Yay! It’s the “Who is” time of the week! Today’s article is not a regular “Who is” post because for the first time, it’s all about a woman! In an industry where the biggest public figures are males, this is quite refreshing to see a lady with such a reach. Please give a round of applause (Yep, you too can applaude in front of your computer screen) to Missy Ward!
Once again, the “Who is” post list is growing. It already featured ShoeMoney, John Chow, dk, Darren Rowse, Shawn Collins, Zac Johnson, Jonathan Volk, Frank Kern, Joel Comm, Ryan Eagle and Tyler Cruz. But enough chit-chat, it’s time to put the spotlights on Missy Ward.
Missy Ward: Girl Got Rhythm
Missy describes herself as a mother, daughter, sister, wife, niece, aunt, cousin, friend, marketer, beach-chick and die-hard AC/DC fan. What else can I say… She already earned my respect!
During the past 10 years, Missy has worked with numerous companies to help them grow their business using performance marketing.
Missy Ward: She’s Got Balls
Before being her own boss, Missy worked at several positions with big responsibilities. To name just a few: Director of Public Relations for Media Breakaway LLC, Vice President of Partnership Marketing for eBound Strategies, President of Aluria Software and Vice-President of Marketing for Global Travel International.
Blogger at MissyWard.com: Jailbreak
On MissyWard.com, Missy blogs about various subjects such as Social Media, Affiliate Marketing, Events she attends as well as miscellaneous stuff she likes.
Co-founder of Affiliate Summit: Big Balls
Missy Ward is a co-founder of Affiliate Summit with Shawn Collins. In 2003, they created this event for the purpose of providing educational sessions on the latest industry issues and fostering a productive networking environment for affiliate marketers.
Back in 2003, Affiliate Marketing Conferences had a very negative connotation. At that time, the most popular event was an annual cruise around the Caribbean called Affiliate Force. Missy Ward and Shawn Collins were part of the organizing team of these conferences, but due to different point of views in the way these events should be handled, they were dismissed. As a result, they decided to create an alternative shortly after the April 2003 edition of Affiliate Force.
The first Affiliate Summit East took place in November 2003 in NYC with 200 attendees. Missy’s and Shawn’s intent was to create another kind of event focused on content and networking. Fast forward to 2011, Affiliate Summit has become one of the leading conference and tradeshow in the affiliate marketing industry.
The event is so popular that it is usually sold out and it features the biggest names in internet marketing both as speakers and attendees such as ShoeMoney, John Chow or dk.
Co-Founder of FeedFront Magazine: High Voltage
FeedFront is the official magazine of Affiliate Summit. This magazine is filled with resources, ideas and opinions from Internet Marketing visionary entrepreneurs. FeedFront claims to be for futurists and next-gen internet marketers.
Co-Founder of GeekCast.fm: Let There Be Rock
GeekCast.fm is a collection of podcasts for web-fanatics. It covers all areas of Internet marketing, including affiliate marketing, social media, video, search engine marketing, and mobile.
Co-Founder of AffStat Report: T.N.T.
Each year, Affstat.com publishes the annual AffStat Affiliate Marketing BenchMark Report. This research, analysis and benchmarking report for the affiliate marketing industry is regularly quoted by trade publications such as JupiterMedia properties and Internet Retailer.
Co-Founder of VelocityNYC Press: The Jack
Velocity NYC Press is a newly distributed imprint line for Morgan James, which made it’s first release in January 2010: Internet Marketing from the Real Experts.
The aim of the Velocity NYC Press imprint is to provide titles that span every topic that affects online marketers, from affiliate and search engine marketing to blogging and microblogging to online video and podcasting.
Co-Founder of AffiliateBuyersGuide.com: Who Made Who
From what I’ve seen, AffiliateBuyersGuide.com is a directory of companies and websites related to Internet Marketing. They are sorted by categories such as Affiliate Programs, Affiliate / CPA Networks, Graphic Designers, Marketing Reports and Resources, Outsourced Program Managers, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Tracking Solutions, Consulting and Affiliate Recruiting Tools & Services.
Co-Founder of ShipToTroops.com: For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
Ship To Troops is an affiliate website with the goal of making it easy to shop with online merchants while supporting american troops and military families in need.
ShipToTroops.com gives automatically 20% of the commissions they receive to Operation Homefront at no extra costs to the customer.
Co-Publisher of Revenews.com: Moneytalks
ReveNews is a trusted, unbiased source focusing on Internet related industries such as online marketing, SEM, affiliate marketing, retail (e-commerce), analytics, spyware, blogging and much more.
Co-Founder of AffiliateMarketersGiveBack.com: Thunderstruck
Affiliate Marketers Give Back was founded in 2007 by Missy. Its main goal is to raise money to support Brease Cancer research, treatment, awareness and community programs through combined efforts within the Affiliate Marketing Industry.
Affiliate Marketers Give Back is probably the main reason why Missy has earned my respect. I know that she is a successful business-woman but that’s “only” business after all.
Some of you may have read my short biography and know what I’m talking about. Long story short, I lost my mom because of a Breast Cancer 3 years ago after over 10 years of fighting. She would have been 60 this year on May 8th.
Breast Cancer, You can help too: Have a Drink on Me
Missy is a wine lover (that’s no secret for anyone who knows her a little), and she is on her way to becoming a Master Sommelier. Taking that one step further, Missy decided to create a wine, that she’d be proud to stick her name on and use it as a way to help raise funds to fight breast cancer. This is how Signorina was born.
If you like wine, or if you know someone who likes wine, and if you would like to make a donation for Breast Cancer research, you can hit two birds with one stone by visiting Missy’s Signorina Wine Page and buying a bottle of Signorina Wine by clicking on the “ChipIn” button in the widget. This is Good Karma!
It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)
As a conclusion, I would say that Missy is involved in so many projects that I’m pretty sure I have missed some. But you get the big picture: Missy is an hyper-active, hard-working, caring woman who definitely deserves some more attention in the Internet Marketing industry.
And a post about Missy wouldn’t be complete without this:
It took me a few sections before I got that the headlines had AC/DC song titles. I was thinking “Big Balls”? :)
Hehe
This was dukeo’s Easter Egg for AC/DC fans ;)
Awesome post Stéphane. You really captured the essence of Missy!
Thank you for the support Jay! I tried my best. If the post ended up being interesting, it’s because Missy is interesting in the first place.
Damn, my prediction was right, haha!
BTW, great post Stéphane. :)
Indeed! You guessed it right, it was Missy.
Awesome post! Missy has had a pretty huge impact on our industry. I’m hoping to get to meet her at the next Affiliate Summit :)