The Forums At Poker Affiliate Listings - Blogs - Jeremy

Casino Affiliate Programs Survey

Jeremy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:35:17 GMT

Hey guys,

My buddy who runs a bunch of different affiliate sites did a survey last month amongst affiliates to find out who the affiliates would rank as the best casino affiliate programs. Have a look and feel free to discuss. I feel disconnected lately myself with the casino affiliate market, so it was good to see the results of the survey based on other affiliates responses.

http://www.casinoaffiliateprogram.com/survey.html

A Day In The Life Of An Affiliate Manager

Jeremy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:00:35 GMT

Hey guys,

I had a good laugh this morning when I read the Income Access blog and saw Louis's post. Although I know this is just for comedy because Louis actually works a lot of hours.

On the flip side, this very well may describe a lot of affiliates days that I know! Enjoy

http://blog.incomeaccess.com/2009/12...liate-manager/

Promoting Smaller Poker Sites

Jeremy — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:53:57 GMT

........Blowing the dust off my blog.

I know I need to get jeremyenke.com back up and running. You'd think just having to remove a 301 wouldn't be that hard! Nonetheless this is on the agenda in the next week or so. I just need to get some content up so it's not 1 new post followed by five 12 month old posts.

Anywho, I was having a conversation with MJ this morning who promotes almost all the smaller rooms with great success and it really got me thinking about a few things. Especially because I have fallen into an amazing local opportunity lately.

Long story short, there is a local charity poker group that has been around for years in Chicago. They host 250 events per year with and average of 400 players at each event. (All real money players) Until now, their online strategy has been pretty much non existent. So we are going to come in and begin monetizing their database of 40K+ real money players. Hell, I'll probably get a trade show booth and set up shop at the events signing players up for rakeback, free poker cash, and even better, online winter leagues, etc.

With that we have to look at what rooms to work with. Sure, the easy ones come to mind that take U.S., FT, Stars, etc. But when dealing with real money players at live events, you really do run into the issue of 50%+ of these players already playing at these rooms. For rakeback that's fine. But for a league with hundreds of players where we are adding big money, it is disheartening to see half the field already signed up.

With that I have been speaking with a few different operators, and I can say that working with the smaller operators or "skins" has been a pleasure. Here are 3 reasons:

Flexibility: When dealing with a smaller rooms, they genuinely want to earn your business and instead of saying, "we don't do that", they say, "yea we can find a way to do that".

Conversions: In a league situation like I am organizing, people are going to play regardless where it is hosted. It's nice to know that my conversion rate is going to be 95% for the players I refer.

Service: Similar to number 1, the service you get can often be much better since the A.M.'s know you can send players and know that you have lots of other choices. It's nice being treated as a valuable customer versus an expensive liability of the overall marketing department

In the end I am moving forward with Riyaz at OnlyPoker for the first league event because he is easy to get a hold of and flexible in our needs. But I'm sure I'll be working with more smaller sites as the online strategy gets going.

One thing I would suggest is that if you're not currently working with at least one newer room, expand your horizons and pick one to work close with. As frustrating as it is now days with some of these top 5 rooms, it has been a pleasant experience working with some of the smaller operators who genuinly value affiliates.

If you need some suggestions of new rooms to work with, shoot me a PM or skype and I'll get you an intro and good deal. Or even hit up MJ for that matter. He knows all these guys.

On a side note, I hate to end a blog without a picture. Props to MediocrePokerRadio where I found this fine specimen.

I miss blogging just for the pleasure of google image searching each day.

Off To Another Nascar Race

Jeremy — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:28:01 GMT

I know I have been a little quiet lately, and I do apologize for that. After so many years in the poker affiliate industry, I have found it a little easier to slack off in the summer time.

Anyhow, after a year off from Nascar races, that time has come once again to make the pilgrimage to Michigan for the "guys summer trip" to this weekends Nascar race. I'll admit, it is extremely hillbilly, and with this group, it is nothing like a gaming convention at a 5 star hotel!

We have a 5th wheel camper, we will be frying a turkey, plenty of beer, and posting up with 4 other dudes surrounded by Nascar fans. I however have personally opted out of sleeping in a camper with 4 other drunk, snoring dudes each night. I went to Gander Mountain and bought myself a one man tent, kick ass sleeping bag, and an air mattress. The only time I plan on sleeping that close to Karl will be if we somehow end up in a jail cell somewhere together. (definetely not an improbable scenario) Barring that however, I'll happily be in my mini suite just outside the camper each night!

I am not a huge Nascar fan myself, but Karl is, and the good news is that he is in the nuts and bolts biz and knows people in high places apparently; We have pit passes each day. From what I'm told, you get to go back in the garage and be right next to all the drivers and crew..... should be interesting.

So all in all it should be a fun weekend and a great way to wind up the summer. I hate twitter and never use it, but this weekend I will tweet anything funny or interesting for all you "tweet geeks". Follow it at JeremyEnke (JeremyEnke) on Twitter if you want a few good laughs.

I'll be out of the office from Thursday through Monday. If you need anything however you can email my BB at myname @ thissite or text me at 815-222-6517. If you need something urgent just contact Greg or one of the mods.

Here is a basic preview of my weekend. FML or ballin weekend? I guess I'll know Monday night. :p

Feel free to leave any funny comments, I fully expect (and deserve) all of them.

&fs=1" width="644" height="390">&fs=1" />BORKED

Firing Employees In Tough Economic Times

Jeremy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:57:38 GMT

I found the perfect solution for those of you that have offices with employees and have struggled with potentially downsizing within your company.

Letter from the Boss

As the CEO of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way over the coming months and years.

For our small business to compensate for the increased taxation, our prices would have to increase by about 10%. But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, I have to announce with deep regret that we will have to lay off six of our employees instead.

This has really been bothering me since I consider everyone in the company a part of our family. I didn't know how to choose who would have to go, so this is what I did. I walked through our parking lot and found six 'Obama' bumper stickers on our employees vehicles and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go.

I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They voted for change, and I gave it to them. I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic.

***Feel free to use at will***

Is it time to abandon the U.S. Dollar?

Jeremy — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:35:58 GMT

So tonight I was reading over some financial sites, and of course being a U.S. citizen it just makes you shake your head when you realize what has, and is happening to the U.S. dollar.

I know many people hate getting into politics, so I'll hold off on any rants. But in all seriousness I am wondering if I should start doing more business in Euro's or GBP's?

Obviously with any affiliate pay, we are all at the liberty of the programs who all (based outside the U.S.) love paying affiliates in USD. But for my other business deals or paid advertising, why not start working in a stronger currency?

Take PAL or consulting for example, the business model and monetization is simply a monthly flat fee. So regardless when one of you ballers sign up at a PAL partner, I just get a flat rate. Boooooo!

But my question is, since 100% of my business in this market is with non U.S. companies, why the hell am I working in USD? I mean hell, if I moved to London, would I really be charging USD for consulting or advertising? My companies business account can handle wires from any currency and I just have to pay a conversion.

Just curious to hear some of your thoughts on USD vs. Euro if you are running a business in the U.S. but doing 100% of your (non affiliate) business with non U.S. companies. Should be interesting, please share your thoughts...........

Is Twitter Over Hyped Right Now?

Jeremy — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:27:59 GMT

It seems like lately all you hear about is Twitter. I am going to go against the popular vote here and say that I think Twitter is far overhyped right now. While I do think micro-blogging is cool and different, I think Twitters growth is being completely driven by marketers and promoters, all with agendas and self interests.

Don�t get me wrong, I have a Twitter page myself, and like everyone else I post links to my radio show, and other promotional items. Aside from that however, would anyone really care if I posted that I just went through the drive-thru at Mcdonalds and tried their new Mocha? probably not. I mean seriously, do 30,000 people really care what Shoemoney is reading today?

The problem I see with Twitter is that you have millions of people �tweeting� based on their own self interests. Wow, you may have 2000 followers, who cares? How many people �following� your tweets genuinely give a shit about what you are posting? If you built your twitter account and gained thousands of unknown followers from marketing, I have news for you. All your followers are other marketers that never read your tweets and probably have no idea who you are.

I do think Twitter is great for celebrities, news outlets, or companies that genuinely want to use the service to get their message out to the masses. For the random individual however, I think it is rubbish compared to Facebook.

With Facebook, you have an actual social network, and not just a page to post multiple boring status updates that no one reads or cares about. Don�t get me wrong, I see why all the hype is here, and I see why marketers are jumping on the bandwagon. The buzz is there, and it makes sense right now for internet marketers to embrace something with so much press. What I don�t understand however is; who are the people that actually want to read and follow hundreds of others tweeters.

Can anyone reading this tell me that you really want to follow hundreds of people and know what they are doing all day long.

As an internet marketer looking at all my fellow internet marketers tweeting, I can only compare it to a watered down version of an MLM. Everyone is out there promoting how great twitter is to everyone else and getting new people signed up, yet very few internet marketers including Twitter itself is actually making money with the platform.

I predict in the next few years Twitter will be cannibalized by marketers the same way Myspace was back in the day. Someone tell me who are all these people are that actually want to read all these millions of tweets being made each day.

So I end this post with this question:

Is Twitter over-hyped right now?

Rakeback - What is the future?

Jeremy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:43:27 GMT

Lately I have been talking to a lot affiliates about rakeback. It's one of those things that undoubtedly is not going to go away in the industry. If anything it is going to increase and players are going to demand it even more as they become more savvy and educated.

As affiliates, we could argue all day long if rakeback is right or wrong, or even how we would like to see poker affiliate programs approach it. Unfortunately however, it is really out of our hands. At some point in the future though, certain larger programs are going to face the reality that the issue of new players getting rakeback, while their loyal high producing players who signed up 5 years ago are stuck is a MAJOR ISSUE.

Right now, if you think these players are not being allowed to sign-up new accounts under a wife, girlfriend, etc. you are living in a fantasy land. Whether rooms admit it or not, they are well aware that it's happening every day. And quite frankly I doubt they give a shit if a traditional revenue share affiliate is losing their MGR, as long as they keep the player.

Anyhow, here is a great article by Bill Rini about rakeback.

http://www.billrini.com/2009/04/20/o...ship-rakeback/

Top 5 Reasons To Support PAL Partners

Jeremy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:08:58 GMT

Top 5 Reasons To Support PAL Partners

Many of you probably see the partner sites in the right sidebar every day on this site. And for many affiliates, PAL/CAL are communities you visit every day. Don't worry, I see the analytics, I know. :) However, how many of you promote a large majority of the sites we have listed here?

Out of the enormous amount of poker affiliate programs that are currently in the market, the programs listed here are programs that see the value in PAL members and actually want to earn your business. Make no mistake about it, these programs all pay for exposure to be in front of you. Below I am going to list a few reasons why you should be supporting our PAL Partner Programs.

Also, I make no 2nd tier income on any links here, so it will never affect your commission by signing up through PAL. In fact, I could care less if you follow a link from here. But it would be great if you let the A.M.'s know that you're a PAL member, and let them know you appreciate them supporting OUR community.

So here are 5 reasons why you should promote PAL Partners:

1. Accountability - Every affiliate program that joins the PAL community knows that they will be held to a higher level of accountability. If issues ever arise, they know that they will be responsible to both me and this entire community for resolving any issues in a timely manner.

2. Direct Line Of Contact - Each affiliate program that gets listed here is accessible to me via email, messenger, or phone within 48 hours. If any issue or dispute were to ever arise with a partner room you are promoting, I am always here to arbitrate it for you. Communication is key in any business, and you will never have a problem with that in regards to a site listed on PAL/CAL, I will personally see to that.

3. They Want To Earn Your Business - In all my years in the gambling affiliate business, nothing has been better than working with people that actually want to earn my business. Many of the affiliate managers here are active and accessible in the forums, and some even blog. Unlike many A.M.'s in this industry who just manage new sign-ups, these A.M.'s are at PAL/CAL for one reason; they want to do business with you, and more importantly, they want to see you be successful!

4. My Commitment - You have probably noticed my name is on the top of this site, you have my personal commitment. While I will never certify or accredit programs (because I don't believe in it). I take a lot of pride in knowing that both the affiliates and affiliate programs listed on my sites are the best of the best. I will commit to always act in the best interest of the affiliate community and help fellow affiliates with any issues they may have with any partner program listed here.

5. Special Deals - The beauty of PAL/CAL is that affiliate managers know that active members here are the real deal, and not random CPA scammers. They know that most of us live, eat, sleep, and breathe affiliate marketing. Because of this, you can usually negotiate special deals by contacting them through here. Or to make you're life easier, contact me, and I'll sort some special VIP deals for you. Nothing is better for an affiliate manager than being introduced to affiliates who can consistently produce new real money players. Leverage your PAL membership, and contact these A.M.'s today.

As PAL members, there is really no reason not to support the affiliate managers who are a part of this community. I encourage you all to comment and share your positive experiences in this post about PAL Partners who you have worked with in the past, or are currently working with now.

The Reality Of Running Forums

Jeremy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:10:01 GMT

Over the past few weeks I have spoken with a few affiliates who are interested in creating an online community or adding a forum to their existing poker affiliate site. Quite frankly I think there is a lot of misconceptions about operating forums. They are no where near as profitable as many would think.

I think the reason most people want to run a community versus a static content site is because it is something tangible where you can see real activity from members every day. However the unfortunate reality is that active forum members do not equate to $$ in your pocket. In fact, active forum members are probably the worst when it comes to getting people to click on banners and leave your site.

I have spoken about this a few times in various speaker sessions, but think about it for a minute. Whether it be a community like 2+2, or even Facebook, people come to these places to be a part of the community, not necessarily to click out to another site. On the flipside, when someone comes to your site from Google after searching for "best online poker bonus" or whatever, they are genuinly looking to find information and then leave (hopefully thtough your aff. link).

This isn't to discourage anyone from starting a forum. I just think people should think about what they wish to accomplish with a forum. If your entire goal is to convert players and make money, a forum isn't the best way to go about it, SEO is.

On the other hand, if your looking to create a community of friends that you can nurture and grow, and perhaps make a little money in the process, then by all means, a forum is probably a good idea.

The other thing to keep in mind if you are starting a forum is this; There are hundreds of existing poker forums already out there. What is going to make your forum unique or different from the rest of the forums already in the market? What is your member acquisition strategy? How will you keep members active?

This post is just some food for thought regarding running an online community. In my next blog post, I'll share some tips and ideas for those who are planning on forging ahead and starting a forum.

One thing I always say about running a forum is that it's the equivalent of being in a daily soap opera, however without the movie star pay, and without the luxury if sleeping with hot chicks every day.

I welcome comments or questions from affiliates who are already running a forum or thinking about running a forum.

Can You Hear Me Now - Verizon Wireless Sucks

Jeremy — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:48:20 GMT

Actually it's probably not just Verizon, all cell phone companies suck. Although a simple google search of the term Verizon Sucks will confirm that there are 1.3 million people who feel the same way I do.

So here is the premise for my venting. I have been a Verizon wireless customer since getting my first cell phone, a Motorola Startac 6000 at some point in the late 90's. I have spent thousands of dollars with these clowns throughout the years. Currently I have a business account with Verizon that has 5 phones on it.

In October after I left AMI, I went to Verizon to get a new phone and add it it the account which I have had for several years. I wanted a Blackberry Storm, but these were still a few weeks from being released. So I just got a BB curve and figured I would upgrade later in the year. The sales associate at the time told me that this would be "no problem at all" to upgrade later.

The reason I need a new phone right now is because I have three international trips coming up and a Blackberry Curve that doesn't work outside of this glorious country I live in. So of course this would be the ideal time to upgrade to the Storm.

So when I go into Verizon, the pimple faced dipshit behind the counter tells me "Sorry sir, you are not eligible to upgrade to a new phone"... Umm okay, well I need a phone that can be used internationally. Of course, I can buy a Storm, but apparently I am breaking the contract with my phone (yes a piece of equipment), it will cost me $550, and this is of course after I send in receipts and purchase codes to get the $70 rebate. <----- This whole fu**** rebate game is one gigantic ponzi scheme throughout the entire cellular industry if you ask me.

Anyways, I'm thinking to myself, am I really about to spend damn near $600+ on a cellular phone when the price on the kiosk says $270? All this because the Storm wasn't available a few months ago. I'm actually looking to add minutes to our business account as well. Keep in mind I probably spend $5k annually with these idiots.

I could understand the hassle if I was looking to break my contract or whatever. But for the love of God, I just want to upgrade to a new phone that will work in the Netherlands without bending over and getting sodomized by Verizon Wireless.

Here's some advice for any Verizon person that may be reading this. First of all, I wanted to come into your store and pay you $279 for a new phone and add another $100+ per month in minutes to my already $5k annual package. I have also been a Verizon Wireless customer for over 11 years. Is it really necessary to punish me by overcharging my business for a cell phone simply because I am looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest your company is offering?

GG verizon, I am going to U.S. Cellular tommorow who will happily take my business and charge me the normal retail price for a cell phone. Sure it will cost me more to break my overall contract, but I really don't care at this point.

Can you hear me now........bitches.

/rant

Is The Lottery A Tax On The Stupid?

Jeremy — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:27:24 GMT

Since getting into the online gambling affiliate business I have spoken and written about how ridiculous the lottery is on a few different occasions. I don't dislike the lottery because it's gambling, in fact I love that you can spend $1 and have a chance to win $200 million. I mean that's beyond life changing money, that's Barack Obama type loot.

The part that bothers me the most is that the lotteries here in the United States will never address that playing the lottery is hard core gambling at it's finest. The odds of winning are far worse than any casino or table game you will ever play. In fact, you are statistically 6 times more likely to die in a car crash each time you drive to the store to buy your ticket than you are to actually win.

Sure, I may drop $5 on a mega millions ticket every now and again, but I realize it is the equivalent of burning my money. Yet every other time I go into a gas station lately, I get behind some person that thinks they're at pari-muteal window buying daily picks, pick 3's, mid day picks, boxes, trifecta's, etc. What's even more sickening is you see these same people leave and jump into a 1984 rusted out Ford Escort. Allowing individuals like this to buy lottery tickets on such a negative EV game truly is a tax on the stupid.

I suppose it is these people's right to play the lottery, just like it should be my right to play at an online casino or poker room. What is troubling though is how the government promotes the lottery to be everything except gambling.

This morning I was on the Mega Millions website, and they now have a nice little picture widget with some great sayings. Hell, the only thing they don't mention is that the odds of winning are 1 in 175,711,536. And even then, if you take a cash option, they significantly fu** you by decreasing the actual jackpot. Do you think we could get away with putting these types of sentences on the homepage of one of our gambling sites? Or perhaps if someone wins a progressive, we could lop off half their winnings if they want to get paid now versus over 20 years.

Here are some of the reasons we should all be playing the lottery though according to the government ran site.

"Save For Retirement"
"Go Back To School"
"Buy Your Dream House"
"Hit The Links Every Day"
"Take That Family Vacation"

Execution - The Key To Poker Affiliate Success

Jeremy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:22:51 GMT

I know most of my recent blog posts have been political rants, so I'll try to get back to business here! People often ask me what is the difference between successful affiliates and affiliates who struggle to get their business going is. To be honest I think 90% of success as an affiliate in any vertical is just showing up and putting in the hours.

If you work 40+ hours a week as an affiliate, you will make money, guaranteed. But when I say work, I mean work, not reading forums or playing poker; actual real work.

One of the areas many poker affiliates including myself sometimes come up short is the area of execution. As internet entrepreneurs, we all have multiple domain names and tons of ideas of what could be the next big thing or moneymaker. The affiliates who are consistently making 5 figures each month are the ones that have been able to turn ideas into action.

I'll be the first to say that starting a business or a new site is a lot of painful work. Not making money on something you are spending countless hours on sucks. But unfortunately as an entrepreneur this is all part of the game. The rewards come later down the road.

So if you're struggling a bit or having a hard time getting momentum, look at your execution. Are you executing the plan you set out to with, or instead making excuses on why something is not working?

Some of the most successful people I know are successful simply because they have figured out how to "make it happen". When they have ideas, they get the wheels in motion and not only execute, but follow through.

There is my non political insight for the day. :p

New Poker Affiliate Work Hours

Jeremy — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:56:10 GMT

Due to the lack of poker affiliates, small business owners, and entrepreneurs constantly getting fukt in the U.S. by our wonderful government, I am hereby declaring Friday afternoons as free days for everyone. Likewise, Friday mornings will now be "Casual Fridays". Feel free to dress down.

So while the rest of the world sits in their cubicles on a Friday afternoon sifting through TPS reports and counting down the hours, our weekend will already have begun.

Being a poker affiliate has it's privileges. Enjoy the new hours, and have a great weekend.

No Love For Entrepreneurs And Start-Ups

U.S. Poker Play Money Blues - Bad Beat

Jeremy — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:56:54 GMT

Ok, after reading Randy's bad beat story, I do not expect to win the killer $1K bad beat contest being ran over at CompatiblePoker.com, but what the hell I will share anyways.

I've probably told this story on the poker affiliate radio show at some point, but it never gets old. So one night back in 2005 I came home from a long night at the bar and decided it would be a good idea to play some online poker at PartyPoker. At the time they took U.S. Players and accepted paypal. I knew I had around $1200 in my Party account at the time.

So long story short, I go to a 5-10NL table and prepare for action. Being a bit drunk and only a break even player at the time (losing player now days), I was aware I was probably dead money. Amazingly though the aggression factor at this table was sick. I mean it was almost like people wanted to give their money away.

So I practiced the golden rule and played tight when everyone else was loose. Almost every big hand I got paid off. Players kept coming and going from the table, and I kept raking in pot after pot. I had never ran so good in my life. It was an amazing experience to say the least.

About 3/4 through the session I was doing the drunk talk inside my head "Just don't do anything stupid, stay out of danger, and cash out". After I was up huge, I indeed decided I would call it a night, go to bed, and wake up hungover and happy. So I leave the table and go to the cashier to see the final 5 figure tally. WTF???? It still says $1200. Surely something must be wrong!

I am about 5 seconds away from emailing support when I decide to check the hand histories. Oh Snap! I just played 2 1/2 hours and went on an emotional journey at a 5-10NL play money table somehow....

I think I immediately then took my $1200 to $10-$20NL and apruptly lost the entire thing in less than 20 hands..... oops.

So there you have it, now go visit CompatiblePoker.com and check out some of the places where you can deposit at U.S. poker sites and become a play money pro like me.