Common Mistakes that Newer Affiliates Make

Graham · #1 () 08-24-2006, 06:57 PM

Hi Guys,

Recently I am starting to learn a lot more about the affiliate world, and that a lot of the things I used to think were completely wrong. Anyway, I thought I would start a post where some of the more experienced affiliates could list some common mistakes that newer affiliates make. This also came after reading Jeremy's great article on expectations of affiliate managers:
http://www.pokeraffiliateworld.com/f...w-article.html

I will try to get the ball rolling...

1) A lot of newer affiliates (myself included), think that if they just put up a site like every other one out there, traffic will immediately start rolling in without any marketing plan. This is definetly not true as you really have to work to get every single visitor to your site. Sometimes it feels like I get about 2 people for every hour that I put into my site.

2) In relation to the other thread going on - A lot of newer affiliates think spamming forums is okay. I am sure we have all been guilty of this in some way or another at one time.

Does anyone else have any good tips that will help newer affiliates. Maybe if we get a lot of things together, Jeremy could put it up in an article on the site.

Also, I did a search on the net and found a couple others to add to the list from an article posted here, some of them I agree with and some are questionable/subject to opinion:

http://www.ezinearticles.com/?4-Comm...Make&id=266554

1. The best way to promote an affiliate product is through advertising. That is why it is so important to carefully study the search engines, and how they work. Learning and using knowledge of search engines is probably the most important feature of affiliate marketing. the engines find the relevant content, and that content must be yours.
2. Don't overdo it on your affiliate site with banners, flashy graphics and content that is not relevant to the product. If you must use banners, then provide plenty of relevant content along with it. Your job here is to inform. do not confuse your customer that is looking for a solution with irrelevant content and distracting graphics. Instead, give him the information he has come to look for.
3. Give the customer options. Having only one solution on a well constructed page leaves money on the table. Offer more than one solution to the problem. Just be sure that you keep the content relevant. In other words, do not put affiliate information about spyware and how you can cure the customer's problems on a page with a product for acne!
4. There is also the problem of beginning affiliates trying to promote too many products at once. Your object is to give the customer what he has come for, in possibly several tightly associated products, but not give him so much choice that he leaves the page confused or overwhelmed with your presentation. Ultimately,. the customer must make the choice of what he will buy.

Graham
BankrollBoost.com

losercore · #2 () 08-24-2006, 10:00 PM

Great post Graham.

Let me start by adding that new affiliates, like myself, get carried away and take on way too many projects and affiliations with out a solid plan or goal.

Goal setting is so important in this field. Be realistic however. Don’t get overwhelmed and have fun doing it.

Graham · #3 () 08-26-2006, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by losercore

Great post Graham.

Let me start by adding that new affiliates, like myself, get carried away and take on way too many projects and affiliations with out a solid plan or goal.

Goal setting is so important in this field. Be realistic however. Don’t get overwhelmed and have fun doing it.

Thanks loserscore,

I know what you mean. As a newer affiliate I find myself signing up for every affiliate program I see, without thinking through how I plan to promote them. I think this is also a common mistake of newer affiliates.

Graham

PPP · #4 () 08-26-2006, 04:35 AM

Not having a plan. If you don't have a map to your destination, how do you expect to get where you want to go.

Entirely different business models should be in place for someone looking to make some beer money this summer versus someone who wants to make a few million dollars in the next decade.

tke1600 · #5 () 08-26-2006, 07:30 AM

One thing that I think most newer affiliates do is use many of the "old tricks" that worked a long time ago, like ppc's and link buying, forum spamming etc.. when they should be working hard on new ideas that will be good for their websites in the future......

Also thinking short term instead of long term is def a major no-no...unless your in it for beer money like PPP stated...

losercore · #6 () 08-26-2006, 11:29 AM

Well at least I'm not on your Party Poker Fish list tke1600.

Nice site btw

Steven · #7 () 08-28-2006, 02:52 PM

This is a great post. I also found another post similar to this by using the SEARCH feature here at PAW. (Sorry I had to throw that in there as I know there is some discussion brewing on the depth of info in these forums

)

Top 25 Mistakes New Affiliates Make

I think the most common mistake and least talked about however is when affiliates can't get their priorities straight between being a poker player or poker affiliate.

scrawnybob · #8 () 08-28-2006, 04:51 PM

hi Stephen

definately think thats a big one - I was trying to play all day on one PC and develop site on the other

pointless - you do neither well

now I hardly play - so much so that I went out 1st on my private tournie last night much to some of the forum members amusement

I used to be ok - now I totally suck as I'd rather try and figure out stuff I could do with doing on the site rather than playing

Time will tell if I'm better putting my time into affiliating or playing - but my money is on affiliating

And definately never play with your aff money - I wish the sites never put it into playing accounts in the first place

cheers scrawnybob

losercore · #9 () 08-28-2006, 09:06 PM

You're so right Scrawney and Steven.

There seem to be Internet marketers turned poker fan and poker players turned poker affiliates. It's ok to be either one but you need to prioritize your goals. If you want to win a WPT event and be a fanous poker player, don't bother affiliating. You might as well just play poker with the money you would spend as an affiliate.

I hate the rooms that put the money in a players account. Although one month I doubled the measly $125 Full Tilt gave me. other than that it is such a bad idea.

This is a good post. I would like to hear more ideas.

Graham · #10 () 08-29-2006, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven

This is a great post. I also found another post similar to this by using the SEARCH feature here at PAW. (Sorry I had to throw that in there as I know there is some discussion brewing on the depth of info in these forums

)

Top 25 Mistakes New Affiliates Make

I think the most common mistake and least talked about however is when affiliates can't get their priorities straight between being a poker player or poker affiliate.

Thanks Steven. I did try to search before posting, but for some reason I didn't get anything. Anyway, that post has tons of great info.