Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
Full Tilt Poker 2 days ago released RUSH Poker – a new online poker game. Within hours of releasing rush poker you see articles appearing on every poker site about it, you see any ‘rush poker’ domain possible being snagged up and used. Yes, Rush Poker is the hot thing right now.
You’re all idiots.
Seriously, you really are. Let’s be honest – everyone wants to find the “Next Big Thing” when it comes to being a poker affiliate. Full Tilt manage to keep Rush Poker quiet for months, then launch it and within a day every possible rush poker domain is snapped up, and there is a huge demand for rush poker articles.
It’s not going to make you money.
First let’s get the facts out of the way – Rush Poker is a pretty awesome concept, and it’s a pretty neat game. For those who don’t know the deal – basically as soon as you fold a hand, you’re rushed to a new table where you play a hand. If you play a normal table of poker, you may be dealt 40-50 hands an hour if you are lucky. I’ve been checking with my players, and you are able to see a minimum of 300 hands per hour at just one table.
As an affiliate, this is Instant money, right?
Well, maybe if you have an existing player base. However if you’re looking at a new player base, then you are completely out of luck.
I have to sit back and laugh. People are buying rush poker domains like they are hot cakes. I’m watching sites add 5-10 articles about rush poker within 24 hours and I have to ask:
Who is your target audience?
Have you ever sat back and thought about that? As you write or pay for these articles, have you ever sat back and thought about who these articles are for?
Because I tell you right now – 99% of the audience you are targeting are already Full Tilt Poker players.
That’s right – Rush Poker, exclusively available at Full Tilt Poker. Every article you write, is exclusively for that audience. Oh sure there’s that 1% which doesn’t have an account at Full Tilt Poker and heard about the game from friends – but that’s a minuscule audience. The majority of your audience? The people that logged into Full Tilt Poker today, and saw the announcement about the new game Rush Poker.
You’re all idiots.
Believe me guys – I’ve been there. I was there when Ultimate Bet first launched Royal Holdem. I had some premium domains and some amazing articles on Royal Holdem. I covered it all – Royal Holdem Strategy, Royal Holdem Rules – everything you ever wanted to know about Royal Holdem, I was all over the search engines and covered it all.
Guess what? The amount of new player signups I saw was extremely low. I had the top ten – that’s right, the top ten – results in google for awhile for “Royal Holdem” – yet I saw only a few signups. The reason? Everyone that was googling “Royal Holdem” already had an account at UB.
When you think of the next big thing, you need to think outside the box. How many of you are promoting UFC Poker? For those who don’t know, UFC Poker recently launched their newest poker room in late October. Here’s what every affiliate I’ve spoken to about it thinks: “Why bother promoting it? They have no affiliate program and it’s all play money”.
Idiots.
That’s what I said. I called you an idiot. Because if you are not promoting UFC Poker then you quite frankly, are an idiot. I have been promoting UFC Poker since it launched. You can see just one example here: UFC Poker Review. That’s a review of UFC Poker. I push Full Tilt primarily in it, because Full Tilt branding was available on UFC for awhile.
My results? Over 1200 signups, of which 500+ have already became real money players.
If you’re one of the people not promoting UFC Poker, but are currently promoting Full Tilts Rush Poker, then I have just two words for you:
Thank you.
Because you’re my competition. Yet when it comes to being a poker affiliate, you have absolutely no clue what you are doing.
When you are doing poker affiliating, you have to think on multiple levels often. It isn’t as easy as “Article” = conversions. A rush poker review will not equal conversions, just like an article on MTT Late Level Big Blind Strategy won’t equal conversions straight up.
You have to sit there and think about your target audience. You have to think about who they are, what they are searching for, and what you can do to make money off them.
Think about that concept. Think about who your audience is. Then think about how you are going to make money off them. Because a “Rush Poker Strategy” article won’t make you anything.
Being a poker affiliate isn’t black or white. It isn’t as simple as writing an article, then sitting back and watching the conversions roll in.
For every article you write, you should be asking yourself: how is this article going to make me money?
Only then, are you on the road to being a succcessful poker affiliate.
This article was written on January 20, 2010 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
