Apogee Live on YouTube: Video Meetings for Affiliates

Yesterday, we started something new and exciting at the agency. We recorded our first Apogee Live affiliate meeting using Zoom, a video conferencing service. You can view that meeting on our new YouTube channel, and that first meeting is available to watch here at ApogeeAgency.com.

Video meetings aren't new. YouTube isn't new. Webinars and podcasts aren't new. But we wanted to connect with our affiliates on a different platform that combines all those media together. The one hour pilot was pretty darn successful, I'd say. Ten people signed in to kick off the project. We talked about the agency briefly then about promotional updates from our merchants. Some of the affiliates didn't realize we manage some of these programs so this helped reinforce one of our goals:

1. Educate affiliates about the clients we manage, encourage them to join
2. Give best practices for those specific merchants, including best sellers and tips on success
3. Troubleshoot issues with affiliates that might help others
4. Listen to the needs of affiliates
5. Be transparent and build relationships through conversation

Apogee Live, Going Forward

The structure will be pretty simple. Each video will be about 45 minutes long, divided into roughly 15 minute segments.

Part I will be an update from Apogee. A guest speaker will lead Part II—often one of our merchants. Part III will be general Q&A, although it should be noted that we do encourage interaction throughout the entire hour. Lastly, Part IV will be off the record. At the 45-minute mark, we will stop recording. If affiliates have questions or thoughts they would rather not live on YouTube forever, this is their chance to vent or get answers.

At the one-hour mark, we'll have an after-party. Apogee Live will officially be over, but if anyone wants to stick around, so will I. If any affiliates have specific questions for any of my team, we can schedule private video meetings in the future.

How To Join In

You must be an affiliate in one of our programs and you must be accepted into our private Facebook group for affiliates. We do get random applications and sometimes I have no way to verify if those profiles really are active affiliates, so they get declined. In the past, they've turned out to be spammers. We have links to the Facebook group in all of our newsletters, so look for it there. If you get rejected and you are in one of our programs, send me a private note. I'm sure there will be other video meetings starting soon that will be open to the public, but mine won't be one of them. We can host up to 50 participants and we are going to concentrate on quality, not quantity.

I encourage other managers and merchants to be this open with affiliates. Too many merchants ignore the affiliate channel. We need more understanding and sharing of best practices in this industry. Let's make this work.