Time Sensitive Offers (BUYING) – One of the things that I picked up that I thought could be applied to the affiliate industry is the use of time sensitive offers.  Basically what I mean by this is putting in an offer, but telling the person your offer expires in X # of hours.  This way you put the pressure back on the seller to either accept your offer (if it is the highest at the time there is a good possibility this will happen) and risk losing it, or holding out for a better one.  Typically if you come in around the amount they are looking to get, but a bit lower usually you will get the site you want and save some money doing it.  I find that far too many people on PAL and other forums have the worst approaches to both buying and selling their sites.  People post offers in a thread (which is now visible to any other potential buyers) and give the seller an endless amount of time to make a decision.  For me personally if I am going to commit to a purchase I want to know if I have it almost immediately, which is why I like using this approach.

Offer Conditions (BUYING) – Another thing that could work with purchasing websites (like they do in Real Estate) is putting restrictions or conditions on your offer.  Almost every real estate deal will have some kind of condition on the offer, so why not do the same with virtual real estate (or domains).  This way you can come in with a good offer and ask the seller to take the site off the market if he accepts, but also give yourself some time to do some due diligence on the property you are buying to make sure there is nothing funny about it.

Holding Back Offers (SELLING) – One common tactic used in the real estate market is to hold back offers.  Basically this means you set a sell date, and allow everyone to present their best offer anonymously.  This can create bidding wars back and forth as the seller will then usually try to work with the top 2 offers on price.  Sure, its annoying as hell from a buyers standpoint and it might discourage some, but this could also lead you to making a lot more on the sale of your property than you had planned.

Anyway, I am sure there are some other things and I didn’t really plan to write this post so most of this is off the top of my head.

Life Update… Well I have spent the last month or so getting settled into the new condo.  It has been a ton of work, but its pretty close to done now.  Just need a couple more small things.  Other than that I have been trying to get some other projects going that I have been working on for a long time.  One is a men’s magazine kind of site that is a cross between Forbes and AskMen.com.  Another one is a Casino Site that I will post more about once it is complete.  Then I have a few more sites that I will be developing further down the road which include a real estate site, a local furniture store site and a site about local restaurants.  I am really just trying to dabble in a bunch of different industries to see what works and what doesn’t.  I also hired a writer that is helping me get many of these sites ready.

Here are a couple of pics of the condo that I think I promised in the last post:

The View:

My Workcenter / Dining Room

Guest Bathroom:

View of most of the place (there is a new sofa now and the dining table is now white glass):

Kitchen:

Affiliate Tip:  I don’t think I have ever really posted many good tips on how to make money for a while so, here is an easy one.  Scour around for domains that have some good keywords in them (I know all the really good ones are gone, but if you look for ones with lower search volumes or find dropped ones its possible – preferably generic with things like “online” “poker” “review” “code” “bonus”, etc. in them).  If you have to spend $50-$100 to get a pretty decent domain.  Then get someone to build you a decent template that you can reuse for several sites (this will be the most expensive part but it is a one time cost and the more you spend the more you will get in return).  You should be able to get something decent for around $400.  Write around 25 pages of good content (the more the better) and add it to the site.  You should instantly be able to flip that site for around $2000 or more depending how much content is there on your $500 investment.

ClickTale – Last week my friend John told me about this cool tool.  Basically you add a couple of lines of code to your pages that allow you to see everything people do when they come to your site.  By everything, I really mean EVERYTHING!  ClickTale creates a video for you that tracks what every visitor is doing on your site including mouse movements, heatmaps and when they are scrolling down on the pages.  This allows you to determine how effective your pages are at driving a sale and what aspects of the page are actually getting the visitors attention the most leading them to click (or not click) through on to your offers.  There is a very small delay in the time it takes to create the videos (probably like 5 minutes) but it is pretty much live data.  The free version allows you 100 free recordings per week or you can pay like $80 per month for the bronze package which allows multiple sites and something like 20,000 recordings.

HitTail – This is another live stats system that allows you to see how people are getting to your site from referral sites or search engines.  It shows you exactly what they searched to get there or the specific page where they clicked a link to your site.  I know most of this information is available in Google’s Analytics but its nice to have this info live so you can see what is causing traffic spikes on your site.  It also helps you understand where the visitors are coming from (ie. Google.com/Google.es/Google.ca etc.) to reach your site.

Woopra – This is a cool tool that allows you to track the people on your website live.  You can see what pages people are on, how they got to your site, and how they have moved about while on your site.  One of my favourite features of Woopra is it even allows you to send a message to the people on your site if you want to “help them out” or ensure that all their questions have been answered to help drive the sale better.  (Shout out to Cheryle for telling me about this one)

Of course Google Analytics is also one of the best, but I left it out of the list because I assumed everyone already was either using it, or knew about it.  Hope this helps and if you have any other great tools you want to share post a comment below.

Here is the first few lines of the email:

“Hello,

My name is Virginie and I am the Affiliates Manager for www.a-winning-hand.com…”

Did she actually just say that they entered a multi-billion dollar industry and the best thing they could come up with was THAT DOMAIN???  Holy crap they must have thought they hit the jackpot when they found out it was still available!  Are people really this retarded?

That is all for now

I think part of the reason for the lack of updates, has been a lack of motivation overall from me over the past few months.  So, in an effort to combat this, I am gonna get some things off my mind in this blog post.

I, like many other affiliates I know, am falling into ‘the trap’ and becoming very lazy.  Part of the reason for this is because when I was at IBM my job was a complete joke and 95% of my time was spent sitting around doing nothing.  Funny enough, with the remaining 5% of the time when I actually worked I managed to get the highest promotion levels and reviews from my managers… go figure.  This wasn’t because I didn’t want to work, there just simply wasn’t any work to be done.  Could you imagine what they would think of me if I really busted my ass the whole time I was working putting in 100%!!!

To some people this would be the dream job, but I’ve never been like that and have always appreciated a good challenge.  In fact, this could be partly why I am getting lazy lately, because I figure if I do nothing or very little work, things will get harder for me and I will have to start busting my ass again…. WRONG!

In fact, being lazy is actually having an opposite affect and it seems that every month keeps getting even better.  I guess I am riding the fruits of my labour in the past as they are starting to pay off, but I know this won’t last forever so I really am making a strong effort to turn this bad cycle around.

I’ve tried taking vacations, breaks, getting up earlier, excessive drinking, but really nothing seems to be working.  The reality is, none of these things are gonna change anything and I am the only one that can do that.  So, going forward I am really going to make an effort to change this.  I am going to make more goals and set more targets for myself.  I think that will help.  Anyone got any suggestions on staying motivated?

Hell, I’ll do 2 back to back blog posts now to prove that I am trying to break the laziness!

Additional Shout Out / Poker Affiliate Tip

Shout out to Chris from Poker Affiliate Solutions (or PAS for short).  Chris told me tonight that he had my blog in his blog reader (Google reader is my choice) and was also hinting that I should do an upate.  I am just glad that I finally know who the other RSS reader is beside me   JK… i know there are a few of you out there and appreciate that you care what I have to say.  Anyway, PAS provide services to affiliates such as the ability to create a rakeback section on your site and offer deals that you wouldn’t be able to get normally without knowing someone.  I have created a rakeback section on my site using their software and so far it has been great, though I am sure Chris is thinking it would be greater if I sent them more players   They have a really cool admin back-end and it makes things really easy.  All you have to do is bring the players, so if you haven’t checked them out I recommend dropping them a line today if you are looking to offer something like this on your site.  Chris also has a blog over on PAS which is even more overdue for an update than mine!  You should get on that Chris

The highly anticipated re-launch of BrandonBerndt.com is finally here! After over a year of no updates and many emails from fans yearning for the latest “Brandon Gossip”, Brandon has finally done it and re-launched his Blog.

One of the reasons for the new site Berndt told one of our reporters is, “people google my name a lot”. He is considered somewhat of a celebrity amongst his fellow Poker Affiliate Managers.

The new blog gives you a real insight into what Brandon does all day as a Poker Room Manager / Affiliate Program Director (at least when he is not gambling online during company time, out for a day on the golf course, or questioning his own sexuality). But after all, its not all glamour and fun. There is some hard work* (seen here on his BlackBerry during a dinner in London) involved and the hours are long.

Brandon is by far one of my favorite affiliate managers to work with, and I am glad that I have had the opportunity to meet and work with him on various projects. If you aren’t already working with him, I suggest you check out the Chan Poker affiliate program.

The most recent post is an article about how to run an affiliate progam (something many affiliate programs NEED to read….hint, hint, spin32).

As mentioned before, many people have been waiting for this relaunch. John Goldie of FiveSomething.com told us, “I can’t really breathe, Brandon’s blog is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. He is like the affiliate manager equivilant of a Japanese Ninja Master. Congrats.”

I look forward to the future updates on Brandon’s new blog and if you haven’t done so already I suggest you bookmark this one. Nice job Brandon!

* Thought it looks like he might be working, we really cannot confirm that he is actually doing anything. For all we know he is just playing Brick Breaker.

Dunns River Falls

Our Resort at Night

Anyway, back to work now

I was talking with beanie today about possibly doing some link exchanges with his awsome poker blog.  Beanie being the nice guy that he is, said I don’t even really need to give him any links as I could just post my own stories on his site myself when I create an account.  In my head alarm bells rang off: FREE LINKS!

So, I registered an account, added an article from my site and it was up instantaneously on the homepage.  If this isn’t a great way to get free links, I don’t know what is.  The site kinda works like a poker digg, and anyone can submit stories which can be voted on by the users of the site.  So, if you just wrote an excellent peice of content and want to get it out there fast, why not submit it on his site.  This can be a great way to help your SEO efforts as it will get your story on one of the best poker blogs on the Internet and a PR3 site right away.

But PLEASE!  If you are going to use this service, don’t abuse it.  Try to submit only your best stuff, and not your latest review of xxxx poker site.  I am sure Beanie would also appreciate it if you gave him some link love back also

Thanks Beanie!

So its late, I am about to go to bed, when suddenly this message pops up:
21/05/2008 2:51:08 AM SNAPS : you are a total douche
21/05/2008 2:51:49 AM Graham : ?
21/05/2008 2:51:58 AM SNAPS : think before you talk
21/05/2008 2:52:32 AM Graham : whats the matter?
21/05/2008 2:53:07 AM SNAPS : you’re an absolute twat
21/05/2008 2:53:15 AM SNAPS : why don’t you think before you post bullshit on PAP
21/05/2008 2:53:18 AM SNAPS : and mention other peoples domains
21/05/2008 2:53:21 AM SNAPS : that can land them into trouble
21/05/2008 2:53:22 AM SNAPS : idiot
21/05/2008 2:53:34 AM Graham : what domains?
21/05/2008 2:53:50 AM SNAPS : bye graham

At this point I honestly had no idea what SNAPS was talking about, but figured it had to do with something that I posted in a thread that I had been heavily involved with on PAP (and had actually defended in the thread without mentioning names). In the thread I had randomly listed off a bunch of domains as examples (ie. xsitebonuscode.com, xsitereferralcode.com) not really pointing fingers at the owners of those sites, just making things up off the top of my head. It was then that I realized that one of the domains I had used as an example redirected to SNAPS’ site.

Sure, I screwed up, but it was completely unintentional. But, after being called an idiot, douche and twat by this individual I also wasn’t too eager to go back and fix the post either. All this person had to say was “hey man, that site you mentioned in the post is mine, can you please remove it”, and it would have been gone immediately. Instead, this person thinks that it will be more effective to talk to me in a condescending and disrespectful tone to get the problem resolved…. WRONG! I find it funny that people can have such big mouths when hiding behind their computer, but I guarantee they would not say these things face to face. Anything I post online I would gladly back up in person.

Hopefully you have learned something from this experience that it is better to treat your fellow affiliates with respect than treating them like a dog. Don’t be so quick to overreact as a lot of the time people may not know what they are doing that is so wrong. People will be much more willing to accommodate you when talk to them like normal human beings rather than a piece of shit!

When you look at your site or any article on it, you should be working to close a deal in every peice of content.  Whether it simply be a banner on the side, or a link to a poker site in an article.  Look at your site from a visitor’s point of view and if you don’t see any reason to sign up under one of your offers, then you probably aren’t doing a good job.

Since I have really been lacking on tips for poker affiliates, let me end this post with a great link to some really good videos.  I suggest you watch them all, but if you don’t want to use up 5 hours, watch the one on conversions.  Its called the stompernet scrutinizer and there is a link in the bottom right corner to pull up the playlist of videos.

Good luck!

Every time I go to get my haircut I see this poster hanging above my head when I am getting my hair washed.  I think this is a great poster and something everyone can take something from.

21 Suggestions for SUCCESS – By H Jackson Brown Jr.

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

2. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.

3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.

6. Be generous.

7. Have a grateful heart.

8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.

9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.

12. Commit yourself to quality.

13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.

14. Be loyal.

15. Be honest.

16. Be a self-starter.

17. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.

18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.

20. Take good care of those you love.

21. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

Source:  http://www.21suggestions.com

Also, shout out to my homie John Goldie… he started a great new blog about business, check it out!

This is one of the best things you can do with your traffic, because this gives you a chance to continuously sell to your visitors over and over again.

Otherwise, if you don’t capture their email, they may never come back!  Chances are they found your site doing some random search on Google, which they are unlikely to search for every again.

I am sure many affiliates don’t do this, because they think this is something hard to implement.  WRONG!  If you use a software such as Aweber, you can set up a nice little autoresponder (basically this means a program that automatically sends an email when one is sent to it) similar to the one that Kyle and I have set up on the homepage of FuzionPoker.com.

Here is a graphic for those of you that don’t want to click out:

There are a few different autoresponders available, but Aweber is the most well known.  Their Unlimited Autoresponders plan includes:
- Unlimited Autoresponders, Unlimited Follow Ups, Unlimited Broadcasts, Stores 10,000 Leads Free, each additional 10,000 is $9.95, Unlimited Campaigns,  Unlimited Customer Support via 800#, Live Text Chat, and Email
All for about $170 for the entire year!  I used to think this was a lot of money, but now that I am using it I realize it is worth every penny.

If you would like to try it out, they will let you sample the product before you decide to buy it. Just click here for the FREE demo.

I suggest giving some incentive for their email (such as a free book, or special poker strategy video).  That way you ensure that they are giving you their main email address, and you are both getting something in return.  By capturing your visitors e-mails you will be able to let them know about your latest promotions (whether it be a freeroll, or new bonus code) making your job 10 times easier and allowing you to sign them up over and over again!