Starting a website to become an affiliate..

[jogden139]

Can anybody comment on the pros and cons of trying to become an affiliate strictly through a simple blog like at blogspot.com by posting banners all around or is it better to buy website and dedicate it to banners with some side content like blogs/articles to get traffic there?

Im a complete noob to web design and affiliate marketting so if anybody can point me in the right direction to research getting things going it would be appreciated.

[Strider1973]

It depends what your goal is.
If you want to get richt with it (which is really difficult), you should start with an own website.
If you just want to just give it at try and don't want to spend money, you can start with a free blog. I would chose wordpress.com in this case, because you will probably use wordpress.org anyway when setting up an own website later.

If you enjoy writing and plan to still write blog posts in 2 years, I would already now buy an own domain. This will cost you less than 100$/year and gives you full control of the website.

[Prenut]

It depends what your goal is.
If you want to get richt with it (which is really difficult), you should start with an own website.
If you just want to just give it at try and don't want to spend money, you can start with a free blog. I would chose wordpress.com in this case, because you will probably use wordpress.org anyway when setting up an own website later.

If you enjoy writing and plan to still write blog posts in 2 years, I would already now buy an own domain. This will cost you less than 100$/year and gives you full control of the website.

Wordpress.com is about the last place I would suggest to someone who wants to start a blog about poker. They have known to be pretty finicky with sites with poker affiliate links, oftentimes deleting otherwise decent blogs. Sure alot slip through the cracks, but it's just not a good place to blog about poker.

[jogden139]

I guess at this point in my research my only real goal would be to generate passive income. I choose the poker industry simply because I have invested interest in the longevity of the profitability of poker(i play for a living).

I plan to travel to many parts of the world blogging about it so i figure It can't hurt to get my own domain ..

[kushmoney]

In your case I recommend buying a domain, signup to PAS (aff link), and have all your poker friends sign up to poker rooms through your site. Then take it from there.

[jogden139]

Hmm I've heard of PAS, can you elaborate on why you think I should go with them? vs going to sites/networks directly myself? are there any comprehensive lists with reviews of affiliate manager sites i could check out ? is it okay to go to multiple AM sites? or if I go through PAS can i still go to other sites after too ?

[Strider1973]

PAS has the advantage that you have one login and one backend to choose the poker rooms you want to promote from.
You can always make deals directly with the poker rooms, of course, and change those affiliate links on your website.

Its probably a good idea not to promote too many rooms in the beginning, and to try to convince your visitors to play at that room where you play personally.

[MPC]

Using PAS also means you get paid from them for all your transactions, as opposed to dealing with seperate rooms for payments.

You also get to promote exclusive poker promotions which you could never offer on your own.

[Georgia Poker]

You can build a decent site/blog at place such as blogspot.com -

I built this one in 2005 (sold it in 2007 but it still ranks top 5, used to rank #1). This site sent about 1200 players to Full Tilt while I owned it.

Mike Matusow - All About The Mouth

[jogden139]

I appreciate all the comments guys, and very nice mike matusow blog sir! never thought of doing something like that, love that youtube clip of HSP on there what a classic!