The Hitflip UK Blog

Well at least the delegates did Now don’t get me wrong: They sucked the Vodka out of the ice(sculpture) at what was to become a great after show party for a fantastic event.

Here are the shots of the shots:

What a fantastic expo. Over 40 sessions with experts from all areas of the industry and over 800 delegates to meet.

Time for shoutouts to some great people we met while we were in London:
Marcus Tandler (who also published a picture of Andre and myself eating fish&chips) , Christoph Cemper, Joost de Valk, Stefan Juhl, Joanna Ellis at Superbreak, Neil Sutton at Essential Travel, Jonathan Lender at L2multimedia, Rebekka Barnhusen and Peter Potthast at nonstopconsulting, Dixon Jones, Julie Hegarty, Mark Russel and Peter Wilson at buy.at

Matthew and his team (Greetings to Claire at this point) did a great job and we are definetly looking forward to the a4uexpo 2008 which will be happening on 14th+15th October (my birthday). So note down my birthday and the a4uexpo for 2008 in your calendars

Loads of others have already published their thoughts on the expo - be sure to check them out!

You may remember back in July Adam wrote about his deal with Chris Bishop from Hotel Chocolat to swap a Lamborghini and Ferrari experience he won at CJU in London for enough chocolate to make everyone here in the Hitflip office smile. Well Chris certainly kept his side of the deal as we’ve been munching through tons of delicious chocolate over the past couple of weeks.

Here are some photos capturing some of the excitement in the office as the chocolates arrived:

As you can see below, Chris sent a great selection of chocolates, and everyone on the Hitflip team would like to say a massive thanks to him.

Chris is nominated for Publisher’s Manager of 2007 at this years a4uAwards, and everyone at Hitflip will be keeping their fingers crossed for him this Thursday evening as the results are announced.

Some of these dates are interesting for cross-border-affiliate-managers in Germany and some for UK travellers/residents:

September
07.09. Affilinet Pokertournament (Cologne)
25.09. - 26.09. OMD (Duesseldorf)
28.09. Affiliate Summit (London)

October
25.10. - 26.10. A4uexpo (London)

Either Andre or myself (or even both) will be attending these events. As I am moving to Cologne in September so that I can synchronize my heartbeat with Hitflip’s heartbeat I might miss some of the September get2gethers.

Any of you guys around? Leave a comment

As Europe’s No. 1 swapping site for chocolates media items we challenge Chris from Hotel Chocolat to swap

Chocolates for…	a Lamborghini and Ferarri Experience

At this years CJU in London I won a Lamborghini and Ferrari Experience:

“Experience the kind of dilemma reserved for footballers and playboys: do you prefer the Lamborghini Gallardo (£120,000) or the Ferrari 360 or 355 (£130,000)? Mere mortals don’t even drive a quarter of a million pounds worth of car in their lives, and now you can do that in just a morning! Enjoy blasting round the corners and into the straights while an expert instructor sits by your side to make the most of the incredible pace and handling of these supercars.”

Chris offered to swap the weight of the Lamborghini in chocolates. Now even my own weight would be a threat of bankruptcy.

But here is the offer: We are 30 people here at Hitflip Headquarters. Swap chocolates for a Lamborghini and make them smile

Dear Chris …. Deal or no Deal mate?

Add To Reddit.com

We have just published a release on the appointment of Clear Communications as our new PR agency for the UK.

Looking forward to loads of press coverage and a great relationship - they are really fun to work with. So if you are looking for a good PR agency in the UK - check them out.

Looking back at this years CJU EU in London I can put it in the words of Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe and Benjamin Franklin:

” Every second was of infinite value” as “lost time is never found again”

CJU EU was a great place to be and had deep value for all participants.

	Tim Waterstone - Founder of Waterstone (the largest book chain outside the US) held the the opening keynote and shared his thoughts on launching entrepreneurial businesses. It was great listening to Tim and his thoughts on entrepreneurs in general. An interesting thought was that he never wanted employees around him who wanted to work for him till the end of time but fellow entrepreneurs who would one day develop their own projects and companies.Tim pointed out that traditional bookstores haven’t really lost out due to Amazon & co. as online book stores are great for the long tail which traditional bookstores can’t deliver to in-house due to lack of space. He believes that the future will see the end of traditional sales channels for music - even though he believes it will take longer than some may hope. I totally agree with Tim on this point. Tim Waterstone pointed out that charisma is one of the most important characteristics for leaders - He has loads of charisma and I believe he left the stage looking at a ballroom full of inspired faces.
	Liz Jackson - Founder of Great Guns Marketing held Fridays opening keynote. Liz gained experience as a tele-marketer and had a wise boss who told her: “You have got 2 ears and 1 mouth - use them in this ratio.” Liz listened and performed. When asking the bank for a loan so she could start her new business there was only one side laughing - the bank. Liz was lucky though as the Prince’s Trust supported her with a kick-off of GBP 4000. When it comes to human resources Liz believes in intuition - even though her first hire was because she felt sorry for the woman, a mistake she didn’t do twice. Liz says “You can’t await people to invest in your visions unless we invest in theirs” and how right she is. “Luck is where hard work meets opportunity” - Liz worked hard and she believed in what she could achieve. In the first year after she founded Great Guns Marketing she turned blind - but she still has her voice and with her believe that she can change the world if she only wants to she can “see” more than many can dream of. Her main guideline is a quote from Henry Ford “If you think you can, or you think you can’t you’re right.”
	Not only the key-speakers were fantastic. I especially loved Catriona Campbell from Foviance. This girl is so full of power and she has stories to tell. One great story was the story of travelocity and a great example for translation vs. localization. Travelocity launched on new markets just translating the sites language files. When they launched in France the US management was wondering why the site wasn’t taking off. So they asked for a French peer-group. This lady comes in for the peer-group and they tell her that she is to test the french website “travelocity” and she says “no way!!!”. “Travelo” means transvestite in French… so the travel-site had launched with the name “Transvestite City” in France - I would say that this is very long tail
	On the publisher/advertiser breakout sessions Andre and myself attended the advertiser breakouts. On day 1 Martin (CJ), Karianne (CJ) and Andre (Hitflip) presented how you can use the technology of CJ for various innovative advertisement formats. Andre introduced Hitflip to the audience and how you can use web 2.0 sites for innovative affiliate marketing opportunities. In the next few days we will publish an extra blog entry on this topic - so don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up2date.
	CJU EU had loads of opportunities for networking and eating chocolate. On a sidenote: If you love chocolates you need to work for Adobe (just search for “click here” on google to find them) [I love insiders]. The champagne reception was great - the girls reminded me of the last James Bond movie “Casino Royal” and I really needed to watch my consumption as it just tasted great. Dinner was a dream and a signature for the landmark hotel in which CJU was located this year.
	Raffle tickets were sold for charity and we were more than happy to buy some to support “Kids Company“. Kids Company was founded in 1996 and provides emotional, practical and educational support to profoundly vulnerable children and young people in London. The great thing about charity raffles is that you can help and win at the same time and WOW DID I WIN!?! Thanks to Duncan at e-Conversions for sponsoring a fantastic prize: I will be driving a Ferrari and a Lamborghini - two Italian beauties for a day. A quarter million worth of cars - I hope they have a good insurance. Chris from Hotel Chocolat offered me the equivalent of the weight of the car in chocolate as a swap. He sure has understood how Hitflip works and his offer is really tempting

I would have loved to have headed to the airport in my new Lamborghini but life just told me that the time has come for the tube and Stansted Express - Life sure knows how to bring one back down to earth. Andre has noted down his thoughts in German and uploaded some pics of CJU EU to the internet. If you have also uploaded or posted your notes on the net let us know by leaving a comment

P.S. Oogolo.fr were brave enough to let a SEO panel discuss their new website They are in desperate need of links. So here you are: voyages en Egypte

Commission Junction has finally published the Agenda for CJU:

THURSDAY 21ST JUNE

08:15 – 08:45

Registration

08:45 – 09:00

Welcome to CJU EU 2007

Carl White, CEO, Valueclick Europe Ltd.

Alison Guise, UK Managing Director, Commission Junction

09:00 – 10:00

Keynote: Swimming against the stream

Tim Waterstone, founder of Waterstone’s book stores, Chairman of Chelsea Stores (including the Daisy and Tom brand and until recently the Early Learning Centre retail chain) and former Chairman of HMV Media Group plc

10:00 – 10:30

The long tail becomes the thick tail

Rebecca Jennings, Senior Anaylist, Forrester Research

10:30 – 11:00

Break

11:00 – 12:00

Getting users to your site and keeping them there – SEO & usability tips from the expert

Catriona Campbell, Director, Foviance

Warren Cowan, Managing Director, Greenlight Search

12:00 – 12:30

Metrics that matter

Jeremy Palmer, Founder & Affiliate, Quityourjob

12:30 – 14:00

Thomas Cook Lunch

14:00 – 15:00

The emerging importance of affiliate marketing within a multi-channel strategy

Gary Goodman, European Marketing Director, Pricerunner

Emmanuel Brunet, Managing Director, Carat Internetional, France

TBC

15:00 – 15:30

Break

15:30 – 16:45

Advertiser and Publisher breakout sessions

16:45 – 17:15

TBA

Andrew Walmsley, Founder, i-level

17:15 – 19:30

Drinks reception

19:30 – 24:00

Gala Dinner & CJU Awards

FRIDAY 22ND JUNE

08:40 – 09:10

Breakfast

09:15 – 10:15

Keynote: If you think you can…Liz Jackson MBE, founder and MD of business-to-business telemarketing and lead generation company, Great Guns Marketing and winner of numerous business awards

10:15 – 10:45

Break

10:45 – 12:30

Advertiser and publisher breakout sessions

12:30 – 13:15

Lost and found – turning site visitors from deserters to converters

John Ardis, VP of Corporate Strategy, Valueclick, Inc.

13:15 – 14:45

Adobe Lunch

14:45 – 15:45

Spotlight – the next generation affiliate marketing

Vinny Lingham, Founder, incuBeta (parent company for Click2Customers)

Michael Edwards, Managing Directos, Traffic Junction

TBC

15:45 – 16:15

Break

16:15 – 16:45

Marketing in a networked culture

Jay Stevens, CP Operations, MySpace EMEA

16:45 – 17:15

TBA

Stephen Taylor, Regional Vice President and MD, Yahoo! Europe

We have just launched our affiliate programme for the UK on CJ.

Hitflip ist Europe’s largest swapping site for media items (DVDs, Books, Games, music CDs and audio books). We give every visitor 1 free flip + 79p - enough to get them going and to grab a free DVD of their choice.

We pay £1 for a free registration lead, a further £1 for each claim of the free item and further £8 for an active swapper. Furthermore we pay a lifetime commission of 30% on flipsales. We have high conversion rates due to the positive customer experience in receiving a free product of their choice.

Here you can find more information on our programme and here you can check out some of our creatives.