GPWA Times Magaine - Issue 23 - February 2013

your business or income to the uncertain market of online poker. With the New Year upon us, it is also a great time to reflect on your individual strengths in affiliate marketing. Lever- age these strengths in your diversifica- tion strategy to turn your previous suc- cesses into new ones. If you are a great content writer, set aside a few hours each week to churn out new content in a new niche, on a new site! If SEO is your exper- tise, spend some time researching a few emerging markets and see if you might be able to find new successes there. What should poker affiliate managers expect in 2013? Just as 2013 promises to be an excit- ing year for poker affiliates, it should be equally exciting for poker affiliate man- agers. Over the past few years, as the poker affiliate industry has consolidated and seen its share of rogue programs, only a handful of poker affiliate manag- ers are left who are held in the highest regard by the overall poker affiliate com- munity. This opens the door and pres- ents a remarkable opportunity for new affiliate managers or programs wanting to work with the top affiliates. On the poker side of the online gam- bling industry, the reality is that poker affiliates are chomping at the bit for trusted and reliable programs to work with. Here are a few pieces of advice for both existing and new affiliate managers wishing to attract new affiliates in 2013 and beyond. 1. What is your value-added propo- sition? Affiliates, especially the top poker affiliates, are constantly see- ing their inboxes inundated by new programs wishing to work with them. E-mail is not the most personal or ef- fective way to introduce yourself to new affiliates, but if it is your only choice, make sure your e-mail doesn’t look like a form e-mail. In the current environ- ment, in order to attract new affiliates you’ll need to get your creative juices flowing and offer some sort of value that the affiliate can’t find elsewhere. Offering the same 30 percent revenue share that everyone else is offering just isn’t going to do it anymore. 2.Product superiority – Before wor- rying about how to attract new affili- ates to promote your brand, you should make sure that the product you are representing is going to be attractive to players. Regardless of what your com- mission rates are or how great an affili- ate manager you are, if the product is sub-par, affiliates will not promote it. Just as you need to add value for affili- ates, the overall product needs to add value for potential new players. 3.Communication and payments – There is no greater turn-off for poker affiliates than affiliate programs that are either non-responsive or consis- tently late with commission payments. A 24-hour turnaround on e-mail and phone calls should be standard for any affiliate program wishing to be taken seriously. Likewise in this day and age, there is seldom any reason why affili- ates shouldn’t be paid within 30 days. If affiliate programs cannot accomplish these two simple tasks, they really have no business operating in the poker af- filiate market. So what will the poker affiliate market look like in 2013 and beyond? That’s anyone’s guess at this point, but most would agree that it will be unlike the poker affiliate market of the past. While the existing poker affiliate market has been in a holding pattern throughout the past year, 2013 is going to be the year this great industry will be given the “clear for landing” command. The only questions that remain now are, “Will it be a smooth or bumpy landing?” and “What will the destination look like?” Either way, buckle up and enjoy the ride! Poker affiliate marketing in 2013 and beyond Jeremy Enke is the CEO of Poker Affiliate Listings. He has spent more than eight years in the poker affiliate market, with an overall mission of helping affiliate marketers reach their full potential and become more successful. “While the online poker industry will continue to evolve at its own pace throughout 2013, one of the smartest things existing affiliates can do is to diversify.” 24