As convenient, as powerful and as accessible as it has become to make money online from just about anywhere in the world with a reliable Internet connection, there is no replacement for shaking actual hands with real life people in the real world. Adding a variety of affiliate marketing conventions, conferences and masterminds provide ample opportunity to meet with some of the most successful and more influential people in the industry. But where should your journey begin?

Affiliate Summit East

Every summer, over 5,000 digital marketers from 70 countries around the world gather in New York for Affiliate Summit East. This is one of the most popular and best known events on any affiliate marketer’s calendar. In addition to tradeshow areas to connect with merchants, vendors and networks, you can also attend multiple tracts of educational sessions and networking events. Notable speakers include WordStream founder Larry Kim, ShareASale CEO Brian Littleton, and online marketing guru John Rampton.

Affiliate World Europe

Want to connect with the heart of affiliate marketing in Europe and beyond? Look no further than Affiliate World Europe . There are a lot of big names in the business including Machinima founder Hugh Hancock, Lumitact founder Trey Lewellen, and Facebook Product Marketing Manager Lena Belogolova who held a speechs at AWE.

This is truly a packed event with a two-day supper affiliate market where you can shop for expert advice and expand your network. On both days, you will also have the opportunity to attend a grand number of speeches, panels and breakout sessions to really develop your skills in the affiliate marketing industry. Topics range from cash-on-delivery offers to mobile commerce to Google Analytics and more.

ad:tech

Performance marketing is truly a global phenomenon and the worldwide conferences of ad:tech are reflective of this perspective. Instead of simply hosting one or two events a year, there’s a good chance that ad:tech has a conference near you. From London in the UK to New York City, New Delhi, Shanghai, Sydney, Auckland, Tokyo and more, these conference attract some of the biggest influencers from every corner of the planet.

Most of the conferences are held over the course of two days. Attendance varies between locations, of course, with the London 2016 event drawing around 1000 players “to experience a new content and networking-fueled format dedicated to performance marketing and tech innovation.” There is a keen interest in startups here. Key speakers have included British politician Nick Clegg, L’Oreal CMO Hugh Pile, and Vice VP of innovation Mark Adams.

Addays Digital Marketing Conference

While it is perfectly understandable that many affiliate marketers are heavily interested in the United States market, the rest of the world is rife with an opportunity too. One of the biggest areas of growth is in Asia and this is reflected in the Ho Chi Minh City setting for Addays Digital Marketing Conference in August 2017.

The two-day event sees over 800 attendees absorb key insights and strategies from over 25 of the industry’s most notable thought leaders with over 30 speeches and keynote presentations. Key speakers include CircleHub founder Truong Hung, Adnow sales department head Pham Thanh Trung, and AdCombo Head of Affiliate Department Alla Anisimova. Learn from the best and exchange with the best and the brightest.

LeadsCon

The main event for LeadsCon takes place in Las Vegas each spring. Dubbed the performance marketing conference, LeadsCon plays host to nearly 3,000 leaders in performance marketer with engaging events from over 75 insightful speakers. There are a total of over 30 sessions on technology, plus limitless opportunities to network with key people in the industry. The focus here is on lead generation.

Past speakers have included Bankrate.com SVP of Marketing Michael Amsel, FTC Assistant Director of Financial Practices Sandy Brown, and FindYourInfluence CEO Jamie Reardon. In addition to the conference in Las Vegas, an additional event is hosted in New York in the late summer as well.

Can’t make it to New York? Affiliate Summit West is hosted in Las Vegas every year too, typically sometime in January. This provides the added bonus of enjoying everything that Sin City has to offer. They say that everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but the insights and connections you’ll make will last a lifetime.

The Home Business Summit

Similar to ad:tech, the Home Business Summit hosts several events throughout the year, but they are mostly centered around the North American market. And as its name indicates, the Home Business Summit is just about affiliate marketing specifically. Instead, it is geared toward all home business entrepreneurs, opening the floor to a more diverse skill set and group of individuals.

The three-day events are hosted in such cities as Los Angeles, Toronto, Orlando, Vancouver, and San Diego. The live event gives you the opportunity to meet with speakers who have been “in the trenches” as hugely successful online marketers themselves. They share the secrets to earning six figure incomes using the power of the Internet. Notable names include MOBE CEO Matt Lloyd and pre-eminent Internet marketer John Chow.

Problogger Evolve

When it comes to the world of professional blogging, few names are quite as well known as “Problogger” Darren Rowse. Along with Pat Flynn from the Smart Passive Income Blog, they play host to two Problogger Evolve events, both of which are in Rowse’s home country of Australia. You’ll find them nearly back-to-back in Brisbane and Melbourne.

The conference and mastermind – each of which take up a full day – are designed to help you explore “innovative content, engagement, traffic and conversion strategies,” as well as the monetization models that currently powering some of the biggest and most profitable blogs on the Internet. This isn’t just about listening to vague words of inspiration; instead, you’ll learn actionable steps that you can further discuss in smaller groups. Attending the mastermind also unlocks exclusive access to a special Facebook group for sharing ideas beyond the event too.

If you are really ready to take your Internet business to the next level, investing in attending one or more of these affiliate marketing conferences is well worth the time and money. Learn from the best and forge life-long connections critical to your long-term success.