You may have noticed that some of our blogs in previous weeks have been buzzing about the forthcoming Affiliate Summit East 2010 NYC industry conference. Often times, we hear from affiliates who are adamant about networking at these types of events, and other times, were astonished that some affiliates are apathetic and don’t bother attending at all.

There are great benefits to networking at an affiliate marketing industry conference. Not only do you get to finally put a face to the names of people with whom you’ve only communicated via email and phone, but you also have the opportunity to obtain one-on-one time with experts to coach you, as well as acquire a wealth of knowledge about how to enhance your campaigns and promotional methods. All of this contributes to your end goal of earning more commissions so you can make more money to hopefully replace your income from your full-time day job!

I’ve decided to put together a three-part guide to attending affiliate marketing conferences and how to get the most out of these events. In many cases, affiliates are scared of the idea of attending a conference. After being behind a computer for many months it does make sense that going to an event with thousands of people can be intimidating. That being said, we hope this guide will be useful in teaching you how to prepare for and use these events to your advantage if you do decide to attend. You will be surprised at how in-person meetings with contacts you have only met online can enhance your chance of getting that coupon deal you wanted, or improving your relationships, be it with an affiliate manager, merchant, a super affiliate, etc.

Now to get started. Before attending any conference you need to determine which ones you prefer to attend and why. Affiliate Summit East and West are standard industry events, but what if you’re an affiliate that wants to or already specializes in lead generation? Have you ever heard of Leadscon? You might benefit from attending a conference like this where you can meet merchants and networks that cater to lead-centric affiliates just like you. There are also conferences held in a variety of locations around the US, and sometimes locations are altered throughout the year. Affiliate Convention is held in California, while Internet Retailer: Conference & Exhibition has a forthcoming event in Illinois. If you’re knowledgeable about affiliate marketing, you will also know that there are non-US locations around the world that are key locations for industry events (i.e. in Europe. Whatever you decide, look at how much time and money you can afford to spend. Perhaps you’re better off attending a conference closer to where you live and more aligned with your style of promoting. Better yet, why not opt in to contests and other opportunities for free passes? Sometimes different industry networks and forum operators offer free passes at different levels, which helps to greatly reduce your expenses.

On a final note, get yourself some business cards. Some affiliates actually show up to a conference and don’t have any record of their own business contact information. You should always have some on hand. I can tell you from personal experience that it’s extremely frustrating meeting a great person at an event, only to discover that they don't have any cards made up. If you learn nothing else from part one of this blog post, make sure to learn this one lesson: ALWAYS bring business cards and make sure you hand them out liberally to people you meet at conferences. How else will we reach you?

Stay tuned for more from this three-part guide. Next time we'll give you tips on how to make contacts, work the floor of a conference, and what to take away from these events.