The start of a new year means many things to many people.  In the affiliate marketing world, the world we live in, it means unique things to a set of very unique people.  First, it means Q4 has wrapped up and affiliates and merchants are counting their earnings.  Secondly, it means that Affiliate Summit is right around the corner.  Today, the conference is literally just around the corner.

Affiliate Summit West 2009 will be taking place this Sunday, January 11 through Tuesday, January 13 in Las Vegas.  The conference will be at the Rio hotel for the second year in a row.  The Rio is an amazing hotel, and the conference worked very well at this venue last year.  Even though it is a really long walk from the casino floor and hotel rooms down to the exhibit hall floor, it is worth it.  I’ve had nothing but positive experiences at Affiliate Summit and I am looking forward to this show more than any past show.

Last year when I attended Summit, I brought myself and one sales person with me.  This year, I am very proud and excited to be bringing the entire mgecom team to Summit.  That’s right; all five of us will be there in force! Myself, Darren, Melissa, Evan, and Jen will all be there wandering the floor, talking up a storm, and finding ways to make everyone we talk to more profitable.  In addition to wandering the floor, we will also have a display table on Sunday during the Meet Market.  Stop by and see us!  We are at table #56, right in front of the now-infamous ShareASale Square.  We are very excited to have the Meet Market table.  This is going to be a big summit for mgecom!

The team and I will be flying out of Raleigh early Sunday morning and landing in Vegas about an hour before the Meet Market opens.  We’ll head straight to the exhibit hall floor, and we hope to see you there!

This month, the iContact Affiliate Program on Commission Junction is running TWO different contests with some great prizes! The first contest is for those in the program who are new, or have just had a hard time getting started. If you’ve never made a sale prior to Jan. 1, 2009 you’re eligible! The second contest is open to everyone in the program. If not part of the program, it’s not too late to sign up and get started! Details about both programs are listed below:

Contest #1: If you’ve never made a sale…

• To be eligible, you have to be an iContact affiliate on Commission Junction, having never logged a sale prior to January 1, 2009.

• The Affiliate with the most verified* sales during the month of January will be the proud new owner of a Sony PlayStation 3**!

 Contest #2: For EVERYONE!

The second contest is open to all affiliates in the iContact Affiliate Program on Commission Junction and will also run from January 1 – 31. The prize for this contest you ask? We’re giving away a brand new Next Generation 13” Apple MacBook* valued at approximately $1400! It features an aluminum casing, and is less than an inch thick when closed. It weighs merely 4.5 pounds and provides up to 5 hours of wireless productivity before you need to recharge (even with Wi-Fi!).

How do you win? Here’s the details:

• The winner will be chosen based on a random drawing from entries earned by affiliates.
• To earn your first entry into the drawing you must refer five (5) verified** sales via your affiliate links.
• For each verified sale after this you will earn an additional entry into the drawing.
• There is no maximum for numbers of entries, so the more sales you refer, the greater your chances of winning! For example, if you refer 25 sales during the month of January, you will receive one entry for the first five sales, and then one additional for every sale after that. That gives you a total of 21 entries in the drawing!

• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen LED-backlit display
•  2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
•  2GB (2×1GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 memory; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 4GB
•  250GB 5400-rpm SATA hard drive
•  Advanced NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
•  Glass Multi-Touch trackpad
•  Precision aluminum unibody
• SuperDrive
  

**A verified sale is classified as a paid, active account that adheres to the iContact terms and conditions policy.

We’re really excited about this new contest and look forward to seeing everyone participate. So, get out there and start promoting iContact! If you have any questions about the contests or the program, feel free to email us at affiliates@icontact.com!

Good Luck and Great Selling!

To get the year started off right, we’ve got brand new coupons for both Soccer.com and Lacrosse.com! Also, we have added some new banners for Soccer.com featuring hot new footwear and replica gear! Check out the offers below then head over to Commission Junction or PepperJam to get the code and update your sites!

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Offer: Free Shipping on all orders of $75 or more at Soccer.com during the month of January. Use code: 1JanFS

Code: 1JanFS

Valid: January 1, 2009 through January 31, 2009

Restrictions: FREE GROUND SHIPPING on orders of $75 or more after any discounts with this source code. Excludes items where extra fees apply, team orders & delivery outside continental U.S. Not valid with other offers or previous purchases. Expires 11:59PM ET 1/31/09

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Offer: Free Shipping on all orders of $75 or more at Lacrosse.com during the month of January. Use code: 3JanFS

Code: 3JanFS

Valid: January 1, 2009 through January 31, 2009

Restrictions: FREE GROUND SHIPPING on orders of $75 or more after any discounts with this source code. Excludes items where extra fees apply, team orders & delivery outside continental U.S. Not valid with other offers or previous purchases. Expires 11:59PM ET 1/31/09

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As always, if you have any questions or need anything from our end, feel free to email us: affiliate@sportsendeavors.com