Fanatics Affiliate Team

Wade Tonkin – Affiliate Manager

I’ve been active in the affiliate marketing industry since 1999 when I launched and managed the Etera.com affiliate program on LinkShare.   After a Etera became a victim of the dot com crash, I joined the Kowabunga Technologies “Team Affiliate” outsourced affiliate management group and worked for 5 years in affiliate management roles across a number of vertical markets then moved into sales.   Just before the sale of Kowabunga to Think Partnership, I joined Forge Business, an outsourced affiliate marketing agency based in Centurion, Gauteng South Africa as Director of Sales, North America and was responsible for both driving sales in the North American Market and working with the clients in the initial consultation phase.

In 2006, I helped launch the United Sharing Network (USN),  a Christian CPA/Affiliate network based in Tampa Florida and co-founded the Christian Affiliate Marketers Association with the principals at USN and Karen and Joel Garcia.   When the United Sharing Network went under, I teamed with Karen and Joel Garcia to co-found GTO Management – an outsourced affiliate program management agency (OPM) .  At GTO I was responsible for sales and business development as well as playing a primary role in the management of affiliate programs for BowlingShirt.com, MakeBeer.net and Instant Fantasy Sports player FanDuel.com.

I joined Fanatics in November of 2010 and I couldn’t be happier as Fanatics allows me to work in 2 of my great passions in life – sports and affiliate marketing.    I’ve attended more Affiliate Summit Conferences than I can count, speaking at three of them, and was honored to be able to introduce Rae Hoffman, Wil Reynolds and Dr. Randal Pinkett as the Emcee at Affiliate Summit East 2013.

I’m here to help you succeed as a Fanatics affiliate.  You can reach me by email at wtonkin@fanatics.com or by phone during business hours at 904.271.4168.   You can reach me after hours by text or call my cell at 904.306.6001.

Hobby: Bass Fishing, Golf, Running
Favorite Pro Team – Seattle Seahawks
Favorite College Team – University of Washington Huskies
Favorite TV Show – Big Bang Theory
Accolades:  Winner -Best Affiliate Manager on ABestWeb 2013, 2012 (tie),2011 Best Affiliate Program on ABestWeb.com 2011.  Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award Finalist Exceptional Merchant of the Year 2010 (Bowlingshirt.com with GTO Management) Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award Finalist Affiliate Manager of the Year 2011,  Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award Winner  Exceptional Merchant of 2014 with Fanatics.com

Joe Sousa – Affiliate Coordinator

Joe has been in the internet marketing industry for 15+ years and has nearly seen every side of the business. He started out in 1998 doing SEO for clients and shifted to a full time affiliate about 10 years ago. Joe has built and maintained hundreds of different sites in many different niches. His many years of experience as an affiliate gives him a unique insight into what helps make an affiliate program successful and attractive from an affiliate’s perspective.

Over the past year Joe has been managing the affiliate programs for a wide range of merchants and has been able to work with many different affiliates to help them increase their revenue.

Joe has spoken at many different industry conferences on topics such as building an effective data feed site, improving the affiliate-affiliate manager relationship, and social media for niche sites. Over the years Joe has built many strong relationships in the industry with affiliates, merchants, managers, service providers and colleagues.

His specialties include using data feeds, working with WordPress, building good relationships with affiliates and merchants, as well as building small, focused niche sites.

Hobbies: Eating, Bacon, Eating Bacon
Favorite Pro Team – Seattle Seahawks
Favorite College Team – University of Washington Huskies / Gonzaga Bulldogs
Favorite TV Show – The Simpsons
Accolades: Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award Finalist – Affiliate Manager of the Year 2014