As many of you may be aware I have been involved in the affiliate marketing on and off part-time since 2003 but recently at the beginning of this year took it up full-time alongside my SEO and Blogging business. I have often felt alone and isolated in this line of work and often wondered how others in my industry combat this and get new ideas and interact with like-minded people, well I found it the A4U Events…

I have learnt so much over the last week and met so many interesting and like-minded people including some local ones from Swansea Jason Dale and Jude Dale (Loquax) who made me feel like part of the crowd and are really friendly and genuine people.

On the day of arrival I found that the Excel was currently having building work and my Hotel the Ramada that was supposed to be adjacent was now a short train stop away because of this building work which wasn’t a great start as it costs me every time I wanted to get back and forward to the Expo from my hotel… After settling in on the Monday when I arrived I went over to the pre-event party where food and drink was provided, this was an informal event giving you the opportunity to network and chill out before the event. I met a great deal of people I had been speaking to online via twitter at that event and learnt some great tips and techniques from some old pro’s… I didn’t stay out too late that night as I wanted a fresh head and early start the next day to attend one of the first sessions. The sessions I chose on day one and two were primarily SEO and link building sessions. I learnt a great deal from Google ( who flew over from Mountain View ) and also managed to have a one-to-one session with Google themselves over a few new projects I’ve got in the pipeline. The most important lesson and most obvious is not a cheat Google or any of the other major search engines, provide your users with valuable content and a good experience and you will do well in search engines simple as that.

During day one and two of the Expo food and drink were provided, day one we had a beautiful chilli con carne and tortilla chips along with a chocolate bar or fruit of our choice also a selection of coffee water and soft drinks were available during the day. Day two we had a box of pizza per person along with a chocolate bar or fruit which was just delicious.

On Expo day one there was a networking party at the O2 dome again with drinks provided and a private area. This was a very nice venue but many people went to it to network and were unable to do to due to the DJs loud music which many people complained about and then voted with their feet ( this was the only not so good part of the event )… but I do have to say that I think the oxygen bar prevented my hangover the next day

Day two of the Expo I went to a select few sessions again concentrating on SEO and also Internet start-ups which included a representative from the new Internet start-up Spotify. I learnt an awful lot and after the sessions I was raring to get in front of a computer and put some of my new knowledge into action. That evening was the after party where everyone got to chill out and discuss with their new friends about what they’ve learnt over the Expo, food and drink again was provided I had a lovely curry and a few pints of beer it was a great end to a great show.

I will be definitely attending more A4U events in the future and suggest to anybody in the Internet marketing industry but this is some thing you should be attending.