I delivered my first keynote speech last week in the Netherlands at an affiliate marketing conference called Affiliate Dag.

Ironic - isn’t it?

While I speak and moderate in the United States about 15 or so times per year at major industry conferences such as Affiliate Summit and Search-Engine Strategies, my first keynote was delivered in another country.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Does my being invited to deliver a keynote in another country say something about the power of the Pepperjam brand? I think so.

People outside of the United States look to us (companies in the US) to understand the internet marketing space…how it is evolving, who are the key players, who made the biggest mistakes, who has made the biggest impact, etc.

This is the second time in the last 12 months that I have spoken outside the United States and I can tell you - the industry is looking to innovative companies like Pepperjam for advice and direction. In both cases I received unsolicited invitations to speak.

It may come as a surprise, but in many ways the Europeans are much more sophisticated than we are here in the United States and seem better prepared to truly benefit from the globalization of affiliate marketing.

Yes, it’s true that Europeans had the benefit of watching other US-based companies fail; they have also watched as non-US companies entered the US market only to fail.

Regardless, it’s the sophistication of the European approach that really impresses me.

So - what does my minor rant have anything to do with anything.

Well, I just watched a video (see below) from the Affiliate Dag conference (the one I keynoted).

As I watched the video and thought about where our industry (search, affiliate, etc.) is headed I couldn’t help but reflect on just how big the Pepperjam brand has gotten.

Being invited to be the keynote at the largest get together of affiliate marketers in the history of Europe is one thing (I was truly honored and it says more about Pepperjam than it says about me), but it makes me think that these people…who I find incredibly poised for success and extremely sophisticated…chose “Pepperjam” over other more obvious US-based affiliate companies, including Commission Junction, Linkshare, Performics, Azoogle, and others.

While I think this is a testament to the Pepperjam brand I am humbled that the folks in Europe are looking to Pepperjam for direction on the future of an industry.

Never in a million years would I have thought just a few years ago that Pepperjam would be in the position we are as global authorities and thought shapers.

Very cool stuff.

I hope you enjoy the video.

BTW - Much of the video is in Dutch. No - I don’t speak Dutch. In fact, I was introduced in Dutch and all the other speakers throughout the conference (with the exception of me) spoke in Dutch.

All of the feedback that I have received from my presentation has been very positive. I even had a guy randomly walk up to me with a copy of my book and ask for my signature - now that was unexpected, especially considering I was nearly 4,000 miles and an entire ocean away from home!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 8:33 pm and is filed under affiliate marketing, pepperjam, Pepperjam Network, affiliate network, pepperjamADS, Next Generation Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Dag. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.