AAAAAAHHHHHH! That was my big sigh of relief. The January/February issue is finally done and on it’s way to the printer. The issue commemorates Revenue’s second anniversary by looking at the state of online marketing.

As part of that coverage I asked industry leaders, gurus, experts, affiliates and lots of people in the performance marketing trenches to chime in with their opinions on where the market is now, where it’s headed and some of the potential hurdles to getting there.

So many people took time out of their busy schedules to send thoughtful replies, but I couldn’t include all of the responses (there were just way too many). I thought I would use this space to share what didn’t fit into the printed copy of Revenue.

Kathryn Finney of TheBudgetFashionista.com has a new book coming out(How to Be a Budget Fashionista, published by Random House/Ballantine) and she is doing some interesting cross marketing things with affiliates. Here’s what she had to say about the state of online marketing:

Revenue: What’s been the biggest change in affiliate marketing over the last two years?
Kathryn Finney: The emergence of the blog. Now you have everyday folks - like myself - becoming experts quickly. And you have us successfully developing our own little cottage industries and successfully marketing to several channels at once.

Revenue: What’s been the greatest development in online marketing during the last 24 months?
KF: The introduction of new forms of media like RSS feeds and podcasts has changed the way bloggers and content-based sites like
TheBudgetFashionista.com interact not only with our readers but also with our advertising/affiliate partners. The Web, which used to be consider just one channel, now have several sub-channels in which to market your product or yourself.

Revenue: How would you describe the state of online marketing right now?
KF: What I find to be very interesting is that in other forms of media like television and print publications traditional celebrities rule the marketing roost as evidenced by how celebrity focused magazines like US Weekly have done quite well, while other “news” focused magazines like Time haven’t faired as well. However, online we have cyber-celebrities like myself who really influence online purchasing. So readers who pay attention to Paris Hilton for advice on what to buy offline, then turn to me for the online advice.

Revenue: What are the largest hurdles for online marketing going forward?
KF: Learning how to integrate the new technology and new ideas into a viable business model. Bigger businesses are learning what motivates bloggers like myself to evangelism their products. It’s more than simply sending me a sample.

Let me know what you think about the state of online marketing. lisap@revenuetoday.com