Promoting E-book w/ a Poker Site

[PokerNerd]

Hey Everyone,

I'm Eric and a new member of the forum.

I'm an experienced online marketer/online poker player but have never done any work with poker affiliate programs.

I just finished writing an online poker strategy guide in PDF format that is all set to go, and I want to promote the book in conjuction with an online poker room.

Essentially I would present the book as being free, and in order to download it the visitor has to sign up with the featured card room and make a deposit.

There are others who I've seen doing this (Roy Rounder does this with his e-book...I also saw some sites for odds calculators that do this)

I was just wondering...

Assuming that the book is good quality (which it is) will most online poker sites be willing to promote the book in conjuction with their poker room?

Also, which model would be best for this, CPA or MGR?

Any thoughts would be appreciated and I'll post the site once it is finished,

Thanks,

Eric

You should get with Scott from Super Poker Affiliates. They are a sponsor on this forum. Utilizing an affiliate program to help you get the book out there might be a good idea.

[Kyle]

I doubt a card room would not allow you to do this because of the quality of the book. In fact no rep. will probably ever even read it.

You must ask the affiliate programs, however, if it is ok to do this in general. Some affiliate programs do not allow incentives of any kind, so it is always best to have permission first, instead of having problems down the line.

As for CPA or MGR, it is not an easy question. Players who are just learning holdem and need your book may not play long enough to get a good MGR amount. If you think your book is good enough to make them last and become serious poker players over time, than maybe MGR will be better.

You know what you are getting with the CPA, the MGR is a gamble that sometimes can pay off very well. CPA is a great short-term solution, but many PAW members agree on a nice site like Party MGR is by far the best in the long run.

[Dave]

Look into http://clickbank.com

They have over 100,000 affiliates who will promote your ebook, including myself.

[tml]

Or you could make them just give you their email in order to download the book. Then you have them on a list and can follow up untill they sign up for a room or unsubscribe.

[tml]

Would you get sales from just listing your ebook at clickbank?

[Keebab]

Glad I found this post because I would like feedback on this exact topic.

I recently wrote a 12page pdf guide to tiered SNG tournaments on Full Tilt Poker. The basic outline is all about how these tournaments can provide an excellent return on investment and some strategies for each level of SNG that you would play. I am giving it away in exchange for signing up for my newsletter. The Pdf contains my Full Tilt affiliate link as well as links to Texas Calculatem. I think it offers a great deal of value for free and has potential to generate a lot of signups. I am a new Full Tilt Cpa affiliate.

Now I have the eternal problem of getting people to my site. I have submitted the Guide to Download.com and am using Adwords to try and drive traffic. I tried submitting press releases to a distribution site but keep getting rejected because my article relates to online gambling.

I am also thinking of converting the PDF to a MP3 Podcast and distributing via a blog. Just been disappointed with the results so far. The guide has value but I don't feel that it is worth sale through Clickbank because I would also generate income from the links within the guide and the fact that it is only one specific strategy.

Thoughts or suggestions. Throw me a bone!

Cheers

Mick

[Dave]

Why not start your own affiliate program through someone like My Affiliate Program.com and get all of us to promote your products?

It's easier and cheaper than you think and positive ROI if you have a product of real value. The world wide market for poker info and products is huge.

Negotiate a good deal and THINK BIG.

You can still have your poker room affiliate links in your ebook if you promote it through ClickBank.

You just can't have online gambling links on your landing page if your affiliates plan on sending traffic with Pay-Per-Click advertising by AdWords, Overture or MSN AdCenter. And ClickBank affiliates will demand this.

They is all kinds of creative, but legit ways to get around the ban on online gambling advertising.

Just do a little investigating and you will come up with plenty of ideas to keep you busy. The rewards can be substantial.

[SuperPokerAffiliates]

PokerNerd,
You're right. This is indeed how Roy Rounder and other odds calculators work - i'm assuming you're talking about our other clients Texas Calculatem & Calculatem Pro, Holdem Genius, and Sit & Go Shark (from Roy).

As ppokyh points out, not every poker room is open to this. It's best to speak with them first. Might as well shoot big, but know that if your players don't outperform other players they'll quickly knock your rate back to the "normal" level.

Your biggest challenge will be separating yourself from every other poker eBooks out there. Roy is a master at this - sorry, can't divulge his secrets!

To help with this, I would indeed recommend getting with an affiliate program. I hate to recommend another affiliate program over ourselves, especially in the poker space, but we're within days, maybe even hours, of launching a brand new affiliate program for Roy Rounder!

It's going to be huge. We have thousands of affiliates already lined up for him, and that number will get a lot bigger once he shares the news with all of his passionate readers. And I'm not sure Roy would want us bringing on a competing eBook!

That said, if you want to send it to me, I may be able to offer some more detailed suggestions or even find a way for us to work together.

Hope this helps.

Scott
affiliates@superpokeraffiliates.com

[SunPoker.com]

Assuming that the book is good quality (which it is) will most online poker sites be willing to promote the book in conjuction with their poker room?

I'm not sure Sunpoker.com would promote in conjunction with their poker room. They would most likely be interested in being a featured cardroom within the E-book.

Mark