Interview with a poker affiliate

Fred has made over $500,000 on his poker affiliate sites. In this interview, Fred talks about how he got started as an online affiliate, and problems he encountered along the way to success. He also gives tips on how to create a lucrative poker affiliate business.

“Fred has made over $500,000 on his poker affiliate sites. In this interview, Fred talks about how he got started as an online affiliate, and problems he encountered along the way to success. He also gives tips on how to create a lucrative poker affiliate business.”

Why did you become an online affiliate?
I came into the business by accident, and the real reason I became a poker affiliate is that I gained an interest in web design back in 2003. That year I bought my first domain and created a web site which listed free programs. The site had really crappy content, but at the same time it was an eye-opener since I noticed that I could control the traffic fairly well, and get visitors that way. I didn't, however, have any income to speak of, but that was only to be expected, given that a site about free programs doesn't attract the financially strongest visitors. The little money I made was, however, proof that my strategy was working, and that motivated me to learn more about web design and search engine optimization: "People are actually buying things through my crappy site. Can I make this more effective?"
Why poker?

Since my free programs web site generated such low income, I started to look for more lucrative segments, and that's how I found poker. I found the promised amounts per customer to be ridiculously high, and like most people who come in contact with online poker for the first time, I was a bit skeptic. Would this really work? I though that poker and the Internet sounded like the perfect way to get scammed. But it was worth a try - after all, I knew how to get traffic to my sites, and I realized that I wouldn't need that many signups to start earning some real money. The possibility to earn money from something I was very interested in made me even more motivated.
How did you do?

All in all, it was almost too easy. The first couple of months were pretty rough, however, before I got to see the first results. Ironically, I almost decided to stop working with my poker site since it didn't generate any income in the first few months. I even took down all advertisements and links, and it was very lucky for me that the first check arrived when it did. "You referred two players last month - here you have $300." Wow…it worked. I put the discrete advertisements back on the site, and in the months to come my income as well as the number of visitors was multiplied several times. Soon, I was able to make a living as an online affiliate, and I started my own company.
What was hard?

I never thought it was very hard to make money since I started early and the competition was rather weak when I got going. The only problem was that the money came so suddenly. I was more or less forced to start a company, and deal with things like taxes and book keeping. The fact that it was illegal to be a poker affiliate in the country I was working from was another story. I paid my taxes and got rid of one problem, and slept well at night. It was also difficult to get support from the poker rooms when something went wrong, and to get proper numbers and stats for my book keeping. Another not so funny thing was that the poker rooms every now and then closed down my account for "possible fraud." It's very annoying when you know you are completely innocent, and can't even get your questions answered.

It takes time to learn the programming if you don't have any pre-knowledge in that area. You have to take in a lot of new information and need time to digest it all. One thing to take comfort in is that web sites often will work even though they're full of small errors. Errors you can eliminate later on.

The most difficult thing is to take the time online affiliate marketing demands when you're starting out. You won't get any results without a lot of hard work. The upside of the affiliate business is that the income to some extent will become passive. I will say "to some extent" because when you've started earning money you will want to make sure that it stays that way, and thus you will keep working. It's actually a bit of a paradox.
Any tips on how to become a successful poker affiliate?

You must have a strong will and be stubborn, and you must be creative as well. It's very good if you're interested in web design and online marketing - if you have those things as a hobby. If you work alone it will take a LONG time before you have a site which is attractive to the visitor. A lot of work is involved: writing your own content, creating the design, drawing images and icons, programming and keeping yourself updated. It's not an easy task, and you will need to save time. If something can be done automatically, it should be done automatically.

Take good care of the traffic your site is getting. Try to get your visitors to stay on the site, and make sure you will be to reach them later. I opened a forum where my visitors could discuss things with others, and thus gave them a reason to return to the site. It was also easy for me to reach them that way. I also posted a newsletter on the site which I used right away if I had a good offer, and wanted to boost my income.

Focus on good content. And try not to think too much about making money before you honestly can say that your site is interesting and useful for the visitor.

Try to be one step ahead. Look at the competition, and try to predict how the market will develop. Don't make deals with other webmasters if you don't know that there is something in it for you. I have only encountered a handful of people who actually were interested in making a mutually beneficial deal, so make sure to make demands when someone contacts you and wants to make a deal. The affiliate business is packed with people who want to make some quick money without putting much work into it. You should, however, make sure to stay in touch with people you perceive as being reliable and serious about their business. They're worth a lot!
How many sites did you have?

Four at the most, and one of those really stood out. If I had an idea I wasn't sure if I would have the time to realize, I would at least register a suiting domain for that idea right away. Buying domains is cheap compared to the money a good idea can generate. As mentioned, I never had more than four functioning sites I worked on. That was, however, due to lack of time, and not lack of ideas.
How much money did you make, approximately?
Somewhere between $500,000 and $600,000. I don't now the exact numbers anymore, and I'm not counting. The money fascinated me at first, but I soon realized that the most important thing is to make enough to get by. It's, however, incredible that these sites that cost me less than $2 per month to run, generated so much money. I didn't even pay for advertising. It's definitely possible to make money online if you're creative and ready to work hard!