I was attending Affiliate Management Days and had just wrapped up moderating a panel called Inside the Mind of Super Affiliates when the news that Google had closed GAN spread. At first attendees gathered in the atrium of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis for a networking session thought it must be a joke. Then everyone quickly started to scramble to gauge how it impacted their current clients or business.

It’s simple enough to dismiss the loss of GAN and its impact on the affiliate industry. Context, however, is always important. So I compiled this piece for Geekwire: 5 Reasons Google Shut Down Its Affiliate Network. I hope it helps provide some insight. 

If you are one of the 750 plus merchants impacted by this, we are here to help. Not only did Google give no real notice but the time frame until the network goes dark will go fast. Finding the right affiliate network and then migrating it in such a relatively short period can be overwhelming. If you need help or simply have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

We are excited to announce Sittercity as our first new client of 2013. Sittercity has retained Custom Tailored Marketing as the sole agency in charge of managing their affiliate marketing channel. For over a decade Sittercity has been helping America’s families find quality babysitters and nannies. Focusing on safety, Sittercity provides great screening features including detailed profiles, background checks, references and reviews to make sure families are matched with just the right caregiver.

Custom Tailored Marketing will be managing Sittercity’s affiliate program on Commission Junction and ShareASale. If you are a blogger or an affiliate in a family friendly niche please contact us for more information on joining the Sittercity affiliate program.

On the Saturday night before Affiliate Summit was in full swing the team here at Custom Tailored Marketing got to co-host the Affiliate Summit West 2013 Charity Poker Tournament, along with Affiliate Marketers Give Back.

The event was a lot of fun and we couldn’t have done it without an assist from Karen Garcia of GTO Management, and the entire Team Loxly crew. Held at Ceasar’s, we managed to raise $7,000 for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Personally, with two close friends under going cancer treatment, it is the kind of event I love taking part in.

Special thanks to all of the sponsors including:

• Pyrenees Vineyard & Cellars
• Iolo.com
• PopShops.com
• Blurb
• All Inclusive Marketing
• egraphs.com

The Grand Prize winner was Todd Geller (above) from Call Source who came back from a nearly 11-1 deficit to win an All Access Pass to Affiliate Summit East 2013 PLUS 3 nights stay at the official conference hotel.

We’re off the the Windy City again for another round of Intelligentsia coffee and the Google Affiliate Network Client Summit. If you are an affiliate attending GAN’s Affiliate Marketing Caucus on the 11th or the Client Summit on the 12th and want to discuss the Rhapsody’s affiliate program on GAN, affiliate marketing in general, or just want to take Angel’s Intelligentsia taste test, let us know!

Just in time for the GAN Client Summit this week, we are happy to announce that Rhapsody has retained Custom Tailored Marketing as the sole agency in charge of managing their U.S. affiliate marketing channel. Rhapsody is America’s number-one premium music subscription service. With a decades-spanning catalog of 16 million songs they are the ultimate digital jukebox.

The quality is something Angel can attest to personally. He downloaded their premium service on HTC One X Android and creating a 400 song roadtrip playlist that could be used in offline mode for one of his many drives around the Olympic peninsula where for four out of six hours there is no cell phone reception. Rhapsody’s high quality sound is a great accompaniment on the scenic drive.

Custom Tailored Marketing will be managing Rhapsody’s affiliate program on the Google Affiliate Network. If you are a blogger or a publisher with a strong music focused audience please contact us for more information on joining the Rhapsody affiliate program.

We’re happy to announce our newest client Point 3 Basketball. They are the only independent basketball company in the United States with several patents designed to specifically with the semi-pro or dedicated recreational basketball player in mind. With shirts designed to help keep sweat off a player’s face and shorts whose tagline is “Shorts + Towel = Genius” their quality apparel speaks to the serious streetballer.

Custom Tailored Marketing will be managing all aspects of their online strategy including SEM, Affiliate, Email, Direct and Remnant Media, and Social campaigns. Affiliates be on the look out for Point 3 Basketball to open a new program on Avantlink prior to the end of the month.

If you are a blogger who is serious about basketball, please contact us for samples of their shorts, shirts, and shooting sleeves. 

We’re happy to announce our newest client RedMoon Custom Pet Food. They are a stellar, specialty pet food company that allows consumers to customize their own pet food. Everyday supplements previously needed “pill pockets” to get cats and dogs with special diet requirements to eat them. Now RedMoon can simply bake the supplements into the food based on individual pet needs.

Custom Tailored Marketing will be managing all aspects of their online strategy including SEM, Affiliate, Email, Direct and Remnant Media, and Social campaigns. Affiliates be on the look out for RedMoon to open a new program on ShareASale next week before ShareASale Think Tank.

If you are a blogger who is a pet lover and interested in promoting RedMoon please contact us for samples. 

SOBCon panel (from left to right) led by the divine Carol JS Roth, the genuinely insightful Gary W. Goldstein (who produced Pretty Woman and Under Siege), and the amazing fireball Laura Fitton.

Angel is sporting one of his three XKCD shirts on the far right. Thanks to Derek Overby for snapping such a great photo.

Special thanks to Tim Storm for jumping in and sharing with the SOBCon family. The crowd especially liked Tim’s comment about the simple joy of seeing a full parking lot of people who want to be there (FatWallet was voted one of the 50 Best Workplaces in America by Entrepreneur). Many also asked for more info later on regarding the Amazon tax laws. Photo by Shashi Bellamkonda.

SOBCon master of ceremonies, Liz Strauss (pictured standing), threw Angel into the mix of a Q&A with Brian Solis (right), principle at Altimeter, that sparked a great raw response from Brian on why he doesn’t dumb down his content despite pressure to do so. Photo by Marla Schulman.

According to a news brief on ReveNews, the Performance Marketing Association won a major victory in Illinois after Judge Robert Lopez Cepero of the Illinois Circuit Court issued a ruling that finds the Illinois Affiliate Nexus Tax unconstitutional and a violation of the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

The PMA estimates 9,000 affiliates lost revenue due to Illinois’ unfortunate and misguided tax. The tax even forced both Coupon Cabin and FatWallet to leave the state. Yet Illinois has not managed to see any profit from the tax. What a waste. 

On behalf of everyone at Custom Tailored Marketing, congratulations to the dedicated folks at the PMA for winning a hard-fought round in the fight against the so-called Amazon Tax.

Year after year, Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker put on one of the highest quality think tank style events in the industry with SOBCon. Angel will be interviewing affiliate industry legend Tim Storm as part of this year’s show.

Chicago also happens to feature one of the country’s best coffee shops: Intelligentsia. The place is so good that last year Angel made converts out of Terry and a few SOBCon attendees with the coffee. So if you are in Chicago and want to talk affiliate marketing, search marketing, a larger more integrated campaign, or just want to take Angel’s Intelligentsia taste test, let us know!