Mike Allen founded Shopping-Bargains.com in February 1999 and currently serves as President and "Chief Executive Shopper." Designed to be everything you need to save money online, Shopping-Bargains.com was a finalist for the LinkShare Golden Link Merchant's Choice Award in 2005 and the LinkShare Golden Link Advertiser's Choice Award in 2008. Mike Allen was named Affiliate of the Year at the Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Awards in 2009.
Shopping-Bargains.com began as a hobby to help family and friends save money shopping online. Prior to quitting his "day job" to dedicate full-time attention to Shopping-Bargains, Mike worked at the Mississippi State University Extension Service in the Center for Governmental Training & Technology as a Governmental Training Specialist.
Mike earned a BS degree in political science from the University of Southern Mississippi and his Masters of Public Policy and Administration degree from Mississippi State University. He completed all coursework and comprehensive exams for a Ph.D. degree in Public Policy (but never finished due to focusing on the startup of Shopping-Bargains).
Mike attends most affiliate marketing conferences, has presented at Affiliate Summit, BlogWorld and the Performics Client Summit (now Google Affiliate Network Client Summit), and has been quoted in Revenue and Electronic Retailer. Mike serves on the LinkShare Affiliate Advisory Board, the Affiliate Summit Advisory Board, the Google Affiliate Network Publisher Advisory Board, the a4uexpo Advisory Board and the PartnerCentric Advisory Board.
Mike writes at ReveNews, a blog devoted to affiliate revenue news and opinion, and the Shopping-Bargains blog. Recently Mike authored a chapter for the Military Family Money section of the book entitled Your Military Family Network: Your Connection to Military-Friendly Businesses, Resources, Benefits, Information and Advice (2008; with a foreword by Senator John McCain). In 2007, on behalf of Shopping-Bargains, Mike received the Mississippi Business Integrity Circle of Honor Award from the Better Business Bureau of Mississippi.
