Guest post from Murray Newlands of MurrayNewlands.com and Influence People.

Affiliate Summit West is almost here and Drew and I are so looking forward to speaking and meeting everyone. Drew was kind enough to publish this guest post for me, Murray Newlands.

I want to take this opportunity to personally invite each and every one of you to come to both Affiliate Summit West and our Influence People Social Media Marketing Las Vegas event the very next day, January 12, 2011 at the Flamingo Hotel.

We would like to see you there so much that we are giving away a free ticket to attend our SMLasVegas and offering some great discounts for BenSpark.com readers:

1. WIN a free ticket to Social Media Marketing Las Vegas – all you need to do to Tweet “Win a free ticket to @murraynewlands Social Media Event in Vegas Jan 12 from @BenSpark http://su.pr/831K1B #SMLVwithBen“
2. Save 10% off any pass level to Affiliate Summit with Discount Code: ASW11GROW10
3. Save 10% off tickets to Social Media Marketing Las Vegas with Discount Code: BenSpark

I’m a big believer in the benefits of conferences for the relationships that develop. Where else can you spend one-on-one time with people who have already accomplished goals you may have for your blog or business?

This quote from DM Confidential sums up why people come to Affiliate Summit:

You might wonder who would want to attend. Yet, year after year people do. They tell others and the demand continues to grow. It’s in this respect where Affiliate Summit shines and puts itself ahead of so many other venues. You don’t go because you feel you have to. You go because you want to. You go without many expectations but a belief that something will come of it. And, you find yourself proven right. You have those making a few thousand a month in the same space as those making millions, and only here do you find those whose salaries exceed seven figures manning their own booths. It’s hard to nail exactly, but at this show people seem more open, more approachable. You feel like you are among friends, that they won’t judge you but welcome you. It might be the nature of the industry or something unique to Missy and Shawn, the organizers, but whatever it is, you almost hate to leave.

Whether you attend Affiliate Summit or not I hope you will take a good look at our SocialMedia Marketing conferences. Major sponsors keep signing on for our events:

“We have sponsored a number of Influence People’s events and have been delighted with the quality, as well as the people we have been able to network with. I have seen a positive ROI and have just signed up as Lead Sponsor for another eight events” ~ Giles Palmer, CEO, Brandwatch

For Las Vegas sponsors include the Flamingo Hotel, 352WebMedia Web Design, Viglinks, MarketMeSuite and ShareThis. And it isn’t just sponsors who are impressed. Here are some quotes from previous attendees:

“A great conference with dynamic speakers” ~ The Thought Leader

“We were both impressed and surprised by the quality of the speakers and the information presented at the event. Sometimes you go to these events and hear nothing but a sales pitch. This conference happily, wasn’t that.” ~ Two of us from E3 European Agency Network

There is already lots of buzz on Twitter about these two events. See who is coming and what they’re saying by using these hashtags:

• hashtag #asw11 for Affiliate Summit West
• hashtag #smlasvegas for Social Media Marketing Las Vegas

I hope I have been able to convey to you what I believe you will get from attending. I know that Drew and I both look forward to seeing you there.