In April 2003, I attended an affiliate marketing online occasion on a cruise ship out of Miami. This was the third 12 months it passed off on a ship after an inaugural model on land.
Over these years, I met Missy Ward at these occasions and have become convention buddies. Whereas sitting at a bar on the ship in 2003, we realized we had been each sad with the occasion’s path.
We had supplied a lot assist to make it occur, and I used to be the highest affiliate referring attendees. The final straw for me was when the organizer received up in entrance of the gang and thanked me for telling him he wouldn’t need to pay me the numerous 1000’s of {dollars} I had earned by way of referrals as a result of the numbers had been tight for him to make the cruise occur.
I by no means had that dialogue with him, and I used to be relying on the cash as the only supplier for my increasing household (Kerri, child #3, was due later that 12 months).
I used to be livid, and he stated he may do nothing about it as a result of he didn’t have the cash to pay me.
So anyway, Missy and I had been chatting about it, and within the fog of many drinks, we determined we’d create a competing occasion that was greater and higher.
The one hitch was that we had neither the expertise to start out a convention nor any cash to place into it, however we needed to make it occur.
In Might 2003, we chatted on the cellphone (one among fewer than a dozen we might have over the subsequent couple of a long time) and determined to make it occur.
On Might 19, 2003, AffiliateSummit.com was registered. We didn’t have funds to include, get a professionally designed web site, and many others. So, we did all of it ourselves as a result of we had been bold and handed off.
Pondering again, it’s just like the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode in 2020, the place Larry David has a run-in with a man who operates a espresso store, and he decides to open a competing espresso store subsequent door.
The unique plan was to do a cruise convention in 2004 to compete head-on, however I prompt we do a smaller, cheaper occasion in 2003 to get the title on the market and construct some momentum.
Our web site was ugly, and we didn’t have a fee processor (we used my PayPal account), couldn’t afford to include, and had no cash to lease an area. However we had been cussed, and it was going to occur.
Because it turned out, a buddy talked about that the advertising division at Baruch School, just a few blocks from my workplace then, allowed folks to run occasions of their area without cost in alternate for permitting a few of their advertising college students to attend without cost.
I reached out and struck a take care of them that included free A/V and all the pieces – we simply needed to pay to usher in lunch for the attendees.
We determined to set a low worth ($75 for the entire day, together with lunch) after which known as in favors to get buddies to employees it, and our trade buddies stepped up as sponsors and audio system.
Our little enterprise was instantly worthwhile, and folks appreciated what we did. We had been offered out a month earlier than the convention.
That first occasion was a giant hit, and we rolled the success into the 2004 cruise. The folks within the trade had shifted to our occasion, and the man with the opposite occasion ended up canceling and screwing many different folks out of cash.
Within the span of a 12 months, he went from being the principle occasion within the trade to going out of enterprise. He topped out at round 200 attendees. On the finish of our run, we had been pushing about 8,000 in Las Vegas, and he’s lengthy gone from the trade.
There’s a lesson in there for you… deal with folks with respect and honor your obligations, so that you don’t get obliterated by a spite retailer.
