I consider every one of those successes to be yours. You did all the hard work. Julien and I just typed. Thank you for what you’ve done to make the book successful, and for believing in us.

For those of you who haven’t yet grabbed up a copy of Trust Agents for your friends and colleagues yet (I know you have your copy), this week’s a great time to correct that oversight. (Okay, just kidding.)

Thank you. So very much.

I’ve used Amazon links for the last several years. I use them because they’re really easy to add to a site. I use them because occasionally (twice over the holiday season), they paid out beer money (about $125).

If you somehow think that my use of Amazon links influences my product reviews, I’m curious which blog you’re reading. After all these years, if you’re still questioning my credibility with regards to how I conduct myself on this blog, I highly recommend you check out any one of these fine blogs instead of mine.

Does your blog have a disclosure section? Mine does.

Seriously, if you’re still not sure whether or not I’m steering you straight, get the hell out.

It gives me a sense of what’s interesting to you.

Know what sold the most in January? YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts.

I’m happy for a few reasons. One, the book is really useful. Two, both authors dropped me a line pretty much the day I posted my review, meaning that they’re really plugged into the blogging world (which makes me happy, and I don’t care if that’s a selfish feeling, but hey, if you’re blogger-friendly, I’m more likely to like you back). Three, the book is really useful. I mean, I’m not sure I’m going to “top the charts,” but I can tell you this: what I’ve learned from that book (though I don’t always follow the lessons) has made me a better video producer.

Finally, I’m happy because something I promoted helped these authors sell another 40 books, and I’m excited for them.

You know, and Darren has said this on many occasions: no one’s quitting their day job on the money Amazon pays you for affiliate links. Some of those copies of that book gave me like.. 17 cents a copy or something (third party reseller). But that wasn’t the point for me. Once it adds up to beer money, hey, pretty cool. But in the mean time, it gives me more things to think about.

So, get that book if you want to know more about video making:

And if you’re interested in things like stats and behavior, what other geeky ways are you tracking it? Are you using CrazyEgg to heatmap your sites? Have you tried Woopra? Do you care where your people come from? (I sure do!)

This can be just fun, too, you know.

There’s something to this. No?

If you have some social media types on your holiday list, or if you’re looking for a way to spend some of those gift cards that people buy because they have no idea what you really like, and really don’t know you well enough to buy you anything personal, get back at them, by buying your own stuff from this store I set up.

Yes, if you buy $1.5 Million worth of products, I’ll get a few dollars some day. (sorry, Darren).

Here’s my 2008 Holiday Buying Guide.

Anything interesting? Anything catch your fancy? Was it worth it to go through and put all those things together in one place?

(Special thanks to Ed Shaz for showing me this nifty widget:)