The entire Share Results team is getting very excited about attending the upcoming Affiliate Summit East conference in New York City. We’re packing the booth, making appointments to meet up with affiliates and especially looking forward to meeting some new faces. It’s what conferences are all about!
As we lead up to the conference starting on August 15th, we’ll be taking the opportunity to introduce you to some of the team members who will be at the event—that way it will be that much easier to come over and introduce yourself to us—because hopefully you’ll feel like you’ve already gotten to know us.
Over the next days, I will be taking some blogging space to introduce you to our team here. In today’s posting, you’ll meet Jamie Fortunaso, our Online Digital Manager. Next up is Senior Account Manager Maranda Moses, followed by Network Manager Le Michelle Nguyen and last (but certainly not least), Account Manager Melissa Del Gaudio.
Building meaningful relationships is the philosophy behind everything that we do here at Share Results—and one of the main reasons we attend industry events like this one. So don’t be shy—come by and have a chat with us, we’ll be at booth # RG 2017.
Without further ado, Meet Jamie Fortunaso—he’s our everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-SEM-and-then-some guy. 
Janice Scrim: Tell me a little bit about your role at Share Results.
Jamie Fortunaso: I’m the manager of the Online Digital Marketing department. My main responsibilities are divided between supporting the growth of Share Result and providing merchants and affiliates with SEM services. We focus on PPC Management, SEO and Marketing Support—basically we provide expertise in the areas that will help our partners grow their online businesses and ensure that they are maximizing their ROI.
JS: This isn’t your first time at Affiliate Summit. What has been your experience in past years? What are you most looking forward to this year in New York?
JF: No, it’s not my first time at Affiliate Summit; I think this will be my fifth trip. Affiliate Summit has been a great place to network with others in the industry and finally put a face to a name. Since I have not attended the last few conferences I am looking forward to seeing familiar faces again and having the opportunity to reconnect.
JS: How do you work to support affiliates? Merchants?
JF: An important part of our mandate is providing both merchants and affiliates with the tools, support and experience they need to move their business forward. It can be a daunting landscape when you are just starting out in the affiliate marketing industry, especially if you don’t have much technological knowledge in the online space. Similarly, the experienced affiliate may be ready to take their SEM knowledge to the next level, and may just need that extra bit of guidance. The SEM requests that we receive are as varied and unique as each of our partners, and touch on everything from strategies for keywords, landing pages and linking strategies to optimizing your website, running a PPC campaign and enhancing your online branding and visibility.
JS: What are some of the greatest challenges that affiliates face in terms of search engine marketing?
JF: Keeping on top of the changes in the online space can be challenging. Affiliates often say they feel they have a good grasp of things, and then something major changes and their strategies need to evolve. It definitely keeps an affiliate on his toes. The cost of remaining static can be costly, and this is an eventuality that we recommend all affiliates be prepared for: your SEM efforts are never really finished; they just evolve to the next level.
JS: What elements should every good landing page incorporate?
JF: Use the KISS principle! No I am not talking about the Gene Simmons principle and exploiting everything you own. The KISS principle I am referring to is, “Keep It Simple Stupid.” That’s not to indicate that anyone is, but merely a great way of remembering that, with landing pages, the simpler they are, the better they are.
Start off with a goal in mind and develop a landing page according to your specific goal. Be prepared to continually test different versions of the landing pages you have developed and see which one converts best for your traffic. Analysis of statistics and conversions will be your measuring stick to understand what is most successful.
JS: In affiliate marketing, higher ranking results in search engines are paramount to success. How can affiliates/merchants compete in such a fierce market?
JF: To compete in such a fierce market you need to enjoy what you do. If you enjoy what you do you can compete and develop creative new ideas to stand out above the rest. It is not enjoyable jumping on the bandwagon and copying/replicating an idea because you heard money could be made; in the long run you will not stick with it, and will probably only find minor success.
JS: What role do you think video plays in SEO? Has more importance been put on video in recent years?
JF: Video is becoming an important player in SEO as it is another method of generating traffic. Google recently recommended that sites develop site maps for videos. Videos can play important part on your site as they can help increase conversions because you can showcase more ideas and personality into a video than you can with written text. If you are lucky enough to get a video to go viral, then this can generate a lot of traffic for you and your site.
JS: When it comes to building a successful online business, what one thing must affiliates do, if they don’t do anything else?
JF: Be active! If you are consistently active then you can learn and achieve the results you are after. Trust your gut instinct as there is no cookie cutter method to being successful in affiliate marketing. As my rugby coach says “there is no one right way, what works for you is the right way”. So find what works for you, and keep after it.
If you’re going to be at Affiliate Summit East, be sure to stop by the booth and pick Jamie’s SEM brains. We do all the time! Or set up a meeting with him for some quality one-on-one time. You can reach him at Jamie [at] shareresults [dot] com.
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Meet Our Everything-You-Ever-Wanted-to-Know-About-SEM-and-Then-Some Guy at ASE 2010
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