I got a question about the Affiliate Summit Virtual Pass from a fan of this blog. What they asked was, “Is it worth the money to buy an Affiliate Summit Virtual Pass if I can't attend?” Honestly “No” they are a waste of money. I wouldn't spend any money to watch the Affiliate Summit Videos unless you already have a ticket and attended.
Part of the benefit of attending any conference is networking, meeting new people, networking, and more mmm… yeah… networking. What the Affiliate Summit Virtual Pass gives you is just videos of the talks and sessions. Paying money to watch Affiliate Summit Videos is a waste. The value you get from attending a conference is rarely in the sessions but the connections you make with people.
Most veteran internet and affiliate marketers are probably going to tell you the same thing. Video education and learning online is great but it just doesn't make sense to pay for information you already know. Attending the conference, in this case Affiliate Summit, for only 1 day is probably where you are going to get any benefit if you are going to get something out of it at all.
Let me put it to you this way, if you were to buy the Affiliate Summit Virtual Pass I think it is kind of like buying a sail-ship without a sail. Yes, you still bought a boat and can put it in water and enjoy your purchase. However to make it work you need a sail. In addition you need to know how to operate it.
Personally at Affiliate Summit I did not come away with what I expected. If you read my Affiliate Summit Review you will understand that a lot of companies and people that show-up you wouldn't want to work with. Well, at least I don't. That's why even though I won a ticket to Affiliate Summit West I'm not attending.
Like I said before there were a few sessions, which I attended, that I gained value from. I've watched and listened to other Affiliate Summit sessions which just were not really worth the time though. There was some good advice but nothing that really blew my mind.
In terms of the way the backend of the Affiliate Summit Video site there have been issues playing the Affiliate Summit Videos. They freeze a often and sometimes take quite awhile to load. Could be because the website is hosted with GoDaddy, which is know for pretty terrible hosting, or more likely an issue with the video service they are using.
Not sure how many people have the time or patience to watch or listen to ever single one of the Affiliate Summit videos anyway. It's several hours of content and it would take you awhile to sort through the good and the bad. There is actually a lot of similar info on Youtube, which is free. Of course finding the useful videos on Youtube can be a challenge too.
Another thing to keep in mind is that from the time the Affiliate Summit videos go live you 6 months to watch them. You will not be able to access them after 6 months to my understanding. So it is not a pay once and get the content forever type of deal. Kind of sucks but I guess that is Missy Ward and Shawn Collins choice.
That's my opinion about buying a Virtual Pass to watch the Affiliate Summit videos. If you have an opinion, comment, or suggestions about it I'd be happy to hear it.