Outsourced Program Management for Affiliate Marketing Consultant and Blogger Stephanie Lichtenstein from Andy Rodriguez Consulting

Tell me about your Company?
Andy Rodriguez Consulting specializes in Outsourced Program Management for 8 years. As program managers, we strive to work with ethical and booming merchant programs. The key to our business is to build lasting relationships. We have partnered with Internet Retailer 500 companies and hold several spots in the ShareASale Top 100 PowerRank.

What was your first experience of social media?
My first experience with social media was through MySpace. In those beginning stages, it was used to keep in touch with friends. MySpace did teach me basics on how to insert HTML code. Nowadays social media plays an important role in both my personal and professional life.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie in social media?
Interact with others, that is the point of social media. I try to respond to any questions directed towards me or that grab my interest. To gain followers, share your expertise with others they will appreciate you for it.

What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t?
I wish all advertisers would become better educated about the affiliate marketing industry. When they take the time to understand affiliate marketing, they gain the trust and proper elements to grow a successful program.

What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t?
Bloggers do not add someone to your blogroll just because you want the favour returned. Instead add resources that compliment your blog and the link love will follow.

Where do you see growth in the social media field?
Social media can be leveraged on a small to large scale. Corporations, celebrities, politicians, small businesses, and individuals are changing the game mostly for the media. We no longer wait for the nightly news now we learn things as they happen.

Corporations can offer quick customer support like Whole Foods does by answering questions; not to mention this is a cost effective method and free press. Politicians can use this throughout their campaigns to keep followers informed on their stance, this worked wonders for Obama. Individuals can share their passions with others, I share my blog posts through social media. Locally, I have met my tech community thanks to social media connections and meetups.

There is growth in social media because it changes our pace of life. With that, comes new opportunities and responsibilities. Not only that but others are starting to realize how powerful this tool can be for them. Social media will continue to grow because it is an effective way to connect with people in real time.

What new ideas are advertisers coming up with to take advantage of new trends?
Advertisers are using social media to reach their target audience. They have all created overnight blogs, fan pages on Facebook and started tweeting to the world pardon me, Twitterverse. If they use social media in the right way this can help their brand loyalty. It is important that advertisers don’t try to be pushy with sales. They need to become a resource on their products or service. By sharing useful information they will build a solid following and this will bring them success.

What do you do to improve the world?
To improve the world, I would eliminate racism. I have two things on my life list that I feel strongly against and that is one of the two.

What do you do that is green?
I am proud to share that in college I helped start the recycling program. It is still active at Florida State University called “Garnet and Gold Goes Green.” It started as a project with my environmental science class but something I am very happy I was a part of. Nowadays I work at an online company, so thankfully we don’t drive much or waste paper.

What is one thing about you that not many people know?
In College, I started an intramural bowling team. I am not very good but my tactics are entertaining. Since I was the team captain, I decided I could bowl however I wanted and it was good fun.

What’s your favorite book?
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, if you YouTube the last lecture you will get chills.

What is on your iPod?
Incubus – Monuments and Melodies. My taste ranges from mellow music to hip hop to spanish rock, just don’t try to get me to listen to country.

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums, etc)?

Email: stephanie@andyrodriguez.com
Company: http://andyrodriguez.com/clients.html
Blog: http://stephanielichtenstein.com
Twitter: @StephARC
Facebook: http://facebook.com/stephanielichtenstein
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/stephanielichtenstein
ABW Forum: http://forum.abestweb.com/forumdisplay.php?f=81
ABW Name: Steph-ARC
AIM: Affiliatelady
Fight Against the Advertising Tax – Facebook Group!

What events do you go to?
Local tech and networking events, Affiliate Summit, Think Tank, and looking at adding other events like PubCon and AdTech. If you are attending Affiliate Summit in NYC I will be speaking on the Sunday panel: Getting Noticed FAST. I hope to meet you new faces then!

How do you prefer to communicate?
During work AIM is the easiest. If you need to reach me immediately sending me a DM on Twitter works. If you have something lengthly to ask then email would be best.

Who would you recommend, and why?

Lisa Picarille Lisa shares her thoughtful opinion on important industry matters.
Missy Ward Missy is dedicated in all she does and she is always an industry leader.
Scotty Jangro Scotty has been my mentor in the industry.
Shawn Collins Shawn’s daily affiliate tips are a must.
Trisha Lyn Trisha blogs with the most details on events and sessions it amazes me.
Gary Vaynerchuck Through his passion, Gary V is easily my favourite inspiration.
Jangro.com So nice he gets picked twice. Besides being my mentor he is an industry innovator.
Official ShareASale Blog ShareASale is the most ethical and excellent network out there.
Joe Sousa Joe helps me see things from an affiliate perspective.
http://thespew.fm/  women’s opinions on geeky stuff.
http://coffeecast.fm  two men rambling about their love of coffee.

What is one thing people can do for you?
Partnerships with my affiliates is most important. By creating relationships I learn which programs fit them the best and those partnerships end up being long term. It is a win-win for all. Everyday I look for opportunities to strengthen each partnership. If there is an affiliate that would have any questions for me, I would be more than happy to speak with them.

Outsourced Program Management for Affiliate Marketing Consultant and Blogger Stephanie Lichtenstein from Andy Rodriguez Consulting

An Interview with Missy Ward of Affiliate Summit, FeedFront Magazine, and GeekCast.fm. Missy Ward is one of the true leaders of our generation in Affiliate Marketing.

Tell me more about all the many things you do?

As far as making a living goes… I am the co-founder of Affiliate Summit, FeedFront Magazine, and GeekCast.fm. I also manage the http://www.ThesisAffiliates.com program, on a performance basis. All of the money I make through that I donate to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. I’m also an affiliate and have a few affiliate sites including WeViews.tv and http://www.ShipToTroops.com and I arbitrage offers from time to time. I sit on the advisory board of Izea and A4uExpo and blog on http://www.MissyWard.com about affiliate marketing, social media and other things that tickle my fancy.

How did you get into affiliate marketing?

Back in the 90’s, I was the VP of Marketing for a company called Global Travel International. It’s a home-based business opportunity in the travel industry. One of my tasks was to figure out ways to generate new leads for the program, increase travel sales and also help our independent agents grow their businesses. I had a core group of independent agents that were doing their marketing online and getting paid on a performance basis for their efforts. I provided the marketing creatives, rigged up some tracking and paid them monthly commissions. I had no idea what I was doing; I only knew was that it was working. After a while, I realized that we had ourselves an affiliate program, in essence. I did some further research and saw that Amazon was basically doing the same thing. So, I did what everyone else did at that time – followed the Amazon model and learned by the trial and failure method.

What was your biggest challenge getting into affiliate marketing?

There wasn’t a whole lot of information available at the time on getting started. While I had been a marketer for years, all of my experience was in offline marketing. I had to learn everything – from the ground up – including html, design, where to get hosting, etc. Although it was an exercise in frustration at times, I was having a blast figuring everything out.

What are the main things merchants do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Besides the obvious of working with parasites, I wish they wouldn’t use affiliates as a test bed for their marketing efforts. There’s nothing worse for an affiliate than investing time and money to get a program up and going, only to find out that the creatives or the landing pages don’t convert.

What are the main things affiliates do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Affiliates often make the mistake of jumping on the bandwagon of the “new and shiny” offers that everyone else is promoting, thinking they’ll make a ton of money that way. While they might make a few short-term dollars, concentrating on the long-tail and learning how to scale properly nearly assures their businesses’ long-term viability. I also think that affiliates should always research the product or service that they’re promoting. Endorsing something that may be marketed via false claims; is being investigated by organizations or trade groups; or is simply plain old junk, can destroy your online reputation.

Where do you see growth in the affiliate field?

With merchants looking for more customer engagement, I think there’s a lot of opportunity in online-to-offline performance-based marketing. Generating eyeballs online which turn into transactions in-store, is a channel that is virtually untapped in affiliate marketing.

What new ideas are advertisers coming up with to take advantage of new traffic sources?

I think one of the most interesting things I’ve seen lately is advertisers beginning to offer affiliates CPC campaigns geared towards marketing on Twitter and Facebook. From what I gather, SocialSpark is really doing well with it and has somehow gotten a handle on the potential fraud associated with it all.

What do you do to improve the world?

I spend a lot of my time raising money for charities that either support breast cancer awareness and research or help children. These are two causes that are very close to my heart. Together with Affiliate Summit and affiliate marketers around the world, I’ve helped to raise nearly $140,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters, March of Dimes, Susan G. Komen Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation and Starlight Starbright Children’s foundation, in the last couple of years.

What do you do that is green?

I try to avoid taking my car anywhere that I don’t have to. I bike my older son to school, jog to the gym, walk to the grocery store, etc. Not only is that green but it also protects others from my lousy driving.

What is one thing about you that not many people know?

I am a die-hard AC/DC fan and have been so, since the late 70’s. I also have a huge crush on Robin Williams, which a lot of people just don’t get.

What is on your iPod?

I’m caught up in the 70′s 80’s and 90’s. You’ll find an array of AC/DC, Kiss, Mettalica, Cure, Smiths, Depeche Mode, U2 (old U2, not the new stuff) and similar on my iPod.

What’s your favorite book?

I don’t think I have a favorite. I read constantly and my taste ranges from business books to crime (true and fiction). But, I do have a favorite book to read my kids, and that’s “I Love You More” by Laura Duksta.

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums etc) ?

Email: missyward@gmail.com
Blog: http://www.facebook.com/l/;missyward.com
Twitter: @missyward
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504671433
AbestWeb: AffiliateSummitMissy
Weekly Podcast: TheSpew.fm

Who would you recommend and why?

I recommend:

Julie Vazquez http://www.JuliesJournal.com and Heather Smith http://www.Boatinginbeautifulbritishcolumbia.com. Over the last year, I’ve seen these women really beef up their blogging and marketing efforts and come into their own. Newbies can really pick up some good tips watching these women.

Brian Clark http://www.Copyblogger.com as he gives a ton of great copywriting and marketing advice away for free through his blog.

Thanks you Missy Ward – Murray Newlands