Hey Joel,

Hypocrites like Jason should not be allowed to speak in forums like the one you're attending. I think your evaluation of him is true and accurate. Lots of early movers who made efforts to earn money on the internet are not so arrogant as Jason Calacanis. I remember my initial efforts to sell items by joining discussion forums from Compuserv on a dial-up connection without a web browser back in 1988-9. Marketing, selling of anything was reason enough to be despised by 99% of these discussion groups. The usual comments were something along the lines of "If you have nothing of substance or effect to contribute to our erudite discussion of this arcane matter, then we would appreciate it if you would remain a listener until you are educated enough to know that this is NOT the place to advertise AND it may even be illegal."
It was discouraging to say the least. The internet has always been 'sales' unfriendly. We see it in the forums where affiliate links are not allowed - (Then why does anyone give out affiliate links?) and of course it forces everyone to use redirected websites or 'landing pages' that 'give' things away.
Email was a better alternative in 1989-90 but even then so few people had email addresses and knew how to use them and autoresponders were just junky ideas that a few were trying to make better. The fact is that most people online today are barraged with the glitter of gold waiting for them if they just follow this guy or gal's 'system'.

Jason took his money and ran and now has the nerve to rub his success in others' faces. Shame on him!

sandwalker

Thanks

Joel,

Thank you for your review. Unfortunately I could not attend this Affiliate Summit. But I plan to go to Boston, which will be my first ever Affiliate Summit. I am looking forward to learn and to be encouraged by those who have been in the business for much longer than I have.

However, I am not looking forward to have a keynote speaker calling me a spammer and telling me that what I do for living is some how deceiving or dishonest.

I agree with him in many ways. People who create sites and know nothing about what they are writing on just to create content. Its dishonest and you are filling the net with sub par, even false or plagiarized content.

And forum spam has to be the most rude thing ever, when people don't even put in valid discussion and just find ways to put up their affiliate links. Should not be recognized as legitimate businesspeople.

Joel, A lot of what you're talking about is just Jason. He will adjust if shown that he is wrong.

However, he is on the mark I think that affiliate marketers need to take their savvy and expertise and think bigger.

It sounds to me like this guy is a hater! He made his money, ran with it, then seems to have become a great judge of those who want to have a windfall like him. Instead of becoming so judgemental, encourage others to "do the right thing", whatever that is.
Making six figures per month is astounding! I look forward to that time when I make that amount month in and month out. Let the readers of the articles make the decision: was this content helpful to me or not? Then it's up to them to buy from the "spammer". Probably we'll have a web police keep us all honest, eventually. When THAT happens, most of us who are making six figures a month probably won't be making 1/10th of that.
This guy seems to be eating too much caviar, not the 'wish' sandwiches he ate before he blew up and got big, with his $25 million self.

P.S. 'Wish' sandwiches are sandwiches without meat. When you're struggling, you wish you had a meaty sandwich, but can't afford that luxury!(smile)

Last year, I attended a lecture by business strategist and thought-leader, Dr.C.K.Prahalad, author of a groundbreaking book titled "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid".

I heard, for the first time, the shocking figure that 4 BILLION people populate the 'bottom of the pyramid' - defined as having a daily income of less than TWO DOLLARS.

Yes, Joel, 2 bucks a day!

I look at those who advocate dreaming of "six-figures" with a similar attitude as you have towards Jason for advocating dreaming of 7- or 8-figures or more... I look, listen and read what they say with a sense of unreality, and a "Where in the world are these guys?" feeling.

$2 a day is $730 a YEAR. Low FOUR figures would be a huge step UP from their current living standards. FIVE figures would take them to heights of LUXURY.

We live in a world of RELATIVE standards, not absolutes and dogma. And at each level, something is 'big' and the rest are 'small'. To criticize someone's attitude or approach on those grounds opens you up to the same criticism - from a different person!

I'll do a longer blog post on this soon, just wanted to share this perspective with you :)

All success
Dr.Mani

I don't think he called those who were making six figures "pathetic." I think he called the practice of posting pictures of people holding up six figure checks pathetic -- especially when these people made the money in a way Jason considers gaming the system.

i had so many thoughts after the keynote as well, many of the same sentiments that you have. i thought it was very hypocritical of him to label shoe and zac -- two very respectable individuals -- as desperate and pathetic one moment, and bragging about being invited to parties and vindicating all those who put him down the next moment. it was disappointing and embarrassing to watch, but i guess going for the shock factor is his MO? but i'm glad zac did defend himself (and the entire aff industry) to jason in person after the keynote. i also agree dropping f-bombs left and right during the keynote was pretty unprofessional.
on another note, i would have liked to say hi to you, but maybe next time! :)

Oh come on folks! Are you really going to sweet talk an arrogant fool?

Joel put things politely above.

Calacanis entering the game now, as a novice, would be behind the other 3,000,000 rookies.
Timing and others sharing resources made him.

He proved it himself. How?
When someone has genuinely accomplished remarkable success, they do NOT self-idolize, and they absolutely do NOT demean others.
He has confirmed with his cheap false pride that he knows his victories are rather empty.

Pride cometh before the fall.

Joel,

I wasn't at the program and therefore do not have the right to evaluate or judge Jason's performance.

However, as a mature adult, with many years of platform experience I can attest to the fact that it is rare that rude unprofessional language and attitude contribute to the enhancement of the audiences experience.

I applaud you for always taking the high road in content, standards, ethics, etc.

Thank you and keep up the good work.

Bob Cotto
www.4-ideal-health.com

For those of you like me who have never heard of Jason Calacanis if you go to YouTube you can find several videos of his speeches. It doesn't have his keynote address but you can get an idea of what he said.

Since I didn't hear his keynote and am still watching his other speeches I'll hold off on commentary...for now ;-)

Hi Joel,

Jason's reference to ezinearticles.com is bad.
It gave me an opportunity to see my writing in a published form instantly and free which is so great.They have a very strict review process,even one of my article with reference to wikipedia was rejected and i apolozised and deleted the content.(i just typed in my pc and forgot to edit,sent for publishing).This is the way they operate.
You don't have a right to insult someone even if they are making ANY figure income.
People will change.
Thanks for all the ideas you share.

Thanks,
Kannan
http://www.truemlmrockstar.com

Joel

I think your description of what of you saw on stage was that of a frustrated man that took to little for his property and is now vetting his feelings and is looking for a new toy. From the time he sold and the time he stepped on stage a lot of things have transpired and the world doesn't stand still for us. We must move on. Let us know when you buy that coke. Staying focused is the key and the use of flagrant vowels isn't in that realm of a happy person.

Simple message with a bad approach that is really all that comes to mind. There is merit to much of what Jason said but it's just not that significant and nothing new.

I was too busy meeting clients to attend the keynote, but I did watch it later and I'm shocked at comments like this:

"Anyone here from PayPerPost? You need to kill yourself. I'm kidding. Well, I wouldn't mind it if you did."

Jason is a smart and financially successful, I don't know him personally but I'm sure he is a pleasant guy. If it wasn't for his shocking comets like the one above I doubt anyone who be saying much about this keynote - so maybe that was the plan.

Joel, we did not get to meet at ASW08 lets make sure we do next time around.

Well, I am still dreaming about 6 figures. In fact, I am even still dreaming about 5 figures.
I think not everybody can have the luck to set up a website that can be sold to some of the giant players.
I agree with you that this guy is very arrogant.

Myself not (yet) being a Net kazillionaire, perhaps it is not my place to comment, but hey!, let's be daring (I mean, dare I?) --- it seems that money cannot buy happiness.

This Jason character, whom I had never heard of up until reading your blog, Joel, must not be all that happy even if he has made some "valid" points about spamming the blogosphere in paltry efforts by the learning curvers (as in, yours truly) and those of less than honorable motivation (I hope that does not include yours truly, but I am still learning and maybe that's why I haven't learned yet whether or not my own online contribution [or lack of it] is "honorable") to find successful financial reward via this technology which is still in its infancy, actually (geologic time-wise). Before adhering my comments to your blog, but only after reading "Jason Calacanis Insults Affiliate Summit Attendees, Says They Pollute The Internet", I went in search of more comments on said character Jason, sitcom past and present, and well, arrogance does not sit well with me, either.

Joel, congrats to you, dude, for your gentlemanly and yes most honorable manner of bringing this stuff to, anyway, my attention. And as Richard Howell comments above, and to which I totally agree (even though I have had more than my share of head injuries), "Intereting."

lol, sometimes people need a good kick in the butt to strive for greater success.

Well I've never paid to go to an internet marketing conference. And now I never will. Thanks Joel.

Hey Joel,

I did not attend the latest Affiliate Summit and was particularly disappointed to miss Jason's keynote speech. However, based on what I've read about it so far, it was classic Calacanis - dogmatic, arrogant, perhaps even obnoxious - but a message with which I agree for the most part.

Take the ezinearticles.com example - I know that Chris and his team work hard to make sure that the database isn't spammed by keyword stuffers - but c'mon, you gotta admit that you would NOT want to read most of the articles on the site, or worse, subject your site visitors to their lackluster content.

Those articles are submitted for the sole purpose of driving traffic to the site listed in the resource box... NOT for contributing new and interesting information. Perhaps a boring, nothing-new article shouldn't be called spam as such, but it's real worth isn't appreciably greater than spam.

Basically, I think that it's important to look beyond Jason's penchant for creating controvery and concentrate on the message - reduce the crap clutter that wastes everyone's time. I, for one, can't blame him for feeling frustrated by the extent to which it has grown.

Cheers,
Ros

Hi Joel - I was at the Affiliate Summit and we actually had lunch together. (Well, sort of... it was that BIG table with Amit on the last day of the summit:).

I've been thinking a lot about Jason's keynote speech. The thing is, most people, including myself, agree to a lot of what he said but not the tone with which he said it. As an affiliate insider, I know TONS of people who are indeed 'pissing the pool'. And because I'm not one of them, I'm not offended. But yes, Jason could have made his speech better by encouraging people to do the the 'right' thing rather than focusing his speech on ridiculing the industry as a whole.

As he is smart enough to do just that, I believe that he chose to do it the way he did to generate all the buzz we are giving him now.

Lastly, I question the organizers of the Affiliate Summit in their choice of Keynote Speaker. One would think that as organizer's of this event, they would select someone who would encourage attendees and not ridicule them. Instead of going out of the room feeling great to be an affiliate, most faces had this look... "what the hell went on in there?".

So here's my question... what the hell was Shawn Collins et al. thinking of when they asked Jason Calacanis to be keynote speaker... or was it that he et al. was not thinking at all?

Melanie Tan

No one is questioning the basic premise of his speech. My MOTHER could have told you that the web is filled with spam. Not exactly revolutionary thinking, my friend.

I asked Shawn Collins, who I consider a friend, what he was thinking.

His reply?

"I'm P.T. Barnum"

Joel,

I listened to Jason's complete rant on the Affiliate Summit blog and I have to agree with you completely. Yes, Jason did get rich quick compared to old ways of doing business and he shouldn't be the one to decide how things should be done now.

He will probably end up hurting himself with this publicity stunt.

Reply to Rosalind: While I would agree that much of the content on ezinearticles is not worth reading there is some that is. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water. The way the Internet has evolved leaves the separation of good content from bad content up to the search engines and aggregators. Good content will rank well and bad content will be not be among the top results. I realize that all of the formulas are very far from perfect but they will improve and I believe leaving this particular determination up to third parties is best for the industry as a whole.

Reply to ew: If putting some one's picture who is speaking at the conference on the big screen and calling him pathetic isn't insulting I don't know what is. If saying, "SEO is ********" with guys to make a very legitimate living doing SEO sitting in the crowd isn't insulting...again, I'm lost on that one. There were several other things he said that were, by definition, outright insults.

No one should be afraid to do business because of people and attitudes like Jason's and if he were representative of the industry as a whole that is exactly what would be happening. Mahalo was not much different than some of the sites he was bashing. A search engine that physically reviews it's submissions......isn't that exactly what the very first search engine did (Yahoo circa 1996)......ground breaking. How many of you use Mahalo instead of Google......I could certainly argue that Mahalo polluted the Internet by promoting the use of a clearly inferior search engine that returned inferior results. Returning inferior results is promoting exactly the kind of "pollution" he is bashing.

Ros,

Of course I disagree with you.

Don't judge the entire site of 87k expert authors by the thin content of a few authors who don't have your same writing skills.

If you were right, then how would you explain the tens of thousands of articles that have no link to any website? These are written by experts who just want to share their expertise and get some exposure for themselves.

Our team of 30 full-time humans reject articles by the thousands as we manually review every article with two humans (initial review and quality control).

I read a few hundred new articles from our members a week and find gems ALL THE TIME.

In addition, we've spent YEARS honing our software's ability to detect non-original, non-exclusive rights content. We're also very aggressive at *not* allowing software written content to make it on the site. Our reputation and credibility is at stake and that's why we put so much into making sure duplicate or re-written content does not get accepted.

One of the reasons our members complain often is BECAUSE we're slow to accept new articles that have to meet 6 pages of single spaced rules. That's also why it takes us 6 full weeks to train new human editors on our team and another 6 weeks before they are up to a high QC percentage speed.

Every single month since our startup, we've RAISED the expectations bar that article content must meet to become accepted. This is to the dismay of existing EzineArticles members who edit / update their old articles only to find that we aren't able to accept them unless they meet today's standards (no article or author is grandfathered).

We reject Affiliate Marketers who don't add value with their article contributions or submit PLR content, but welcome affiliate marketers who write original quality content.

In conclusion, being an EzineArticles expert author is not solely about trying to attract traffic back to your website; It's also about building credibility and exposure for yourself and your expertise, one article at a time; reviewed by one human at a time.

Chris Knight, CEO & Publisher
EzineArticles.com/

ps: Why I love this discussion: It's all about holding everyone in the industry accountable for producing quality original relevant content.

Hi Joel,

You certainly got a reaction with this post.
Maybe he's just spent too much time in the UK lately.

Over here everyone is actively encouraged to abuse anyone and everyone.
You can't watch a TV show without the obligatory effing and blinding. It really is crass. It's also very 'forced'. Even young girl TV presenters are encouraged to swear and offend people as often as possible, and you can see it doesn't sit well on their shoulders.

It's really funny when we get the Yanks appearing on our shows. They get SO EXCITED at the fact that they are actively 'encouraged' to swear, and do so as often as possible, giggling profusely as they do so.

I reckon you had it pretty tame there Joel. But it's great to see so many of your country's people making their stand against it here on your blog.

It's a pleasure to read such courteous and considered posts.

Pete.

When people say things like, "...articles are submitted for the sole purpose of driving traffic to the site listed in the resource box... NOT for contributing new and interesting information," it just makes me laugh.

Sure, there are still people out there submitting a bunch of crap articles for the sole purpose of getting the backlinks...but you know what? I don't accept them, and neither does Mr. Knight (above) or any of the other respectable directory sites.

Spamming article directories to get backlinks isn't even practical anymore, it's not worth the time for the minimal results you'd see. Any directory that accepts an article like that doesn't carry much weight in the search engines, if any at all. They're wasting their time.

Today it's ALL about giving the reader appropriate, original and useful content and gaining their trust. Yes, the author want to get the reader to their website, but it's done with great content, not crappy, spammy nonsense.

Respectfully,
Allen Graves

Hi Joel and Dr Mani,

I agree, it's not a good thing to bash 6 figures. It's not a good thing to bach one cent. In many part of the world, one cent is enough to feed an entire familly for one day, one dollar is enough to feed a familly for one week.

It's what I've seen, I travel a lot. And I guess that in some part of the word, one dollar can feed a familly for one week.

Folks, don't lose your mind for money. Money is nothing, it's just paper and stone. Remain on the planet earth.

As for ezinearticles directory, it can't be blamed. It's the best article directory on the Internet.

Joel, I didn't visit your blog for a while, it's very nice. I like the new design.

I believe we are all fortunate to have another day above ground,whatever we
are successful or fail at in life,which seems to be an up & down ride for
most all of us,at one point in time,or another.
What anyone's objective is,will probably reveal itself,given time,and expose any motive,whether honorable or not.
None of us human beings,self-appointed demi-gods,or not,have the corner on
any market,permanately;
One person's style or tact,whoever he/she is,really doesn't matter in the grand scale of things,all that much,most of the time.
There are many different roads to Chicago,but they all take you to the same
place.
Oh yeah;It also doesn't matter what I say,here,either!

Thanks for the time it took for you to read this;
Shannon Henley

Personally, I think a speech like this was a few years to late. And whats the point anyway, if he has an issue with the search results take it up with Google, Yahoo and MSN not a room full of hard-working affiliates. Ezinearticles is a great way to get articles syndicated and pickup some traffic and link juice. This dudes just a hater...stating the obvious about an issue that is less relevant now that ever.