GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 1 - May 2007

By Rebecca Liggero A bsolute Poker and Ultimate Bet invited 15 of their top affiliates, myself included, on an all expenses covered, five day “appreciation” trip to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. Why? Simply to say “thank you”. The Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet affiliate team chose 15 affiliates to thank based on revenue generated, the number of first time depositors, steady improvement, solid relationships, and those that work the hardest to promote their brands. So how can you get invited on a trip like this? And what can affiliate programs do to help webmasters reach this level of success? In an effort to answer these questions, I decided to get some advice from Shenaz, Pete and Marcela from the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet affiliates team, Karim from Rake the Rake, Jeremy fromPoker Affiliate World and Albert from Internet Texas Holdem. These are some of the top affiliate programs and affiliates in the industry, so I figured theyknowexactlywhat they’re talking about!! I’ve combined everything I learned from these guys into four key tips to success in the online gamingworld. The tips apply toboth affiliates and affiliate programs. While reading these tips, remember affiliate programs and affiliates are partners. Many of the ingredientsthatmakeanaffiliateprogramsuccessful (in general) are the same ingredients that make an affiliate successful (in general). Both parties must have the samework ethic, the same commitment to excellent customer service, and the same ultimate goal — to keep the players happy. In order to do so, you can start with the following suggestions: 1 Provide excellent customer service and communication. As an affiliate, you must provide your players with excellent customer service, which means that you’ll want to choose an affiliate program with excellent customer service to work with. Affiliate managers that are quick to help and respond will allow affiliates to keep their players happy. And happy players keep playing. Build yourself a stable of happy players and the rewards will follow. 2 Become best friends forever (BFF’s). As Jeremy from Poker Affiliate World likes to say, become friends with your affiliate manager! It is so much easier to work together once you are comfortable with each other and there is an element of trust and friendship involved. Shenaz, commonly known as one of the best affiliate managers in the industry, has become one of my very close friends. Promoting Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet on Casino City is easy and fun because Shenaz makes it easy and fun. 3 Take advantage of promotions that benefit players. Affiliates must take advantage of promos that will directly benefit their players. Affiliate programs like Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet offer private tournaments, exclusive free rolls, aggressive email campaigns and bonus offers for players. These are the types of bonuses and incentives that affiliates should seek out in an affiliate program because they are targeted towards player retention. Again, if the players are happy, they will keep playing, and you will be rewarded. 4 Give affiliates attractive incentives. Tangible incentives and organized events, such as the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet affiliate appreciation trip, can go further than monetary incentives. Everyone loves to make money, but in this industry it is sometimes easy to lose track of the value of money. This is why gifts and trips are fabulous ways to show appreciation for hard work. Casino City works with an unusually large number of affiliate programs due to the structure of its site, so I am personally aware of many of the incentives that the various programs offer. Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet are one of the only affiliate programs that send gifts and put together incentive trips to reward hard work. Affiliates love it. Clearly good relationships with affiliate programs, affiliates, and players are the key to success. If the affiliate manager provides top notch service and financial incentives, the affiliate will work hard to drive traffic, the players will receive top level service and player retention will be high. This will result in healthy commissions for the affiliate and one very happy affiliate program. Combine a well balanced working relationship with friendship, constant communication and lots of quality traffic, and you will be successful. Now you can think about packing your bags!! The power of good relationships... (and how to get invited on fun trips) Karim and I tearing up the dance floor (and my purse) at Atlantis’ Dragon Bar GPWA TIMES | 4 KEYS TO SUCCESS