What is a poker affiliate program?
Believe it or not, affiliate programs can get frightfully specific. Why? Because affiliate marketing is based on finding a “niche” market. That is a very specific suspect that is not only searched for on the internet. A poker affiliate program is one which focuses on online poker as its niche. Online poker is a tremendous niche on the Internet and therefore joining an affiliate program that benefits from poker can be extremely profitable.
Attracting Traffic
Simply building a site and posting banners is about as far as most poker affiliates get. There is more to earning from your poker affiliate program than just that. It is imperative that you create a marketing strategy to drive traffic to your site. The best way is to figure out an identity for your site. For example, making a site about “online poker” will do little to attract people as online poker is such a tremendous search term that you are bound to get lost in the shuffle. But by narrowing your search margin by making the site about “Texas Hold'em Tips” you are making it easier for your audience to find you. Think of it as finding someone you know in the middle of a crowd of a million people. Even though you know them and you could have a hard time finding them. But if you narrowed that crowd down by who was named “John,” the size of the crowd decreases significantly to maybe 50 people and you will have an easier time finding that person.
Know Your Competition
After you've found your “niche,” it is a good idea to scope out the competition. This doesn't mean to copy the competition, but with so many poker affiliate programs out there, it is important to know what the big boys are doing. Successful poker affiliates will have developed strong strategies and are experts at placing their ads and marketing their ideas to the Internet. Here you have the advantage of learning from the positives and negatives of what these poker affiliates have accomplished. Take things that you like about other sites and apply them to your own.
Is Being a Part of a Poker Affiliate Program Illegal in the United States?
No. Poker affiliate programs are not illegal in the United States. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) prevents banks and other payment services from paying out winnings to online gamblers based in the US. That being said, just as it is legal to sell guns, it is illegal to use them to murder someone. Participating in a poker affiliate program means that you are benefiting from online poker sites advertising their casinos. You, yourself, are not gambling. You are being paid to advertise and drive traffic to a website that offers gambling. The UIGEA does not prevent people from making money advertising for online poker, only from gambling for money on it.
Poker is one of the most popular games in the entire world and has gotten an even bigger boost in popularity on the internet. With so many folks clamoring to play poker online, it is no surprise that poker affiliate programs are tremendously popular. Poker affiliate programs are especially popular because they often offer "lifetime" commissions for affiliate marketers.