This is for the affiliate people... and everyone else that can help

[Bhelliom]

Ok time for the mildly business related question (Odd for me I know)

As most of you know I've just gone back to school for my 5th semester in college.

As part of my curriculum, I have to make a business plan and present it to an independent panel for my final grade at the end of the year.

With My newfound knowlege of affiliate programs that I got from here and working with dollarmachine this summer, I was kind of considering doing my project on a mainstream site where the main revenue will come from affiliate programs.

To be more specific, Basically what I want to do is an informational poker site (one of my hobbies), for those of you that play you know what I mean, beginner intermediate and advanced strategies, different things like maybe a forum, or where to buy chips(and what chips are good) that kind of thing.

Also on the site, will be a section with as many poker sites as I can find with information on current bonuses and things like that.

This is where the affiliate stuff comes in since obviously I will be making money every time .... why am I explaining this part to you guys?


Get the Idea?

I'm looking for you guys to tell me what you think and possibly throw in some ideas. I really don't know much about being an affiliate so any help woudl be greatly appreciated.

If you want to steal the idea go ahead since this is strictly a mental exercise for me. I don't really have any intention of going through with it.

Legitimate information would be most helpful since I am being marked for this and the plan and presentation account for something like 80% of the course.

Thanks a lot

[Bhelliom]

Please keep in mind that i'm not asking you to divulge confidential information about your own personal businesses or anything you feel would compromise your individual competetive advantages, Just being an affiliate in general.

[Nickatilynx]

I don't see how your site will make money , nor why an affiliate will send you traffic.

????

[Bhelliom]

Sorry I'm looking at it from the other side... I will be the affiliate with sites such as pokerstar party poker tiger gaming... whatever.... and send traffic to them...

[Bhelliom]

In other words I'm making money by being an affiliate with those sites, and advertising.
Things like the forums and poker information will be what creates the stickiness and attraction to my own site.... and I can then send people to the gaming sites

[Nickatilynx]

OK.....gotcha.

So what help do you want from us again? LOL

[Nickatilynx]

Sorry for being dense but I am also currently playing in The World Championship of Online 7 Card Stud Poker.

:)

Its just under an hour in and I'm 201 out of 622 and playing tighter than a ducks ass :)

[DrGuile]

OK.....gotcha.

So what help do you want from us again? LOL

He wants the proverbial pat in the back that most unsecure people need...

that or he wants you to do it for him, which most slackers seek


;)

[Bhelliom]

I was hoping for a little of column A and a little of column B

here's what I want

Do you think it's worth it?

on average... what do you think a graphic heavy site like that would cost for bandwidth? or an average monthly price?

(stupid question) is decent gaming traffic difficult to get?

how well does stuff like this convert?


Essentially yes i'm lazy... I'm looking for a decent mark for the least amount of work.... and this counts as market research... polling experts in the field

Thanks guys

[RyanLanane]

I was hoping for a little of column A and a little of column B

here's what I want

Do you think it's worth it?

on average... what do you think a graphic heavy site like that would cost for bandwidth? or an average monthly price?

(stupid question) is decent gaming traffic difficult to get?

how well does stuff like this convert?


Essentially yes i'm lazy... I'm looking for a decent mark for the least amount of work.... and this counts as market research... polling experts in the field

Thanks guys

Don't use any graphics, except a header image... the rest can be done in text with a good css design.. Been playign with it and it is almost a GUI with some of the stuff you can do (although I still pretty much suck at it lol) ...

Besides that as far as looking for as many sites as possible etc, http://www.pokerpulse.com would be a great start.. As well as http://www.pokerlistings.com/ being pretty much the best directory i know of..

In fact pretty much exactly what you would be doing is something like http://www.pokerlistings.com/ except I would imagine you would have FAR fewer resources as that site is yearssss old ..

Anyways feel free to hit me up on ICQ, I had a poker site at one point of time and know the industry fairly well and could answer any questions you have most likely.. .

[Carrie]

If you want to steal the idea go ahead since this is strictly a mental exercise for me. I don't really have any intention of going through with it.
This I wouldn't encourage, unless you want the Troll Gods to come get you...
Okay maybe some folks don't know what that particular Bhelliom is, I might be the only Eddings geek here. :)

You're a bit late getting on the poker bandwagon, so you might want to target a little better. Rather than a general poker site, go for a particular poker player (newbie, or intermediate, or pro).

Your general idea is sound for mainstream - communities bring good money. The thing is building the community and building trust. That takes work. Standing out in the crowd takes work. You'll want to lay out a plan within your business plan about how you're going to stand out and what you'll offer to the community members that they can't find elsewhere. As with any business plan, set objectives and then list out how you'll meet those objectives and in what timeframe. You can't just say "oh I'm gonna throw together a poker community with a message board and reviews of different poker sites with lots of ref links thrown in and it's gonna make a ton of money". It's a lot more work than that.

Basically, start by researching. Leg work - get out there and look at all of the different poker communities available. Really LOOK at them. See what they've got, see what they're missing. See what their members are interested in, what sets 'em off, what gets 'em going.

This is why your teacher assigned this to be due at the end of the semester - to really understand all of the nuances of what you're going to be planning out, you've gotta get out there and take the time to do the research. Once you really know what the folks who visit poker communities are looking for and you've looked past the hype and identified the qualities of sites that make them "click", THEN you can really envision the "perfect" poker community and start to build it. (Even if it's only on paper.)
And that goes for any type of community site.

If you *really* want to learn how to do it right, poker communities won't be the only ones you study. :)

[2bet]

ok, basically i get where you going with this, and i think its a good idea. The traffic is obviously going to need to be strickly poker related, given what you have planned on doing with the site.

Recommendation 1: If you choose a bunch of poker sites to promote, chose those that are popular, but not as popular as some. Some sites out there are flooded, and you will lose alot of your traffic given that most of them will already be players of the sites.

Recommendation 2: Find affiliate programs that selll chips and tables ect. that do some kind promotion like, first order get 45% off, or free shipping, ect. Chips and tables are very heavy, and shipping and handling often causes people not to purchase.

Recommendation 3: Since you promoting Poker accessories, go to ebay for drop shipments. Have you ebay page link to your main page.

Recommendation 4: Make sure you put somewhere on the pages that you promote your poker sites, that players "Must abid by the laws in their area concerning gambling". You may not have any issues with this, but it is a highly recommended statement amongst poker site owners.