The best part: You can join in the fun!  Jason is live-streaming the whole thing on Ustream.

Keep up with us and enjoy the festivities!

Oh yeah, by the way, this is my first post from my new MacBook Pro!  I have finally converted over to the “light” side.

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Apparently, as I learned from Scott Jangro, Joshua Odmark had affiliate commissions revoked by Amazon for using Amazon Associate links (cloaked using 9MP.com) in his “tweets.”

I’ve never really blogged about how I feel about Tweeting affiliate links, but I tend to follow the “if you disclose, it’s OK” philosophy.  Really, if people know it’s an affiliate link and you’re Tweeting more than just a bunch of affiliate links, I don’t see anything wrong with it.  They can either click on it or not, their choice.  There’s also that little “unfollow” option if someone were to get too “spammy” on Twitter.  I used it before and am not afraid to use it, again.

However, that being said, all affiliates must agree to terms and conditions to become affiliated with any group/company/network.  Those T & Cs are your contract with the other business entity and you must adhere to that contract, without exception.

Amazon informed Josh that he violated the Amazon Associates terms and conditions by posting an affiliate link somewhere other than “his own site.”  However, as Shawn Collins noted in the comments on Scott’s blog, does this apply to Wordpress.com sites?  How about Tumbler?  Or Ch.imp?  Ponderous?  What if I have my own domain hosted on Blogger?  Is it restricted to domains that I own?  What about email? Ezine articles? Squidoo? Hubpages?

More specifically, are you only allowed to post Associates links to the single domain that you submit when you apply for the Associates account?  If so, should I submit every possible site that I may ever, possibly put an affiliate link on?

This really needs to be clarified by Amazon for it’s affiliates/associates.  Otherwise, they’re just making arbitrary business decisions based on specific sites that may pop up on their radar, making it nearly impossible for affiliates to decipher which sites are OK and which ones are not so OK, beyond the one specific site you submit.  But then, maybe that’s what Amazon wants.  :::raises hand — questions in the front, middle and back!:::

I really don’t see what’s wrong with Tweeting any affiliate links in general and Amazon in particular, provided you’re not only Tweeting links and you disclose.  If I’m truly helping someone find an item or service, providing them with an easy to follow link, and disclosing it; the company (Amazon in this case) gets a sale, the customer’s happy and their need is met, and you provided the conduit for that sale, why shouldn’t you be compensated for it?  And, how is Amazon’s brand hurt by this scenario?

I think Amazon hurts themselves more by taking the current course of action. I’ll just promote products using a different affiliate program and take sales away from Amazon, instead.

Ultimately, Amazon needs to clarify it’s terms and conditions due to the impact of social media sites on the internet as a whole and internet marketing, specifically.  I have no issues whatsoever with following terms and conditions.  This is a fundamental requirement of any business relationship, however, one cannot expect strict adherence to rules that do not exist or are unclear.

Additionally, I worry about what this will portend for other affiliate networks.  I recieved an email with regard to this topic from Market Leverage, last week.  At least they made contact before revoking any commissions and their site has clearly denoted programs that allow marketing using social media.  Maybe Amazon could learn a little something from Market Leverage — work with your affiliate, rather than against them.

What are your thoughts?

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He recently came out with two very interesting reports, The Blogging Wealth Gap and the Six-Figure Blogger Blueprint, where he discusses the differences between bloggers and affiliate marketers (something I often mull over with deep thought, seriously) and the potential for professional blogging, going forward.  I’ve read them both and there’s some really good information in both.

He’s also starting a new membership program that will further develop your skills as a pro-blogger and marketer and today, he’s hosting a live Q & A session on U-Stream.  There’s no charge and he says he’s going to be on for a couple hours answering questions.  If you want to learn more about blogging professionally and marketing products to earn income through your blog, I can’t recommend David, enough.  Even if you have no plans to buy his program (I’ll be one of the first in line, tomorrow when it launches), I am sure you will learn a lot just by watching the live stream.

Here’s the link to check out the live stream, today at 3PM EST.  Check it out and let me know what you thought.

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Tim’s presentation had a real, long, complicated name to start, which, being true to his self-appointed title of a “lifehacker”, Tim shortened to “Blogging Without Killing Yourself.”

Tim’s an amazing experimentalist and has done a lot of meticulous research about how his blog functions, why, what works, what doesn’t, and so on.  He passes a lot of that information along to you in the presentation, which you can see in the video, below.  It’s pretty long, so grab a drink, get comfortable, because you’re not going to want to stop, once you start.

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Apparently, someone(s) hacked into TwitPic over the weekend and broke into celebrity TwitPic accounts and began spreading rumors about the deaths of celebrities.  TwitPic is a service that allows you to post pictures to your Twitter account — not owned by Twitter.

Now, “Miley Cyrus death” is the 3rd highest trending search on Google.

This really demonstrates the amazing power of Twitter.  Last week, with the deaths of several celebrities, I learned about the deaths from Twitter, first.  News reports, even online news sources, spread the news much later.

We all know that Twitter has become a powerful influence on the spread of information.  We also need to be aware of the power of Twitter to spread bad information.  You must be careful what you’re putting on Twitter.  Spam, rants about your boss, re-telling of the weekends escapades could put you in quite a bit of trouble considering this massive viral effect of Twitter.

So, the question becomes not just “What are you doing?”, but “What message are you sending?”

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While I never had the privelege of meeting Billy Mays, he was someone I admired and hoped to meet, one day.  Say what you might about the “As Seen On TV” products he promoted, the stuff he pitched really worked (I have a box of OxiClean in my laundry, right now) and he really stood behind them.  He was a perfectionist, a professional, and it showed.

To learn more about Billy Mays, you can read the FoxNews post about his death: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529328,00.html

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I’ve learned that you just cannot have tempatations in the house and you need to set yourself up for success.  I find that I get busy and don’t get to the grocery store, end up late for something and just swing into McDonald’s for something quick.  Really, stopping in the local supermarket is often just as quick and you get much healthier food.  However, I do need to be better about stocking up on the good stuff when I can and planning out my meals for the week.  This prevents the temptation to “cheat” if you have good, healthy food to fix at the house.

As for the workouts, my friend Jason at IWearYourShirt.com did a video one day with a full-body workout that I’ve been doing, as it’s hard for me to get to the gym on a consistent basis, I like to work out my whole body every time I go.  Here’s the video with the workout:

I can tell you, it works!  The first time I tried this workout at the gym, a guy that obviously works out a lot came up to us and said, “Are you guys trying to kill yourselves?”  About a day later, I knew why when I could hardly move!  It took a good week to recover from the first workout, but it gets easier to recover after that.  The video makes it look much easier than it actually is.

I intend to get back on the horse with the diet and hopefully, with the consistent workout, will get those 18lbs. off in no time…but I’ll keep you updated with the progress.

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While I agree that Flip needs to continue to innovate, integrate (with other devices, as suggested by Arrington), and find new verticals, the iPhone is far from a Flip killer.

The Flip fills a very specific need — a cheap, small, good quality, mega-easy to use video camera.  Why would I spend about $1,500 (service, data, etc.) for an iPhone when all I need is a video camera for under $200?  Granted, if I had an iPhone, I might be less likely to add an handheld video device, but if I’m in the market for a compact video camera, how likely is it that I’m going to commit to a 2-year contract to get said camera?

Arrington argues (in the comments, I believe) that cell phone cameras have almost eliminated the need for a stand-alone digital camera.  Additionally, he even makes my argument for me in his post, when he mentions that no one expected the Flip to succeed, anyway, because almost all digital cameras have video capability, yet they’ve managed to overcome that barrier.

As to the statement that cell phones have eliminated stand-alone cameras — not that I believe that statement — let’s assume it’s correct.  My Blackberry has had video capability for over a year, yet I own two Flip cameras and four digital cameras.  Granted I’m a bit of a tech geek, but trying to cram all technology answers into one device still has it’s drawbacks, even for the mighty Apple.  Not enough battery life, not enough memory, low-quality as corners are cut to get everything in one device, and so on.  I’ve seen the videos from the iPhone and they’re not as good as those from a Flip.  I’m sure this will improve with time, but quality will stand in the way of iPhone eliminating Flip and similar video cameras.

What are your thoughts?

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I’m sure Market Leverage would appreciate today’s video, since I’m wearing their “I’m Blogging This” shirt.  A little live-stream plug for them.

Tomorrow, though, will be my day on IWearYourShirt.com!  I’ve been waiting a while for this day, since I purchased the day quite a while ago.  He’ll be wearing a shirt for our travel company, DestinationsInFlorida.com.

Here’s a couple pics of me modeling the shirt:

This question on the back is kind of a joke among Disney fans and cast members, as guests ask this question more often than you might think, hence why they might want to use an Authorized Disney Vacation Specialist like Destinations In Florida to clear up some of that confusion.

We actually made up a few shirts on Zazzle, just to play around with the designs and sayings on the back.  This was the final one we went with, but if you’re a Disney fan, you may enjoy seeing some of the other ones we created.

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The wedding ceremony was at a place in the park called Hesitation Point.  Kind of ironic, huh?

Here’s the “altar” for the ceremony.

Just to the left, you can see a single track mountain bike trail and as you can imagine, we had some extra “guests” pass by during the wedding.  Very fitting, as my brother has worked in the bicycle industry since he was 15.

My brother and his new wife are honeymooning in Costa Rica.  I’ve already recieved one email from him and it sounds like he’s having a great time.

The trip was a lot of fun, just a bit too short.  I will definitely have to take the family back for a longer stay.

Here’s a parting shot of the happy, new couple with the pastor.

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