Affiliate Summit West.

Did you attended Affiliate Summit West? Please share your golden ASWO9 nuggets.

I jumped for joy when I received the following email:

Hey there! I’ve selected you as one of the 20 winners of a Gold Pass to Affiliate Summit.

Congrats!

Affiliate Summit West 2009 is January 11-13, 2009 in Las Vegas.

It’s hard to express my excitement but will try, briefly.

Affiliate Summit is THE place to learn Affiliate Marketing

The following from Copyblogger’s post explains the importance of Affiliate Summit:

Top Notch Affiliate Marketing Education

There are two types of people who make good money online without being at the mercy of a dismal advertising market—those with great things to sell, and those who sell other people’s great things. Some enjoy doing both.

Affiliate marketing is all about matching up other people’s great things with relevant people. And the smartest affiliate marketers are doing that with content.

I’ve been fortunate to work with some “brainiacs” in life, and I take every opportunity to learn from the best! Now I’m going to Affiliate Summit to be a sponge. I look forward to being surrounded by some of the best affiliate marketers. The principle of osmosis works at conferences, right?

Affiliate Marketing Goals

Brian Clark asked those who wanted to win a Gold pass to Affiliate Summit to share their stories. I shared my 5-point plan:

1. Model what successful affiliates are doing.
2. Set quantifiable objectives for desired outcomes.
3. Learn as much as possible.
4. Work hard w/o being distracted by shiny objects and perceived “needs.”
5. Provide value in niche markets.

This was easy. I had written the plan down last weekend. (The importance of writing your goals down will be the subject of another post.)

Thank you, Copyblogger, for giving me the opportunity to attend Affiliate Summit as one step in reaching these goals.

Value of Networking

The value of networking at conferences CANNOT be understated. Anyone interested in online marketing and Web development should seriously consider attending conferences and training sessions! Opportunities abound. Relationships are established. The adage, “Two are greater than one!” is true. Multiply that effect by hundreds or thousands. You can meet some of the best in your industry by attending conferences.

Think about it. Why is networking so valuable? People are social. We want to connect with other people. Conferences allow you to network, make friends, expand your horizons, and reach your goals.

Social Networking

Affiliate Summit is also demonstrating best practices of social networking, connecting online. They setup a Ning site for attendees to network. Understanding how to use social networks and getting involved is more than valuable. It’s priceless.

The value of networking cannot be underestimated! Network, and get connected. Connect on social networks and in real life at conferences.

Friends who also Won

I’m especially thrilled that one of my friends, Rick Galan, also won one of Copyblogger’s Gold Passes. And I met a new friend, Andrew Kuo, who is passionate about students and educations, something dear to my heart. Andrew will also be attending Affiliate Summit, and we’ve now connected on Twitter!

Why Affiliate Marketing?

Why am I interested in affiliate marketing? I especially enjoy the aspect of sharing information. I spend a great deal of time helping others and sharing information, recommending products and services…and more. Why not make some money at the same time?

Money is not the driving force, however. The desire to learn is key. Affiliate Marketing utilizes key principles of online marketing, search engine optimization, usability, sales copy and conversion. Affiliate Marketing puts all this together!

The industry is changing. Nothing is constant. Continuing education is key. Consider attending Affiliate Summit. It is the “premier Affiliate Marketing conference.” It may be the key to your success!

Are you attending Affiliate Summit?

Please say “hello” and let’s connect before, during, and after Affiliate Summit!