As expected, Jason Calacanis delivered an interesting yet unsurprisingly controversial Keynote at Affiliate Summit West 2008. The overall point of the keynote was to encourage affiliates to use their brainpower towards something bigger that spamming, affiliate links and thin site creation.

Here’s the top ten things I got out of Jason’s talk:

1. Usenet, which preceded the Internet we all know, was killed by over zealous marketers...the Internet is on the same path, and affiliates are a part of that
2. Affiliates are polluting our own well - we should realize that
3. Curation is the solution - examples are Citysearch, Yelp, Angie’s List, LinkedIn, Hulu
4. Shoot for the slow and steady curve, not the quick buck. Doing so will lead you down the right path to long-term success
5. Holding up six figure checks is pathetic - Shoemoney was used as an example
6. Suggests that affiliates need to realize they are at the bottom of the food chain and then work up from there
7. Affiliate/SEOs are smarter and work harder than a lot of the people working at big companies in The Valley - affiliates could do a lot better for themselves, but they don’t because they are intimidated
8. Affiliate marketer’s big problem is that they are focused on short-term gains and think too small
9. Jason was more careful with his words than he has been in the past - made sure he didn’t categorize everyone as bad. Sounds like the “SEO is bullshit” experience has made him select his words more carefully.
10. Failure is just as big a part of the American dream as success - don’t be afraid to shoot for the stars, and if you fail, that’s OK. Just build another rocket.

Reaction to the keynote seemed to be overall fairly positive. Walking out I head comments that ranged from "the speech was inspirational" to "that guy is an elitist."

Yup, sounds like your average reaction to a Calacanis speech. :)

Tags: affiliatesummit