02.04.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:19 pm by fifi
I recently received a link to an article about our boredom with social networks - it’s really interesting and got me thinking about my own use of the likes of Facebook, Bebo and MySpace. I have accounts on most of them, and use each one for different reasons. Back in the day I joined Friends Reunited, and looking back can’t believe I paid the £5 joining fee to talk to people I went to school with the previous year! Interesting to see who had stuck it out at uni and the likes but not the best way of social networking for a 17 year old student; that was best left to £1 vodka lemonades at the Student Union on a Wednesday night (ok not just Wednesday nights). After a bit of travelling I then moved on to WAYN (Where are you now), an interesting resource for getting in touch with people who were either in the same place as me or were going to be later on in my trip. It was also a good way for me to keep my mum updated on where I was and give photographic evidence that I wasn’t partying all the time.
Then in my 4th year at uni I was introduced to the wonders of MySpace; a friend of a friend of a friend had a friend who was in a band, and of course sent me a link to check them out. I was hooked. I uploaded all the information I possibly could about myself, right down to my shoe size and religion. How interesting for other people to know huh? I used it for organising nights out, introducing myself to new bands and laughing at pictures of myself and friends on nights out. Being a student it saved me a lot of money on text messages and was the first thing I logged onto when my PC was booted up. Then came Bebo, a cleaner fresher take on social networking that allowed you to make up quizes about yourself to test friends/fellow Beboers, video boxes and the all important “Share the Luv”… Simply because more of my actual friends used it I became a regular checker of my Bebo and it slowly took over from my MySpace addiction for my remaining time at uni.
After being at Equator for a few months I was introduced to Facebook by the lovely Matt at TrafficBroker and I quickly built up my friends list. I liked the fact that uploading pictures was 1,000,000% better than doing it on Bebo (which by the way still takes an age!), I could tag people and of course poke whoever I wanted. Joining groups of random addictions is of course always fun; however it’s interesting looking through my friends list that the majority of people on it are work/affiliate related. Taking a look at Bebo everyone on my list are people from uni or close friends and work colleagues. I think this is likely for two reasons (not because I want to keep work and play seperate!), but looking at the demographics of each friend lists. At the ripe old age of 23 my fellow Beboers range from 13 (my cousins) to 30 (you know who you are), whereas my youngest Facebookers are 25+. Even looking at the login page for each is so different, with Facebook having a far more grown up style. Even if both are used for similar reasons like chatting with friends, meeting new people and sharing photographs, they both have completely different styles and totally different audiences. I just happen to fall into both!
I don’t log in to either every day, generally only when I get an alert of some sort. And I can’t remember the last time I logged into MySpace, and there is no chance I would ever be able to remember my Friends Reunited password! So is the article right? Are we getting bored of social networking? Am I getting bored of social networking? The novelty has certainly worn off for me, but I do like that fact that it is still there if for whatever reason I need it. I don’t think social networking is on it’s way out - I think we will see more and more Facebook-esqe types enter the market place and from an advertiser’s perspective we are going to have to find new ways to reach our target markets, being far cleverer with creative, messaging and targeting. And the social networks themselves? I’ve gone through several of them - each one has it’s own group of users, and whilst we as individuals might outgrow them, there is always another social network round the corner for us to grow with.
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02.01.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:51 am by fifi
Thanks to Martin for sending round this pretty cool blog post about the life cycle of a umm Blog Post! Check it out here http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2008/ff_secretlife_1602. To zoom in on the diagram click and hold!
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01.25.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:21 pm by fifi
Blackwell have got a great offer on just now - 50% off all Oxford World’s Classics. There are loads of titles to choose from, including a great selection of Shakespeare items. Expand your horisons with literature from all around the world. The promotion ends on the 29th Feb, so there is time for some inspiration for Valentine’s Day - with lots of poetry items included in the offer :) Check out the full range here: http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/bobuk_editorial/promotions/oxwc_nyny.jsp. Start earning 10% on all sales via Affiliate Window by signing up here.
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01.16.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:50 pm by fifi
As the marketing team have been relocated to the West Wing, Martin gave us all lovely picture frames to help decorate the place…
I have a new desk picture - very nice on a gloomy Glasgow morning….
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01.10.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:21 pm by fifi
Thanks to Clair for sending on the Hitwise White Paper, which talks about Social Networks in the UK, and their presence online. The changing demographics are particularly interesting, and the impact they have on the rest of the internet. A noteable comment for affiliates:
“Social networks account for an increasing proportion of UK Internet visits, and they are also becoming an important source of traffic for other websites. In October 2007, Social Networks accounted for 7.7% of upstream Internet traffic to all other websites, making the category the second most important source of traffic after Search Engines.”
If you want to check out the full paper right click on the link and hit Save As: http://clients.hitwise.co.uk/university/files/Hitwise_UK_Impact_of_Social_Networking_2008_01.pdf
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01.04.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:11 pm by fifi
I meant to post this a while back but better late than never I guess 
Tara and I were recently interviewed by Nathalie Kilby at Marketing Week for an article about the world of Social Media and how affiliate marketing fits in. Her basis of the article seemed to be about merchants and their approach to networking online with their customers and/or their affiliates. Tara and I had a chat before our call and really felt that, not for the first time, the affiliate industry has been leading the way on this for a long time.
The forum is a great example - most affiliates have been using this for a long time, and it is used as the basis of most communications; be it general industry chat, merchant promotions, detail of events and a great way for new people in the industry to learn things and meet new people. Blogs by super affiliates like Fraser and Kieron have been around now for some time too, and I think that they have worked incredibly well at building personalities beyond the forum, giving others in the industry a real feel for their work and their approach to their own promotions for certain programmes. There are some forward thinking merchants out there too don’t get me wrong, using blogging as a way to communicate to affiliates (Zak at Prezzybox, Chris at Hotel Chocolat to name just a couple), I just think affiliates are ahead of the game and have been for a long time - social media in affiliate marketing is nothing new, it will just continue to develop and assist in the industry’s continued growth.
You can take a look at the full article here. Tara did talk honest I just think Nathalie forgot her name :) Also the link to Holiday Watchdog is incorrect - it should read www.holidaywatchdog.com.
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01.03.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:36 pm by fifi
Hope everyone had a great hogmanay and you are all looking forward to the year ahead! I went for a Scottish themed evening, with traditional festive grub, followed by a ceilidh and a piper just after the bells; and of course a rendition of Auld Lang Syne chucked in for some extra fun. My arms are still aching from being thrown around to the Highland Barn Dance…
One of my main resolutions this year is to blog more - having started this a few months ago I feel like I need to put a bit more effort into writing more about me, Equator, our affiliate programmes, and life in general.
To get things started there are a few of our merchants who have sales on at the moment which may be of interest to some of you:
You can sign up to any of these programmes on Affiliate Window by clicking here. As ever I am happy to pull together any individual copy for anyone who would like some, or give me a shout if you want me to send over some deep links. I get a lot of requests for things on our programmes - so keep me busy and ask me for anything and I will try my best to help out.
A big thanks to Frostie for a mention in his latest blog post, it’s great to hear people think that you are doing a good job - but I have to say it is made a whole lot easier by a lot of the great individuals in this industry, people like Frostie, Kieron and the guys at eConversions make my job as great as it is!
Happy New Year everyone!
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12.27.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:23 pm by fifi
Just returned from a few days off for Christmas and had a lovely surprise! A massive hamper on my desk from Affiliate Window - couple of bottles of posh wine, some nice tea, biscuits and other lovely things in jars. I will be munching and drinking my way through this whilst watching the second season of Nip/Tuck which Santa got me for Christmas
I have also been informed that I look a bit peculiar in the picture I posted of Ash and I at the Christmas do - so here is another one which makes me look a bit more normal….
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12.21.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:34 pm by fifi
Ho Ho Ho!
I have been meaning to post all December - I cannot believe it is the 21st already. Only 4 more sleeps!
December has been a great month (apart from the freaking flu) and saw the launch of the long awaited Equator Christmas Campaign. My teasers over the last few weeks have had a lot of people guessing, and it seems all of our hard work has been well worth it. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at our Equator twist on the 12 days of Christmas then what are you waiting for? Go now,go now! www.eqtr.com/christmas is the home of the Equator team’s festive antics - it will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside in more ways than one because for every unique visitor to the site our big boss man will be donating cash to Yorkhill Children’s Foundation.
Another big event this month was the Equator Christmas Night Out. Now after last year’s, erm interesting Medieval Banquet, there were really no expectations around this year’s P-A-R-T-Y. We all went to Oran Mor, and had a great time. The meal was really nice (unless you had an allergy and only got Melon for dinner) and the ceilidh even better. The famous annual Dance Off with Graeme “STD” Davidson and James “Special Pose” Jefferson, was a site to behold and JJ won hands down. This is a particular favourite action shot:
Huge thanks to Vicki’s camera skills for capturing Ash and I very close up….
I will sign off my festive wishes now with a few thanks to some lovely people who have sent me some Christmas gifts:
- Buy.at - a massive box of vintage sweeties including Fizz Wizz, Pink Shrimps and Curly Wurly. YUM!
- eConversions - a lovely bottle of posh Champers; this will go down very well on Christmas morning I promise!
- DGM - for quite possibly the best chocolate brownies I have ever tasted - they also are the prettiest I have ever seen complete with edible glitter! At least I hope it is edible…
- Spear - a beautifully wrapped bottle of Sparkling Shiraz, I’ve never tried it before but it looks lovely
- Kieron Donoghue - ah the lovely Kieron - always has my best interests at heart and has used Christmas as a way of educating me even further into the world of R’n'B muzac through the vocal chords of Alicia Keys. I really like her and loved her last album so I’m sure this will be just as good
Thanks so much guys - I love my job at the best of times but getting a surprise in the lead up to Christmas makes it all the better :) I think most of Equator have ambitions of becoming an affiliate manager in time for 2008 festive season.
Merry Christmas everyone and all the best for the year ahead!
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11.30.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:42 pm by fifi
Wednesday saw the launch of another great retail programme this week - for Blackwell, a very strong brand in the book sector. Blackwell offer a wide range of books in a variety of subjects including business, children’s fiction and an array of academic references. Blackwell were also big winners at this year’s bookseller retail awards – winning both Retail Chain of the year and Headline Bookselling Company of the year.
There is also a great promotion open until Sunday - free UK delivery on all orders until midnight! Perfect for those Christmas shoppers during the first weekend in December…
They have some really great ideas for Christmas - and even better we are launching with a product feed featuring over 160,000 products! You can check out their site at Academic, Education and Business Books - Blackwell Online, and their fab gift selection here - Academic, Education and Business Books - Blackwell Online.
Blackwell offers customers a convenient way of buying online, with instant access to a database of over 3 million titles. The online ordering process is simple yet secure, and offers an excellent, fast delivery service worldwide. UK Postage is free when customers spend £20 or more, and rates for elsewhere in the world are extremely competitive.
Blackwell’s affiliate programme offers 10% commission on multiple purchases, with a 30 day cookie. The programme is exclusive to Affiliate Window and you can sign up here.
We also have some great incentives to get you started on the programme; the first 10 affiliates to sign up for the programme and put Blackwell links or banners up on their sites or PPC ads will be given a £25 voucher to spend with Blackwell. All you have to do is send me a link to your site/screengrab of your live add - fiona@eqtr.com. Plus we also have a £250 cash prize draw – open to all affiliates who bring in more than 10 sales in the first month.
Any questions please feel free to give me a shout. I am also happy to pull together some copy for anyone so just send me an email or get me on messenger!
I will post about the Buy.at Christmas Cracker on Monday - I have run out of energy today and want to put up a few pics….
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