What's it like being a poker affiliate?

Welcome to the inaugural Blog post of Tetleyboy Affiliates. Now to be known as the TetleyBlog.

I thought I’d devote a little time, on my first post, to a subject that comes up so much when I chat to players.

They want to know what it’s like and do I make good money?

My stock answer is that ‘’it’s hard work’’ and ‘’I do alright’’

Both of these statements are accurate but there is obviously much more to it than this.

I have never worked in an environment where the old adage ‘the more you put in, the more you get out’, has been more appropriate.

When I first started out I was a full time multi-tabling grinder who wondered if there was a little extra money to be made from referring players.

I noticed that it was extremely simple to actually register as an affiliate with any poker site I chose, but it was a whole different thing to actually have a deal that is likely to attract other players.

It didn’t take long to realise that getting a good deal is only a part of the battle.

The next obstacle to overcome was finding potential players and then you had to convince them to trust you.

As an avid user of forums such as Pocket Fives and Two Plus Two I was able message players that had stated that they were in the market for a new deal.

It didn’t take long before I realised that there is a massive amount of competition out there and you absolutely must have a website. Even if you have a player on the verge of signing up for a deal that you may offer, it is often the case that they will ask for your website so they can check it out for themselves. If you have to reply that you do not have one then there is a good chance that this player will start to have doubts.

Think about it……

If you had been contacted by two different people, both offering the same deal, would you prefer to use the person with or without the website?

I would never suggest that affiliates without website are not to be trusted and I would certainly not say that all affiliates with websites can be.

However, it’s an indication that if an affiliate had the inclination to spend the time and dedication required in devising and producing a website, surely there is a better chance that he will work well for you and get the best deal for you.

And here is the key to being a successful affiliate.

You have to realise that the customer is effectively employing your services and the better your service, the more customers you are likely to attract.

Unless you have a huge budget at your disposal for advertising, you have to rely mostly on referrals to bring in new business for you.

The hours are as long as you want them to be but the rewards can be there for the affiliates willing to put in the effort.

Being a GOOD affiliate is not just a matter of signing up a player then forgetting about him as he earns you commission.

You should make sure that you are there to answer any questions promptly and efficiently.

This may seem obvious but it is amazing how many players will come to me, complaining that their last affiliate was no good and the only reason was that ‘he never answered my emails’.

We don’t profess to be online 24 hours a day, and our customers do not expect this, but the fact that we are on MSN just about all day every day and including weekends, has given our players a sense of confidence that the affiliate is there for them if they need them.

I will reserve a different post on another day to give accounts of players contacting me telling me about their downswings, implying that I have set them up at a ’rigged site’.

Contact from players is not only, ‘my payment is late, can you chase it for me’.

Our players know that they can contact us on MSN or email about anything even remotely related to poker.

This leads to a very wide range of communication subjects and we would not have it any other way.

The bottom line is that we LOVE poker and LOVE to talk about poker and anything related to poker.

We spend up to 12 hours a day contacting poker sites, negotiating deals, finalising new promotions to advertise, processing player payments, following up on enquiries, updating websites, chatting to potential new players, explaining how VIP deals work, bonus release rates, etc….

But we wouldn’t want it any other way because that is what we LOVE doing and we hope this comes through in our quality of service.

It seems that this initial post to launch our Blog page has turned into self promotion but I’m not going to apologise for that.

We are proud of the job we do here and we feel confident that our players appreciate it.

Future posts will likely involve topics relating to all aspects of the poker industry but don’t be surprised if a little self-advertising slips in……..

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and that you will check back regularly to see what’s going on in the world of your favourite poker affiliate.

Good luck at the tables.

Nik
(Tetleyboy)