Monday Sales Call: Reducing Your Variance as an Affiliate

In poker, we can reduce our variance by changing our playing style, stakes, types of games played (example: tournaments have more variance than cash games), and table selection. As affiliates, we can and should reduce our variance by means of diversification.Rakeback affiliates market to the serious/winning poker player who is looking to boost the bankroll and curb variance by getting a percent of their rake back. The big rakeback players have two sources of income: poker and rakeback. Many can have a losing month playing poker but break even (or close to even) via their rakeback payments.Reducing the variance as an affiliate means that if the poker environment changes we are capable in another game to sustain us through a change in the playing environment. In affiliate marketing, if one network does away with rakeback, you can offer CPAs or Rev shares on the same network, but if you are reactionary to changes it may sink your poker affiliate business, staying ahead of the market will be a recipe for success. You also can sign up that user at another network for rakeback which will help smooth out rougher times.When Party Poker did away with the skins back in the day we had a mad dash of players looking for places to play, we were ready with offers from UB, AP, FTP, and Stars. Getting through the rough times and our company staying afloat has enabled us to exploit the market when times are good.June was a rough month for some of the affiliates I work with. I got a lot of “Why are my stats so low” emails and IMs. June has always been a slow month for Raketracker so we weren’t surprised when June numbers were so low this year as well. All it takes is for a few serious grinders (the exact number depends on how large your user base is) to take a few weeks off for vacation, college exams, or WSOP and your numbers will be lower than previous months.Most successful businesses are good at diversifying. Take Macintosh for example. They have iTunes, the iPod, the iPhone, and computers. If iPod sales are down in June, this loss in projected revenue can be made up by their cell phone sales. Poker affiliates should be following a similar business model.CPA’s pay affiliates anywhere from $75-$250 depending on the room and player value you are sending. Revenue Share deals pay affiliates 20%-65% of player’s rake! Be sure to take a look at the sweet CPA and Rev Share offers we now have at Poker Affiliate SolutionsTry marketing to a different type of player. Buy an existing site or create a mini site that reviews the micro limit games on Full Tilt, Poker Stars, Everest, and Party Poker. Sign up the players on CPA (cost per action) or rev share trackers. Expanding your poker affiliate business to different market segments will create a new source of income that will help to moderate the ebbs and flow of the online poker industry.Tony