Viral Storytelling with The Story Lady, Ronda Del Boccio

Well, today I was edged out by about $2 from being in the top 6 on Top Affiliate Challenge.  One less refresh and I would still be a contestant right now.    It has been a wonderful experience.  Thor Schrock and his wife Kimberly and their team have taken excellent care of all of us throughout the competition.  We’ve had comfortable beds in a decent hotel.  We’ve had food from local restaurant sponsors  every day twice a day.  We have not had to endure selling popsicles in 90+ degree heat or filming in a hot airplane hanger.

We have enjoyed food from some really good restaurants, like Olive Garden, Billy’s, Runza’s, Raising Cane, The Brown Bag.  Some contestants and John Chow have whined and complained about food at various places, but I have enjoyed just about everything.    The chicken at Raising Cane is out of this world.  Runza has great fries.  We had some sort of stew from Billy’s that was quite tasty.  You can’t go wrong with Olive Garden, and I truly enjoyed the fresh fruit and veggies to go along with the sandwich at Brown Bag.  The macaroni salad is exceptional.  All these places are in Lincoln, Nebraska.  From what I hear, no trip to Lincoln would have been complete without visiting Runza and Raising Cane.  We also had the delicious treat of meals from the new Texas Roadhouse that is soon to open.  They are in training now and had to do something with all those steaks and shrimp!  Thanks for sharing them with TAC. 

A few people have asked about prizes.  there are no prizes just for making it to the show.  The affiliate network sponsors  gave us some things at the beginning, so  we each have a bag of t-shirts, pens, and other small give-aways from the networks.  The affiliate managers who came on the first episode talked about rewardsfor the winning team or the team that used the most of their company’s offers.  With all the restructuring that has happened, it is unclear how that will all work out.  Perhaps next season the networks will realize that a group of people who blog and do videos might talk about them more if they give more interesting gifts to the contestants. 

For me the point of being here, aside from going for the top show winnings, is to build relationships, learn, showcase my abilities, and to compete!  It was really hard not making it to the top 6.  I had hoped to go further and I worked very hard to get there.  But such was not my fate.   Have I learned some things?  Oh yes, definitely, and by and by I will share them with you.

It has been really hard not to blog or tweet about things that are happening on Top Affiliate Challenge for 48 hours or so after they happen.  For one thing, the days flow together and it is sometimes hard to separate out what happened on what day.  For another, I have become accustomed to being able to share things happening in my life with those around me and with my readers and community.  It was easier not to say much than to possibly leak something because I got the days mixed up.

Today’s show started with the results of the 2-day challenge.  Did anyone wonder about the huge difference between Collin LaHay’s earnings and the rest of the pack?  Since I was eliminated, I did not get to see John Chow get kicked off the show until I watched it tonight.  He is a lot like a 12 year old with a bank account.

This is what I found most interesting about him.  Last week when my team Toolbarn moved over to him because of the early arrival of Shoemoney’s baby, I was not happy.  Oh, I understand that the producers had to make a decision because of the unexpected twist, but since I had watched Team XY7.com throw 2 competitions already, I knew he had some game in mind.

The first time I went to the Team XY7.com room, it was me, the 2 Collins and John Chow.  Both Collins are on film saying they voted themselves off the show.  Sure it was obviously staged, but they still made that public statement.  It was so clear to me that John did not care about the team except to protect Collin L.    Well, I do not throw myself under the bus for the team so I would not play along with that game plan anyway.  I was one of the stronger players on Toolbarn.

If I am going to lose or to win, I will do it honestly.

John told me how much Shoemoney respects me and said something I am not going to reveal right now.  Suffice to say I didn’t like it and would not have agreed if things played out that way.  I also know he was trying to find out whether or not I was corruptable or not, and whether I would play along.

Anyway, I did not like the new combined team situation at all.  I was not going to take one in the heart for “the team” and play along with the Chow game.  I just figured that there might be some other twist in a day or two, so I would learn what I could and wait it out.

As I said in my interview after being eliminated, I threw myself into every competition and every challenge.  I never whined about the food or the hotel.  I never used my disability as an excuse or asked for any special considerationsw.  I am having a great experience in Top Affiliate Challenge and do not regret any of it for one moment. 

Over the course of the show, I have made great contacts and unexpected friends.  I will say more about that another time.  What you need to realize is that when you do things like this, people are watching and paying attention.  hundreds of people watch or download the shows every single hour.  How we play the game is noticed.

People are watching how each contestant plays the game, and the networks are no doubt deciding who they want to work with.  Though this is a game and not reality, still it is in many ways just like life.  Some people goof off and skate by on the hard work of others.  Some work hard and get edged out because of a last minute twist.  Some let somebody with money buy their win for them.  It is not necessarily the most deserving who are at the top.  Perhaps someone slacked off most of the time but turned in the right numbers at the right time, then will slither by once again.  Some divert a winning plan to game the system.  Some get emotional about things that truly do not matter.  Just like in reality.

Will the good guy making it on honest effort win?  or will someone with an uber bank account by someone’s way to the top?

Keep watching Top Affiliate Challenge!

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I get more and more excited as time draws near for the Top Affiliate Challenge, and today I want to share some things

If you’re a runner preparing for a marathon, you know exactly what to expect.  26 miles of grueling, exhausting pavement pounding action, and you can prepare yourself appropriately.  You understand that you have to increase your endurance and you know the types of activities that you will do both in preparation and during the competition.

Nobody will be there to say, “I’m sorry but you’re going to jump hurdles today, not run the Boston Marathon.”  You know that if you’re going into a marathon, that means running 26 miles. Period.

Not so with Top Affiliate Challenge.  Oh sure, we know that it’s about affiliate marketing.  That much is a no-brainer.  But what types of challenges will we face?  none of us knows for sure. 

I’m pretty sure that the contestants who are whiz-bang with pay per click campaigns believe they’ll grind the rest of us slackers deep into the dust.  Jeremy Shoemaker (Shoemoney) calls best selling author Ken McArthur an old spammer because he uses email marketing, yet a couple contestants are a little scared that Ken got over 4.1 million emails sent out for his book launch May 15th of this year.

And I know that show producer Thor Schrock is really pulling out all the stops to get the community involved.  Heck, he’s got the Governor of Nebraska and the Mayor of Lincoln coming, from what I heard, to the welcome ceremony.  He is dedicated to showcasing Lincoln.  So I’m thinking a lot of the challenges will have offline elements to them.

Lots of drama between the 3 gurus Shoemoney, John Chow and Ken McArthur.  Plenty of drama amongst the contestants.  Some unplanned for drama as well.

how do you prepare for a competition when you don’t know what the challenges will be?

What do you consider as you prepare yourself to go into a competition knowing very little about what to expect?

If you’re me - well I can’t tell you all my strategies of course - but you start with your mindset first and foremostl

Shoemoney said in his video review of the top 10 that the most important attribute is a work ethic.  All the rest can be learned.  he is so right.  I have a great work ethic and I can learn anything.  There are some types of campaigns (affiliate marketing) that I have never tried yet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be wildly successful.

And heck, I’m the only female there, so someone has to balance out all that testosterone!  women unite!  Help keep me on the show!

Plus my guide dog Molly Flagtail will be there too, of course!  She will help us all keep it real

I am going in with these things in mind:

1.  Do everything I can to make this a great show!

2. Be open to new situations and ways of thinking

2.  Keep my mind in the success zone

3.  Play smart

4.   Learn lots

5.  Keep emotions in check

6.  Build lasting relationships

So that’s it for today!

Ronda

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The competition at Top Affiliate Challenge isn’t only about the contestants. The gurus are putting up their dukes as well. Today Shoemoney posted on his blog that his rankings are rising and John Chow’s are falling. These stats are from the Google Toolbar, which is free to install. He likes the toolbar better than Alexa.

Go ahead and grab that Google toolbar.

Techy stuff for sure, but the interesting thing is the mounting competition. The 3 gurus in Top Affiliate Challenge will each have a team of 4 contestants to start the game. I haven’t heard or read (for me it is heard because I use s speech program) Ken McArthur weigh in yet, but we’re still 8 days away from the start of competition.

You can read guru John Chow’s bio here.

You can read guru Ken McArthur’s bio here.

You can read Guru Jeremy Shoemaker’s (Shoemoney’s) bio here.

Watch Top Affiliate Challenge starting July 1.

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