Today in my Google news alerts came a story that claimed there were no women in the industry. The writing was a bit on sexist side, claiming that women aren’t in the industry because it’s a high risk industry, and basically that they are only good for being pretty affiliate managers. This is not only untrue, but is based on a limited viewpoint from the industry: the guys who flash their bling on their website and pretend to be online thugs. That’s a very small (yet vocal) part of the industry and does not make at all the majority of the industry, let alone anywhere where the income comes from.
I’m note even going to link to the blog and provide traffic, because frankly I find this type of linkbait offensive, disguising and completely immature.
The problem is that that part of the industry has no idea how all these women network, how they influence—which has a lot less about displaying “bling” on their website, or talking about their stripclub adventures, but more about doing real business. While I’m going to piss off some people saying this, all of these women can teach the entire industry not only how to network, but how to have a more stable income and more fulfilling life.
So, without much-ado, here’s a list of 10 great women in the industry, all of them who have made significant impact. There is no rhyme or reason on the order, except for #1, and I apologize for missing some. And yes, it became eleven women, and I wanted to add more.
11. Erin Cigich
http://www.clickbooth.com
Erin is the President of ClickBooth, one of the top CPA networks in the world. She’s the woman in charge of over $100M of income generated by Integraclick, and someone who everyone knows in our industry.
10. Trisha Hawthorne
http://www.cuttingedgeoffers.com/
@ trishacemedia
Trisha has been with Cutting Edge Media for almost 15 years, and has been a part of this industry since its started. She basically runs Cutting Edge Offers, one of the top 10 networks in our survey. Not only is she born on the same day as me, but she’s equally as amazing and smart.
9. Jennine Rexon
http://www.rexdirectnet.com/
@rexdirectnet
Jennine is the CEO of RexDirectNet, the parent company of RexTopia. Don’t know them? Well, through RexConnects they are one of the top pay per call networks out there, and RexTopia is a major lead gen and coupon type network. She’s managed to do this with half a dozen children (ok, only 4)
8. Kirsty McCubbin
http://www.affiliatestuff.co.uk/
@AffiliateStuff
She’s a full-time affiliate marketer probably making more money than all the boys out there. Instead of talking about it all the time, she’s out there actually making it a very nice full time income.
7. Linda Buquet
http://affiliate-blogs.5staraffiliateprograms.com/
@lindabuquet
Her affiliate blog is consistently names as one of the top blogs in the industry, and has been on every major list of bloggers known to man..um.. womankind. She’s considered one of the evangelists of the industry and someone that everyone listens to.
6. Tricia Meyer
http://www.tricia.me/
@sunshinetricia
Tricia is a well known affiliate with a lot of love for the industry. She talks on her blog a lot about not only her business, but her loves for causes. The only boobies you’ll find on her site are those fighting breast cancer.
5. Deborah Carney
http://www.affiliateabcs.com
@loxly
She owns one of the most respected affiliate management companies, and like many of the women here, speaks at every single Affiliate Summit. She’s also the administrator of the official Affiliate Summit forum
4. Rebecca Madigan
http://performancemarketingassociation.com/
Perhaps one of the most “influential” people in our industry, she’s been the executive director of the Performance Marketing Association since it’s founding. I’ve gotten to know her over the last few years and can tell you that her hard work is one of the reasons our industry is growing and not facing serious taxes everywhere.
3. Lisa Picarille
http://performancemarketingassociation.com/blog2
@lisap
She’s an all around writer, former editor of Revenue Performance, and the Content Strategist for the Performance Marketing Association. She writes a load of articles a week that appear everywhere from Revenews to the PMA blog.
2. Rae Hoffman-Dolan
@sugarrae
http:// www.sugarrae.com
One of the top bloggers in the industry, for both affiliate marketing and marketing in general. She started in this industry years ago and her blog, Sugarrae. She’s also one of the most quoted, most interviewed people I know and someone that everyone needs to follow.
1. Missy Ward.
http://www.missyward.com
@Missyward
Not only a strong woman, but someone who has one of the most significant impacts in the industry for women. She’s the co-founder of Affiliate Summit, Founder of Feedfront, Founder of… hell, she’s founded a lot of things. She’s energized women in the industry and many people in this list have called her their inspiration, why they are involved in causes and most importantly, why they are proud to be in our industry.
As a note, wanted to mention Missy’s new Forum, Women Online Marketers United http://joinwomu.com
